Barratt Favourites Jelly Beans (Gifted) By @Cinabar

The lovely folks at Barratt’s sent me a bag of their new flavour sweets to try out; here we have Barratt Favourites Jelly Beans. They are based on some of their classic sweets, which are some of my favourite sweets from childhood. They remind me of childhood trips to the corner shop to pick up some bread and milk, and often some sweets as a treat. I couldn’t wait to see how those varieties translate to jelly beans. In the bag were five colours:

Green-coloured and based on Refreshers: these were sour, acidic, and fresh, just like a Refresher. Super tangy. 

Dark pink-coloured and based on Dib Dabs: Wow, these were so sweet, very fruity, and full of sherbet flavour. They were spot-on for Dib Dabs.

Pink-coloured and based on Whams: I liked the flavour; they were sweet and fruity and very much reminiscent of the chewy sweet, without it getting stuck in your teeth. I swear it has an aftertaste of candy floss.

Orange-coloured and based on Fruit Salads: these were flavoured with my favourite chewy sweets as a kid, and their taste lived up to my expectations. They were sweet and fruity, with hints of citrus and raspberry. Seriously tasty. 

Yellow-coloured and based on Refreshers Lemon edition. They had a good blast of lemon but were fun, sweet, and just lightly sour.

What an absolutely wonderful mix of fun flavours! They are absolutely gorgeous, summery, and a delight. These reminded me of my childhood sweets, and I loved every one of them. The Fruit Salad was my absolute favourite, but they were all good. The bag was so moreish, tangy, and sweet, and they just made me smile. 

Apple Pie Drinking Chocolate (Hotel Chocolat) by @Cinabar

Don’t ruin this by telling me it is too hot for hot chocolate. Or that it is too early for autumn flavours. We have had a cool summer, and the minute my new hot chocolate boxes arrive, the sun kicks in. That is poor timing, but I’m still all for this Apple Pie Drinking Chocolate from Hotel Chocolat.

 

This drink is made with Hot Chocolat’s caramel chocolate and has the flavours of apples and spices mixed in. It is designed to be made using their Velvetiser (cocoa maker), but it can be made in a pan with hot milk and a bit of whisking. Inside the sachet are golden flakes of chocolate and a lovely spiced aroma. I poured it into the hot milk and waited for the machine to do its thing. Once it was ready, the drink was pale chocolate in colour, and it smelled wonderful. I gave it a sip, and the taste was absolutely gorgeous; there was a lovely sweetness of apple, layers of milk chocolate and caramel, and plenty of autumnal spice. It was utterly delicious, one of the nicest drinks that Hotel Chocolat has brought out (and I have tried many). Sweet, well spiced, and fruity, a pure delight. Admittedly, this Apple Pie Drinking Chocolate is a soothing drink meant for cooler weather, but I think when it does get cold, I’ll just buy another box.

Dalston's Real Lemonade (+ some scones) [@NLi10]

 We popped to a garden centre today - so I got to see new snacks and try a few to take home.  I don't buy as many new things these days as I used to - it's hard to eat healthy and then try all the snacks - but I can't resist a good drink.

The HipPop crate I bought is down to it's last few cans so I picked up a lemonade for the hot days ahead.

Dalston's is a new-to-me brand that looks like it's been around a while.

very cool branding - almost essential these days!

Ticks all the ethical boxes as well as the low sugar ones.  

Oddly - the second ingredient is concentrated white grape juice, explaining the sweetness but also the flavour profile. It's a pretty grown up lemonade.

And being neither too sharp or too sweet puts this in a nice spot for a sunny day social drink.

I'll be re-visiting this brand in a few weeks when we go back round the garden centres I'm sure!

They also had a lovely display with four kinds of scones (although they were shaped like rock-cakes so tore terribly!)

I had Raspberry & White Choc, with proper clotted cream and a pot of Raspberry Jam (and a nice cup of tea) - yum!

Well worth a mention as often these things are underwhelming, but here I could happily have had a second helping and will hopefully see other fruity (but not raisin/sultana) varieties on offer.

Ricohet Biscuit West Coast Pale Ale (The Wee Beer Shop) By @SpectreUK

I have a favourite meal of mine tonight, and no, it's not a takeaway. I have schnitzels tonight, with Smily Face potatoes and a bowl full of salad. I used to have them around Christmas time, or on Christmas Day. Then we changed to three in one bird, and now to my ultimate favourite, Pork Belly with crackling. So, now I have schnitzels whenever, or once a blue moon, which we did have one this week.

Produced by Pomona Island Brew Co., this 5.2% in volume Ricohet Biscuit West Coast Pale Ale should go rather well washing down my schnitzels. Dry-hopped with Citra and Azacca hops, Ricohet Biscuit should have a strong sharp citrus bitterness, with notes of mango, pineapple, tangerine and a little pine and spiciness. I'm looking forward to this West Coast Pale Ale just on making notes about it.

On opening the can there was quite an excitable pop and froth, but I promise I didn't lose more than a couple of drops on the floor. This deep golden in colour West Coast Pale Ale certainly had a fruity aroma of mango and tangerine, with a touch of citrus, pine and spices.

On taste Ricohet Biscuit had a sharp citrus bitterness to begin with, mixed with a little woodiness and warming spices. There was fruitiness here too with notes of mango, tangerine and even a touch of pineapple, just before the sweetness of pale malts took my mouthwatering tastebuds off into the aftertaste. Perfect with my schnitzels, I would definitely have another Ricohet Biscuit again, but preferably before the next blue moon.

Doritos Loaded Pepperoni Pizza (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Here is the second new flavour from Doritos, again in the theme of a take-away. Last time we had Burger King, and this time we have Doritos Loaded Pepperoni Pizza. There is still a voucher on the bag for Burger King, and these ones don't seem to be in conjunction with any pizza take-away. We decided to share these with a jacket potato with chilli con carne on top and some of these as a side. We had a sour cream dip too, which made for a rather lovely meal. 

The new Doritos Loaded Pepperoni Pizza are reddish in colour and clearly have a fair bit of seasoning on them. I gave one a try and was impressed by the flavour. I could pick up nice spices and some meat flavours too, which was very much the pepperoni shining through. There is a bit of a cheese taste, but it was mild, and I don’t think I’d have guessed that they were pizza from a blind testing. There was a hint of Italian herbs, but it was all about the pepperoni. As pepperoni-flavored chips,  though, they were really nice. I liked the mildly spiced meat flavour; they were seriously tasty. They were good with the dip too, and I’d happily buy them again.