Magnum Chill: Blueberry Cookie (Ocado) By @Cinabar

It may not feel very warm outside, but Spring must be on its way because the new ice creams have launched. I always look forward to seeing what new flavours come out, and my first purchase has not been a disappointment. Here we have Magnum Chill Blueberry Cookie, a new flavour, and this one is a new vegan variety too.

Inside the wrapper, there is a very dark-coated ice cream. I gave it a try, and the dark chocolate was super nice with the crunchy, sweet biscuit bits. I love a mix of textures. The ice cream inside was creamy and tasted of vanilla. This was all very nice, but there was no blueberry. It took quite a way down the ice cream to hit the blueberry; I actually worried my ice cream was missing the filling. When I did find the lovely purple streak of blueberry in the centre, I found it to be wonderfully fruity. The blueberry was sweet but sharp, and the flavour was super fruity. This was the very best bit, and it was so nice with the creamy ice cream and the dark chocolate. This Magnum Chill: Blueberry Cookie ice cream was an absolute delight.

My only criticism is that the blueberry didn’t go all the way to the top or to the bottom, and I wanted more of that tangy taste. Other than that, this is a wonderful addition to the range.

Body FUEL - Swizzles Drumstick Original Raspberry Flavour Drink - not PRIME [@NLi10]

 It's rank - avoid.

Longer version?  I was quite pleased with myself when I found this in Lidl - a knock off PRIME drink themed around a favourite childhood sweet?  Drumstick lollies in the UK are a chew on a stick - with a distinctive artificial fruit flavour, and a kind of custard flavour as it's second bit.  They are lovely.  I'd always assumed it was supposed to be rhubarb, but this says Raspberry!

Here is what it does - some vitamins & endurance? That's a new claim!

I don't think it's designed to be seen outside of the bottle - but that's fine.  Less artificial stuff.

But oh - the smell.  It's like drumstick lollies, but it has these other hints in there that are immediately off-putting.  Looking at the ingredients this is spring water based, instead of coconut water based (presumably to make it cheaper) but that just means they've had to shove all of the nutrients in there instead of just letting nature figure it out.

Consequently it's a mess, and the massive artificial smell on top just adds to it.  The lollies rely on the sugar - clearly, but here we have just 1 k calories per 100ml and it just doesn't work.  All the sucralose in the world can't save this.

It's only just about drinkable, and I'll probably finish it just to avoid waste - but it's not a pleasure and more like a challenge from an endurance based game-show.

If your child desperately needs vitamins, and is actually willing to drink this then 2 bottles a day will give them all they need.  But seriously, PRIME is more affordable than ever now, you might as well just buy the real thing and save yourself from the risk of them just pouring this down the sink.

Thornbridge: Astryd Beer (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

Winter can be a tough time for everyone. Looking up the name; Astryd, means divine strength. We all find strength from different things; faith and hope, friends and family, rest and exercise, hobbies and our own 'stuff', to get through tough times. Of course, good food and drink helps too.

At 3.8% in volume, Astryd was produced by Thornbridge, Riverside Brewery. With it's low alcohol content, it could be considered as a session beer. I'm going to have it with IKEA style meatballs and chips tonight, rather operate heavy machinery after drinking it. Astryd is a hazy pale ale, which has a focus on Mosiac hops, so I'm expecting a great deal of berry fruitiness from this pale ale that will wash down my dinner a treat.

On opening the bottle there was a lovely fruity hop aroma, with some sweetness from the wheat and malts. On taste this hazy gold coloured pale ale had a crisp bite from the fruity Mosiac hops, followed by a wheatiness and then sweetness from the pale malts. Astryd certainly had strength in flavour packing quite a sharp hoppy punch, which the wheat and malts had a job to smooth out into the aftertaste. Astryd washed down my IKEA style meatballs a treat, and put a smile on my face at the same time. Have a good weekend.

Shuk Up Chocolate Fudge Thick Shake (Aldi) By @Cinabar

It has been ages since I last had a milkshake, something I absolutely used to love. So tonight for tea, we were having meatballs with a Shuk Up Chocolate Fudge Thick Shake. It is Friday, so a bit of a treat for making it to the end of the week; it was one of those weeks.

I found this in Aldi when I did the grocery shopping last week, and I was pleasantly surprised when I remembered it was in the fridge. I gave the carton a little shake, and I poured out the Shuk Up Chocolate Fudge Thick Shake. There was a decent portion, and it more than filled my glass. The flavour was just spot-on. The Shuk Up Chocolate Fudge Thick Shake was creamy and thick, but not too thick. The drink was lovely and sweet, and the cocoa flavour was nice and rich. It was such a lovely treat and a reminder to keep an eye on any new milkshakes coming out in the future. I’m never a fan of the really thick shakes you get at McDonald's, etc., but this was just what I wanted. I much prefer the bottles you buy in supermarkets.

Meatless Farm - No-Duja Ravioli [@NLi10]

 Veganuary comes to a close - but the vegan delights continue!

Hopefully the stores don't just cut off my supply of goodness from today.

Here we have meat free ravioli, lovely little saucy parcels of goodness - but what's inside?

Plant based filling of course!  Well - water & peas anyway.  And that's great for me as I do love this stuff.  Naturally they added in all the spices too which make it a lot closer to nduja than I'd expected - and it's pretty spicy!

I had to crack out some Ghost Ship just in case.

The pasta was great quality, and the filling had a satisfyingly meaty texture.  I want more of these please.