Which Orange flavored energy drink is best? Fifteen years ago there were only a handful of brands that made an energy drink and they all tasted suspiciously like gasoline. Flash forward to today and there are dozens of brands all making 5+ flavors. This week we are going to find the best Orange energy drink because it is a flavor we both regularly …

Which Candy Corn is best? Candy Corn is the king of fall candies. We all respect its supremacy while not loving the flavor, but now we will ask the important question, does the candy corn you pick matter? This week Nick and John will try heavy hitters Brach's and Jelly Belly and compare them against a couple store brands from Candy Shoppe and Walma…

Which blended scotch is best? In a previous episode we tasted 4 different Johnnie Walker varieties and both Nick and John picked Black Label as their favorite. This week we bring Johnnie Walker Black Label back to compete against a couple brands closer to their price point, Chivas Regal and Monkey Shoulder. Please like and subscribe and if you have…

Which microwave dinner is best? It would be great to eat out at fancy restaurants every night, eating food prepared by seasoned chefs. Unfortunately in this reality sometimes all you have is $5 and a microwave. This week we are here to determine which microwave dinner brand is best, and more specifically which one makes the best Fettuccini Alfredo …

Which cheese cracker with peanut butter is best? Not all pairings make sense on paper at first glance, chili powder and chocolate? Seems odd but actually a pretty good combination. Apple Pie and American cheese? Sounds gross but people swear by it. How about Cheddar Cheese Crackers and Peanut Butter? Well that's what we task ourselves with determin…

Which coffee region is best? I'm a pretty big fan of coffee, but normally I don't think too much about what I am buying. I have a list of brands I prefer, and digging deeper a few specific blends that I like. When I get to the store I hope one of them is on sale, and will just grab the cheapest. Although this process has worked for me, I figured we…

Which Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce is best? In the past we have tried the "Hot" sauce from different wing restaurants, but this week we take a different the same category in a different direction. We are getting boneless wings without sauce, and then adding different brands that you can buy in a bottle. The contenders are Anchor Bar (hotter), Buffalo Wil…

Which Asian Beer is best? Right off the bat, calling the category "Asian beer" feels a little too vague. Many Asian countries produce beer known around the world, but where we live they are much harder to find. So this week we are trying 5 beers from 3 countries trying to determine if the country of origin makes a big difference in the taste, and m…

Which Oreo knock off is best? The original creme filled chocolate sandwich cookie was released in 1908 by Hydrox, a couple years later Nabisco responded with Oreo. Despite Oreo not being the original, they somehow ended up changing the snack game forever. Although there are alternatives out there (including Hydrox being an Amazon exclusive) we are …

This week we bring Joe back for another visit, and this time he chose to challenge our past results by making us retry some things we have had on the pod in the past. We will jump straight to some FAQ: Q: What Items are being retried? A: Tortilla Chips, Hot Salsa, Lemon Lime Soda, Lime Seltzer, Light Beer, Whisky Q: John and Nick are known to have …

Which Lime Beer is best? At first glance lime beers feels like a typical lager with a small maybe gimmicky change to sell more cases. Then the grueling summer months hit and suddenly the lime beer feels like a refreshing change. This week we try to find another glimmer of hope in a long, hot summer by trying out 4 lime beers, and 3 of them advertis…

Which Gummy Bear brand is best? Nick, our senior sweet snack specialist, has always been a big fan of gummy snacks. But the combination of negative memories (unfair) and a plethora of other gummy snack options, gummy bears have never been his go-to option. This week we give gummy bears their day in court to figure out which is best, and really if t…

Which Brie is best? When you are feeling a bit charcuterie-ey Looking through the cheese options in a grocery store can be intimidating. Normally Nick and John just look for sales and try to at least buy a cheaper option then forget what we purchased. But do you really want to live your life eating everyone else's leftover cheese? Those of you who …

Which American IPA is best? A while back the Hazy IPA hit a level of popularity which pressured Nick into bringing it as the first IPA on this podcast. Now a year or so later, we find ourselves missing the good old fashion IPAs we originally fell for. Today we are taking a strangely nostalgic trip through some of the American Style IPAs that used t…

Which Diet Cola is best? Sodas with alternative sugars are becoming more popular all the time as it presents a way for the consumer to drink their beloved sodas, while still feeling good about themselves because they just consumed a calorie free beverage. Although health benefits are much more complicated than a calorie counter, here at Taste Test …

Which French Onion Dip is best? On their own, a ruffled potato chip is a mediocre chip on a good day. When you take the Ruffles and use them as a vessel to get dip into your mouth, we are looking at an entirely different story. This week we are trying 3 pre-made French Onion Dips, the undisputed best dip to pair with potato chips (legally I am requ…

Which Tortilla Chip is best? We've tried Salsa and Guacamole, but we haven't yet asked what the best vessel for these dips are, that is until today. The tortilla chip is often overlooked in the dip formula, but small differences in texture, and salt level can make a surprisingly big difference. The contenders for today are Late July, On The Border,…

