Atlantic Pale Ale with low alcohol (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

I know it's rare I pick beers with low alcohol levels, but this Pale Ale from the Big Drop Brewing Company, in Suffolk, intrigues me. I'm not sure I've seen many Pale Ales with 0.5% volume before, as low alcohol beers usually seem to be some other sort of ale or a lager, but not specifically Pale Ale. I like the fact that it tells me on the back of the bottle how many calories it has in it. This Pale Ale has 18.5 calories per 100ml, which is lower than average. Google tells me that "calories in beer come from two components, which are alcohol and carbohydrates - starches and sugar from unfermented grain." There are usually around 150 calories in a pint of beer, so all those health fanatics that tell you to dump beer all together if you want to be fit and lose weight aren't necessarily correct. Beer is good for you (well… ish!), just as long as it's in small amounts. Big Drop Brewing Company state "To drink. Not to be drunk." And their low alcohol Pale Ale alternative could be slightly healthier than the average full sugar beer or sugary fizzy drink! I'm not going to stretch and say it's healthier than a sugary fruit juice drink though.

So feeling rather smug after my fairly factual and quote heavy opening paragraph I opened the 330ml bottle. The bottle instantly went up like an angry volcano. I'm not kidding. I must have lost half the beer before I could dive to my waiting beer glass. I wasn't prepared for it at all and panicked to the point of forgetting to shove the open bottle end in my mouth. There was a wheaty smell to the beer that managed to get into the glass, and… all over the floor and also the cupboard I was next to at the time. This bright golden and particularly explosive low alcohol beer does taste like a sweet pale ale, with the pale and crystal(esque) malts in the initial flavour followed by a herbal bitterness from the hops into the aftertaste. It doesn't taste like it has a low alcohol level, but has a sort of strange mild woody taste throughout. However, the woodiness isn't too distracting, and I can see why this Pale Ale won the World Beer Awards for the UK. It was still a good flavoursome beer… whatever was left of it!

Jingle Bell Pepper Tortilla Chips (Aldi) By @Cinabar

I accept I like a novelty snack product, it isn’t my fault, I love Christmas too. That is probably why I found myself in Aldi with this bag of Jingle Bell Pepper Tortilla Chips in my hand and a big grin on my face. I refuse to grow up, why wouldn’t everyone want a bag of these Christmas tree shaped snacks at this time of year?
So I bought these because I couldn’t really put them down or find a reason not to. We ended up eating them while watching the television catching up on Strictly, and I even bought a sour cream and chive did to posh things up. The Jingle Bell Pepper Tortilla Chips are well defined as trees, and there pointy shape means they make quite a good scoop with the dip. I have to say I was rather excited when I realised that the whiteness of the dip looked rather like a layer of snow on my Christmas tree tortilla chip. Please see previous comment about not growing up.

In terms of flavour these were very mild with almost no spice. The ‘bell pepper’ is like the large red pepper vegetables that you buy rather than being a type of chilli, though I did only realise this myself when I noticed the expected chilli heat was missing. The lack of spice is intentional then, and this means that they are easy going for Christmas visitors.
The flavour is tasty but gentle, the tortilla has a nice crunch and I loved the design. These Jingle Bell Pepper Tortilla Chips are a lovely Christmas snack, perfect to munch on during a seasonal film. Has anyone put their tree up yet?

A giant custard Cream (by @NLi10)

My hospital has started selling these giant biscuits by the tills as if they were perfectly normal chocolate bars.  Usually you get three little crisp custard creams but here you get one big one.

I forgot to add my little scale people, but its the size of four regular ones.

And it looks very similar, but its a bit too crumbly and is more like a very plain flapjack than a crunchy biscuit - and the insides aren't that exciting too being more like icing.

I turned down a free bourbon one of these off the trolley in favour of normal sized biscuits later in the week.  Some things are already the right size.

Microwaveable Pork Crackle (Kings Elite Snacks) By @SpectreUK

You may be asking if the title is right of this blog. Yes, it is Microwaveable Pork Crackle. Kings Elite Snacks very kindly sent us a whole box of these Microwaveable Pork Crackle, so I hope I like them. I've certainly never thought about heating up any pork crackle or wanted any hot, but I've an open mind where snacks are concerned. Pushing horror stories of microwaveable popcorn setting fire out of my mind, I'm going to give them a try.

