4 Hand-made Chocolate Truffles (Gloucester Motorway Services) by @NLi10

The twin farm-shop services of Gloucester and West-Morland (Tebay) feature heavily in our holiday plans as you can guarantee that you'll find some wonderful food to review.  These presents were brought back when dropping off our friend for his 9 day Land's End to John O'Groats cycle ride.

While cycling at all is out of the question for me, I think I can cope with some hand-made chocolate truffles.  So lets have a good look - in what will hopefully be order of strength so they don't overpower each other.

Raspberry and coconut

This is what you expect to find in fresh, hand made chocolates.  The centre is almost a fruit sponge its so fresh.  The very fruity, almost liquid centre is molten before you even come near it and the flavours just pop out of it.  The white chocolate then hits with the coconut texture and flavour to finish.  A definite hit.



Praline 

This was very similar to the Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Bueno of the bunch, albeit with a slightly richer flavour.  As you'd expect everything was just that little bit fresher and crisper so the textures were more pleasing.  The praline in the centre was perhaps the least noticeable here, with the smooth slightly nutty flavour being dominated by the outer.  I'd happily eat more of these to see how the flavour changes with each hand-rolled bite.


Sea salt caramel

The caramel in this really is the clincher - if you aren't a fan then you won't be a fan of the whole thing - and for me it's a little too salty.  As you can see in the pic (this is the front one) the caramel is very runny and the chocolate case very thick so it's as good a quality as the others, but neither myself or my partner were fans of the flavour of the caramel so this was the least enjoyed of the bunch.

Dark Chocolate & Orange

Covered in white dust (and at the back of the picture above) this one had the most solid oaf all the centres.  After the caramel I feared that this too would be slightly too 'flavoursome' as sometimes the orange can be a bit acidic, but it wasn't too powerful.  I'd have maybe preferred a little more texture to it (orange peel or similar maybe) to make it linger, but as it is this was a nice melty orange sensation.


Overall I think that we started with the best, I could eat a packet of the raspberry ones!  That said I think if you were sharing these as a group that each one would find a favourite and that none would go to waste.  They aren't the cheapest things going though so it's probably best just to have a set as an occasional mid-journey treat.

Tebay Services baked goods (@TebayServices) [by @NLi10]

Cinabar has often spoke about a mythical land up North where there is a service station like no other.  Instead of identikit Costa and WH Smiths and machines to steal the pounds out of parents pockets its like one giant Farm Shop with a restaurant with food cooked on the premises made from local ingredients.

This place is known as Tebay services and as we were up that way we decided to stop and have a look.  The other, previous Tebay goodies are reviewed here.

While in the giant shop part (filled with stuff even I haven't seen before) I spotted the fresh cakes and we took a couple to eat in the car.


First up we have the Raspberry & Almond Blondie.

This was my choice and had large whole almond halves and decent sized raspberries and a divine texture that was just firm enough to keep it all together.  Ordinarily I'd offer to share this kind of thing to try all the flavours at the table, on this occasion I did not.  Though the slices were small it was filling enough.

My partner had the Ginger crunch.  It must have been nice as I didn't get offered any to try either!  She said it was very nice and I could see it also had big chunks in it and a thick layer of chocolate on top.

If you are anywhere near the Lake District in the UK then it is very much worth planning your journey around Tebay Services.  Sure, the new breed of places with Waitrose in are less unpleasant than we are used to, but this was a joy.  If it were more local you'd be tempted to go just to shop - and I think we could do a years reviews just on their products alone!

