1990 Hershey's Desert Bar Rare Discontinued MRE Candy Tropical Chocolate Bar Ration Review
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- čas přidán 9. 02. 2016
- LET'S GET THIS OUT ONTO A TRAY, NICE™
MRESTEVE™
NICE HISS™
I'LL BE COMING BACK AT YOU WITH SOMETHING NEW OR OLD, ALRIGHT COOL SEE YA™
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Hello everyone! We got ourselves a very unusual little review this time - it is of a Hershey's Desert Bar - not many of these were made and very few exist today. It is a prototype bar developed by Natick Food Labs and was originally used by US Soldiers during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
It wasn't very popular and the leftover stocks were sold on the commercial market for about a year and then discontinued.
Hope you enjoy this one - it is certainly unusual!
-Steve
** All Music By: Steve1989 MREinfo **
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LET'S GET THIS OUT ONTO A TRAY, NICE™
NICE HISS™
I'LL BE COMING BACK AT YOU WITH SOMETHING NEW OR OLD, ALRIGHT COOL SEE YA™ - Zábava
*eats old Hershey's chocolate bar* "it tastes like an old Hershey's chocolate bar"
Hmmm...The floor is made out of floor
*People die when they are killed*
i bet he meant it tastes lake current hersheys commercial formula, but aged
I was in Desert Storm and remember the white-ish "Desert Bar". Had sort of a waxy taste and barely of chocolate. It also tasted pretty cheap and reminded me of early 1970's chocolate gold-coins you could get at Easter time. Pretty poor, but do-able. They'd turn white-ish like you have shown here pretty quickly and stayed that way for years afterwards. I tried a "fresh" one in the US and it was quite better, being only a week old or so. I think they turned white-ish after it got over 80 degrees F and/or after 1 month, but they "kept" for a long time. Older ones tasted more and more waxy and less chocolate-y. I never had it over 90 degrees F. at-the-time. I guess it actually improves with heat!
sounds pretty nasty I had a wax taste before and it was not pleasant and also thank you for your service
Chocolate sold in tropical countries always did that in the past (80's to 90's). It was called "cocoa bloom" or something and chocolate bars from Cadbury used to have a statement at the back saying that the white bloom is fine and does not affect the taste. That's not entirely true, it did affect the taste. The last batch I saw with these was probably mid 90's for the cheaper chocolate covered almonds made locally. New candy and chocolate don't bloom anymore, not even in hot weather.
@@sixthsealEatsnot even just in tropical countries, I’m from Sweden and I remember a lot of cheap chocolate having bloom on it when I was a kid in the 90s. It definitely affects the taste, I don’t care what anyone says. Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen chocolate with bloom in a very long time.
Heh it's nice to see someone try these out. I am a tour guide for the company that made the initial test run of these for Hershey's and showing these off is part of the tour. I get Desert Storm veterans through the tour all the time telling me all sorts of things about the bar, never heard of anyone actually liking them before now. Some say they taste like a tire, personally I think they taste like a candle. Also they're flammable and can be (and have been) used as a camp stove.
I so want to see someone do the candle test. Ive seen steve use foods as candles before though.
In the early 90's there was a chain called Odd Lots(which became Big Lots). They had these in these stores! I loved grabbing them then as I was in college or just recently graduated. So I was broke. :-) So this was a cool find.
I'm delighted by the fact that Steve has floral print plates. For reasons I can't explain.
I think the point of these was that soldiers were expected to eat them in the field, so they were designed to be eaten hot. It looks like they had some kind of wax in the mix that probably only softens up at higher temperatures. Everyone who tried them at room temperature probably had mixed feelings about them because of that.
gives me NOSTALGIA! ate one of those at the time i did my service! sadly, missed them so bad! even did my hunt and wrote a letter to hershey's to released this chocolate bar in the public! still waiting for the reply. . .
this is the kind of quality content I look for on the Internet. thank you
It bakes into a brownie because it's got egg whites in it.
Experimenting with steve! haha. was an interesting video man. can't say ive seen one of these eaten and then tried out in various temps.
Haha. I can tell you had fun with this one, aswell as yeah I figured it was rare. Especially since you got it!
Based on the ingredients shown in the label, it looks like egg whites were used to give it the heat-resistant properties. Whether by heating or by lowering the pH, the whites "cure" into a subtle cake-like structure that serves to microencapsulate the chocolate in little "cells" so it can't melt into one pool of liquid.
