Review: Starbucks - Mocha Coconut Frappuccino

Starbucks' Mocha Coconut Frappuccino is back for a limited-time at your local Starbucks and features coffee, your choice of milk, bittersweet mocha sauce, coconut syrup and ice, blended together and topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and toasted coconut flakes. A 12-ounce Tall costs $3.95.

News: The Coffee Bean - Free Ice Blended Drink Today, 4-7pm

The Coffee Bean is holding one of their Open Houses today, May 10, 2011, from 4pm to 7pm at participating locations where you can get a free 12-ounce Ice Blended drink of your choice from three flavors: Mocha Mint Chip, Cookies & Cream, and Espresso Cream.

The Coffee Bean describes the taste of each flavor in the following fashion:

"Mocha Mint Chip - Rich complex chocolate with balanced expresso notes and a creamy mint finish.

Cookies & Cream - Sweet & creamy with decadent chocolate cookie and vanilla cream notes.

Expresso Cream - Rich, bold expresso flavor, creamy and smooth, balanced with just the right amount of sweetness."

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Mountain Dew Coolatta

It's Mountain Dew, only frozen. Well, more like slushied.

For a limited time, participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants nationwide are offering new Mountain Dew Coolattas this summer for the suggested retail price of $2.29 for a small, 16-ounce drink.

In conjunction with the new product, Dunkin' is running a rather odd promotion where up to 600 entrants a day get to control an ice blaster to unfreeze a Mountain Dew Coolatta Cup from a real block of ice to win prizes such as a Burton snowboard (isn't it summer?), a DD card, and other stuff. You can check out the details on their Facebook page.

News: Jack in the Box - New Bourbon BBQ Steak Grilled Sandwich

Along with its new Blackberry Shake, Jack in the Box has a new, limited-time sandwich: the Bourbon BBQ Steak Grilled Sandwich. The new sandwich features strips of steak, grilled onions and melting cheese covered with Jack’s new Bourbon BBQ sauce and served on grilled artisan bread.

Strangely the new sandwich is not available at restaurants in Austin, Houston and Kansas City. You can expect a price around the $4 mark (may vary).

Arby's Chicken Salad Taste-Off

I was asked by Arby's to participate in their Chicken Salad Taste-Off to compare Arby's Grilled Chicken & Pecan Salad Sandwich (or wrap) with Subway's popular Orchard Chicken Salad Sub. As part of my participation, I was given a gift card to Arby's and another to Subway to acquire each review item.

In addition, Arby's has graciously earmarked three $5 gift cards to give to three lucky readers (details at the end of this post).

News: Pizza Hut - $10.99 Any Large Lover's Pizza

Pizza Hut's limited-time promotion for May is $10.99 for any large Lover's Pizza which represents a savings of $1.01 off their regular simple price of $12.

Lover's Pizzas include the Ultimate Cheese Lover's Pizza (with Alfredo sauce topped three cheeses), the Pepperoni Lover's Pizza (with extra pepperoni and cheese, enough for every bite), the Meat Lover's Pizza (with pepperoni, ham, beef, bacon and sausage), the Cheese Lover's Plus Pizza (with lots and lots of cheese and your choice of two toppings), and the Veggie Lover's Pizza (with tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, green peppers, and black olives).

Review: Pepperidge Farm - Gingerman Cookies

Pepperidge Farm's Gingerman cookies are different from the Gingerbread cookies they offer during the Christmas season. They're thinner and crisp rather than crunchy.

A 5-ounce bag retails for around $4.09 with sales prices ranging from $2 to $3.

International Weekend: Forelli - Sugar Topped Puff Pastry

Welcome to International Weekend, a new feature on Brand Eating highlighting vittles imported into the U.S. from other countries. First up are Forelli Sugar Topped Puff Pastry cookies which come from Italy.

I was able to score a 7-ounce package for $1.59.

Frozen Friday: Hungry-Man - Popcorn Chicken with Spiced Rum BBQ Sauce

A new addition to the Hungry-Man line, Popcorn Chicken with Spiced Rum BBQ Sauce features popcorn-shaped, breaded chicken patties with a spiced rum barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Retail price is about $3.99 while sale price tends to be around $2.50 or less.

Review: McDonald's - New Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich

I walked into my local McDonald's the other day and found out that they had tweaked their line of premium chicken sandwiches with (as the manager explained to me) a new bun and a lower sodium count on the chicken. Intrigued, I ordered a new Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich for $4.29.

The sandwich features a new crispy chicken breast fillet, tomato slice, bacon, natural Swiss cheese, mayo and leaf lettuce on a toasted bakery-style bun.

News: Starbucks - Happy Hour Returns - May 6-15, 3-5pm

Starbucks' Happy Hour event starts anew this year beginning tomorrow, Friday, May 6th, 2011 until Sunday, May 15th, 2011 between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m.

During the event, at participating stores in the U.S. and Canada, you can purchase any Frappuccino drink for half-price.

The event first started last year as Starbucks promoted their However-You-Want-It Frappuccinos which allows customers to choose from a variety of milks, different intensities of coffee, and different combinations of syrups or toppings (with varying costs).

News: Starbucks - Mocha Coconut Frappuccino Returns for the Summer

A permanent fixture on the Starbucks' Hawaii menu, the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino has returned to the mainland for a limited time as summer begins to take off. The Mocha Coconut Frappuccino features Starbucks' signature Frappuccino Roast coffee, your choice of milk, bittersweet mocha sauce, coconut syrup and ice, blended together and topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and toasted coconut flakes.

For a more pure coconut experience, there's also the Coconut Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème which eschews the coffee and bittersweet mocha sauce.