31 October 2021
2KG of Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cornflakes (@NLi10)
30 October 2021
Oskar Blues - Death by Flapjack Beer (@WeeBeerShop) By @SpectreUK
At 6.5% in volume, Death by Flapjack is in a fairly hefty 355ml can. Almost black in colour the sweet spiced aroma of maple syrup hit me straight away on opening the can. I could probably smell this ale all day if it wasn't for the fact that I immediately wanted to drink it.
On taste Death by Flapjack smells so silky sweet and smooth that the flavour transcends from that sweet aroma. All the flavours listed are perfectly merged together from the get-go. With the sweet maple syrup overlapping the roasted chocolate malts, mixing with the vanilla, spiced nutmeg, creamy milkiness and a touch of citrus bitterness from the hops and added lemon peel into the aftertaste. This ale is a moreish sumptuous treat indeed. Gosh this ale is a good way to go if ever there was one!
Happy Halloween!
29 October 2021
Cookies and Scream S’mores Brownie (Marks and Spencer) By @Cinabar
I unpacked the Brownie and noted it was topped with fluffy mallows, cookie bits and decorations. After it came out of the oven the marshmallows melted and did the proper American “S’mores’” thing and went crispy too. It was a little gooey and messy to serve so we ended up sharing it and having it in bowls, with spoons. So posh lol.
Oh my this is sweet and and rich and gooey and a complete treat. I love the variation in texture from the brownie, the melted mallows and the crunchy cookie on top, it worked like a dream. There was chocolate flavours and sugary goodness. The whole thing was very sweet. I have a sweet tooth so all was good.
This Cookies and Scream S’mores Brownie is a fun themed food and it is a bit of treat, perfect for a Halloween night in.
28 October 2021
Jus-Rol Garlic & Herb Tear & Share really needs better instructions... (@NLi10)
Many months ago we did a series of reviews for the Jus-Rol recipe products. I had great fun making things on Sunday mornings - just some sweet pastries without all the faff of making the pastry. As I was very familiar with the items themselves it wasn't a problem to navigate the bad instructions.
27 October 2021
Voodoo Ranger Beer (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK
I say 'Troubled' because I'm new and I still don't really know what I'm doing. I'm getting half lessons on things and cryptic messages on others. Half of the things I'm doing I'm playing by ear, so I feel like a ranger in my own living room right now working my way through admin work like an undead zombie. So this Voodoo Ranger beer seems quite apt at the moment. I have a three month contract. I get the feeling I may know more about what I'm doing at the end of the three months, but as they say in war… "It'll be all over by Christmas!"
On opening the can Voodoo Ranger leapt unexpectedly out at me like a zombie hungering for brains. This excitable India Pale Ale ended up partly in my mouth and partly all over my hand. Strong sweet pale malts with herbal hops assaulted my nostrils as I poured out the pale murky golden contents of the can. On taste this Voodoo Ranger has a bite of herbal hops like a zombie wearing a cowboy hat, quickly followed by those sumptuous sweet pale malts into the aftertaste.
Have a good evening… "Bwuh hah hah haaaa!"
26 October 2021
Horror Shock Corn Bar (Marks and Spencer) By @Cinabar
The bar is quite thick and difficult to break pieces off, trying to break it into equal pieces might be an impossible task but we still managed to split it for sharing. I gave a piece a try and it is such a fun bar to eat. The popcorn bits are huge and have a sugar coating, the coloured chocolate areas are sweet and creamy, and the candied chocolates add further crunch. The white chocolate eyes are gorgeous and the only disappointing thing about the whole bar was that there was only three eyes on it. I mean surely they should at least come in pairs!
This Horror Shock Corn Bar is one of those novelty products that manages to tick all the boxes, fun, well themed and seriously tasty. If you are staying in to watch Halloween films this popcorn bar is the perfect sweet and tasty treat. Don’t forget to pluck the eyes off though to make sure they aren’t watching you.
25 October 2021
Thornton’s Toffee Apple Caramel Shortcake Bites (Tesco) By @Cinabar
I opened up the pack and felt that the bites looked very spaced out, there were plastic fillers on the second row to space them out. I thought they had removed a bite so I went back to have a look at last year’s version of Thorntons Spooky Caramel Shortcake Bites, there were 10 last year and this year there are 8. They didn’t remove one they removed two. Meh.
That aside, I gave one the Thornton’s Toffee Apple Caramel Shortcake Bites a try. I was impressed with the apple flavour, it was a little tart but balanced perfectly with the rich caramel taste. The texture is fun too, chocolate, soft caramel and a crunchy base. These are perfect for Halloween and Bonfire treats, it is just a shame they reduced the number in the pack, part of me wished I hadn’t looked at the previous version. Taking two out just seems like quite a cut back, well it is 20% reduction.
24 October 2021
Passion Fruit Jaffa & Cherry Dodgers - same snack, different flavour (@NLi10)
23 October 2021
Carve ‘N Yams Pumpkin Coffee Porter (@WeeBeerShop) By @SpectreUK
It's Halloween! I love the Halloween season for beers and snacks and spooky happiness. It's part of the reason why I'm called Spectre. And with this season of screams and chills I do love pumpkin flavoured beers and food. It seems to be the only time of year we get anything flavoured with pumpkin, which seems a shame to me. Cinabar has looked high and low for a pumpkin beer for me this year. Brewers either don't seem to be brewing with pumpkins or have run out of stock.
