If you’ve never toured a whiskey distillery, the experience can be uncommonly old-fashioned. While newer distilleries thrive on automation, many still tout their “by hand” operations as a defining characteristic, a heritage that gives them street cred. Many distilleries are downright smug about the lack of computers or even climate control in any facet of their operations—even if this means things don’t always go according to plan. Easily preventable errors are chalked up as a cost of doing business, perhaps adding to the romance of whiskey-making while draining the budget.
Mandell says that while the influence of a seasoned master distiller is great, there’s a real risk in eschewing technology when it comes to the finished product. “What many of the other guys get is just inconsistent,” he says, “because they have less control over the process.” And that inconsistency, he adds, can often be felt down the line, in the quality of their whiskey.
Contract Negotiations
Like many industries, whiskey is very incestuous, and the distillery named on the label may not really make the liquid inside the bottle. In fact, that distillery may not exist at all. For example, you can’t visit Redemption Whiskey’s distillery, because there isn’t one; the brand sources all its stock from MGP Ingredients in Indiana.
There are two primary ways to get whiskey without distilling it yourself. Sourcing usually involves buying barrels that have already been made by someone else. Contract distilling happens when whiskey is distilled to order for a client’s specifications. Both are commonplace.
Mandell is a veteran of Bardstown Bourbon Company, a well regarded operation he helped to launch in 2014. Bardstown made (and still makes) its own whiskeys, but like many distillers it also produces for others on contract. These contract distilling services are where the fast money is made. Whiskey produced today won’t be sold until it’s properly aged—for years—but unlike consumers, contract customers have to pay up front. Bardstown has been able to thread the needle and do both sides successfully—though without its thriving contract production business and the hiring of Hargrove (who now leads the Whiskey House production team) to fix some quality issues, Mandell implies that Bardstown might not have been so fortunate in its early days.
When Mandell and Hargrove departed Bardstown around the time of a private equity buyout a few years ago, they got to work on a new business almost immediately. The concept, Mandell says, was simple: “What if we could start over, take everything that we learned, and create the distillery and the system from scratch,” he says. “What’s needed out there? What problems can we solve?”
It turns out there were a lot of problems to solve, and a lot of demand. After all, the many so-called non-distiller producer brands—including most of the “celebrity” whiskeys that now crowd the market, like Beyonce’s SirDavis—have to be made somewhere.
Celebrate the weekend with Houston’s best food and drink happenings.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s tasty food and drink happenings:
Saturday–Monday
2800 Kirby
Pondicheri is ushering in the Festival of Lights with a festive Diwali Thali, available in-house from October 18 to October 20. For $28 (vegetarian), $32 (chicken) or $35 (lamb), enjoy a platter featuring 7-Vegetable Stew, Rajma Chaat, Carrot Paratha, Fresh Fruit, Besan Mithai, and a choice of Paneer Kebab, Chicken Kebab or Lamb Kebab.
Katy Wine Festival – Texas Wine Showcase at Smith Ranch
Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.
25440 Beckendorff
The Katy Wine Festival returns for an afternoon showcase packed with Texas pours, chef bites, and live music. Guests can sample from a lineup of local wineries and restaurants while supporting the Brookwood Community, which benefits adults with disabilities. Expect plenty of sips, good eats, and a laid-back crowd of wine lovers. Tickets start at $65 for general admission.
Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m.
401 Franklin
Hit Houston’s coolest Skylawn for its first-ever Oktoberfest, featuring beer from local and national breweries like Karbach, Eureka Heights and Sierra Nevada, plus stein-hoisting contests, live polka, a costume competition and plenty of German-inspired bites. The 21+ is free to attend.
Saturday, 7 to 11:30 p.m.
908 Henderson
Houston beverage industry vet Ashley Bell celebrates the grand opening of her new Old Sixth Ward bar, The Bell and Crane, 908 Henderson. Featuring quality cocktails, nostalgic ‘90s-inspired snacks and a laid-back dive bar vibe, the opening party kicks off at 7 p.m. with live DJ beats and bbq bites from Henderson & Kane. Entry is free, with VIP tickets to elevate the experience with a custom bbq plate, three cocktails, reserved seating, a 10 percent off coupon and swag.
New Magnolia Brewing and Mutiny in the Heights team up for a fall-friendly celebration of brews, bites, and good times as guests enjoy a guided beer tasting led by owner Shayn Robinson. Sip through four standout brews paired with seasonal bites, then stick around for a live patio set from Taylor Marberry at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, or $45 with early access, a full pint and a New Magnolia koozie. Seating begins at 3 p.m. (resy.com)
The Great American Beer Festival welcomed drinkers to Denver over the weekend to experience the best in craft beer and cider, and it turns out Colorado residents don’t have to travel far to sip the best suds the industry has to offer.
The festival’s prestigious awards, which took place Saturday, are a testament to that. Colorado breweries and cideries made a phenomenal showing, collecting a total of 40 medals, 19 of which were gold. That is down slightly from last year’s haul of 41 medals, but the straight numbers don’t tell the full story.
In 2025, three different producers were honored as “brewery of the year” in their respective size categories – a huge honor considering more than 1,500 breweries and cidermakers entered this year’s competition. (The Denver Post did not include these accolades in the total medal count.)
“It was a great showing for Colorado’s craft breweries at the GABF awards ceremony. With three brewery of the year awards and 16 gold (beer) medals, Colorado craft breweries continue to prove that they consistently brew some of the best beers in the country,” Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewer Guild, said in a statement. “The diversity of styles shows that breweries in Colorado can make exceptional beer for all types of palates.”
Westbound & Down Brewing Co. was the biggest company to earn the “brewery of the year” title, in the 5,001 to 15,000-barrel category, and it did so with six medals awarded to its IPAs and lagers. That includes three gold medals, one of which was in the West Coast IPA category, the competition’s second-most competitive. The brewery’s How the West Was Won IPA beat out 299 other entries to take the top of the podium.
As added icing on the cake, the company’s subsidiary Aspen Brewing Co. also garnered gold in the brand-new Mexican-style pale lager category with a beer called Casa Bonita. It doesn’t get more Colorado than that.
Denver’s River North Brewery was named “brewery of the year” in the 1,001 to 2,000-barrel size range after it collected two medals, both of them gold. And Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. in Golden, a mainstay at the GABF awards, took home the title in the 501 to 1,000-barrel size category with three total accolades.
Other notable standouts include Denver Beer Co. winning silver for its non-alcoholic Tangerine Cream ale; Our Mutual Friend Brewing Co. grabbing silver in the American-style IPA category; and Fritz Family Brewers landing atop the podium in the Pro-Am competition for a collaboration with homebrewer Christopher Owens of Longmont. Interesting, the now-defunct Banded Oak Brewing Co. in Denver also took home one bronze medal.
Local cideries Haykin Family Cider and Snow Capped Cider also made a commendable showing with a total of seven medals. They collectively swept the single-varietal cider category with Haykin Family Cider earning gold and bronze and Snow Capped Cider taking home silver.
This year, the Brewers Association gave out awards for the best beer packaging and branding. While Colorado didn’t officially win, we thought River North’s Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun, which won a gold medal in the coffee beer category, deserved an honorable mention.
See the full list of award-winning local beers below. You can find all the competition results at greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
Gold
American-Style Pale Ale – Parallel Pale, Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Lafayette
Belgian-Style or French-Style Specialty Ale – River North White, River North Brewery, Denver
Coffee Beer – Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun, River North Brewery, Denver
A Denver rotisserie chicken spot with a Boulder pedigree is closing this month after almost a decade in Lower Highland.
Brider, at 1644 Platte St., crafts roasted chicken sandwiches, salads, soups, polenta bowls and pastas from morning to 8 p.m. every day. It’ll close after lunch Oct. 23, according to a post on its Instagram page.
The post didn’t state why the fast-casual restaurant was closing. Brider owner Bryan Dayton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dayton and chef Steve Redzikowski opened Brider in 2016 with two concepts under their belts: Oak at Fourteenth, a fine-dining restaurant in Boulder, and Acorn, which at one time was the flagship restaurant for The Source in Denver. Brider’s kitchen quickly drew raves for its eclectic fare, such as its Cajun shrimp sandwiches, quinoa salads and hearty meatballs and porchetta dishes.
