31 March 2020

Mallow & Marsh Vanilla Marshmallows (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

Mallow & Marsh Vanilla Marshmallows

These Mallow & Marsh Vanilla Marshmallows were actually found in the Foodstuff Finds store cupboard, bought in what were more normal times. It was however a pleasure to find them now and we decided to share some of these chocolate coated marshmallows while catching up with Good Omens on Prime. It is an excellent miniseries, very funny by the way in case you are looking for some viewing recommendations when there isn’t much else to do.
There were quite a few of these Mallow & Marsh Vanilla Marshmallows bites in the bag and we shared them out. They did vary in size a little, but were more or less similar in appearance. Nice bite sized cubes of mallow.
The chocolate coating from around them was quite thin and easily gave way when I bit in, the mallow inside was fluffy with just a little bounce, exactly as it should. The flavour was vanilla, and this gave them a nice sweet and creamy taste. I don’t usually munch on marshmallows as a snack but they work really well. Normally if I have any in the house they are usually the mini ones and they go on hot chocolate. It was nice to have these as a snack in their own right, something sweet tasty and a bit different.

Mallow & Marsh Vanilla Marshmallows

30 March 2020

Kit Kat Senses - Choc Chip Cookie Dough (Asda) By @Cinabar

Kit Kat Senses - Choc Chip Cookie Dough

My last Asda order brought with it a decent selection of items to write about for Foodstuff Finds. While many people were stock piling toilet roll I filled my virtual basket with snacks, I think I focused on the right area to be honest. :-D Incredibly the order brought with it three new flavours of Kit Kat which was exciting, the first I went for were these Kit Kat Senses with Choc Chip Cookie Dough. They are packaged in a box, inside which are traditional style two finger foil and paper wrapped Kit Kats, but in a protective plastic bag. I liked the retro packaging.

Kit Kat Senses - Choc Chip Cookie Dough

The Kit Kat Senses with Choc Chip Cookie Dough is a milk chocolate Kit Kat with the usual wafers but also a layer of cookie dough inside. The flavour worked remarkably well, the layer of filling was quite generous and was lovely and sweet. I liked the mix of textures with the chocolate and wafers too, always the best part of a Kit Kat. The flavour is nice, it adds a little vanilla and that nice creaminess you get with cookie dough. I was impressed with these Kit Kats and can’t wait to tuck into the other boxes, I might try and limit myself to one pack a week. It just goes to show if you do manage to get an online order it is still worth checking out the new products section, if you are after a little treat while isolating.

Kit Kat Senses - Choc Chip Cookie Dough

29 March 2020

The Back Of The Cupboard - Rosehips & nostalgia! (@NLi10)

As the UK lockdown continues I've been looking at those things I picked up and just never got around to eating.  These are usually longer life things, stuff grabbed out of season, gifts and nick-necks that go with something - usually something that I don't have to hand.  Or - in this case - things I was saving for a special occasion.

My Grandmother used to love Rose Hips - or at least feeding them to me.  I have really garbled memories of Tommy Teepee drinks, visits to the health food shop for Rose Hip Syrup (and Hedgehog crisps).  Now that smaller brands are getting back into these more botanical flavours they are cropping up more often.  So I can pick them up - and then not eat them.

 

This is Norfolk Gardens Rose Hip Extra Jelly.  I don't know where I got it from, but to me this is the last preserve, it's the one that I'd be saving for with clotted creme and home made scones (now thats an isolation idea) - you can't just put it on some toast, right?


Well - if you are stuck indoors looking for reviews then it's probably a good time to break out the super luxury foods.  And it is the jelly of my childhood.  Fruity and botanical, sugary but knock-out strong.  It deserves a better backing but for now it sits on factory white bread (don't worry - I did spread it out).  Amazing stuff, and almost worth squirrelling away for the end times.

And coincidentally we have this.


I have a feeling that this was a gift.  I don't drink cordial much anymore, its great for the two weeks in the UK that the weather is warm.  I basically down it in pints and don't savour the wonderful subtleties of the Mr Fitzpatrick brands.  I think it took 2 years to drink their Dandelion & Burdock cordial because it was amazingly good.


Here though they suggest to try it hot.  As this saves on turning the heating on it's an excellent plan.