The Wee Beer Shop imports and finds interesting beers. This Carve 'N Yams Pumpkin Coffee Porter was produced by Elusive Brewing, and is marketed as being a pumpkin pie flavoured Porter. At 5.2% in volume it contains the usual water, barley, hops and yeast, but doesn't mention which ones on the can. It also contains pumpkin, Hasbean coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. It sounds like a group of quite complex flavours for a beer. I have a bad feeling the coffee might overbear the lot! So I'll see what it tastes like…
On opening the can there was a deep rich coffee aroma that was full of spices. This almost black in colour Carve 'N Yams Pumpkin Coffee Porter has a rich dark chocolate malt flavour to begin with, merging with roasted coffee and all the spices of nutmeg, and fiery cinnamon and ginger, and a touch of cloves. What I couldn't note strongly in the flavour was the pumpkin.
This beer to me was reminiscent of the traditional German game of 'hide the sausage'. By eating it, of course, I don't know where your minds are these days! In this beer the brewers hid the pumpkin a little too well for my liking. I loved the combined flavours, but what I predominantly wanted was a pumpkin beer. Sadly this chocolate malt and spicy roasted coffee Porter didn't deliver that pumpkin in the flavour for me. It was really tasty and went very well together with my accompanying fig biscuits, but alas no pumpkins were harmed in the writing of this blog.
22 October 2021
Bubbly Boo Chocolate Ghost (Marks and Spencer) By @Cinabar
Inside the wrapper is a very cute looking Bubbly Boo Chocolate Ghost, I think he was made to look like he was about to scream, was this to be scary or because of his impending doom, I think it might be the latter. I took a bite off his head, it had to be done. The milk chocolate is bubbly and I love that as a texture, it feels solid but still gives when you bite it. The chocolate is sweet and creamy and decent quality too. All in all a lovely Halloween treat but it was gone far too quickly.
21 October 2021
Jarritos pop/cola & Mexican food (@NLi10)
There's a pretty new Mexican place that's opened within walking distance of my house. Run by a Mexican family and visited by lots of people familiar with the area, it's this odd little cultural oasis in our very Asian neighbourhood. And I love it.
They also import (or aquire from people that do) genuine Mexican snacks & drinks to go with their ingredients so I can work through the Jarritos rainbow one bottle at a time.
20 October 2021
Galaxy Fusions Blonde Chocolate with Sea Salt (Ocado) By @SpectreUK
As you can see from the photograph the solid caramel coloured bar looks rather smart. On taste there was a white creamy and sweet caramel chocolate taste to start with. This creaminess just keeps on giving and then there was quite a sharp saltiness into the aftertaste. I found this Galaxy Fusions Blonde Chocolate with Sea Salt very tasty indeed. Although it was pretty strong on the sea salt in the aftertaste, which didn't complement my white hot chocolate drink or vanilla ice cream so well.
Information on the outer card; This 35g bar has 193 calories, with 12g of fat, 18g of sugar, and 0.23g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.
19 October 2021
Joe & Seph’s Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Popcorn (Ocado) By @cinabar
So the popcorn is quite expensive I know we don’t spend a lot of time on this blog talking about costs but this was £3 for a small bag so it is more stocking filler than self indulgence but I admit I went for the latter. The popcorn are nice big fluffy pieces all with plenty of coating. The flavour is superb, there is toffee and apple but impressively it isn’t too sweet, and the apple gives a nice sharper edge. The aftertaste is where the cinnamon hits and it leaves each bite with a warming feeling, and brings balance to the toffee apple. I know Joe & Seph’s Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Popcorn isn’t a cheap bag of popcorn but it was rather good and one I’ll pick up again, not to gift though, I’m too greedy so it would be just as a bit of treat. I’m totally onboard with cinnamon season, if you see any new products using the wonder spice let me know!
18 October 2021
Mince Pie Hot Chocolate (Hotel Chocolat) By @cinabar
I opened up the bag and oh my word the aroma was next level, it was so strong and spiced and chocolatey it was amazing. The scent was warming and smelled like Christmas. I added 6 teaspoons of the chocolate flakes to milk and heated it up. Again it smelled lovely while it was being heated. I took a sip and somehow realised that Hotel Chocolat had put all the flavours of Christmas into a drink and I couldn’t stop myself smiling. There was plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg, but also a fruitiness and touch of brandy flavour. Wow, this is like the poshest mince pie flavour mixed with chocolate. It is genius, I loved every sip of it. This Hotel Chocolat Mince Pie Hot Chocolate does what it says on the bag in the most amazing way, they nailed it and I want more!
17 October 2021
Tagliatelle Carbonara for Lunch - but in a microwave?! Rana (@NLi10)
I like the Rana range so while in Sainsbury's I picked this one up to have while my partner was out. Upon closer inspection it isn't really an evening meal kit - it's a bung in the microwave for lunch kit.