Rob 0:17

Welcome to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe!

Matt 0:25

Alright, welcome back to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe. I have some great friends drinking the universe again with me today. Why don't you guys go ahead, we'll go around the table, and you can introduce yourselves.

Siobhan 0:34

Hey, I'm Siobhan.

Matt 0:36

I'm a rec. Hello, it's Rob. For this episode, we're going to be doing what we call drinkables. My friends were tasked with going to a dollar store of their choice and finding three items to go with a specific drink to make a mini meal. The centerpiece of our drinkable today is going to be that ever popular staple of the breakfast table, the mimosa. So we're going to go ahead and we will get started. First thing we're going to do, we're going to open this champagne bottle and then we'll get the party going. Take the top off this bottle here. Oh. Yeah.

Siobhan 1:09

Top of that fancy.

Matt 1:10

Got it pointed right at Rob. In case anything goes wrong.

Siobhan 1:13

I'm a little nervous now.

Matt 1:15

There's a lot of microphones, a lot of cable. Can you whisper this part like ASMR? Oh. Ooh.

Siobhan 1:21

That was great. That was great. Well done.

Matt 1:24

All right. Yeah, absolutely. Pour around here. It's very bubbly. Is it supposed to be a little bit more? Would you like to pour your own? I'm going to bathe the table here.

Emma 1:34

Yeah. How much orange does it be like champagne are you putting in here?

Matt 1:39

I mean, personal preference, but. I'm not driving. Um go ahead. Little oranges. I pour mimosas the same way I pour cocktails. It's like 50-50. It's probably not the way you're supposed to do it.

Emma 1:51

Yeah, Rob's more looking like uh 90 90 10. Yeah, that's usually where I operate.

Matt 1:55

Just a splash of anybody's wondering, we got some of the uh Corbell Brute here being topped off with minute-made orange. Is that what that's oh no? I'm sorry. It's Tropicana.

Various 2:06

It's Tropicana, man.

Siobhan 2:07

No pulp. No pulp.

Matt 2:09

All you pulp, all you pulp people out there. I don't know why you like your orange juice with floating fiber. Say when okay.

Emma 2:17

That's good. If anything, I need more champagne. Yes.

Matt 2:20

That's all right if we get through that bottle. There's another bottle if we can get through that bottle. There's another bottle after that.

Siobhan 2:25

Awesome.

Matt 2:26

So you're saying we've got time. Yeah, so just out of curiosity, what dollar stores did we all go to?

Siobhan 2:31

Oh, I feel like I'm uh attacked on this one. I did not do a dollar store trip. Oh. And I'm really sorry, but not sorry.

Rob 2:39

Cosmic chug. I'm not chugging a mimosa right now. Oh, you might have to.

Siobhan 2:43

No, it's I'm not doing that.

Matt 2:44

So the way this works, we do have a built-in drinking game. You hear the cosmic chug sound, you must finish your drink. So, for not following the rules and going to Wegmans instead of the dollar store.

Siobhan 2:55

I stand by my choice. Cosmic chug and cool.

Matt 3:02

And down the hatchet goes. Well, go, go, go. Glug, glug, glug.

Rob 3:07

Chuggy chug chug. That's that's tasty. Quite a nice crisp beverage in the morning.

Siobhan 3:12

Delish.

Emma 3:14

This is what you get. Going to Wegman's.

Siobhan 3:16

Still stand by it. You're welcome, everyone, because the snacks are gonna be delicious.

Rob 3:20

Hey, listen, don't knock it until you try it.

Siobhan 3:22

That's right. You're right.

Rob 3:23

So but uh so Siobhan went to Wegmans. And where where did you go?

Emma 3:27

Dollar Tree, baby.

Rob 3:29

I also went to the Tree of Dollars. Yes. Also Dollar Tree. Yeah, I mean, what else is there?

Siobhan 3:35

Oh, Dollar General. Okay.

Rob 3:37

Yeah, there's Dollar General, there's Family Dollar. Dollar Store.

Siobhan 3:40

A family dollar.

Rob 3:41

Dollar store. There's the 99 cents store.

Siobhan 3:45

I feel like it sounds like I just came out of a rock, like, and I have been on this planet for a minute. I know there's other dollar stores. Like I'm aware. I just, guys, Wegmans is closer to my house and I'm lazy. That's probably what it is. All right.

Matt 3:58

Well, I can respect that. So where Matt and Friends Drink the Universe. Okay, that's the campfire. So where Matt and Friends Drinks the Universe is based here in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. There are actually two dollar stores in the same shopping plaza, and you can see Dollar General from Dollar Tree's parking lot. So nobody ever goes to that Dollar General, though. Yeah, it's kind of weird.

Emma 4:20

Is Doubler General the one where like things are even like five dollars? So it's really it's you know it gets you because you're like thank you. I feel the same way.

Matt 4:29

That would be five below, but five below now is like ten below. So that has shifted recently as older. Yeah. Economics. My kid's favorite store. Should we do we need an economics sound now, also? Economics. No. We need to add mathematics and economics.

Siobhan 4:45

There you go.

Matt 4:46

Okay. So Siobhan.