Again - sugar and botanicals.  An 80s childhood in a bottle.


Doesn't look like much, right?  It's probably not even that strong? Wrong.  This is powerful stuff.  The rhubarb is mind warpingly sour, and those aftertastes are beautifully playful.  It's probably safe to say I made it a bit strong but thats how i like it.  Warm, not hot, and just the right side of wicked.

I'm glad I'm the kind of person who fills the house with too many things to get through, as lazy Sundays like these are built for nostalgic flavours (yeah - I worked from home, but still the least I've done in ages).  Even my dying tastebuds can appreciate the artistry and care that went into both of these.  Suddenly lock-down doesn't feel so bad anymore.

28 March 2020

William Brother’s Benno Craft Lager (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

William Brother’s Benno Craft Lager

I'm not much of a lager drinker, as it usually makes me burp quite a lot. Besides most people who know me would probably tell you that I'm already full of enough wind as it is, without giving me further excuse! However I did find this William Brother's Benno Craft Lager in my beer fridge earlier and thought I'd give it a go, whether further wind or not…

The back of the 330ml can of this Benno Craft Lager tells me that William Brother's Brewing Company, in Scotland, created this lager as a tribute to the Bavarian 'father' of modern brewing, Benno Scharl (1741-1812). Benno was credited as being the first brewer to use the term 'lagering' as a process of cool fermentation, which is then followed by maturation over a period of time in cold storage.

Upon opening the can of this 4.4% volume craft lager there was a hearty ker-chunk-fizz… This bright golden shining lager instantly cheered me upon pouring. Let's face it, at the moment with this terrible bug engulfing the world it's often the little things that can bring a smile. There is a herbal hoppy bitter aroma followed closely by the sweet barley malts. On first taste there is a sheer crisp mixed citrus and herbal bitter hoppiness. This almost jumble of hops brings the citrus to the fore initially, which gives way to the more herbal notes and then the citrus bitterness wins through for a another bout. These busy hops then step back a little for the sweeter malts which almost smooths out the crispiness of this cheerful bubbling brew. This William Brother's Benno Craft Lager is a flavoursome lager, and I reckon it makes an excellent tribute that Benno would be very happy with himself.

27 March 2020

Maryland Cookies N Cream (Asda) By @Cinabar


These new biscuits were purchased online at Asda, when I booked a slot three weeks in advance that finally came this week. I’m pleased to say it brought quite a few new products to write about, clearly when the apocalypse comes new biscuits aren’t at the top of everyones priority, they were on my list though.
So buying these Maryland Cookies N Cream online I assumed they would be more like an Oreo style biscuit with a cream in the middle but when they arrived they were single biscuits with creamy drops on top. Several of the cream drops on the biscuits had fallen out which meant several of the biscuits had holes in various places and didn’t look so nice.
The cream drops were tasty, but not that different from white chocolate in flavour. The base flavour of these Maryland Cookies N Cream was quite rich in chocolate which I really liked, the flavour worked well. They reminded me a lot of eating chocolate cake in terms of the flavour, rich chocolate, cakey and with a hint of some sort of cream. I liked these, and I’m pleased we had biscuits on our order. I know searching for new products, well even supermarket slots at the minute, is difficult but if you can get these you shouldn’t be disappointed.

26 March 2020

4Move Witamin Drinks - Polish Import Shop (@NLi10)

I love import shops, or more accurately the local shops for imported people.  One of my favourites is the Polish shop that has a lot of discounts.  Trouble is it's hard to see what is in the cans...


Go - Google Translator Lens!


Ok - so i admit - the English is on the back of the cans, but I impressed you with the technology at least briefly yes?


All the different drinks have a variety of vitamins in.  They all look very similar though - makes me wonder if one flavour with all the vitamins in would have been easier.


I got a new wobbly person badge to keep people away from me, and with the meds I take it certainly doesn't hurt to have a few extra vitamins in the system and these are quite nice drinks.


At 3 for £1.20 I don't mind the smaller size and the slight fizz and the almost tonic like flavour certainly adds a kick to the afternoon.  Almost certainly healthier than the 2l bottle of Pepsi I picked up for the same perky reasons.