Which Orange sports drink is best? Our first round of sports drink was with a more obscure flavor (grape), but this time we are getting back to one of the original flavors. Non-Gatorade versions of lemon lime proved hard to come by, and Fruit Punch is disgusting, so the obvious choice was to try out Orange flavored sports drinks. The contenders are…

Which canned Paloma cocktail is best? The cocktail in a can idea seems to be getting more popular all the time so it's time to try out a second offering. The problem with the canned Paloma specifically is how simple it is to make, so is it even worth buy it premade? Today we put 3 already made cocktails to the test, and later on try our own creatio…

Which Jelly bean bag is best? This week in celebration of Easter candy being at the store, we are going to try out some bags of jelly beans that are available for the holiday. Nick (somewhat controversially) excluded Jelly Belly because they are available year round and have too many flavors to compare to the other bags. Some may disagree with this…

Which Dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds is best? This week we try out some dark chocolates. Every brand seems to have random ingredients added to their products, but the sea salt and almond variation seems to be rather popular although this specific combination is not something either of us have much experience with. Today the contenders are…

Which Irish stout is best? Which Irish Red Ale is best? This week we do something a little different and do two head to head matchups of different Irish beers in a celebration of St Patrick's Day. We both try Irish Dry Stouts from Guinness and Left Hand, as well as Irish Red Ales from Killian's and Smithwick's. Please like and subscribe and if you …

Which Aged Cheddar is best? Looking over the backlog of episodes, one category jumped out to us as being unfairly neglected. We have reviewed string cheese in the past, but the list ends there (unless you count Oreos with Cheese Whiz). This week we are going to ease our way in with some aged cheddar. The competitors are Cabot, Cracker Barrell, and …

Which Gruner Veltliner is best? This week we are back trying out wine, and this time we have 3 Austrian Gruner Veltliner. For the non Austrian listeners, this is a white wine known to be of higher acidity and also drier than most white wines. The competitors are Biokult, Hasen Sprung, and Pratsch. Please like and subscribe and if you have any sugge…

Which Raspberry sweet tea is best? This week we are trying out 4 raspberry sweet teas. The competitors are Brisk, Gold Peak, Peace Tea and Pure Leaf. Please like and subscribe and if you have any suggestions, let us know by tweeting us @tastetestdummies or email us at nickandjohnpodcast@gmail.com. SPOILER! Below is a list of which tea corresponds t…

Which Pisco is best? Fresh off his trip to Peru, Nick wanted to bring something unique from his travels to try. Pisco is an unaged brandy most commonly made in Peru and Chile. The most common way to drink this liquor is in a Pisco sour, but this week we will be trying out 4 brands neat to see what Pisco has to offer. The competitors are Inca Pisco,…

Which Strawberry Soda is best? This week we take another plunge into the world of fruit sodas by trying some Strawberry soda. Usually with similar products we try to bring in the winners of past episodes, but unfortunately Welch's has made their offering impossible to find. Instead we will stick with stalwarts (Crush and Fanta) being joined by two …

Which Rose Prosecco is best? A while back we compared the Proseccos of three brands, La Marca, Mionetto, and Ruffino. This week in an (accidental?) celebration of New Years, we are doing a rematch of these three brands but instead with their Rose variety. Please like and subscribe and if you have any suggestions, let us know by tweeting us @tastete…

Which Ginger Ale is best? Last time we did Ginger Ale we brought in some more obscure competitors in hopes of getting more ginger flavor. This plan didn't work out super well so now the big names in the Ginger Ale industry are here to see if they can do any better. The competitors are Canada Dry, Schweppe's, Seagram's and Vernor's. Please like and …

Which Boneless hot wing is best? This week we bring in some popular hot wings from national food chains. The first two contenders are a little obvious with Buffalo Wild Wings and Wing Stop. The last restaurant to be included was Applebees simply because there is no Hooters anywhere near us, and Applebees has a Hot Boneless Wing on their menu. Pleas…

Which Fruit Punch is best? This week Vivi comes back and we bring in a juice with the intention of changing some minds. Fruit Punch is a term that causes all three of us to shy away, but in this episode we will try out 4 Fruit Punch juices to see if we can get past out pre conceived notions. The contenders are Juicy Juice, Simply, V8 (fruit medley)…

Which Japanese Curry sauce mix is best? This week we make try three different pre made Japanese curry sauces. In order to make this applicable to a real setting we added in some vegetables, served over rice, and added some pork Katsu. The contenders are S&B Golden Curry Hot, S&B Curry Sauce, and Vermont Curry Hot. Although two of the contenders see…

Which Classic Potato Chip is best? Sometimes categories are so obvious, deep thinkers like Nick and John are operating on too high of a level to consider them. This week we are finally getting to a classic potato chip, but with a little bit of a twist. Of course the first contender is Lay's Classic, with a similar product of Munchos joining them. T…

