**A Novel Approach to Taco Bell: Experimenting with Pop Rocks**

In an attempt to take his Taco Bell game to the next level, a curious individual decided to get creative with the menu items. Armed with a firecracker burrito, a packet of crunchies (tortilla chips with red food coloring), and a can of Pop Rocks, our protagonist set out to create a unique flavor combination.

The Firecracker Burrito was chosen as the base for this experiment, and a few crunchies were added on the side, which tasted exactly like tortilla chips. The individual then added Taco Bell Fire Sauce to give it an extra kick. Next came the Pop Rocks, with one packet assumed to be enough for one burrito. With great enthusiasm, our hero folded up the burrito and... waited.

To their surprise, they could hear the popping of the Pop Rocks as well as feel its physical sensation. However, upon taking a bite, the Pop Rocks' flavor was barely noticeable, overshadowed by the seasoned ground beef and cheesy sauce. Undeterred, our protagonist added more Pop Rocks to see if it would enhance the flavor. Unfortunately, this only made the burrito sweeter, which wasn't what they were looking for.

**The Diablo Sauce: A Promising Addition**

As an alternative, our hero turned to the Diablo sauce, a spicy condiment that promised a nice kick. While it was indeed hot and had a strong cumin flavor, it was not quite what they expected from this particular burrito. Adding more Pop Rocks did give it a popping sensation, but at the cost of introducing sweetness, which wasn't desirable.

**The Cherry Cayenne Conundrum**

In an attempt to push the boundaries further, our protagonist tried using cherry-flavored Pop Rocks, hoping to create a unique flavor profile. Unfortunately, this resulted in a burrito that was overwhelmingly cherry-flavored, with the heat from the Diablo sauce barely making a dent. The individual realized that substituting other flavors of Pop Rocks would also yield disappointing results, as they were too strongly artificially flavored.

**A Lesson Learned**

In the end, our hero concluded that while experimenting with unconventional ingredients can be fun, not every combination works out as planned. The Firecracker Burrito was a novelty experience, but it didn't quite meet their expectations in terms of added flavor. The Diablo sauce, on the other hand, was a welcome addition, and with a bit more attention to balance flavors, it could have been even better.

