Oreos – Chasing Phantoms

Ah, it’s that magical time of the year again. And I refer, of course, to the brief period near the end of summer when manufacturers of all manner of cookies, candies, breakfast cereals, and even, it seems, catfood will temporarily re-configure their products with some kind of nod to Halloween. The most notable and delicious example of this is the annual reappearance of Halloween Oreos.

Attentive readers will recall my earlier review of Halloween Oreos, in which I asserted Halloween Oreos are the most delicious Oreos of all. Now, I know there are some naysayers out there who disagree, claiming that there is no difference between the taste of regular Oreos and the Halloween version. But what do you have to back up that heresy? I mean, other than some vague comment about “same great taste” on the packaging?

Now, I’m willing to admit that the only difference, ingredients-wise, in the Halloween Oreo is the addition of a little orange food coloring, which is essentially flavorless. But that’s totally missing the point. There is so much more to taste than mere flavor. The spooky Halloween shapes, the Halloween-themed packaging, and most of all the pumpkin-orange filling all contribute to the full taste experience (what people in the business call “FTE”).

OK, I totally made up that part about the term “FTE.” But there is sound science backing up how appearance affects perceived taste. In 2001 a French neurophysiologist by the name of Frédéric Brochet added flavorless red food coloring to white wine, which had an enormous effect upon how professional wine tasters perceived the wine. Similarly, a 2007 experiment presented school kids with identical food, some of which was wrapped in McDonald’s packaging and some that was in generic packaging. The kids preferred the taste of the food in the branded packaging. And then, in 2015, Italian researchers found that the perceived sweetness of a dessert was affected by the color of the plate on which it was served. I’m not making any of this up.

So, yes, our enjoyment of a food depends in part upon its appearance. Ergo, Halloween Oreos can taste better than regular ones! QED.

NEWS BULLETIN: Loyal reader and favorite daughter-in-law Katelyn informs me that this year Nabisco is also releasing a second, alternate version of their Halloween Oreos, with both orange and green creme in the middle. Heart be still! I have been methodically combing the grocery aisles in the greater Placerville area to find a package, but so far have come up empty-handed. Please report any sightings to this blog.

Anyway, I say all this by way of introduction to Krispy Kreme’s new Harry Potter donuts. I’m not sure if these are meant as Halloween offerings, or perhaps just a back-to-school promotion, but either way I find them captivating and intriguing. And I say this as someone who has never read a Harry Potter book or watched a Harry Potter movie. Seriously.

In fact, the only reason I know about this is because loyal reader Sara S alerted me, noting that they seemed right up my alley. Right you are, Sara!

So, I really have no choice but to get me some. The nearest Krispy Kreme is about an hour away, but this is the kind of sacrifice that I regularly make for my loyal readers. And thus it was that this weekend I found myself standing in line for some of these “House of Hogwarts”™ donuts.

Sadly, they were out of the Gryffindor donut (whatever that is), but I was able to nab one each of the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw donuts (whatever those are). Now, from a quick Google search (which may or may not be correct), it seems that the four “houses” are essentially dorms where the students at the Hogwarts school are housed. Each “house” supposedly is characterized by specific personality traits. Oh, and the job of assigning new arrivals to the houses is done by a “sorting hat.” And Krispy Kreme even has a special “sorting hat” donut, which will reveal your house by the color of the creme inside. Alas, my (semi-) local Krispy Kreme was out of the sorting hat donut as well. So I ended up with these three donuts:

Now, to return to our central thesis: I find these donuts to be highly tantalizing. They are bright and colorful, have a variety of textures, and those little crests on them are well-executed and unusual. It makes me wish I knew what the hell it all meant! But at the very least, I find these donuts to be playful and attractive and therefore worth trying.

I started with the Hufflepuff donut. It’s a heavily-iced donut with a custard center:

Now the advertising copy says that the filling is “brown butter toffee flavored custard,” which sounds delicious. But when I tried it, it tasted like the basic custard filling of the Boston creme donuts you find at the local AM-PM. Now, the Hufflepuff donut is also sprinkled with “cookie crumbles,” but this “feature” seemed more like the unintentional crumbs from poor storage practices. Meanwhile, the crest, which admittedly looks really cool, is NOT a white chocolate wafer (as I had hoped), but rather seems to be have been fashioned from a dried-out Gummy Bear that had been pounded flat with Harry Potter’s wand. Overall, this donut tasted OK but it was nothing special. Moving on.