Siobhan 4:48

Yeah, oh am I fellas? New York bougie one for you.

Emma 4:51

Yeah, they're not bougie. I was going to say.

Siobhan 4:53

It's really not bougie. It's not like I brought you like caviar. It is Wegmans. Like I didn't go to like Whole Foods.

Rob 5:00

Yeah, but you understand that Wegmans in comparison to a dollar store. I mean, there is there's a significant.

Siobhan 5:08

I don't follow rules. I follow them my whole life and I don't need to do it now.

Rob 5:11

Gluten-free.

Siobhan 5:13

One of them is gluten-free.

Rob 5:15

Can you please explain your pairing?

Siobhan 5:17

Um, sure. So I picked three snacks that I feel like would go well with mimosas, perhaps altogether, also individually. And I would eat these snacks with mimosas because I love snacks and I love this. I have a Wegman's brand cheese curls, which are basically Cheetos, but they're white cheddar and they're better in my opinion, because they're not as orange. Cheetos are a little bit. I do love a Cheeto. I'm not hating on a Cheeto.

Rob 5:42

Will it still leave dust on my fingers?

Siobhan 5:44

Um a little bit.

Matt 5:45

Then I'll be satisfied. Okay. Please, please don't touch the microphone after the Cheetos. I'm not wiping Cheetos dust off your mic. That's fair. That stuff is like permanent.

Siobhan 5:54

Um, we also have Snyder's pretzel sandwiches that have cheddar cheese in the middle.

Emma 5:59

I've never had never seen those before.

Siobhan 6:00

Oh, get ready. They're so delicious. And then we have uh Milano cookies, which are iconic. And these are orange chocolate since we have an orange theme. So I will pass them around. I don't know which way we want to go, but feel free.

Matt 6:18

One of each here do it.

Siobhan 6:20

And I have extras if anyone is excited about the opportunity.

Rob 6:25

Do you have a particular way that you'd like us to consume these?

Siobhan 6:31

Milano cookies last because the sweetness should be kind of at the end, isn't it? But I feel like you can make your own choices with the the cheese girl and the doodle first.

Matt 6:41

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. I'm doing it.

Rob 6:43

By the way, this podcast is um not meant for you to hear us eat, but uh but I'm doing it anyway. I'm sorry.

Siobhan 6:51

I'm a fan.

Emma 6:52

The white cheddar.

Rob 6:53

The white cheddar is very good. Um I'm not minding it with the mimosa.

Emma 6:58

Right. I don't know if it gives it anything though.

Rob 7:00

It's not really adding anything for me. But but let's see if uh if the if the pretzel sandwich will will change. First of all, it's delicious.

Matt 7:10

I think the sour of the orange juice really compliments the saltiness of the pretzel. It's very nice.

Rob 7:15

I I would definitely say that the pretzel being saltier than the cheese doodles, the pretzel I found to be a a nicer combination, personally.

Siobhan 7:23

Fair. It's a little bit of a bolder flavor. Yeah. Those are actually amazing. Yeah, right.

Emma 7:28

Those pretzel things. I've never seen it.

Siobhan 7:30

I might have them at the dollar store. You should check the next thing. You could have got pretzels at the dollar store, dude. You're right. You're right. I don't know. They would they have been as good? I don't know.

Rob 7:41

Well, you're about to learn today.

Siobhan 7:44

True.

Matt 7:44

There were a lot of things at the dollar store that I passed on putting together as well. Like definitely things that I walked by and went, I love you all too much to buy that right now. I'll talk about one of those a little later. No, no, no.

Emma 7:57

I had a couple of those actually. We need to dislike these.

Rob 7:59

We need to get this out in the world. You cannot sleep on the dollar store snacks. They have some good stuff there. True. They have some really, really interesting flavors of chip that don't exist anywhere else.

Various 8:12

Yep.

Rob 8:13

I've had like Tapatio nachos. Why don't they sell this in like a mainstream store in a larger bag? You know, why do I have to buy like a tiny, like vending machine-sized bag at a dollar store?

Siobhan 8:28

Yeah. Like 19 of them.

Matt 8:30

As most of you guys know, my wife and I are huge fans of Heinz Ketchup in general. And the dollar store is one of those places where you can consistently get the Heinz ketchup flavored potato chips. And like they also pickle flavored chips. And I saw like really uh very spicy jalapeno kind of stuff going on in the chippage aisle. There's a lot of good stuff there.

Emma 8:50

Yeah. I I'm obsessed with ketchup chips. Like I will tell you guys, that was a Canadian thing even before I came to America. Oh, yeah. And you can only find them in very few places here.

Siobhan 8:59

That's cool. They have them at Wegmans. They have them at Wegmans.

Rob 9:03

But there's now a plug for I mean, they're not Heinz.

Siobhan 9:07

They're not Heinz. Oh, they're not Heinz. I will be fair and sorry to Wegmans, but their Wegmans ketchup is disgusting. It's really bad.

Rob 9:15

Ooh, hot take, hot take. I know. I'm I'm moving on to the Milano cookie.

Matt 9:19

While you move on to the Milano, I will say, hey Wegmans, if you want to be a sponsor, reach on out, shoot me an email. We can work on that.