Yup - 3 flavours - three slightly different colours, and equally slightly different tastes.  These aren't Red Bull style so are work-safe and I think the smaller size helps as you get a nice quick fizzy pick-me-up.

If these are still in the bargin section of the fridge when I next brave The Event to go scavanging for food then I'm sure I'll get some.  And I have to go to the Polish shop anyway as they still have pasta in stock (and it's the good thick stuff too!)

25 March 2020

Wholesums Fresh Veg Popped Crisps (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

Wholesums Fresh Veg Popped Crisps

I'm always on the lookout for alternative snacks to crisps. Okay, so these Wholesums Salt of the Earth do seem to be crisps. However, these "fresh veg popped" crisps look particularly healthy. They are made from carrots, peas and potatoes. They are low in fat at 1.2g per 22g bag, because they are popped crisps and not fried. They are gluten free, are a good source of fibre, and have 86 calories in the packet. They are also Vegan friendly. Not that I'm a Vegan, but that's what it says on the bag.

On opening the packet the small oval crisps inside looked a little like crushed coins from one of those press-machines at a fairground. There were slightly beige ones that were obviously potato crisps, which ironically tasted like very lightly salted popped potato crisps. The carrot ones were a slightly orange colour, had more of a crunch than the potato crisps, and still tasted like very lightly salted popped potato crisps. The greenish pee crushed flat popped crisps tasted a lot different to the other two flavours. They had yet more of a crunch to them and tasted a bit more like a green vegetable popped crisp. These pee crisps were not unpleasant in flavour and still tasted very lightly salted like the popped carrot and also popped potato crisps. Unfortunately I found that these popped vegetable crisps weren't very tasty though. When the packet stated "Salt of the Earth", I just expected a little more salt than I received. I do like Ready Salted crisps, but I'm afraid not this lightly salted.

Information on the packet;
At 22g the bag has 86 calories, with 1.2g of fat, 0.5g of sugar, and 0.3g of sugar. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Wholesums Fresh Veg Popped Crisps

24 March 2020

Heinz Seriously Good Truffle Mayo (Ocado) By @Cinabar


While stock taking the cupboards at Foodstuff Finds, in order to prep for the lockdown, in amongst the cupboard and hidden within a reassuring supply of baked beans and soups I stumbled across this jar of Heinz Seriously Good Truffle Mayo. Clearly it was bought for Christmas, clearly it was bought in better times and clearly it got forgotten about. At least we had some mayonnaise to open and it just happens to be the ultra posh stuff.
There is quite a strong mushroom scent to this mayo, it isn’t subtle but it works rather well. The flavour is rich and we had it to dip chips in. The taste was still creamy, but the added truffle enchanted the flavour and made it feel more like a proper dip, this would actually be really nice with chicken dippers or nuggets. I’m not sure it would go that well with salad, and if I manage to buy lettuce I will let you know! I was really pleased to rediscover this jar in the cupboard during these strange times.
In other news I had an Asda order arrive (which was booked three weeks ago) and that managed to bring with it some new products, so at least I have a few things to write about during the lockdown. I also found a few other goodies in the cupboard stock take so I’m hoping we can keep you entertained each day for a while yet. Stay safe everyone.

23 March 2020

Coffee and Walnut Cake Chocolates (Hotel Chocolat) By @Cinabar

Coffee and Walnut Cake Chocolates

I’m working from home for now for a bit. My work has been wonderful with this horrendous virus and made sure we are all ok to work from and have everything we need and we are all keeping in touch online. On my last commute through Birmingham New street I popped into the little branch of Hotel Chocolat to pick up a treat, my favourite chocolates from there, these Coffee and Walnut Cake Chocolates.

Coffee and Walnut Cake Chocolates

I love nuts with chocolate and I love coffee so it should be no surprise that these are high on my priority list. The chocolate consists of a strong coffee base, praline, and a piece of walnut all wrapped in a milk chocolate. It isn’t that sweet but the burst of coffee, crunchy nut and silky praline hits the spot every time. Crunchy and smooth, and a lovely combination of flavours. Coffee and chocolate were meant for each other I do wish there were more coffee chocolates about, the addition of the nut is a pleasure. These are a bit of a naughty treat, but in these times I think we should focus on the odd thing that makes us smile.
Hotel Chocolat sell online, as do many of my favourite high street shops, so I will be switching to more online shopping than usual. It is good to support business who will be hit by the closure of shops and also to have a treat now and then.

