31 January 2010
Oreo Strawberry Creme (The 99p Store)
We do seem to be a bit limited with the variety of Oreos available in this country. Over in the States, there seems to be multi types, including fudge, peanut butter and many others I would love to get my mitts on. Over here we have regular Oreos, chocolate ones, and at Christmas white chocolate and that is it. I do keep my eyes open at the expensive food halls and the import shops, but strangely they seem to import regular Oreos. It was a bit of a surprise then to find these lovely looking Oreo Strawberry Creme biscuits in a discount pound shop. Don’t get me wrong, it was a really nice surprise, especially as there were eight packets of three biscuits bundled together for 99p!
The biscuits have the usual rich dark Oreo base, with a baby pink filling, instead of the usual white cream. They had a lovely strawberry smell, but the flavour wasn’t as intense as the aroma made me think it might be. The taste was well balanced though and gave a gentle sweet creamy strawberry flavour, which went with well with the dark biscuit. The strawberry may not taste one hundred percent natural, but the juicy flavour compensates and I don’t think it really matters. The strawberry works well with Oreos, the flavours blend well, and they were an unexpected but rather pleasing find.
30 January 2010
Tyrells Alternatives: Habas Fritas (Nisa)
To be honest I don’t normally do to well with alternative products, it clearly states ‘alternative’ in the title, and I thought it was supposed to be a nut replacement. I’m usually quite happy with the original! The sub text on the packet didn’t exactly fill me with excitement either: “Lightly Spiced Cooked Broad Beans”. The word broad beans doesn’t normally fill you with the concept of a dream snack, but oh my, it really should.
Despite everything, these broad beans are fantastic. The coating is thick, uneven and has the most wonderful spice, it is not overly hot but there is a hint of chilli and a little garlic mixed in. The beans are also uneven, but crunchy, and this curious mix of textures and odd shapes just made them wonderfully rustic.
The taste was surprisingly similar to pork scratching, despite them not containing any meat. They were moreish, full of flavour, full of texture and an absolute pleasure to eat. This should not be an ‘alternative’ as the label suggests, this should be your first choice.
29 January 2010
Elizabeth Hurley: Orange and Cranberry Fruit Bar (Selfridges)
I am relieved to start this write-up by saying that this bar looks fairly normal under its wrapper. After discovering the slightly gory Strawberry and Cherry edition, I did wonder what I would find when I opened this, but thankfully inside was a slightly too soft golden fruit bar with cranberries pressed into it.
It was similar to the strawberry version though in that this too was far too sweet. There is a sharp taste of orange, natural though like orange juice followed by a yummy cranberry kick. This bar may be a bit overpowering for some, but I enjoyed the strong juicy flavour. I thought it was a bit like eating jam from the jar with a spoon, nice but a flavour overload all the same. Actually the consistency of this bar is such that it isn’t much thicker than jam - bet it is damn good spread on toast!
28 January 2010
Kellogg's Krave [Chocolate Hazelnut] (Waitrose)
It isn’t often you see a new breakfast cereal on the market. Sure there are the impressive variations of the same products Cocoa Pops - Rocks, Weetos – Meteors etc, but not a whole new item. More to the point, a whole new item which contains both chocolate and hazelnut, my two favourite breakfast ingredients.
Inside the box are pillow shaped small cereal rectangles filled with a chocolate hazelnut soft centre. Each item is surprisingly golden in colour, and rather appetising. I added the necessary milk and waited a few moments. They maintained their crunch rather well, and the filling was absolutely lovely. It was similar to chocolate nut spreads you can buy, such as Nutella. Despite the fact that the product didn’t officially contain any, I also thought there was the subtlest aftertaste of peanut. I’m not complaining, in fact it may have been wishful thinking.
All in all I thought these were a great new product, and thoroughly recommend them. They meet my essential requirements for a breakfast cereal i.e. contain chocolate and exceeded my expectations - by containing nuts too!
27 January 2010
Elizabeth Hurley: Strawberry and Cherry Organic Fruit Bar (Selfridges)
As I said last week when I tried the Banana and Chocolate variety, I have more of these Elizabeth Hurley bars to try. Next up on the list is this Strawberry and Cherry edition. I unwrapped the pack, and couldn’t help but think that this was one ugly looking bar! Seriously, I thought it looked like a dog chew, only it was too soft. For some reason the blood red nature of the bar and its squishy texture momentarily triggered a squeamish nerve. Thankfully, appearances aside, it smelt fruity and sweet, so I proceeded.
