We’re constantly on the prowl for good products.  This week, Molly and I sampled a gift basket from Central Market–featuring their line of organic foods.  Here’s the rundown.

Vanilla Rice Milk
I like drinking rice, almond and coconut milk since I don’t care for conventional dairy milk. This rice milk was one of the best tasting varieties I have tried. The vanilla was sweet but not over powering, and would complement a range of accompanying flavors if paired with another item…say a cereal. The rice milk wasn’t too watery and the rice flavor developed lightly only in the aftertaste – but that may be because of the vanilla flavor. If you are a regular or semi-regular rice milk drinker I would recommend you to try this one.

Peanut Butter Dots
The peanut butter dots dry out of the box were crunchy, slightly sweet and had a mild, pleasant peanut butter flavor. Just alone they would make a great snack for a child or adult. I paired the cereal with the rice milk and thought the outcome was perfectly fitting. I took a few bites of the cereal with rice milk and was pleased with the crunchy texture and peanut butter flavor. I let the cereal sit in the bowl for a few minutes and took another bite. This time the peanut butter was still present but much harder to detect and the cereal was a little soggy (but that is to be expected for the puff style of this cereal). If I were to eat this on a regular basis it would be as a snack – the crunch along with the peanut butter flavor can’t be beat from any peanut butter snack food I’ve tried.

Wild Blueberry Preserves
Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits so I was really excited to try this jar of preserves. Before I spread the preserves on the English muffin I sampled it several times in the jar. On my first small taste I detected nothing but sweetness and no blueberry. On the second sample the sweetness was still foremost but then I could taste the blueberry after. My impression before pairing this jar of wild blueberry preserves with the bread was that it was very sweet. The combination of the bread with the preserves did help offset the sweetness a little but my general opinion of the flavor was still very sweet. The wild blueberry flavor was genuine and not artificial at all. When I spread the preserves on the English muffin, I noticed a generous amount whole wild blueberries, very nice!

Licorice Peppermint Herbal Tea
The packaging of the tea leaves inside the box were very impressive. Each tea bag was individually wrapped in a thick cellophane pouch. The actual tea leaves were colorful, generously portioned and were enveloped in a pyramid-shaped light mesh bag. Now on to taste. I will admit, I didn’t know what to expect with this tea. Upon first sip, the first flavor that developed was the peppermint and the aftertaste was the licorice. The peppermint was the stronger of the two flavors but it was not so overpowering that the licorice was overshadowed. This tea didn’t need sweetener or creamer. The combination of the favors melded well and didn’t need any add ins. If you like peppermint and licorice, then this would be a very soothing herbal tea for you.

Light Agave Nectar
I was very excited to sample this product! I am hooked on fake sweetener in my coffee and know I need to switch to a product like organic agave nectar. I was very impressed. One good spoonful in a regular cup of coffee, added just the right amount of sweetness–not too much, but enough to know it’s there. I imagine this stuff is even better in hot tea.

French Roast Coffee (Extra Bold)
I love most any French Roast coffees, and Central Market’s Organic whole bean version was no different. Very bold, but smooth–this cup of coffee, if made properly, is not for a java light weight. And that’s perfect for me because I enjoy a bolder cup of coffee. One of my favorite culinary acts is that first whiff of coffee when you open the bag. This coffee had an amazing smell.