Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Almonds

As a child growing up with a plethora of food allergies, I always felt fortunate that none of them were to nuts of any kind. I had to avoid foods like wheat, milk, and sugar, so naturally, I had all varieties of nuts as a snack on many occasions. My childhood favorites were macadamias, filberts, and pecans...and, of course, almonds.

Although I don't often wind up snacking on macadamias and filberts, mostly because of their relative lack of availability and/or high price, I still enjoy pecans and almonds fairly regularly.

Thanks to treatments and changing body chemistry, the vast majority of my food allergies eventually dwindled and subsided—so the sugar and milk powder in the ingredients here don't pose a threat.

Good thing, because these snacks are tasty.

There's a healthy dose of pumpkin spice mixed in with the coating here, but the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate can still be detected. As you can see there in the window on the bag, the snacks are just slightly larger than normal almonds, egg-shaped, and robed in two different shades of autumnal veneer.

Each almond is whole and pristine. There's more than enough nutty flavor coming through in the mix. I'm actually surprised to see that "white chocolate" appears above "almonds" on the ingredients list.

And of course just a little pumpkin spice goes a long way, so the "less than 2%" of spices including cinnamon still flavors each bite quite adequately. Even though it's not mentioned specifically on the ingredients, I taste something decidedly nutmeggy here, much like the Pumpkin Spice Pretzels I tried recently.

I think this bag was $2.99 here in South Jersey. Not something I'd crave outside of October and November, but a nice seasonal snack if you ask me.

These almonds get 8 out of 10 stars from me.

Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Pretzels

As I mentioned on my other blog, it seems like the whole pumpkin thing has peaked. There's even a strong adverse reaction to pumpkin products now from some vocal consumers.

I admit, I've reviewed obscure products like Pumpkin Pie Mochi and loved every bite. But I certainly don't think it's a bad thing if pumpkin spice slows down a bit and makes way for things like apple cinnamon, apple cider, and butternut squash products.

"There's room for all the delicious flavors of fall," he said in a forced, dreamy announcer voice.

And there are some products that are simple and basic enough that it's a wonder they didn't exist sooner. Take these pretzels, for example. I know they're not brand new, but they also haven't been around for more than a few years, either. They just possess a classic essence—like something that your grandparents might have enjoyed long ago.

It makes me think of those Werther's commercials where the old dude is like, "After walking home 18 miles in a snowstorm, we used to sit by the fire and eat Werther's Originals for dinner back in 1908." And then the kid eats one and nods agreeably and acknowledges that maybe pappy isn't quite as bat-crap crazy as he had originally thought, because the candy doesn't taste as awful as he'd assumed.

These pretzels have that vibe. Except maybe I'll be the old dude in 2060 trying to get my descendants to eat some of these pumpkin pretzels.

"Man, what is it with old geezers and pumpkin spice stuff?" they'll wonder.

They're just normal crunchy salted pretzels with a white fudge coating and some pumpkin spices thrown in. They're sweet, salty, and definitely spicy. I'm actually surprised they have as much nutmeggy kick as they do. I would think that would drive away as many people as it would attract...but at least we know they're not just calling it "pumpkin spice" and then not delivering.

I think I'll tire of this flavor pretty soon and be perfectly happy with regular white fudge pretzels for the rest of the year—but just for seasonal consumption, this flavor is perfect.

Sonia and I both liked these a lot. I'd buy them again. $2.99 for the bag. Not bad.

I give these 8 out of 10 stars.