22 March 2020

Isolation and Rationing - Cofresh Gathia Yellow (@NLi10)

Work have provided me with a mini laptop so I don't have to go in all 7 days a week and can work a few at home.  This is a relief as its probably at the point where I want to consider not using the busses.


And my home is in a very multicultural area so I can get to many different nationalities and cultures of shop - meaning that while I may not be able to pick up English brands as easily at the supermarkets, the smaller stores that probably require my support more at this time can easily keep me fed.


Long time readers will know that we have a bit of a Cofresh addiction in our house - especially the more 'crisp' based ones.  Going to the proper Indian stores and not just the corner-shop opens up a whole extra side of the brand.  Here we have one of the best parts of the mix bags - the Gathia noodle style crisps.


Not very healthy, but very very nice.


I'm not sure which western crisp comes closest, they are almost like a denser version of the french fry, or similar to the Marks & Spencer hard salt and vinegar chips. The taste is of very mild curry, no heat, just that cumin 'yellow' flavour.  They are really great and this whole bag was a pound and has lasted days.

If you don't want to face the crowds and empty shelves of the supermarkets then check out your local international food shops.  You may not get Walkers Crisps (well thats a lie - they had those too) but you should find everything you need to get by.

Stay safe everyone! 

21 March 2020

Schloss Eggenberg Hopfen Konig (Germany) By @SpectreUK

Schloss Eggenberg Hopfen Konig


Before I start writing about this lager beer I hope that you don't mind, but I'm just going to say a few words about the scary times we're having at the moment. I say; "we", because we're all in this together; the whole world. I know that many of our readers are from many different countries and we appreciate all of your support in these troubling times. We appreciate every single one of you. When Cinabar told me that she had created a bog with a friend from work all those years ago I remember saying that no-one would ever read it. I was clearly wrong. We have a community of over 3000 readers a day. We always have appreciated you over the last ten or so years since this blog was created and we always will. It can be difficult to admit, but we are all scared. We are scared of catching this terrible bug and equally scared of passing it on to someone else that may lose their lives to it, or pass it on to someone else that does. We are all strong. No matter who you are or where you are from.

We will carry on with daily posts as best we can. Even if we end up writing about a tin of beans - we will carry on… So during this troubling period I'm likely to be switching to blogging about beer a bit more. Much to my chagrin I'm handing over many of the items I have for my own greedy self in the Foodstufffinds's storage cupboard to Cinabar. She can write about those, just as long as I get a nibble… er… on the snacks or whatever, and I will switch over to my beer supply in my cavernous beer fridge. I have plenty to write about in there just as long as I don't get ill in the meantime.

They were keeping my gym open with social distancing guidelines, but they have closed that now. After a lot of consideration I have worked out an exercise regime that I can do in the house. I have free weights I can do upper and lower body exercise three times a week. I have learnt a few yoga moves I can do three times a week, and I have my crazy abdominal burnout sessions that I can do for an hour or so every day. YouTube is very good at showing you all manners of exercises if you want to keep fit indoors. I'll miss the bike and swimming, sauna and steam room at the gym until it reopens, but can jog for several minutes now, so will do that around the estate unless they stop us going out and I'll have to jog around in circle in the back garden.

Anyway, after all that babbling on I'm pretty thirsty… I was brought back this beer and a few others from Germany a few months ago before this scary virus closed all the borders. Google reliably informs me that Eggenberg Castle is a castle located in Vorchdorf, in Northern Austria. The castle is famous for its brewery. The label is almost completely in German or Austrian, depending on how you look at it, so you may have to bare with me…

At 5.1% in volume, Schloss Eggenberg Hopfen Konig is a lager beer, so I'm hoping it's not too bubbly otherwise I'll be burping all night from it. It has an ingenious pull open bottle top that puts my bottle opener out of business for tonight. Made with barley malt there is more of a slight hint of pils to the hoppy smell underneath the sweet malts in the aroma. On pouring this lager beer, there was quite a fizz and the bitter hops hit my tastebuds first, which were then smoothed out by the sweet barley malts. This is a very flavoursome bubbly lager beer and should go well with my fried chicken dinner, which I've just been called for…. So, cheers to all of you and please take care where ever you are in the world over the next few weeks and months.

