After my road trip to Dallas in May, I received this comment on my post about my first visit to 105 Degrees:
Hail Merry was a new brand name to me, but as soon as I clicked over to their website, I loved what I saw. First I was dazzled by their visuals—vivid colors, adorable graphics, and a clean and simple design. Then I was enticed by their products—granola and macaroons, yum! Then I was impressed by their processing standards and nutritional stats—every Hail Merry product is raw, vegan, and gluten-free, containing no refined sugars, no heated oils, and only high-quality, all-natural ingredients. YAY! After an email exchange with Susan O’Brien, Hail Merry’s creator, a box of these goodies arrived at my door!
There were two varieties of “grawnola,” 3-6-9 Orange Cranberry and Lemon Blue Agave…
…and two types of raw macaroons, blonde (yesss!) and chocolate.
Susan also threw in this awesome t-shirt, with the Hail Merry logo on the front and “RAW VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE” on the back, and a cute little faux prayer card extolling Merry’s virtues. The shirt’s pretty big for me, but that hasn’t stopped me from wearing it to places like Blissfest to show my vegan pride.
The 3-6-9 Orange Cranberry grawnola has almonds, pure maple syrup, organic buckwheat groats, fresh squeezed orange juice, organic apples, pecans, organic cranberries, sunflower seeds, walnuts, organic Mexican vanilla, organic flaxseeds, cinnamon, organic rice bran solubles, and sea salt. The “3-6-9” means it contains the full spectrum of omega fatty acids, and since the granola is dehydrated rather than baked, those fats retain all their health benefits.
I was initially cautious about the orange juice part, especially with it being so high on the ingredients list (you know me and my hatred of all things orange), but surprisingly enough, I couldn’t really taste it! (I’ve been having good luck with citrus lately!) Orange lovers might find that a drawback, but trust me, it doesn’t need the orange to be great. This granola was just mildly sweet, and full of exciting textures and warm flavors. In short, it was excellent.
The Lemon Blue Agave grawnola has almonds, organic buckwheat groats, organic sunflower seeds, organic raw blue agave, organic dried apples, fresh lemon juice, organic blueberries, fresh ginger, walnuts, organic flaxseeds, lemon juice powder, sea salt, and organic rice brand solubles. Since it’s sweetened with agave nectar, it’s a particularly great choice for diabetics or anyone watching their blood sugar.
I was pleased to find it had just the right amount of lemon flavor—far from puckeringly sour, it’s got just a soft whisper of lemony lightness behind the fruity-nutty ingredients. This granola (as well as the other, for that matter) is almost shockingly crunchy, yet not at all brittle. It’s a treat for the teeth and the taste buds.
And then there were the macaroons. Ohh, baby. These were sweetly aromatic right out of the bag, and they’re the perfect two-bite size.
The chocolate macaroons (made of organic shredded coconut, dark cocoa, organic expeller-pressed coconut oil, pure maple syrup, organic Mexican vanilla, and sea salt) are not super-sweet, yet also not the least bit bitter, with just the right amount of cocoa.
The blonde macaroons (made of organic shredded coconut, almond flour, organic expeller-pressed coconut oil, pure maple syrup, organic Mexican vanilla, and sea salt) were, um, orgasmic. Hands down the best coconut macaroon I’ve ever had. They seemed softer-textured than the chocolate ones, and call me crazy, but they tasted downright buttery. Like, reminds-me-of-my-grandma’s-baking buttery, in a really, really good way. Hail Merry is not kidding when they say these will melt in your mouth!
ALMOST VEGAN GIVEAWAY #6
I completely adored all four of these snacks, and they disappeared all too quickly. Though they’re available in stores around the Dallas metroplex and in several other states, a lot of us aren’t fortunate enough to have easy Merry-access, so I’m way excited that Susan agreed to sponsor this giveaway. The winner will receive one Hail Merry product of their choice from the ones you’ve seen here!
HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling me which of these Hail Merry snacks sounds yummiest to you!
For extra entries (***leave an additional, separate comment for each one***):
–“Like” Hail Merry on Facebook
–Follow Hail Merry on Twitter
–Sign up to receive the Hail Merry newsletter
–Link to this giveaway on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
–Subscribe to my blog by email, RSS, Google reader, etc.
–Add me to your blogroll (or let me know I’m already on there)
–“Like” Almost Vegan on Facebook
–Follow Almost Vegan on Twitter
The deadline for entries is Friday morning, September 17th, 2010 at 9:00am CST.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. (Sorry foreign friends!)
I’ll be choosing the winner at random. GOOD LUCK!