Ambassador’s Continental Orange & Lemon Jelly Segments (@TebayServices) [By @SpectreUK]

After my last experience with Amabassador’s of London jelly sweets I knew I’d be in for a serious treat when I picked up this 250g bag of Continental Orange & Lemon Jelly Segments from our favourite service station in Cumbria. A few weeks later on a sunny day I took them out of my satchel and claimed to all of my colleagues that they were about to try the Rolls Royce of jelly sweets! The ingredients included; sugar, pork gelatine, glucose syrup, water, citric acid, malic acid, flavourings, and colours E160a and E160c. I opened the bag and in an unprecedented moment of unselfishness I shared some out amongst my colleagues and watched the appreciation for quality and shear jelly goodness develop on every taster’s face. Both flavours were covered with sugar and were sumptuous, rich and flavoursome. The orange flavour had a sugary sweet chewy juicy orange flavour. The lemon flavour had an initial sour kick that played with the sweet sugar topping like a kitten with a sparkly ball of wool. Instead of serving Ferrero Rocher at the Ambassador’s party, they should serve these jellies and change the famous quote to; “Ambassador, with these Continental Orange & Lemon Jelly Segments you are really spoiling us!”

Moorland Pudding aka Bramley Apple & Winberry Pie (@TebayServices)

This is another of the treasures I picked up at our favourite Tebay Services. All the fruit pies were laid out on a big stand and I fancied getting a nice dessert to help with post holiday blues. I was trying to decide which flavour pie to buy, when the winberry pie caught my eye. Spectre asked what winberries were and I explained I had no idea and that I'd never tasted them before. This sealed the deal, winberries were go!
On closer inspection it turns out the winberry pie also contains apple for sweetness, has a crumble top and a pastry base. Google informs me that winberries are a relative of blueberries, but that they grow better in cooler climates. I wish we'd known this before buying the blueberry bush in our garden which never seems to get enough sun for a decent crop!
The pie just needed heating in the oven before serving to warm it through and we had it with hot custard despite the pack recommending ice cream.
The berries inside the pie were a lovely dark purple colour and looked really nice. The flavour was quite soft, not bitey and sharp like blackcurrants. The taste was syrupy and mellow with a nice sweetness shining through from the apple. The crumble and the pastry gave the pie substance, and worked well with the custard. I was so impressed with the smooth sweet berry taste I really want to get a winberry bush for the garden! We have blackcurrants and raspberries and these would be perfect for my jam making!
Thanks again to the lovely Tebay for introducing me to a new fruit, and a fabulous pie. ;-)

By Cinabar

Muddies [@Moreartisan] (@TebayServices)

The thing about a trip to Tebay is that you can’t help but pick up rather a lot of goodies, and as such there are going to be a few reviews over the coming weeks as we work our way through them.
I spotted these Muddies (or Brownies) in the centre of the shop, all stacked up on a plate. They are made by a company called “More? The Artisan Bakery” and are described (albeit by the baker) as the best chocolate brownies. Well that’s the kind of thing here at Foodstuff Finds we feel the need to investigate.
The brownies are quite chunky and dark in colour. The texture is pleasingly soft, but it is absolutely packed with a rich dark chocolate flavour. The sponge is seriously chocolaty on its own, but the extra chocolate chips throughout give little bursts of extra cocoa flavour.
What I liked most about these brownies was the texture. It wasn’t too spongy and not at all stodgy, juts perfectly filling while remaining moist inside. My mum tried one too, despite saying she isn’t much of a brownie fan – but she loved it!
They had the perfect texture combined with its rich flavour of chocolate, and the background hint of butter just meant the whole thing was perfectly balanced. To be honest, I think the claim may well be genuine, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better brownie. Really wishing I had picked up some of their Bakewell Tarts which were sat next to them as well!

By Cinabar

Pipers Crisp Co – Chorizo Flavour (@TebayServices @Piperscrisps)

We have recently come back from one of our road trips, and as always made sure we stopped at the fabulous Tebay Services on the way back. It’s a lovely place, smart, homely, has views of the countryside and is complete with its own food hall. Amongst the goodies we picked up were these crisps from Pipers, in a flavour we haven’t seen before. In fact I couldn’t ever remember trying Chorizo crisps before, until Spectre reminded me that I had tried some from Boots!
The aroma from the bag was rich and impressive. Before trying you could tell that these crisps would be super tasty and full of flavour. The crisps were the usually excellent quality too, the potato was cut just right, not too thick but enough to deliver a decent crunch. They weren’t greasy crisps, just nicely seasoned. The spices just work so well, there is a fair amount of chilli heat which is lovely, followed by a barbecue taste, garlic, paprika, onion, pork and lots of other herbs and spices all packed in and making a very believable Chorizo taste. It even has that telltale slightly bitter edge like the sausage, which was particularly impressive. It’s so refreshing to find a proper hot taste with these crisps too, as so many spicy flavoured crisps just don’t deliver. They were an absolute pleasure to eat! It’s a bit of a drive to get some more, but I’ll certainly pick some up next time I see them. :-)

