Limited Edition White Skittles #Pride (Tesco) by @NLi10 #OneRainbow

I think we were a bit late to the party on these as they are for Pride - you see Skittles have removed their rainbow so that the only one visible is on the Pride flag!

One of our group thought that it was a really good idea because you got to colour your own Skittles in - while there are non-toxic pens available I don't advise this.

The flavours are the same as usual, just identifying them is a bit harder.  It's basically like you are eating the Skittles in the cinema!

They still have a little S on them, so I think that counts as the one artificial colour listed on the bag!  They taste the same, probably are slightly better for you with no colours, and are for a good cause AND we got 350g for £1.50 which is great!

Hopefully we spy these again.

Buttermilk Cornish Earl Grey Crumbly Fudge (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

Buttermilk were established in 1964 in Padstow, Cornwall, producing Artisan Confectionery. They have sprinkled Tregothnan Cornish Earl Grey Tea over this crumbly fudge. What could be better to wash this Cornish Earl Grey Crumbly Fudge down with than a mug of Earl Grey Tea? I can't imagine. So after brewing a mug of one of my favourite teas, I sat down to savour one of my favourite types of snacks for my after dinner pudding.

On opening the packet there was a decent sized bag inside full of unevenly chopped mid brown fudge. There were freckles of tea leaves dotted around the outside of the fudge blocks. On opening the packet there was the unmistakable sweet smell of butter fudge. A smell that takes me back to childhood holidays spent on the Cornish coast. A smell that now reminds me of my dad and times spent with him jumping amongst the rock pools, whilst trying to catch a glimpse of some of their fishy and spiky inhabitants.

There was a whiff of Earl Grey tea to the fudge in the bag, more in the taste though. First there was the full gorgeousness of sweet butter fudge and then a slight citrus touch from the flecks of Earl Grey Tea. This is lovely sweet butter fudge in all its glory. It went well washed down with my mug of tea too. However, I could quickly see how the flecks of tea leaves could get stuck in between my teeth and could often feel them at the back of my tongue begging to be washed down. I'd prefer this fudge without the flecks and just left with their full sweet butter fudge confectionery perfection.

Information on the packet;
150g contains 125 calories per 30g serving, with 3.3g of fat, 23.1g of sugar, and 0.15g of salt. Ingredients are gluten free and included; sugar, sweetened condensed milk (whole milk, sugar), butter (milk), golden syrup, glucose syrup, earl grey tea leaves (0.5%), natural flavours, and salt.

Mango and Ginger Drink Nix and Kix (Waitrose) By @cinabar

I don’t want to say that I don’t like ginger, I just want to start by stating that ginger isn’t usually a flavour I choose. If there are other options I tend to pick them over ginger, but weirdly I do like most warm spices, especially cinnamon. I felt I needed to add this little disclaimer before writing about this interesting drink from Nix and Kix, I suppose I should also add that mango is my favourite fruit!
With all that aside, I cracked open the bottle of Mango and Ginger Drink Nix and Kix and poured some into glasses to try. The drink is a pleasant orange colour and has a gentle fruity smell and a light fizz. This drink has no added sugar, but not in the way that many do were they replace the sweetness with apple juice so you end up with a sweet drink, this is simply not very sweet.
The flavour feels very grown up, and the mango is lightly sharp but very refreshing. I liked the taste, and after a sip or so got used to the flavour not being sweet, and really enjoyed the drink. The ginger, and indeed added cayenne, give the drink a warmth , but it is a gentle flavour, and for me well balanced. I don’t want a drink that burns my mouth, I just liked the way the subtler flavour of the spices enhanced the drink and made it more interesting.
This drink was very different from most soft drinks, because of its reduced sweetness. The flavour held out though and the mango shone through. This is an ideal drink for those looking for a grown up soft drink, and it is from a brand whose other varieties I will now be exploring.

Seabrook Fiery Woodsmoke BBQ Crisps (Ocado) By @Cinabar

These are a new variety of crisps from Seabrook, in order to help celebrate the new ride at Alton Towers; The Wickerman which launched this year. The ride is a wooden roller coaster with flames (what could go wrong) so the crisps variety is themed as Fiery Woodsmoke BBQ flavour. The packet also features an image of the roller coaster on the front of the bag too.
The crisps are crinkle cut and have a heavy seasoning sprinkled on them. Crinkle cut are also good for strong flavours as the creases hold the seasoning. I gave one a try and found the favour to be quite unusual. There isn’t that much depth to the flavour, but what was there was still strong. There was a smokey barbecue flavour, focusing more on the smoke than anything more wholesome. Just as I was thinking that the crisps perhaps needed a little more sweetness or seasoning I realised my mouth was on fire. Okay it wasn’t quite that hot, but the chilli burn was strong and it seemingly snuck up on my taste buds. It was actually nice to find some crisps with a kick and a decent chilli buzz, I found them very enjoyable to munch on.
These are tasty crisps, and a nice tie in with Alton Tower’s new ride, somewhere I really should plan a trip too soon.

World Cup Big Match Meat Feast Pizza (Tesco) @NLi10 #WorldCup

The World Cup is great.  The cinemas are empty, the bars without TVs are nice and quiet and you know you aren't missing anything on social media!  Also there are lot of tie in snacks for people who aren't as excited by the prospects of their national team.

I'm sure this has been around before but I'd not picked it up - so here is a pizza with a meatball crust!

They both feature the word ball - so therefore it's a good tie in!

It looks a bit different than my usual pizzas.

Once you cook it and even it out then it's quite appetising.  While this was cooking I nabbed a slice of a Dominos pizza though, and I think that set my expectations a little too high.  This wasn't as sweet as that was, and didn't have explosive chorizo. What is does have is 12 meatballs, and some pretty decent sliced meats.  It could have done with more tomato and some kind of veg in the middle to balance it out a bit, but this was a decent meal - I had half of it and the other half was shared out with others.  We all liked it, but I don't think the flavours or the ingredients had the required WOW factor.  

Shame really, as I'm not a fan of the cheese crust pizzas so this would have been a good substitute.

Salty Kiss Gooseberry Gose Beer (@MagicRockBrewCo M&S) By @SpectreUK

This Salty Kiss from the Magic Rock brewery, in Huddersfield, is a Gose beer with gooseberry added in the brewing. A Gose is a German style top fermented sour wheat beer, and this one is made with Bavarian Pils. I haven't liked some of the sour beers I've tried in the past, but I don't believe I have tried a Gose. I have enjoyed gooseberry beer, so that's a plus, but this 4.1% volume Salty Kiss also had Sea Buckthorn or Seaberries added in the brewing, as well as salt. Apparently Sea Buckthorn is used as a cure-all in some parts of Russia and Eastern Asia, which could be a bonus for any ills I'm fighting off from swallowing half of the gym's outdoor pool earlier!

On opening the can there was indeed a sour aroma to the wheat beer inside. There was also saltiness at the back of the smell. On taste there is definitely a strong gooseberry flavour to begin with that merges well with the wheat and added citrus kick from the pilsner. There follows an extra bite of sour fruit I took to be the Sea Buckthorn and a saltiness into the aftertaste. It does say "lightly sour, fruity and refreshing" on the can. I definitely agree the with two later words in the description, but I'd say "lightly sour" is an underestimation. However, this is a tasty and unusual beer. If you want something different and off the usual, if not wobbly, beer trail this could be for you.