Blind Taste Test #6: Gluten-Free Beer

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #6: Gluten-Free Beer!!

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Bard's The Original Sorghum Malt Beer
2. Lakefront Brewery's New Grist Beer
3. Anheuser-Busch's Redbridge
4. Green's Quest Tripel Blonde Beer

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Redbridge (4 of 5 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Bard's (3 of 5 votes)
  
• 3rd Favorite: New Grist (1 of 5 votes)
  
• Least Favorite: Green's (3 of 5 votes)
  

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each beer, please see the individual A-Z reviews - coming soon!)

• Most Favorite: Redbridge
  
• 2nd Favorite: Bard's
  
• 3rd Favorite: Green's
  
• Least Favorite: New Grist
  

Our Friend MS's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Redbridge - "Smooth, slight bitter, a bit of a hop-like flavor"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Bard's - "Slightly sweet, very smooth, sharp, bitter but not overbearing."
  
• 3rd Favorite: New Grist - "Very smooth finish, slight fruits. A bit chewy and sweet. Not really beer-like. Closer to cider."
  
• Least Favorite: Green's - "Sweet aroma, fruity flavor, slightly bitter. Almost like a cider/beer mix. Almost like a bubbling wine."
  

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: New Grist - "very light, almost like wine. Soft without a bitter note anywhere. Very mild and not very beer-y."
  
• 2nd Favorite: Bard's - "More malty, not much bitterness"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Redbridge - "Malty, bite to finish"
  
• Least Favorite: Green's - "light, fruity head with slightly bitter end"
  

Our Friend GW's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Redbridge - "In terns of comparing this to regular beer, this one is my favorite. Slightly fruity but smooth and mellow. Nice aroma and not to sugary."
  
• 2nd Favorite: New Grist - "Kind of fruity but nice. More like a cider than a beer, but good and not too sugary."
  
• 3rd Favorite: Green's - "Not bad but not something I'd go out of my way for. Too fruity and too citric, but I'm not a big fan of cider and that was my first thought."
  
• Least Favorite: Bard's - "Kind of like fruity water. Not very tasteful and kind of bland."
  

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each beer, please see the individual A-Z reviews - coming soon!)

• Most Favorite: Redbridge
  
• 2nd Favorite: New Grist
  
• 3rd Favorite: Bard's
  
• Least Favorite: Green's
  

Z's Blind Taste Test #5: Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #5: Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snaps
2. Nana's Ginger Cookie
3. Pamela's Products' Spicy Ginger Cookies *
   
4. Pamela's Products' Ginger Mini Snapz *
   

*I would have preferred to use four completely different brands of gluten-free ginger cookies, but after looking in three different stores these were the only four different types of gluten-free ginger cookies I could find. So, like the chocolate chip cookie blind taste test, I ended up using two different types of Pamela's Products cookies.


The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz (3 of 6 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's (4 of 6 votes)
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies (4 of 6 votes)
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's (4 of 6 votes)

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snaps
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "great! crunchy! crispy! yum!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crunchy, slight lemony taste"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "really chewy - makes me worry about the health of my jaw! interesting subtle flavor under the strong ginger"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "gritty - but weirdly yummy, very gingery, kind of cakey and more like eating cookie dough than cookies"

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "tastes just like normal ginger snaps - yummy!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crunchy, sweet, but less ginger-snappy than my favorite"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Nana's - "way cakey-er, not at all crunchy, interesting, very light in weight and flavor"
  
• Least Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "very gingery, really chewy - too many would hurt my jaw!"

Our Friend MS's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "balanced flavor, nice and crispy"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crispy, strong ginger flavors"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "really strong ginger flavor, soft but firm, almost too much"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "not as gingery, grainy"

Our Friend GW's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's - "nice, crispy but not tough with a pleasant ginger taste"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "more of a biscuit tan a cookie, nice sharp ginger tast, very crisp but also maybe too tough to what I prefer"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "these taste like what i want a ginger cookie to taste like but what happened to these cookies? kind of like they got baked with taffy!"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "wait, am i eating less flavorful cakes of brown sugar? te taste is not great and it is only slightly gingery, but there is something about the texture that is very nice and compelling"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Nana's
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz
  
• Least Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies
  

Z's Blind Taste Test #4: Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #4: Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. 365 Everyday Value's Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix
2. Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix
3. Namaste Foods' Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix
4. Chebe's Pizza Crust Mix
   

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Chebe (5 of 6 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Namaste (3 of 6 votes)
  
• Tied for 3rd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value (3 of 6 votes)
  
• Tied for 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills (3 of 6 votes)
  

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each pizza crust, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Chebe
  
• 2nd Favorite: Namaste
  
• 3rd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Chebe - "herbed but not strongly, crispy crust"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Namaste - "crunchier than I'd like but yummy, herbed, very crisp but got mushy when sitting out"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "chewier than I'd like and really fluffy, might make better breadsticks"
  
• Least Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "just not good as pizza crust"
  

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Namaste - "really thin, very crunchy, couldn't tell the difference between this and normal thin crust pizza"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Chebe - "tougher but yummy flavor"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "very fluffy, strange flavor but still good"
  
• Least Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "fluffy and grainy"

Our Friend GW's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Chebe - "has a nice density, good crisp but still slightly chewy, not bad at all"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "a little yeasty but not that bad, good desnity and crisp, might be perfect without yeast flavor"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste - "reminds me of school cafeteria pizza, I like the crisp but not when it gets saturated"
  
• Least Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "is this pizza or a cake with pizza toppings? not a fan, could be a lot better"

Our Friend MS's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Chebe - "thin and crispy, good herbs, nice flavors"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Namaste - "thin but not as crispy, a decent flavor but not as good"
  
• 3rd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "breadlike, fluffy, bland flavor, might be good with added spices"
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "grainy and yeasty"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each pizza crust, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Chebe
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills
  

Z's Blind Taste Test #3: Gluten-Free Pancakes!