Redzikowski was a semifinalist for best chef in the southwest region at the James Beard Awards in 2015 and a nominee for the category in 2017. He and Dayton closed Acorn following the outbreak of coronavirus in 2020.
Dayton still runs Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality, which also owns Corrida in Boulder and C Burger, with locations in Boulder and Englewood.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s tasty food and drink happenings:
Houston International Festival
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
2509 Alabama
The Houston International Festival brings together global flavors with live bands and DJ sets across multiple genres, family-friendly activities, cultural performances, pop-up art displays and an exclusive VIP section with premium seating. Tickets are $10 GA (free for kids) and $50 VIP.
2025 Pearland Beer Fest at Pearland Town Center
Saturday, 2 to 7 p.m. (1 p.m. VIP)
11200 Broadway
Hit up the 2025 Pearland Beer Fest for an afternoon of craft beer tasting, live music and local food vendors, with over 30 breweries participating. General admission wristbands include six samples, with VIP access offering early access and a VIP glass.
Expo Tequila & Mezcal Houston – Edición Especial Día de Muertos at Post Houston
Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m.
401 Franklin
This tequila and mezcal festival celebrates life and traditions with an immersive cultural experience in honor of the Day of the Dead. Guests can expect a variety of tequila and mezcal brands, live music, a Catrina contest and traditional altars. Tastings are included with your ticket purchase.
Tequila Fest Houston at The Water Works at Buffalo Bayou Park
Saturday, 3 to 10 p.m.
105 Sabine
Tequila fans can sip, savor, and celebrate their favorite drink at Tequila Fest Houston, where dozens of tequila and mezcal brands pour flights alongside street eats from local vendors. Live music, games, and a festive outdoor vibe make it a perfect Saturday afternoon and evening. Tickets start at $25 and the event is 21+ only.
Korean Festival Houston at Discovery Green
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
1500 McKinney Houston’s largest Korean cultural celebration returns for its 16th year, expanding to a two-day event at the beautiful Discovery Green. Enjoy a vibrant lineup of authentic Korean cuisine, K-pop performances, traditional Korean music, enriching experiences and family-friendly fun. Admission is free.
A California company has recalled nearly 245000 pounds (111130.04 kilograms) of pre-cooked pasta linked to a deadly listeria outbreak and potential contamination of dozens of products sold at grocery stores nationwide.
Nate’s Fine Foods of Roseville, California, recalled thousands of cases of linguine, fettucine, penne and other pastas sold to large producers of heat-and-eat meals and pasta salads on Sept. 25, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration notice posted Thursday.
The move came after tests showed that pasta made by Nate’s Fine Foods contained the same strain of listeria found in chicken fettucine Alfredo and meatball linguine products linked to an outbreak that has killed four people and sickened 20 since August 2024. The most recent illness reported occurred on Sept. 11.
FreshRealm, the San Clemente, California, company that produced those meals, used genetic sequencing to confirm the link to the outbreak.
Several grocery stores have recalled products made with pasta from Nate’s Fine Foods. The FDA and the U.S. Agriculture Department have warned consumers not to eat the foods and to discard them or return them to stores for refund.
A Denver brewery known as a hub for the Latino community closed suddenly this week after city officials seized the property’s assets due to unpaid back taxes.
Raíces Brewing Co. in Lincoln Park owed $98,703 in sales and personal property taxes, according to a distraint warrant issued by the city. The business closed on Wednesday when the warrant was issued.
Brewery CEO José Beteta was not immediately available to comment on the circumstances, but a detailed goodbye note on Raíces’ website states the company had been working with the city for about a year to establish a payment plan for the taxes. The company blamed “a series of unexpected charges” issued by the city that it said are related to what’s called a business personal property tax. That’s essentially a tax on whatever assets a business owns.
The note alleged that Raices had “never received prior billing notices” and that all invoices dating back to 2019 “arrived together in 2024, already including years of interest and penalties — despite our lack of prior information.”
However, city spokesperson Laura Swartz said in a statement that the personal property taxes owed only amounted to $10,765, or about 10% of the business’s total outstanding balance. Raices owed nearly $69,000 in sales tax and about $30,000 for penalties and interest, she said.
“It’s unfortunate that this situation has gotten to this point. We want Denver’s businesses to succeed and that means offering the best customer service we can to them,” Swartz said. “Before issuing a warrant, we attempt to reach the business by phone, mail, email, and in person to both collect the sales tax and ensure they can continue to operate. As Raices has noted, the city has attempted to work with them for years, including on a payment plan that was not fulfilled.”
Opened in late 2019, Raíces Brewing Co. offered a welcome dash of diversity to Denver’s craft beer scene. Raíces means “roots” in Spanish, and the brewery quickly became a hotspot for events and traditions celebrating Latino culture. Its annual Suave Fest spotlighted Latin beer makers from across the country.
Raíces’ closure is notable because of its unique space in the community, and also because the beer was worth seeking out. In 2022, it won a silver medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championship for its Furia imperial red ale.
“Raíces Brewing Co. has always been more than a business – it has been a space of community, culture, and human connection. A meeting place where thousands of people celebrated their roots, their identity, and their diversity. We are profoundly proud to have built a place that served our people and the city of Denver with love, respect, and purpose,” the goodbye note says. “In times when the world often feels increasingly divided, spaces like this become essential.”
The Ninja Slushi doesn’t go on sale often. Why would it? Throughout this year and last, the real story behind the Ninja Slushi was that you couldn’t find the dang thing in stock.
What a difference a season makes: Now it’s $50 off list price on an early Prime Day deal. This is the best (and kinda the only) actual deal I’ve seen on the Ninja Slushi. It’s among the most exciting and surprising early Prime Day deals, but check out our rundown for more.
Courtesy of Ninja
I received a Ninja Slushi to test at the beginning of summer, and it changed my year a lot more than I expected. The Slushi has been an unbridled hit since it first came out (then promptly sold out) last year. It’s a feat of engineering that brought the bar slushie machine into the American home kitchen and onto the American home patio.
Just like my favorite soda maker, the Drinkmate Omnifizz ($133), the Slushi offered the chance to try pretty much every drink you already like … a different way. Orange juice slushie, cold-brew slushie latte, mimosa slushie, frosé all day, daiquiri slushie, negroni slushie, and tamarind michelada slushie. Fruity-sour craft beers slush like champions, it turns out, as do sweetly cheap wines from Grocery Outlet.
I am apparently still a child, plus alcohol, is what I learned. I even nurtured by inner fraternity bro by making slushies from Bapple and Mike’s Hard Mango Lemonade. Both, by dint of being Very Cold and Very Sweet, were also trashily delicious.
Attempts at soft serve ice cream or milkshakes didn’t really pan out, alas—you want a Ninja Swirl for that. But I dutifully lugged this thing to barbecues and to parties full of children—where the slushie machine was quickly commandeered for wholesome lemon-lime, strawberry, or orange-vanilla slush.
Heck, I was named an honorary uncle to a tot and tween just for bringing this thing to a birthday party, and presumably bringing it again for the next one: You’ve gotta keep at least one slushie machine in the family, seems to be the idea. I can’t help but agree.
I was really annoyed when I realized that Nespresso sent me this brewer in black. Champagne problems, I know—but this brewer comes in so many delightful colors, from deep red and orange to pastel lavender and pink. It looks cute on your countertop with its little rounded figure and relatively short stature. The Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ can handle all Vertuo coffee pods. The pods are aluminum and can be recycled by ordering free recycling bags or taking them to a drop-off location. To brew, simply open the machine by twisting the lock on the lid, choose a capsule, and press the button. You can physically move the adjustable drip tray between two ladder-like rungs on the front of the machine. There’s also a companion app that gives you maintenance alerts, video walk-throughs, and easy pod reordering.
Closing and locking the machine, or pressing the coffee button while the machine is locked, will start a heating cycle that takes about 30 seconds. The machine automatically recognizes the capsule you insert, and it extracts brew size based on the capsule as well. For example, espresso capsules will brew 1.35 ounces, double espresso capsules brew 2.7 ounces, and coffee capsules brew 8 ounces. This is different from other machines where you select the capacity you want. In the app you can make minor tweaks, such as making espresso shots shorter or longer. You can press the coffee button to end brewing early (a very handy trick if you accidentally use a 6-ounce mug for an 8-ounce brew, which I may or may not have done.) The machine has a waste basket that’ll automatically collect spent capsules. I’m not a huge fan of Nespresso’s flavored coffee and espresso capsules, simply because I would rather make traditional coffee and then add any whimsical flavorings later to suit my tastes. But if you prefer your coffee with a side of caramel or gingerbread or almond or some other decadent altering, there are many flavored options for you.