Meringue
Nice job Steve! I remember having one of those desert bars years ago around the time of Desert Storm. I thought it was unique and never ate it, but lost it at some point over the years. I wish I still had it, it would be an awesome addition to the collection. Keep up the great work!
I've been eating MRE's and various survival and military foods since I was six, in 1984, when I had one of the first ever produced MREs, "Turkey, Diced with Gravy" and I was instantly hooked! I even ate one MCI when I was six and it was horrid! So, I played A LOT of army, exploring creeks and wooded areas, etc, and ate a lot of MREs throughout the 1980's, 90's as well as today. This desert chocolate looks a lot like the Mars chocolate bar sent out in the early to late 1990s. I loved it! They would often look chalky like that, as would the M&Ms, but somehow they always tasted better than what I got fresh at the gas station. Anyhow, glad I found your channel and subscribed! LOVE your ration reviews! Keep'em coming!
+Steve1989 MREinfo Thanks dude! One day I hope to start my own youtube channel that taste tests various food storage meals. I just don't know how to get started.
Love your reviews Steve, you're my favorite person to watch when it comes to MRE reviews man, just wanted you to know.
i was looking through random videos one day and i have to say i got addicted to you're vids so fast xD keep up the great work :D
3 videos in 1 day! thanks Steve!
shout out to Steve. hope you and your family and friends are ok and doing well and safe from the hurricanes in your area.
I'm surprised it's not full of maggots. I remember as a kid helping my aunt clean her house, and she had an old box of chocolates which was full of worms, that had literally grown and multiplied in there for years. That's been imprinted in my mind ever since.
reminds me of the time I ate half a bag of Reese's cups and they had been infested with meal worms. extra nutty!
Those were special made to uh ..... Have no worms. I had same experience with Whitman's chocolates.
@@edenmonte9628 THAT'S JUST PROTEIN!
Lets start a petition to bring it back
Love the music used in the intro and outro of your vids. Sounds a lot like 80's Doctor Who incidental music.
It's Friday, and I see 4 new uploads! Great way to start off my weekend! :) I love it.
That's crazy but so cool your videos are really interesting the only ones I watch on CZcams good work bro 👍🏻
I remember those at Big Lots. I enjoyed them. They were a bit waxy and dry, but the novelty of them not melting in my hand made up for that. I always wondered why these weren't marked to Death Valley gift shop, or even the desert southwest region in general.
This review made me very very happy. That is all.
Good work, as always, mate. :)
I have one of these in my collection. I tried them when they were new, and I'm happy this one is safely in it's wrapper where it can't hurt anyone. :P
hey Steve, congrats on ur 15k sub!
In the 101st during desert storm we got generic supplements from the war stocks in Diego Garcia. Never saw anything like that since everything melted quickly. Somehow our platoon got old c ration packs instead.
We used to warm up the tropical chocolate bars too. Not 250 degrees but probably about 150 degrees, and it changed it from horrible to pretty good, just like the dessert bar.
Thanks for the snapshot into chocolate history!
I can't stop watching these videos.
Great vid Steve
Got some at the local market in Monett Missouri. I liked them.
Nice! A desert dessert!
Great stuff Steve! How interesting that they seem to improve (almost like they're traveling back in time) when you heat them up. It's strange how they really DON'T melt! Considering the kinds of environments the U.S. military has been deployed to since these were developed (desert, desert, desert) I'm surprised that they didn't adopt these completely. I suppose that if the reaction from soldiers wasn't that positive they figured it wasn't worth the time, effort and (especially) money that it would take to make a full scale production of this stuff. And that reaction was likely to mean they wouldn't be very popular in the commercial area either (which means they'd lose that whole other arena where they could have made money off of it if kids were buying these things in their local drug store after school!). It really does seem like a neat idea though. You always hear how M&Ms "melt in your mouth, not in your hand", but in reality M&Ms certainly DO melt in your hand (especially in hot weather). These things could have made that claim a reality!
I live like a 150 miles from Hershey pa im from Pittsburgh, im gonna right hersey and hopefully lol they'll go for it righ call it the TROW BACK HERSEY DESERT BAR. AND IF THEY GO FOR IT , U NEVER KNOW THEY MIGHT PUT DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO THE BAR IDN SO GOOD JOB STEVE STEVE STEVE HELL YA
That's kind of awesome chocolate that won't melt! I wonder what they put in them so they wouldn't? Many things I ate as a kid, don't taste the same as they did.. is that a changing taste bud thing or product ingredient change? Great video as always, my friend!
