Q’s cubicle world may be far from woodsy (unless you count all the paper), but the staff gobbled 10 trail mix choices–including the new Really Nut Trail Mix by Hershey’s and Reese’s–like a hungry bear devouring a picnic basket. Don’t tell Ranger Smith!
Raisin nut trail mix
Brand: Archer Farms
Where to buy: Target
Price/size: $3.99 for four 1.5-ounce snack packs
What’s in it: Golden raisins, dark raisins, pepitas, cranberries, almonds, cashews, filberts and pistachios.
How it tastes: Tangy, not as sweet as others.
Pro: Good mix of nuts; needs more fruit to sweeten.
Con: Some fruits were dried out, and Q needs moisture on our hikes.
Rating: 6
Go Raw Trek Mix
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Where to buy: Trader Joe’s
Price/size: $3.99 for 1 pound bag
What’s in it: Raisins, cashews, walnuts, almonds and filberts.
How it tastes: Fresh-tasting nuts … with just enough raisins to provide proper sweetness.
Pro: Great variety of nuts. Walnuts contrast well with raisins. Great if you’re looking for more protein.
Con: Q will have to dry some grapes at our campfire, because this needs more raisins.
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Rating: 9.5
Nature’s Nicest
Brand: Mr. Z’s Snacks
Where to buy: Whole Foods
Price/size: $5.39 for a 1 pound bag
What’s in it: Raisins, peanuts, carob, almonds, walnuts, pepitas, sunflower kernels and soy nuts.
How it tastes: Enough raisins to satisfy the sweet craving. At least it’s not salty.
Pro: Genuinely trail-mixey…nice ratio of nuts to fruit. Also has carob for chocolate fix (well, for those deluded enough to consider carob a worthy substitute).
Con: Sort of bland.
Rating: 7
Campground Lake trail mix
Brand: The Vitamin Shoppe
Where to buy: The Vitamin Shoppe
Price/size: $1.29 for a 3.5-ounce bag
What’s in it: Raisins, sunflower seeds, peanuts, apricots, dates, almonds, pumpkin seeds and diced apples.
How it tastes: One tester said it doesn’t taste overly sweet; another said it’s too sweet. At least Q will have something to argue about on our way to the outhouse. Then again, the outhouse is everywhere.
Pro: Good variety.
Con: Kind of bland.
Rating: 4.5
Hershey’s Really Nuts
Brand: Hershey’s
Where to buy: Walgreens and most drugstores
Price/size: $1.50 for 3-ounce bag
What’s in it: Peanuts, Hershey’s Pieces candy-coated milk chocolate, raisins and almonds.
How it tastes: Tastes sort of basic. Too many peanut shells in the mix; raisins taste a little strange.
Pro: More likely to nosh on during a long car ride than a hike. In fact, let’s “rough it” in a hotel room.
Con: Basically peanuts and M&Ms. Save money and make your own. Q would just buy peanut M&Ms.
Rating: 4.5
GORP + M&MS
Brand: Your choice
Where to buy: Any supermarket or drugstore
What’s in it: Good old raisins and peanuts (GORP) and M&Ms.
How it tastes: Too sweet and too salty.
Pro: A classic make-your-own favorite…Q’s flashing back to the Great Smoky Mountains.
Con: Too salty…would opt for unsalted peanuts next time.
Rating: 6.5
Mocha Marble Crunch
Brand: Sun Ridge Farms
Where to buy: Whole Foods
Price/size: $7.99 per pound.
What’s in it: Chocolate Stars, almonds, yogurt peanuts, peanuts, vanilla chips, milk chocolate peanuts, organic chocolate coffee beans, pecans, redskin peanuts, Virginia peanuts, milk chocolate almonds and yogurt almonds.
How it tastes: Yummy! Everything tastes fresh and there’s not that powdery texture that you see in prepackaged trail mixes.
Pro: Although it has candy and chocolate, we could justify the extra calories by hiking more. Or, thinking about hiking more.
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Con: Would leave us feeling thirsty in the woods. So let’s hit that hotel bar.
Rating: 9
Snackin’ Healthy trail mix
Brand: Deerfield Farms
Where to buy: Walgreens (erroneous information published at this point has been deleted from this text)
Price/size: 99 cents for 2.5-ounce bag
What’s in it: Cranberries, raisins, apricots, cherries, blueberries, almonds, soy nuts and walnuts.
How it tastes: Very tasty. Fruit becomes cloying with sweetness. Like when Q bumped into that beehive, when we were dizzy from singing “Kum Ba Yah” 1,000 times.
Pro: Like the cherries and blueberries. Good if you’re on a low-protein diet.
Con: Needs more nuts if it’s going to call itself trail mix.
Rating: 6
Mixed nuts & raisins trail mix
Brand: Planters
Where to buy: Walgreens and most drugstores
Price/size: $2.59 for a 6-ounce bag
What’s in it: Peanuts, raisins, cashews, almonds, brazils, hazelnuts and pecans.
How it tastes: Raisins don’t seem as fresh as the others. Too salty for a hike . . . unless it’s to the Dead Sea.
Pro: Lots of nuts! Has pistachios, which is a nice nut that you don’t see too often.
Con: Call for help on the ham radio. There seems to be a fruit shortage on this trail.
Rating: 6
Reese’s Really Nuts
Brand: Reese’s
Where to buy: Walgreens
Price/size: $1.50 for 3 ounce bag
What’s in it: Peanuts, Reese’s Pieces, Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips and sunflower seeds.
How it tastes: Salty, sweet peanut buttery goodness.
Pro: Add some M&M’s and it’s sublime.
Con: Sugar! Salt! This trail goes nowhere.
Rating: 7