Siobhan 9:25

That's right. And if you improve your ketchup recipe, maybe I'll be convinced.

Emma 9:32

Do have it. Or you can go to the dollar store and get it for a dollar.

Siobhan 9:35

Totally. I could. I love this.

Rob 9:37

For me, you've hit the nail on the head with this.

Siobhan 9:40

I was thinking about going with three savory and not a sweet.

Rob 9:43

The fact that it's like that orange and dark chocolate, it's like perfectly meshing with that mimosa.

Matt 9:49

It could be my palate, but it's just not doing it for me. The orange is a lot of sweet all at once, and it's a little too much for me.

Siobhan 9:56

That's sort of why we started with savory, I think.

Matt 9:58

Yeah. It might be the combo of chocolate and orange. I think that's I love that. Like I said, I really don't love that. Yeah, it's not bad, but I'm also not going to go so far as to say I think it's good.

Rob 10:10

So I think as soon as you take a sip of the mimosa with that still in your mouth, it really brings out the dark chocolate. Yeah. Like I'm I'm getting like a lot of notes and it's like kind of snapping the sweetness off.

Siobhan 10:24

So it's not like that's good. It's probably helpful that it's dark chocolate.

Rob 10:27

Yes.

Siobhan 10:27

Yes, it's the dark chocolate you just feel like lingering on your tongue.

Emma 10:31

It's delicious.

Siobhan 10:32

Cool. Well, rule breaker, but here we are. I know.

Rob 10:37

It was it was a good effort.

Siobhan 10:38

Oh, thanks. Yeah.

Emma 10:39

I mean, I'll just next time just go to the dollar store a little bit farther.

Rob 10:42

Started ahead of us in your selection availability. Truth. Going to a true grocery store. And I love your tablet word. Bougie grocery store.

Siobhan 10:51

Oh, I did buy a Pyrex dish, everyone.

Emma 10:54

It looks like a little bento box.

Siobhan 10:56

Yep. It's amazing.

Matt 10:57

Okay, probably no Pyrex at Dollar Tree. Just gonna throw that out there. You'd be surprised. I'm sure there's containers there. They have some cream. We have some stuff, man.

Rob 11:05

Yeah.

Siobhan 11:05

But I do want to, we want to save space for all the others.

Rob 11:08

Yeah, that's right, Emma. I think you're up next.

Matt 11:10

Emma, you are up next.

Emma 11:12

For mine, I actually brought Pop Rocks. I salted the rim, actually. I think it's more like sugar the rim with Pop Rocks. Um, and I'm gonna have you guys re-pour in these glasses. It's gonna be amazing. Yes. Okay.

Matt 11:25

All right. Emma wants us to drink more, and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Siobhan 11:29

I feel like that's a good idea.

Matt 11:30

Maybe smaller splashes on the second one.

Siobhan 11:33

Nah.

Matt 11:34

Oh boy.

Siobhan 11:35

I like this. We're going hard.

Matt 11:36

That was a very definitive no, it's gonna be a heavy pour. Now you know why I brought her along to drink the universe with me. We don't do easy pours here. It's a big universe. Gotta drink a lot.

Emma 11:47

Okay, good. So everybody should have their sugar pop rock uh rim coated.

Rob 11:54

Is that where you'd like us to start? Yes. Okay. Alright.

Emma 11:58

And so I took the pop rocks and I uh coated the rim. Let me know what you think. And then what I was thinking is you can then put the mixed berries, as the dollar store tree calls it, either into the drink or you could just eat them by themselves. Spice up your cocktail drink and make it kind of fancy.

Matt 12:20

And also add a nice audio lair.

Emma 12:23

Pop rocks are popping.

Rob 12:25

Fun story. Um, did you know that pop rocks are made with carbon dioxide bubbles? And the heat and moisture within your mouth is what will dissolve the candy around the carbon dioxide, and you're just hearing the gas bubbles popping. Science.

Various 12:42

Science.

Rob 12:43

Science!

Matt 12:44

Very cool. There you go. You got your one for the episode in early.

Siobhan 12:49

I was delish.

Matt 12:50

Yes. Even though I said the chocolate before was too sweet, it may have been a flavor issue for me because the pop rocks are definitely doing it for me.

Siobhan 12:57

It's definitely a different sweet.

Matt 12:59

It's not an unmessy combination, though. We have pop rockage running all over the glass right now, but it is super tasty, and you can probably still hear them clinking as a burning.

Emma 13:09

You can really hear them. They are just popping.

Siobhan 13:15

I will say it's a little sweet for me, but I still really enjoy it. I like it. I feel like I want to do that.

Emma 13:20

I feel like I haven't had this tingle on my tongue in so long. I know. It's just so fun.

Siobhan 13:23

It's really nostalgic.

Matt 13:24

When I was a kid, Pop Rocks is not a candy that I had frequently. I don't think I had Pop Rocks for the first time until I was probably in high school, as sad as that is.

Emma 13:34

Oh, you missed out.

Siobhan 13:34

Yeah.

Matt 13:35

Yeah.

Siobhan 13:36

It makes me think of fun dip too.

Emma 13:38

Yes. I used to love fun dip, dipping it and licking it.

