Tesco Mini Cinnamon Spekulatius - German Inspired spiced biscuits (@NLi10)

We have made it to mid-December, and the final of the three items surrounding the festive candle.

We are left with the most traditionally festive thing on the table - the spicy German biscuits

Well, German inspired anyway.  They are probably made locally.  They do have an authentic taste and smell though...

Enough to entice in kittens!  Look at that tongue action.

The designs are well embossed - you can tell what everything is.

And they are thin! Which works really well - they snap and crackle as you crunch them to release their lovely flavour.  And - these are both festive and very good for snacking - you do get a decent amount, you could pop these in a bowl by the TV and treat them like festive popcorn.

Possibly less authentic than the Aldi & Lidl versions, but without going to Germany these are close enough.

 

Hopocrisy Pale Ale - Six Degrees North (6DN @sixdnorth) By @SpectreUK

The Six Degrees North Brewery produces its beer in Laurencekirk, Scotland, which is six degrees north of Brussels. Hopocrisy is 4.6% in volume and was brewed with local soft water and locally sourced barley. This pale ale is unfiltered, and dry hopped, which is adding hops late in the brewing process such as in the fermentation or conditioning. Hopocrisy has been carbonated naturally through secondary fermentation.

Hopocrisy is an obvious play on the word Hypocrisy, which means "the practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case". There's a lot of that been going on in politics over the last few years, and it seems to be finally coming to a particularly disastrous head now, and during a second peak of a pandemic no less! I understand the Highland Games were cancelled this year in Laurencekirk because of the pandemic. I do hope everything gets back to normal sometime next year, but I can't tell what's going to happen next, what normal could be, and I doubt many other people can either! Anyway, enough doom and gloom, perhaps I should try the beer?

On opening the 330ml bottle, this Hopocrisy bright golden pale ale is very excitedly bubbly, and pours with an over-exaggerated head. Even for an old barman like me, the ale was trying to jump right out of my waiting beer glass. There is a deep herbal and floral hoppy smell to begin with, and there may even be a touch of heather in the aroma, unless I'm just imagining bonnie Scotland bursting out of the glass. Right behind those heavy floral and herbal hops comes the sweet malts at the back of the aroma. This Hopocrisy was making my lips smack even before I'd tried to drink it.

On taste this Hopocrisy is a fulsome hoppish drink that's, dare I say, similar to Highland Dance. The deep bitter herbal and floral hops washed around my mouth like a Scottish Sword Dance, and then those sweet pale and possibly crystal malts tantalised my tastebuds on a journey down through the beautiful Scottish mountains and dales. Hopocrisy is a delightful flavoursome pale ale with bitter beginning and sweet ending, much like what may happen during 2021. Let's just hope all this political nonsense sorts itself out and we can all toast and stay friends by the end of next year!

Kit Kat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Asda) By @Cinabar

Here we have another new Kit Kat flavour and proof that Kit Kat has been kind to us this year, they have now given us Kit Kat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread edition. My guilty secret is that I really like chocolate hazelnut spread, I rarely buy it as I eat a lot of bad for me things already so I can’t justify this a daily breakfast food, but I so like it as a treat. If I’m having breakfast in a hotel and they have the sachets of Nutella I go for it though! I don’t care that they put them out for children. :-D

 

I had a quick scan of the ingredients on the Kit Kat Chocolate Hazelnut Spread packaging and couldn’t spot hazelnuts or any nuts on the list? That is a bit weird, these things are usually in bold too. Hope it isn’t just flavourings. I opened up the multipack and found traditionally foil and paper wrapped twin sticks of Kit Kat. They had the usual crunch but there was a lovely distinctive hazelnut flavour throughout. It tasted like nuts and indeed nut spread, and as a nut fan this worked well. Nuts and chocolate do work. I’m still just not sure where the flavour came from?

Snowy Enrobed* Oreo (@NLi10)

 I visited Tesco and picked up three festive snacks to review.  Here is the 2nd - the Snowy Enrobed* Oreo.  

The * informs us that these are covered with a white chocolate flavour coating, and not actual snow.  What a swizz - I demand my money back...

This is a very creative way of selling you less Oreos for your money, but if the chocolate is luscious and thick then I'm all in favour of this.

You get two per portion pack.

And they look pretty festive, and they certainly haven't skimped on the chocolate flavour coating.

I'd say that's a good proportion - wouldn't you?  These are pretty luscious, and could easily form part of a desert or party food display.

Probably a bit too sweet for every-day consumption (two is the right amount with a cup of tea) but I might be tempted to sneak a second set of these while they are in the shops.   

A great stocking-filler for any awkward teenagers out there too!

Cadbury’s Twirl Caramilk (GBGifts) By @SpectreUK

This Cadbury's Twirl Caramilk is another chocolate treat from Australia. Cinabar bought a batch of different chocolate bars and other goodies from the import online store GBGifts a few weeks back. I've been lucky enough to get my hands on a few bars of this and that, but I think this is the last bar I'll be writing about, as Cinabar has nabbed the rest!

This 39g bar is approximately 200 calories. They don't seem to pay too much attention to calories Down Under. Certainly not as much as me on my strict 2000 calories a day diet and crazy amounts of exercise. Cinabar tells me she liked her Cadbury's Twirl Caramilk, so I don't know if she's got anymore stashed away in some secret place somewhere.

This Cadbury's Twirl Caramilk is surrounded by milk chocolate and creamy coloured in the middle. The centre tastes like a mixture of white chocolate flavoured with caramel. It tastes really good, especially mixed with the coating of milk chocolate. This Cadbury's Twirl Caramilk went really well with an accompanying pot of caramel flavoured ice cream after dinner, which polished off my calorie count for the day with something sweet. Just the way I like it.