Watching my calories to try to keep my weight down, I try to limit myself to one packet of high protein (yet fatty) pork scratchings a week after one of my morning weights and swimming sessions. These Microwaveable Pork Crackle certainly fit into that bracket of snack food. So I'll try them on the side with my usual tuna sandwich.

Looking at the instructions they state to remove the inner paper bag and to carefully read the instructions on it… I'm not great with instructions, as I'm more an attention span deficit kind of person. so I'm hoping the instructions are not long and I don't dose off reading them. Specifically not putting the plastic wrapper in the microwave seemed very important though. So here goes…

Now I'm not saying everyone will definitely have problems with this product…. but what I am saying is that I personally had problems with this product. First of all the dial on our almost brand new 800 watt microwave oven (as the old 1000w microwave oven packed up recently) only counts in 10 seconds, so the two minutes and fifteen seconds instructed had to be stopped right before the two minutes and twenty seconds was up. Second of all on unfolding the bag it was clearly far too big for the new tiny microwave, although the microwave can fit a whole dinner plate in it. In fact I was pretty sure the bag wouldn't have turned in the old huge microwave oven either. Third of all, as you can see from the photographs, although the bag expanded it also almost caught fire. I did read the instructions thoroughly and watched it all the way through the cooking process, and I also noted the smell of burnt flesh was pretty disturbing after roughly a minute of cooking. I turned the bag around and noticed the scorch marks on it but then finished cooking it anyway, and left it to stand for a couple of minutes.

As you can also see from the photographs a few of the Pork Crackle pieces were also burnt. I did try a couple of other pieces, but the Original favouring was more or less Ready Salted and could not disguise the burnt flesh smell that filled the kitchen for the rest of the afternoon even with the back door open. In fact the burnt flesh flavour had been absorbed by the rest of the cooked Pork Crackle. I threw away the rest of the bag, and then threw away the contents of the box Kings Elite Snacks had kindly sent us. I'm afraid I'd rather stick to my pork Crackle pre-cooked!

Information on the packet;
The 35g bag contains 78 calories per 17.5g, with 2.3g of fat, less than 0.1g of sugar and 0.41g of salt. These Microwaveable Pork Crackle are gluten free, with no artificial colours or flavours. Ingredients included pork rind (94%) (antioxidants BHA, BHT), sea salt, rice flour, yeast extract, and black pepper extract.

The Best Venison & Red Wine Crisps (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

As Christmas is on its way i have seen quite a few different own brand makes of crisps adding a turkey dinner style variety to the premium range. I love meaty crisps so I’m fine with this, but I was excited to see these venison crisps added to the Morrisons “The Best” posh range.
The crisps are smartly packaged in a premium bag and the crisps sound rather fancy even including a splash of red wine. We shared the bag one lunchtime to test them out. The aroma from the bag was lovely, but remarkably similar to beef flavour crisps. This led to a discussion about the difference in flavour of beef and venison meats and the realisation that none of us has had venison that often.

The crisps are the right texture for me, they are a little thicker than standard multipack bags but not so thick that they are over crunchy and unpleasant. I loved the flavour of these crisps and do feel bad for saying they are beefy but that is how they taste to me. The flavour is very smooth and perhaps that is what should make them stand out as venison rather than beef, but perhaps that could be attributed to the addition of red wine too. Either way these crisps are rich, meaty, tasty and easy eating. They would be perfect for sharing over the festive season, and it doesn’t get much posher than being able to say to visitors; “venison crisps anyone?”.

Festive Limited Edition Clementine Diet Coke (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

Last week somebody asked me why oranges/clementines were seen as a Christmas flavour, and I said I wasn’t sure. Having thought about it and looked into it a bit I think it goes back to a time when such things were rather exotic, as we didn’t have the transport methods and import structures, so they would be bought a s treat at the festive time of year. Anyway, here we have another orange(ish) themed seasonal product, Festive Clementine Diet Coke.
I have been enjoying the selection of interesting flavours from Coca-Cola that have been out the last few years and they have yet another one out in time for Christmas. The new flavours are all part of the sugar free ranges, and this one too is a ‘Diet’ Coke edition. I like the wrapper on the bottle with its tree designs and managed to get two bottles on offer which was a bonus.
First thing is first I was actually impressed but the fact that I could taste clementines strongly in this drink. It wasn’t oranges, it was the softer sweeter more delicate flavour of actual clementines which impressed me. I always think that citrus flavours work well with cola and this is no exception, it enhanced the flavour and gave it a lovely festive twist. I thought the drink was very refreshing, and the clementines probably would work all year, the added zesty flavour would make it a nice summer treat too. I am enjoying all these lovely limited edition flavours they keep brining out, I just hope this one might stick around for a bit.

