Honey Barbecue Multigrain Snack (Marks & Spencers) By @SpectreUK

Popping into motorway services on the way back from a Comic Con the other day, I saw these Honey Barbecue Multigrain Snacks in a service station. Produced for Marks & Spencer's, they were made with maize, rice, chickpeas and oats. This calls for an alternative snack blog, as opposed to the usual potato crisps.

There was a fetching wave effect on these Honey Barbecue Multigrain Snacks, which caught my eye in the store. I like it when you can see your snack when you buy it, rather than a covered over packet. There was something about that look of thick wavy orange paprika dusted multigrain crisps that made my mouth water.

On opening the bag there was a spicy paprika and smoky smell, as well as strong multigrain from the orange thick crisps inside. On first crunch these Honey Barbecue Multigrain Snacks had a sweet barbecue flavour, with a hint of spices from the cumin, chilli peppers and paprika, as well as a little garlic, onion and tomato. Moreish to an extreme these crunch wavy crisps disappeared pretty quickly I can tell you.

Information on the bag; The 60g bag contained 477 calories per 100g, with 23.3g of fat, 8.4g of sugar, 6.1g of protein, and 2.08g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smokey Bacon Flavour (Iceland) By @Cinabar

Heinz has been bringing out quite a lot of new sauces recently, but mostly they have been flavoured mayonnaises. We had Heinz MayoMust, which is mayonnaise with mustard. That was nice on ham sandwiches, but not something I went out to buy a second bottle of. Ketchup is their classic product, so I’m rather hoping that this Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smokey Bacon Flavour works well. This is a sauce that I hope when I taste it I think I hope this hangs around on the shelves.

Tonight for our dinner, we have Southern Fried Chicken and chips, the homemade kind rather than the takeaway kind. With this, we would normally have a spicy sauce to dip in, but I was looking forward to trying this as an alternative. The flavour worked really well with this meal. The ketchup is sweet with the tomatoes, but the smoky taste just works so nicely with it. There is a meatiness too, and I found myself making sure I got every last drop with my last chip. I hadn’t expected to love this as much as I did, but I’m so glad it worked as well as it did. This Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smokey Bacon Flavour is one that I want to buy again, and I will be going back for another bottle. 

Barratt Flumps Cupcakes (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

We went to the supermarket to do a bit of a top-up shop after a very busy weekend out and about at a Comic Con. Right by the door was a stand with these brightly coloured Barratt Flumps Cupcakes; they were our first purchase. We had gone in for bread, milk, and other essentials, but these looked perfect for a treat on a long weekend. 

The cupcakes look very pretty; they are based on the colourful marshmallows that I have with hot chocolate, and sometimes just straight from the bag. They have done a nice job on the topping by mimicking the colour of the sweets.

I gave the cupcake a try, and it was very tasty. It reminded me of birthday cake. The base sponge is light and fluffy, with lots of vanilla running through it. The topping is also sweet and vanilla, and it is soft and moist. The combination is a lovely, colourful treat. The topping is supposed to be marshmallow flavour, but despite eating Barratt Flumps sweets a lot, I think they are just vanilla, so in that respect, they nailed it. The cupcake is mostly about the eye catching buttercream on top, and the flavour is just an easy-going sweet treat. I’d still buy these Barratt Flumps Cupcakes again, as they were lovely as an afternoon sweet treat.

Porthleven Food Festival - Summer Berry Filled Churro & Brazilian Picana Sandwich [@NLi10]

 While in Cornwall for the week a local streamer gave me the top tip of visiting the Porthleven Food Festival.  We tend to avoid these things locally as it's usually the same people each time (much as I love the Fuffle Man), but here it's a whole new selection of Indy food makers!

Having been to Porthleven before I knew the layout and that there are lots of cool arty shops anyway, so we popped over.

There was music and drinking for the locals too!

I chose a Brazilian Picana Steak Sandwich for my lunch.  

Lovely and crispy with deep flavours and filled with lots of excitement.  This ordinarily would have been a highlight of the day.

My partner had a Buddha bowl which I'd almost been tempted by too - great variety here too - hard to make things like this at home without having loads of left-overs.

I'd already spotted this on lap one - the recon - and decided it was to be my pudding of choice.  And I went for the Summer Berry Filled Churro

Turns out I was the first to order this new item - and the guy behind me in the queue ordered the second!

It's a complicated mix of dried fruit and sugar on the outside, and a strawberry & vanilla creme on the inside - and it's amazing!

Like all filled Churro the second half is always a mess as it creeps out of the sides and the sugar starts to fall off and get everywhere. I managed to eat it all before the park & ride bus arrived to take us back to the car - so it wasn't too messy.

