The Ratings

When I was deciding on how I would rate the products I reviewed, I wanted to do something a little different than everybody else, so you won't find things like "6 out of 10" or "4-3/8 stars out of 5" around here.
(Honestly, does it matter if I say something is a 1.7 out of 5 instead of a 2 out of 5?  Either one means it's not that great.)

So instead, I present to you the Ramen Butterfly Smiley Rating System!  First there are the five 'regular' rating categories (which are all the sideways 'colon' style emoticons):

:D -- Fantastic!  I loved it and want to eat it regularly.
:) -- It was good!  I enjoyed it and I definitely wouldn't mind having it again--especially if it goes on sale.
:| -- Mediocre.  It wasn't bad but I would probably rather try something new than have it again, unless there's a really good sale.
:\ -- Disappointing.  My expectations were not met, and the product just really wasn't very good.  I won't be buying again unless I hear they've changed the recipe and I'm treating it as a new product.
:b -- Disgusting.  If I finished the meal, I definitely didn't enjoy it.  The type of thing that would turn me off on an entire product line or brand.

Then there are a couple of "special" ratings, which are the asian-style vertical emoticons:

^_^ -- Something that just somehow tickles my fancy.  These could probably all just be rated with a :D instead, but I want to recognize that warm fuzzy feeling they provide.  {Something about the new Blogger engine doesn't seem to like the ^ character in tags, so I've unfortunately had to re-tag these with the :D rating for sorting purposes, although I've left the original smiley in the reviews.}
0_0 -- The "surprised" face denotes things that were significantly different than my expectations, and not just by being bad.  This rating isn't really bad or good; the review will tell what it was I thought was unexpected, as well as whether I liked it anyway.

Finally, for the few "Souped Up" reviews I do where I tweak a product with my own additions, I rate whether I think I made them better or worse, so for those the ratings are phrases like "Worthy Option," "Major Upgrade," or "Failed Experiment."