Royal Flush - sophisticated non-alcoholic sparkling wine-esque kombucha-like drink (@NLi10)

 Kombucha is great.  It's like someone tried to turn tea into vinegar and stumbled upon a lovely drink at the half-way point.

This non-alcoholic sparkling fermented drink called Royal Flush was offered with our delivery food (from Nando's of all places) but I bought it to keep for a more sophisticated afternoon.

Notes of rhubarb and white peach?  This is sounding like Non-alcoholic wine!  And as it's the first flush of the Kombucha process it's not super strong so that seems likely.

And it totally is!  I should have used a wine glass instead of a beer glass - but I wasn't to know at the time.

It's very drinkable and refreshing.  One that you could easily have in a wine glass in a pub without anyone noticing at all.  It has a slight kombucha hit to it, but otherwise is something even a non-brewed drinker might appreciate.

Top marks - will happily order again!

Walkers Quavers Prawn Cocktail flavour (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

"They're back!" The slogan on the front of the packet states. I'm not sure when Walkers Quavers Prawn Cocktail flavour disappeared from the shelves. I guess it was the same time as the Salt and Vinegar flavour did. Back by popular demand these low in calories Quavers potato crisps are a welcome return.

I do like crisps of most varieties but generally feel a little guilty after having a packet. Keeping my weight down and exercising in my kitchen gym still doesn't feel enough to justify too many bags of crisps a day, and also the odd beer here and there, but we have to live and enjoy life too. A good snack can work wonders for your morale, especially if it's low calories.

On opening the bright pink packet of Walkers Quavers Prawn Cocktail flavour there was a strong prawn cocktail aroma. The curly potato crisps certainly looked like Quavers. There was a slightly pinkish tint to the crisps which were covered in a light dusting of seasoning. These crisps are as crunchy as the usual Cheese Quavers, and have a good strong taste of prawn cocktail flavour. They went perfectly well with my tuna sandwich to help me max out on protein after my early morning weights session. I also didn't feel too guilty about having a small packet of pork cracklings on the side.

Information on the packet;
The 16g packet contains 84 calories, with 4.6g of fat, 0.3G of sugar, and 0.29g of salt. Suitable for Vegetarians. There are no artificial colours or preservatives. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Lindt Dark Chocolate Spread (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

I don’t buy that many chocolate spreads and I don’t buy them regularly. I like them but I feel guilty eating them at breakfast time. I do however make an exception if I find a new variety then I just blame this blog as my excuse. So Foodstuff Finds made me buy this Lindt Dark Chocolate Spread and its exciting because I don’t think I’ve seen a Lindt spread before and I haven’t seen a dark chocolate variety either.

 

The jar is very smart but not too big. Inside is quite a soft spread is a good rich dark brown colour. It went on the toast very easily as it feels quite light to spread. The toast was quickly covered in a yummy dark chocolate topping. The flavour was so good, it isn’t as sweet as a lot of the chocolate spreads and this actually made it feel more grown up. I like the dark chocolate and all the extra cocoa taste. I think I’m going to enjoy working my way through this jar and having a treat at breakfast for a few mornings, what haven’t I seen a dark chocolate spread before? It is genius. Tomorrow I’m having Lindt Dark Chocolate Spread on toast with some slices of bananas on top too, because that would make it healthier right? I can’t wait!

White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms (USA) By @Cinabar

It is Monday and that can only mean one thing, it is time for M&Ms Monday. We are currently starting each week with our exciting tour of M&Ms flavours from America, today we are taking a look at a Christmas Edition; these White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms. We don’t do ‘peppermint bark’ in the UK but we do have mint candy cane, this is a seasonal treat in the States and peppermint seems to be linked to Christmas time there too. To be honest the timing wouldn’t make a difference for the UK as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a British version of Mint M&Ms here. We get so few flavours, it is such an opportunity lost. Thankfully though I have a friend in America who has supplied this bag, this wonderfully big bag. Sending hugs of thanks his way.

Inside are candy cane coloured M&Ms in red and white and they look very smart. Under the shell is white chocolate infused with a hefty hit of peppermint. I loved this strong minty flavour, it was sweet and refreshing and as that melted away the creaminess of the white chocolate followed which worked very well. This change of tone in the flavour from minty fresh to soft white chocolate made them rather moreish and I had to portion myself with the large bag, they are just so good. The bag is big and I can’t wait to finish these White Chocolate Peppermint M&Ms off.

Popcorn Shed - Union Shack Cherry Bakewell Popcorn (@NLi10)

'
Today - we eat like a King!

How do we do that? We cover corn in sugar!  Doesn't sound likely right.  We don't even have a King!

This is of course from the Brexit Hamper we received for Christmas - review here - but now we've eaten the shortbread (sublime) and the fudge (fine) and the tea (very British) we can get onto the popcorn.

So - this is luxury popcorn, but unlike Proppercorn which is exactly my bag, it's a version of the Butterkist coated popcorn.  Hmmm....

It's a bit silly, but it's clearly light hearted and great for sending abroad or taking home from the airport

Look at this lad, being a tourist attraction.  Best paid human statues on the planet!

First note is these are colourful, reds and whites in the normal bag of yellow.  Lots of crispiness and opening it produces wonderful aromas

Here are two joined together.  Even more luxury.  This isn't popcorn dust and hard kernels - this is light fluffy centres with flavoured outsides that aren't too powerful.  My partner isn't a popcorn or sweets fan - but  said these were great and would have finished them if I'd not hidden them for tonight.

The cherry reminds me of the good sweets, the corn flavours are deep and satisfying.  While I do love the zany flavours of Propercorn I think that these are the best coated Popcorn I've tasted so far - and are totally a present-grade snack. 

Popcorn Shed can be proud of what they've done here, quirky branding and attractive art with a product that passes the Queen's inspection with flying colours.  I will be finding more flavours of these and reporting back.

Another hit from the hamper!