Mr Kipling Irish Cream Fancies (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

I don’t buy Mr Kipling’s Fondant Fancies very often, and have been disappointed by some of their ‘new’ products in the past. For example, a halloween special that is the regular Fondant Fancy but coloured orange, I don’t know how I didn’t implode in excitement. Anyway this Christmas they have actually brought out a proper new flavour so I grabbed myself a box of these new Mr Kipling Irish Cream Fancies.

The other thing about not buying a product for a while is that your mind plays tricks on you and you have a memory of what they should look like that simply isn’t true, these look so small compared to how I thought they would be. They do look pretty though, nice white coloured icing drizzled with chocolate lines, iced over a square of sponge topped with a dollop of fondant underneath.

I bit into one of the Irish Cream Fancies and they to be very mild in flavour. I liked the soft textures of the sponge, icing and filling, but the flavour was simply sweet and creamy as its base flavour. There was just a gentle hint of ‘Irish Cream’ taste, which you had to look for to really notice it. These are easy eating and pleasant, and it was nice to see the effort of a new flavour. They are mild but at least that means that they will go down well with visitors, so they do get a thumbs up. Worth having a box in the cupboard to share with any unexpected Christmas visitors.

Atlantic Pale Ale (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Described as "tropical and refreshing" I may have left it a little late to drink this Atlantic Pale Ale from Sharp's Brewery, in Cornwall. However it's pouring down with freezing rain outside at the moment and what better time to have a tropical beer that's refreshing than in the freezing cold wet Autumn? Well, summer… yes! However after swimming in a freezing outside swimming pool earlier and at a fast pace too, as I may have died if I'd have stopped for a minute, I need something that could remind me of a sunny beach somewhere hot and humid. The good thing is that Sharp's Brewery support the Blue Flag Awards for keeping beaches and bathing waters clean and safe to enjoy!

Now this 4.5% volume Atlantic Pale Ale is vaunted to have the citrus aromas and flavours of American hops, but without their usual intense bitterness. I hate to mention it, but I actually like my ale nice and bitter. Like my grizzled personality, and dashing chiselled looks. Okay, I'm joking, but I do like my ale BITTER! I can't stand it when I eat or drink something that doesn't taste of anything. I'm old and our tastebuds start to go at a certain age.

On opening the bottle there was a light citrus hoppy smell just before the sweet malts kicked in. On taste this deep golden Atlantic Pale Ale bizarrely has an almost lager flavour. On a blind taste test, I'd have picked this pale ale out as a lager I'm sure. Not too belly burping, but it has a decent fizz and a mild citrus hoppiness to start with, followed by a yeasty flavour mixed with a little sweet malt. This beer doesn't taste like a pale ale to me. But… it does taste… so that's a bonus, and it tastes good. Even if it is very pretty reminiscent of a lager.

Minty Muddle Chocolate Round (Waitrose) By @Cinabar

My niece regularly adds a chocolate pizza to her birthday or Christmas wish list. It isn’t something that needs to be baked (but how cool would that be) it is essentially a circular slab of chocolate that looks like a pizza. They must be good though, as it has been requested multiple times! This Waitrose Minty Muddle Chocolate Round is a similar concept, it is called a “round” but on the back has segments (slices) for easy sharing.

I love chocolate mint, it is one of my go-to flavours, up there with cinnamon spice which is my ultimate favourite, so this seemed the perfect place to start. Once out of the box this Minty Muddle Chocolate Round smells delicious, lots of minty tones and plenty of chocolate. I used the back as a guide and shared it out into portions. The pieces look quite cute with plenty of white chocolate drops and dark chocolate crumb sprinkled all over.