Other current giveaways elsewhere:
Averie is giving away a $50 for America’s Nutrition
Wendy is giving away ZICO coconut water
Maggie is giving away NuNaturals stevia
Ela is giving away Amazing Grass
Amanda is giving away $35 for CSN Stores
Anne is giving away $65 for CSN Stores
Vegan Backpacker is giving away $25 for Viva Granola
If you like this, you might also like…
Reviews: Inspired Cookie, Zhena’s Tea
Tofu ricotta cheeze + gadget reviews
Reviews & giveaway: Wholesome Chow
The blonde macaroons look pretty darn good! I might go for the those above all.
I already “like” Almost Vegan on facebook.
I already subscribe to your blog.
Chocolate macaroons, hands down!
I like you on FB!
I follow you on Twitter!
Ooo, I’d love to try the vanilla macaroons. So tasty!
since i’m a sucker for anything coconut, i would jump at the chance to gobble some of those blonde macaroons! yum!
i just ‘liked’ almost vegan on fb.
i already have almost vegan on my google reader feed.
and now i’ve liked hail merry on fb, too!
I’d love to try the chocolate macaroons! Or the 3-6-9 grawnola!
I “liked” Hail Merry on facebook!
I’m already following Hail Merry on Twitter!
I tweeted about the giveaway here-
http://twitter.com/discoveringraw/status/24140058424
I signed up for the newsletter!
I’m already subscribed to your blog via googlereader!
I “liked” almost vegan on facebook!
I’m following you on twitter! (@discoveringraw)
The macaroons by FAR are my choice for tasting!
I like you on FAcebook!
I follow you on Twitter. @singerinkitchen
macaroons, macaroons!!
oh, and I already like you on FB and Twitter… I like you that much!
liked Hail Merry on Facebook
aaaaannnnd now I follow Hail Merry on Twitter
Great giveaway!!
I can’t decide- I recently found out I can’t have gluten and I am drooling over all of these tasty morsels! I would love to try any of them!
I’m intrigued by the blonde macaroons! Thanks for the giveaway!
The orange cranberry granola sounds amazing – great giveaway!
Everything looks so yummy! What an awesome brand too.
I think the 3-6-9 Orange Cranberry grawnola looks tasty, but boy oh boy the blonde macarons looks nice too.
How nice of you to do this!
I would love to try either of those macaroons – they look just scrumptious!
You’re on my blogroll!
linked to this giveaway on my blog!
http://ulteriorharmony.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-self-love-control-middle.html
She didn’t even share any with me.
Tells you how much she liked this stuff.
You’re on my blogroll. I “liked” them on face book. And I would LOVE to try those blonde macaroons!!!!!
Hail Merry is AMAZING -their grawnola – love it!
I’d love to try the macarons! Especially the chocolate ones!
I’m not a big granola fan, so the Blonde Macarons sound delicious! (As do the chocolate ones!)
I shared the giveaway link on Facebook.
I am subscribed to your blog.
You are already on my blogroll.
I definitely “like” AlmostVeganBlog on Facebook.
I’d love to try the blond macaroons!!!
Those chocolate and blonde macaroons look delectable.
Seriously, my mouth is watering!
My step mom is gluten free, and i’m sure she’d like them 2.
Hail Merry, i love U!!!
All of them sound yummy! I have no idea what I would pick….maybe the choc. macaroons? Or a granola? HA! If I win it will be a hard choice.
I like Hail Merry on FB!
I’m following Hail Merry on Twitter (@melswanphoto)
I signed up for Hail Merry’s newsletter
I’m following you on Twitter (@melswanphoto)
Tweet! http://twitter.com/melswanphoto/status/24435137423
blondie macs please!
following u on twitter
following them on twitter
and thx for the linkback to my giveaway
like you on FB
like them on FB
rss feed
blogrolled of course
Chocolate Macaroons. No question.
HM Newsletter
Like HM on FB
Follow HM on Twitter
definately the lemon blue agave granola, but they all look completely delectible
like on fb and twitter and like hail marry
like on facebook
linked to facebook
like almost vegan
signed up for hail merry newsletter
Never heard of Hail Merry brand but Ill have to check it out in NY some time.
Iid go with the granola
I’d LOVE to try the blonde macaroons! They sound amazing!
I’m following Hail Merry on Twitter! (@HealthyHoggin)
Following Almost Vegan on Twitter, too!
BLONDE MACAROONS! They sound amazing!
And you are on my google reader!
Hi Amber! You just won my giveaway
I will be emailing you shortly.
The 3-6-9 sounds mega delicious to me, I would love to try it out.
I liked Almost Vegan on facebook, Holly Hook.
I also liked Hail Merry on facebook
Oh wow! those raw macaroons look fantastic. I wish I could get Hail Merry products where I live or even enough money to buy them haha.
That’s one reason I want to win this gift tin giveaway so badly – they’re not sold in Kansas City either! It’s not fair!