Hickory’s Pale Ale (Hickory’s Smokehouse @Hickorys_) By @SpectreUK

My mom has her Birthday just before mine. We decided to have a meal out at the Hickory's Smokehouse in Wallheath, near Birmingham. After being seated and reading the extensive menu, I decided on the Black and Blue Butt Steak, whilst trying not to think too much regarding the 'butt' part of my meal. Sirloin steak in the UK is called Butt steak in America, so it should be okay.

 

I ordered the Hickory's Pale Ale to wash down my steak, Stilton cheese, bacon and maple syrup meal, with chips. There was a citrus hoppy aroma from my pint when it arrived at the table. Deep caramel brown in colour my pale ale was 5% in volume.

There was an initial smooth sweetness from the caramel malt followed by pale malt, and then citrus hops, which were crisp and bitter, and then a light kiss of herbal hops. The sweet caramel malts and pale malt mixed with the bitter hops and washed around my mouth into the aftertaste.

This was a lovely beer, which went well with my huge thick paprika spiced and Stilton cheese covered steak. I had Alabama Fudge Cake to finish off my meal just to max out the calories after my light lunch, for a super chocolaty, super tasty, super lovely Birthday meal.

Fruit Salad Ice Lollies (Iceland) By @Cinabar

With the heat this week it shouldn’t be any surprise that I have another ice cream review. It is the weather for it, and knowing Britain it may be the only week of hot weather we get all year. Next up is the retro sweets Fruit Salad turned into ice lollies. I used to love these sweets as a kid and couldn’t wait to try out the ice lolly version. The sweets are a mix of pineapple and raspberry and these lollies mimic that with a raspberry sorbet and a pineapple ice cream intertwined on the stick.

I should say it was hot when I bought these and as as such the pretty shape got a little melted before I could get them in the freezer. The flavour was spot on though, it tasted just like the Fruit Salad sweets. They are fruity fun and full of flavour, one of the most refreshing ice creams I have had this year, I loved them. I like Twisters, but it strikes me these are so much better. The raspberry zing is super refreshing. That lovely Fruit Salad flavour is just shining through, these Fruit Salad Ice Lollies are how you keep cool. Just remember to keep them cool till you get them in the freezer to fully appreciate their shape!

KitKat Chunky - Cookies Dough (@NLi10)

 I'd not seen these before but I wanted a little treat, and I decided to give it a go.  Basically an Oreo's KitKat!  Nestle do seem to use the Chunky range to give the UK the flavours.

Straight out of the fridge due to the heat - and it looks like it survived it's trip in tact.

It's a little hard to see all the layers, but it's indeed a cookie dough style paste on top of the usual wafers.

And it's decent - it's not a strong flavour so I doubt it's going to cause many people to declare it their favourite.  It's more similar to the Hershey style than the Oreo style too, but it does work with the milk chocolate.  I'd be happy to keep eating after the three chunks, these don't seem as filling as when they first appeared, but as a little afternoon snack on a hot day it was very welcome.

Sour Patch Kids Cola (Co-op) By @SpectreUK

I've previously written about quite a few Sour Patch Kids sweets before, and I've tried mostly good and only one that I wasn't so fussed about. Our friend in America has mentioned that I've left his most favourite Sour Patch Kids until last; Sour Patch Kids Cola. So I'm rather looking forward to these.

It mentions on the front of the packet that these Sour Patch Kids Cola are "sour then sweet". On opening the packet there was a sweet traditional cola smell from the bag. There was a multitude of little kids shaped gummy sweets inside which were cola coloured. 

  On taste these Sour Patch Kids Cola have quite a sour kick. I could instantly see why our American friend likes these cola flavoured sour sweets so much. They have a sour kick and then a sweet traditional cola flavour to finish. I'd definitely have these Sour Patch Kids Cola again. These are some of the best cola sweets I've tasted. They are seriously moreish and I found myself popping one into my mouth after another.

Information on the packet;
The 160g bag has 78 calories per 8 sweets (24g) with less than 0.1g of fat, 15g of sugar, and less than 0.01g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Funny Feet Ice Creams (Iceland) By @Cinabar

Another hot day requires another ice cream review, I’m desperately trying to keep cool. This review is a retro ice lolly brought back out again, Funny Feet. I used to love these when I was a kid, I even remember my brother and I collecting lollipop sticks and sending them off to get a Funny Feet and Friends joke book, so it was a proper nostalgic trigger when I saw these in Iceland.

Now the weather is hot, very hot, so please excuse the slightly melted toes on my lolly, I tried to get them into the freezer as quickly as I could, but my word it is hot here in the UK. Don’t forget we are a country without air conditioning because if we could control the temperature what would we complain about?

The flavour was a sweet creamy strawberry ice cream, just like I remember from my childhood. The flavour isn’t too strong just sweet and creamy strawberry. I loved the shape of the lollies, it made me smile with nostalgia. I can’t wait to try some of the other retro favourites that are being relaunched.