The chocolate is substantial and quite thick, I love the mix of textures as the dark chocolate sprinkles were crispy and the white’s chocolate drops were soft. The chocolate consists of both swirls of dark and white chocolate but because of the mix tasted mostly like milk chocolate, but does look pretty. The mint flavour is well balanced and there is plenty of peppermint and it works perfectly in conjunction with the chocolate.
I think this Waitrose Minty Muddle Chocolate Round would make a perfect stocking filler, a bit of a novelty for sure, but nicely designed and good quality chocolate with well balanced flavours.

Mighty Pea M.LK - vegan and nut free (@NLi10)

So. You don’t want to use dairy milk, but you also want to avoid nuts - what options are there? Well - soy milk exists but tastes like the water used to recycle paper. How about you pea on your cornflakes?

I’d not seen this before, and I figured it would be worth a few cheap pea jokes so gave it a shot - and actually it’s pretty decent.

It’s white not green, and it tastes like a really mild pea soup might. I’ve not poured that on my crunchy nuts yet though.  It’s an enjoyably different flavour too, and I need to try it in more drinks before I pass judgement on that angle.

It’s got things in that are good for you

And it’s got friendly messages about how it’s good for animals, and actually uses less water than almond milk - but I’d have to do research on that.

And it’s similar enough to skimmed milk in texture and looks that the pictures of the stuff itself were not very exciting.  We don’t go to Sainsbury’s very often so I’m not sure that I’ll become a regular (almond milk is my default now), but it’s certainly made a fan out of me.

If you are looking for a dairy alternative then give peas a chance. 

Bachelor’s Super Noodles BBQ Beef (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Being a snack food and beer blogger and also keeping my weight down with exercise and watching my calories can sometimes be a bit of a bind. I've just looked at the calories in this Bachelor's Super Noodles BBQ Beef and they're pretty high. I used to not care and overeat all the time, but since this second knee operation, my surgeon badgering me about keeping my weight down, and the fact that even after a year of rehabilitation I still have marked limitations on a knee that's muscles now look pretty much exactly the same as the other knee… I have to keep my weight strictly down in the future. There isn't a heck of a lot of fat anywhere anymore either, apparently muscles are pretty heavy too!

With this BBQ Beef Supper Noodles I'm just going to fry up some mushrooms in sunflower oil and have a piece of toast on the side, and then have my usual apple and high protein yoghurt for afters. Been as though my stomach seems to have almost disappeared after months of constant exercise, I can't eat half of what I used to anyway, as I get comfortably full really easily now.

On opening the pot there was some seasoning, dried peas and diced carrots on top of the block of stringy noodles. After preparation with freshly boiled water, stirring and leaving to stand for a while, there was a good smoky sweet barbecue smell from the reddish noodles in the pot. On taste I was actually surprised how good this Bachelor's Super Noodles BBQ Beef is. I guess I'm still stuck in the generational thinking of noodle pots being wet and relatively tasteless. There was a good smoky barbecue flavour from the noodles and sauce, with an almost caramel sweetness into the aftertaste. These noodles went perfectly well with my fried Mediterranean seasoned mushrooms and piece of toast on the side. I'd certainly recommend this for a quick and tasty meal for someone on the go!

Information on the pot;
The 75g pot contains 354 calories, with 15g of fat, 3.8g of sugar, and 1.49g of salt. Please see photograph for ingredients.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Orange Snowman (Ocado) By @Cinabar

There are quite a few Christmas chocolate novelties out this year but most of them I have seen in passed years. Chocolate Santas, reindeers etc, even Cadbury Snow Balls have all made reappearances. I’m not complaining, just looking for something different in amongst the crowd. This will be the first time I’ve tried the Cadbury Dairy Milk Orange Snowman, although I think I have had the non fruit version before now.

So the Snowman is quite smart looking under the wrapper, not that well defined in features but modern looking with a smart scarf. The filing isn’t light and airy like I had hoped it would be, it is quite a thick mousse filling, firm and chunky. I was pleased with the flavour, the sweet Cadbury chocolate coated a rich and fruity orange filling that was sweet and tasty with lots of citrus zing. Chocolate and orange is a classic flavour combination and it seems to be more popular than ever this year with Orange Twirls and quite a few other goodies coming out for Christmas, I can’t argue with it as it works very well.
This Cadbury Dairy Milk Orange Snowman is sweet and fruity tasty treat, and would make a nice seasonal pick me up as an alternative to a full size chocolate bar. As the filling is quite thick it is filling too and it makes it a more satisfying treat.

