Miskets (mischievous biscuits) Biscuit Bites Strawberry [@NLi10]

 The little shop at the end of our road has been getting some exciting new things in recently.  We've had the Italian wafers, and the pretzels - and now the Biscuit Bites

These are basically big fat Maltesers but with ordinary biscuits - and red flavour chocolate!

Made in Türkiye,  but made with actual 'premium Belgian chocolate these should be pretty good

They are melting just like we are today! We saved the rest and popped them in the fridge.

Squidgy they are fine

Straight out the fridge they are crispy little wonder balls - and very welcome int he heat.  There is something slightly missing to the chocolate for the English taste buds - maybe some dried strawberry on the outside like Pocky? but these are really nice and eating the bag gradually when I visit the fridge to top up my water will be a pleasure

Fake San-Pellegrinos, the good and the mid [@NLi10]

 I do like having a San Pellegrino while out at the Italian restaurant - it feels more authentic even though it's just Orangeade (or lemonade).  So when the opportunity for discount versions at home arose I was happy.

Aldi sells both varieties in their Ridge Valley range - and while I can tell that they aren't the 'real deal' they are both nice enough that I shall continue to have them as long as they exist.

The pub yesterday had very few decent soft drinks - everything they had was just not that sugary. So I opted for a safe, but low cal, Fever Tree.  They are great at tonic, but somehow this just didn't hit the spot.

I had a much nicer grapefruit beer instead as my second - it was only 2.5% but because it's alcohol they can make it as sweet as they like without the Police getting involved.

I wish they'd stop ruining social drinks, otherwise I'll have to go back on the bottled water.

Kiwi Berries - A New Fruit??! - Aldi [@NLi10]

 Everyone is coming up with new brand and ideas these days, and it turns out that Mother Nature is joining in and has 'dropped' a new fruit!

How odd!  I almost didn't buy these as they are a little off-putting

They look more like tiny wrong pears than grapes or kiwis as suggested - lets have a bite!

Oh - so it IS a kiwi - just a very small or maybe under ripe one.

They taste just like a watery kiwi, and a lot less strong.  Quite refreshing though.

Not as sweet as a grape so less compulsive, I've only been eating one at a time.

Apparently these are a hardy vine growing thing from Russia/Asia and have been around there for ages - it's funny what turns up.  I don't think they will be a hit as they are too expensive and not exciting enough - but as a one off 'have a look at this' it's quite healthy compared to most New products.

McVitie's PINK Digestives - Raspberry & Cream flavour [@NLi10]

 We love pink on this blog, and it's a fight to see who finds and reviews the latest pink things.

We also have a pink bedroom, which is perfect for these new, limited edition McVitie's pink digestives - they are raspberry & cream flavour from Sainsbury's

And Pink Marvel artwork to show that these are really just regular (shrunk) digestives with a pink not-chocolate coating.  But that's fine too - I love pink mice, and non-chocolate chocolates.

The biscuits show up much better on the black & gold

My childhood memories of digestives have them at least 25% larger than this, but then everything has to conform to the insane portion size rules now (even though I'm allowed to eat all 15 in the pack because I'm a grown-up and no-one will ever know except you guys).  The charts on the front are per biscuit so nothing flags as red, but three biscuits is 36% of my 'saturates' for the day.

They also aren't so pink as to feel unhealthy, we get the idea but will not end up with red tongues.

And the flavour balance is good.  The fondant seems too thin on inspection, but if you put much more on it'd overpower the crunch and earthy tastes of the digestive.  While I'm happy this is the literal flavour of the month (they even put stickers on the floor to alert you to their presence) I hope this is part of a trend and we can get mandarin ones in a lovely pale orange.  Easy Halloween win there for any biscuit-makers that stumble across this.

Overall a win, but not really ideal in a heat-wave so I'll have to buy more once the sun has calmed down a bit.

Holland & Barrett Muesli With Benefits - spiced apple & seeds mix [@NLi10]

 I like apples and the idea of a less intensely sugary breakfast but with flavours and texture too really appeals - so when Holland & Barrett popped this on the special offer table I figured I'd give it a go.

They have to know that "with benefits" has other meanings in English, but here they are suggesting that it's good for you and tasty too.

And it suggests that there are clusters?

