Robinsons Squash’d (Apple & Blackcurrant) [By @Cinabar]

Over the years cordial bottles have become smaller, with the product within becoming more and more concentrated. Less is more so to speak. This is a good thing for the environment as it means less plastic is used for the same number of drinks, and good for storage space too. Robinsons have taken this drink shrinkage to the next level, with their new Squash’d. The new container fits in the palm of your hand, and yet still provides twenty drinks. I have to say it is very impressive, and the new packaging also looks quite funky and different.

All you do is pour yourself a glass of water, or pour some water into a clear plastic bottle, and squeeze the concentrate into it until the drink has colour. It was quite easy to squeeze, and the drink became coloured very quickly, without much addition of concentrate at all. I took my first sip, and it didn’t taste strong, not because there wasn’t enough cordial, more because it hadn’t mixed up as well as pouring the cordial in first. It was easily fixed as I gave the glass a little swirl, and the flavour developed nicely and evened out. This would be easier in a bottle as you could put the lid on and tip the drink up and shake it easily.
The drink itself tastes exactly like the full sized cordial, despite not taking much concentrate to do the job. I like the way you just add a quick squish to get the flavour, and enjoyed the drink. The blackcurrant is lovely and bitey with its sharp berry taste, but sweetened with the softer apple flavour. It is a traditional combination, but it works so well.
This new style bottle is something I think would be perfect for holidays, as it is doesn’t take up much room and can easily transform hotel tap water into a refreshing drink.

By Cinabar

Hot Cross Bun Chocolates (@ThorntonsChocs WH Smiths) [By @Cinabar]

I was having a look at what new goodies are out for the season in Thornton's and there i a giant chocolaet egg shaped like a hot cross bun, and it proclaims to be hot cross bun favoured too. Although tempted to purchase the huge egg - I managed to resist. Later in the day I was in WH Smiths when I noticed that there had six miniature Thorntons chocolates in a box for £3, which seemed more appropriate for a tasting session! Yes - I did want the bigger egg, but the small chocolates would have to suffice for now! They seemed a more acceptable impulse buy. :-D
I was a little worried at first that these chocolates might be hollow, like the bigger egg, but was relieved to discover they were filled with a spiced truffle. The filling is darker in colour, but the coating is a milk chocolate, with a white chocolate decoration creating the criss-cross on top. The milk chocolate is quite thick, and feels substantial when you bite in. The centre is lovely and silky and rich in texture too, but you’d expect no less from Thorntons.
The flavour is perfect for me, as the taste is spicy, with a good underlying flavour of cinnamon, making its ways to the forefront. The sweet tones of chocolate are not overpowered by the spices, they work in unison, and it does taste like it is hot cross bun flavoured. They are osmething a bit different for the Easter market, I am loving some of the novelty chocolaets from Thorntons at the minute. I can see these chocs being a favourite of mine, and I’m going to have to stock up on some more for my post christmas cinnamon hit, because after easter all the spiced chocolates will likely disappear again until the winter months. :-(

By Cinabar

Bah Humbug Christmas Beer & Chilli Challenge [review by @NLi10]

Merry Christmas!  No - this isn't an elaborate April fools joke designed to catch you unawares. You see there was a big public health campaign in January to promote and encourage alcohol awareness by not drinking in January. It was pretty successful, and I decided that it would be inappropriate to drink and review this Christmas present until February.  I left it until early March as I have to be in the right mood to drink at home these days, and the added twist meant that I wanted a witness to the event.  The present consisted of a fruity beer and some chilli chocolate.

Now I'm the last person on the team who should be reviewing specialty beers. Both Spectre and CaptainKindling are experts in this field and have lots of experience. Even cinabar who shys away from these kind of drinks has probably had more varieties of beer than me.

I trust that my boss (who this gift package was off) knows his stuff, and it was a nice fruity beer, but that's as far as I feel competent to review it.  Me finishing the bottle is recommendation enough.

The reason for this particular combination is a trip to a restaurant called Shanghai1930 in Oxford that I often recount as the time I ordered two pints of beer.  You see there was a beef and chilli combo on the menu that I really, really, fancied and it came with a free beer. The meal was no more expensive than the other items on the menu and I thought that at the very worst I'd just drink a bit of the beer and then leave or share the rest.  When the meal came it had chilies on top - dried and stacked in neat layers - and was quite literally the hottest meal I'd ever eaten up to that point. I practically downed the beer (much to the amusement of Ms. NLi10) and half way through ordered a second in anticipation of the future burning. In fairness I only needed 1 1/2 pints to cope with the heat and then drank the rest once I'd finished. It's still one of my favourite meals I've had and we keep meaning to go back.

This resulted in me receiving beer and chilies for Christmas and me relishing the repeat experience.  Note that Duchess is not only posing in The background but is doing so on the WiFi board because when they get weighed they get treats! 

First up was the grey chili chocolate, or as the package called it mild. I could not detect the chili, but Ms. NLi10 could. Knowing that eating four whole bits of chocolate is more than I'd normally do I let her finish this one. Beer not required.

The yellow or medium chili was next and this is my Nandos heat level of choice. I could tell this had chilie in it. My partner only had one bite of this as she said it was uncomfortably hot and had a sip of the beer, I too had a sip, but more to see how it interacted with the chili oil. It cooled it but not as well as I'd remembered, but then this is a Christmassy real ale, not a quencher. 

Medium hot was orange which I took as a good sign. I had to eat all of this one. Turns out it's noticeably hotter than the last, but not even that challenging.  I'd call this one enjoyable hot as I'd happily eat squares of this at work. I tend to buy the dark chocolate chili so this was softer and more chewy than crumbly. I drank some of the beer and again it cooled it but not completely which was nice.  No problems finishing it.