With plain old coffee and espresso capsules, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the body and mouthfeel of the drinks. Technically, these espresso pods are not making espresso. But it’s a darn close espresso-like beverage, and you can get it without needing an entire separate machine with a tamping weight and a portafilter and a pressure gauge. And the coffee is on par or slightly better than other machines I’ve tried, with a nice acidic bite that isn’t too watered down. If convenience is what you seek, this do-it-all machine is worth a look.
I was sent the bundle that comes with an optional milk frother. I like having the option, but be aware that it will take up another wall outlet. But the Aeroccino was easy to use—pour in your milk of choice and press the button. It’ll heat and froth your milk automatically—it takes about a minute and it’s whisper-quiet. Every Nespresso capsule I’ve tried has featured a thick layer of crema, and having whipped, thick milk on top of it made my average cup of coffee a more elevated experience.
VALHALLA, New York — Pepsi has a new challenge: keeping products like Gatorade and Cheetos vivid and colorful without the artificial dyes that U.S. consumers are increasingly rejecting.
PepsiCo, which also makes Doritos, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Funyuns and Mountain Dew, announced in April that it would accelerate a planned shift to using natural colors in its foods and beverages. Around 40% of its U.S. products now contain synthetic dyes, according to the company.
But just as it took decades for artificial colors to seep into PepsiCo’s products, removing them is likely to be a multi-year process. The company said it’s still finding new ingredients, testing consumers’ responses and waiting for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve natural alternatives. PepsiCo hasn’t committed to meeting the Trump administration’s goal of phasing out petroleum-based synthetic dyes by the end of 2026.
“We’re not going to launch a product that the consumer’s not going to enjoy,” said Chris Coleman, PepsiCo’s senior director for food research and development in North America. “We need to make sure the product is right.”
Coleman said it can take two or three years to shift a product from an artificial color to a natural one. PepsiCo has to identify a natural ingredient that will have a stable shelf life and not change a product’s flavor. Then it must ensure the availability of a safe and adequate supply. The company tests prototypes with trained experts and panels of consumers, then makes sure the new formula won’t snag its manufacturing process. It also has to design new packaging.
Tostitos and Lay’s will be the first PepsiCo brands to make the shift, with naturally dyed tortilla and potato chips expected on store shelves later this year and naturally dyed dips due to be on sale early next year. Most of the chips, dips and salsas in the two lines already are naturally colored, but there were some exceptions.
The reddish-brown tint of Tostitos Salsa Verde, for example, came from four synthetic colors: Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40 and Blue 1. Coleman said the company is switching to carob powder, which gives the chips a similar color, but needed to tweak the recipe to ensure the addition of the cocoa alternative wouldn’t affect the taste.
In its Frito-Lay food labs and test kitchens in Plano, Texas, PepsiCo is experimenting with ingredients like paprika and turmeric to mimic the bright reds and oranges in products like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Coleman said.
The company is looking at purple sweet potatoes and various types of carrots to color drinks like Mountain Dew and Cherry 7Up, according to Damien Browne, the vice president of research and development for PepsiCo’s beverage division based in Valhalla, New York.
Getting the hue right is critical, since many consumers know products like Gatorade by their color and not necessarily their name, Browne said.
“We eat with our eyes,” he said. “If you look at a plate of food, it’s generally the different kinds of colors that will tell you what you would like or not.”
When the Pepsi-Cola Company was founded in 1902, the absence of artificial dyes was a point of pride. The company marketed Pepsi as “The Original Pure Food Drink” to differentiate the cola from rivals that used lead, arsenic and other toxins as food colorants before the U.S. banned them in 1906.
But synthetic dyes eventually won over food companies. They were vibrant, consistent and cheaper than natural colors. They are also rigorously tested by the FDA.
Still, PepsiCo said it started seeing a small segment of shoppers asking for products without artificial colors or flavors more than two decades ago. In 2002, it launched its Simply line of chips, which offer natural versions of products like Doritos. A dye-free organic Gatorade came out in 2016.
“We’re looking for those little signals that will become humongous in the future,” Amanda Grzeda, PepsiCo’s senior director of global sensory and consumer experience, said of the company’s close attention to consumer preferences.
Grzeda said the whisper PepsiCo detected in the early 2000s has become a roar, fueled by social media and growing consumer interest in ingredients. More than half of the consumers PepsiCo spoke to for a recent internal study said they were trying to reduce their consumption of artificial dyes, Grzeda said.
“Consumers are definitely leading, and I think what we need to do is have the regulators catching up, allowing us to approve new natural ingredients to be able to meet their demand,” he said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it’s expediting approval of natural additives after calling on companies to halt their use of synthetic dyes. In May, the FDA approved three new natural color additives, including a blue color derived from algae. In July, the agency approved gardenia blue, which is derived from a flowering evergreen.
The FDA banned one petroleum-based dye, Red 3, in January because it was shown to cause cancer in lab rats. And in September, the agency proposed a ban on Orange B, a synthetic color that hasn’t been used in decades.
Six synthetic dyes remain FDA-approved and widely used, despite mixed studies that show they may cause neurobehavioral problems in some children. Red 40, for example, is used in 25,965 food and beverage items on U.S. store shelves, according to the market research firm NIQ.
But even if decades of research has shown that synthetic colors are safe, PepsiCo has to weigh public perceptions, Grzeda said.
“We could just blindly follow the science, but it probably would put us at odds with what our consumers believe and perceive in the world,” she said.
PepsiCo also has to balance the needs of consumers who don’t want their favorite snacks and drinks to change or get more expensive because of the costs of natural dyes. NIQ data shows that unit sales of products advertised as free of artificial colors fell sharply in 2023 as prices rose.
Susan Mazur-Stommen, a small business owner in Hinton, West Virginia, picked up some Simply brand Cheetos Puffs recently at a convenience store because they were the only variety available. She found the texture to be much different from regular Cheetos Puffs, she said, and their pallid color made them less appetizing.
Mazur-Stommen said she agrees with the move away from petroleum-based dyes, but it’s not a critical issue for her.
“What I am looking for is the original formulation,” she said.
Ultimately, PepsiCo does not want customers to have to choose between natural colors and familiar flavors and textures, Grzeda said.
“That’s where it requires the deep science and ingredients and magic,” she said.
One spoonful of chili crisp is all it takes to understand why this condiment has found a spot on tables far and wide. It’s not just hot oil. It’s a salty, spicy umami bomb that boosts flavor in everything it touches.
Chili crisp, which has long been a staple in Asian cuisines, comes in lots of styles and has a fun range of flavor profiles, but in general, it’s a jar of toasted and roasted chilis, onion, garlic and other seasonings. Some include popular ingredients in Asian foods such as seaweed, while others bump up umami with mushrooms, fermented soy, yeast and, quite often, MSG.
No matter the mix, a well made chili crisp is huge flavor on a spoon. Drizzle it on eggs, slather it on a burger, stir it into noodles, spoon it on top of rice, vegetables, fish, meats. It’s also great as a dip for dumplings, a topping for pizza or a substitute for that salty packet of powder in packaged ramen.
While chili crisp is common in Mexican, Japanese, Indian and other Asian cuisines, it originated in the Sichuan region of China, home of the iconic Lao Gan Ma brand, which features a picture of the brand’s founder, Tao Huabi, on the label.
Great chili crisp is rich and complex, filling the mouth with so much deliciousness that it’s addictive. Chili is always present and plentiful, but the best jars of chili crisp always include multiple layers of tasty and interesting flavors. Note that the ratio of oil to crispy bits isn’t a good measure of quality, as the oil itself should be packed with the same flavors as the crispy bits.
Bad chili crisp is a sloppy, oily mess that’s made with no attention to flavor. Flavorless or underprocessed ingredients result in a jar that delivers heat but little else. The worst are so salty that they are guaranteed to ruin food on contact.