**The Takeaway**

For those looking to try something new, our protagonist's experiment offers a reminder that flavor combinations can be unpredictable. While some ingredients may work well together, others might not. The key is to approach these experiments with an open mind and a willingness to learn from your mistakes. And for those who enjoy the thrill of culinary exploration, there's always next time – or the next burrito to try!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGreetings my beautiful lovelies. Hello, it's Emmy! Welcome back.Today I'm going to be taking -- taking? no, tastingTaco Bell's firecracker burrito. So this burrito was experimentally launched in just a few locations --a couple in Southern California,and then a few in the Toledo, Ohio region.And I live on the east coast in Rhode Island, henceI did not get this burrito.But one of my beautiful lovelies, Sarah, who lives in the Toledo region, went to a Taco Bell for meand sent me these:and these are the popping spices from Taco Bellthat came with the firecracker burrito.So Sarah, thanks so much for picking these up for me and making this episode possible!Today I'm going to try to recreate the firecracker burrito using a Taco Bell burrito,and also trying to make a little homemade version as well.All right, let's go ahead and get started!The Popping Spices is very strategically not branded as Pop Rocks,but most of us know them as Pop Rocks.I think this is going to be a spicy version of Pop Rocks.For those of you that don't know what Pop Rocks are, they are a delightful candy:they're kind of crystallized; and they're sweet and light candy; but once you put them in your mouth,and they touch the surface of your tongue and get wet, they pop.I actually researched how to do a DIY version of Pop Rocks,but apparently it's a very, very, very difficult process, and so I had to kind of nix that plan.At any rate, let's go ahead and taste the Popping Spices first.It looks just like Pop Rocks,but they have this kind of red-orange color. Ooh!Ooh!They smell like chili -- let's give them a taste!All right, here we go! Ittadakimasu!Ooh!Ooh!?And they pop just like Pop Rocks. But they're a little bitter -- I find that surprising --more bitter than spicy actually, maybe that's the toasted chili powder? But they pop just like Pop Rocks.Hear that? And they're sweet.Not really tangy, but slightly bitter, and there's a little bit of heat in there.But yeah, that's gonna be curious inside a burrito.Now that we have tasted that, I'm gonna try to make my own versionwith some cherry Pop Rocks. I don't know how well that's gonna be --yep, same look, right?Those are actually poppier -- very strong, strong, strong cherry flavor.They are more poppy than the Taco Bell version for sure.These are like, boom! --really, really poppy, while the Taco Bell version is not that poppy at all.So, hard candies are basically sugar that has been heated to a very specific temperature,so when it cools, it becomes hard. So in the process of making Pop Rocks,what they do is they carbonate it, or they add CO2 bubblesto the candy making process. So the bubbles of CO2 or carbon dioxide areembedded in the candy, and so when the candy dissolves in your mouth --when it gets wet with your saliva --it releases the carbon dioxide which makes the pop. This process is actually very, very difficult because it requires a certain amount of pressurewhile making candy with very very hot syrup,so unfortunately I won't be able to make a DIY version that acts at all like real Pop Rocks.I've seen other versions where they use baking soda and citric acid, but it's just more of a sherbet or just like a fizz.It's not gonna have that kind of pop.Wow! So doing a side-by-side, the Pop Rocks are definitelysignificantly poppy-er then the Taco Bell version.All right, so what I'm gonna do anyways is I'm going to add a little bit of cayenne pepperto my version which is gonna make it hot; and I'm gonna add a little bit of chili powderto give it thatsmoky, slightly charred bitter flavor --not sure what that's gonna do.All right. Let's try it now.Ooh!Wow! My homemade version is significantly spicier...and still tastes of cherryAt any rate, I'm gonna use that in my DIY version.So the original Firecracker Burrito from Taco Bell has a red tortillathat's filled with rice, melty nacho cheese,crunchy red tortilla chips, ground beef, and sour cream,so that is very, very close to a Beef Nacho Griller.The only difference with this one is the tortilla is not red, and I asked for additional sour cream.Cut that in half...And there is the interior. I asked for more crunchy bits on the side hereso I could have a little bit more crunch. I knew that these would probably get soggy,so I requested a few crunchies on the side --which taste exactly like tortilla chips --just has red food colouring. So the Firecracker Burrito has a spicy sauce -- so I'm just gonna add some fire sauce --Taco Bell Fire Sauce.Now I'm gonna add my Pop Rocks. So one packet, I'm assuming, is enough for one burrito, so add that much in there.Right, let's fold this up.Itadakimasu! Ooh, I can hear it popping -- can you hear it popping?!Here we go! Itadakimasu!Mm.... I can hear it popping, too!It doesn't really lend much to the flavour though.I do feel it physically -- I feel it popping and I hear it, but don't really taste it --mostly what I taste is the seasoned ground beef, which tastes like taco meat;and the cheesy sauce. And I like the crunch of the tortilla chips in there --It adds a little bit of contrast in terms of textures. It's not just all mushy.But, I'm not really tasting the Pop Rocks. Let me put some more.Nor the fire sauce. That is not very spicy. Let's try the Diablo.So it's been a long time since I've actually been to Taco Bell --I actually don't remember the last time -- and I certainly don't remember seeing this sauce.I'll add some of that on there.All right here we go!Mm-hm. So this Diablo sauce, while it's called the devil sauce, it's hot, but it's not crazy hot.And it has a big cumin punch in it. When you add more Pop Rocks,it does give it more of a popp-y sensation. The problem is it also makes it sweeter....which I don't really want in my burrito. So, it's fun to have the popping sensation along with a little added heat,but I don't really care for the sweetness. Yeah, I don't think this really works for me.I think my seven-layer burrito memories want me to have a little bit of lettuce and tomato in this, my Taco Supreme--That's what I used to eat when I was a kid, and so I'm really just craving a little bit of freshness, but yeah.I think that's gonna be pretty easy to replicate, so let's go ahead and try it. So I've got my griddle set up here,and I'm gonna toast up a tortilla. Toast up my tortilla. So I add some taco rice...Add some beef to that.I can already tell my beef is gonna be differentbecause these chunks are a lot bigger than the beef that was in that, but...Okay, I'm just gonna add a little sour cream....nacho cheese sauce. Okay, I got to work quickly here -- let's reduce this to medium.Instead of the red tortilla chips, I'm going to use Dorito chips.And then I'm gonna use my cherry cayenne Pop Rocks.They're already popping. And I'm gonna add the Diablo sauce.Okay, let's roll this up.Oh boy, that's hot.I can stop this now, I think.This is hot. I'm burning my hands!Original.DIY.Let's cut this one in half.Not nearly as red, but definitely popping.All right, let's give that a go. Itadakimasu!No. Huh!You cannot substitute cherry flavored Pop Rocks.No.This is like I took a perfectly fine burrito and dipped it into a cherry slushy.Terrible. The cherry flavor is way too strong and overpowering for this burrito.All I taste is cherry and some heat.The heat is nice. I like the Diablo sauce. I like the addition of the cayenne, but this is wrong!So unless there was some way to remove the cherry flavor out of these,I don't think it would work with any other flavours of Pop Rocks either.There's the blue raspberry, the watermelon -- all of them are really strongly artificially flavored,and I don't think would work.All right, so I just tasted the Taco Bell Firecracker Burrito, and, for what it's worthIt's fun for novelty's sake, but in terms of added flavor something that's satisfying or delicious, not so much.All right thank you guys so much for joining me. I hope you guys enjoyed that one;I hope you guys learned something;Share this video with your friends, and please follow me on social mediaso you can see what videos I'm up to, and I shall see you in my next video!Toodle-oo! Take care! Bye!\n"