The “Ravenclaw,” according to Krispy Kreme, is “gracefully dipped in a vibrant blueberry flavored icing that offers a burst of fruity flavor.” The copy-writers seem to have understood that “blueberry-iced donut” doesn’t really justify a cost of $3.59. So they decided to say it’s “gracefully dipped.” What does that even mean? And how does it affect either the flavor or the appearance? What we have here, folks, is a blueberry-iced donut. And it’s available at your local grocery store for 99 cents.

At this point, having consumed literally 600 calories (according to the “nutrition information” on the menu), I was heading into a food coma–so I let my brother Dave eat the Slytherin. He responded with a shrug.

So, what have we learned?

Appearance can definitely enhance the taste of a Halloween treat, such as Halloween Oreos.
But there’s a limit to how much appearance can compensate for a mediocre recipe.
Perhaps understanding the references to Harry Potter lore and storylines would have salvaged the House of Hogwarts donuts. In other words, maybe the visuals can’t fully do their thing if I don’t know what I’m looking at.

Anyway, there is this new treat to look forward to this year, and this time I get the reference!

Today’s Halloween-themed spotting is at the home of son Ian and daughter-in-law Katelyn. It’s a 12-foot skeleton that makes even me feel short. Note his smaller companions lounging on the porch. What, that’s not scary enough for you? Then check out the scene at night:

*Even more spooky: The skeletons on the porch have fleshed out!*

Note how the scene becomes spookier with the addition of unexpected color–in this case, the red and blue light that washes over the whole scene.

The folks at Mars, Inc. seem to understand this principle, and have applied it to the inveterate Snickers bar. Specifically, in an effort to dress up the candy bar for Halloween, they have changed the color of the nougat from light tan to “ghoulish green.” Let’s determine whether this is a trick or a treat.

Conceptual Soundness: Many food purveyors will try to goose sales by giving their product a holiday tweak. Examples include red and green M&Ms, green beer, and eggnog ice cream. Such moves are intended to renew interest in the product and create a sense of ephemeral exlusivity. In this case, Mars has taken a classic candy bar that everyone knows well, and added green food coloring to the nougat. It’s definitely different and does radiate a bit of a Halloween vibe. That’s worth 3 points.

Appearance of the Treat: The most noticeable difference is the green wrapper. And in case you’re colorblind, they print the words “Ghoulish Green” just under the traditional Snickers logo. Now, I’m not sure there’s anything “ghoulish” about green. I assume the word choice had more to do with alliteration.

If you remove the wrapper, the candy bar looks identical to any other Snickers bar you’ve eaten. But bite into it (or cut it in half, as I did) and you see that the nougat is the exact same shade of green as the wrapper.

Now, these are “fun size” bars, which means they’re less than an ounce. You probably will eat it in two bites. So that leaves just those few moments between the first and second bite to admire (or even notice) the green nougat. Still, it’s novel, and the color is truly putrid. As a Halloween gag (if you’ll pardon the pun), it’s worth 3 points.

Taste: These taste exactly the same as any other Snicker’s bar. The “ghoulish green” nougat has no impact on the flavor. Now, in my opinion, the Snickers bar is a delicious candy, with the ideal balance of caramel, nougat, chocolate, and peanuts. But if you’re going to hype a candy as being redesigned for Halloween, shouldn’t you also give it a new taste? Maybe a little mint, which is suggested by the green color? Or substitute pistachios for the peanuts? The people at Mars missed a huge opportunity here. Treats sporting a different look should taste different.

Now, I should probably admit here that, to me, Halloween Oreos, with their orange filling, taste much better than regular Oreos. I realize the package says “same great taste,” and the ingredient list is identical to regular Oreos. But somehow I find the Halloween Oreos to be far tastier than the regular ones. I am open to the possibility that the visual appearance of the Halloween Oreo somehow tricks my brain into thinking I’m tasting something different. But that’s OK. As we know, the placebo effect can cause genuine health improvements in clinical trials. So, as far as I’m concerned, if I think the Halloween Oreos taste better, then they taste better.

*“Same great taste” my ass; these taste much better than the run-of-the-mill Oreos.*

Anyway, my point is simply that the “ghoulish green” Snickers do not taste any different than regular Snickers. So I can’t give them any points for taste. Zero points.

Value: The fun-size “ghoulish green” Snickers come in a bag that also includes “ghoulish green” Twix bars. You get 35 bars to a bag, which costs $12 on sale at Safeway. That works out to 35 cents per bar, which really isn’t bad. Let’s give it 3 points.

Total Treat Score: 9/16 points. If you like Snickers, then you should get yourself a bag.

Speaking of bags, our mailbag received the following item which is evocative both of The Birds and Poe:

Tag: Oreos

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