Roosters Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA (Asda) IPA By @SpectreUK

We can't find a decent Chippy nearby. Our last Chip Shop changed the oil they use to a cheaper brand, which makes me ill. All the prices of fish and chips have been hiked up so much that they not worth the chance of being ill over. So, I have home cooked fish and chips tonight.

I do like a fruity India Pale Ale to wash my fish and chips down with. Rooster Brewing Company in Harrogate produced this Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA. To add more flavour it has pineapple and grapefruit zest and juice in the ingredients. At 6.4% in volume, tropical flavoured hop varieties of Admiral, Cascade, Summit, Centennial and Nelson Sauvin, as well as malted barley and wheat were added in the brewing.

On opening the can there was a strong smell of pineapple mixed with grapefruit, and tropical hops, with sweet pale malt behind it. In taste this was a very fruity tropical IPA. Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA was strong in both pineapple and grapefruit to begin with, followed by a crisp bitterness of tropical hops, and sweet pale malts to finish. This was a perfect beer with fish and chips for a totally tropical taste.

Pepsi Cream Soda (Ocado) By @Cinabar

This is one of the new summer flavours from Pepsi, and as we're (hopefully) about to get a bit of a mini heatwave, I thought I’d treat myself to a eight-pack and see if it brings on the summer vibe. I chilled it in the fridge for full refreshment. I also wanted to wait for the weather to warm up, it’s been pleasant, though not exactly hot yet. I gave in and cracked open a can anyway.

I gave the drink a sip and really liked the taste. The Pepsi cola is all there, but the creamy vanilla flavour smooths it out and makes it taste sweeter and creamier. Generally, I think cola and citrus are the best combo, but this worked better for me than I was expecting it to. It’s a really smooth, creamy drink, the vanilla and cola pair well.

I have to say, I’m really pleased I bought a multipack of these Pepsi Cream Soda cans. With its vanilla tone, I think this drink is going to be perfect for a coke float. I haven’t had one of those in years, but I’m now picturing a tall glass with this poured over a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. Roll on summer.

10 Chocolate Macarons - Lidl [@NLi10]

 I got a goodie bag from my parents for Easter (yes - I'm in my 40s) and inside there were these little chocolate macarons from Lidl.  Ss part of the Deluxe range I knew I was in for a treat.

I'd expected some meringue as part of these - but no - it's double chocolate and single fruit fillings.  Ace!

The dried raspberries are very me

The inside crème is also raspberry based - and the chocolate is most luxurious.

Like someone took chocolate buttons and made them OK for grownups to enjoy

The white/passion fruit ones were just as nice too - might have to make a trip to see if these made it into the sales...

Walkers Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce Flavour Potato Crisps (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I haven't had Worcester Sauce flavoured crisps for quite a while. Apparently Walkers stopped making them in 2023. So, I guess that's why. Other brands continued to make their own variety of Worcester Sauce flavour crisps, but Walkers upset quite a few fans by discontinuing their own.

Now, Walkers have brought out Walkers Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce Flavour Potato Crisps. Arguably the same flavour as their original Worcester Sauce flavour crisps, or slightly better. I don't know, personally. What I will say is that I really like them.

Just like Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce, they pretty much go with any lunch. I've tried these crisps with beef sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, and even tuna sandwiches. These Walkers Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce Flavour Potato Crisps taste great to me.

Information on the packet: The 25g bag contained 127 calories, with 7.3g of fat, 0.4g of sugar, and 0.17g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Dr Pepper Strawberries and Cream (Import Stall) By @Cinabar

We were recently at a comic con and starting to feel a bit thirsty. I went off to find the person I’d spotted earlier selling cans of pop so I could grab us a couple of drinks. When I reached his stall, I realised he had a whole selection of imported drinks I’d never seen before. I picked a couple to have there and saved this can of Dr Pepper Strawberries and Cream to try when I got home. I chilled it first, of course, because pop always tastes better cold.

The drink had a distinctively sweet Dr Pepper aroma, with a hint of extra fruitiness. I took a sip and was pleasantly surprised by the flavour. Dr Pepper already has that curious, spiced fruity cola taste, and the added strawberry really brought out the fruity notes. The cream part came through as a gentle vanilla, giving the drink a smooth finish that tied everything together. The strawberry flavour wasn’t overpowering and the balance worked well. You definitely need a sweet tooth for this, but that’s true of the original Dr Pepper too.

I’d happily buy it again, though since it came from a quirky import stall at a comic con, I doubt I’ll come across it easily again. Shame, really.

Lavender Velvet Latte (Starbucks) By @Cinabar

We stopped for coffee at the motorway services during the Easter break, and as usual, I went for whatever the current ‘special’ drink was. I have to admit I was a bit surprised they’d gone with a floral flavour, but I ended up ordering the Lavender Velvet Latte. I like lavender, it makes a lovely soap or bubble bath, but it’s not something I usually go for in food.