Overall a massive hit - and banana split style with ice-cream would easily be a restaurant grade pudding.

Well worth the trip out, and decent value for money too - I'd certainly go again.

Original Stormtrooper Goon Squad West Coast IPA By @SpectreUK

May the fourth be with you.

It's Star Wars Day today. If you're not a fan or if you haven't seen any of the movies or the new Disney series of various characters from various times between the movies doing various things, you may be missing out. If you don't like SciFi at all, you still might like this beer. If you don't like beer, hopefully my writing may help to distract you from your daily grind.

Whether you consider yourself a goody-two-shoes Jedi or a baddass Sith Lord, the little green fella in charge of everything nice, Yoda says; " For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." So, if you understood that, Jedis are the shiny ones, and Sith prefer dark colours and particularly red.

This Goon Squad West Coast IPA is 5.5% in volume. It has a Stormtrooper in disguise on the front. He must be trying to blend in with the good guys. Typically a West Coast India Pale Ale will have citrus and tropical fruity bitterness, perhaps with a hint of pine and then sweet malts. Goon Squad should live up to that nicely, and if I drink enough of it, I might get a red nose too.

On opening the Goon Squad can there was a tropical fruity citrus hops aroma, with a woody note, and also malts in the background. On taste this bright golden West Coast IPA did pretty much what it said on the can. Okay, so there weren't any Stormtroopers in disguise with red noses, but there were cutting citrus and tropical hops to begin with, followed by more than a hint of pine, and then the sweet pale malts to finish. Very tasty indeed. It washed down my pork chops a treat.

English Cheesecake Company Billionaires Milk Chocolate Cheesecake Pot (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

I think I’m starting a new thing, and that is that on Fridays we have dessert. It might just be something picked up from the supermarket as a quick treat, but there is still a good selection of interesting goodies. I don’t think I’ve seen the brand The English Cheesecake Company before, so I thought I would give them a go. I looked at the flavours, and this Billionaires Milk Chocolate Cheesecake Pot appealed the most. They sound lovely, and I couldn’t resist the crackable lid.

I opened up the box and thought that the packaging was cute. There are little messages on the box, which is a sweet touch.

Inside the pack are plastic pots with plastic peel lids. The dessert looks nice, though, and has a thin but solid chocolate across the top. I used my spoon to crack the chocolate and give it a try. The flavours are really rich and delicious. The chocolate is nice and sweet; there is lots of caramel running through it and a nice bit of texture. The cheesecake layer is just right, creamy but with that distinctive cheesecake taste. My only criticism of the whole thing was that there wasn’t enough biscuit base; that might just be me, as I like that layer, and it is a small thing. Overall, I really enjoyed this English Cheesecake Company Billionaires Milk Chocolate Cheesecake Pot.

Walkers MAX Extra Flamin' Hot Ridged 'Fuego' Crisps [@NLi10]

 I'm not entirely sure if these are based on the American Cheetos 'Flamin Hot' or not.  They have Wotsits in the range which are a better version of the same shape crisp - but then the branding here is blatantly ripping off Takis Fuego.

I'm not used to Walkers being the imitator and not the leader in the Crisp Aisle - I guess they just got overtaken at some point.

For £1.25 you get 70g of Crisps - made with real potato too - so from a value perspective these are doing OK

And the bag is filled with magic gas to protect the cargo so you get a decent amount of whole crisps.  the colour hints at magical spices, and the smell is pretty good.

The ridges are good too - holding in the flavour dust.

Unfortunately that flavour is just boring!

Yeah - it's hot - but the flavour is flat as a pancake, with none of the lovely lime depth of the Takis Feugo, or Cofresh spicy good-times.  These are the whitest of white - hot for hot's sake kind of spice.  If it was a sauce you'd mix it with something else to desperately try to get it to excite anything.

It's like a focus group wanted an inoffensive but very hot crisp. If that's your bag then I'd get them quick - these are not going to be around in a year or so - there are already much more exciting options on the market.

McVitie’s Gold Billions Wafer (WH Smiths) By @SpectreUK

I fancy a treat tonight. My favourite comfort food is some sort of white chocolate bar with a white hot chocolate. This McVitie's Gold Billions Wafer is a "cream filled wafer bar with milk chocolate and white chocolate and caramel flavoured coating". Now that does sound like a proper treat.

White hot chocolate at the ready, as you can see from the photograph, McVitie's Gold Billions Wafer had a white caramel chocolate topping, with a milk chocolate bottom. The wafer on the inside had a creamy centre.

