Pepsi MAX Ginger (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

You may think this is weird, but I don't really like Pepsi and haven't had it for years. You possibly think from that I prefer Cola, but I don't really like that either (asides fizzy cola bottles). Don't get me wrong as I can drink either, but I'm just not fussed by them. There are so many other soft fizzy drinks out there that I just avoid them on the shelves in the supermarket. I don't dislike them as much as Dr. Pepper, as to me that just tastes like shampoo (not that I drink shampoo on a regular basis, but it probably tastes better). I prefer fruitier fizzy drinks, like tropical, limeade or orange. I'd prefer to drink Pepsi or Cola over cherryade (blurgh!), but that's just me. My favourite fizzy drink asides sweet lemonade shandy is ginger beer, as you may have noticed from previous blogs. This is where the Pepsi comes in with new Pepsi MAX Ginger…

There was a whiff of ginger on opening the bottle that was quickly followed by Pepsi. To Cinabar's Mom and I on closer smells of the bottle (yes, we do that as bloggers!), we could smell the almost syrupy sweetness of Pepsi MAX and ginger in equal parts. To Cinabar all she could smell was ginger. On taste all Cinabar could taste was ginger and forgot all about the Pepsi MAX side of the drink. Both Cinabar's Mom and I agreed that the Pepsi and ginger had mixed well together. To me there is an initial taste of ginger, not fiery like some ginger beverages, as the Pepsi MAX quickly mixes its syrupy sweetness in to the flavour cutting the fire from the ginger and cooling the drink down. Not a scary one for kids, but certainly good for a ginger starter before moving onto the real nose hair ticklers out there. One I'd surprisingly buy again, as I did enjoy this drink and wouldn't be amiss wondering about town with one for refreshment in my pocket.

McCoys Chip Shop Curry Sauce Chips Crisp (Asda) By @Cinabar

It has been a few months since I wrote about McCoys Chips Chip Shop Salt and Vinegar Crisps, but I still remember how good they were. They had a good dose of vinegar and a lovely zingy flavour.
On a recent trip to Asda I spotted another flavour in the range, these Chip Shop Curry Sauce Chips. Now I have to admit that I don’t tend to eat chip shop curry sauce (as in from a chippy) very often, I usually avoid those kind of sauces on my chips. I don’t go for anything more than ketchup and occasionally mayo. Having said that I do like the curry sauce flavour, I guess I’m just a bit traditional.
Anyway I opened up the bag and remembers how cool the shape of these crisps are, they are designed to look a little like actual chips. The seasoning on them looked heavy and had a good aromatic sent, they were fairly orangey in colour, which meant hopefully the flavour would be strong.
The flavour was outstanding, the curry sauce was spot on. There was a nice (but not hot) flavour of spices, and creaminess with a sweetness to them. They were very moreish and very enjoyable to munch on. I like the fluffy but crunchy texture, and felt it worked well with the favour. Mostly though I had no idea curry sauce could taste this good. I’m going to have to have to get myself a pot of curry sauce from our local chip shop and see if it is in the same league, because eI think I may be a curry sauce convert.

Degusta Box March 2017 (@DegustaboxUK) By @Cinabar

The lovely folks from Degusta said they would send us one of their latest boxes of food finds for us to try. This is part of a monthly subscription box, so that you can have regular treats delivered.
This was quite exciting for us at Foodstuff Finds, as you can imagine we love the idea of new and interesting things to tuck into. Opening it up and discovering the contents was fun, here are some of the highlights.
We had the two new Dairy Milk Oreo bars, I’ve previously tried (and throughly enjoyed) the Mint edition, but this is the first time I have seen the Peanut Butter version, so expect that to be reviewed very soon.
Spectre’s eyes lit up when he saw that there were two cans of cider in the box, both of which he’d not tried before. He also picked up the Piper’s Cider Vinegar and Sea Salt crisps saying that these would be the perfect accompaniment to an evening of Cider “testing”! I’ve had Piper’s crisps before and we’ve always enjoyed them, so I may have to hope he shares!
There was a recipe in the box for chicken that used both the Heinz Seriously Good Mediterranean sauce and Maldon smoked sea salt, which I am going to have to give a try. I liked that they included this, I’m not sure I’ve ever use smoked sea salt before so it will encourage a little experimental cooking.
The Weetabix On The Go drinks will be good for me to have a quick liquid breakfast on my train journey to work. I’ve not seen the berry flavoured one before.
There are also some sweets (jelly beans, and chocolate eclairs) and a weird sounding jelly drink, coconut milk milkshake and a raw cocoa bar. All of which I’m looking forward to trying.
I have to give this Degusta Box a big thumbs up. I think the most impressive thing was that there were a lot of things we hadn’t tried before, which is quite something as we constantly have our eyes open for new and interesting products. We are looking forward to reviewing some of our stash on Foodstuff Finds over the next few weeks.