The mix also doesn't have raisins or sultanas so that's a win

Looks more flakey than clustery - but lets give it a go

Oh - a cluster - top left!  Maybe they all sank and the final bowl will just be 100% clusters.

The apple smell is instant, and the crunch is a lot chewier than I'd hoped for but this works very well.  I don't think it's a rushed weekday breakfast cereal, and I'd not need to blend this with other things.

Not too sweet, not too spicy, not so healthy that you immediately hunt for the cornflakes either.  Probably a bit expensive if you eat stacked portions like I will, but otherwise a definite option for the days where you need a few more vitamins and energy and have time to chew before leaving the house.

Nestle Shreddies - Limited Raspberry & White Choc Flavour (not pink) [@NLi10]

 Shreddies do all kinds of limited editions these days, at least a couple a year it seems.  Here we found the latest in Sainsbury's - Raspberry & White Chocolate Flavour - in a lovely red box.

We used to get a strawberry shreddie along with the chocolate one and I swear it was a little pink, and turned the milk pink - but alas here they look basically the same

The layer on top is the new ones - the layer below are the regular Shreddies - us older people don't need a full bowl of sugar in the morning!

And - they are basically as advertised - Shreddies that taste of this year's flavour.  I think I'd rather have the normal Frosted Shreddies, but as a little change these were pretty good.  Ours were on special offer - so the same price as normal Shreddies and decent value.

I think the cereals that add a little freeze-dried raspberry/strawberry to the mix are much more my style - it adds variety and texture too.  Here though it's certainly a cereal for people who don't want a surprise in the morning - fibre and sugar and your choice of milk.

Alpro - Vegan yogurt style snacks - Blueberry & Cherry [@NLi10]

 I've been cutting back on the old dairy recently, but I'm yet to find a truly satisfying yogurt - but as Alpro make decent breakfast milks (but not for tea) so lets see what's up here.

This vegan version has plant based blueberry and cherry versions - both of the flavours are plants so shouldn't be an issue

They look like classic childhood cheap yogurts

Turns out it's essentially soy and sugar - which is fine, but surely Alpro are the almond experts - why aren't they in here.

And why such low fruit percentages?!

And what's a vegetal anyway

Looks Ok though - the lovely clear plastic is a great touch - but the label makes these a pain to recycle so I bet most just get chucked.

The consistency is a little too smooth - but would be perfect in a blended drink.  The flavour just isn't strong enough - why isn't there lovely little specks of the fruit to explode throughout?  Maybe it makes the soya go weird, who knows.

Overall though a nice, small desert.  Surely designed for the diet conscious and not me who wants to gorge on fruity goodness.  I've got loads of fresh fruit to add to the remaining ones though so a good time will be had.

Um Bongo Tropical Drink - It's back! (Iceland) By @Cinabar

People of a certain age reading this blog are about to go all nostalgic for this Um Bongo drink. It was a staple of my childhood, then it disappeared. I can remember the television advertising and most of the words and tune even though it was from several decades ago. Um Bongo Um Bong, they drink it in the Congo. 

Um Bongo has a bit of a patchy history since then; it has had temporary reappearances and then sadly got discontinued again and again. It is now back and available in Iceland, and I would suggest getting this while you can if you are a fan. If you are new to Um Bongo, give it a try and find out what all the fuss is about. Um Bongo is a mix of many tropical fruits and has a distinctive flavour, which for me is mainly pineapple, but with a lovely mix of mango, passion fruit, and mandarin too. I gave the drink a try, and it did taste like I remembered, refreshing and super fruity. It is like a liquidised tropical fruit salad, and I know the nostalgia helps with my enjoyment too. 

Reading the ingredients label, I could see that the ingredients include sucrose, an artificial sweetener, which I’m guessing used to be sugar in the old version, but with sugar taxes, etc., I’m not surprised if this is a switch. I still loved it, and I will go back for more (while it is still available). 

Northern Monk - Apple Strudel with Custard Pale Ale! [@NLi10]

 It was recently Eurovision Weekend (hooray!) so I found and saved a slightly topical beer - Appel Strudel with Custard!

Apple beer is intriguing, and with hints of vanilla?  What could possibly go wrong!

It’s a pretty cool can & idea - pudding beer is a bit like adding fruit to beer and then ramping up the sugar I guess!