Here are details on the jars of chili crisp that will disappear overnight, and the salty, single-note potions that are likely to languish in the fridge for years. Nutrition info refers to 1 tablespoon.
S & B Umami Topping Crunchy Garlic
Fans of garlic will love this Japanese brand that’s so delicious it’s hard to stop at one spoonful. Both the chilis and the slices of garlic are crispy and plentiful. A bigger jar would be a great improvement. Note that the product we tried includes almond; in 2026, nuts will be removed from the recipe. 110 calories, 10.5 grams fat, 270 milligrams sodium. $7.99 for 3.88 ounces at Safeway. (4 stars)
Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp
This hits so many notes in a single bite: It’s sweet, salty, rich and has lots of crunchy bits. When shopping for this iconic brand, be sure not to confuse it with Lao Gan Ma Red Chili in Oil, which is in the same jar, but has a green stripe. The latter is OK but is more chewy than crisp, and not nearly as tasty. 110 calories, 10 grams fat, 190 milligrams sodium, 1 gran protein. $5.22 for 7.41 ounces at Walmart. (4 stars)
Momofuku Chili Crunch
This pricey, sweet-salty mix is slightly sweet and bursting with flavor. The inclusion of seaweed gives it a fishy note that would work especially well in Asian dishes. 105 calories, 10.5 grams fat, 120 milligrams sodium. $12.49 for 5.5 ounces at Whole Foods. Note that this one can be found at Costco. (3 1/2 stars)
Fly by Jing Original Sichuan Chili Crisp
While this brand is more oily than most, it delivers a blast of flavor thanks to super caramelized shallots and garlic, lots of soy and a dash of mushroom powder. It’s important to know that this has a slight bitter note. 90 calories, 9 grams fat, 195 milligrams sodium. $9.23 for 6 ounces at Whole Foods. (3 stars)
Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chili Crisp Oil
While this is too oily and salty, it delivers a kick of rich flavor. Just be sure to use it sparingly, and think of it as a substitute for salt. 100 calories, 10 grams fat, 410 milligrams sodium. $5.99 for 7.2 ounces at Safeway. (2 stars)
Chuan Lao Hui Red Oil Chili
Fennel and star anise add unexpected, complex flavor notes to this sesame-forward oil. It has a pungent perfume aroma that people will either love or hate. 119 calories, 13 grams fat, 118 milligrams sodium. $3.69 for 7.05 ounces at 99 Ranch. (2 stars)
Signature Select Garlic Chili Crunch Oil
Good crunch and big toasty onion flavor are a plus, it lacks the authentic flavor of freshly roasted ingredients. Better infusing would also be a huge improvement. 120 calories, 11 grams fat, 130 milligrams sodium. $4.99 for 7.05 ounces at Safeway. (1 1/2 stars)
Spice World Chili Onion Crunch
Tough bits and and a hit of unexpected sweetness make this an unfortunate jar. The bitter note and a pinch of curry secure its spot near the bottom of the list. 103 calories, 9 grams fat, 108 milligrams sodium, 1 g protein. $2.99 for 6 ounces at Target. (1 stars)
Trader Joe’s Crunchy Chili Onion
While this is a fine condiment, it could be far better. The chili bits are perfectly crisp, but the onions are so underroasted that they are overpowering. Save this oil to use in cooked dishes 100 calories, 10 grams fat, 150 milligrams sodium. $4.49 for 6 ounces. (1 star)
Spicy King Spicy Chili Oil
This decidedly hot, pickle-like oil is extra bright and extra spicy. Sadly, it leaves a chemical aftertaste, and there are occasional dried soybeans in the mix that are so hard that they could break a tooth. 100 calories, 10 grams fat, 190 milligrams sodium, 1 gram protein. $3.49 for 9.23 ounces at 99 Ranch. (1/2 star)
Reviews are based on product samples purchased by this newspaper or provided by manufacturers. Contact Jolene Thym at timespickyeater@gmail.com. Read more Taste-Off columns at www.mercurynews.com/tag/taste-off.
A single mother who relied on federal food assistance lost her benefits in 2020 after Kentucky investigators concluded she’d committed fraud.
The state alleged she had made multiple same-day purchases, tried to overdraw her account a few times, entered a few invalid PINs and sometimes made “whole-dollar” purchases that are unlikely during typical grocery runs.
The woman from Salyersville in Appalachian Kentucky had an explanation: She worked at the store. She would sometimes buy lunch there and then get groceries after work. Her child would also occasionally use her card.
An administrative hearing officer kicked her off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regardless, based solely on the allegedly suspicious shopping pattern. She sued — and won.
“It is draconian to take away SNAP benefits from a single mother without clear and convincing evidence that intentional trafficking was occurring during a time when food scarcity is so prevalent,” Franklin County Judge Thomas Wingate said in his 2023 decision.
A surge of disqualifications
Over the last five years, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has brought hundreds of fraud cases that are heavily reliant on transactional data with the goal of revoking people’s food benefits.
Judges, lawyers and legal experts said in interviews and in court documents that such evidence proves little. Kentucky Public Radio reviewed dozens of administrative hearing decisions and court documents from the last five years in which the cabinet relied on shopping patterns to prove a person had “trafficked,” or sold, their benefits.
Kentucky is so aggressive in disqualifying people from SNAP benefits that the state is second in the nation for per-capita administrative disqualifications, behind Florida, according to the most recent federal data from 2023.
In the last decade, disqualifications in Kentucky rose from fewer than 100 in 2015 to over 1,800 in 2023. And more than 300 others have been accused of selling or misusing their benefits since January 2024, according to records obtained by Kentucky Public Radio.
Another Franklin County judge in 2023 ordered the cabinet to stop disqualifying individuals based solely on transactional data, but since the decision, at least three lawsuits allege the health agency continues to bring such cases.
Transactional data alone cannot prove intent to commit fraud nor show the actual result of any individual transaction, University of Kentucky law professor Cory Dodds said, adding, “I’m not saying that folks didn’t do it, didn’t commit the fraud, but I don’t think the cabinet in a lot of these cases has met their burden of proof, either.”
Facing punishment, recipients are pressured to waive their hearings
Kentuckians receive notice of their alleged suspicious activity through mailed letters, in which they’re asked to voluntarily waive their right to a hearing and automatically accept the punishment. On first offense, that’s generally a one-year SNAP ban. They’re also required to repay the full amount the state says they misused.
Often, these cases involve a relatively small amount of money. Records show that more than 900 people have been kicked off for “trafficking” or misuse for less than $1,000 since 2022. The lowest amount alleged was 14 cents.
The state has leaned heavily on administrative hearing waivers since 2015, and by 2023, almost a quarter of all disqualifications were via waiver. Some lawsuits allege individuals did not fully understand the consequences of the waivers and were encouraged to sign by officials.
Kentucky Public Radio reviewed more than two dozen cases since 2020 in which the cabinet accused an individual of trafficking using only spending patterns, despite the participants’ denial or lack of response — and with no other evidence or interviews presented, according to administrative hearing decisions.
Kendra Steele, a spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, declined to schedule an interview with cabinet officials after multiple requests. Steele said in an email that “we have never” brought trafficking cases based solely on transactional data and acknowledged it would not be sufficient to prove intent.
In response to a different question, Steele wrote the investigation into fraud allegations consists of looking into income, living situations “and patterns of spending that are indicative of trafficking.” She did not indicate how any of those factors could be used to prove intentional misuse or selling of SNAP benefits, or how it differs from relying on transactional data — which is inherently a pattern of spending. Steele said in another email that they also interview vendors and SNAP recipients.
‘It’s our fellow Kentuckians who are going hungry’
Roughly 4 in 25 Kentuckians suffer from food insecurity, similar to the national rate of about 14%, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Feeding America data.
In the last fiscal year, 1 in 8 Kentuckians benefitted from SNAP, formerly called food stamps. Food insecurity in Kentucky’s rural areas is even more stark, and legal representation harder to come by.
“The people who benefit from these programs are some of the folks that we need to be helping the most in this country,” Dodds said. “It’s our fellow Kentuckians who are going hungry as a result of baseless allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.”
The cabinet denied KPR’s request for case notes on individual fraud accusations starting in early 2024 that would include the evidence used in the accusations. But administrative hearing decisions reviewed by KPR from 2020 through 2023 included evidence the cabinet relied on; hearing officers would frequently say a person had trafficked their benefits based on shopping patterns the state deemed suspicious.