20 March 2020

Choco Matcha Sweets (Japan) By @Cinabar

Choco Matcha Sweets

Today is an exciting day in the gaming world as it is the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch. As I eagerly await the delivery of my game from Amazon Prime, a delivery I’m more excited about than the overpriced toilet roll which was also on the order, my thoughts turned to Japanese snacks. I have spent many hours of my life playing the original Animal Crossing, and what better way than to celebrate Japanese culture than trying out these Choco Matcha Sweets which a friend brought back from Japan (from a time when it was safer to travel) while I wait.
So the packaging is almost entirely in Japanese, but I know the sweets inside are flavoured with matcha tea, I’m still not that sure what to expect. The cute packaging doesn’t offer many clues for those of us not familiar with the language, my best guess was for some kind of chewy sweets.

Choco Matcha Sweets

Inside the bag were individually wrapped chocolates! They are green in colour because of the matcha tea but were a flavoured white chocolate with a filling that was jelly like but firm and chewy. The flavour was really good, these are creamy sweet chocolates with a nice hint of matcha tea, this is mild so still sweet. I loved the mix of textures, the white chocolate cracks and the jelly centre comes in to its own before melting away. I found these Choco Matcha Sweets rather moreish and they got me through some work teleconferences rather well. I think when the world gets back to rights I would definitely ask for some more of these, they are lovely but very different to anything we have over here.

Choco Matcha Sweets

19 March 2020

One last Pre-isolation Nandos - Mozam Style (@NLi10) @NandosUK

I tend to have a few reviews in the tank - mainly because there is a time lag on what I buy and when I eat it - so here we have a restaurant review while the UK is on lock-down.  I suspect it'll be delivery food for a few weeks for us!

We had Nando's points to redeem so pre cinema (those are shut too!) we popped along to our local (clean - big enough for social distancing) and had a look at what we could get.

They had a new wrap on the menu - and as it's a charity one it seemed like a good plan.



Fruity AND spicy? Sounds like the amazing fruit curries I've had.  I'm in!  It's oddly similar to a black-bean sauce, but with the kick in a different place (if that makes sense).


Because of the reward points I got to have two sides - garlic bread and fries - but they were not that interesting.  Should always go for the spicyrice!


The Mozam wrap itself was amazing.  I almost ordered a second.  The sweet and fruity side with the strong garlic and spicy chicken was really something I was a fan of.  I went for my typical medium, but this extra sauce tamed it a little so I think I'd risk a hot (which I often do, but Medium is better for a date I think!).  I want to have this again - but at the moment I don't think that's going to happen.

I hope that the virus doesn't wipe out our spread of fast food places.  As ubiquitous as Nando's (and their queue) can be they do actually try a lot harder than some chains would and continue to innovate their menu.  I suspect though it will be the smaller, less recognisable places that go first, so I guess I'll have to make a special effort to order food (or collect after work).

As a side note - I actually work in a Hospital Labs doing the numbers side of things as my real person job.  This week has been a bit more chaotic and stressful than I'd have liked, and really - it's just going to get harder.  Do try to keep an eye on relatives and friends - both those who are more at risk healthwise, and those who suddenly find themselves working longer weeks (instead of eating carbonaras in Rome). Its going to take a lot of time and energy to get back to what we had before all this, and funny little distractions like spicy chicken are a big help!

18 March 2020

Twix Salted Caramel Fingers (Poundland) By @SpectreUK


Twix Salted Caramel Fingers

I don't know whether chocolate snacks flavoured with salted caramel went out of fashion for a while, or if Twix have just caught up? Being a snack food blogger I suppose I probably should know, but I'm pretty lazy and I don't keep on track with everything… I seem to spend much of my days exercising, revising for recertification for my profession at the end of this month, whilst trying to avoid political conversations in the sauna or catching the new terrible bug!