And while the contest rages on in the background, I got to sipping what is quite an interesting little mix.  As a cider fan (and someone who likes vanilla) I think this worked magnificently.  It’s light enough that I could happily have gone straight into the second - but with risky flavours I only get one at a time.

I’ll add this to the list of ones to keep in stock though as it made a refreshing change and will be great in the summer

And as a bonus - the night before We’d got to see the northern lights, but localised and entirely in our back-garden! For the UK this is a little unusual - but apparently they will be back within the month too

Wonder if I can find some space beers for then?

Mr Kipling Plum Pear & Cinnamon Pies (@NLi10)

 I don’t like mince pies, so instead of clearing up all the left over ones I’ve invested in Mr Kipling’s latest offering for us non sultana/raisin people.

This has Plum, Pear and a little cinnamon (barely any really) to make some tiny jam tarts with hats

Look at them - they barely exist!

As pretty as they are there really isn’t much to them, and they are best used on a saucer next to a cup of tea.

And for that purpose they are perfect, but don’t expect to be making a trip to the kitchen especially to get more.  These won’t generate the excitement that a crispy mince pie seems to create, but it’s a nice try and something to look for in more luxury ranges.

Mr Kipling Apple, Pear & Custard Crumble Tarts @NLi10

I'm not sure whether apple & pears are a genuine dish - or this is just playing off the Cockney Rhyming Slang (for stairs)  - but as an alternate for mince pies I'll try anything once.

These have a festive box - and so are discounted already - hooray!

It's almost bordering on the Waitrose gift box territory here - with a little window on eitherside and the pies peeking through.

And the crumbliness of the top does look very inviting.

My hands in shot do make you realise that these are tiny. Canapés at best.  In fact - with the crumbly top - popping the whole thing in is probably safest - I had to tip some topping off to get a good picture.

And it's an odd mix - apple pie & custard but all in one little desert.  The pear does smooth the taste out which is great, these don't ahve the Mr Kipling aftertaste that the Bramley Apple ones have had for years.

If I could buy a big one of these - stuffed with the fruit pieces - from a farm shop then I'd be overjoyed.  As it stands these are perfectly good for after-dinner snacks with a tea, but not destined to become a seasonal favourite (although I am looking forwards to my next one already!).

Boddington's Berries - The Blackberry Conserve (@NLi10)

 It's very hard to do some flavours of Jam justice.  Take the Blueberry Jams we looked at a while ago for example - the real thing just has more flavour.

All Blackberry things have to compare to the Black Current cordials like Ribena in my head - even though they aren't really that similar.

While at Screech Owl Sanctuary in Cornwall (amazing place if you are nearby) I spotted this in the gift shop for my lunches.  A lovely, locally made, Boddington's Berries Blackberry Conserve.

They have a website - and I'm pretty sure we drove past them at some point!

And it's amazingly rich, and really high quality jam!  It went really well with crumpets, and is something I'm certainly looking forwards to eating more of. The flavour was deep and fruity - this wasn't your sugar only store jam.

A great souvenir from our time at Screech that will hopefully last well into Autumn.

Tony's Chocolonely - Oxfam Hay-on-Wye (@NLi10)

We - book people - went to Hay-On-Wye - city of books - and didn't buy any books!  In our defence it was day 0 of our holiday and there were lots of potential targets, but we resisted.  What I couldn't resist was this big bar of Tony's Chocolonely - specifically the White Raspberry Popping Candy version.

The chocolate looks like this

It's got lots of info about how it's even better than FairTrade (which was revolutionary at the time but now we can do even better!)

And here is a better pic of the Welsh view

That's our hotel to the left! I like getting good deals that come with good views.

And Tony's provides both! It's a pain to share, and it was a little hard to get the best from it without a fridge to store it  - but we kept half to take home and tried both ways.

And it's great - fruity (with seeds) and the popping candy adds a little texture too.  The chocolate is milky and smooth - I'd like to try a real choc flavour from Tony to see how good the dark gets - but this is great quality.

Overall a big fat luxurious chocolate bar - great for presents and great to sneakily pick up when out at the Oxfam book-shop.