Expert say officials overrely on purchase data
National legal experts who specialize in SNAP access say an overreliance on transactional data isn’t unique to Kentucky. Transactional data was initially meant as a tool to identify potential fraud cases — not as a means to prove it, Georgetown law professor David Super said.
He’s studied SNAP disqualifications for decades, and has seen many cases where he believes transactional data is misconstrued as direct evidence of wrongdoing, instead of requiring a state to build cases with witnesses, affidavits, video evidence and plea deals.
In one redacted 2023 state administrative hearing decision, a hearing officer decided a woman in the eastern Kentucky city of McKee had trafficked her benefits because she had made eight back-to-back transactions in a year. The decision also said she’d checked her balance several times, made a few insufficient fund attempts and had incorrectly entered her PIN number a few times.
She lost her SNAP benefits for a year. In an appeal, the woman told the state she has two kids and had recently discovered she was pregnant.
“Everyone forgets to get something and has to go back in the store and get it,” she wrote, defending her back-to-back purchases.
She received another hearing, but the outcome didn’t change.
Cabinet officials acknowledged in cross examinations during a 2023 case that back-to-back transactions and whole-dollar purchases aren’t forbidden under SNAP rules, nor are recipients told that the cabinet considers them suspicious.
But all of these things are used as evidence — sometimes the sole evidence — that a person misused their benefits.
Kristie Goff, an AppalRed legal aid lawyer in Prestonsburg in southeast Kentucky, used to see many of these cases, though they’ve declined in the last year.
“There have been very few instances in cases I have handled, where a client was not able to give me a perfectly reasonable explanation for those transactions, and none of it was trafficking,” Goff said. “There are no receipts, there’s no video footage to show that someone’s doing anything wrong. It’s just a number written on a paper.”
While saying purchasing history is insufficient to prove trafficking, Kentucky judges have stopped short of demanding that the state change how it trains employees or conducts its SNAP investigations.
State training materials focus almost entirely on purchase patterns
In response to an open records request, the cabinet provided KPR with documents used to train investigators on intentional program violations. They appear to almost exclusively discuss transactional data, including investigating back-to-back payments, large transactions and whole-dollar purchases.
In 2020, Michigan appellate judges decided transactional data alone is never sufficient to prove that a business — or person — fraudulently used SNAP benefits.
Dodds believes that should be the standard for all states, including Kentucky.
He is in the early stages of systematically reviewing thousands of SNAP benefit trafficking hearing decisions between 2020 and 2023. Data from about 700 decisions in 2020 alone already shows that many Kentuckians have been denied benefits before the state presents what he considers real evidence of guilt.
“There are maybe a handful of cases that I would say there was real evidence that they had done something wrong,” Dodds said. “There was one where a woman was on the phone with the hearing officer while she was actively trying to sell her benefits. … But cases with non-transactional data are exceedingly rare.”
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Associated Press data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
It’s September 29, the day that America celebrates its least guilty vice and addiction, known in the streets as “java” or “joe.” That’s right, it’s National Coffee Day—the day that thousands of people burn $2 worth of gas waiting in a drive-thru to get a free $2 cup of coffee from Dunkin‘.
Or how about this instead? Get free or cheap coffee without leaving your house, like a civilized person in the age of the internet. Take advantage of online coffee subscription deals instead.
WIRED has long considered delivery coffee subscriptions to be the promise of technology fulfilled: The best coffee, from all over the country and world, gets scooted to your door without you lifting more than a finger. Anyway, three of WIRED’s absolute favorite coffee subscriptions are offering big introductory deals for National Coffee Day 2025, so it’s a good day to discover the joys of always having good coffee.
Here are National Coffee Day deals on Atlas Coffee Club, Trade Coffee, and Podium Coffee. Each is 50 percent off for the holiday.
Atlas Coffee Club Deals and Promo Code
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Atlas Coffee Club
Coffee Subscription
Atlas is WIRED’s favorite overall coffee subscription for multiple very good reasons. It roasts very good coffee. It also offers reliable, friendly, and swift service—a simple necessity when conducting long-distance relationships over the web. But especially, it offers single-origin coffee from a different country each month, letting you try coffee with flavors you likely haven’t tried before. Arabica coffee from Vietnam, or coffee grown in multiple regions of China or India. It’s cool. It’s kinda what you want showing up at your door, and you can choose your favorite roast level to suit the kind of person you are.
Anyway, Atlas Coffee Club deals are going big for National Coffee Day.
Between September 29 and October 1, 2025, enter the Atlas Coffee promo code FREECOFFEE to get the following discounts and freebies:
National Coffee Day Deals at Trade Coffee
Courtesy of Trade Coffee
If Atlas is our favorite single-origin roaster subscription, Trade Coffee is your ticket to coffee from everywhere—the best and broadest selection of coffee from the best coffee roasters all over the country. I like Trade, especially, as a great way to find roasters I would have never tried, whether chocolatey roasts from Canton, Georgia, or big funky, fruity, light roasts from Portland, Oregon.
And so a Trade Coffee deal is always welcome. On National Coffee Day, Trade Coffee is offering half off a one-month trial subscription.
National Coffee Day Deals from Podium Coffee Club
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Podium Coffee Club
Coffee Subscription
Podium Coffee Club is yet another vision of coffee subscription, and also among my favorites. The name says it all: It’s a coffee subscription devoted to only award-winning coffees that have been judged among the best in the country and world in large and credible competitions. Podium picks just one wonderful coffee to send you each month, depending on whether you asked for the Gold or the Platinum subscription.
The Podium Gold subscription is generally very balanced, classic, excellent coffee beans. The Podium Platinum subscription, in part, raises its standards for how prestigious an award a coffee might need to be included. But also, the Platinum picks are often rare, funky, interesting, or just different—coffee that changes your mind about what coffee’s supposed to taste like. Either way, lucky you, it’s cheap today with an exclusive code from WIRED.
Enter the Podium Coffee Club promo code WIREDNTNLCFF50 for half off your first month’s subscription.
Coffee is a fast-ticking clock. And the end of this stopwatch is nothing you want. Fresh coffee is all about aroma and intensity—the delicate notes of toffee or nectarine that make each bean distinct. Old coffee loses all of this. It tastes instead acrid and flabby, like a cup of wet cardboard.
But freshness is a difficult target. I drink coffee about like a horse takes to water, but I buy it just as impulsively. I am also constantly testing out coffee to find the Best Coffee Subscriptions, and to give each brand a fair shake, I always drink those fresh in the optimal tasting window. Which means the rando special bag I bought for myself last Thursday often has to wait. And sometimes I can’t manage to brew all my coffee within a few weeks of its roast date.
That’s where freezing comes in.
So, should you freeze coffee beans? Or is freezing just a new way to mess up coffee beans—by introducing frosty moisture, or tainting it with the smell of the frozen chicken and peas in your icebox? The answer, according to coffee experts and chemists alike, is that you’re probably better off freezing coffee than letting warm air do its slow work. But this is only true if you do it correctly.
What’s more, frozen beans can in fact lead to better flavor on light-roast coffee in particular, according to at least one study—because it helps you get more consistent coffee grounds and therefore better flavor. More on that later.
Here’s a quick rundown on how to keep your coffee fresh without also ruining it, and why frozen coffee sometimes trumps fresh.
When Does Coffee Start Going Stale?
Believe it or not, there’s such a thing as coffee that’s too fresh. You probably don’t want to brew coffee the day after it’s roasted. For light roasts in particular, most roasters tend to recommend you wait five to seven days after the roast date before brewing, in order to allow your coffee to off-gas a bit and become a little easier to extract. This is especially important when it comes to espresso, where extraction is a volatile and finicky process.
But, alas, if you just leave the coffee in its bag, on the counter, it may start to go stale beginning a couple weeks later. You know that nice smell of fresh coffee beans? Those lovely aromatic compounds are exiting the beans, and dispersing into the air: That’s why you can smell them. Eventually, they’ll diminish. At the same time, oxygen is sneaking in to do its grim work, turning your beans to stale rust.
Depending how it’s stored, coffee can begin to degrade anywhere from two weeks to a month after roast date (i.e., the optimal window may just be a week or two for each bag).