I watched as the barista made my drink. The base coffee had lavender and vanilla syrup, and there was more lavender in the cold foam on top. I’m not usually a fan of drinks with a cold foam topping, but they seem to be popular at Starbucks, and I wanted to try it as it was intended.

When it arrived, I took a little sip of the foam and could definitely taste the lavender. The topping was cooler, of course, but the flavour itself was delicate and thankfully not overpowering. Once I got to the main part of the drink, the flavour was stronger and sweeter. I know Parma Violets are technically violet and not lavender, but it still reminded me of them.

There was a smoothness to it, probably from the vanilla or the oat milk, that helped balance the floral notes. Overall, the Lavender Velvet Latte was okay. It’s not too garish or strong, but now that I’ve tried it, I think once was enough.

Hoppy Easter Krispy Kreme Marshmallow Bunny Doughnuts [@NLi10]

 We were in the supermarket looking for toddler snacks with friends when I spotted these exciting easter variations on Krispy Kreme's.  The one on the right is just a chocolate bunny but the one on the left is excitingly bowling ball themed!

Ah no - that's a bunny, and its filled with Mallow - perfect!

They seem quite innocent and happy on the plate

until they notice the knife anyway

Look at all that lovely fluffy mallow.  It's not as thick as I expected but does stick to the doughnut.  It's kind of like a tea-cake mixed with a doughnut though which works well.  As long as you like sugar.

We visited the Bear cafe in Evesham a few days later and they put a bear in my coffee - what is it with food and putting animals in it?!

Happy Easter to all.

Crème Imperial Stout (Vault City Brewing) By @SpectreUK

It's Easter tomorrow and I'm looking forward to tucking into some chocolate eggs. My favourite snack this time of year is the Cadbury Crème Egg. This Crème Imperial Stout should wash down my Cadbury Crème Egg pudding a treat.

Produced by Vault City Brewing, at 14% in volume, this Crème Imperial Stout will certainly pack a punch. Served in a 330ml can there were malted barley, wheat and hops in the ingredients, as well as brown sugar, cholaca (liquid cocoa), and vanilla.

The back of the can stated this Crème Imperial Stout has a velvet texture, with flavours of chocolate and vanilla, and with the gooey flavour of a Cadbury Crème Egg, mixed with the caramelised sweetness of an Imperial Dessert Stout.

On opening the can there was the familiar aroma of Cadbury Crème Egg, sugar sweetness, creamy vanilla, and malted chocolate. This black Imperial Stout oozed into my glass. On taste Crème Imperial Stout certainly had the wow factor.

There was thick heady chocolatey goodness to begin with, cushioned with creaminess of vanilla, the mildest touch of herbal hops, followed by luscious malted chocolate into the aftertaste. Gorgeous. Happy Easter.

Rowntree’s Jelly-Tastic Mini Egg Bar (Ocado) By @Cinabar

I don’t really understand this bar of chocolate. I broke a piece off a moment ago and I’m still chewing. You shouldn’t have to chew the contents of a milk chocolate bar, right?

Let’s rewind. Here we have the Rowntree’s Jelly-Tastic Mini Egg Bar. The “mini egg” part is presumably an Easter nod, but these aren’t chocolate mini eggs, they’re jelly sweets. As we’re in the Easter holidays, with the big day fast approaching, it seemed appropriate to try some seasonal chocolate.

On opening the wrapper, the bar looked appealing, each segment neatly embossed with a design. I couldn’t see the jelly bits at first, so I broke off a piece to investigate. The chocolate is crammed with jelly sweets, which meant it didn’t snap cleanly along the segments. It’s messy to share, but credit where it’s due: there’s plenty of content.

Taste-wise, the chocolate is sweet and enjoyable. The jelly pieces (presumably egg-shaped) are fruity and pack a nice flavour hit, but they’re very chewy. Too chewy. The combination of smooth milk chocolate and rubbery jelly just didn’t work for me.

I like fruity jelly sweets. I like chocolate. But not necessarily together in the same mouthful. It’s great to see Rowntree’s pushing boundaries, but the texture clash lets this bar down. Softer sweets inside might have made all the difference.

Doughnut with fruit and meringue - Medicine Bakery Birmingham New St [@NLi10]

 My partner picked me up a treat from town while I was working from the New Street branch of the Medicine Bakery - a huge doughnut with the fresh meringue and fruit on top - a proper treat!

Look at that - it's so chunky!

It's not for cats - but you may have a look

Everything was so fresh that it demanded to be eaten right away - even though I think this would work best sliced in two and shared over coffee.