By Cinabar

Grozet Gooseberry and Wheat Ale (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

I had a bad feeling when Cinabar came up to me with an excited sadistic grin on her face in the Westmorland Service Station. She had something clearly hidden in one hand behind her back. Admittedly I was expecting something laced with chilli or some fluffy animal, rather than oddly flavoured ale. This Gooseberry and Wheat Ale was brewed by Williams Brothers Brewing Company, in Alloa, Scotland. A brewer that’s sheer quality and diversity of beverages I have recently become acquainted with. I took one look at the bottle and thought, “well how bad can it be?” This 5% volume blond wheat ale was served in a 330ml bottle. Further information found from a leaflet that Cinabar passed to me stated that this ale was brewed with lager malt, wheat, bog myrtle, which is a native herb to Scotland, hops and meadowsweet, and then secondary fermented with Scottish gooseberries. In old Scottish “Grozet” means gooseberry, and originates from the Gaelic word “Groseid”. This type of ale has been brewed since the 16th Century by Scottish monks and alewives (who sound like the best kind of wife!). A blend of malts, wild spice and ripe gooseberries were mixed together to brew the ale. Third year students at the Glasgow School of Arts designed the image on the label for a project, basing it on a first millennium Celtic maze design.

Chiding myself for my initial negativity, I decided to try this ale in the early spring time for its refreshing blond ale reputation. After leaving my bottle of Grozet in the fridge to cool for a while I found that the ale had gone a misty blond colour, which the bottle’s label warned would happen due to its natural fruit and cereal. This ale had a strong gooseberry mixed with wheat smell to it. There was an initial bite to this ale that had a metallic like acidic flavour that quickly moved to malted barley and hoppy bitterness with a finishing zingy citrus kick from the gooseberries, leaving a zesty hoppy gooseberry aftertaste. This ale easily met its reputation for being very tasty and refreshing indeed and would go very well with a fishy meal of any kind. I must try Grozet with a large salmon steak some time or better still; fish and chips!

By Spectre

Yerba Mate (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Made from pure yerba mate leaves there are 15 biodegradable tea temples in the 22.5g box from Teapigs. The box stated that people would either love or hate this tea. So I guessed it was rather like the Marmite of tea. Sadly I’ve never been a fan of Marmite, but I do like most teas, so I thought I’d give this a go. Yerba mate grows in South America. It is said that drinking the leaves increases focus and alertness while helping with detoxing and weight loss. I could always do with a detox from all the booze I drink and some weight loss from all the crisps, cakes and sweets I eat, and besides my attention span is.... what was I talking about? Anyway, the back of the box suggested drinking this tea without milk and with a touch of either cinnamon, which I am definitely not a fan of, or ginger. I was sure that there would be some cinnamon in the house somewhere as Cinabar had recently eaten some of her special home-made cinnamon toast, but I just couldn’t bring myself to look for it. I couldn’t find any ginger to sprinkle into the drink either and didn’t have any ginger biscuits for dunking , so I had to drink this tea straight, which was fine with me. Having said that once I’d squeezed the life out of the teabag and left the brew to cool to drinking temperature I was surprised at just how smoky this tea was. It was like drinking a cigarette, but I wouldn’t say that in a totally bad sense! I gave up smoking over fourteen years ago and still have the odd craving now and then. This drink really did taste like tobacco. Not bad either. With a touch of ginger or cinnamon I’m sure it wouldn’t be noticeable as they are such strong flavours in their own right and very warming tastes for cold winter’s nights. Without those added sprinkles this drink would be perfect for ex-smokers who miss the taste but don’t want the hassle of going out into the cold and wet to light up, and there’s the whole nicotine addiction problem with smoking too. It would also be perfect for smokers who want a little extra to warm themselves up after being frozen solid outside. Although, being addicted to tea isn’t a bad thing at all... I think it’s just being called English!