Limited Edition After Eight Mint & Mango-Pineapple (B&M) By @Cinabar

I think it is fair to say if you had asked me what flavour I predicted After Eight would launch in the run up to Christmas I would have guessed orange. With Orange Twirls and Terry’s Chocolate Orange Muffins at Costa orange is turning out to be the flavour of the season. Just to clarify by orange I mean just orange, as fruit and mint would be odd wouldn’t it. I was wrong, by quite a long way, they have launched After Eight Mint & Mango-Pineapple Limited Edition. It is a brave choice, and to be fair it sounds like quite an exciting new variety to try, let’s just hope it works.

The inside of the packet is the usual layout, with chocolate thins in dark envelopes decorated with a gold clock design. They look just like regular After Eights and don’t have a strong aroma. The texture too is identical to the normal chocolates but the flavour is far from the usual. The first taste is mint and it is quite strong, but close behind are the mango and pineapple and in there sweet juicy tones. I took a moment to allow my taste buds to adjust and found myself wanting a second chocolate. Mint and fruit both in strong proportions but the combination was fab.
Nowhere in my head did I think these After Eight Mint & Mango-Pineapple thins could possibly work but against all the odds they do. They are actually fantastic, with a new flavour combination that seems to mix tropical fruit and mint in a way that makes you think of an exotic fruit cocktail with a load of mint leaves stuffed into the glass. Refreshing fruity and I’m going back for a second box.

BOL - Spanish Bean & Veg Paella (@NLi10)

Winter lunches can be hard.  Sandwiches lose their appeal as November appears, and there is only so much soup that one person can consume.  When doing an Ocado shop I spotted some meal pots that I bought for my partner.  She liked them, but isn't a massive fan of large amounts of veggies where as I quite like that - so I decided to give the final pot a go.

BOL have decided that the best way to ensure that this looks cool and makes it to you in one piece is to layer the ingredients and then you can cook them nicely without making a mush.

I'd heard from others about meal pots that lose their crispiness, but that didn't happen here - texture was still varied!

What you end up with is a big steamy pot of veg and beans and rice and some lovely flavours.  Do I miss that odd tangy bit of sausage or sun-dried tomato - sure! but then this wouldn't be veggie friendly and would probably turn into a homogeneous mush of single strong flavours.  I'm sure that you could sprinkle in chilli flakes or similar to add pizzazz.

As it stands though this was a charming little winter lunch - one I'd have to be organised about though as work only currently has one microwave and the queue is never short.

Harviestoun Schiehallion Beer (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

I don't often write about lagers, but this one is highly vaunted, so I thought I better give it a go! Schiehallion is an idyllic mountain in Scotland. This Harviestoun Brewery lager has taken its name from that mountain, suggesting an intrepid side to this wheat malt and lager malt 'Champagne of Lagers'. Anyone who calls their beer the 'Champagne of Lagers' must be pretty confident that people will like it. I don't actually like Champagne, so I'm glad its not involved in the brewing, however, I know what they mean. It also won the WBA World's Best Pilsner Award in 2008. So that's a bit of a hint there…

On opening this 4.8% volume lager I could smell the wheat malt and the yeastiness almost immediately, with the lager malt at the back of the aroma. On pouring this bright golden Schiehallion I noticed it wasn't as bubbly as lagers often can be. On taste this lager has an initial light citrus crispness with the wheat malt nosing its way through the hoppy bitterness, and the slightly sweeter lager malt coming in towards the aftertaste. This is definitely a fulsome flavoured craft lager and a delight to drink. Rather than one of those belly burping mass-produced lagers I served to many a guzzler when I was a barman way… way back when!

Christmas Spiced Cappuccino (Costa) By @Cinabar

As much as I love a seasonal menu in a coffee shop I am aware they usually arrive loaded with cream and syrup and aren’t the healthiest thing. They are good fuel for Christmas shopping though as everyone needs a treat after that. One of the more easy going sounding drinks from Costa this year is this Christmas Spiced Cappuccino, it doesn’t have cream but it made with seasonal spices and has cinnamon sprinkles on top.bI love cinnamon.
I found this drink easier to have with a savoury sandwich than say the lushness of the Irish Velvet Latte which is more of a dessert drink. Well a dessert in drink format I guess.
The Christmas Spiced Cappuccino has some of my favourite spiced running through it and the tones of cinnamon and nutmeg make it a wonderful warming drink that does taste of Christmas. It still very much tastes of coffee though which is sometimes lost on the more elaborate drinks.
Although there is sweetness with this Costa Christmas Spiced Cappuccino the drink isn’t overly so and I say that as someone who doesn’t take sugar in coffee. The spices enhance it, I love the mix of cinnamon in this drink and found it a wonderful winter warmer. I do think there is a place of cream and syrup but this may well be my drink of choice this season with its fabulous spices. Christmas in a mug.