I was very glad that I did. The bar is very soft, too soft in fact; it isn’t far off being able to spread it on toast. In flavour though, it was a pleasure for the taste buds. It is a very sweet, predominantly strawberry, with a sharp strong aftertaste of cherry. The flavour could easily make it as a children’s sweet, it is in no way shy when it comes to flavour.
I could see why some people may dislike this bar, its appearance is unappetising and it is almost as if there is too much taste. To be honest, I put aside how it looked and I loved the full sweet juicy flavour. But then, I have a very sweet tooth!
26 January 2010
Pepero Almond [Pocky Style Biscuits] (Import Shop)
I would like to start this write up by saying a big thank you to http://www.chocolatereviews.co.uk/ for very kindly sending me these biscuit sticks to try. I do love, Pocky, chocolate and nuts so it is safe to say that Chocolate Reviews chose wisely with this product.
The biscuit sticks may not be labelled as being official Pocky, but they certainly are that style of snack. They are coated in milk chocolate, and have almond pieces stuck to the outside too, one taster said that they thought they looked like sparklers. I think that they do look quite pretty, I really like it when the extra ingredient is stuck to the outside of these biscuits, rather than just a flavour within the coating.
I love the crunch that the extra nut gives these biscuits; it also makes them a little more substantial than a regular Pocky. The milk chocolate provides a good coating, and is sweet and milky, and the almond chunks are large enough to offer a noticeable nutty taste. The sticks are unsurprisingly rather moreish, and I am ashamed to say this pack did not last long!
These are well worth hunting out in your local import store, and thanks again to Chocolate Reviews.
The biscuit sticks may not be labelled as being official Pocky, but they certainly are that style of snack. They are coated in milk chocolate, and have almond pieces stuck to the outside too, one taster said that they thought they looked like sparklers. I think that they do look quite pretty, I really like it when the extra ingredient is stuck to the outside of these biscuits, rather than just a flavour within the coating.
I love the crunch that the extra nut gives these biscuits; it also makes them a little more substantial than a regular Pocky. The milk chocolate provides a good coating, and is sweet and milky, and the almond chunks are large enough to offer a noticeable nutty taste. The sticks are unsurprisingly rather moreish, and I am ashamed to say this pack did not last long!
These are well worth hunting out in your local import store, and thanks again to Chocolate Reviews.
25 January 2010
Milka Raspberry Cream [Limited Edition Cocoa Pleasure] (Germany)
This is another limited edition Milka bar for the New Year. There is the usual Milka milk chocolate, but this bar is filled with a cocoa and raspberry soft cream. My favourite Milka Chocolate is actually Milka Cream, as I love the smooth soft texture of the chocolate and the way that it so easily melts in the mouth. This chocolate has a similar consistency, and does not disappoint.
The filling also has a lovely sweet fresh fragrant raspberry flavour mixed in, that is well balanced with the milk chocolate. It is a very flavoursome bar, and the raspberry complements the milk chocolate rather than overpowers it. Just another of the wonderful flavours of Milka available abroad which hasn’t yet made it to the shelves of the UK.
24 January 2010
Cherry Vimto (Pound World)
It isn’t often that there is new flavour of Vimto, it is a flavour in its own right. For those that don’t know, it is a mixed fruit flavour drink with blackcurrant, grapes and raspberries, and is fames for being purple in colour.
I guess cherry does seem like a natural idea for a new edition, as it does seem to be the done thing. We have Cherry Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, Cherry 7-Up, Lucozade Cherry and Cherry Tango, so someone somewhere thinks cherry is the way to go.
This drink has a wonderfully strong cherry smell, in fact from the scent alone you would think it was pure cherryade in the bottle. In taste it is clearly the Vimto mixed fruit formula with a heavy dose of sweet but sharp cherries, and it worked really well. I enjoyed the combination, and thought the drink was lovely. It would be nice to see a Sugar-Free edition of Cherry Vimto too though.
23 January 2010
Raspberry Juice Drink / Apple Crush (The Co-Operative)
A friend picked up these two bottles at the Co-Op for me to try, and they both sounded rather refreshing and wholesome.
I started with the apple version, and thought it tasted rather natural, and yet sweet. The apple flavour tasted a little like pear, and was pleasant and enjoyable. I was really pleased with the ingredients list, as all it contained was apple juice at 70%, water and carbon dioxide. There is something very nice about such a simple list.