Rob 13:42

So I think Matt's just admitting he was a late popper.

Emma 13:44

Yeah. Indeed.

Rob 13:46

No. Literally. Indeed, I was not.

Emma 13:48

Oh, okay. Pop the pop rock cherry. And then to go with the pop rocks and the mixed berries that you can decorate your cup with, I threw in turtle's chocolate, which I was actually pretty impressed that the Dollar Tree had Turtle's chocolate, which I feel like is kind of like nice. Yes. I feel like it's a good brand. I agree with you. The dollar store in general is very good at their snacks and completely underrated. You can get some good stuff there.

Matt 14:16

The berries go really well with the orange juice. Very nice flavor compliment. I do enjoy that. Not too sweet. It just sits right in the flavor pocket. It's very, very nice.

Rob 14:26

Yeah. Okay. The turtle is definitely my threshold for sweetness with the beverage.

Siobhan 14:31

Okay.

Rob 14:32

Turtle tastes very good on its own, but the caramel with the orange juice, it's like sweet on sweet on sweet. And it's actually making it have that sour taste because like I've had something sweeter than the orange juice.

Emma 14:43

I agree. I actually think the dark chocolate that was in Siobhan's, I feel like was better. Yeah.

Rob 14:52

Yes.

Emma 14:52

You're right. That's exactly it. This is too um what is this? Like milk chocolate or like caramel.

Rob 14:59

Yeah, I think this is a caramel.

Emma 15:00

It's just throwing it off. You're right.

Matt 15:03

I will also say the chewiness of the caramel with a little orange juice backing is also a bit of a challenge.

Emma 15:09

Yeah. I know.

Rob 15:10

But the the real star here is the pop rock rim.

Emma 15:13

Agreed.

Rob 15:14

Did not did not think it was gonna work.

Emma 15:16

I didn't think so either, but I was like, I'm going for it.

Rob 15:19

With the blue and red, you could definitely do like just champagne as well as like a 4th of July cocktail, like a red, white, and blue.

Siobhan 15:26

That's a great idea.

Rob 15:27

Yeah, look at me.

Siobhan 15:28

I know that was seeming cocktails. No, but like it's smart to take the orange juice out of the equation.

Matt 15:33

I did not have a mimosa until I was way past 21. I think probably like 23, 24 was when I had my breakfast.

Emma 15:40

That's probably true for me. It's probably true. Yeah. For me. I was gonna say it was a very later, like sophisticated thing in life.

Matt 15:46

For me, my dad used to do breakfast, and that was like our thing on the weekends as a family. The family would come over, we'd have a big breakfast. I miss my dad's eggs very much. It's one of those like parent things. You try to cook something as good as like a parent cooked it for you, or somebody else cooked it for you. You just can never seem to do it as well. It's totally 50% somebody else is making it for you, and that just makes it better. It's that particular breakfast thing that I really have been trying to duplicate and just never could. But mimosas were always a fixture. And that was shortly post-college for me, and not just one or two. It was multiple mimosas. Everybody was having a pretty good time. So, does anybody else like remember the occasion? I know they're they're a staple with weddings. Rob, you'll remember pre-Genini's wedding. We had mimosas in the morning. My dad had like 11. Do you remember that? Probably not.

Emma 16:37

Remember that? Yeah. This was before after the wedding.

Matt 16:41

Oh, it's definitely before because two of the groomsmen showed up.

Emma 16:43

You still might remember the day after is probably questionable.

Matt 16:46

I had groomsmen showed up that morning to get dressed that were still hungover, still actually from the night before, two of the largest champagne bottles that morning that I've ever seen in my life.

Siobhan 16:56

Yeah, I mean, I'm I think I'm the same. It's definitely always been the 78,000 bridal showers or baby showers that I've been to. That's probably where I get them the most. And yeah, I mean, like when I was young, I wasn't about to be like, yeah, let's put some champagne. I was like, nope, vodka. Like it was like, here's what I'm doing. Might as well cut to the chase when you're like 21 and 22. But um, no, I love a mimosa now. I also love that the brunch fad is everywhere. I'm a fan of brunch.

Rob 17:24

Yeah, I think for me, it it's always been like the mimosa came along with brunch breakfast situation. Probably the first one I ever had was likely at my parents' house when they were hosting family for brunch. And I was like, oh, what's the deal with this?

Matt 17:39

All right, well, can still hear the pop rocks in the background.

Emma 17:43

I love it.

Matt 17:44

They're still popping.

Emma 17:47

So in Canada, you can drink at 18. With my family, we used to do like toasts and stuff with champagne, and but it wasn't until like I got older and I was like, oh, you could actually have this as just a drink with orange juice and called mimosa. Um it was more so like, let's just chug this and celebrate and you know, woohoo, it's New Year's. Good time too.

Matt 18:06

You grew up in Canada, right?

Emma 18:08

Mm-hmm.

Siobhan 18:09

Yep.

Emma 18:09

Um, then moved down here, went to college, met a man, never left. Sweet.

Siobhan 18:14

I love that.

Various 18:15

So are you blaming Adam for annihilating it?

Emma 18:17

Yeah, pretty much. Okay. All right.