LoveRaw Butter Cups - Peanut & Hazelnut (By @NLi10)

After the abject disappointment of the Hershey's Halloween offering I decided that I'd invest in some more me peanut consumption.

Here we have a LoveRaw Peanut butter cup - and I say invest because these are £1.99 for two!

It's raw, dark chocolate so it's vegan (and so nice) and the peanuts have nothing nasty added to them.

They look a little dry and unappetising copmared to the pack shot so I'm wondering if these got heated in transport.  But! They taste great and have a real peanut flavour which the Americanised ones just can't come close to.  And these are satisfying to eat - you don't feel like you need a 2nd right away - well... 

We did have a 2nd right away as we cut them in half!  Again this didn't really travel well - a little more card to protect them may be necessary.

The hazelnut one was basically a Nuttella cup and given the choice the one I'd gravitate towards most again.  At £1 per cup it's quite hard to justify as an impulse buy from Holland & Barrett but I'm sure it'll happen occasionally.

Kolibri Cardamom & Chilli (Degusta) By @SpectreUK

Keeping with the theme of trying to warm myself up with food and drink, I thought I'd try this Kolibri Cardamom & Chilli drink. This carbonated spring water drink is blended with Cardamom and Chilli natural extracts, and lemon juice. There is also a fun, or a slightly complex, depending on how you look at it, Kolibri Drops container to tailer your drink with added syrupy sweetness. As you can see from the photo below, you have to use the screw top of the glass bottle to push down on the top of the Kolibri Drops container to release the syrup. Make sure you tip the carbonated blended water from the bottle into a glass first and then tailor it with the amount of Kolibri Drops you want to add. As you may have guessed, I'm an all or nothing kind of person, so I dumped the whole container into my waiting blended spring water filled glass.

I tasted the transparent blended carbonated spring water first before adding the syrup, and it tasted like liquidised curry. Or rather like those weird shaped things that flavour the rice before you add the curry sauce. I have a habit of burying the cardamom pods in the rice by mistake and then biting into them when I least expect it. The intense flavour always catches me and makes my face twist and I always say "Blurrgh!" when it happens.

The transparent blended spring water changed into a rather pleasing golden colour once I had added all of the Kolibri Drops. The added syrupy sweetness changed the flavour markedly to a much sweeter curry type flavour, which was instantly rather refreshing. Being alcohol free and at only 36 calories with all the Kolibri Drops added, this drink would be really ideal to wash down a good curry and popadoms meal. I can see myself routing out another bottle or two to try that out.

Pip's Hot Chocolate Coins (@DegustaboxUK) By @Cinabar

Part of the inspiration for the start of this blog was an at-work quest for a decent hour chocolate, and it has always remained a keen topic for us here at Foodstuff Finds. I actually had started to believe I was super fussy with hot chocolate and have even been known to tip mugs of the stuff away as I didn’t think the drink was worth the calories. I know, proper drama queen. So when I found a selection of these Pip's Hot Chocolate Coins in my latest Degustabox I have to admit I was cautious about being too excited.

My first thought was that they looked too small to flavour a mug of milk but as I took the wrapper of i realised they were actually quite chunky, think the tardis or something. I heated some milk and when it was hot added in the Pip's Hot Chocolate Coin and stirred. It took a little while to start dissolving but did and once it began to then melted and mixed in easily, I gave it a little whisk with a fork too. The drink looked dark enough and I hoped for good flavour too.
When it came to the taste test it passed with flying colours. The flavour of the drink was rich and chocolatey, there was lots of soothing cocoa and just enough sweetness for my tastebuds. It is soothing rich drink which is what I think a hot chocolate should be. I found myself looking forward to the other Coins included in the box and even checking out the other flavours available on their website, to see what they do. Black Forest looks like it will be in my Christmas list!