I'd worried about the max strength chili for a while before eating these. I'd presumed they knew this was a gag gift and that most people would never see a second pack. Because of this id presumed that the chili smell from the package was predominantly from this one. Turns out that it wasn't that much hotter than the last, but it did build a little.  I'd say this is below the montezuma chili chocolate that I couldn't finish, and almost on par with the FYI chili choc that I quite enjoyed.  Beer was generally consumed at this point because I was enjoying it. The whole experience gave me tingly lips as you'd expect but by no means blew my socks off.

I think that I've just gotten used to chili heat over the years. I'd much rather have chili heat than a Vindaloo style explosion and my scoville point must have shifted towards the higher end of the scale. Overall an enjoyable way to have beer and chocolate and a nice idea for a present for anyone looking to warm up a winter evening.

Topcorn Heat 'n Sweet flavour #topcorntribe @MetcalfesSkinny [By @SpectreUK]

Cinabar is not a big fan of savoury popcorn, so when we were very kindly sent these to try as well as some of the flavours mentioned below, it fell to me to give Heat 'n Sweet a try. This seemed an ideal opportunity to me as I'm always looking for healthy savoury snacks that don't add much more to my ever increasing waistline and taste great without the boredom of healthy foods that aren't tasty with it. Now let's face it in life generally if it tastes great, whatever it is, the chances are it's bad for you! And so with this thought stuck in my mind I popped open the packet. There was an instant popcorn smell with a sweet and paprika spicy odour. This was a good strong smell that bolstered my confidence for the taste test. Grabbing a decent handful of popcorn and dumping it liberally into my waiting mouth, I tasted a popcorn sweetness to start with which was reminiscent of caramel. This sweet flavour was quickly followed by a paprika and chilli spice mixed with a hearty lemon tang and finished with cumin. After a few more mouthfuls I noticed that the medium heat of this popcorn flavour had built up on the quiet making my nose a little sweaty and it had started to run a bit from the chilli. Wiping my nose to save embarrassment in the work's canteen, I polished off this rather spicy sweet and moreish popcorn packet. I'd definitely have these again and look forward to tasting the Wasabi Glaze flavour. One last thought though, if I was Julian Metcalfe from Pret A Manger fame, I would perhaps think about changing the name of these fine Heat 'n Sweet popcorn to Sweet Chilli and Lemon flavour!

Information on the packet;
25g packet with 112 calories, with 5g of sugar and 4.3g of fat. Ingredients included; popped Butterfly corn, vegetable oil, sugar, rice flour, salt, onion powder, paprika powder, yeast powder, lemon fruit powder, maltodextrin, chilli powder, cayenne extract, ground cumin, garlic powder, natural colour; paprika, and black pepper extract.

Other flavours available are; Sweet 'n Salt, Chocolate Clouds, Sweet Cinnamon Spice, Banana Smoothie, Spiced Chai Latte, Candy Floss and Honeymoon Sweet.

By Spectre

Paper Duck, Victoria Street, Wolverhampton - Restaurant Review [By @Cinabar]

There is an interesting new restaurant opened in Wolverhampton, where the branch of Pizza Hut used to be in the town centre on Victoria Street. Although there is another Paper Duck restaurant in Kent, which is a buffet, this branch seems related but distinctly different, for a start you order from the menu. The menu is also the paper placemat on the table, which is kind of cool too.

The restaurant is essentially a mix of different regions, from Chinese to Japanese, and it describes itself as a noodle bar, but it offers a good range of rice dishes too! The place certainly looks the part, there are benches to sit on, comfy chairs too, but unlike Wagamama the seating is a bit more private, and the decorations on the walls is fabulous and modern. There is honestly nowhere else quite like it in our city.
The menu is pleasing and simple to understand, for main courses there are two main sections, Rice n Noodles and the Noodle Soup, which you then follow through like a bit of a flow chart. For example;

Step 1 - I picked thick Udon noodles from the selection of rice and noodles
Step 2 - I choose my stir-fry, and went for Singapore Special (shrimps, ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms, corn and chillies)
Step 3 - time to pick a sauce, and I went for Black Bean

From this, loads of food arrived, I had a large plate heaped with goodies. The noodles were thick, soft and fun to eat. They were chunky and substantial, but a bit fiddly with the old chop sticks! The stir-fry itself was perfect. The sauce had a rich flavour, but all the elements of the Singapore Special shone through. The peppers were fresh and had a bit of crunch, as did the onions. The shrimps gave a gentle saltiness to the mix, and the ham had a slight sweetness. Every mouthful was different, and the mix of textures was pure heaven. I couldn’t get enough of it. My mum opted for sweet and sour prawns with egg fried rice. She thoroughly enjoyed her meal too, the prawns were succulent, the sauce was well balanced and not too sweet and the rice was perfectly fluffy.

We were both very impressed in terms of the balance of flavours, and the freshness of the ingredients. The speed at which we had been served up till then was also good too. We had a look at the dessert menu, and both opted for the Oreo Cookie Cream Sundae. What followed was the only negative part of the meal, and that was a slight delay in being served. The restaurant had got a bit busier, but wasn’t full, and we had to ask twice to remind them about our puddings. When they came though, they were worth the wait! The sundaes were big, with lots of ice cream, chocolate sauce and crumbled biscuits, all topped with a wafer - heaven!

It is so nice to see a new restaurant like this opening up in Wolverhampton. It is something a bit different, and the food quality is top notch. I’m hoping the delay in the puddings was just down to teething problems because if they sort that out it will be the perfect place to go for your noodle craving!

Our main course (at lunch time) were £6.99 each and the desserts were £3.99 so I can’t argue with the value either. Definitely a place I’ll be going back to, and hopefully somewhere which will bring people into the centre.

By Cinabar