By Spectre

Hand Cooked Parsnip Crisps – Seasoned with Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Whenever I see the phrase “Hand Cooked” it always makes me wonder just how hot a person’s hands can get. I certainly wouldn’t want to shake hands with them anyway. Produced by Glennans, The Vegetable Crisp Company, in Staffordshire, these Parsnip Crisps came in a 40g bag which had 187 calories, with 12.2g fat and 7.4g sugar. Sporting on the back of the bag that they were “high in fibre”, “gluten free”, “vegetarian and vegan friendly”, “GM free” and with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, the ingredients of these parsnip crisps included; parsnip (57%), sunflower oil, sea salt, black pepper, dextrose, rice flour, onion powder and yeast extract powder. However, try as I may, the phrase “parsnip crisps” didn’t float my boat, so to speak. They certainly smelt of parsnip, with more than a hint of black pepper. I was surprised that I instantly liked the taste. These crisps had a lovely parsnip, salt and black pepper tang. The salt and pepper flavour really complemented the parsnip. The crisps were not greasy, were very tasty and didn’t have an overpowering flavour of parsnip, as suggested by their odour. They just had a pleasant flavour of parsnip, however the aftertaste of parsnip took a bit of getting used to. I would have these parsnip crisps again, as I found them a good alternative to potato crisps. I’ll also have to look out for other flavours in the Vegetable Crisp Company’s range.

By Spectre

March of the Penguins (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

This stout had the perfect sounding name for a Christmas blog. The marching penguins on the label made me hum some comic tune or other that I’d heard in a past forgotten Disney movie. Williams Brothers Brewing Company in Alloa, Scotland, micro-brewed this 4.9% volume black stout. The label stated that this was a smooth and creamy stout which had been “brewed with chocolate malt and roasted barley, giving a hoppy flavour with a fruity finish”. That description to me sounded like the perfect combination for an accompaniment to another round of mince pies! The stout’s ingredients contained gluten and included; malted barley, wheat, hops, coriander and orange zest. There was an initial smell of sweet milk chocolate mixed with malt and a smidgen of spicy citrus and plant like aroma. There was such a complex array of smells from this black stout as I poured it into my ever ready beer mug that I became very excited to try it. On first taste I noticed the velvety smoothness of this stout. There was an early sweet milk chocolate and malt flavour, which was soon followed by a bitter citrus hoppy taste with an almost plant like finish, which came from the added coriander. There was the usual healthy filling feeling you get from a full bodied hardy warming stout, with a sumptuous malt chocolate and coriander aftertaste. The chocolate malt and bitter spicy citrus undertones of this stout could easily be enjoyed as an after dinner treat or on a cold winter’s night in front of the fire whilst enjoying a good movie (with a huge plate of mince pies). “Ho, ho, ho… Merry Christmas!! Hiccup...”

By Spectre

Special Oatmeal Stout (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

This Special Oatmeal Stout was brewed by the Coniston Brewing Company in Cumbria. I have previously enjoyed their CAMRA Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 1998 called Bluebird, so I was really looking forward to trying this stout. I noted on the label that this beer was best drunk at 58 degrees Fahrenheit in a pint glass at the Black Bull Inn, in Coniston. However, I am based in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, so had to cope with whatever degrees Fahrenheit our fridge decided it was running on that day and my trusty pint sized pottery beer mug.