Which Chai Tea is best? As the temperatures drop outside the desire to consume hot drinks goes, this is simple science. To help nudge John and Nick into a tea drinking habit we are trying out Chai Tea this week, specifically black tea (not chai tea lattes). There are three brands that will be competing this week, Stash, Tazo and Twinings. Then to a…

Which Lime Carbonated Water is best? In the past, this very podcast has already covered Lime carbonated water, and the unanimous winner was La Croix. Given how many options are out there we are going to do another test, but this time with 3 new contenders. The new contenders are Liquid Death, Spindrift (with real lime juice), and Topo Chico. Then t…

Which Spiced Rum is best? This podcast has covered a very wide variety of alcohol over its life, from light beer to Italian Vermouth. The most notable gap is something John nor Nick have shown any interest in doing until now. This week we finally figure out which Spiced Rum is the best. And just for good measure we through a Gold rum in the mix to …

Which Grape Soda is best? This week we finally get a "rematch" of the orange soda episode as we bring back Crush, Fanta, and Sunkist. This time we are trying their grape offerings, but we also throw in a fourth option which we both enjoyed as children, Welch's. Please like and subscribe and if you have any suggestions, let us know by tweeting us @t…

Which Oktoberfest beer is best? It's once again the most wonderful time of the year - fall. There is no better way to ring in the autumn season than by enjoying an Oktoberfest. We kept the format from last year by bringing 2 official Oktoberfest beers (Hofbrau & Spaten) and 2 American "Oktoberfest" beers (Founders & Sierra Nevada). Please like and …

Which Chocolate Chip cookie is best? A homemade baked good is almost always better than a prepackaged option. Given this fact, we are going to put the grocery store version of homemade to the test. Each of Aldi, Target, and Walmart have their own bakeries and this week we are testing out their Chocolate Chip Cookies. As an additional test we are al…

Which Instant Coffee is best? This week we start off by taste testing Arizona's new hard tea variety back. Later on we get to the main event of trying out 3 instant coffees. We both drink a fair amount of coffee, but neither Nick or John have gotten into the instant variety. The contenders for this week are Folgers, Nescafe (Taster's Choice), and S…

Which Rainbow ring cereal is best? This week we finally get to a category that America is known for, sugary breakfast cereals for children. For our first trip through the category we decided to try out a classic in Froot loops and put them up against a couple of their competitors. First is the health cereal Magic Spoon which is better for you, but …

Which Moscow Mule is best? We start this episode by trying two different candy bars who have offered up a new cookie dough flavor (Milky Way and Twix). Later we get to the main attraction of trying out some premade Moscow mules in a can. When we tried ginger ales we were a little let down with the lack of ginger flavor, so can the Moscow mules prov…

Which Light Beer is best? In the past we have done the most popular domestic light beers, but what about the penny pinchers? This week we bring in some of the options more popular in college dormitories around the country, those contenders are Busch Light, Keystone, and Natural Light. Then as a final test to see if these options are truly a step be…

Which Apple is best? This week we start by taste testing a premixed Manhattan cocktail made by On the Rocks. Later we try our first fruit brought by our special guest Joe. He brought the 5 best selling apples in the US to see which apple deserves the best apple title. The contenders are Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Red Delicious. …

Which Ginger Ale is best? This week we are finally getting to ginger ales. We've all seen the main players in this category, but our experience says they are a little weak on the ginger flavor. Instead we are trying out some of the pricier players in the game in hopes of getting more of that ginger. The contenders are Fever Tree, Q, Reed's and Zevi…

Which Soju is best? This week we are having a Korean extravaganza. We start by taste testing some of the most popular Sojus, and test out some of Korea's popular snacks along the way. These Soju brands are known for their flavored varieties but we decided to try out the original flavor first. The contenders are Charm, Good day and Jinro. Please lik…

This week we start out by trying Pringles new Habaneras chips, with habanero and lime flavor. Later we bring in the popular Japanese snack Pocky and pit them up against 2 of their competitors (Fran and Pepero). With everything on the line can Pocky justify their place in the snack aisle? Please like and subscribe and if you have any suggestions, le…

What Irish Whiskey is the best? This week we start out by trying a strange mixed drink called the Irish Cactus which combines Bailey's and Tequila. Then sticking with the theme we try out the three most popular Irish Whiskey's in the universe (my source only contained Earth information but I feel it's fair to extrapolate). The contenders are Jameso…

What Italian Vermouth is the best? This week we have another mystery box containing a wine that we are not very familiar with. This time the mystery wine, that apparently has wormwood, is Italian Vermouth. We cover a wide array with one Bianco (Chazalettes), one dry (Trincheri) and one extra dry (Triozzi) and later guess the price order. Please lik…

What meat stick is the best? This week we revisit the meat stick category, but this time we try the more expensive options. Each of these products boasts about being some combination of natural, non-GMO, no added sugar etc. Today we will see if these labels actually change the flavor. More importantly we learn if the flavor is worth the increase in…