You can delay this a bit by storing the coffee in an airtight container. One that I particularly like (and that we recommend in our Gifts for Coffee Lovers guide) is the vacuum-sealed Fellow Atmos. This can keep your beans fresher for longer on your counter and also keep them from taking on bad aromas in your freezer.
Photograph: Fellow
Fellow
Atmos Vacuum Canister
When to Freeze Coffee Beans
If you know you’re not going to get through a bag of beans, the best time to freeze is not when your beans are already starting to go stale. Rather, do so just before the optimal flavor window.
The science on the staying power of frozen coffee is somewhat thin, notes Christopher Hendon, a materials chemist at University of Oregon, whose research into coffee extraction and flavor has earned him the nickname “Dr. Coffee.” But there’s reason to believe freezing slows the staling process but doesn’t halt it.
NEW YORK (AP) — Albertsons Companies has recalled several of its store-made deli products because they may contain listeria bacteria, in a move that arrives shortly after federal health officials warned consumers to not eat certain pasta meals sold at Walmart and Trader Joe’s over similar contamination concerns.
The Boise, Idaho-based supermarket giant on Saturday said it was pulling five deli items because they contain a recalled bowtie pasta ingredient made by Nate’s Fine Foods. Albertsons is urging consumers to not eat these products — which were supplied by refrigerated goods distributor Fresh Creative Foods — and is instructing those impacted to throw them away or initiate a return at their local store for a full refund.
The products under recall include certain ready-to-eat basil pesto pasta salad offerings, as well as pasta dishes with chicken, spinach and other ingredients. Consumers can determine if an item they bought is impacted by looking at the list of product names, sell thru dates and other identifying information on Albertsons’ website.
The recalled items were sold in various Albertsons-owned stores — including Albertsons Market, Safeway and Von’s — across more than a dozen states.
“Listeria monocytogenes can survive in refrigerated temperatures and can easily spread to other foods and surfaces,” Albertsons warned in its release. The company also noted that the FDA instructs consumers to be extra vigilant when cleaning any surfaces or containers that may have come into contact with products recalled for possible listeria contamination.
The Associated Press reached out to Nate’s Fine Foods in California and Fresh Creative Foods, a division of Oregon-based Reser’s Fine Foods, for further statements on Sunday.
Albertsons on Saturday said that there had been no reports of injuries or illnesses related to its recalled products. But the company’s recall comes amid wider warnings from U.S. health officials about potential listeria contamination in ready-made meals sold by other retailers, some of which have previously been linked to a deadly outbreak.
Last week, the U.S. Agriculture Department issued a public health alert warning consumers to not eat Trader Joe’s “Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettuccine Alfredo” with best-by dates of Sept. 20, Sept. 24 and Sept. 27 — as well as “Marketside Linguine with Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce” sold at Walmart with best-by dates of Sept. 22 through Oct. 1, due to potential listeria contamination.
No recall has been issued for either of those products, but Trader Joe’s in a company advisory urged consumers to discard or return its impacted chicken alfredo — and Walmart officials also said they put a stop on sales.
Similar to the bowtie pasta recalled at Albertsons, the pasta in these goods came from Nate’s Fine Foods.
Listeria infections can cause serious illness, particularly in older adults, people with weakened immune systems and those who are pregnant or their newborns. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.
Roughly 1,600 people in the U.S. get sick each year from listeria infections and about 260 die, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
If you’re talking raw materials by the pound—meat, zucchini, rice, noodles—meal kits will of course cost more than buying food at grocery stores. It’s a service, after all, with added value above simple ingredient cost. Unless you’ve got quite expensive taste, you’ll easily be able to make meals at home for less than the $7 to $14 a serving that a meal kit will cost. But this said, this doesn’t necessarily mean that meal kits are expensive for what they offer. I conducted an experiment, trying to re-create four different meal-kit meals by going to my local grocery store—buying every ingredient provided by the meal kit. Turns out, if you don’t have the right sauces and spices at home already, it’s very difficult to recreate these meals at grocery stores for less than they cost from a meal kit, in part because you’ll most likely have to buy full containers of sauces and spice instead of pre-portioned ingredients,
So, is HelloFresh worth it compared to a grocery store? Caveats are in order: For staple ingredients and spices you’ll use on multiple recipes, the grocery store is of course cheaper. Once you buy a container of paprika for an individual recipe, it’ll also be there for future recipes, whereas meal-kit spices are portioned for the meal. So the real answer is that meal kits can be a quite economical way of trying out a new recipe, or a new style of cooking, without larding up your fridge with condiments you won’t use again. For ingredients you’d use less commonly, a meal kit can reduce waste and spoilage, and maybe even compete on price for an individual meal.
If your comparison point is takeout, well, the best meal delivery services on this list will almost certainly be cheaper and more nutritious. I’ve found that a meal kit in the fridge tends to be a good motivator to cook a nutritive meal—and thus can save me both the money and the cholesterol.
To really save on cost, some people like to keep testing out the trial offers and discounts. Much like mattress-in-a-box companies, meal-kit companies usually have a running promotion. Usually this takes the form of a trial discount price that’ll drop your cost by half or more on the first box, in hopes you’ll like the service enough to keep it on at full price.
For me, a meal kit a few times a week ends up balancing out well: It’s a motivating factor to eat better, and it means that when I do go to the grocery store, I can do so less mindlessly and more purposefully, since I’ve always got a few meals’ worth of ingredients in the fridge. It’s also had the side effect of broadening my culinary toolkit, keeping me from getting stuck in the same ruts.
That said, you know: It’s a set grocery expense and not necessarily a small one. I do get tired of tossing or recycling cold packs and boxes. And depending on time of year, I often prefer shopping in person for what’s seasonal and local, when produce is at its peak—an experience you don’t get from a meal kit, or from grocery delivery for that matter. If you’re cooking for a bigger household, meal kits can also lose their utility quite quickly. A convenient option for two can become a much larger expense for a family of four or six.
What If I Take a Trip Out of Town?
Pretty much every meal kit I’ve tested has an option to pause subscriptions—and there’s no particular limit to how often you can do this. The main thing is to be sure that you’ve canceled with enough lead time. Some services let you cancel or pause delivery as late as the Friday before a Monday delivery. HelloFresh requires five days’ notice. Some, like Hungryroot, may lock in next week’s order as early as the previous Monday, depending on where you live. Read your terms of service, and act accordingly.
How to Optimize Meal Kits
Don’t order too many meals per week: You know the old John Lennon line: Life is what happens when you’re busy out eating a random burrito, then thinking guiltily about the meal kit at home in your fridge. Aspirations are great, but don’t order more meals than you’re likely to make, or you’ll be sad. Err on the side of caution. Order just enough meals per week that making yourself a recipe from your HelloFresh or Home Chef box is still a delight and a convenience and an overall boon to your life—not an obligation. For me, a somewhat improvisational and impulsive person, three meals a week is the sweet spot. The prospect of a few easy meals usually saves me from an impulse weeknight DoorDash.”
Make room in your fridge: Meal kits take the place of a lot of grocery shopping. But they’re also a lot of food, and a lot to keep organized. What I like to do is clear a tall enough space in my fridge to put the whole meal kit box in the fridge, after pulling out the cold packs: This way, I’m not left worrying about which groceries belong to the meal kit, and I won’t lose any ingredients. I can just pull the whole box out when I want to make a meal. That said, some plans like Home Chef, HelloFresh, and Green Chef are very good at organizing each meal into its own separate bag. An added bonus from these more organized plans is that you’ll be able to use less space in your fridge. Over time, this will matter.
Check the recipe cards to make sure you have everything you need to make a recipe: Most meal kits expect that you’ll have certain staple ingredients in your home, usually including oil and butter. Recipes also have requirements for cookware. Check this before you start a recipe. Nothing worse than realizing you need an absentee stick of butter on step 5, with carrots already browning in the toaster oven.
Remember, you owe nothing to the recipe: Meal kit services hire lovely recipe developers, of course. And on the best meal kits, these chefs have spent a lot of time optimizing each recipe. But you owe them nothing—nothing! Add spices, change steps, season food when you want to season it. Meal kits can teach you a lot about how to make a good meal, and shake you out of tired culinary routines. But it’s your meal. Make it how you like. Have fun.
How Do We Test Meal Kits?