Anyway, Twix Salted Caramel Fingers… I do eat a lot of Twixs. I'm not sure on the plural of Twix. In truth I've not really thought about that either. There are generally two Twix fingers in a packet, and that's not referred to as Twixs, but there you go! Anyway, at just less than 100 calories the odd one or two from a multipack of nine packets of Twix(s) goes down rather well for an afternoon pick-me-up or a low calorie after dinner treat with a white hot chocolate. These Twix Salted Caramel Fingers are slightly more than 100 calories, but I think I can cope with the very slight increase.

Twix Salted Caramel Fingers

On opening the multipack of these Twix Salted Caramel Fingers I found that there are only one Twix finger per pack, rather than the original double ones I'm used to. I noticed through comparison that these salted caramel fingers are slightly longer, but still it doesn't explain how there can be far more calories in a slightly longer single finger than two original slightly shorter ones from a multipack.

On peeling back the wrapper I found that this salted caramel finger looks pretty much the same as the regular flavour. In fact exactly the same, as it is covered in milk chocolate, with the biscuity bit at the bottom and the caramel part at the top. However, on biting into the finger I noticed it was a little more crunchy than usual. The caramel seemed the same but I quickly noticed that there were flecks of salt mixed in with the caramel rather than the salted caramel I've tasted in other bars. These flecks had their own crunch and a few found themselves between my old teeth. I wasn't so keen on this, however Cinabar and her Mom liked these Twix Salted Caramel Fingers. I have to say I rather prefer the original Twix flavour to these flecks of salt, so I reckon I'll stick to what I know!

Information on the packet;
9 x Twix Salted Caramel Fingers at 23g per packet weighs in at 207g, with 113 calories per packet, 5.4g of fat, 11g of sugar, and 0.19g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Twix Salted Caramel Fingers

17 March 2020

Mackie’s of Scotland Mint 70% Cocoa Chocolate (Lidl) By @Cinabar

Mackie’s of Scotland Mint 70% Cocoa Chocolate

Mackie’s of Scotland is a company I associate firstly with ice cream. They then went on to make crisps, which is diversifying quite a bit, it isn’t a similar market. When I was in Lidl I spotted this Mackie’s of Scotland Mint 70% Cocoa Chocolate bar which means they have entered the confectionary market too. Basically Mackie’s of Scotland seem to make all the treat foods I really like, which is fine by me.

Mackie’s of Scotland Mint 70% Cocoa Chocolate

This mint bar is a dark chocolate bar mixed with mint crystals. I opened up the wrapper and was pleased to see a very smart looking bar inside. My bar was broke (this was due to the journey it took in my rucksack) but the pieces were all embossed with Mackie’s letter and icons, and it looked quite posh. The aroma was amazing, really strong mint and cocoa and I couldn’t wait to give it a try.
The pieces snapped nicely and the flavour was quite strong of dark chocolate, but as you chewed the sweeter tones comes through as did a lovely rush of mint. The chocolate wasn’t too thick when it melted, but it did coat the tongue nicely. I would certainly look for other flavours from them as this bar was a hit.
It turns out Mackie’s are good at whatever they put their mind to be it haggis crisps or Mint 70% Cocoa Chocolate bars.

16 March 2020

Rolo Muffin (Costa) By @Cinabar

Rolo Muffin (Costa)

Thankfully there were two of these Rolo Muffins left in Costa when I went to make my order which meant I got to avoid any awkward questions about who got the last Rolo (Muffin). Thankfully it was me. Costa has teamed up with Rolo to release this new Spring edition to its menu. I do like caramel and chocolate muffins so I was rather looking forward to having this with my latte.
The Rolo Muffin has three mini Rolos on the top, sitting is a butterscotch flavoured caramel. I picked these off to start with and they were really good. The sauce on top was really tasty, the flavour was very rich and full on caramel. This for me was the best part of the muffin. The chocolate sponge was good too, and I ripped the muffin in half to look at the caramel sauce inside. Mine had a bit of a stingy portion, and the flavour of this caramel was more buttery and sweet, but I much preferred the topping to this bit in the middle.
This Rolo Muffin was good, I liked the link up between the two brands and I would I try it again. I wouldn’t fight to have the last one though, I’d be equally as happy with one of Costa’s salted caramel muffins to be fair. For me I just didn’t think there was enough caramel filling in the middle of my Rolo Muffin.