At 4.5% volume this stout was brewed with Coniston Brewery’s local Lakeland water, Challenger Hops, roasted Crystal and Pale malts, yeast and sugar. The label stated that oats were used in the grist, which is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding, to give this stout even more of that heavy filling feeling that stouts are common to, whilst enhancing the roasted barley flavours and giving the beverage a smoothness that I was certainly looking forward to sampling. On opening the 500ml bottle there was a malty dark chocolate smell with a smidgen of coffee. First taste displayed the expected hoppy bitterness that the mere mention of Challenger Hops promised, with an added dominance from the Pale malts morphing into a dark chocolate flavour that ended with a bitter twang of coffee. This flavour journey of bitter hops, roasted malts, succulent chocolate and rich coffee smoothed out to a luxurious chocolate malt aftertaste. This was a beautiful bitter black gold stout that deserved an award of its own. There was something about this lip smacking, warming, belly rubbing stout that left me fulfilled, comforted in the dark bosom of heavenly stout with a lesson that all master brewers can learn from, and yet wanting just one more bottle to make sure... well, maybe just another after that.

By Spectre

Alba Scots Pine Ale (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Pine and spruce ales were first introduced to Scotland by the Vikings, and have always been popular in the Scottish Highlands since then and right up until the late 19th Century. Spruce ale was used on sea voyages as it helped to prevent ill health in sailors, such as scurvy. Shetland spruce ale was said to have been used as an aphrodisiac and was believed to give you twins, so I’m not sure I’ll drink too much of this ale! Apparently, “Alba” is Gaelic for Scotland. Amber to brown in colour this 7.5% volume was served in a 330ml bottle and brewed by Williams Brothers Brewing Company, in Alloa, Scotland. The ale’s ingredients included; malted barley bree, Scots pine and spruce sprigs. Spruce and pine are picked between April and May every year. In the brewing stages, malted barley is first mixed with sprigs of pine and boiled for several hours. Then shoots of spruce are added for a short infusion before being left to ferment.

No wonder this ale won the World Gold Medal 1998. Alba was certainly strong, with a nearly liquor like sweet smell. There was a rich hardy hoppy bitter almost liquorish and spirit kick to start with that moved to a rich malt which then smoothed out to a floral woody sap like sweetness that travelled through to the aftertaste. This ale was very strong indeed, very pleasant to drink and very warming. No wonder it’s popular in the Highlands with its tough hardy landscape, strapping folk and cold damp weather. I reckon this ale is best enjoyed on its own, possibly on top of a frozen windswept mountain somewhere in Scotland surrounded by ice and snow. In fact mountaineers should have this ale in their beer-hats... Do mountaineers wear beer-hats? If they don’t, they should... and I certainly recommend they drag a barrel of this ale behind them as they climb!

By Spectre

Croglin Vampire Doppelbock (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

At 8% volume this Croglin Vampire Doppelbock really did have a bite (pun intended). Legend has it that in 1685 a vampire attacked a woman asleep in her house in Croglin, in north east Cumbria. Her screams alerted her brothers who chased the vampire away. The vampire returned a year later only to be hunted to a local crypt and burnt to death by the brothers (or second death, as vampires are already classed as dead, or undead?). Doppelbock is a traditional rich malty beer from Munich. This beer lent to that tradition and was brewed at the Old Hall Brewery, in the Lake District. It contained gluten and was brewed using Cumbrian fell water, with English malted barley, a variety of hops from all over the world, and also lager yeast. There was a heavy fruity raisin like aroma on opening this beer, with an almost spirit like pungency. I could certainly smell the strength from the beer, and I could well imagine the vampire had wished he’d had a few of these before he’d tackled the brothers for the second time around. On pouring the beer I was a little disappointed not to find it to be a blood red colour. Although that would mean that it had unnatural colouring added, or some awful red berry or even the blood of some poor virgin added to it. This beer was a dark brown colour and it made my beer mug yelp a little from its strength. The aroma of this beer transferred to the flavour, as it had a strong fruity raisin like quality to it in the initial taste. This was followed by an almost spiritual liquor kick, like a tot of whisky, which made me gasp a little until I’d drunk a few more mouthfuls and got used to the strength. There was a malty twist behind the warming fruity liquor taste of this beer, leaving a raisin wine like aftertaste. Once I’d finished the 330ml bottle I instantly wanted another. This beer would be good to drink in a dark stormy castle, with the freezing rain lashing outside and the wind howling an unearthly mournful cry around the cold stone corridors. Then the old Scotch butler exclaims; “We’re doomed, doomed I tell ye!” So you’d better watch out, there’s a vampire about, though he may be a little tipsy if he’s drunk more than one of these beers!