Chances are, wherever you are, whatever week it is, I’m testing a meal kit right now. I constantly cycle among various meal kits, testing and retesting each of my top picks at least once a year—and often multiple times per year.
I order at least four meals from each, and prepare meals according to instructions and see how well it goes. I check my own prep times against the advertised prep times (rarely an exercise in honesty!), and take note of any inconsistencies, vagueness, or frustration in the recipe card instructions. If you needlessly recommend a nonstick pan, I like you less, especially if you tell me I should heat said pan before adding food—or you later make mention of browned fond in the recipe. Nonstick isn’t cast iron or carbon, there’s no fond.
I check for the quality and freshness of the produce, and do the same for the meat. Where possible, I also look into where the meat was sourced, and check on the reputation, safety, and standards of the meat suppliers. If a meal kit swears it’s gluten-free, I check on this—calling certifying organizations where relevant.
I usually try to order as varied a menu a possible, checking in on gluten-free meals, a seafood item, a vegetarian item, and white and dark meat item—as well as meals that draw (or attempt to draw) from onspirations all over the globe. Sometimes, I test the same meal kit multiple times for different dietary needs, and our vegan tester, Molly Higgins, often tests the same meal kit I do but with a different focus.
More Meal Kits We Liked
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Sunbasket ($12 to $14 per serving): Sunbasket is a plan that focuses heavily on fresh, organic ingredients, and offers a whole lot of variety and good cooking techniques, including deglazing and attentiveness to saucing. And like Hungryroot, it also offers breakfasts and snacks to supplement meal options with little extras like coconut yogurt and sous-vide egg bites. The meal kit also lets you filter out allergen-containing items. My colleague Louryn Strampe loved the flexibility and add-ons (and even some crickets!) On my most recent test, I enjoyed in particular an excellent Greek chicken and orzo salad dish—and wonder of wonders, the advertised prep time was actually the actual prep time (about 30 minutes). The focus on organic ingredients does make Sunbasket one of the more expensive meal kit options.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage; Getty Images
Dinnerly ($8 to $9 per serving): Marley Spoon’s lower-cost meal kit, Dinnerly was long WIRED’s budget pick. Frankly, it’s still a good affordable pick. It’s also a stolidly meat-and-potatoes pick, and often straightforwardly Midwestern in its recipes. The proteins are generous and of excellent quality, and the produce is fresh. The meals are balanced. But the recipe development and instructions weren’t quite up to Marley Spoon standards on my most recent test of the kit, though I did love the middle-American trashiness and hold-my-beer inventiveness of a “Reuben meatloaf” stuffed with sauerkraut and caraway seeds. This year I ended up preferring the meals I tried from EveryPlate, which has the further merit of being a buck cheaper a meal.
Photograph: Molly Higgins
Thistle ($13 to $16 per serving): A prior top pick for solo diners, Thistle is mostly a plant-based meal kit—but there’s a $3 option to add sustainable meats to any otherwise vegan meal. It’s also so local and seasonal that the West and East coasts have different menus, and the whole middle of the country except Chicago gets none. (You can check your zip code here to see if you can get delivery.) WIRED reviewer Adrienne So has used Thistle as a means to get herself to eat more vegetables, and thus avoid a life of rickets and/or scurvy. But especially, it’s friendly to the solo diner, with individually prepared meals with low to no prep. Portions are generous enough to split among meals, and in a nice turn for those who hate having to dispose of boxes, Thistle’s drivers will pick up the cooler bag that housed last week’s meal and replace it with a new one full of food. Vegan tester Molly Higgins‘ favorite meals from Thistle were a whirlwind of textures, including a Mexican-inspired corn and poblano chile salad with adobo pinto beans and a chilled lemongrass-accented rice noodle bowl that mixed spice, tang, crisply fresh veggies, and deep umami from mushrooms and seaweed. She still dreams about it sometimes.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Tovala ($13 a serving): It’s not every day you get to try something that feels so new. Tovala offers perhaps the most ambitious solution to ready-to-heat and prepared meal delivery I’ve seen: The meal kits come with an oven! In contrast to the sogginess of many prepared meals, Tovala’s recipes come in little foil pans with recipes custom-designed for a little steam oven. The results are often delicious, especially a recent sweet chili-glazed salmon with pickled veg and noodles, and the QR code scanning function makes each recipe seamless to cook. Stick with the meal plan for six weeks, and in the bargain you get a quite affordable and powerful little convection oven, toaster, and steamer. Tovala is best as a solution for the solo diner: Meals aren’t big enough for couples, and servings are one at a time.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Gobble ($12 to $17 a serving): Gobble was our prior top pick for fast-cooked meals, in part because its speed-demon meals also offered interesting and worldly flavors. Indeed, our most recent test included Caribbean rondon, Indonesian peanut curry, and steak vierge. But while the flavors have stayed interesting, the focus on fast cooking appears to have waned since my colleague Louryn Strampe tested Gobble—and cook time estimates aren’t printed on the recipe cards. I’m still in the process of re-testing this kit, but for now Hungryroot has taken the fast-cooking crown. For small households, Gobble is also among the most expensive kits. Ordering fewer than 8 meals a week costs $15+ per serving.
Nurture Life ($8 to $10 per serving): Nurture Life is like a restaurant kids’ menu, in ready-to-eat meal kit form. We loved the idea behind this fresh-made, never-frozen delivery meal plan when we tested it a few years back: a bunch of toddler- and slightly bigger kid-friendly meals, from mac and cheese to spaghetti and meatballs to myriad variations on the chicken nugget. The meals are priced about the same as kid menu items, and each contains vegetables alongside the greatest hits.
Veestro ($13+ per serving): WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe enjoyed Veestro as a ready-to-eat vegan option, with premade meals delivered fresh, but with freezable options so you can have extra meals on hand in a pinch. The service offers a number of filters for other dietary requirements, and satisfying taste and texture—not always a guarantee on ready-to-eat meals.
Splendid Spoon ($9 to $13 per serving): Splendid Spoon is a nutrition delivery kit that offers a plethora of plant-based smoothies, soups, bowls, noodles, and shots. Everything here is natural, plant-based, and free of gluten or GMOs, including spaghetti and plant-based “meatballs.” WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe has a big yen for the smoothies in particular ($10 apiece), but wasn’t quite prepared for the intensity of a lemon juice shot that comes as part of a five-pack of dense 3-ounce superfoods.
Daily Harvest (prices vary):Daily Harvest is another ready-to-eat meal delivery service specializing in dietary restrictions plant-based, gluten- and dairy-free. Smoothies feature, as do harvest bowls, pastas, and grains. Calories are low. Ingredients are often inventive. The meal’s a lifesaver for the solo vegan eater without time to prep a meal, and WIRED vegan reviewer Molly Higgins appreciated that the meals mostly relied on the natural flavors of the vegetables themselves, accented with flavors like curry and lemongrass. As with a lot of frozen meals, however, texture wasn’t a strong suit.
Factor ($12 to $15 a serving):Factor is a delivery meal plan run by HelloFresh with ready-to-eat meals that look a lot like TV dinners. But there’s a twist: They’ve never been frozen. They were made fresh in a commissary kitchen, and shipped out with cold packs. It’s kinda like restaurant leftovers. This means that proteins in particular often maintain their texture quite well, including a chimichurri filet mignon I couldn’t believe I microwaved. Some meals, especially carb-avoidant or keto meals, are oddly mushy. But meals centered on proteins and whole starches like potatoes or rice tended to fare quite well. In fact, a recent test of Factor’s high protein plan was my favorite experience with the meal kit, and included wild rice and excellent pork loin. I do wish they’d shed their reliance on the microwave, however: When I went off-script and used a toaster oven or the Ninja Crispi air fryer, I had much better results than with the nuker. Like many ready-to-eat meals, it’s a bit more expensive than the kits you cook yourself.
Meal Kits We Didn’t Like
Sakara Life ($28+ per serving), Sakara Life offers plant-based weekly menus in fresh, prepared portions, with greens, flavorful sauces, all-organic ingredients, and textural add-ons like seeds or berries. But it’s among the most expensive meal plans we’ve tested, and neither WIRED reviewer who tried it has really cottoned to the thing. Tester Louryn Strampe questioned the science on health claims for detoxes and cleanses, while calling Sakara “egregiously expensive” and full of “bitter veggies and tart fruits.” Vegan tester Molly Higgins, meanwhile, said Sakara Life’s tinctures and metabolism supplements didn’t agree with her system, and that the mostly raw-food plan made her long for “human food.”