An absolute hit with the best versions of all the flavours involved - no wonder these sensations from Codsall have found success in town too!

Swizzels Squashies Drumchick Orange & Pineapple Flavour (WHSmiths) By @SpectreUK

Easter is fast approaching, and asides all the usual chocolate eggs, I fancy something squashy. These Swizzels Squashies Drumchick Orange & Pineapple Flavour seem to hit the squishy spot. I love orange and pineapple as a flavour combination. Unfortunately, I don't see it so much in sweets.

 

These Swizzels Squashies Drumchick Orange & Pineapple Flavour come in a very cute two-tone coloured gummy chick shape. On taste they were very fruity, with a decent sweet mix of orange and pineapple. I like the squishy texture too. I can certainly say they were very moreish indeed.

Have a happy Easter.

Information on the packet; The 120g bag contains 357 calories per 100g, with 0.2g of fat, 85g of sugar, and 0.07g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Kinder Milky Caramel Bunny (Ocado) By @Cinabar

It is nearly Easter, and I hope everyone is looking forward to the long bank holiday weekend. I also hope the weather brightens up a bit. We had some lovely sunshine recently, but as soon as there is a holiday, Britain has a habit of making sure the rain arrives.

In the meantime, I thought I should try out an Easter product. I spotted this Kinder Milky Caramel Bunny online and decided to see what the chocolate was like.

I opened up the foil, and the aroma was next level. It was very sweet and creamy, and it reminded me of Caramac in scent. I broke a piece off and could see that the chocolate had a decent thickness and was lined with white chocolate too, as you would expect from most Kinder products. What was missing was a toy. I think there would have been room to sneak in a traditional Kinder Egg toy somewhere, but the bunny was hollow.

I tasted the chocolate and was taken aback a little. It really is incredibly sweet. Don’t worry, I could handle it. It was as if someone said Caramac was not sweet enough and decided to add even more white chocolate. The flavour was lovely. I really enjoyed the mix of caramel and white chocolate, with an almost icing sugar-like taste.

After eating a couple of ears, I did need a sip of coffee to bring some balance, but I still absolutely loved this sweet Easter treat.

McVitie’s Digestives Caramel Millionaire Slices (Ocado) – By @Cinabar

I picked up these McVitie’s Digestives Caramel Millionaire Slices as a snack for that awkward post-work, pre-dinner window. I fancied something chocolatey to round off the day. I’ve always been a fan of Digestives, so throwing caramel and chocolate into the mix sounded like a win.

Inside the pack, I found the slices were individually wrapped. Not great for the environment, granted, but very handy for lunch boxes. The first thing that struck me, though, was how small they were. I’d been expecting something more substantial, but they’re only a couple of bites each.

That said, they were seriously tasty. The Digestives flavour came through nicely with a thick, firm base,  not crunchy, but with a solid texture. The caramel and chocolate layers made them sweet without being sickly, and the chocolate topping was a lovely final touch.

My only gripe? They didn’t quite satisfy that post-work hunger. I probably should’ve just had a second one.

Oumph! Crispy Buffalo Tenders (plant based) from Iceland [@NLi10]

 Plant based (but meaty looking) things are very much in fashion at the moment - especially if they fit in an air-fryer.  We do not have an air-fryer, but we do have vegetarians in the house willing to experiment!

Here we have one of the many varieties from Oumph - makers of plant-based protein things - but covered in Buffalo sauce and a crispy coating.  And as this is something I enjoy I figured it was worth a go.

And Iceland (where I got this) will also happily sell me some more varied frozen veggies than the usual peas and carrots.

They are pretty stalky! But they cooked up nicely and tasted great so who am I to argue.

I put the nugget like things on some roasting veg and slapped in the oven

And then added some skin on fries to make a complete meal

The Buffalo tenders were a little tougher than I'd expected (and the moisture from the veggies made the skins fall off) so I think maybe these are designed with crispers in mind - but the flavours were great and they were filling enough that this was a decent meal for two.

Maybe if I do get back into the Iceland options an Air-fryer is a necessary purchase, but for now I'll just keep the moist things seperate.

Enjoyable enough to have again, but not as wow as I'd hoped (and probably too spicy for kids!)

Steam Brew Beer (Lidl) By @SpectreUK

I have a home cooked fish and chips supper tonight, so this Steam Brew should go rather well with that. At 4.9% in volume and in a slightly larger 500ml can, this is quite a strong Session IPA. It states "Let's oil the gears of life," on the side of the can. Any worker on a steam engine would be properly oiled after having one of these beers before going back to work after a liquid lunch.

