Carte Noir [Instant] Cappuccino

I drink a fair bit of instant coffee, and I’m not going to tell you for a second that it is nicer than fresh coffee because that’s not true. What it is though, is convenient. When I saw that this new “instant” cappuccino came in two sachets, both needing to be prepared separately, my first thought was that it sounded like rather a lot of effort for something made with the kettle.
The instructions are to make the milk part of the drink first. I added the powder to my mug and added 150ml of water. For the record 150ml of water is about a third of my mug, so I was a little surprised when the water frothed its way to the top, there were bubbles everywhere, it filled the whole thing! Amazing to watch too!


The coffee part only needed a spot of water, so I made it in an egg cup, it didn’t froth really, but it did mix up nice and easily.


I then added the coffee section to the milk and stirred.


I have to say it made one fine mug of cappuccino, lovely rich fresh tasting coffee with a milky aftertaste. It wasn't like drinking pure bubbles, it had the texture of gently frothed milk. It was totally enjoyable, both in flavour, and surprisingly easy to make as everything mixed so quickly and simply. This is a lovely product and one I hope to see in the shops very soon.

Final Pretz Round-up {by @Nli10} [Pizza /Double Chocolate/ Apple / Shrimp](Various stores)

Previous Pretz Posts – Group1: Tomato/Coffee/Corn
Previous Pretz Posts – Group2: Salad/Butter/Curry

Ah Pretz.

I've had a carrier bag of these sitting around now for what seems like ages. It seemed a good idea at the time to grab 10 or so boxes and try all the different flavours to see what they were like. Over time I've come to realise my folly - even the odd flavoured ones are compulsive eating which means that once I start I keep on eating them until way past the point at which I should have stopped.

Only 4 remain - and it's quite a balanced meal as far as Pretz goes.

For starters I have the apple Pretz. Oddly these are in a resealable package and much thinner than the regular Pretz. I think this may be a variation on the styles to reflect that apples are something you might want to eat out and about. They are delightfully crunchy and have a hint of cinnamon too them making the experience like eating cold, weakly flavoured apple pies in a stick form. The smell of the bag wasn't great but I still ate 5 or 6 to get the flavour down and as usual by this point I was quite happy to keep munching away. Not as classic as the Tomato flavour (from a previous review and still my favourite and best).

Next up was the Pizza flavour (or za for any scrabble players out there). I had been expecting a cheese and tomato flavour for these, and I don't really like cheese. A quick check on the back revealed that this was a chilli pizza flavour snack - suggesting spicy cheese. In reality it's just a flat spicy flavour with maybe a bit of the familiar pretz onion taste about it. Not as nice as the curry flavour ones, but still very much edible.

Third up is the pack that I regretted buying. Shrimp. To me this is like considering sea-monkeys as a legitimate food source. Things that eat shrimps are food, in the same way that things that eat land based insects are food. I have been trying to tell myself that it's just their way of packaging up prawn cocktail - those lovely pink bags that Walkers sell and I happily eat because they are essentially just thousand island dressing - and not a little box of sea-bugs Pretz. In a rush to head out for the day and get this trial over with I opened the package and took a big bite. It tastes like a fish market, all prawns and little bits of unidentifiable fish all mingling together. Due to the nature of Pretz I managed to finish the stick, but have no intention of ever eating a second one. Not as repulsive as the corn flavour, but really not that far off.

I immediately opened the remaining pudding flavour of double choc. These are ok, but chocolate is really one of those flavours that doesn't work synthetically. These are similar to the other double Pretz and have a hint of coffee about them. So a nice end to the meal really - I ate a few to rid myself of the fish.

Overall I will probably buy more Pretz - but I will stick to the sweet flavours like apple, and those that actually make sense as breadsticks like overall champion Tomato.

by @Nli10

Keltic Whiskied Ale [By Spectre] (Morrison's)

Just a quick look on Google showed this is not the only whisky ale on the market. At 7% volume, 1488 is claimed to be a unique brew from the Tullibardine Distillery, Perthshire, Scotland. I guess it’s not unique anymore. I’ve seen video clips of big tough looking men dropping short glasses of whisky into pints of beer before. I’ve always wondered what it may taste like. Now I like beer, as regular readers may know, but I’ve never been too keen on spirits. I like a shot of Rum and Black at Christmas time, if Cinabar permits me… and when pigs dance across a blue moonlit sky!
My usual apprehension hit me before opening the bottle. Tough guys with short glasses tapping their noses as they down their whisky fuelled pints aside, this sounds like a downright bad idea. Spirit chasers between pints are a quick way to get completely bladdered (I should know, I lost a first date from it once… I’ll tell you when I know you better), but mixing a spirit with a pint sounds like a quick way to sticking your head down a toilet. At the very least drinking large amounts of whisky spiked ale should give you a slurred Scottish accent by the end of the evening. Perhaps that should be a warning on the back of the bottle? *WARNING – MAY MAKE YOU SICK WITH A SCOTTISH ACCENT*.
Okay, okay… I’m babbling, I’ll open the bottle. Expecting a strong aroma of whisky on opening, I must admit I was slightly disappointed as no spirited whiff assaulted my nostrils. On tasting the brew I bathed in a good strong ale taste, but where was the whisky? At no point during the drinking of this pint did I feel like losing my underwear, donning a tartan skirt and charging around a misty, blood and limb strewn field, whilst waving around a claymore and shouting “FREEDOM!!” If you close your eyes and imagine really hard you could believe that this bottle of ale may have stood on a shelf next to a bottle of whisky at some point before drinking. At 4.5% volume, I take it this is the slightly wussy version of the previously mentioned 1488. I’ve decided to hunt this scarier sounding whisky ale down. I’ll let you know when I pick one up, paint my face blue and find out if my underpants can fly off the top of a tall building!

By Spectre

Walnut Classic Whip Dessert (Marks and Spencer)

This is the last of the new desserts in M&S that I have found, and one that I was looking forward to trying the most. It is a pretty layered dessert mixed with a chocolate sections and white chocolate. The thing about proper Walnut Whips is that they may well have the name of a nut in their title, but in reality it doesn’t do much more than decorate the top!
As expected under the lid there was indeed a half walnut chunk adorning the top. The chocolate part of this pudding consists of sauce and it was rich, sweet and full of flavour. It is quite a thick sauce, with a good strong flavour. The white mousse underneath had a lovely taste, creamy vanilla tones, white chocolate and the flavour of mallow. Absolutely lovely, and rather like a light airy version of the filling of a regular Walnut Whip. Underneath this white layer is another layer of chocolate sauce, so that your parting mouthful delivers a scrummy cocoa hit. This is a fabulous dessert, and my favourite of all those I’ve tried.

Ferrero Maracuja Yogurette [Passion fruit] Chocolate (Germany)

Well I would like to start with a big thank you to Franzi from Tasty-Limited-Edition for sending me this as part of a chocolate swap. I was totally overwhelmed by all the fabulous goodies she sent me, and am looking forward to writing about them over the coming weeks. Thank you!
This particular fruity chocolate is made by Ferrero, but it is not one I’ve seen before even in the import shops here in the UK. The milk chocolate coating is rippled, and has a decent thickness and flavour. It is quite sweet tasting, creamy and milky and complements the filling well. The Yoghurt section has quite an intense flavour, very fruity, but a sharp taste mixed with a creamy yoghurt base with a bitter edge. It is a rather complex flavour for a filling, but is mellowed perfectly by the chocolate coating, and was an absolutely lovely taste sensation.
It is always nice to see fruit fillings made with tropical fruits, particularly in Summer! Although if this is a Limited Edition in the range, it makes me wonder what the regular flavours are?