We tried a lot of new products in 2023. Skittles that taste like mustard. Ketchup that tastes like pickles. Coke that tastes like…something we could never quite figure out. We didn’t review every single new food we tasted, but we still managed to review upward of 115 new products this year. When we decided to pick the best new product of them all, we didn’t scour our reviews. Instead, we thought about which new products stood out the most—the new products that were so delicious they remained top of mind months after we tasted them. Here are the best new products of 2023.
Spindrift frequently releases new flavors, which is awesome because Spindrift is, in my opinion, the best sparkling water brand of them all. Its bevs are made with actual fruit juice and purees rather than weird artificial flavors. Released earlier this year, Spindrift Nojito tastes like a virgin Mojito because it basically is (minus the sugar). You get the tartness of real lime juice and the fresh herbaceousness of real mint. It’s an amazing sparkling water, canned mocktail, and cocktail mixer (I like it mixed with bourbon for Mint Julep vibes) all rolled into one.
I have to be honest: A lot of canned chili is pretty mid. The meat can be weird and low quality. The beans can be grainy and odd. I generally emerge from canned chili taste tests reminded why I make my own. Wendy’s Chili is a different story. It’s super savory and loaded with veggies and tender beans. Wendy’s has always claimed that the chili in their restaurants is made with leftover hamburgers, so I love that the canned version includes a dash of liquid smoke to give it a little bit of burger flavor. This chili is quite salty, but serve it with some good sour cream and you’ll be just fine (unless you’re on a low-sodium diet, in which case you probably shouldn’t be eating canned chili at all).
Gwynedd Stuart, Sporked’s managing editor, is an L.A.-based writer and editor who spends way, way too much time at the grocery store. She’s never met an Old El Paso taco or mozzarella stick she didn’t like.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!