Siobhan 18:21

I'm glad you're I just like to point out that Rob said story of his life right there. I can't. It's not the story of your life. No, but I enjoyed that call.

Rob 18:31

It felt like uh an appropriate thing to say at the time.

Matt 18:33

I don't know.

Siobhan 18:34

Indeed.

Matt 18:35

Well, with that said, why don't we turn the corner here and see what Rob has played. Rob's life for us. Let me uh let me start passing.

Emma 18:43

He puts a major thought into this.

Rob 18:44

Like Yeah, well, listen, I'm I've come to win here.

Siobhan 18:47

Oh, I didn't know this was a competition either.

Rob 18:50

Those would be all the definitely a competition.

Siobhan 18:53

Okay.

Rob 18:53

Everybody who's listening to this is gonna want to go out and make their own drinkable after this episode. And and they've got to make wise choices based upon what we're doing here.

Matt 19:02

So since Rob did put major thought into this, just so everybody knows, he will be blown out for the rest of the week.

Siobhan 19:07

Yep, so all the creativity is gone.

Rob 19:11

There is the proof. Hey, okay. I'm really approaching this. I tried to think back to my younger years when I had a lunchable, not a sponsor. Um could be. Absolutely could be. But I'm just saying. But uh, but yeah, so I was thinking, like, what makes a lunchable a lunchable? You know, like there was always some crispy element, then there was a meat cheese element, and then there was the drink, obviously. And the cookie. And then the dessert, right? So I said, Well, we're doing mimosas this week. What can I do to create an experience that kind of reminds me of what mimosas bring me back to as we were just talking about these breakfasts with our families and stuff like that? And so the intent was to give an experience similar to that of French toast and sausage. So, what I have here are some maple candied walnuts, a cranberry orange biscuit, and a summer sausage. Yes, that's right. A summer sausage from the dollar store.

Emma 20:13

I will say you can just smell that sausage, and it's actually not bad. Like so.

Rob 20:19

I my intent, my intent was to get that like French toast with maple syrup situation. So, what I'd like everybody to do is bite the biscuit while eating a handful of these maple walnuts.

Various 20:30

Got it.

Rob 20:30

So that we're getting that and then take a sip. Comes with instructions.

Siobhan 20:34

I mean, you you said he blew out his creativity.

Rob 20:38

I I did. I'm pretty pleased with that.

Siobhan 20:44

I don't get a lot of the maple.

Rob 20:45

I'm not really getting a ton.

Siobhan 20:48

But it's good.

Matt 20:49

I am getting like a hint of sugar, a little bit of cinnamon.

Emma 20:53

Cranberry and does the same thing as Siobhan's like orange dark chocolate, like where the orange just goes so well with the orange juice, and you could really just even taste that lingering like cranberry. But you're right, when if you do it in that pairing of the nut and then the cracker, it just gives you that extra crunch at the beginning. But you're right, I'm not really getting maple from it. Like, I'm not literally.

Matt 21:19

I am getting cinnamon. I'm getting cinnamon, and that gives me the French toast vibes.

Emma 21:24

Mmm.

Matt 21:25

French toast. I'm trying the sausage.

Siobhan 21:27

Okay.

Emma 21:27

Do it. Okay, I'm gonna do it too. I hate oh man, he just put it all in his mouth. It's pretty good. I'm not sure. Savan's more like uh she's taking a baby right here.

Siobhan 21:38

If I didn't know I bought this from a dollar store, I mean, yeah, I don't hate it. You're right. It's seasoned pretty well.

Matt 21:44

Wow. It tastes like it tastes like a cold breakfast sausage. It just tastes like a breakfast sausage that's been sitting on the plate, and you kind of grab it towards the end of breakfast and then it works. Oh, take a drink.

Emma 21:56

It really does give you drink.

Matt 21:58

I'll give it to you.

Rob 22:00

Stellar. That's breakfast.

Siobhan 22:06

That was yeah.

Rob 22:07

That is breakfast.

Matt 22:08

Stellar sausage. Thank you.

Emma 22:11

Very brunch vibes.

Matt 22:13

Yeah.

Siobhan 22:13

I like that better. I'll give you that.

Rob 22:15

I'm gonna eat more.

Matt 22:16

Yeah, I'm going for another bite.

Siobhan 22:18

Nice.

Emma 22:19

I might go back. I'm gonna get that myself just for like to be fair.

Siobhan 22:22

You can see the pepper in it.

Matt 22:23

Oh, yeah.

Siobhan 22:25

That's good. Yeah.

Matt 22:26

There's definitely a pepper.

Siobhan 22:27

It doesn't look sus. So that's good.

Matt 22:29

No. No. There's definitely a strategy to this though, as we're now rounding to plate number four, and I had cinnamon rolls and half a hash brown before we started. There's definitely a finite amount of space in the stomach. So we're gonna keep that in mind for future drinkables.

Siobhan 22:43

Well, I like that a lot of us have crafted like a couple bites. Like it's snacky, which is good. I'm a fan of that.

Matt 22:50

So I guess that brings it to me.

Emma 22:51

I agree. Matt has this lovely like dish, you know, that's definitely gent. Oh, steal out of my world.