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #3: Gluten-Free Pancakes

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Namaste Foods' Waffles & Pancakes Mix
2. Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free Pancake & Baking Mix
3. Gluten-Free Pantry's Brown Rice Pancake & Waffle Mix
4. 365 Everyday Value's Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix
   

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry (4 of 6 votes!)*
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value (4 of 6 votes)*
  
• Tied for 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods (3 of 6 votes)
  
• Tied for 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills (3 of 6 votes)
  

*Although the votes did eventually come up with a first and second place, everybody had trouble deciding between Gluten-Free Pantry and 365 Everyday Value. After the tasting was over we discovered that these two brands actually have the exact same ingredients in the exact same order! So these two mixes are basically the same thing! No wonder people had difficulty deciding!

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills
  
• Least Favorite: Namaste Foods

Z's Mama's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry - "fluffy, yet crispy; it looked pretty and browned"
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "similar to favorite one"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "texture like cornmeal? sweet, vanilla flavor."
  
• Least Favorite: Namaste Foods - "flat & green!"

Our Friend MM's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry - "smooth, not chewy, pancakey!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "sticks in my teeth! grimy, crunchy"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "crumbly, too sweet, cookie flavor, grainy"
  
• Least Favorite: Namaste Foods - "dense, good flavor, but really flat"

Our Friend TL's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "awesome! moist and pancake tasting, my favorite!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry - "very good, still a little bland but generally quite tasty; not as good as my favorite but with butter and syrup totally passable for a regular pancake"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods - "a little bland, very strong floury taste; sort of unremarkable like those protein things they give astronauts - nourishing but not yummy"
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "cinnamony tasting, which I like, but the texture is really gritty - ew! like chewing sand and syrup cannot hide it"

Our Friend MS's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: 365 Everyday Value - "fluffy, buttery, holds syrup, mmm...."
  
• 2nd Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry - "fluffy, colored well, not quite as buttery as my favorite"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods - "flat and not fluffy, really light in color but holds shape"
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "a bit chalky and still flat, light in color but doesn't hold shape"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Gluten-Free Pantry
  
• 2nd Favorite: 365 Everyday Value
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods
  
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills
  

Z's Blind Taste Test #2: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #2: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Cherrybrook Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies
2. Enjoy Life's Soft Baked Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
   
3. Pamela's Products Chunky Chocolate Chip *
4. Pamela's Products Simplebites Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies *
   

*I would have preferred to use four completely different brands of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but after looking in three different stores these were the only four different types of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I could find. I was able to find some other brands of frozen cookie dough, but I didn't think it would be fair to compare fresh baked with packaged cookies, so I ended up using two different types of Pamela's Products cookies.

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites (5 of 5 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip (4 of 5 votes)
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen (2 of 5 votes)
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life (3 of 5 votes)
  

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites
  
• 2nd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "winner! crunchy & tasty!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip- "close contender, generally good, reminded me of 'chips ahoy'"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Enjoy Life - "still in the medals! tasted more like gingerbread, chewy, strange gritty aftertaste"
  
• Least Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "fourth place, somewhat bland

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "pretty good, crunchy"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip - "lighter, more airy"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Enjoy Life - "super sweet, very chewy"
  
• Least Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "airy, kind of bitter aftertaste"
  

Our Friend HB's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "crispy! ;0)"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip - "soft, big chocolate chunks"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "crispy, reminded me of Trader Joe's little chocolate chip cookies"
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life - "chewy, but with a hint of ginger flavor, grainy after texture"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life
  

Z's Blind Taste Test #1: Gluten-Free Brownies!

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a NEW feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #1: Gluten-Free Brownies!

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Pamela's Products' Chocolate Brownie Mix
2. Trader Joe's Gluten Free Brownie Baking Mix
3. Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free Brownie Mix
4. Namaste Foods' Gluten Free Brownie Mix

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's!! (4 of 4 votes!)
• 2nd Favorite: Pamala's Products (2 of 4 votes)
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Products (2 of 4 votes)
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills (2 of 4 votes)
  

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each brownie, please see the individual A-Z review)

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Products
  
• 3rd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills
• Least Favorite: Namaste Foods
  

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's - "moist and wonderful!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "cakey, sweeter than the others"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods - "darker chocolate taste, can taste a lot of nutmeg"
  
• Least Favorite: Pamela's Products - "weird, chalky taste"
  

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's - "best of the bunch"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Products - "cake-like & crumbly, but I like the chocolate chips in it"
• 3rd Favorite: Namaste Foods - "chewier, a little bitter"
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills - "weird and chalky, strange color"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each brownie, please see the individual A-Z review)

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's
  
• 2nd Favorite: Namaste Foods
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Products
• Least Favorite: Arrowhead Mills