Bottom Line: The Gold Emblem Extreme Hot Honey BBQ Cashews are the perfect blend of sweet and smokey with a nice kick of heat as a bonus.
CVS Pharmacy may not be the place you think of as a go-to location for spicy snacks, but as I have written about on this site before, it is worth taking a look around the store next time you pick up your prescription. They might have varieties from the major brands that you don’t usually find on the shelves like Screaming Sriracha Doritos or Sweet Carolina Reaper Cheetos, and they have several spicy selections from their house brand Gold Emblem. Just recently I had a $5 off $20 coupon and I had some fun grabbing up some spicy snacks with that (giving me enough material for multiple posts over the coming weeks). One of the gems I found in that spicy treasure hunt was the Gold Emblem Extreme Hot Honey BBQ Cashews.
These are exactly as described in the title and they check off several major boxes for a snack item:
Honey nut. Sweet and delicious.
BBQ. Rich and smokey.
Spicy. Oh yeah, these bring the heat!
These nuts are the perfect blend of those three flavors. The sweetness with a strong hint of honey hits first. Then the smokey barbeque flavor steps up and brings a nice depth to the nuts. Then the spice gives them that perfect finish. It really seems like you couldn’t go wrong with these, and they got everything just right. I am a particular lover of Cashews which I don’t usually find spiced up, so these are a big win for me.
As for the heat? That spice takes a few bites to build up, but after chomping down on a few nuts you definitely notice the burn. I wouldn’t say these measure up to the “extreme” heat in the title, but they are beyond the Medium level and rounding the base to Hot. After one serving, your mouth is definitely tingling, but they are also addicting so you you will probably want to pop open that bag for more.
Gold Emblem also does the same flavoring for peanuts, and I will have to give those a try at some point. The cashews retail for $7.79 an 8 oz bag which is rather pricey, but then most everything at CVS is on the higher side price-wise. That’s why you sign up for their rewards program so that you get that mile-long receipt after picking up your prescription that has all sorts of coupons and “extra bucks”. When you use those, or the specials you get for being a member, that makes the price more tolerable. So next time you are in CVS, be sure to check out their snack aisle as they have plenty to choose from there that brings the heat.
Tale of the Tape:
Ingredients: Cashews, sugar, blazin’ hot bbq nut seasoning (sugar salt spices including chili pepper onion tomato and garlic powder paprika yeast extract celery seed natural hickory smoke flavor citric acid natural flavor), honey, vegetable oil (peanut and/or soy), xanthan gum
Serving Size: ¼ Cup (30g)
Calories: 160
Fat: 12g (2g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 13g
Sodium: 125mg