Snacks by Moon Juice

"Adaptogens for everything."

That is the tagline of Moon Juice, a company that makes ... an interesting range of products, let's just say.  Skin care, hair care, ... a whole lot of "moon dusts" which are "adaptogens for everything: beauty, brain, sex, spirit, power, and dream," and, uh, snack foods.  That later of course is where I come in.

"Moon Juice is Intelligent Self Care — plant medicine plus science and common sense for practical and preventative ways to unstress and nourish your beauty and wellbeing."

I can't say that I'm into adaptogens.  I'm vaguely familiar with the term, and with some of the more common (trendy?) adaptogens, like ginseng, maca, aloe vera, licorice, but I don't claim to know anything about how they do (or don't?) help your body respond under stressors, and I certainly didn't actively seek them out.

I discovered Moon Juice while staying at a hotel in New York City (11 Howard), which seems to have a partnership with Moon Juice.  The breakfast menu had bunch of beverages made with the dusts, all with almond and coconut milk bases and different dusts, like the "Brain Dust® Latte" with espresso, cacao, and brain dust, and the "Beauty Dust® Matcha Latte" with Imperial matcha and beauty dust, and the "Spirit Dust® Chai Latte" with chai and spirit dust.  I never tried any, as they were fairly pricey.  They also had some of the snack products were stocked in the mini bar.  They actually looked really good, and I had a mini bar credit to use, so, given how much I love to try new things, and how much I adore snack foods, I gave them a try my last day, rather than going for a "safer" item like a candy bar or soft drink.  I wish I had discovered them earlier, as, well, adaptogens or not, they were quite good.

Snacks

"100% organic, raw, and activated ingredients. Nutrient-dense, hand-crafted foods for snacking and feasting."

The snack lineup from Moon Juice is fascinating.  Nuts, seeds, and crackers, basically, but unlike any I've had before.  The nuts and seeds are all activated, of course.  The almonds are coated with dulse and vinegar.  The hazelnuts are mixed with cacoa and mulberry, into "crunchers", that really do look like a tasty finger food.  Even the "Green Fermented Seed Crisps", with cabbage, burdock, daikon, nettles, dandelion, and jalapeño, mixed with seeds, sounded really quite interesting.  Same with the "Cumin & Chard Crisps".

My minibar had only two products, the more pedestrian of the offerings, Chile & Lime Mango and Activated Maca Mesquite Walnuts, both of which I tried.

Activated Maca Mesquite Walnuts. $8.

"Activated walnuts are covered in a caramel concoction of maca, mesquite, cinnamon and banana, then slow-dried to a toffee crunch."

These were shockingly delicious.  Like, really, really delicious.

And I had my serious doubts, even if the description promised a "toffee crunch", that was going to come from maple syrup and dates for the sweetness, and there is almond butter in them too. Almond butter and dates are usually on my "do not like" list.

But these I liked.  I more than liked.

The combination of flavors was not anything I've had before, and was quite unexpected.  Clearly, I could taste the walnuts, they were the main event, but then there was a beautiful sweetness, really as described, "a caramel concoction", and then, a pleasant banana thing going on, and some spicing ... just, fascinating, complex, and all in harmony.  Really, really quite delicious.  I did not taste dates explicitly, nor almond butter, as I feared.

These are fantastic to munch on by the handful, and I enjoyed them also with a little fruit and whipped cream, to make a satisfying, healthy, little treat.  I think they would be a great addition to any kind of ice cream sundae, or pudding cup, too, anything where you want some sweet crunch.

Truly delicious, and I'd gladly get them again.

Chile & Lime Mango. $8.

"We begin with the juiciest and most vibrant raw, dried mango on the planet, then accentuate this treat with lime and good shake of chipotle chile."

Next, the mango.  These were entirely different from what I was expecting.

I've had a decent number of packaged, dried, mango snacks, and usually they are ... well, dry?  These weren't dry.  They were juicy almost.  Not like fresh mango obviously, but there was considerably more moisture than I've had before in other products.

I'm not complaining, just noting, different from what I anticipated.  The mango was fruity and decent.

The lime certainly woke it up a bit, and added a level of acidity you don't normally have with mango or tropical fruits, and I don't think I actually appreciated it.  I wanted the sweet fruit flavor, unchanged.  The chipotle brought a bit of additional zing to it too, but again, I didn't really want that there.

Overall, I just think the lime and chile elements weren't for me, but I did like the mango itself.