Dr. Pearl – Flavored Puffs Pop-Corn!

As I said on my other Dr. Pearl post, we were also given Puffs to munch on…  Puff Corn.. ^_^  I mean… Popcorn, Dr. Pearl style.  They gave us 5 flavors in each loot bag and also while talking about Dr. Pearl Chantilly drinks, we were also free to munch on some puffs they have on the table.

About the Puffs

We thought that Dr. Pearl was all about the drinks, clearly we weren’t prepared for popcorns that day, but that was a welcomed surprise.  These Puffs come in resealable plastic packs and you can clearly see through it how nice and inviting the puffs are.  They come in your usual pop corn flavors – Caramel and Choco (I believe they may have cheese too but we didn’t get a sample of that) – but they also have some very interesting and unique ones – Kimchi, Sweet, and Seaweed.  Shelf-life is 1 month, and interestingly they should remain considerably crunchy as long as you reseal the bag really well.  We kept ours in the fridge and they all remained crunchy the next day, and the next…  Actually, I’m eating the last remaining (or should I say “surviving”) flavor which is the Choco-Puff.  It isn’t really that crunchy now, but this particular flavor wasn’t really that crunchy from the start so it’s safe to say, it was as if I was eating it a week ago when I received it.  More on this in the rest of the article.

The Puff Popcorns plus stickers and ballpens we got as freebies from Dr. Pearl.

What We Tasted

Kimchi Puff P31 

This was really intriguing right from the start when it was mentioned.  I though it looked like barbecue flavored popcorn, but the pack clearly says Kimchi.  And when we tasted it, I didn’t argue…  It definitely was Kimchi with the subtle heat it packed in those tiny puffs.  Eating Kimchi Puffs was like eating potato chips.  You really need drinks to eat with this one.  The hazard is that sometimes you accidentally (I don’t know if anyone would purposely do this anyway) breathe in the  hot Kimchi flavored powder and it just hits you and you start sneezing.  Yes, wake-up call if you’re feeling sleepy in the office.  I liked this!

This is what you'll need when eating Kimchi Puff.

Chocolate P31 

Ok, this one, although one of the more common flavors among the 5 freebies we got, was our least favorite (that’s why I’m still here, trying to finish it even if it’s a week after we got to take it home).  It was a little bit oily just by the touch of it, and when your teeth sink in to the puffs, it felt like the “choco” flavoring oozed out a bit, like it was liquid.  So I really don’t know if it’s just a case of bad batch or if all Choco-Puffs are like that, maybe because they use liquid flavoring for this one, compared to powder for the other flavors.

Sweet Puff P31 

This was my personal favorite!  It was sweet, but not too sweet.  It’s like eating candy popcorn, or popcorn glazed with melted sweet candy!  Sure it didn’t look much, it doesn’t have color except for the natural popcorn color, but it’s crunchy, it was sweet, and I couldn’t get enough of it.  I tried “prolonging” the life of this sweet goodies but I couldn’t and this was one of the 2 flavors that didn’t take long before it was gone.

Seaweed Puff P31 

Oh yes!  Love love love this flavor!  Even Mario loved this considering that he doesn’t really like seaweed (the reason why he doesn’t want sushi – doesn’t like the nori that is used to wrap it).  Would love it better if they added more seaweed flavor to this one.  ^_^

Caramel Puff P31 

One of the first flavors that we finished because we love caramel, but it tasted a little burnt to me, never-the-less, caramel is caramel so we munched on this on the way home (almost nothing left to take pictures with when we got home).  It’s really affordable at P31 a pack but if you’re willing to pay double that price (and travel from Pasig to MOA), you can get perfectly cooked and coated caramel at Chicago Popcorn Shops.

Overall

I think it’s great that they’re coming up with unique flavors and I’m looking forward to more new flavors, but they have to be careful that they don’t neglect the original popcorn flavors that people love.  ^_^  More Sweet Puffs please!

Perhaps we can all send them an email on what new flavors we'd like to try or share your Dr. Pearl Puff Popcorn experience.

Contact Information:

Level 5(near cinema) Robinsons Metro East–Pasig City

Website:  http://www.DrPearlCooler.com/

Facebook:  Puff Popcorn Fan Page

* The event featured in this article was sponsored by

Dr. Pearl and the products were provided free for

review/blogging purposes, but the whole article is 100%

the opinion of the writer and was not influenced by the company.

Dr. Pearl – Cool Cure for the Summer Heat!

We were invited by Dr. Pearl to the opening day of their first Metro Manila branch last Sunday, March 27 at Robinsons Metro East and we were treated to a quick introduction of their brand, their products, and a scoop on their future plans for Dr. Pearl in Metro Manila plus drinks and a loot bag!

About Dr. Pearl

I was really excited when I looked their website up on the net because I thought (I really thought), that Dr. Pearl was a Japanese brand imported here in the Philippines, but, apparently, Dr. Pearl is a Taiwan brand that has been franchised here in the Philippines since 2006, but from that time until before their Robinsons Metro East branch, most of their branches are located in the Northern Luzon area.  So being a Taiwan brand, everything is imported from Taiwan.  Yes, all the ingredients, little bits and pieces in the shop, are shipped from Taiwan to the Philippines.  And with the shipping comes the question of quality and safety.  They assured that all their ingredients are melamine free, and to attest to their commitment to quality, they are ISO certified as well.  I liked their shop theme which was overall hip Asian, cute, and pink.   ^_^;  And of course, I love the sakura flower in the logo…

You can relax and enjoy your drink with friends because they have 2 sets of tables and chairs in their booth. I wish there were more...