Interesting clip. Thanks.
we had a case of these that we took to our winter FTX in Graf(thanks to our high speed warehouse guys in Combat Support Squadron.... they knew their stuff!) unheated, they were nice with coffee out in the field. a handful of our troop didn't like them for reasons I can't remember at this moment. as with any good stuff you can get your hands on, you get as much as you can and end up trading about 1/3 to 1/2 away for various things.
I was on the USS LY Spear during Desert Shield and moved to Bahrain Naval Repair Depot....we had these on the ship on the way over (mid 1990). Sold in the geedunk machines if I remember right. They also had them (but in much less supply) in one of the stores onbase in Bahrain.
Two Things...
They were ALWAYS oxidized to some degree...even out of a fresh box. SK once said it was the heat doing it. All I know is, on average 25% of the bars surface would be oxidized. NOT unusual to see much more.
They tasted flat...as in stale as cardboard.....out of the package. You've already found the heating trick. Used from smores to ice cream sauce in heated form. I knew a guy who'd pour the heated chocolate in a styrofoam cup and let it cool. My favorite was when we would put them in the bottom of mugs and had steaming hot chocolate or coffee dumped over and let it melt.
Cheers - Jay
Awesome video dude :)
It made me think that you might try baking or heating up the old school tropical chocolate. It would be awesome if it sprang back to life!
Nice work Steve! I can't believe you got your hands on one of these. Very impressive! Your next quest should be getting a D Ration Logan chocolate bar from WW2. I think the CZcams Ration Community would crown you King if you managed to pull that off ;)
So far, I've only seen one person on YT with a Logan bar.
I know most of not all hershey tropical bars have gone bad by now but would still be cool if you heated one up like you did here to see what it would taste like.
Hershey's you need to bring back the desert bar! xD
Radical dude.
like your plates Steve ;)
steve you have the cojones of a medium sized elephant for eating most of the vintage food that you do . keep it up amigo its very entertaining. C u on the next one!!
You should hand these out on Halloween. The kids will love you.
In your videos its says that all the music was written by you. What do you use to create it? Do you have a Mac?
I remember buying one at Hershey Park. I wish I'd had kept it.
its sand colored to blend in with the environment
BEAN POLE so if you drop it you can’t find it
That chocolate looked great!
Bring back the Desert Bar Hersheys O.O
Haha, cool, no matter what shit you eat, you manage to make it entertaining, by far the best MRE vid maker on youtube, gundog, Kiwi and the rest are cool too though.
right as I was asking about microwave chocolate I read my mind again another great one u have really gotten me interested in MREs one thing I did noticed nobody says hi so hi and how r u 👋
+Steve1989 MREinfo that's awesome Steve how was the vaca ??? everyone's good here thanks .. can't wait for the new vids always a joy u make watching the tube fun again
I'm glad you found it I'll be sure to watch and comment! I always do
Steve, what were the reasons for dislike/discontinuation, of this product? Did anyone say? Also, what special ingredients/preparation procedures, if any, separated this bar from normal milk chocolate?
cool music, steve
I loved those.....
Amazing !
this had me cracking up for some reason. dude, youre crazy.
You write all of your music?!?!?! Lots of talents you have!!! Real pity they didn't kept producing it, living in hot areas and chocolate do not combine.
Bet that tasted better heated up than the current MRE trans fat free brownies! I think Hershey could actually market these today. Call them instant brownies, just put on a pan and heat up, then eat.
No mixing, no adding water, not going to lie, I'd buy more than a few haha. Wonder if they would get the same effect from a microwave, maybe even get moister from it.
Here you go again making me crave some chocolate. Those bad boys look good. Wonder how many petitions it would take to have them start back up production... Great video as always man! You keep up this video pace and you will surpass everyone else on subs for sure!
That might work, the instant brownie idea :) .It'd be just a matter of marketing. About the only thing I'd see, that might necessary, is improving packaging, for long-term storage.
+Steve1989 MREinfo The brownies with trans fats in them were much better in my opinion. I have a few of them lying around still. Didn't realize they had switched until I had a buddy crack open a 2013 MRE I gave him. I hear the TFF snack bread tastes almost raw.
Where do I sign? I'd love to see these on the market, and as Jaybird196 said with improved packaging. Maybe not ration worthy since you need an oven or microwave to really enjoy it, but at least so you can store them without worry.