The raspberry drink had a similar natural taste, sweet, but not overly strong. It was also very refreshing and rather enjoyable. However the ingredients list was a little different, for example its major ingredient was water followed by sugar and raspberry juice was right down at 3%, plus there was the addition of colourings and flavourings.
Still both drinks were mature in taste, lightly sparking and easy to drink. I would buy either again, despite the ingredients list of the raspberry version, as bother were so pleasant.
22 January 2010
Cocoa Deli: Rocky Road Clusters (Waitrose)
I have to say I did have a fair bit of fear when I got this bar home that I had broken it, as I noticed that the bar felt a little bit more bendy than it should have! When I opened the pack I was pleased to discover that this isn’t a chocolate ‘bar’ at all, and there are actually three chocolate chunks inside the packaging.
Each piece is packed with all sorts of wonderful goodies, from mallow, to fruit and nuts. The milk chocolate coating is pleasantly sweet, and I really liked the mix of textures and flavours. A fun sweet chocolate product, that is rather nice to munch. However I fear that as the contents are neatly split into three, others may expect you to share!
21 January 2010
Elizabeth Hurley: Banana and Chocolate Organic Oat Bar (Selfridges)
This is a new cereal bar, made by a new company on the snack bar market – Elizabeth Hurley. For the record, yes it is that Elizabeth Hurley (of Austin Powers fame), I checked. Apparently she has a farm, and these are the very oats from her fields.
Okay, so the bar itself was fairly soft, a little bit squished and smelt ever so slightly salty. This wasn’t a particularly good start. The bar did at least taste sweeter than it smelt, and had a hint of chocolate and banana in the flavour, but it was a long way off being impressive. I thought that the texture was a little stodgy. The bar was pleasant enough, and low calorie, but not inspiring. Still I purchased another couple of flavours which hopefully are a bit more notable, I will let you know shortly.
20 January 2010
Haw Flakes (International Shop, Birmingham University)
Let’s be honest, this product doesn’t have the most appetising of names. A friend bought these back from the University shop for me to try, and despite a good look at the packaging I couldn’t work out what the product really was. I got as far as the ingredients consisting of ‘haw, water, sugar’ and still wasn’t much wiser. The packaging reminded me of a packet of fireworks!
I have since discovered that haw is the fruit of the Chinese Hawthorn tree, and that these fab items are sweets. They are packaged in mini tubes, and each sweet is red/brown in colour, about the same diameter as a pound coin and just a few millimetres thick. The content is mostly fruit, and the concept is similar to Kellogg’s Fruit Winders, i.e. healthy sweets. They are soft when you bite in; the texture is similar to Jelly Babys. It turns out that Hawthorn berries are rather tasty, they are somewhere between black currant and strawberry, and were rather nice, the item has a well balanced sweetness. I’m rather pleased I’ve been introduced to these as despite appearances they are rather lovely.
19 January 2010
Milka Orange Yoghurt (Germany)
Carrying on from yesterday’s wonderful find of Pocket Coffee, today follows another favourite of mine Milka, also from the stash my dad brought back from Germany. This is a new flavour in their range, and it is filled with orange yoghurt cream.
The bar has the most amazing aroma, with a really strong and zingy orange smell, it couldn’t be more appealing. The chocolate coating is dark, so is not the usual Milka milk chocolate, but a stronger more cocoa heavy version. The filling inside the chocolate is white, and fairly smooth but with pieces of candied orange peel mixed in.
The darker chocolate coating is needed because the filling is very sweet, and this darker chocolate makes the cocoa content more noticeable. The filling is wonderful though, a good strong kick of oranges and a full flavour. There isn’t much taste of ‘yoghurt’ it is more of an orange cream, but is divine!
I love the extra bit of design on the packaging too, Milka all too often just opt for a swirl of colour, but the pattern on this pack makes it look rather pretty.
This bar would do well in the UK as there are plenty of people here who like orange creams, I do hope it does become more available.
18 January 2010
Ferrero Pocket Coffee [Espresso] (Germany)
I was recommended these chocolates by someone at work, who had managed to try an Italian version. My dad very kindly hunted down a box for me on a recent trip to Germany. It seems the rest of Europe is allowed to indulge. It strikes me as being a bit odd that these aren’t available to buy in the UK as they are made by Ferrero (of Ferrero Rocher fame) and consist of a simple combination of chocolate and coffee.