Rolo Muffin (Costa)

15 March 2020

Cheap Beers! Not just for men with beards. (@NLi10)

I'm enjoying my re-discovery of the world of beer.  I'd not really drunk it since uni and finding nice ones now my 40 year old taste buds have all died is quite fun.  England doesn't really understand the smoothness that I love, but there are a few to try still.


These are non-alcohol beers.  The left one was a bit too sharp. The right one was nicer.  Neither had any issues with not having the alcohol - it was more that they just aren't in the right part of the beer spectrum for me. Nice glasses too.


This was the cheapest beer in Asda that I liked the look of. Under £1!


Feldschlossen sounds like it should be getting sloshed in a field.  It isn't (it's small castle in the fields), but it's still suitably German enough that I'm probably going to have fun.


Made in France though - which is a bit confusing.  Apparently they are now owned by Carlsberg which is more disappointment.   But it's actually alright.  It's not Leffe, but it's certainly not English Pub Swill either.  One for the budget conscious days then, or for saving for with a strong curry.

14 March 2020

Raspberry Sour (Harbour Brewing Company) By @SpectreUK

Raspberry Sour (Harbour Brewing Company)


I'm often feeling a little lazy when I write a beer review. It's on these lazy occasions that I pick a beer from my cavernous beer fridge that has more of an explanation on the label. A label can often talk about the background of the beer, the brewery, the different malts and hops used in the brewing and any extra twists. Sometimes I find a beer that's worked it's way somehow to the front of the fridge that doesn't particularly have much information on the label at all. This Raspberry Sour is one of those beers. It only really tells me that raspberries were used in the brewing. It doesn't really say much else asides that it's 4.8% volume and that it's been produced by the Harbour Brewing Company in Bodmin, in North Cornwall. So I figured I may still be lazy and just open the 330ml bottle and see what it tastes like…

I remember in the past the sour beers I have had were pretty sour. Sour beers are intentionally acidic, with a tart sour flavour to make your toes curl as you drink them. On opening this Raspberry Sour it certainly had the "Wow!" factor of sour aromas. The beer was very acidic in smell to start with and then there were plenty of raspberries with their flick-knives out at the back of the aroma. This beer also has Lactobacillus in the ingredients beerandbrewing.com tells me that "Lactobacillus is one of the most common and most feared beer spoilage microorganisms. It belongs to the group of lactic acid bacteria." It's often used in yoghurts.

On pouring this deep red coloured wheat and malted barley beer, the colour reminded me of some horror movie I'd seen in the past at some point or other. I was beginning to wish I'd tried this beer around Halloween time. This Raspberry Sour beer is indeed face twistingly toe curlingly sour. There is almost a wheat and hint of sweet malted barley to start with which gets quickly overshadowed by the sourness from the raspberries and the extra special kick from the Lactobacillus. Wow, if you want an afternoon kick up the bum of a waker-upper brew than this is for you. Just don't drink it late at night, you may stay awake from the super sour flavour or at least have sour dreams of red beer that goes bump in the night!

13 March 2020

Kit Kat - Gold (Co-Op) By @Cinabar


This Kit Kat has been a hard one to track down, I have searched around several different branches of the Co-Op for this and it has taken me until now to find it. The idea is that it is a Gold edition Kit Kat and it sounded in theory what a lot like the old Caramac Kit Kat used to be like. I was so pleased when I went back to my local shop and found it, at the back of the shelf, the last couple of these in a box. Like finding gold, pun intended.
First thing to note was my inner child was really hoping for some edible gold leaf or glitter here, something that matched that shiny packaging. There wasn’t any there was just a two tone Kit Kat with a milk chocolate base and a beige colour top.
Inside the Kit Kat are the usual crunchy wafers, I’m always a fan of Kit Kat because of their textures and this Kit Kat Gold bar was no exception to that. The flavour was mostly of milk chocolate but with a nice caramel flavour twist. It was a little sweeter and a litter creamier than a regular Kit Kat, and it was tasty.
After all the searching for it I realised it wasn't all that exciting. It works, who doesn’t like chocolate, wafer and caramel, but it isn’t as full flavoured as the Caramac bar used to be, and it isn’t as pretty as it could have been either. Nice enough to try but quite happy to pop it in the category of decent bar but not one that will have the same nostalgia of the Caramac flavour.