Food and Drink

Recent Food/Drink Reviews

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew

I brought the Colombia and Italian Roast on my 28-day hike on JMT. I had it every morning! I personally think it was adequate instant coffee for a cheap price to have every day on the trail. Small packaging doesn't take up too much space in the bear canister. I mixed mine with Carnation Instant Breakfast (vanilla and chocolate) for more nutrients in the morning. It tasted great! With multiple flavors to choose from, this instant coffee is a great choice. Easy to use. Just add water. You can mix… Full review

Skratch Labs Energy Bar Sport Fuel

LOVE this bar! Easy to digest and yummy! Peanut Butter and Strawberries ***** Peanut Butter and Chocolate ***** Raspberries and Lemon *** Chocolate Chips and Almonds **** Cherries and Pistachios **** These energy bars are perfect for any hike. They pack well, they taste scrumptious, and pack a lot of nutrients for a yummy bar.  Averaging 5 grams of protein, 30-35 carbs, and 13 grams of fat, these bars will give you enough energy to get your morning started and stay satiated until lunch! Full review

Mountain House Scrambled Eggs with Bacon

A significant improvement over previous iterations of this breakfast, now with significantly less sodium. Nutrition and taste: In the past, this meal has been a salt bomb of epic proportions—no longer!  Sodium content now stands at 1020mg or 42% r.d.a. for the full meal. I could still taste the salt, but it was not overwhelming. I expect this would be thoroughly reasonable for a breakfast to start off a hot, long day of hiking. Preparation: I followed the package instructions exactly: 1 cup of… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Larb

A tasty rendering of a traditional spicy southeast Asian chicken and rice meal, well worth stocking up on. Larb: a Laotian or Thai spicy salad consisting of ground, chopped, or minced meat and vegetables. I've never encountered this dish before, and after trying Backpacker's Pantry's take this previous lack of experience saddens me.  I was intrigued by the idea of mint as part of a main dish. How strong would that flavor be? How would it balance with the garlic and the chilis? Nutrition info: Gluten-free… Full review

Gastro Gnome Packable Meals

Gastro Gnome dried meals are hands-down the best I've ever tasted. If you prefer the taste of real food, prepared as it would be at home or in a restaurant, you need to give these a try. You'll be glad you did. I gave these meals a try on two multi-day backpacking trips trips last summer and they were incredibly good. Instead of bland, but over-salted flavor, these meals taste like what you'd get in a good restaurant—really—and this is reflected in ingredient lists that look like recipes out… Full review

Backpacker's Pantry Summit Breakfast Scramble

Much less salty than many similar scrambled-egg breakfast offerings, but otherwise not out of the ordinary. The humble breakfast scramble. So many manufacturers have tried so many times to get it right. So many manufacturers have failed in one way or another. How would the Summit Breakfast Scramble version from Backpacker's Pantry stack up? Nutrition Info: Dietary: Vegetarian, Gluten-free Calories: 260 per pouch Protein: 18g of protein per pouch Servings: 1 per pouch Sodium: 820 mg (36% daily… Full review

Peak Refuel Butternut Dal Bhat

A lovely, creamy, curry-spiced freeze-dried meal. Back to the winter proving grounds for another test run of a freeze-dried meal.  This one, like the previous review, is another dal bhat. A wee reminder: bhat is a rice soup, and dal is a relative of the humble lentil.   So this, this is called a dal bhat, but it's not actually a dal bhat. See, it's got no dal. It does have rice, and lentils, and chickpeas, and chunks of butternut squash. Given the coconut milk curry sauce and the squash and the… Full review

Firepot Dal and Rice with Spinach

A traditional Himalayan offering from a small British company. Low-fat, low-sodium, vegan. I've had this sitting in my food box since before the pandemic. I don't know if I bought it or if it was gifted to me. It certainly looks interesting, though. I've had dal bhat before, albeit a cream-sauce-based variety—which is, apparently, not entirely traditional?  So, "dal" is a legume akin to a lentil. And "bhat" is rice. While these British fellows don't call this meal "dal bhat," dal bhat is essentially… Full review

Stowaway Gourmet Turkish Delight

Tangy freeze-dried yogurt and puffed whole grains. Intriguing, but ultimately not quite a rousing success. So, another attempt at a backpacking breakfast. I tried this one at home, as I had serious reservations about it.  First reservation: it's a cold breakfast. I tend to prefer hot, savory breakfasts.  And while a cold meal certainly appeals and satisfies on some days, it's an awful gamble out on the trail. But if you like a cold breakfast, here you go! Not necessarily a reservation—potentially… Full review