This was a luxuriously complex chocolate wafer bar. Crunchy to start with to get through the fairly thick chocolate coating, and the inner wafers, the creaminess made this a melt in the mouth sweet chocolate creamy caramel treat. It went perfectly with my white hot chocolate and the last of my Cadbury's White Chocolate Creme Eggs. Yum.

On opening the wrapper

Information on the wrapper; The 39g bar had 547 calories per 100g, with 32g of fat, 56.6g of sugar, and 0.38g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Gu Cheesecake Black Forest (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

My favourite cake is Black Forest Gateau, I think because of the nostalgia. The foods you like are based on nostalgia and memory, which is why many people’s favourite chocolate is the one they remember from childhood. I remember this cake from childhood, and I love the combination of chocolate, cherries, and cream. I know it is a bit retro, but I'm a big fan of everything 1980s-themed. When I saw there was a new Gu Cheesecake Black Forest, I knew it was something I had to pick up. 

 

Inside the box are the usual foil-topped glass ramekins. I pulled back the lid and found that the dessert looked quite dark. I scooped some onto a spoon and could see the layers more clearly. I gave it a try, and it was a proper blast of the comforting Black Forest Gateau flavours. The cherries were sweet and strong; there was plenty of chocolate; and the cheesecake element added the creamy balance that recreated the flavour. The texture is quite limited in that all the layers are soft, the base if a little former but there is no crunch and no juicy cherries, which is a shame but I still liked the taste so very much. The combination is a classic, and the different elements are well balanced. This Gu Cheesecake Black Forest is an absolute delight.

What is your favourite cake from childhood? 

Taste The Difference Banoffee Pie Inspired Yoghurts (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

I wanted a bit of a treat this lunchtime. I usually have a low-fat yoghurt, but today I picked up a fun-sounding Banoffee Pie Inspired Yoghurt, from the Taste The Difference range at Sainsburys. There are two in the pack, and they are a little more expensive than my usual six packs of fruit flavours, but they are a bit of a treat.

Inside the pack is quite a plain-looking dark cream yoghurt, with biscuit bits mixed in. I gave it a try, and it may not look exciting, but the flavour really was. It was a rich, sweet toffee-flavoured yoghurt with a creamy, sweet banana taste running through it, a complete delight. There is also a lovely creaminess too, and the yoghurt is thick and luxurious. The biscuit bits are soft as they have been in the yoghurt, but they do still add a little texture and a nice richness to the flavour. My conclusion is that yoghurts usually come in six packs, and there are seven days in the week, so every other week I might add a nice pack of treat yoghurts in twin pots to enjoy. These Taste The Difference Banoffee Pie Inspired Yoghurts are so nice, I can't wait to have them again and see what other interesting flavours are available. 

Italiamo - Farfalle al limone - pasta with lemon (Lidl) [@NLi10]

 Occasionally we pick up the expensive Italian pasta from farm shops, and italian delis - and sometimes we pick them up from Lidl!

They have good contacts in Europe so we get good quality random euro products for budget prices - and that's what we have here!

And while it's not quite the peak quality stuff, it's certainly better than your normal pasta - and the lemon flavour is more of a gentle hint than I'd hoped.  This coupled with the other strong Italian flavours of olives and pesto though creates a lovely little lunch and is well worth hoping they still have some left of next time round.

Peroni Gran Riserva Doppio Malto (Asda) By @SpectreUK

This Peroni Gran Riserva Doppio Malto sounds and looks really impressive in it's smart labelled bottle. I'm suspecting Birra Peroni weren't expecting a bottle of this beer to be washing down ham, fried egg, and chips, but that's what I have for dinner tonight. At 6.6% in volume, from the Doppio Malto title, I'm also suspecting that this beer is plentiful with malted barley.

On serving up my dinner and pouring the bottle into my waiting beer mug, there was indeed a good malted barley aroma to this bubbly beer. Strong and sweet in malted barley with an alcoholic kick to boot, herbal hops provided lively bitterness towards the aftertaste. And what a taste. Gosh, this Peroni Gran Riserva Doppio Malto lived up to the smart labelled bottle it was presented in. Maybe I'll have it with a tomato pasta dish with some cheesy garlic bread on the side next time. Those strong sweet malts and hops will complement those flavours very nicely indeed.

Cream Filled Caramelised Biscuit Yumnuts (Marks and Spencer) By @Cinabar

We have new naughty desserts at Marks and Spencer. What better way to start the weekend is there than with these Cream Filled Caramelised Biscuit Yumnuts. Oh my, have you seen how amazing these look?