Well, when I say simple, they really are something special. They are the same shape and size as Ferrero Mon Cherri (which do become available in the UK at Christmas time) but sadly I have never seen this variety before in England. The chocolate is wonderfully dark, with a very runny liquid centre. Do not bite one in half, they are filled to the rim with Espresso and burst when you eat them! The flavours are intense, dark, rich but with just enough sweetness and a wonderful coffee kick. These chocolates are heavenly, and have a decent amount of pick-me-up caffeine if you need a boost.
If you like your chocolate dark, and your coffee strong then these are the perfect product for you. Ferrero would be really spoiling us if they added these to the UK line up.
17 January 2010
Dessert Pocky, Orange flavour {via @Nli10} (Japan)
A search for Pocky on this blog reveals the variety of flavours we have tried so far. Many of these are the traditional ones, but just occasionally a strange packet will make it to these shores containing one of the more exotic flavours. I received a parcel with three such flavours in from Cinabar - the first of which we'll look at today. The box contains 4 individual packets of three sticks each.
As with the previous Desert Pocky the name is in Japanese, but the symbol given is that of an Orange so given that I can't think of any actual named deserts that are based around oranges I shall just call them Orange Desert Pocky.
As with the previous entries into this range they are on the fatter breadsticks which somehow are less satisfying than the normal sticks as they don't snap as well. You do get far more fondant chocolate coating to compensate for this and as with the other options in the range this is soft and full of flavour. The main flavour that is present is a mild orange, and pretty much like the milk-chocolate orange we get here in the UK, only softer in texture.
While enjoyable as a snack, these three piece packets are much more of an indulgence than regular Pocky. The flavour neither zings like the normal fruit Pocky or glides off the palate like the regular chocolate ones and sits in the middle somewhere, you aren't going to eat the whole pack while out and about. They are however a great comfort food and while sitting at home avoiding coursework I ate a three finger pack quite happily.
I'd still like to find the normal-size-but-orange-coloured Tangerine Pocky, will have to hunt online.
16 January 2010
Nong Shim Cuttlefish Flavoured Snack (International Shop, Birmingham University)
Oh my, I opened the bag and smelt the contents, and it was ever so slightly strong. Imagine the strongest fish / prawn cocktail aroma in the world! Let’s use the term pungent! It was disappointing then to actually tuck in and realise that they are rather weak in taste.
The snacks are wheat based, and consist of a wafer style bubble, with a mild prawn cocktail flavour, without the sweetness. They don’t have the best flavour as they don’t have the depth of taste that they could have, there is no magic x-factor. The texture is nice though, each one melts in the mouth and is very light but crunchy. The flavour that is there is perfectly pleasant, but it is a long way off being wow as it tastes muted.
Explain to me then how when sharing this bag with a friend, we were practically fighting over who got the last one, they were incredibly moreish. A quick scan of the ingredients label revealed the potential answer, “Flavor Enhancer 621”, that would be then the MSG then.
15 January 2010
Sweet Potato Kit Kat (Cybercandy)
What a strange item this is, and for a number of reasons. Firstly sweet potato and chocolate seem like an unlikely combination and secondly I would like to make a comment on the multi pack bag. The contents are half white chocolate sweet potato Kit Kats, and the other half are regular Kit Kats. It strikes me that the kind of person who wants to purchase whacky flavours might not be that interested in the regular bars, but it is the only way they are sold.
Buy six sweet potato ones, and you have to have purchase seven ordinary ones at the same time. Anyway I shall stick to writing about the stranger of the two varieties within the bag.
The sweet potato Kit Kat consists of the usual wafer, with the vegetable filling and a coating of flavoured white chocolate.
The most overwhelming thing that springs to mind when you try this Kit Kat is the sweetness. I thought it was almost sickly in its flavour, and then there is this strange after taste. I didn’t think it was that reminiscent of sweet potatoes, but it did remind me of regular baked jacket potatoes. To be honest I have never felt the temptation to mix potato and sugar, so I didn’t think it worked at all really. My taste buds where completely unconvinced by the taste. I felt it was too sweet and a bit weird, but perhaps worth a try for the novelty value.