About Their Product

Ok, it gets tricky (a little bit) in this area because they offer a variety of things you can drink and eat, but to make it easy for you to digest, let me try to break it down in the simplest way possible.

For their cold drinks you can choose from Chantilly or Blended Shakes.  And what’s “chantilly” you ask?

A French term referring to sweet or savory dishes that are prepared or served with whipped cream. Crème chantilly is lightly sweetened whipped cream — sometimes flavored with vanilla or LIQUEUR — used as a dessert topping.

– From Epicurious.com

Not satisfied with the description?  Well, we have illustration too!

Photo c/o Dr. Pearl / The Top Part (the cream part) is what’s called the “Chantilly”. This photo also explains that with Dr. Pearl, you can customize your drink 3 ways. 1) Choose a topping/chantilly flavor 2) Choose your drink flavor 3) Choose either Pearl or Jelly (if you choose Jelly, you have options for which flavor of Jelly as well!)

All flavors can be purchased as chantilly or as shake, the difference really is just the cream on top.  So if you don’t want that, you can just order their shakes.  Anyway, even without the cream on top, they still put cream in the juice so the drink (even without the chantilly) is still creamy.  Another thing to note is that their juice selection can either be  powder-based, juice-based and yogurt-based drinks.  Aside from that, they have 38, yes THIRTY EIGHT cold drink flavors to choose from.

They also have hot drinks, the usual cafe offering, and some snack items like fries and toasts.

Ok, so without further ado, here’s the Robinson’s Metro East Menu:

Sorry if the text is not readable, but that’s because the menu was so big (it had to be, to accommodate all the flavors). And this is just what they have for the Robinsons Metro East Branch.

Their other branches are bigger which featured comfortable spaces for customers who are dining in, and other hot dishes on the menu.  Dr. Pearl has plans to open up bigger shops in Metro Manila so I’m looking forward to that.

What We Ordered

For our complimentary drinks, Mario wanted whatever was the sweetest flavor they had, which was “Ovaltine” (yes, from real Ovaltine powder) and I tried one of their best sellers which was “Melon”.  Both our orders were Chantilly, so we had that chocolate and cream, plus pearls.

Ovaltine Chantilly P59 (Small)  

Mario had no complaints and said that the sweetness was just right, in fact, what we both really noticed was how REALLY REALLY SOFT and WONDERFULLY CHEWY the pearls were.  Soft and chewy?  How can they be soft and chewy at the same time?  Well, it’s soft because when you bite on the little pearls, they don’t really fight back as much as the other pearls from other brands do, but they’re still a little “together” enough to chew and let you enjoy that part too.  The pearls are prepared every 4 hours.  Not once for the whole day, but every 4 hours, to ensure that they’re as soft and chewy as we got them!

 

 

That's Mario, with his Ovaltine Chantilly.

 

Melon Chantilly P59 (Small)  (4 boots for the pearls, the creaminess – as for the flavor – read on ^_^)

Again, the same soft and chewy pearls in mine.  To be honest, I forgot that I was drinking melon.  I think I got too carried away with the pearls that I really forgot about the melon flavor so I couldn’t comment on that… ^_^;  Gomen!  But here’s what we both noticed, we were full after that 1 serving of small Chantilly.  Well, you can take into consideration that we were also munching on Dr. Pearl puffs (will blog about this soon) before these drinks got to our tables.

The green one is my Melon Chantilly. Mario couldn't wait and started mixing his cream that's why his "chantilly" was not really there anymore... ^_^

Overall

We were really blown away by the pearls… ^_^  And I’m still intrigued by the seemingly limitless number of drink combinations…  I mean, if you ordered Ovaltine Chantilly, and opted for a caramel cream top, and (instead of pearls) coffee jellies, how do you think would that taste?  I also love the fact that they have a lot of flavors to choose from and in different types of drinks too (the juice, powder and yogurt-based ones).  It might be a bit overwhelming at first, just like when we were asked to choose our free drink flavor, I couldn’t decide right away because there were just too many on the menu.  But I think when I come back I have clearer plan of attack in terms of what to order next.  ^_^

Isn't this teacup mascot cute!? A little weird with the body but cute non-the-less. They would probably have teacup mascot merchandise in their shops some time in the future.

Future Plans

Watch out for Dr. Pearls in Manila, in particular, Robinsons Manila also, a possible “BABY” size because their small is actually medium compared with other brands.

Bag of goodies!

Yep, Mario was definitely there!

He was everywhere.... ^_^; Big Chantilly for a Big Guy?

I was there... Tired from the looooong drive (even though I wasn't the driver.. ^_^). Trip from Parañaque to Robinsons Metro East.

Boots!

Contact Information:

Level 5(near cinema) Robinsons Metro East–Pasig City

Website:  http://www.DrPearlCooler.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/DrPearlCooler

* The event featured in this article was sponsored by

Dr. Pearl and the products were provided free for

review/blogging purposes, butbut the whole article is 100%

the opinion of the writer and was not influenced by the company.