Betty Crocker would be pissed, but more profits to Hershey!
+izahealyou You mention their being not,necessarily, ration-worthy due to needing an oven or microwave. Maybe, something could be done with 'em, in an FRH, or canteen cup of scalding-hot water?
For some reason, we had a ton of these in stores in Athens, Ga. And yes, it did taste awful.
Maaaan now i want one aswell :(
I want one.
It crumbles like the Cadburys Flake bar we have in the UK
hey! where did you find those photos at the beginning? is there some sort of public archive?
What did they use during the last twenty years we were over there?
Dammit. Now I want to try one. Curse you.
Nice
I feel like they really had something there, maybe some more r&d and a couple years, they could have had something that would have taken off lol
Its not oxidized, the chocolate has bloomed. The sugar has crystallized on the surface.
I live about 45 minutes from the hersheys factory in PA and i love their chocolate lmfao
Pennsylvania buds
I live about the same distance from Hershey in PA ;)
The colour is due to oxidation or originally always desert coloured?
Edit: Nevermind, you said it was oxidized later on.
This or the rum raisin chocolate, though? :)
I'm guessing that this bar is ideally eaten in 90-100+ F degree weather? I guess it wouldn't make sense to make it nationwide because of the different climates everywhere.
I'd read once that it had lots of oatmeal in it and that's why it didn't completely melt.Taste? Imagine a chocolate covered oatmeal bar.
basically an army twinkle
I remember these not so fondly. I had a very generous aunt who worked at the PX at FT Bliss, and always loving a bargain, she must have bought cases of these things. That the soldiers told her they were crap mattered not if they were $.25. A woman and a bargain must never be interfered with. She sent me at least 200 of these. I live in MA, and she mailed them in the summer. They never melted, but were really inferior chocolate (worse than the Palmer chocolate flavored Easter candy!). If I was stranded in the desert of Iraq, I still don't think I'd want to eat this candy, gimme a melted anything even if it looks like baby poo because this bar didn't even taste as half as nice as baby poo..Yes I do know what..don't judge!. Anyway, we gave them out at Halloween lol! I don't remember if our house got egged that year, but we deserved it.
I think it's design was made to taste better when it is warm at a certain temperature which I wouldn't mind because today Hershey bars are thin and basically melt easily just by holding them.
was your TV not working on this day??
Where did you get those photos? I just love old food packaging.
Which one came first, the Desert or the Logan?
What is the song in the beginning of the video
The one you left in for 30 looks like a brownie. My brain was going "WTF?". It starts out like a chocolate Necco, turns into fudge with heat, and turns into a brownie with prolonged heat. This thing is a magician.
Cool to see someone else who like The Thing, and yeah it was. Ha!
I really love Halloween and Christine, too.
nice
Where did you get the stock photos? cheers
Regular chocolate usually turns dark & crumbling when burnt like that 230° one did
i found chocolate that looked like this (it was white inside )
I remember something in WW2, there's a Hershey's Tropical Chocolate Bar. Do you think it still exist today?
Saw a brand new unopened case of 24 on eBay yesterday for $629
Heh, interesting.
Lol. I swear man. I'd love to smoke a joint with ya and just listen to you trip out about a warm desert bar
Lemme tell ya, those old desert bars are so much better warmed up. Perfect for when you have lowered discretion via irrational hunger. hahah
I'm wondering if the old tropical bars from the 40s through the 60s would come back to life with a little spin in the microwave.
I would love to get one for my dad, he served back in Desert Storm with the Army.
+Steve1989 MREinfo Well thank you! That's kind of ya Steve!
+The Slick Sniper There's one for sale right now. Only one on ebay. www.ebay.com/itm/1-Original-Unopened-Hersheys-Desert-Bar-Desert-Storm-Gulf-War-/222019292197?hash=item33b1618c25:g:yLoAAOSwAYtWP6Mv
"Damn this is seriously good!" made you sound like naked snake
Tropic choc is interesting.
I’m willing to bet that Hershey retained the technology it used in the Desert Bar in its modern products that are sold in tropical regions
It looks to have a texture similar to the mocha dessert bar currently used in MREs.
Even microwaved the chocolate lol
Guy !! Is that a candy in hellboy 1 movie ?
The one you left in for 30 minutes is grainy because the chocolate got to hot and burned. The same thing would happen with normal chocolate if you melt it on to hot heat.