14 January 2010
Bear: Mango Pineapple Baked Fruit Nibbles (Boots)
I decided to have a somewhat quick and healthier than usual breakfast this morning, and picked my myself up a bag of these fruit nibbles. When I opened the bag, I was a little worried about my purchase; I didn’t think that the contents looked particularly appetising. The pieces of fruit within the bag are thin, wrinkled and uninspiring in appearance. I realise that this is because Bear do not want to mess with the contents in order to make them look pretty and so they leave them alone rather than enhance them with colourings etc.
The pieces of fruit are firm, and slightly chewy but wonderfully sweet, with a full flavour. In fact they tasted so good, I became convinced there was extra sugar in there, but I was pleased to discover that there wasn’t. It is just naturally tasty fruit.
I would certainly buy this again, any items that are both healthy and tasty are a bonus in my book.
13 January 2010
Chocca Mocca Real Strawberries in white Chocolate (Waitrose)
I realise that white chocolate and strawberry sounds like a summer edition bar, so I shall forget the snow outside and indulge.
The pieces in this bar are really very chunky, surprisingly so. The flavours are quite delicate, and it feels quite wrong to have huge difficult to bite chunks of chocolate. This is really a minor issue though; the flavours and the chocolate itself are lovely. The white chocolate is creamy and flavoursome and the strawberry adds a sweet fruity flavour that works really well. There is a generous amount of strawberry too, and it looks pretty gleaming through the chocolate in pinks and reds.
I closed my eyes for a second eating this bar, and the flavours mingled on my taste buds, I could picture sunshine and Wimbledon on the telly, heaven. Then I opened my eyes, and remembered it was still winter. Perfect chocolate for those looking for a little escapism! It might not fix the weather, but for the time you spend eating this chocolate, you just won’t care.
12 January 2010
More Nuts [Limited Edition Snickers] (Sainsbury’s)
Snickers is one of the staples in the chocolate bar world, it has all the right ingredients for a undeniably tasty bar. Peanuts, caramel, soft nougat and milk chocolate. When I first saw this bar, it took me a second to realise that this wasn’t a regular Snickers, the packaging is rather similar, and I didn’t notice the change in name ‘More Nuts’ straight away. I love nuts in chocolate and fail to see how adding more of them could ever be a bad thing!
The increase in nuts is only 10% extra, but despite this the bar is noticeably chunkier, and tastes a little bit more salty and nutty. This is a good thing, it made the bar feel (even more) filling, tasty, and substantial. I would be quite happy is they left Snickers like this, as the balance of flavours is wonderfully improved. Mr. T says so too, and he can’t be wrong!
11 January 2010
Sliced Medium Cheddar with Red Bells Peppers (Sainsbury’s)
This item may not have the most inspirational packaging in the world, but it is the contents that matters. Regular readers will know that one of my favourite quick snack foods is cheese on toast, and this item looks perfect for the job. Within the pack are slices of cheddar, packed with pieces of red bell pepper for flavour.
It actually bubbled surprisingly quickly under the grill and went a pleasing toasty brown in places without too much persuasion.
I was a little bit worried that the pepper might be completely overpowering, as there seems to be so much red in each slice of cheese. I was pleased to discover that the flavours were really well balanced. The cheese was still lovely and tasty with an almost mature flavour and it had that grilled taste that I love too. The pepper taste is sweet and well defined and complements the cheese perfectly.
This is lovely cheese, probably nice in a sandwich too, but mine will all be going under the grill!
10 January 2010
Leibniz Peanut Delight {via @Nli10} (Webbs Garden Centre - nr. Bromsgrove)
From the picture on the bag these seem quite a sophisticated little snack. Take the biscuit base of the Choco-Leibniz biscuits that are popular enough to be sold at Tesco (but 1/3rd of the price in Lidl and Aldi) and add caramelised peanuts for something a little different.
The reality is a little more haphazard in that it's biscuits with peanuts stuck to them. The caramel only really exists to make sure that only a few peanuts fall off, and add a bit of a crunch to the whole thing.
And oddly, it works! It's like a chocolate free Snickers bar, with all of the other flavours intensified. They are small enough (about a £2 coin size) that you can happily eat a good few before sealing the bag back up. They have the sweetness of the biscuit and the savoury of the caramel-roasted peanuts and seem to tick all the boxes for me.
At £1.99 they aren't cheap (buying food from garden centres over Xmas in the UK is always a pricey thing to do) they do seem to be lasting well. I can imagine them going down really well as a snack food in a bowl at a party, replacing the nuts as a much tidier alternative.
