1989 Ration, Cold Weather No. 2 A

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Hello all! Last weekend I was feeling hungry for dinner and wanted to dig in my growing collection to see what sounded good and most adventurous. I decided to give this 1989 RCW a try. I've heard that these are very popular yet incredibly rare. It's a real shame they don't make these anymore because I really enjoyed it and would happily have another. If only there were easily obtainable. Anyway, let's take a look and see what we've got!

Oh, yes! This is looking to be pretty darn exciting! Here's what we have:
2x Nut & Raisin Mix
Apple Cider
Fruit Soup, Raspberry
Instant Oatmeal, Apple & Cinnamon
3x Cocoa Beverage Powders
Accessory Packet containing:
Coffee, Instant
Cream Substitute
Sugar
Chewing Gum (Chiclets Peppermint Gum)
Matches
3x Toilet Tissue
Closure Device (this sounds rather technical, I couldn't wait to see what it was)
1st generation MRE spoon

Awesome! It's interesting to note that the package stated that there was supposed to be chicken noodle soup in this one. But I didn't see any. Perhaps they forgot to add it? Let's start out with the oatmeal and beverages.

I've also read on the forum that the fruit soup is a very cherished item and one must not add too much water to it despite what the directions say. I followed your advice and I do not regret one bit of it! This stuff was delicious! It had a very natural and strong raspberry flavor to it! For the record, I added hot water to it. I don't know if cold water would have had the same effect. I suspect that it would.

Here's the oatmeal almost ready to eat.

I will continue this below since I cannot upload anymore pictures.

[SentientTootsieRoll]

And here is everything ready to eat!

First off, the oatmeal was absolutely delicious. It had a very nice, natural oat taste combined with the aged apples. It's far better than any Quaker oatmeal I've had for sure! The apple cider was sweet and strong. The cocoa tasted very good as well, however it is no different than ordinary MRE cocoa powder from this time period. The nut raisin mix was okay, but nothing to write home about. It tasted a bit stale but I'm surprised the peanuts held up as well as they did. Usually they would get very sour.

I decided to spare the other packs of nut & raisin mix and cocoa and accessory packet items. After I was all done, I salvaged most of the components, put them back in the bag and stored this RCW back into my collection. Sure it's been consumed, but these are too rare for me to simply throw out. Overall, I give this ration a solid 9/10. I still have its counterpart, 2 B. I will be reviewing that one sometime in the not too distant future.

Thanks for reading!

[steve1989]

What an awesome experience and such true respect for the RCW. Thanks so much for sharing your review of such a gem. I love that you mentioned how those dried apples in the oatmeal do age over time. The apple cider is strong, sweet, and unique. And you prepared & savored the Rasberry Fruit Soup as it should be.

Too cool, Sentient!!

[cavguy]

Nice review! One of my favorite rations too. Call me crazy but I have never liked that fruit soup - ya'll would probably kill me if you knew how many of those I had thrown out in the 90's...

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Thanks for the kind comments, steve1989 and cavguy. I too am impressed with the RCW, it seems to me like it devolved rather than evolved into the MCW. I like the MCWs but the RCWs have far more character to them. Not to mention the good feeling of coming across rare gems like the fruit soup. I spent about 6 months looking for an RCW on eBay and I just happened to get lucky and find this! Needless to say, I put a bid in and luckily no one else did! I have no idea how I got so lucky.