Tesco Finest - Mince Pie Flavour Crisps (Tesco @UKTesco) [By @Cinabar]

I first saw these mentioned in the papers/twitter, and knew I had to track them down! Despite trying my local branch, and several smaller Tescos located near me I had no joy. I managed to talk Spectre into the long drive to the next town where there is a branch of Tesco Extra and lo and behold there they were! This was the last bag on the shelf mind, and I hurriedly claimed it! That trip to Tesco resulted in quite a few other goodies going into the trolley too! For example, you’ll be pleased to hear I also managed to find some interesting flavoured beer to torture Spectre with at a later date! ;-)
In retrospect I made a mistake when I opened the bag, because we had them as an accompaniment to sandwiches, and from the first one I tasted I realised that this wasn’t what they were meant for. The crisps aren’t really savoury, and as such would be best on their own in a big bowl with a Christmas movie on in the background. The bag smells distinctly aromatic and immediately fills your nostrils with a seasonal scent. They are a nice thick potato cut, and surprisingly sweet and flavoursome. The first crisp took me a minute to acclimatize my taste buds which are more used to savoury, but after that these were winning it all the way. I could pick up on raisin, Christmas spices such as cloves and cinnamon, and quite a strong apple taste mixed in too. The apple was a little unexpected, but did add the necessary sweetness to the overall flavour. The aftertaste was buttery, which I think was to help give the pastry effect which was a nice touch. We left the crisps until after we finished our sandwiches and had them as a sort of dessert crisp, and they worked much better that way too.
These crisps are totally different to anything else on the market, but they do exactly what they say on the bag and recreate that mince pie flavour in the form of crisps. It is different, and the first one you taste may seem a little odd, but once you get used to the concept they really grown on you. It’s just such a clever idea, and Tesco must be praised for the excellent flavour and creativity. We made a special trip to the next town for these, and I can honestly say it was worth it. I really hoped they get stocked in a few more branches and not just the Extra stores, because I want a second bag!
Have you tried them? What did you think?

By Cinabar

Jack & Jill - Magic Creams (Chocolate Cream) [By @NLi10]

I'm not 100% sure where I picked these up from, quite probably my Polish Grocers, but I bought them expecting the typical wafer and chocolate style Eurosnack that you see frequently. This however is a more interesting proposition.
Essentially in the package you get three layers of the kind of soft wafery biscuit that you usually find served with cheese. In between them you get a thin slice of a chocolate paste that is similar to Nutella but without the nuts. Not only does this work particularly well but it also opens up a few extra options for the cheese board at Christmas. I'm not a fan of cheese and have only recently begun to eat things which contain it (usually in a cooked form as an ingredient). Putting a tub of chocolate paste next to the cheese biscuits for those who fancy a change is the kind of bold move that people will remember your parties for and well worth a go!
As for these Magic creams they are a perfectly realised version of this idea. The balance of choc and biscuit is spot on, and while if I was building these at home I'd likely go overboard with the spread as a snack food for on the go this works well. There are little perforations along the bar (which don't show up that well here) that are smaller than the normal holes for snapping the bar into fingers, but I suspect most people will not have the patience for this.
I could have easily consumed a second one, but kept it back for when I got around to typing this up - and now I wish I had a third!

By NLi10

Cleopatra Apricot Fruit Beer [By @SpectreUK]

I’ve never been a fan of apricots. I always try to avoid the orange coloured jam tart in the variety box. Ashamedly it took me several boxes to realise that just because it was orange coloured, didn’t mean that it was orange flavoured, which is a rare occurrence in most orange coloured foodstuffs, I know! As I hadn’t eaten jam tarts for a certain period of time, I had completely forgotten just how much I dislike apricots. Brewed by the Derventio Brewery in Derbyshire, this 5% volume apricot fruit beer smelt overpoweringly of apricots on opening. Not a good start for someone who doesn’t like the taste of apricots. It was an amber coloured beer which was brewed with malted barley, First Gold hops, and of course, apricots. There was strong flavours of apricots in the initial taste, followed by a subtle bitterness from the hops, but let’s face it; the beer mainly tasted of apricots. There was a heavy aftertaste of apricots once every apricot flavoured mouthful of beer had literally been forced down my throat. This would make a good pudding beer, especially if you’re enjoying a healthy bowl of fruit for dessert. As you have probably guessed, I did not like this beer so much. It doesn’t taste bad in any way, especially if you like apricot. If, like me, you don’t like apricots, this probably isn’t the beer for you. Just try to remind yourself that you don’t like apricots before you buy it…

By Spectre

Belgian Chocolate & Salted Caramel Ice Cream Dessert (Sainsbury’s) [By @cinabar]

This must be part of the new goodies arriving in Sainsbury’s aimed at the Christmas celebrations. Ice cream is more associated with summer, but I eat it all year round. Personally I also don’t need Christmas as excuse to buy a posh pudding, and we always have an ice cream cake in the freezer, but it is usually Viennetta!
The new variety doesn’t half look pretty when you take it out of its box, and I do wish I had the photography skills to make it look a little smarter. The chocolate stars decorating the top looks very classy, as do the gold sprinkles which add that bit of pizzazz. The cake is also pleasing to look at once cut as the layers within add to the design.
There is a chocolate layer around the edge, which isn’t quite a sauce, or ice cream, but just a thin soft coating. It adds more to appearance than flavour, but does make the cake look the part and adds a bit of cocoa taste. The main portion of ice cream is vanilla, with a caramel centre. The vanilla section is super creamy, and has a nice delicate taste, but the caramel section is the part that turns this dessert into something exceptional. The flavour of the central part is out of this world; it is rich, has a strong burnt sugar taste with a hint of salt and if that wasn’t enough has crunchy toffee bits that really enhance it further. It was an absolute pleasure to eat. I felt that the strong caramel taste and the vanilla work impressively well together, and that the caramel ice cream was one of the nicest I have tried. The presentation too is quite striking, and would impress dinner guests as it is a very visual dessert. The ice cream made ever such a nice pudding, and although it might seem a bit cold outside for such a thing, this one really is worth trying.

By Cinabar

Anita's Mango & Lime Chutney Crisps [By @NLi10]

These are a bit odd. They smell perfect and are incredibly inviting once the bag is open, filling the room with a gentle spicy aroma. The taste however is much stronger and meant that I only ever wanted to eat one or two before putting the bag back. I enjoyed the flavour, but the 'little kick' was too much for me and meant that I never really got that far.

Other people however did.

At games night a few of the guys made it through the first half of the bag with ease, remarking that they were very nice. The remainder of the bag was easily polished off by my partner who I think found the spices more balanced than I did, but is a very big fan of the mango and lime chutney dips at the restaurant.

So in brief summary there isn't much I can say about these, the crisps were of a lovely thickness and crunch and the spices and flavours were so authentic I struggled to eat that many - even though they tasted great. If you are a fan of sharp flavours then these are something you should hunt out. And as a summer salad table item, where most people will only take a few for the side of the plate these would be perfect - especially for the Indian Summers* that we've been having recently!



(* I realise this term relates to Native American Indian as it was coined by the first Western settlers in the Americas, but just go with it.)

By NLi10