Rob 22:57

I would like to say that I I plated mine. Thank you very much.

Emma 23:04

You know, the the board. I got like the tubboard. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Matt 23:08

Yeah, but you had the pop rock. So if I had to give out presentation points, which I'm absolutely not, there's no points involved in this at all.

Siobhan 23:15

I don't know, because I was told this was a competition now. So there's no point.

Matt 23:19

At no point was this actually a competition. I mean I came to win.

Siobhan 23:24

All right.

Matt 23:25

Okay. Did I? Gauntlet.

Siobhan 23:27

I went to weapons, everyone.

Rob 23:28

All right, we're gonna we're gonna take the competition that I might beat you with my dollar store trio.

Siobhan 23:33

Listen, I'm here for it. I ball you. That is not to say. I think we already left.

Emma 23:37

Don't throw shade on my Tupperware presentation here. I that was all that was laughing. Siobhan definitely wins next time I'll be prepared.

Rob 23:44

Tupperware of the day. Oh, yeah. Tupperware is the day.

Siobhan 23:49

I win that presentation. Absolutely.

Rob 23:51

I mean, if you want a constellation prize, there you go.

Siobhan 23:54

Very rude. That's very rude. Thank you. Appreciate the rudeness. Are these people our friends? No.

Matt 24:03

We'll just take that competition dial. We'll turn it up from like friendly to unfriendly.

Emma 24:08

I love these drinks that you guys are drinking from. Um Matt and Friends drink the universe.

Matt 24:14

Our official Yeti cups. Yeti cups. Yeti, not a sponsor. I know. No, Yeti. But they're really nice.

Emma 24:21

Like they're Yeti.

Matt 24:22

I'd love to have you as a sponsor. Give me a call. We're talking about your 10-ounce yellow tumblers. I ordered a bunch of them, and now, according to your website, you're selling them at a heavy discount to make room for newer product. I'm excited to see what that newer product is, but I'd like to order more of these yellow tumblers. And again, I'd love to work with you. Call me.

Various 24:42

Right.

Matt 24:42

All right, so I guess I'm going to bring it home here. Let's see what you got, Matt. Now, my theme for all this was well-balanced breakfast. Probably because back in the 90s, when I was a kid, that's what the TV yelled at me all the time. It's a part of a well-balanced breakfast. It could have been the most god-awful sugary cereal. It was part of a well-balanced breakfast. That's what I remember from those commercials on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. So and I don't have an order to mine. I think it's I would probably end with the protein, but what I came up with here is some fruit in the form of freeze-dried bananas because I saw freeze-dried bananas and thought that's interesting.

Emma 25:20

Then were they in the freezer section or were they already like packaged and dried?

Rob 25:25

No, it's like astronaut food. Yeah. Here we are. We're drinking the universe and eating like astronauts. There you go.

Matt 25:30

It was a little frightening because it was right in the middle of like the breakfast on the border of the breakfast and chip aisle. And I saw that and I thought, that's an interesting concept. Next up, because I am very much a kid at heart, and when I was looking around, I got a text message from my wife saying, You should pick up one of these Lucky Charms cereal bar. And I just at the exact same moment she texted me, I was holding one. I was holding one in my hand already. It was already there. And then lastly, we have some Jack Lynx original meatstick. So, and when I was in that aisle, feel bad for Jack. My child was with me, and she's, of course, a little impatient, gonna be seven years old. Daddy, hurry up. I want to go home and do other things while we're walking around the dollar store.

Emma 26:14

That is not my kid at the dollar store. My kid's like, I want all this shit.

Matt 26:17

And the cashier was trying to help me. I don't know which one to pick. And he was like Jack Link's meat stick. And my child at the top of her lungs yells, Daddy loves the meat stick. I've been told he does.

Siobhan 26:30

Yes. So story of my life. Oh, wait, no.

Matt 26:33

Thanks. Thanks for that one, kiddo. Deeply appreciated.

Siobhan 26:36

Amazing.

Matt 26:37

So I'm gonna go ahead. I'm just gonna take a little bit of each and then I'll pass around here.

Emma 26:43

I mean, who doesn't like beef jerky? It's so good.

Siobhan 26:46

Me, sorry. I'm literally.

Emma 26:49

Siobhan, you would be.

Rob 26:53

Turns out me. But that's okay. You're you now become the control group.

Emma 26:58

I don't know how there's literally like a rainbow in these.

Rob 27:00

I didn't earn that one, apparently.

Matt 27:02

I will say the Lucky Charm cereal bar looks way different when you hold it than it does on the package. It looks like they took the picture on the package and hit it with a mallet repeatedly. Nice. Added a little milky cream substance, and then you get whatever this is.

Siobhan 27:16

Okay.

Matt 27:17

I'm gonna start with this freeze-dried astronaut banana with the banana.

Emma 27:21

It's not good, guys. It looks questionable. Like this looks like some real bad.

Matt 27:27

It's not good. It's not good.

Emma 27:29

Oh ma'am.

Matt 27:30

I had high hopes. I had high hopes.

Emma 27:33

This is the kind of stuff I used to give from like my toddler, and I would wonder why like they didn't eat it. No, you guys don't. But those little puff things. Oh, the breakfast puffs.

