Have ever dreamed of a universe where all foods contain “Pop Rocks?” I haven’t either, but it’s still a fascinating idea to explore. Tom’s Farm has taken us one step closer to achieving this unstated collective dream with their release of Starlight Pangpang Almond. If you guessed this was another popular flavor of Baskin Robbin’s ice cream, then you are absolutely correct! There’s an ongoing theme at Tom’s Farm where flavors of ice cream are used to flavor their almonds. And, it seems that this theme has been working out quite well for them.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with this flavor of ice cream, Starlight Pangpang has a sweetened soda flavor that incorporates those little ballistic sugary charges that were known as “Pop Rocks" in the States. In my childhood, I know I used to enjoy ripping open a packet of “Pop Rocks" and shoving my mouth hole near one of my friends' ears, while asking, “Can you hear this?” I’m sure they enjoyed that. Now, I can do this once again, but with almonds. Although, this time, I can annoy my wife in the same fashion as before.
Ah… good times!
At least until she divorces me, kills me in my sleep, or boots me out of the house. Who knew “Pop Rocks" could be so dangerous to relationships?
Packaging:
Again, I picked up a small 25 gram (.88 ounce) package of these almonds for reviewing. If you’re new here, I have mentioned before that there are several different sizes of packages to choose from at Tom’s Farm. This small package doesn’t offer much, but if you’re just looking for a light snack, a taste test, or are reviewing, like myself, it’s perfect.
In this tiny package of nuts, there were only 9 almonds. That’s not a whole lot! The added encrusting of “Pop Rocks” cerainly added some extra heft to the candy coating. In other packages, I have gotten at least 2 more almonds than this one.
Another very important thing to note, the grams were spot in with this package. Finally! I’m happy that I didn’t get screwed out of almonds with this one. I was missing 2 grams of almonds before. I wasn’t happy about it either!
As for the artwork, it’s fun, just like the rest. The art direction fits the name perfectly with its space theme. We have almond cosmonauts zipping through space like Superman or riding on an organic almond spaceship like ‘Oumuamua. There’s also a glimpse of humanity’s future in this cover art. It looks like these almonds have traveled to a “Pop Rock" encrusted asteroid to mine these sugary crystalline treats. Maybe they’re working for a space mining corporation and are about to make the big bucks! Not billions, but trillions!
I’m also not sure what those “Pop Rocks" they found are laced with, but two of the almonds look like they’re high as kites. There’s also a wizard almond? That seems to break the overall theme a bit, but these are just almonds we’re talking about… maybe it’s part of the wild hallucinations the two almonds are dealing with? I guess we’ll never know…
Flavor:
There is some serious “Pop Rock" action going on with these almonds. It’s an explosive almond experience that I never thought I would have in this lifetime. There are basically “Pop Rocks" imbedded in the exterior of the candy coating like metal to an asteroid. The flavor of the candy coating is of sweet soda. The sweetness is also a bit fruity to my palette. Again, if you’ve tasted this flavor of ice cream at Baskin Robbin’s, it is nearly identical. On first bite, once you pass through the candy coated mantle, you will get to the almond core. The almond flavor is readily apparent in this flavor combination. Some of the other flavors of almonds from Tom’s Farm are so strong that you can’t really even taste the almonds. That’s not the case with Starlight Pangpang Almond. The almond flavor is present and gracefully combines with the sweet soda candy coating to form radiant, absolutely scrumptious flavor combination with plenty of explosive seismic activity.
Aroma:
There’s a distinctly unique aroma about these candied almonds. The main fragrance that is easily detectable is a sweet soda smell. The odor is slightly different than your usual soda aroma because of an underlying fruitiness. It’s quite subtle though. Another thing to note is the lack of almonds in the fragrance. The dense rocky exterior of Starlight Pangpang Almond makes sure that you cannot catch even the tiniest whiff of almond located at its core.
Verdict:
Tom’s Farm Starlight Pangpang Almond is a completely different “Pop Rock" experience from out of this world. What I like most about these almonds is that they break away from your normal use of “Pop Rocks.” This was a refreshing idea that turned out to be really fun. “Pop Rocks" make everything more fun when I think about it. Why don’t we incorporate them into more things like, scrambled “Pop Rock" eggs or “Pop Rock" Burritos?
The flavor is a deliciously sweet and slightly fruity soda experience that you can’t find outside of Baskin Robbin’s ice cream. Sucking on almonds was also different. It was almost like a new way of eating them.
Putting it simply, these nuts are equally as delicious as they are exciting. So, if you’re looking for a bit of nostalgia from eating “Pop Rocks" in the past or looking to try an almond flavor and experience that is alien to the rest, Tom’s Farm Starlight Pangpang Almond are the nuts for you.
What other tasty treats need to have “Pop Rocks" introduced to them? Would you have thought about adding “Pop Rocks" to almonds? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about Korean snack nuts or instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles and my other series, I Think I’m Going Nuts: An Eyeful of South Korea’s Little Snack Nuts, here on Medium.
