Milky Way Magic Stars Popping Candy - Dairy Free (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Everyday is a school day, so for those that didn’t know, Tiger Nuts are a tuber plant like potatoes. Why am I telling you this? Well, it was on the back of the packet of this Milky Way Magic Stars Popping Candy Dairy Free chocolate bar. The dairy substitute in the bar, if you hadn’t already guessed, is Tiger Nuts. I don’t know my way around milk substitutes very well, but they are usually things like almond, so this is something a bit different.

I unwrapped the bar and, although it was clearly milk chocolate, it did look a little darker than you would expect. The chocolate is nicely moulded with stars in the design. I broke a piece off and you see some specs which must be the popping candy.

I gave it the taste test and have to say I was impressed. It isn’t as creamy as the standard Magic Stars, but it is still creamy, and the flavour of the cocoa comes through nicely. The popping candy is fun and crackles away in the mouth. Here is hoping I never get too old to smile at popping candy. This was a fun and enjoyable bar made with an unexpected dairy substitute that still made a creamy chocolate. I would buy this again even though I don’t actively avoid dairy.

Kenco Duo Salted Caramel Latte (Ocado) By @Cinabar

It isn’t as easy to get a decent coffee at home as you might think if you don’t have a coffee machine. Although these new Kenco Duo Salted Caramel Latte pods look like they need a machine, they actually don’t, they just need a kettle. I have tried the Kenco Duo drinks before but this is their new flavour, Salted Caramel.

One pod has two layers. You remove the foil and tip the milk powder section into a mug, under it there is another foil lid to peel, revealing the espresso powder which you make in the pod, then add to the hot milk. Once the water hit the milk section, you could really smell the salted caramel in the drink, it was sweet and creamy. I stirred this section quite a bit as it was a bit lumpy, but it did settle down. I then added the espresso without having stirred it.

The drink didn’t quite taste as strong as the sweet scent of caramel had made me hope for. It was a very mild flavour of caramel, adding a bit of sweetness, but what there was was lovely. I just would have liked it to be a bit stronger, it felt like it was half a shop of syrup rather than the full amount you’d get in the High Street coffee shops. It was still tasty though, and particularly good as an at home instant.

Carluccio's Birmingham Pizzas -but- in a supermarket! @NLi10

Carluccio's is a Birmingham institution, a restaurant so good that it's whole area is now one of the hot places to go for food.  We used to go in the early 2000s as grubby post students and marvel at the depth of the menu and the flavours.  Nowadays I'd choose Del Villagio every time, but then that's more my kind of Italy - but if you want to take someone out and wow them we have Carluccio's.

I mean  - look at that luxury Pizza!

And now Sainsbury's have a Carluccio's section.

I was confused at first - would this be a name only thing where they just slapped a brand on something they already had?  It seems not, as there were a wide range of fresh options.  Unfortunately due to a holiday coming up (which I'm now back from - review time is odd compared to real time) I couldn't pick up much so we chose a pizza each.

Made in the UK and name-checking Birmingham. It seems its a whole range called Carluccio's At Home and I'm mainly putting this link here for my own benefit later.

Raw Pizza looks better than in most restaurants - it's £4.50 for this and £3 for the frozen Chicago Town ones I get from the shop on my road.  Those are decent pizzas to but this is art.

Still soft on the bottom, but the cheese has bubbled so it's done.

Terrible picture here of me holding a slice over the pizza, but I wanted to eat it.  Rich, deep flavours and all the bites were unique.  

Now I'm older and can afford the finer things more often I'll have to go back to Temple Row and visit Carluccio's at their home instead of mine. Until then - this will certainly do.

Wu Gang Chops the Tree (@PressureDropBrw) By @SpectreUK

I chose this Wu Gang Chops the Tree foraged herb Hefeweisse simply because the name made me giggle. The weirdness of the moon foraging astronauts on the can caught my eyes too. Produced by Pressure Drop Brewing this 3.8% in volume Hefeweisse could easily be described as a session beer, which is a beer that could have been drunk on a break time when people could drink booze at work.

A Hefeweisse is a German white beer, which is generally made up of more than fifty percent of wheat. I'm feeling a little late to the party of Wu Gang Chops the Tree as it's been brewed in by Pressure Drop for almost ten years.

There was a strong wheat and herby smell on opening the can, with an almost heavy yeastiness at the back of the aroma. This pale golden beer has a strong herby flavour mixed with the bitterness of added herbal hops from initial taste, merging with a wheatiness and then a touch of underlying malts into the aftertaste.

I liked this beer very much. It's certainly flavoursome and so herby and wheaty that it's flavoured in a different way than I have probably experienced before. On the can Pressure Drop recommended that I try this Wu Gang Chops the Tree with a curry. We had a takeaway fish and chips meal, where I always have an added battered sausage. The can does state that this beer is probably their most versatile beer, and it certainly went well with my fish, chips and battered sausage from the local Chippy.

Kit Kat Chunky Aero Mint (Candy Mail) By @Cinabar

There aren’t many crossover chocolate bars around, I mean specifically where one which is flavoured with another. It should happen more as big brands like Cadbury, Mars and Nestle each makes lots of chocolates and I think there is some fun in combining them. This sort of bar is hard to find. I got this online, via an import shop, from Australia. Nestle make both Kit Kat Chunky and Aero and have combined the two into this spectacular bar, Kit Kat Aero Mint. I love chocolate mint so was just so excited to see this.

Once opened the bar does not disappoint. The Aero Mint section of the Kit Kat is green and looks amazing. There is all the usual wafers too of a normal Kit Kat Chunky but with the added fun of green bubbles. Once you bite in the bar is a pleasure to munch on. There is solid chocolate, aerated bubbles and crispy wafers all making it so satisfying to eat. If you like texture in a chocolate bar this will be right up your street. The flavour from the mint is well balanced and refreshing, and mixed with the Kit Kat perfectly. It is fun look at and fun to eat, I wish they made them in this country because I’b be stocking up right now. What next? Aero Mint Munchies need to be a thing.