Einstein Bros. Strawberries & Cream Blender Review

oh me, oh my. I thought I was having a pretty good day. I had lunch from a place I never tried before, I got a few things squared away before I left work, and I knew dinner was in the oven...

Just 30 seconds from being home and I had a run in with this little 3" bugger. You see, one of my neighbor's phone lines came tumbling down and threw two of these into the road at around lunch time. I know this because my wife drove by without incident. Now, magically, this little guy waited 6 hours in the road 'til I came along. OH YEAH, right into the sidewall of my seven month old tire. I'm so happy! This is way better than going home to dinner! After finding the only place still open within a 20 mile radius and then parting with $165, I returned home to tuck the kids into bed. It's now 9:30 but I will do my best to jump back to lunchtime.

and so the real story begins

About two weeks ago, GrubGrade ran the news that Einstein Bros. Bagels has a new Triple Decker Bagel Club sandwich. Hey, there's an Einstein Bros down the street from work... they do lunch? I know I've been out of town for about 8 years but apparently things have changed while I was gone. I headed over to their website to see what else they might have now.

Hmmm, they seem to have several things I could try for lunch, how interesting. Oooo, there's an "indulge" section with a picture of drinks... Ohhhh they have cold beverages... Bros. Blenders? What are those?! They kind of look like shakes but there's no description. How odd. I clicked on nutritional info but it doesn't help. Ok, enough of that, off to the internet... where I find squat. Seriously? No one has ever reviewed these things? Man, I can't even find a press release. This ain't right. I need to know what these things are!

And well, it took two weeks, but I needed some lunch and I needed a cold beverage, so it's bagel time! I head to the store, order the new triple decker bagel club, and then head to the cashier where I request a Strawberries & Creme Bros. Blender.

 

this may be the first picture of a blender out in wild!

(seriously, go try and find one)

Admit it, it looks really good. We've got what looks like a strawberry shake with a very healthy helping of real strawberries. The interesting part is how they made it. First they take a 18oz cup and fill it to the top with ice cubes. You heard me, ice cubes. Next, out of the freezer comes a container of Minute Maid Strawberry smoothie mix. Ok, didn't see that one coming. Last, the server pulls out a container of Minute Maid Vanilla Ice Cream smoothie mix. I couldn't see the ratio of strawberry to vanilla, but he filled it up, blended it to perfection, and handed it over. I don't do smoothies, but this looks good.

I head back to the car, snap a few pictures, and begin the tasting. Wow, that's good. It's a funky hybrid between my beloved strawberry coolatta and like a wildberry frosty shake. Actually, it's got that very similar, sweet, strawberry whip cream taste from Blue Bunny's Strawberries are Forever Shortcake Ice Cream. I'm probably making it sound like it's too sweet, but it's not. It goes far, but not too far.

Now, let me make it clear that you can tell that there is a lot of water (ice) in this treat, but it's not a bad thing. See, since it's so liquidy it actualy quenches your thirst where as a milkshake always makes you want more and more (at least for me 'til I'm full). The blender's alot like a coolatta, in that it reminds you of a shake, but it's easy to drink, it's nice and cold, and plain and simple it tastes good. There's your selling point: if you aren't man enough to handle a real shake, drink this.  Just teasing!!!!

I totally enjoyed this treat, even at $3.89 and I am definitely going back to try the fat free wildberry version at some point. Today's blender was like a shake, but like a coolatta, and it's all good. The neat thing is, Einstein Bros opens early meaning I can get my fix on the way into work!

Verdict?  Different and good!
Buy Again?  Definitely!

More Info: Minute Maid smoothie mix debuted in the summer of 2008.

If you are curious, here's my sandwich. The thing I liked most was that they cut the bagel into thirds, meaning each slice is that much easier to eat. (it's hard to see but the middle slice is between the turkey slices). What I didn't like was the burny honey mustard sauce they slathered on the bottom slice. Yuck, way too potent for my tastes. Actually, wasn't a big fan of the avocado either. That said, this was still a tasty sandwich (once I got rid of the parts I didn't like).

Dubba's Note: Oh geez, I just looked at saturated fat! 
This will have to be an occasional treat I guess!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 18oz (532ml)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 520	from Fat 220
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 25g	38%
- Sat Fat 17g	85%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 95mg	32%
Sodium 95mg	4%
Total Carbohydrate 79g	26%
- Dietary Fiber  4g	16%
- Sugars 65g
Protein 5g
Vitamin A 40%	Vitmn C 180%
Calcium 15%	Iron 4%