Firstly, let me start with a bit of history. First,  we had the cronut. Which is a doughnut mixed with a croissant, hence the name cronut. Marks and Spencer then launched the Yumnut, which I think is just a doughnut made with pastry and yummier. I’m not sure it matters. Eyes were placed on them to create the Omball-icious Yumnut. The next level is the versions they have just launched with a whipped cream filling, where the Yumnut is now combined with caramelised biscuits, and rather than trying to change the name again to something like Carambiscyumnut, the packet is just a bit more descriptive. I think we are all relieved. There are two in the box, and they look like a proper indulgent treat.

I went to take these Cream Filled Caramelised Biscuit Yumnuts out of the box and realised that even this isn’t as simple as it sounds, they are dripping in caramel sauce and oozing with cream. It was not a bad thing, but it meant these are the sort of cakes you eat on a plate with cutlery. Oh my, they are such an amazing treat. There is whipped cream and caramel for a proper flavour overload. The pastry (dough) is lovely and soft, and the spiced biscuit and cream taste shines though. Every mouthful is an absolute delight, and I can’t recommend them enough. They are seriously delicious, indulgent, and sticky, but wow, they really are the best way to start the weekend. 

Cathedral City - Hot Cheesy Bites (Iceland) [@NLi10]

 Iceland have done it again - make an oven ready version/range of something you recognise!

This time it's those big blocks of cheese.

Cathedral City is an acceptable brand to bring home as long as I don't accidentally pick Mild.

This is extra mature so a safe bet.  Easy enough to cook.

And there's only twelve so might as well do them all!

As a 'side' with a veggie curry for my partner and her sister they seemed to do well and worked like a very white version of paneer.  They did indeed get through all 12 with no issues and said that they were very good and suitably cheesy.  I have been asked to get more - so if they still exist (the downside to Iceland) then I'm sure we will have these as a replacement to the Chiquito's halloumi cubes that seem to have vanished again.

Hunky Dory’s Crinkle Cut Buffalo Flavour Potato Crisps (Iceland) By @SpectreUK

I do love beef flavoured potato crisps, especially with a beef sandwich. I reckon beef is pretty much my favourite flavour, well, after ready salted, and salt and vinegar crisps. I find they go the next best washed down with a pint of ale. Although, beef and steak flavoured crisps do go well with a pint of beer also. These Hunky Dory's Crinkle Cut Buffalo Flavour Potato Crisps sound like they would go well with a decent pint too.

One smell of these orange coloured crinkle cut crisps on opening the packet, and I immediately thought: Beef Jerky. My second thought weirdly was: crisp sandwich. Once in, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So, I buttered a couple of pieces of bread, took one crisp to confirm their smoky sweet beef jerky flavour, and dumped the rest of the packet into my sandwich. I haven't had a crisp for a while, and as a filing, these Hunky Dory's Crinkle Cut Buffalo Flavour Potato Crisps certainly didn't disappoint. Gorgeous.

Information on the packet; The 25g bag contained 134 calories, with 8.5g of fat, 0.8g of sugar, and 0.3g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Cadbury Dairy Milk & More - Caramel Nut Crunch (Iceland) By @Cinabar

We have a newly released bar from Cadbury, and it is a UK edition too. This bar is from a new range called ‘& more', which is Diary Milk with extra chocolate. This particular edition is Cadbury Dairy Milk & More Caramel Nut Crunch. 

The bar is made with milk chocolate, a layer of gooey caramel, a layer of toffee, and a layer of chopped hazelnuts. The bar is big too; it is thick, and the pieces look big. 

I gave one a try, and firstly, I loved the different textures. I find that mix of softness and then crunch from the nuts very satisfying. The flavour is good too, but you need to be like me with a sweet together, the sweet Dairy Milk, and sugary toffee, and then a layer of caramel too. It is an indulgent treat. The nuts do bring a bit of a change to the flavour, and of course, they are crunchy, but ultimately, this is a yummy, sweet bar. I love nuts and chocolate, but I think I’d have preferred a few more nuts in there to add to the taste. I managed to eat a row of this Cadbury Dairy Milk & More Caramel Nut Crunch chocolate and then paused for a bit as it is rather a sweet delight. 

Tango Mango Editions (Iceland) By @Cinabar

Just because it rhymes, I think they should have made this ages ago. For the warmer weather, we have Mango Tango, which is surprisingly pleasant to say. It is also very summery-sounding, with thoughts of tropical weather and holidays. I will add that this is a sugar-free edition; these are becoming more popular, but I know some people are completely put off drinks that are made with artificial sweeteners and not proper sugar. I don’t mind either.