Emily Fruit Crisps - Crunchy Red Apple (@NLi10)

 In my childhood we were often told we could have absolutely any snack food we wanted - as long as the health food shop sold it!  This led to lots of wonderful things (like Kettle Chips) and horrific things (Carob).  In the middle were things that were probably not as healthy as they should be, but still were nice enough we had them more than once.  Apple crisps were one of these.

I remember the bags being really small and the chunks inside almost being like dust - but we've come on a long way since that.

Large enough to be a 1 of your 5 a day portion, and with pretty much the least ingredients possible (apple & oil) these have to be reasonably nutritious.

And they are recognisable too - not spongy like 'dried fruit' but crispy - like crisps!  I'm not sure these would satisfy the modern child (we used to always have the green ones too but I didn't see those this time) but this modern version certainly taste and feel a lot more like apples.  Good to keep work snack cravings at bay.

Sun Maid Sour Raisin Snacks Watermelon Flavoured Golden Raisins (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

I remember having golden raisins from Sun Maid as an afternoon snack when I was very young. I used to like opening the box and pretty dumping the lot into my mouth. I'm not a heck of a lot different where my snacks are concerned these days, and have a habit of trying to fit as much of whatever I'm eating into my mouth at a time. I guess it is busyness at work that makes me do it, but also just the joy of feeling young for a short time when snacking.

I'm sure you can see from the photograph that these whole fruit Sour Raisins are Watermelon flavoured. Now I haven't eaten Sun Maid's golden raisins for many years, but I remember that they were plenty flavoursome on their own without adding another flavour to them. So I'm interested to see if watermelon complements the taste of golden raisins, or just battles against it.

The next photograph shows that on opening the bag there was plenty of golden raisins inside. On smell these Sun Maid Sour Raisin Snacks Watermelon Flavoured Golden Raisins are very strong on watermelon with a sharp sour edge. On taste these golden raisins didn't taste like any raisins I've had in the past. They are face-twistingly sour. They taste of watermelon with a faint flavour of bubblegum towards the back of the flavour, and wow are they sour!

They obviously have the texture of golden raisins, but unfortunately don't taste anything like them. Whilst I was eating these Sun Maid Sour Raisin Snacks Watermelon Flavoured Golden Raisins and may face was contorting with their sheer sourness, I couldn't help missing the original Golden Raisins I liked to eat by the box when I was a young lad. I guess I'm a little old fashioned in that respect!

Information on the packet; The 42.5g bag contains 126 calories, with traces of fat, 26.8g of sugar, and 0.03g of salt. Ingredients have no added sugar, no artificial colours or flavours, and included; golden raisins, citric acid, sunflower oil, natural flavours, vegetable juices, and Sulphur Dioxide.

Sip Shack - Sky Juice (@NLi10) @SipShack

A friend of mine has a knack for spotting oddities in his local shops and bringing them to work for me to try.  Here we have a Sip Shack - Sky Juice - which is a fairly vague, still water based drink in a stylish glass bottle.  So cool it doesn't even claim to be a specific flavour, but the fruit circling the lips gives you a good idea.

So far, so intriguing.  Yet - we've seen a lot of cool branding just be water and some sweeteners.

It says to shake it - so I did!

Nice branding & a sleek product gets you to try a lot of things once, but they are basically just water and you never go back.

Not this time though - this is a little bit awesome.

Not only does this drink have a much more sophisticated texture to it - more like a fruit juice than a water drink - the flavours are deep and interesting.  While there are certainly sweet elements there is an undeniable fruityness to it too.  Like a red fruit desert in a high-end restaurant.  This isn't a children's froot shoot then - more like a sophisticated mixer for an epic night out, or the non-alcoholic refreshment at a picnic (if we could still have picnics).

My immediate response was to message said friend and get them to see what other flavours there are.  Seems from their Facebook that they've recently shown up in the usual cash-n-carry places around Birmingham, and for what appears to be a small local firm that's a great step in the right direction.

It looks like they also sell this flavour on Amazon  so if you are looking for something to wow people and you aren't in Birmingham England then that's an option too.  This is certainly good enough to give as a present.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if they can get a few more flavours at this quality then they could become the Fentimans of the none fizzy drinks world.

Ed: Pictures updated 3rd Dec as the drink is usually much more red than the first one I bought! (I've had a fair few now!)