Junk Food Nation, I know I’m a LITTLE late to this story, but let’s talk Palcohol.  What is Palcohol?  Why, powdered alcohol, of course. I’m going to repeat that: POWDERED ALCOHOL.  Yep, that’s right.  According its website:

“Imagine a Margarita on a counter. And then imagine if you could snap your fingers and it would turn into powder. That’s Palcohol….without the magic. Palcohol is just a powder version of vodka, rum and four cocktails….with the same alcoholic content.”

Holy hell. This can’t be real. Wait, how much alcohol is in Palcohol?

“Palcohol, when used as directed, by adding five ounces of liquid to it, is equal to a standard mixed drink…. One way is by adding five ounces of your favorite mixer to make a Rum and Coke, Vodka and Orange Juice, etc. Another option is adding five ounces of water to the powder and then adding a flavored drink powder to make it any flavor you want. The result is equivalent to one average mixed drink. ”

What? WHAT???? I’m both intrigued and scared.  Think of the possibilities – sneaking drinks into stadiums became a whole lot easier (both a plus and minus), bringing alcohol on planes became a possibility (BIG plus for anyone sick of paying $6 for a vodka tonic on an airplane), and the possibility of young kids snorting this crap just opened up (um…please don’t be idiots, kids. Although I never thought butt chugging would become fashionable too, but I WAS WRONG ABOUT THAT ONE TOO).

Right now, there are some conflicting reports of when this will be hitting the shelves – this article says it is coming this Fall, while this article says it could be a while.  Both articles state the issue is not-approved labeling.  Makes sense – if you’re gonna  have this stuff out there, you need to make sure people know what it is.  Remember Four Loko?  Yeah…that wasn’t a debacle or anything.

So what do YOU think, Junk Food Nation?  Powdered alcohol – dangerous or awesome?  Both?  Is there anyway this ISN’T headed for certain disaster?  Tell me in the comments below.

Hey, at least the website asks people to use it responsibly.  And you know, people ALWAYS do what they’re told.

Today’s junk food: eatKeenwa Krunch!

Junk Food Nation, despite what my jiggling belly reveals, I generally eat pretty healthy outside of all the crap I eat for this site.  Seriously. SERIOUSLY.  Chicken breasts, kale, spinach salads, grapefruits, quinoa, kombucha, all that noise – I consume all of it.  Maybe the reason my belly is so jiggly is because I eat too MUCH of it but whatever – leave me alone with my punch bowl full of hummus and carrot sticks.

I do love quinoa, even though I recognize it’s no healthier than rice if you’re eating it in mass quantities.  Still, I enjoy it and have it plenty.  So when eatKeenwa Krunch came along, claiming to be a nutritious tasty quinoa snack? I had to try it.

eatKeenwa Krunch sent me all four flavors, so big thanks to them for that.  They are made in Brooklyn, and if you wanna read all their schtick, go here. Me? I’m here to eat.

When I opened this Coconut Cranberry Cashew pack of eatKeenwa Krunch, I could immediately smell the coconut.  Smelled nice and sweet. Each quinoa cluster, as you can see, was held together by the honey – these were like TINY granola bars.  Or, if you’ve had them before, like those sesame snacks you can get in some Asian groceries.

Popping a couple in my mouth, these were nice and hearty, and chewy.  The quinoa and honey mix was not hard on my teeth, and gave a nice chew.  There was a clear flavor of cashew as I chewed, and the sweetness was there with the honey and dried cranberries.  The coconut flavor came in and out. At times these was a bit of salt, which mixed nicely with the cashew flavor. These were pretty tasty, I have to admit, and plenty accessible by anyone’s palette, I feel.

The Cinnamon Banana Strawberry variety of eatKeenwa Krunch smelled very strongly of banana when I opened the bag.  Some people hate banana flavor in snacks because they tend to find them artificial tasting. I am in the middle – I really enjoy banana chips, and that’s what these smelled like.

Popping some in my mouth, this flavor was, for some reason, a LOT crunchier than the previous flavor.  Harder too – just a bit harder to bite through.  Again, there was a slight saltiness to these pieces which helped give contrast to the overall sweet flavor.  The taste of the bananachips was prevalent, and the strawberry flavor, to me, only served to help complement the banana flavor.  I could detect a tiny bit of cinnamon, but I definitely felt like the prominent flavor was the banana.

If you like banana chips, you’ll like these.  Not sure why they were so much crunchier than the previous flavor, though.

The Walnut Date Agave eatKeenwa Krunch smelled really nice – the soft aroma of dates came out when opening this bag. I LOVE DATES. When I chewed these, these were back to the softer texture of the first flavor.  Thankfully.

These might be my favorite flavor – the taste of the walnut and agave syrup was really bold, and as I chewed, the deep deep sweet date flavor just came out and dumped its goodness everywhere.  The perfect “granola bar” combo – not overly sweet, but full of flavor.  Home run here.

Finally, when I opened this Vanilla Almond Raisin bag of eatKeenwa Krunch and breathed deeply, I could smell the moderate aroma of vanilla.  I was sort of surprised by this, since I’m not sure when before I’ve ever REALLY “smelled” vanilla except in ice cream…but I smelled it here.

The taste of this flavor was pretty basic, and that simplicity was good.  The flavor of the quinoa snack was vanilla, punctuated with the flavor of sesame and almonds.  I tasted the raisins, but didn’t get a TON of raisin flavor with this one.  I’d say this flavor tasted the most like cereal that I’d had in the past; any basic muesli.  Simple, good – not that memorable to this eater.

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So there you have it! My review of all eatKeenwa Krunch flavors. Thanks again to eatKeenwa for letting me try them!  Honestly, for anyone who has ever eaten a granola bar, and you’re looking for another alternative that uses quinoa – these should be where you start.  My ranking:

1. Walnut Date Agave
2. Coconut Cranberry Cashew
3. Cinnamon Banana Strawberry
4. Vanilla Almond Raisin

PURCHASED AT: you can buy them here!

COST: Looks like they run about $5 a bag

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy