Looking back over the past week and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
Some things are so mad that they may just be great
Nothing beats a quirky food or beverage ‘invention’ and this one might just take the biscuit. Food scientists at Doritos, in conjunction with Empirical, have created an alcoholic drink that apparently tastes the same as Doritos’ crunchy, cheesy, savoury, Nacho Cheese snack. You may be asking yourself the same question I did when I first read the story. Why? Why indeed.
“The drink will ‘smell and taste just like the real thing, thanks to a partnership with drinks company Empirical. The spirit will offer customers “iconic Nacho Cheese flavour in a bottle”, Doritos said.
“The limited-release 42% alcohol will be made by using real crisps and extracting their ‘essence through vacuum distillation’, a process that operates at lower temperatures in order to ‘preserve the flavours’, the two companies said.” (Source: “Doritos to release Nacho Cheese flavoured alcoholic drink that tastes like crisps,” 13 December, www.news.sky.com).
Personally, I think I will give the boozy cheese drink a miss but well done to the food scientists for thinking outside the box. What’s next, Nacho Cheese scented soap?
4 stars – inventive stuff!
Kiwis leaving feedback
This will be new – a review about reviews but it’s worth giving a shout out to the New Zealanders who leave reviews on NoCowboys and let fellow Kiwis benefit from their opinions and experiences. Sometimes we think our point of view doesn’t matter but that is just not the case. When it comes to buying or hiring online, reviews make all the difference.
I was looking at buying a product online just the other day. I was about to buy, when I remembered to read the reviews and I’m glad that I did. So many times I’ve avoided a calamity solely because other consumers took a few minutes of their time to provide some insight or perspective that will either steer us to, or away from, purchasing or hiring.
It’s also important to point out that reviews acknowledging fantastic products, service, work, or craftsmanship, also reward businesses that do most things right and deserve the attention, and by extension, more customers.
5 stars – to my fellow Kiwis who leave reviews to selflessly help others, thank you!
Kudos to the courier drivers!
I’ve ordered most of my Christmas shopping online this year, mainly to avoid the chaos at the shops and it’s just so much easier. I haven’t really done this since those Covid days and as various vans pull up to my house and drop off parcels, I’m reminded of how amazing so many of the courier workers were during lockdown and what a huge comfort they are for those who find crowds and bustle distracting.
I’ve had one parcel take its sweet time to get to me and when I called NZ Post to ask a few questions about its whereabouts, I was served up some fantastic customer service, with cheer, understanding, and the realisation that there are hundreds of thousands of parcels currently in the system all over the country.
It is not an easy job to be in traffic all day, zipping back and forth across NZ cities and towns. It’s not something I would have the patience for and on top of that there’s deadlines and quotas to meet and a fair share of demanding people to deal with.
5 stars – to the courier drivers who make life that little bit easier – many thanks.
