
I'd heard of Mountain House for years (decades?), but had never seen a significant review or even mention of Alpine Aire. In late 2010, I was on The Road, doing a gruelling contract, and stuck in a hotel with a tiny fridge that did not have a freezer compartment. That seemed like a great time to experiment with freeze dried pouch food, since it meant I could stock up easily. I took a look on Amazon, and the cheapest ones (by far) were a six pouch (3 variety) pack by "Natural High" and a 3-day kit by "Alpine Aire". I ordered both, and was disappointed by all three varieties in the "Natural High" pack, and liked most of the "Alpine Aire" varieties (even the worst was better than the specific NH ones that I had tried).
By sheer dumb luck, Amazon had an Alpine Aire sale right after this, and because I'd already bought similar stuff, six packs started showing up in my "GoldBox", which typically means an extra 5% off.

In total, I've bought five 6-pouch packs, the 3-day kit, 5-day kit, 7-day kit, and the 14-day "pantry".
Every single pouch has been in good condition, with no punctures.
In contrast, both the Wise 60-serving, and the Augason Farms 30-day bucket had one pouch with a pronounced puncture.
In general, many of the varieties are blander than Mountain House, however, they also seem to have a richer mix of ingredients, and give the impression of being healthier. They all appear to use much higher quality ingredients than Wise and the one month buckets.
Not all are bland. I think their beef stroganoff is somewhat better than Mountain House's.
Note: sadly, that's not included in the 7-day kit!
It also has no eggs, which is a bit of disappointment.
Overall, I rate their food quality as best, and is equal to Mountain House. Their taste is "competitive" with Mountain House, with some being as good, some not as good but still decent.
Like MH, the pouches are "cook in the bag" with two (sedantary) servings. They're ideal car travel and supplementary "bug in" emergency food.

The Amazon price is the cheapest I've seen for this class of food (almost half the price of MH in retail stores).
Note that the "best by" dates of the one I received in January ranged from 04/2016 to 11/2016, with a weighted average of "08/2016".
It appears those are based on a five year shelf life, however the pouches contain oxygen absorbers and are as well constructed as the MH pouches, so there is a decent probability that these will last longer (close to MH's official 7-year shelf life). I plan to keep a few pouches well past their BestBy date, sample them, and report back to y'all.

Ok, it's time for some pictures! Thanks for your patience while I nattered.

Let's re-use some pictures, starting with the AA kit beside the Wise bucket:


Here's the "Alpine Minestrone Soup"...
Front (all pouches look the exact same, and just have a variety specific label applied, front and back):

Back nutrition info and prep directions:

Dry in the pouch:

Cooked:

Closeup on a spoon:

Taste Test:
Its thickness was somewhere between a stew and a hearty soup.
It's vegetarian, but had a very "hearty" texture and taste.
Yum!

Here's the "Beef Rotini"...
Front of package:

Back of package:

Dry in the pouch:

Cooked:

Closeups on a spoon:


Taste Test:
Nice beefy taste, with strong (but not overwhelming) tomato paste. The corn was a visual surprise, however it added an excellent textural enhancement, and just the right semi-sweet add on.
Very good!

Here's the "Chicken Almond Salad" (which I previously reviewed in Treesuit's very first excellent freeze dried thread)...
Front of package:

Back of package:

Inside (crackers are in a separate mylar pouch):

Closeups of crackers:


Main food, dry:

After adding some room temperature water:

After about half an hour, chicken has plumped up quite nicely:

Closeup on a spoon:

Taste Test:
Big chunks of chicken, with nice but not overwhelming almond etc.
The crackers were very bland, but were an excellent combo.
Yum!

Ok, that's the first batch. I'll prep more pictures every few days, until they're all done.