Califia Farms Peppermint Mocha (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Well, the weather is hot and I have a new cup specially for milkshakes and iced coffees, so of course I couldn’t resist browsing to see what drinks I could pick up. I spotted this Califia Farms Peppermint Mocha on the Ocado site and gave it a try.

It arrived in a good sized bottle. The drink is fairly thick and has a lovely minty aroma. It filled my huge cup to the brim and still had enough left to go back in the fridge.

This drink is dairy free. I’m not dairy intolerant, I just wanted to try it, and the peppermint flavour sounded perfect for the sunshine. I was impressed with the first sip. Coffee, mint and chocolate could have felt like too much in one cup, but the flavours were really well balanced. It’s sweet from the chocolate with plenty of cocoa, the coffee comes through nicely, and then the peppermint adds a refreshing finish with a proper minty kick. It reminded me of melted After Eights in an iced coffee. Pure yum.

Whatever you are drinking, do remember to stay hydrated in all this heat.

RAW milk from the side of the road [@NLi10]

 We got stuck in a traffic jam, behind what looked like half a house and happened to pass a milk shed selling ice cream - the google blurb says.

Milk Shed based at Caenby Corner with self serve vending machines selling ice cream, raw milk, milkshakes and hot drinks!

Because every one had a similar idea there were some queues and confusion because of so many new people using the touch screen machines 

As I’m immunocompromised from my meds I wasn’t prepared to risk ‘raw milk’ especially as we had 3 hours in a hot car to go, but I could happily justify a pasteurised ice cream from the other machine

The choice was pot of ice cream for £3 or no ice-cream, so I went for option one and added some red sauce.

And it was lovely and cold. I think it lacked a little of the sweetness of Mr Whippy,  but it was a very welcome option.

The family we were dropping off had chocolate milkshake and milk, which should be fine with the little cool bag. I’m not sure why raw milk would be more appealing to people than fresh milk - I’ve drank both on my families dairy farm back in the 90s to the degree where there is sometimes grass floating in it, but that might have been Uncle Bert messing with the townies.

Bero Kingston Golden Pils (Nando’s) By @SpectreUK

We decided to have a cheeky Nando’s for lunch whilst out shopping. I saw this Bero Kingston Golden Pils new on the menu, and fancied a non-alcoholic beer with my medium hot chicken and Peri-Peri salted chips. I like the spicy tomato salad on the side too.

I could smell light crisp herbal hops and Pilsner malt on opening the can. Not too fizzy, this 0.5% in volume Bero Kingston Golden Pils lager had a sweet Pilsner malt taste to begin with, followed by a crisp herbal hop bitterness, and sweet malts into the aftertaste. Very nice indeed, and It went perfectly with my spicy chicken and chips.

Galaxy Caramel Flavour Frappe (Ocado) By @Cinabar

The weather is warming up again, which means it won't be long before we're all moaning that it's too hot, as is the British way. I always enjoy looking out for the range of summer drinks though, especially iced coffees and milkshakes, so expect to see a few over the next week or so.

First up is Galaxy Caramel Flavour Frappe. This is essentially a milkshake mix rather than a coffee drink, as it contains no coffee and is designed to be mixed with milk. The tub suggests shaking it with milk or blending it with ice. I added four heaped teaspoons to a jug of milk and stirred it with a spoon, but it wasn't dissolving very well. Spectre rescued the situation by grabbing a fork from the drawer and giving it a proper mix, which worked much better, although it was a surprising amount of effort. To be fair, it does recommend using a blender, and I own a NutriBullet, so perhaps I should have used that with a couple of ice cubes. I'll give it a go next time.

We poured the finished drink into my new adorable teddy bear-shaped cup, which was purchased specifically for milkshake and iced coffee season, or summer as some people prefer to call it. It looked fantastic, although I suspect that's more down to the cup than the drink itself. I'm getting distracted.

The drink is genuinely tasty. It's sweet, creamy and packed with caramel flavour. I also loved the amount of chocolate coming through. It feels more like a chocolate milkshake with added caramel rather than the other way around, which suited me perfectly. Next time I'll definitely blend in some ice for the full frappé experience.

MYPROTEIN Chipotle Beef Chilli & rice [@NLi10]

 Sometimes it's nice to have a quick and easy pot of food to heat.  We used to call it Batchelor Chow but that reference I think it now lost to the mists of time.

I'm never entirely sure what Chipotle is - is it always beef in a red sauce?

If it is always beef chilli then that makes it easier.

Does it always look so basic?!

Smells very good though, and had a decent mix of things.  I think that the 'protein' fad has kind of been stapled to this one - it's like calling a Pot Noodle a protein snack as you added a few extras in.

Eat more broccoli boys, it's the same protein but much more bioavailable with a lot more vitamins included.  Doesn't stop you from having it as a side with this nice warm pot of brown though.

Did the job mind - tasted ok, didn't starve.