On opening the can there was a strong smell of crisp herbal hops, with sweet pale malts at the back of the aroma. This hazy golden India Pale Ale poured with a good frothy head. In its taste, Steam Brew had the reverse of its smell. It had sweet pale malts to begin with followed by bitter herbal and slightly floral hops, then back to the malts into the aftertaste. Very flavoursome indeed, this IPA washed my fish and chips down a treat. Cheers.

Starbucks Frappuccino Sip on Sunshine Iced Coffee (Sainsbury's) By @Cinabar

Today was unusually sunny for April, so I treated myself to something refreshing from the shop. I spotted this limited edition Starbucks Frappuccino Sip on Sunshine Iced Coffee and it ticked all the boxes. The name is cheerful, I like the “sip on sunshine” bit, and the flavour is a mix of toffee and honey. The bottle also has a lovely summery design that caught my eye.

I cracked it open during my break and gave it a try. It’s a smooth, creamy coffee drink that isn’t overly sweet, which was a pleasant surprise. The honey is noticeable but subtle, and the coffee is mellow rather than strong. Altogether, it made for a very enjoyable afternoon pick-me-up, even if I did spend the rest of the day stuck in front of spreadsheets.

Custard Cream Twists - Hot Cross Bun & Biscoff Bourbon [@NLi10]

 We reviewed the first of these Twists a while back, and they were pretty good - so we picked up the other two versions.

The Custard Creams seem to be a limited edition version for Easter - and Hot Cross Bun flavour.

I don't like Hot Cross Buns, but they mostly taste of the spices and not the fruit so these are ok.  I'm much prefer an apple strudel version, but if you like the buns then these are an odd but OK option.

These however are the main event - they are basically a mix between bourbon biscuits and Biscoff biscuits.  This sounds better.

And the smell is certainly authentic, but they aren't quite right in texture and 'spicyness' for pure Biscoff, but I think I like these more due to the familiar Bourbon hit.

Worth making a coffee for.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Lotus Biscoff (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

I love Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate. I love Lotus Biscoff. I love chocolate biscuits. So, putting Cadbury Dairy Milk and Lotus Biscoff together in one chocolate bar seems an ideal collaboration. I mean, what can go wrong?

On breaking the bar in half, I noticed there was a lot of chocolate compared to Lotus Biscoff, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If you asked me on ratios, I pretty much prefer Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate over anything.

As you can see, if you're looking for an unbiased review, you may be looking in the wrong place. However, there was a crunchiness, and a taste of shredded Biscoff, with little spice. So, if you like a crunch to your chocolate bar, and like a bit of spicy biscuit. This is definitely for you.

Information on the wrapper: The 105g bar is 525 calories per 100g, with 28g of fat, 53g of sugar, 0.36g of salt.

M&Ms Brownie Milkshake (Corner Shop) By @Cinabar

When I picked up this milkshake in a local corner shop, all I could think was that it was a very specific flavour choice. This is not just a brownie milkshake, it is an M&Ms Brownie Milkshake. For me, if I were to buy an M&Ms brownie, the key thing about the M&Ms in a cake would be the texture from the shell and the dots of colour throughout. As neither of those things translate into a milkshake, I have to admit I was a bit curious about what I had purchased. All the same, it was a warm day and I fancied a cool chocolate milkshake.

I followed the instructions on the pack and gave it a good shake before opening it. I took a sip and have to admit there was more to the flavour than just chocolate. It did have a cake-like taste. I do not think I would have guessed M&Ms specifically, but the flavour was nice. The thickness of the shake is about right, not too runny but easy enough to drink through the lid. I liked the drink; it was a nice cool chocolate treat. I think the specific flavour notes were hard to pin down, but I still enjoyed it.

In other news, the shake also had 10 grams of protein, which is good for anyone building muscle.

Kit Kat Hazelnut (WHSmith) – By @Cinabar

I picked up this Kit Kat Hazelnut bar from a WHSmith at a motorway service station. Since then, I’ve heard that WHSmith is struggling and closing many high street branches. I’m not sure what that means for the ones on the motorway, but I always enjoy a browse and picking out some chocolate on a long journey.

Anyway, back to the Kit Kat Hazelnut. I love nuts and chocolate, so I was naturally excited to try this. British Kit Kats tend to play it safe with flavours, we don’t get many bold or unusual varieties, and hazelnut certainly isn’t new. However, this is the first hazelnut sharing bar I’ve seen, and it’s a good-looking one, with attractive marbled chocolate.

Once opened, I saw the bar was laid out in strips, each with a break point in the middle. Though, really, who offers just half a strip?

I tried a full one, and really liked the taste. There was plenty of chocolate, and the hazelnut flavour was smooth, nutty and well balanced. It’s not a game-changer, but it’s solid. The marbling looks nice but doesn’t do much for the flavour. Still, I’m a fan, and I’d happily buy it again.