By Spectre

Ebulum – Elderberry Black Ale (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Elderberry Black Ale was first introduced to Scotland by Welsh Druids in the 9th Century, who used to pass it around the villages during Celtic Autumn festivals. Elderberries are high in fruit oils and have an oily or soupy texture. Containing these fruit oils and also tannins, elderberries were used for natural remedies to help cure sciatica, neuralgia, influenza, and rheumatism. Brewed by Williams Brothers Brewing Company, in Alloa, Scotland, this Ebulum Black Ale came from a 16th Century Scottish Highland recipe. This black ale was 6.5% volume and served in a 330ml bottle. The ale’s ingredients included; malted bree, elderberries, roasted oats, barley, hops, and bog myrtle, which is a sweet smelling herb native to Scotland. There was a strong full bodied fruity, roasted oat and malt smell on opening this ale. This black ale had a porter feel and flavour to it with a roasted oat and malt initial taste followed by a bitter hoppy bite with fruity undertones, which moved to a fruity malt aftertaste and a very mild hint of elderberries. This was a heavy warming ale that would go well with a roast dinner, a hot meat pie or a hearty stew and dumplings. This ale started with the heavy filling feel I usually receive from a good stout, followed by the bitter bite of winter and smooth comfort of the home in front of the fire. I would definitely have this again; I just need to find some firewood in the local forest and a Cottage Pie from somewhere...

By Spectre

Kelpie Seaweed Ale (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Well, Cinabar finally managed it; she found an ale that sounded so disgusting that I really didn’t want to try it at all. I have to admit that this Kelpie Seaweed Ale did sit on the Foodstufffinds beer tasting shelf for quite some time before I dared to try it. I dared simply because I enjoyed the fine quality of Williams Brother’s Profanity Stout so much that I believed that this ale could not taste all that bad… Could it? The label stated that before the 1850s many Scottish coastal breweries used local malted barley grown on fields that were fertilized with seaweed. Fertilized with seaweed doesn’t sound so bad… Does it? A quick look at the ingredients stated malted barley bree, hops and seaweed. Apparently this beer had Bladder Rock seaweed from the coast of Argyll “mashed in” during brewing with the malted and roasted barley. So no fertilized soil here, just real seaweed plucked from rock pools whilst fighting off bad tempered crabs and hungry blood sucking sea urchins (okay, maybe over dramatizing it there a little bit).

Described as “rich chocolate ale with an aroma of fresh sea breeze and a distinctive malty texture” this dark brown ale certainly had a sweet chocolate smell, but it was the saltiness that put me off trying it to start with. I bulked a little and passed it to Cinabar to take a whiff. She agreed on the sweet salty smell and took a quick sip. She didn’t like it, which made me want to try it. There was an initial malty taste with sweet undertones of chocolate to begin with. There was no bitterness to this ale, it had a smooth quality straight off that somehow then roughened around the edges of my tastebuds, leaving a malty chocolate aftertaste. There was no salty shock to the taste, just this magical roughness at the end of the early smooth malty chocolate flavour. I’ve never experienced a roughness like that in an ale. It had a warming quality that made me think of fishermen struggling against the briny rough sea, cold rain and howling wind. They would have loved this ale on their return to port to dry off beside the fire, just as much as I loved savouring it in my warm armchair in front of the TV with the autumnal weather beating at the window outside.