Rob 27:41

Oh, don't drink it. Don't drink.

Siobhan 27:43

Don't drink it. I did. It's too late. It's too late. I actually don't like bananas either. Oh, it's really banana.

Rob 27:50

Oh, I taste the worm again. Matt is happening.

Siobhan 27:52

You know what? I'm gonna end with the lucky charms because I feel like that's the most trustworthy thing that I'm holding. I mean, I can't wait to eat the rainbow.

Various 27:59

No, no, no, no. Oh, that was terrible, but it was so gross.

Siobhan 28:03

Yeah, that banana's lingering. It definitely started. I hate this. I hate it.

Matt 28:09

I had really high hopes for that freeze-dried banana, but I'm not gonna lie, when you drink the orange juice, the banana like rehydrates and that makes it that way. I know.

Siobhan 28:17

I thought maybe, you know, I thought that was gonna be a good thing. It was not.

Rob 28:22

The good news is the beef stick is a palate cleanser. Okay, yeah. It's gonna be terrible with this, though.

Emma 28:26

No, no, no. It is. I like beef drinking by itself, but I don't know if it's actually doing anything for the for the Ohness to your tongue.

Siobhan 28:37

Like, oh no, not just it's not good, you guys.

Rob 28:42

Uh I feel like this is a representation of how you see color.

Siobhan 28:50

He's colorblind, everybody.

Rob 28:52

He's colorblind.

Emma 28:54

Uh there's like, well, it really just Oh no. Glad we ended with this, everyone. This is no. I I'm still saving my rainbow.

Rob 29:05

Like we we come to you at the end of every episode and you just destroy us.

Emma 29:08

I know. Yeah, we should do you first.

Rob 29:10

Is it on purpose? No, no, mended with vitamins. I've had all right. Um I'm going for the only potential redeemable food here. The the cereal bar of lucky charm.

Siobhan 29:24

Creamy white substance. It's pretty good.

Matt 29:27

That puts the fire out from the meat stick spice.

Siobhan 29:30

So it tastes just like you it sounds. I really don't. I don't it's funny.

Rob 29:35

I have so many unpleasant flavors in my mouth that I don't really care.

Siobhan 29:38

Story of my life. Oh, wait, no. Okay.

Matt 29:42

I walked through the dollar store thinking I can't do the same thing to them that I did with the mezcal in episode one. Like I needed to end. You did, my friend. I did.

Siobhan 29:52

I I think I would have liked the mezcal more than that banana.

Rob 29:56

I would rather eat the worm than that banana.

Siobhan 29:59

I don't know about that. That's a strong statement.

Rob 30:02

I still have the bottle. That banana. And I'll say the banana was both a textural and a tasting nightmare.

Emma 30:10

Fail. Yes.

Rob 30:11

Um texturally, I didn't have a problem with the tasting idea. Did you have it in your mouth when you poured liquid into your mouth? Because it became this mushy like I can't even describe to you what was happening.

Matt 30:23

I would like to call it like I said, it rehydrated. It went from dehydrated to hydrated with orange juice.

Siobhan 30:28

I would like to call a cosmic chug on Matt because of this banana situation. If I if I got one for Wegman's.

Rob 30:35

That's fair.

Emma 30:37

Cosmic chug and the name. Drink up.

Rob 30:41

All down it goes. All of it.

Siobhan 30:43

If it makes you do it with a banana. Two. Yeah.

Rob 30:45

Three. Hold it up. Okay.

Siobhan 30:49

Now do a banana.

Matt 30:50

See, here's the good news. After that cosmic truck, I can't taste any of that anymore. And that makes sense much better.

Rob 30:57

So you're welcome. Yeah. I'll also say that just so we talk about it, the Lucky Charms bar. Again, I think it was so sweet that it's making the mimosa sour compared to the orange juice. I agree.

Siobhan 31:07

So like it's not pairing well. Nope.

Rob 31:10

I like that. Matt, I I think you were over three on that one.

Siobhan 31:13

I was gonna say. Sorry, buddy. Bummer dude. You tried it.

Matt 31:16

It's all right. Although I feel like I owe you all an apology because that was not what I was going for there.

Siobhan 31:21

I feel like we saw a lot of spectrum of the dollar store in this situation with the summer sausage on one end and pop rocks, and then we really just took it to the end of a banana.

Rob 31:32

I brought the class of the dollar store. You did. Only the best. Alright. Well, in in summary. Yep. Okay, so let's see. Let's go around the table. Yeah.

Siobhan 31:42

What was my favorite or who who brought the best?

Rob 31:45

I mean both.

Matt 31:46

What was your favorite combo? What was most tasty? Most unexpected combo. Yeah.

Siobhan 31:50

Um, I think I really appreciated that Rob tried to get all three to relate to each other as well as individually, and I did not do that. But like, I don't know. I mean, I liked trying all of this except Matt's, was fun.

Rob 32:04

Yeah.

Matt 32:04

The bar has been set, people. I'm feeling personally attacked.

Siobhan 32:08

Well, you should because you personally attacked us. Like I that banana attacked me. So no thank you.

Emma 32:15

And as much as I like beef jerky, it really doesn't go with the mimosa.

