Walkers Max Double Crunch XXL Chicken & Chorizo (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

Okay, so Cinabar ordered two different multipacks of Walkers new Max Double Crunch. These ridged crisps have twice the crunch, which I'm not sure is a good thing if my old teeth won't get through them. We divided up the more interesting sounding flavours and I'm starting with Walkers Max Double Crunch XXL Chicken & Chorizo.

Now I'm a little confused where the XXL comes in… I'm not sure if the seasoning was made from a really fat chicken or they are just really big crisps. Maybe the double crunch refers to only two really big crisps in the packet? Shaking the packet before opening suggests there is more than two crisps in the bag. I guess there's only one way to find out…

On opening the packet the crisps inside were a little thicker and had a deeper ridge than the usual brand. There was an aroma of paprika and spicy chorizo from the orange tinted crisps inside. On taste these very crunchy crisps have a spicy chorizo flavour to start with, an extra spice from the paprika and the chicken joins in towards the end of the flavour. These Walkers Max Double Crunch XXL Chicken & Chorizo are very moreish and the packet didn't last long. These crisps are even bigger on flavour, and I found myself wanting the second bag in the multipack straight after this packet!

Information on the packet;
The 27g packet contains 132 calories, 6.7g of fat, 0.3g of sugar, and 0.33g of salt. Please see photograph for ingredients.

Muller Light - Gin & Tonic Inspired Yoghurts (Ocado) By @Cinabar

There have been a lot of new flavours from Muller over the years but these Gin & Tonic ones really do seem quite different. I was amused to see that the the new pack has a banner down the side that states they are the official yoghurt of British Athletics, which is a bit of a weird choice for athletes who presumably aren’t drinking, or perhaps that is the point, they have this instead. Not sure it would have worked that well as a Dry January thing, but never mind. :-D

There are two flavours in the pack Gin & Tonic and Pink Gin and Elderflower. The first yoghurt I tried was the Gin & Tonic, which was a pale cream colour without bits. The flavour was quite delicate, citrus like with a nice taste of tonic. I found it to work remarkably well, and it was a sweet and refreshing flavour, a proper palette cleanser.

The elderflower yoghurt was also a pale cream in colour, I think I had just assumed it would be more pink. There is a vague hint of pink, but I’d still describe it overall as cream in colour. The flavour was still rather refreshing, and it had a lovely delicate taste. There are tones of floral elderflower, a nice sweetness but still that refreshing tonic aftertaste. I liked this yoghurt, again it was something a bit different.
These new Muller Light - Gin & Tonic Inspired Yoghurts are an unusual flavour combo. They manage to have delicate flavours with a thick and creamy base. I think these are summery yoghurts, with lovely fresh flavours. I don’t buy Muller that often, but these were a rather fab find. So nice to see an unusual flavour that works.

Doritos Collisions - Honey Glazed Ribs / Lemon Blast (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Did I mention we had a sort out of our Foodstuff Finds crisp cupboard and found interesting things waiting to be tried? Spectre told me to stop buying crisps and that we should investigate what is in the cupboard. I think it is a good idea, but still accidentally ordered more crisps on our online order for this week, it is not my fault if there are new Walkers flavours coming out!
The bag in question today is these Doritos Collisions - Honey Glazed Ribs / Lemon Blast. There are two flavours mixed in the bag and each Doritos chip is one or the other, not both if you see what I mean. You can see a slight difference in the colour, but I quite like to pick them up at random.
The first flavour I had was the darker colour Honey Glazed Ribs, these were spot on. The flavour was a little spicy, a little sweet and had a good tangy taste. They weren’t revolutionary, but they were tasty. The Lemon Blast section were the paler ones in colour but they were very much full flavoured. The lemon was strong acidic and sharp, and very different for a Dorito. I like them, I thought they were something a bit unusual and they kept the bag interesting. I think I would have been happy to have a whole bag of these, as they were so fresh, acidic and different. I think these might be a bit too different for some though as the flavour was so strong they tasted less like Doritos.
I have to admit I’m looking forward to the other interesting bags of crisps we have in our cupboard, besides I need to make some space for all the new varieties I accidentally ordered too….

Huel - initial order + granola (@NLi10)

In early Jan I bought a sample of the Huel drink that acts like a more science based version of Slim Fast.  You have the drink for lunch and that's your nutrition and calories sorted.  As it was decent enough (and my sandwich shop at work closed) I decided do do a months trial and got a box.

The box cost £40 with the referral code from a friend (shared here for you too) which gave me £10 off and he gets the same.  I'm sharing his again not mine as I'm still not convinced I'll use all this!

I got a free t-shirt in the brown envelope (presumably so they know what size I am and can target the advertising appropriately) and a smokey shaker with my wicked black powder.  We'll deal with that another day though - as I want to talk about the cereal first.

So far so good, plain simple branding and a lovely foil sealed bag means you get what they intend you to get.

And there are an awful lot of nutrients in here - how can this be anything other than a great healthy breakfast - right?

Decent grain size and a mix of the Huel pellets and actual grain is promising too.

It just tastes really nothingy.  There is a big feeling like you are eating the dry powder with some bites and the crunch of the cereal feels off too.  Maybe I'm just used to the Lizzi granola and some of the stores own ones that rely on seeds and pizzazz to make me reach for those over the crunchy nuts?  Who knows.

Flooding it with the (almond) milk helps, as does adding fresh fruit (I did order the fruit version of the granola too but they gave me a credit instead of sending it later).  Its still not quite as I'd thought it'd be.  I expected the box to be far too small and to absolutely demolish it within a week.  Now I suspect there will be more than enough for my Huel using friends to try some, and give it back for me to finish.

It's not a £5 a box cereal by any stretch, and compared to the (spoilers - really quite enjoyable) milkshakes this is a massive miss.  If I do end up using my store credit on a follow up order it won't be on this.  For die-hard fans of the brand only.

Hawkes True Roots Alcoholic Ginger Beer (The Bell Pub) By @SpectreUK

So we decided to go for a pub meal to celebrate Cinabar's birthday last Sunday. We recently found out just before Christmas that The Bell at Belbroughton is a lovely place to eat out at. The quality of the food is excellent, the price is not too high, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and the service is fairly quick. At a pub I usually ask what draft ale or stout they have to go with whatever meal I'm having, such as my ribeye steak at the Bell. However I was looking through the drinks menu before the waitress came over and I saw this Hawkes True Roots Alcoholic Ginger Beer. I figured it would help with my digestion. Besides, I do like a good alcoholic ginger beer…

This Hawkes True Roots Alcoholic Ginger Beer was brewed from natural ginger and mandarins. Gluten free, and 4% volume, it was described on the skull-faced bottle as 'bold and spicy'. It was served to me over ice with a slice of lime in a half pint glass, so I could keep topping it up from the 500ml bottle at my leisure. This ginger beer smelt pretty fruity of mandarin and a little citrus from the added lime, with a bite of ginger at the end of the aroma. On taste it was smooth and slightly sweet from the mandarin to start with, a touch of citrus from the lime bobbing around with the ice, and then a warming spicy ginger bite to finish into the aftertaste. I found this Hawkes True Roots Alcoholic Ginger Beer very tasty, as well as fruity and spicy. It washed down my steak meal very well indeed, and of course... it was good for my digestion!