I'm now sure that the brief presented to the designers of the packet was 'make these look as good as they taste' and I think they succeeded.
9 January 2010
Green & Black’s Butterscotch Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs (Waitrose)
Yes I’m afraid the Easter products are appearing, and I have no shame in writing about these things so early. I realise that Green & Black make a Butterscotch bar of chocolate, but I haven’t tried it before so this flavour is completely new to me.
Inside the packet are mini eggs made of solid chocolate, with butterscotch pieces and rice crispies inside, and each one is individually foil wrapped.
Despite being a milk chocolate by definition, the chocolate within this egg has a wonderfully strong cocoa flavour. The depth in flavour is lovely too, dark, rich, bitter and sweet they are an absolute pleasure to eat.
The rice crispies do deliver a light crunch in the texture, but don’t really add to the taste. The butterscotch isn’t perhaps as strong as it could be either, and people wanting a really sweet hit might be disappointed, but I found the subtle flavour rather clever and enjoyable.
Lovely mini eggs, and I thoroughly recommend them.
8 January 2010
Walkers Sour Cream & Chive (Waitrose)
Another new flavour from Walkers! Interestingly I had a look at the Walkers website, which lists all the currently available flavours, and I noticed that Builders Breakfast is no longer listed. Cheddar Cheese & Bacon, the other new flavour I wrote about the other day seem to be the new flavours of choice.
Builders Breakfast was the winning flavour from the “Do-Us-A-Flavour” competition last year, the prize of which I thought was for the wining variety to become one of the permanent flavours. Having said that there were still a few bags of Builders Breakfast in Waitrose, but I fear it can’t have done as well as Walkers had hoped. It wasn’t might my favourite of the flavours that were shortlisted, as I wasn’t keen on the sulphur egg taste.
I think these Sour Cream & Chive will be a success though. The smell from these Sour Cream & Chive bag was surprisingly mild, just a hint of chive, and nothing to overpowering. They are full of flavour which is the important thing. The dominant taste of these crisps is onion and chive, but there is however a noticeable ‘sour cream’ taste too. It follows as an after taste which is creamy and almost cooling, and I thought this was cleverly put together.
Sour Cream & Chive might not be the most adventurous new flavour, but do I have to say the crisps were really very nice. They are perfect for those that find cheese and onion a little bit too strong, or those who just want an alternative to that popular flavour.
7 January 2010
Multiflake, Cranberry & Sultana Cereal Bars (Marks & Spencer)
Firstly I was impressed when I first took these out of the box by just how substantial and chunky they felt. They looked a little bit wider too than most cereal bars, which added to this feel.
Essentially the bar consists of cranberries, seeds and cereals all on a yoghurt base. The bar had a lovely range of textures, as there is a good selection of grains, sunflower seeds etc. The fruit was so much more than just cranberries and sultanas, the bar was very fruity and moist, and had dates mixed in too. The flavour was lovely and sweet because of the fruit contents, but also had a lovely after taste including sweetness from honey and from the yoghurt coating, there was also gentlest hint of salt.
I have to say I was rather impressed by these bars, it has a good combination of fruit and seeds, and a good full flavour.
6 January 2010
Walkers Cheddar Cheese and Bacon crisps (Waitrose)
I take it Walkers releasing new flavours of crisp, means that the ‘Turkey & Stuffing’ Christmas edition will be disappearing until the festive season hits again. Not to worry, it is rather nice to see some new varieties in the shops.
These crisps have the usual Walkers texture and feel, a fairly thin cut crisp which breaks up and crunches pleasingly in the mouth. The taste is definitely reminiscent of Walkers Smokey Bacon, which is certainly not a bad thing! The saltiness is countered by a pleasant cheese taste mixed in, I’m not sure I could detect that it was specifically Cheddar but it still did the job nicely.
Bacon and Cheese do go well together, and this new flavour from Walkers is a success in my book too. Well worth seeking out, particularly if you like Walkers Smokey Bacon. It is a good combination of flavours, and I’m already looking forward to enjoying the other bags in the multi-pack.
5 January 2010
Galaxy Caramel Chocolate Eggs (Waitrose)
This isn’t very clear on the photograph, but I feel this needs mentioning. On the foil on this product it says Galaxy Caramel Chocolate Eggs. If I was to have purchased a Cadbury’s Creme Egg, it would be one egg, and the packaging refers to it as an ‘Egg’.
