M&S Blends Orange and Passionfruit Drink (Ocado) By @Cinabar

For a company that was very upset with Aldi over selling a cake that was, shall we say, 'similar' to their own Colin the Caterpillar, this is a bit of an odd product. Here we have M&S Blends Orange and Passionfruit, which could also be described as 'similar' to a J2O. Perhaps I'm imagining the similarity... just in case I need to include that for legal reasons! 😄

Anyway, what I do know is that this heat means it's important to stay hydrated, and I'm always up for trying a new drink. I popped these in the fridge to chill before giving one a try.

I was really impressed by just how fruity it is. There's loads of flavour and plenty of juicy fruitiness. The mango comes through nicely, while the passion fruit adds a pleasant sharpness that makes it especially refreshing towards the end. If I were to compare it to the market leader, I'd say it's 'similar', but perhaps a little richer in flavour and slightly thinner in texture. I'd probably need to try them side by side to be certain, though.

Either way, it made for a lovely, refreshing drink on a hot summer's day.

Alpro - Matcha Coconut & Coffee AT HOME [@NLi10]

 Matcha is a big deal at the moment, and all the coffee establishments are now doing it in a reasonable way - although they do seem to use the cheap stuff.  And now you can have pre-mixed Matcha at home!

I chose the coconut one but BOY do you have options - a whole aisle of green milks

And yes - it's great cold so make your hot stuff and dump it in almost freezer temperature this

It's got stuff in it!

And without any fuss it's just thick Shrek juice.

Here's the nutrition

And it's only half a percent matcha - and not ceremonial grade Matcha because you bet they'd tell you if it was.  You won't notice in this mind.

And if you brew up a shot of your Exhale espresso and dump it in (with ice - not pictured) then frankly it's my drink of the summer.  I've been tempted to make a whole filter coffee pot of the stuff at espresso strength and then keep that in the fridge to use with this carton - only there isn't much left now.

It's not a thirst-burster until you add the watery ice, and it does overshadow the coffee unless you do it as a 50/50 Matcha cortado style but it's great for these heatwaves and I'll be getting more as soon as it's cool enough to leave the house.

Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites (Home Bargains) By @SpectreUK

It’s rare these days when I bite into a snack and I’m surprised by it’s chilli heat. So, when I saw these Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites I figured they would just have a light chilli warmth. I haven’t tasted any really hot snack food for such a long time.

These Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites are ‘Hot BBQ Flavour Mini Biscuits’. I haven’t had Peperami for a long time, so I can’t recall what they taste like, asides being spicy and meaty. I had the green one, I think.

I opened the packet and there was quite a good chilli aroma from the round reddened biscuits inside. The first crunchy biscuit made my tongue tingle with chilli. It took me aback a bit. There was a meaty barbecue taste and a slight cheesiness too. I really enjoyed these Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites with my messy tuna sandwich.

Information on the bag; Per 6 x 30g bag is 152 calories, with 8.7g of fat, 1.9g of sugar, and 0.6g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Frijj Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake (Morrisons) by @cinabar

The weather is heating up again and, whatever your views on sunshine, we definitely need to stay hydrated. For me, I much prefer the mid twenties to thirties before it starts becoming a bit uncomfortable, but I am enjoying discovering all the summer drinks.

Here we have Frijj Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake, and everyone knows strawberry is the fruit of summer.

I poured the drink into my cup. It was the usual thickish liquid you expect from Frijj, with a pale light pink colour. I took a sip and at first thought it was very much a strawberry milkshake. There was a sweet, fruity strawberry taste, but as that melted away, the creamy flavour came through, with just a tiny touch of sourness giving it the cheesecake edge.

Mostly though, it is a subtle twist on a strawberry milkshake and a lovely fruity drink.

Swizzels Squashies Tropical Sweets (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I am just loving the look of these new summer sweets. Swizzels Squashies Tropical Sweets are absolutely oozing sunshine. There are three cute designs in the bag. A slice of watermelon that tastes of watermelon, a pineapple shaped sweet with a pineapple flavour and, naturally, the parrot shaped sweet is flavoured with parrot. Just kidding, it's actually mango and passionfruit!

All of the sweets have a firm, foamy texture with a satisfying chew, without being too soft. The flavour is fairly mild at first, but the more you chew, the fuller and fruitier it becomes.

The watermelon is the zingiest of the three, with an almost sour edge that is sharp, sweet and really refreshing. The pineapple is lovely and juicy, reminding me of canned pineapple chunks, just with a much chewier texture. The parrot is packed with fruity flavour, with the mango really taking centre stage. It has a lovely sweet, smooth tropical taste that I really enjoyed.

These sweets are perfect for the warmer weather. And did I mention just how cute they look? Swizzels Squashies Tropical Sweets deserve to be displayed in a bowl rather than simply being munched straight from the bag, otherwise you might miss all those fun little shapes.