Are you brave enough to take the Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge?

I wasn’t old enough to legally drink when Blue Moon made its debut in 1995. (I also wasn’t illegally drinking in 1995.) But Blue Moon was absolutely one of the, ahem, more prestigious beers that I began to expand my tastes with as I moved on from my early college days of drinking Keystone Light and Coors Light.

While Blue Moon never had the craft beer bonafides as a beverage like Magic Hat #9, it was still a key stepping stone on the journey that led from everyone drinking Bud Light to an expansive beer culture in America.

But what if Blue Moon had a spicer side?

That’s what the Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge is setting out to discover. Starting today, you can buy the Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge kit. Blue Moon and Frank’s RedHot have partnered to create the kit’s centerpiece: The Spicy Orange.

“Most people know how well Blue Moon pairs with oranges, but not everybody knows how well Blue Moon pairs with spicy foods,” the Molson Coors Beverage Company said in its announcement of the kit. “With this spicy orange garnish, we’re bringing the heat straight to our fans so they can test out this elite pairing for themselves.”

The Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge pits a spicy version of the classic Blue Moon garnish against your taste buds, with a frosty glass of the iconic beer ready to help you tamp down the temperature.

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What it costs

You can buy your very own Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge kit starting today, July 20, for $19.99 from Blue Moon’s website.

My thoughts

The Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge kit has everything you need to embark on this journey. Well, almost everything.

Inside each kit, you’ll find a Blue Moon challenge glass with 🔥-levels marked off on it, the infamous Spicy Orange, a bottle of Frank’s RedHot and a gift card to purchase a six-pack of Blue Moon.

I don’t often buy Blue Moon these days, so setting a frosty six-pack of one of the beers that was key to expanding America’s beer tastes down on my counter was a throwback. (Can I get anyone at Molson Coors to listen to my pleas to bring Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest Wheat back? That might be the all-time best pumpkin beer.)

I carefully unpacked my kit, making sure to not break anything. The last thing I wanted to do was to shatter my challenge glass or accidentally break the Spicy Orange.

This is the rare Snackology review that comes with rules. I wasn’t going to screw this up.

Step 1: Pour yourself a citrusy, oaty Blue Moon into the included glass.

Check. Look at that pour. That’s a solid pour.

Step 2: Eat the included spiced Valencia orange slice.

Woo boy, check. That’s a spicy orange. Blue Moon says that the Spicy Orange is “coated with Frank’s RedHot Original Hot Sauce and ghost peppers, delivering a combination of delicious fiery heat, flavor and citrus that puts Blue Moon to the test by highlighting how it pairs perfectly with spicy foods.”

I would’ve taken them at their word on this one, but after popping the entire Spicy Orange into my mouth at once, I definitely believe Blue Moon on this one. While I knew that the Spicy Orange would deliver a safe level of heat — no gloves included in this challenge — I wasn’t sure if it would be a novelty heat or a real heat.

It’s a real heat.

Step 3: Drink as little as you can to beat the heat. The less you drink, the better you do.

As I paced my kitchen, forehead growing damp, I took the occasional sip of Blue Moon from my challenge glass. I wanted to put a real effort into this task, but I wasn’t going to deprive myself of a beverage if I needed to fight the heat from the Spicy Orange.

In the end, I wound up somewhere between the first and second 🔥 emojis. Not bad.

You might be wondering what role that bottle of Frank’s RedHot plays in the Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge. If one Spicy Orange wasn’t enough for you, Blue Moon included instructions on how to make your own at home.

And, yes, I may have helped myself to a second bottle of Blue Moon while I wrote this review.

Snack Score

4.5 Out of 5

Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge kit

🍪 About the Snack Score →

Blue Moon and the Blue Moon Spicy Orange Challenge kit were provided to Snackology for this independent review.

Snackology is a publication of The Omnicosm.

Issue No. 287

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Snackology is written and produced by Bill Kuchman.
Copyediting by Tim Kuchman.

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