I only purchased one Galaxy Caramel Chocolate Egg, so I call for them to remove the extra ‘s’. I don’t know why the ‘s’ bothers me so, but I feel better having shared the fact that it does, so now onto the product itself.
The chocolate shell, is the usual creamy, silky, sweet galaxy chocolate. It has a generous shell, but still breaks easily enough when bitten in to. The caramel inside is dark and rich, and has a good sweetness. The flavour isn’t as well defined as Cadbury’s Caramel, but it is certainly still of a good quality. This item provides a decent chocolate hit, and the caramel filling is thick and flavoursome, so it was a very enjoyable egg(s).
4 January 2010
Spiced Chai Light [Drink Me Chai] (Waitrose)
I think I have mentioned on here before about how in recent months I have become much more open to different varieties of teas. I have particularly grown to like spiced teas and Chai is a favourite.
This product caught my eye because unlike my usual tea bags, this is a sachet of contents that you simply mix with hot water. The milk powder within the pack means that it would have a more authentic milky Indian Tea consistency.
I found the product quite hard to mix up. It didn’t seem at all convinced about dissolving in water, and I have to give the contents a bit of a whisk with a fork.
Once made, I really liked the flavour. The drink was milky, sweet and wonderfully aromatic. It made a lovely warming drink that had a good depth of flavour with the spices, and was very enjoyable. The last sip wasn’t so pleasant though. The very last mouthful of this fine drink consisted of all the sediment that had failed to dissolve and I ended up with a gritty texture in my mouth. It was a shame to finish on such a note, as the tea itself had been very pleasant until that point.
3 January 2010
Miscellaneous Forgotten Foodstuffs {via @Nli10} - Multiple Shops
As the weeks go by I've picked up some less exciting food to review that never made it onto the site. Instead of looking back over the things I did review here are a few that just didn't inspire me to write at the time.
Favourina Chocolate Coins - Part of the Lidl Christmas range
Bought these in November, hadn't seen note based chocolate money at a reasonable price (99p I think for these). Turned out to be fairly average chocolate but in the shape of money. No real shock there. Wouldn't buy again.
Miscellaneous Udon Noodles - Spar @ Birmingham Uni
I loved all of the four varieties of Udon noodles. Unfortunately my English palate could not tell the difference between them, and the only real difference was the way that I cooked them at the time. All were an improvement on the dry version I did review before I found these. Will buy regularly.
Lipton Ice Tea Drink Range - Tesco [I think]
Following on from the really nice brewed bottled Tea I found these three drinks. Essentially they are water that tastes of tea and either green tea, lemon or peach respectively. All three were nice drinks but none were tea in a bottle. Probably wouldn't buy again.
Deli range Bratwurst – Aldi
These were fantastic sausages - really thick, meaty and full of flavour. Why didn't I review them? Two words - German Market. Christmas in Britain is now known for large German markets selling all kinds of sausages similar to this. And theirs tasted nicer, probably due to the method of cooking on the hanging grill. I'd buy these again, but not when the real deal is in town and so readily available.
Have a great 2010 and please feel free to leave comments - we do read them even if we don't always reply.
2 January 2010
Cracker Drinks – Pineapple, Guava and Lime (Morrisons)
I have to say that the brand Cracker is new to me, and not one I’ve seen in my usual supermarket haunts. According to the website they are also stocked by Asda, but not my local branch.
The flavours within the drink seemed like such a nice combination and I thought it would make a refreshing treat in the New Year. I have to say it was actually sharper than I thought it would be, and it seemed to have an apple edge, despite not containing any. The lime shone through, and there was a gentle sweetness, but the slightly tart flavour would make it a perfect refreshing drink for a nice hot summer’s day. Sadly it is sleeting here, but roll on the sunshine.
1 January 2010
Dairy Milk Cadbury’s Bunnies (WH Smiths)
First things first... Happy New Year!!! I hope 2010 brings everything you wish for, and ideally one or two new interesting products for me to write about!
What’s the best way to start this fine new year, how about with an Easter product! This is a similar product to the Kit Kat Bunny in that it is an Easter related mini chocolate treat.
This Caramel Bunny is made with a thick helping of finest Dairy Milk, and a generous filling of gooey caramel. Scrummy, and rather sweet to look at too!
PS Cadbury’s Creme Eggs are officially back in the shops!
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