Hippeas - organic chickpea puffs (herbs//fajita) by @NLi10

Here we have a couple of big, sharing size bags of crisps that we picked up at the Webbs Garden Centre visit last weekend.  The special feature of these is that they are made of chickpea and not potatoes or wheat (and are both certified Gluten Free and Vegan).



Variety is always good, so we picked up a couple to try.  There were 5 flavours, and I assumed we'd taken two that would provide a good view of the range (I'd wanted a vinegar based flavour, but that was not to be). There are also Smoke, Pepper & Cheese flavours.



First up we have 'in herbs we trust' which follows the modern trend of having slightly more interesting names for flavours while not really describing what is going on.  We all understand what herb flavoured crisps would taste like though - oregano essentially - and these taste like that.  Like a pizza topping, without the cheese or tomato and very nice to boot.  The texture here is a lot more crunchy and crispy than the Romanian crisps of disappointment, and these are satisfying savoury snacks.  My partner said that these edged ahead of the two flavours for her affections, but that both were very, very good.



I on the other hand preferred these - the 'far out fajita' flavouring which has more of a Mexican feel to the herbs involved.  Chilli, paprika and cumin sounds like it'd be quite a powerful combination, but this is not the case.  These are mellow and just warming enough to be eaten safely without the need for quenching - and they don't suffer from the horrible flavour dust everywhere of the more artificial brands.

Overall I wasn't a massive fan, my partner will eat the majority of these.  Both were very nice crisps, and will sit nicely as afternoon watching TV bites, just something I'd not tend to snack on extensively or choose myself in the store.

I found the chickpea puffs themselves were less enticing to me that the Holland & Barrett stocked equivalents where the texture just drew me in.  I guess it's just a personal taste thing.

Not only are these very well crafted, quality snacks, but they are also very ethically minded and are proud of their hippie roots and credentials.

All 4 One Lager (ALDI) By @SpectreUK

It's not often I fancy a lager. I prefer to sup ale for the variety of malts and hops that make them in my opinion a tastier and more rewarding drink to saver. Lager was for when I was younger to see how many I could drink from the cheap tap in the pub and to see how loud I could burp to make my friends laugh. I think what I'm trying to say is that lager usually blows me up. Cinabar and her mom would refute this saying just about any type of food or drink blows me up, and I'd tend to agree. Yet lager especially, and especially lager shandy, but that's another day, blows me up like a hot air balloon!

This is a four-hop lager called All 4 One from The Great British Brewery. It was created especially for ALDI, from a guest brewer called the Hogs Back Brewery. The label boasts grassy Germanic hops and also citrusy fruity hops, but doesn't list them, as I'd have been interested to know what they were. This 4.5% lager had a pleasing fizz on opening. I could see what they meant on the label. There is grassiness to the smell with herby undertones and a touch of citrus. This deep golden lager bucked excitedly on pouring into my waiting beer glass.

I'll certainly never say that a lager can't be very tasty again. On initial sup this lager brims with flavour. There are four hops in here that are battling against each other to get to first place across the finishing line of my tastebuds. There is the herby grassiness in the lead quickly caught up by the citrus and fruitiness snapping at it's heals with added bitterness. The fruitiness does an honour lap right through the aftertaste. Not too fizzy too, so Cinabar can be relieved, as only the usual amounts of wind will be escaping tonight!