Drop Bear: Bonfire Stout (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

It feels a bit early to be writing about anything with ‘Bonfire’ in the title. November is still a few months away and we seem to have hit Summer. It’s been hot here for a few days, and I’m sure quite a few people are already complaining about the heat. I miss Autumn and Winter too.

I like the comforts of home, wrapping up warm with the heating on, whilst listening to the patter of rain on the window. Right now I’m sitting in front of a huge fan, with an air con unit gurgling away fairly close by. I’m hoping a low alcohol stout will wash my lamb, veggies and roasties down a treat tonight.

This Bonfire Stout was brewed by the fierce looking Drop Bear Beer Company. Being a carbon neutral company, they have planted thousands of sustainable trees all over the world, and are a Certified B Corporation. That means Drop Bear Beer Co. balance purpose with profit, considering their workforce, suppliers, customers, community and environment in every decision they make. So, I hope their beer is good.

Bonfire Stout is 55 calories per 330ml can, and is 0.5% in volume. There is so much malt listed in this stout’s ingredients that it’s difficult to list it all. There is Pale Ale malt, wheat malt, dextrin malt, cara malt, dark crystal malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, and smoked malt, with Chinook hops added in the brewing.

On opening the can there was a smoked, chocolate and sweet caramel malt aroma from the almost jet black liquid inside. To begin with, this Bonfire Stout had a mix of pale malt with sweetness from the cara and chocolate malts, a touch of roasted coffee, a little bitterness from the hops, and then a whole heap of smokiness into the aftertaste. I could not tell that this stout was low in alcohol, but I could definitely tell why they called it Bonfire Stout.

Mini Cheddars Cheeselets – Intensely Cheesy (Iceland) By @Cinabar

I do like cheese and crisps, so I couldn’t resist picking up this bag of Mini Cheddars Cheeselets in the new Intensely Cheesy flavour. They’re a new addition to the Mini Cheddars range, this time square shaped and extra crunchy.

This is a multipack and the bags inside are fairly small, although that may just be me being greedy. Either way, I opened one straight away and the first thing that stood out was the texture. These are properly crisp and crunchy, which I really enjoyed.

The flavour is nicely cheesy too. It’s definitely stronger than regular Mini Cheddars, although I’m not sure I’d personally call it “intense”. Still, they’re very moreish and easy to snack on.

These would be perfect for lunch boxes, picky bits, or an afternoon snack with a drink.

It’s Giving - Gut Friendly Soda - Black Cherry £1 a can [@NLi10]

 I know I’m older now purely because things that were cheap now feel expensive, but essentially are the same thing.  Case in point - when we were nearing the end of our time at school in the 90s they put a can machine in with Fanta (or maybe Tango?)  and other less fruity, less interesting drinks.

As it was 30p I could essentially get 1 a week and not have to worry about budgeting, then they went up to 35p and then 40p. This was outrageous inflation.  Of course what had actually happened was that they just did an intro offer and kept raising the price til we stopped paying.  As a can from the shop could be as low as 20p for the off-brand drinks it became more of a special treat.

Well guess what - a can of pop from the shop is now £1 - and proud enough of that fact to put it on the can.

My partner picked this one up for me though, so in some ways it was free.  And in other ways probably more expensive.

It’s gut soda, which is essentially like saying Kombucha but drinkable without pulling faces. And while it’s a little sweetener based, it looks more like they have gone for flavour instead - which is the best way. Sour drinks don’t need to taste as sweet to be good.

They have made it very red, which looks good - and the cherry smells are very much those of the sweet-shop.

The taste from the can was a big hit of joy, sipping is where this excels. Big gulps are more in the Tizer territory where you can taste the flatness of the fizz as much as the sweet/sour punch of the cherry.

I’m always wary about drinks, and I only tend to write up the interesting ones (as they don’t get anywhere near as much interest as the alcohol or snacks) but during a heatwave this was exactly what I needed.  Now to find some more pound coins to try the other versions.

Burton’s Fish ‘N’ Chips - Chip Shop Curry Sauce (Home Bargains) By @SpectreUK

I do love a fish and chip takeaway. I always have a pot of chip shop curry sauce to dip my chips and battered sausage. Sometimes I need a snack. Well, a lot of the time to be honest. Something reminiscent of a takeaway from the local chippy sounds great to me.

These Burton’s Fish ‘N’ Chips Chip Shop Curry Sauce fit the bill perfectly. Although I got told off for opening the multipack too early, and diving right in. I loved the smell of traditional chip shop curry sauce on opening the packet.

The fish and chips mini baked snack biscuit shapes were bursting with sweet and spicy curry flavour. They were so moreish, I’d finished most of the multipack before I remembered to write about them.

Information on the packet; Each 25g bag had 117 calories, with 6.3g of fat, 1.4g of sugar, and 0.44g of salt.

Pepsi Cherry & Vanilla (Tesco) By @Cinabar

There was a mixed response on social media to the new summer flavour, Pepsi Salted Caramel. Personally, I liked it, but I do have a very high tolerance for anything aimed at those with a sweet tooth. The other new flavour released alongside it is this Pepsi Cherry & Vanilla, which feels like the safer option. Cola flavoured with either cherry or vanilla has been around for years, but this combines both together.

Again, the label features an ice cream motif, so naturally I’m thinking this would work brilliantly as a cola float. For the purpose of the blog though, I tried it on its own first. After a sip, I found it much milder than the Salted Caramel version. The cherry flavour is there, but gentler, allowing the cola to shine through before finishing with a smooth, creamy vanilla note.

This is an easy-going drink, slightly fruitier than standard cola with a pleasant creamy edge. It may only be a small twist on cherry cola, but I can’t deny that it works really well.