Food science is constantly innovating new taste experiences, but some just don’t quite land in the marketplace. Here’s a list of my favourite flavours that sadly never quite caught on, but brought joy to my life during their short appearances.
Nanaimo Bar Frozen Yogurt
Company: Chapman’s Ice Cream
Nanaimo bars, the British Columbia delicacy featuring a rich stack of icing, chocolate, and crumb layers, is a dessert by itself and seemed like an odd choice to turn into a frozen delicacy. Chapman’s frozen yogurt exceeded all expectations and seamlessly integrated two great desserts before the experiment was unfortunately ended in 2015.
Caramel Apple Latte
Company: Second Cup
One of its seasonal hot fall drinks, Second Cup’s Caramel Apple Latte inspired harvest imagery and brought warmth to the impending bleakness of the cold Canadian winter. And even if coffee wasn’t your thing, the apple powder could be added to one’s own personal drink of choice to liven it up with its cinnamon and cider tones. Second Cup still serves hot apple cider, but it’s no different from the generic apple cider you can get anywhere and it is a pale imitation of the novel drink that came before.
General Tao Chicken Chips
Company: President’s Choice
PC’s interesting chip flavours rum the gamut from tacky Canadiana like Maple Bacon and Poutine to globe-spanning multiculturalism with Greek and Feta, Sriracha, and Szechuan, but my very favourite would be General Tao Chicken chips. PC’s unending innovation constantly comes up with “things man was not meant to know,” to quote H.P. Lovecraft, but although their grand flavour campaigns have their gems the price to pay is the constant discontinuation of the previous generation.
Raspberry White Tea Ginger Ale
Company: Canada Dry
Canada Dry’s Green Tea Ginger Ale is fantastic, but their Raspberry White Tea Ginger Ale was even better. The fruity undertone was subtle enough to massage the palate without a full-on tongue assault like Fanta or Crush’s fruit-flavoured pops, and adding tea to a traditional soft drink like ginger ale was a stroke of genius. The difference between white and green tea added further flavour invention.
Schweddy Balls
Company: Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s, the famous ice cream company has a website documenting their discontinued attempts called the “Flavour Graveyard”. It features such obscure products as “Schweddy Balls” featuring fudge-covered rum and malt balls and the obviously-named “Peanuts! Popcorn!”