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage; Getty Images
Diet-to-Go ($10 to $13 per serving, plus shipping):Diet-to-Go predates the modern meal kit. Founded more than 30 years ago in Virginia, it’s a diet plan much in the tradition of Jenny Craig, offering low-calorie microwaveable meals meant to act as total meal replacement. Keto and diabetes-friendly options exist, though the most popular “Balance” plan is geared toward weight loss, with calories limited to 1,600 a day for men and a mere 1,200 for women. Anyway, as is often true with microwaved meals that may or may not arrive frozen (it depends on the season, and where you are), proteins and starches fared better than veggies, which tended to be limp and soggy. Meals were healthy, but not always flavorful, and there were a few real misses.
The Protein Plus options are pretty broad, comprising about half of Factor’s menu items overall. The meals remain mostly stolidly middle American: garlic herb chicken, barbecue wings, a red pepper frittata for breakfast. Jamaican jerk salmon and a Thai yellow curry chicken were among the most peripatetic options I tried, but even these feel domesticated, accessibly tame. (I did in fact like the jerk salmon a lot more than I expected to.)
Most dishes, though, are classic square meals: a meat, a starch, a veggie that’s probably green. It’s almost wholesome, Midwestern mom food. Heck, Factor—founded and based in Illinois—even has a Midwesterner’s sense of improvised adventure: An “unstuffed pepper” is basically the rice and meat and tomato sauce you’d canonically stuff into a bell pepper, but delivered in saucy meatball form with bell pepper bits strewn amid the rice. It looked sloppy, and it tasted like pure distilled comfort. If you hate what’s essentially a peppery meatball stew, I don’t know you.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
In bygone years, Factor was perhaps over-reliant on mashes and hashes to fill out meals, but these made only a few appearances—including an actually kinda tasty mashed potatoes with leeks, served as a gloppy side to a pleasantly thick slab of filet mignon that arrived medium-rare, and reheated up to more like medium.
The proteins, uniformly, came out tender and relatively juicy, whether chicken or shrimp or beef. Reheated veggies are always difficult to manage in terms of texture, and that was true here, too. In general, Factor’s veggies were likely to be a little soggy if you nuked them—and a lot better if you put them in an air fryer or convection oven. Also, steer toward meals with brown and wild rice over white or “risotto.”
Over the Long Haul
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
I will always like fresh-cooked food better than meals that have been prepared and reheated from a box: The brightness of a fresh tomato, the pop of a pea, the lively crispness of a just-so carrot, are impossible to replicate in food made yesterday or last week. But proteins and stews fared pretty well in particular, and so the Protein Plus options amounted to my best experience with Factor. It was also among my favorite prepared meal services overall. (See also WIRED’s guide to the best delivery meal kits.)
“Fits-anywhere kitchenware” is the tagline of this 2024-launched appliance brand known for space savers like a 3.5-inch-wide toaster and cookware sets with removable handles. Like many other Bella appliances, the Hand & Stand mixer is a two-in-one: Use it like a regular hand mixer with either the included beater or dough hook attachments, or snap it into a nested, lidded bowl that rotates as you blend, turning it into a stand mixer. (The motor is 200 watts; about 75 less than a KitchenAid head-tilt model.) You add ingredients through a clear slider window on the top, which is removable for use as a bench scraper.
The hand mixer and its accessories fit in the bowls with the lid on, for stacking. I wasn’t especially impressed when using the Bella in hand mixer mode—the chunky, boxy handle eventually caused my hand to cramp when making whipped cream. And as a stand mixer, it left plenty of unmixed flour around the sides of the bowl when I made an angel food cake. Where it did excel beyond expectations, however, was in shredding meat. I often shred cooked chicken, pork, turkey, and beef with a hand mixer, and no matter how large the bowl or how careful I am, meat juice and shreds always manage to fly out. With a bowl that’s not only enclosed but that rotates, the Bella made short work of my tests with both chicken breasts and thighs.
If you shred a lot of meat, this is so efficient it’s worth buying for that task alone, but I can also see buying this for a young person just starting out who doesn’t have much space and doesn’t plan on making anything especially elaborate. In addition to the pictured Surf color, it also comes in Seaglass, Blossom, Plum, and Oatmilk. —Kat Merck
After Starbucks announced it would be shutting hundreds of stores, its website is listing dozens in the Bay Area as being closed as of Sunday, Sept. 28.
To check if a store is on the closure list, go to the Starbucks store locator online, find your desired outlet and click the information icon to check whether it will be open beyond this week.
As of Sept. 26, the following stores were slated for a Sept. 28 closure:
On Thursday, the coffee giant unveiled a $1 billion restructuring plan that will shutter more than 100 North American cafes, cut 900 non-retail jobs, and remodel over 1,000 locations.
The reset, CEO Brian Niccol said, is about restoring warmth and comfort — an effort to recreate the “third place” he has championed since taking the helm last year, the hangout between home and work that first made Starbucks a global brand in the 1990s.
At the same time, Starbucks appears to be losing ground with Gen Z, something it tacitly admitted in its latest earnings, when it moved to shutter mobile-only “pickup” stores built for speed and “frictionless” transactions that it assumed would be catnip for a digital-native generation. Its market share among the cohort has slipped from 67% to 61% over the past two years, marking four consecutive quarters of declines, according to Consumer Edge.
Like many restaurant chains, Starbucks misread the generation. Seeing their social awkwardness and preference for digital ordering, the company wrongly assumed it should structure its stores around those behaviors. But Niccol told analysts in July that the mobile-only format was “overly transactional and lacking the warmth and human connection that defines our brand.”
But Gen Z, Niccol is betting, craves that old Starbucks feeling the same way it pines for a “90s kid summer.”
Dubbed by some as the loneliest generation, they’re gravitating instead toward quirky, local coffee shops that double as community hubs and cultural signifiers – the kind you would see on ‘90s shows like Friends or How I Met Your Mother, Consumer Edge data show.
Niccol thinks the answer is in the original Starbucks innovation of the “third place.”
Bringing back that Central Perk feeling
The idea of the “third place” comes from urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s 1989 book The Great Good Place, which argued that society needs gathering spots beyond home and work. Cafes, pubs, gyms, the nail salon — all counted.
Starbucks worked hard to claim that term; the CEO at the time of Oldenburg’s book, Howard Schultz, used it so often on radio shows and in interviews that people assumed he invented it.
“Starbucks was notable for spacious, comfortable seating in the early days,” Karen Christensen, an author and collaborator of Oldenburg’s, told coffee newsletter The Pourover. “It was the usual place to find a seat and Wi-Fi and electricity in a strange city, and a common place to meet friends.”
However, that vibe has been harder to find in recent years. Drive-throughs and mobile pickup now outnumber long sit-down visits, and six straight quarters of falling same-store sales suggest that customers aren’t sticking around. Niccol said in his note the goal now is to bring people back.
“Our goal is for every coffeehouse to deliver a warm and welcoming space with a great atmosphere and a seat for every occasion,” he told employees.
The company says the new investment will prioritize stores that can be remodeled into “lingering spaces.”
Expect more ceramic mugs, softer seating, outlets and layouts designed to slow customers down rather than speed them out the door. Starbucks ended its fiscal year with roughly 18,300 locations across North America, but store growth won’t resume until 2026.
The once and future third place
The price tag is steep: Starbucks expects $150 million in severance costs and $850 million tied to closures and remodeling. The announcement follows an earlier $500 million investment in barista hours through its “Green Apron Service.”
But labor tensions loom. Starbucks Workers United, which represents more than 12,000 baristas, said it would demand bargaining over the closures. Union leaders warned the cuts risk undercutting the very community vibe Starbucks says it wants to restore.
Beyond finances, the stakes are cultural. As Oldenburg argued, third places are vital to social cohesion — spaces where people of all kinds can rub shoulders. In recent years, many third places have vanished, a trend accelerated by the pandemic.
“Public leisure space is critical for society,” Notre Dame professor Gwendolyn Purifoye told TheNew York Times. “If you don’t build places to gather, it makes us more strange, and strangeness creates anxiety.”
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