Siobhan 32:19

Yeah, I guess. Alright, I'm aware. That was my vote.

Emma 32:21

I really kind of love the idea of the pop rocks being like fourth of July, just because it really, I think we could really play around with that. I really loved like the Siobhan's dark chocolate with the orange, but I also really loved like your orange cherry with the mimosa because it just really brought out that orange and just you know, those breakfast vibes. Okay. Um good.

Siobhan 32:44

Cool. All right.

Emma 32:45

I was actually some really surprised about the meat, you know, that it, you know, it wasn't uh Rob does have surprising meat. All right. When you think of meat from the dollar store, you're like, mmm. Yep, that is exactly what I think.

Matt 32:59

So is the episode title Rob's Surprising Meat?

Emma 33:02

Oh, yes, it is. That's what most people say. That's what I'm saying. It's like when's the expiration date, but oh yeah.

Siobhan 33:09

Yikes. Oh it actually wasn't that bad.

Matt 33:12

There it was.

Siobhan 33:13

Nice. Well, that's two for Rob and one for me, right?

Matt 33:16

Yeah, I was gonna say Pop Rocks.

Siobhan 33:19

Oh, you know, and one for you 100%. You're so right. By the Pop Rocks.

Rob 33:23

I I I would have to say the most surprising today was the Pop Rocks. Oh, yeah.

Matt 33:29

Absolutely.

Emma 33:29

And you know what's funny is Matt and I were talking about that on Friday.

Rob 33:32

And I went in expecting to hate it. And because I was thinking the same thing, it would be so sweet that the orange juice would start to taste sour, but it was just like the perfect balance.

Matt 33:42

So are you leaning? Are you leaning toward Emma's or are you doing that I'm gonna vote for myself thing?

Rob 33:47

Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.

Matt 33:48

I'm I'm getting there.

Rob 33:49

Hold on. Hold on. Um, I first of all, other than you, Matt, everybody had at least one really great choice. I agree with that. Yeah, and really great pairing. And and so I will abstain from voting because I do not I do not want to vote for myself.

Emma 34:04

I I do. I was awesome.

Rob 34:07

But but I will say we all approached it very differently. Oh, yeah. You know, I I I was particularly happy with how mine turned out in the sense that I wanted it to feel like everything kind of pairs with itself and then also with the drink.

Matt 34:23

I think there was a lot of wonderfulness that was going on, and then mine was hot garbage, and I'm actually quite upset about that.

Siobhan 34:31

I mean, we all are, Matt, because we had to eat it. So yeah, we're all we're all upset.

Rob 34:36

I enjoy waiting to have an episode where you don't ruin it. I enjoy no with your channel. It'll never it'll never happen.

Siobhan 34:42

Now it feels like a theme, which I'm nervous about.

Matt 34:45

So I enjoyed Emma's very much. I thought the flavors were very complimentary. The mixed berries that were in there I thought were just perfect along with the orange juice. However, as much as it pains me to have to say this, I really liked what Rob brought. All three things went very well with the mimosa. The summer sausage meat. The summer sausage was surprising in how good it was and how good it flowed. I I gotta give it to Rob.

Various 35:15

Hooray.

Matt 35:16

I'll take the W. All right. So take it. Humbly, of course. Even right, sounds like it. I wasn't going to say there's a winner we all lost when we had mine.

Various 35:24

Oh gosh.

Siobhan 35:25

It's true.

Matt 35:26

The best drinkable goes to Rob.

Siobhan 35:28

Hooray!

Matt 35:29

Here he goes. That's right.

Rob 35:30

I do agree. All three all three were good. I do have to say though, just those nuts.

Emma 35:35

I feel like we kind of like came in two and two. Like we both had two that were good. Yeah. She's still fighting for it.

Matt 35:40

Because those shots those maple nuts, like, besides the crunchiness that it brought, like I hate to pull the host card, but as the host, Emma, I'm giving you a solid second place, and it's it's a solid second.

Rob 35:53

And Siobhan gets the win for most expensive container brought. Yes, correct. Which is very on brand.

Siobhan 36:00

Presentation was very nice. Very on brand. Spending more money being listened to.

Rob 36:04

Listen, guys.

Matt 36:04

And I take home the award for should not be allowed to shop for himself. Correct. So fair. I think we have drank enough of the universe today. It's been a pleasure, my friend.

Rob 36:14

Thanks for having us. Always. We'll see you around the galaxy.

Matt 36:16

Yes. And as we wrap up, that means it is time for the boozy quote of the day. This one comes from actress Betty Davis. There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne. Don't forget to subscribe to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe wherever you get your podcasts. And follow us on social media, Matt and Friends DTU on Facebook and Instagram. That's Matt and Friends DTU. For all the information you may want about the podcast, including links to all of our social media pages, please visit MattfriendsDTU.com. That's MattfriendsDTU.com.

Siobhan 36:48

Hey everyone. We're all here to have fun, but we'd like to take a moment to encourage you to always drink responsibly. Never drink and drive. If you have a complicated relationship with alcohol or other substances and you want to talk about it, you can call 1 800-662-4357 for support. Cheers and thanks for listening.