I poured the drink into a glass, and it was nice and fizzy, and well as a dark orange colour. The flavour was lovely; it was sweet and fruity and had just a touch of a sharp tang. It was the sort of sweet-tasting drink that was easy to guzzle. I think if it was a hot day, a can of this straight from the fridge would be the perfect accompaniment. 

Also, did I mention that the name Mango Tango rhymes, so it was obviously meant to be. 

Seriously Spooky Ghosts - Kitkat Sweet Potato (Korean) [@NLi10]

 Happy Halloween leftovers!  Spotted these in the Korean grocery shop, but obviously left over from Trick-Or-Treat.  They'd not been discounted but need to be eaten pretty fast.

The theming and bag is top notch - it even folds out to make a pumpkin display (if you can be bothered to colour it in)

As usual these are made in the one special KitKat factory in Japan they opened for all the weird flavours - and is just a specific regional variation.

Super packaging - all the same flavour though.

And that flavour is white chocolate kitkat.  Seriously - If I gave this to someone and said 'what does it taste of' then the answer would be white chocolate. 

No wonder then that at £5 a bag they had quite a few left.  Not disappointing - as these are still crunchy and taste great, but I think I paid a lot more just to recycle some spooky packaging in April.  Ah well.

Kona Longboard Island Lager (M&S) By @SpectreUK

This Longboard Island Lager has a surfing theme on the can. I tried surfing once in the south of France when I was about nine years old. I borrowed a short foam board and waded out for quite a way. I tried to surf, but I couldn't stand up, and the waves weren't particularly strong. I waded a little further and I saw a sign that stated; "Swimmers Beware, Blue Sharks in these waters". So, I waded all the back to the shore, and I decided surfing was for other people.

This lager should go well with my Lamb curry and chips takeaway tonight. This Longboard Island Lager was brewed by Kona Brewing Company, in Hawaii. It's pretty well travelled indeed, and at 4.6% in volume it will help with all the spices from my curry.

On opening this can there was a light herbal hop and wheat aroma. Not too bubbly, this Longboard Island Lager had a decent fizz on pouring. So, that shouldn't make me burp up all those spices over Cinabar after eating. This bright golden lager shone like the sun on a kissed Hawaiian beach. Not that I know from experience, I'm afraid, but I did watch Magnum when I was a lad.

On taste there was a sharp refreshing herbal hop bite followed by smooth malted barley and then sweet wheat into the aftertaste. Perfect for a sunny day, like this afternoon, Longboard Island Lager would be welcome anywhere where there is a bit of brightness poking through the clouds, and a good amount of spice to any meal. Cheers.

Coca-Cola Lemon Zero Sugar (Ocado) By @Cinabar

My mind is playing tricks on me. I'm sure this isn’t the first time I’ve had lemon cola. The thing is, this little blog on new products has been going on for more than ten years, and I searched my previous posts and couldn’t find any. There were a few citrus flavours, even a clementine, but no actual lemon. These tastes feel like they should go together well. 

Another important note is that this new flavour is one made with sweeteners, which I know will immediately put many people off. I don’t mind full-sugar or sugar-free drinks; I’m not too fussy. 

The launch drink, Coca-Cola Lemon Zero Sugar, is a lovely bright can, and I decided to have one with my dinner this evening. The drink is the usual colour and has the usual strong fizz. The taste is good; there is some zingy lemon, but the taste softens to a sweeter version, and then the cola taste washes over, leaving a citrus tingle. This does work; it is refreshing, like a strong cola with a lemon slice. I really liked it. I don’t know why they haven’t done it before, but I’m rather pleased they did, and I hope they keep it on the shelves. 

White Choc & Rasp Granola - Sainsbury's Free From Range [@NLi10]

 I had a look for a new exciting cereal, and unexpectedly found one in the 'free from' section.

My main issue with granola is that it tends to be a bit heavy for breakfast, but I wondered if this would work out as a slightly lighter alternative.

It's basically just normal granola which has been made in a gluten free environment.

Milk free white chocolate alternative is the only real concern - plus the fact that the choc looks like it's melted into huge lumps.

Quite pretty, but but has resulted in clumping - lets see what it's like.

Sticking to the dairy free theme I've gone with Oat Milk as my Alt Milk (I get whichever is cheapest usually) and it worked pretty well.  

The grain bits have crunch, there is a decent variety in them too. The choc stuff is actually a highlight - the not-milk helps it blend in with the rest.  There isn't much of the red fruit bits - but what is there is good quality and strong tasting.

With a handful of blueberries or something to balance the lack of fruit bits then this would be perfect.

I think I can eat this happily on relaxed weekend mornings but I do love a larger bowl of cereal on a week day so see how it goes.