By Spectre

Old Engine Oil (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

The thought of drinking real old engine oil made me wonder if Cinabar really was trying to kill me this time as she passed me this beer bottle to review. This black porter from the Harviestoun Brewery in Alva, Scotland, reminded the original brewer so much of the oil he used whilst working for Ford that he named the beer after it. Described on the label under the smart vintage car image as “viscous, bittersweet and smooth”, this porter certainly reminded me of old engine oil as I poured the thick black beer into my mug. There was a harsh bitterness mixed with a dark chocolate odour on opening the 330ml bottle. I’d have to agree with the description on the back of the bottle, as the flavours of this 6% volume porter were certainly “complex”. There was a tough malted barley bitterness merging almost brutishly with strong coffee to start with. The sheer bitterness was then replaced by bittersweet dark chocolate that smoothed the flavour out on the palate. This left such a luscious bitter chocolate aftertaste that this became a very moreish beer indeed. No wonder it won Gold Medal at the International Beer Challenge 2009. The label recommended drinking this black porter whilst enjoyed strong cheese (unless the brewery’s mischievous mouse logo steals it from you first), black pudding or roast lamb. I savoured this beer on its own late one evening as an after dinner treat. I shall definitely have to hunt some more of this beer down, and keep it well away from my car, as it’s all for me!

By Spectre

Gladiator Spelt Beer (@TebayServices Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

Glebe Farm, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, produces wheat, spelt, gluten free flours and breakfast cereals, and also beer. This 4.2% volume Gladiator beer was brewed with Spelt, which is a grain that was originally grown by the Romans to produce bread and beer. Although Spelt is rarely grown today, Glebe Farm still carries on the tradition as the Romans used to grow Spelt on their land during their occupation. Apparently Roman coins are still being dug up on Glebe Farm’s land today. Glebe Farm malts the Spelt and sends it to a local brewer for brewing in a natural and traditional way. This amber coloured beer had a strong wheaty grainy odour and taste to it. It had a full bodied “olde beer” feel to the flavour that made me feel like I was drinking something steeped in tradition, whilst the luscious bitterness jumped up and slapped my tongue pleasingly. The trouble was that I only had the one 330ml bottle, when I should have bought a whole crate of this beer! Also available from Glebe Farm is Emperor Spelt Lager, which I look forward to trying out at some point.

By Spectre

Deans Coconut and Treacle Oat Biscuits (Westmorland Services) [By @SpectreUK]

I’ve always been partial to oat biscuits, as they can compliment a strong afternoon tea or even a pint of good ale or stout. Deans of Huntley, Aberdeenshire, produced the elegant 150g box of eight beige coloured thick round biscuits. The box stated that these biscuits had been “hand baked in Scotland” (…with very hot hands, I’m sure). There were 520 calories per 100g, with 28.4g of fat and 33.6g of sugar. The biscuit’s ingredients included; butter, oatflakes (13%), desiccated coconut (7%), and black treacle from black molasses (4%), also containing milk products, as well as wheat and gluten. The biscuits were prepared from the original recipe by Helen Dean, who began the business after cooking for family and friends. Also available in the Dean’s biscuit range are Apple and Cranberry, Stem Ginger, and Sultana and Heather Honey.

After a long day of running up stairs and sliding down waterslides in the Alton Tower’s water park, these Coconut and Treacle biscuits seemed an excellent treat with a late afternoon mug of tea in the hotel room before dinner. We go to Alton Towers for a couple of nights around my birthday every year, so the good thing was that we had the hotel spa to look forward to the next day and all the rides in the theme park the following day. The biscuits had a lovely sweet oaty coconut and treacle smell to them. There was an exceptional balance of coconut and treacle within these buttery sweet melt in your mouth crunchy oat biscuits. The box emptied far too quickly for my liking, which was a shame as it’s quite a long drive back to buy another box. Ah, well… another trip up to Westmorland Services beckons, and I’m sure I can fit plenty of these boxes in the boot (or trunk to our American friends)! ;-)

By Spectre

Jubilee Stout (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

The Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery was founded by four local ale drinkers in 2009. The name of this dark brown, almost black stout came from the Jubilee Field, which is next to Devil’s Bridge (pictured on the front of the bottle), in the Lake District. The field was given to the public to commemorate the Queen’s coronation in 1953, along with a couple of wrought iron gates made by a local blacksmith.

On opening the bottle there was a heavy malt and chocolate smell mixed with a hint of liquorice, all of which reminded me of black treacle. On tasting there was a deep bitter, yet surprisingly smooth malt flavour that was luxuriously balanced with chocolate, followed by mid-tones of roasted barley and finished by a bitter sweet liquorice flavour. The aftertaste consisted of dark chocolate mixed with bitter malt balanced by the hint of liquorice. The sheer lavishness of this muscular stout is perfect for toasting in the Jubilee, but don’t forget a good wedge of chocolate, some suitable bunting, good company and just a little flag waving. Happy Jubilee to everyone and especially to the Queen. ;-)

By Spectre

Ambassadors of London (Westmorland Service Station) [By @SpectreUK]

A service station might sound a strange place to find packets of posh fruit jellies, although you may have heard me rave about the Westmorland Service Station (near Penrith, in Cumbria) before. It’s a veritable Aladdin’s Cave for Foodstuff Finds, with such a plethora of confectionary and savory delights that could easily drive Cinabar beyond sanity when we visit. I picked up these two very smart 270g transparent bags, which were decorated with shiny cards and bows, as they simply screamed quality at me from across the other side of the Farm Shop. I couldn’t wait to open them, but decided to treat myself on the train home from a hard day’s work on a couple of occasions.

Traditional Fruit Jellies

Made from real fruit juice, these coloured fruit jelly shapes were lightly covered with sugar. They are presented in six colours; white had a very mild pear taste; red had a sweet easygoing strawberry flavour; green had a very gentle lime flavour; yellow had a tranquil lemon flavour, and was without the usual sour kick that lemon sweets can have; orange was unsurprisingly an orange flavour, but a calming orange rather than giving the tastebuds a feeling of being Tango’d; and finally black had a blackcurrant flavour. I left the blackcurrant until last as I’ve found in the past that blackcurrent jellies can be overpowering. I was relieved to find that this blackcurrant jelly was not overpowering, in fact quite the opposite and this jelly was my favourite flavour out of all of the colours.

These jellies are not sour in taste, and not overpoweringly sickly sweet. In fact they are not sickly at all. They are juicy and make my mouth water almost uncontrollably as I ate them. They envelope you in a sensuous and peaceful bubble whilst all around you there may be grumpy crowds due to train delays and people in a blind panic to get home after a bad day at the office. These are easily the best luxury jellies I have ever tasted. The transparent bag had screamed quality at me in the store, but the real quality lay within the bag itself. I honestly mourned the empty bag. Ambassadors jellies are way not for sharing, but I did let Cinabar have one or two, simply because I felt too guilty hoarding them all to myself. I also had to show their sumptuousness to someone else, just to be able to let one other person in this whole rotten world understand the pure unbridled enrapturing ecstasy of every bite. It was almost impossible to put the bag down once I’d opened it. I made such pleasurable gurgling noises whilst eating the jellies that I think I frightened the guy sitting next to me on the train. In fact, he did strangely move away from me when I tried the blackcurrant flavour…



Finest Apple and Blackberry Jellies

It states “Deliciously different” on the card tied onto the transparent bag with a bow. After my joyous, and I blush to say overly titillating experiences whilst eating the Traditional fruit jellies, I almost broke a finger nail tearing the bag open with excitement. Inside was a combination of flat green apple shaped jellies and bitable black coloured blackberry shaped jellies. The apple flavoured jellies were two shades of green, seemingly to give them more of an apple feel. They were soft to bite and sugar coated. Having apple in the ingredients, they were sweet and indulgent, and again in no way sour. In contrast the blackberry shaped jellies were coated with mini black balls of hardened coloured sugar, which made them look like an actual blackberry from a short distance away, and were slightly tougher to eat than the apples. The hardened sugar made these jellies sweeter than the apple jellies, but the soft black jelly centre and blackberry in the ingredients balanced the flavour well, ensuring they were not overpoweringly sweet. I just could not stop popping both types of jellies in my mouth during my train trip home from another long, bad day at work. “Deliciously different” is exactly right.
By Spectre