Iced Caramelised Banana Macha Latte and Oat Shaken Espresso (Starbucks) By @SpectreUK

First off, I think they need to work on the titles. Try saying “Iced Caramelised Banana Oat Shaken Espresso” when you need to sober up. Or “Iced Caramelised Banana Macha Latte” when you’re overheating in hot weather.

It’s hot today, and after two mini heatwaves, we stopped at a local service station, as I was feeling tired from driving. Cinabar mentioned a couple of cooling drinks we could try in the Starbucks there.

I was too hot or at least too tongue-tied to order. I also couldn’t decide between Iced Caramelised Banana Macha Latte or Iced Caramelised Banana Oat Shaken Espresso. I couldn’t even decide when they were delivered.

I tried both. The Iced Caramelised Banana Oat Shaken Espresso tasted mostly of coffee, with a little sweet caramelised banana milkshake. It was fairly strong, but at least it didn’t taste like Starbucks regular Americano.

Whereas, on first sip of the Iced Caramelised Banana Macha Latte, it tasted solely of sweet caramelised banana. Well, until Cinabar told me to angle the straw to the top of the drink, which was pure bitter Macha. Once mixed up the Iced Caramelised Banana Macha Latte was quite sweet with caramelised banana and slightly bitter Macha, which was okay. Cinabar like it. I couldn’t decide if I liked either.

M&S Blends Orange and Passionfruit Drink (Ocado) By @Cinabar

For a company that was very upset with Aldi over selling a cake that was, shall we say, 'similar' to their own Colin the Caterpillar, this is a bit of an odd product. Here we have M&S Blends Orange and Passionfruit, which could also be described as 'similar' to a J2O. Perhaps I'm imagining the similarity... just in case I need to include that for legal reasons! 😄

Anyway, what I do know is that this heat means it's important to stay hydrated, and I'm always up for trying a new drink. I popped these in the fridge to chill before giving one a try.

I was really impressed by just how fruity it is. There's loads of flavour and plenty of juicy fruitiness. The mango comes through nicely, while the passion fruit adds a pleasant sharpness that makes it especially refreshing towards the end. If I were to compare it to the market leader, I'd say it's 'similar', but perhaps a little richer in flavour and slightly thinner in texture. I'd probably need to try them side by side to be certain, though.

Either way, it made for a lovely, refreshing drink on a hot summer's day.

Alpro - Matcha Coconut & Coffee AT HOME [@NLi10]

 Matcha is a big deal at the moment, and all the coffee establishments are now doing it in a reasonable way - although they do seem to use the cheap stuff.  And now you can have pre-mixed Matcha at home!

I chose the coconut one but BOY do you have options - a whole aisle of green milks

And yes - it's great cold so make your hot stuff and dump it in almost freezer temperature this

It's got stuff in it!

And without any fuss it's just thick Shrek juice.

Here's the nutrition

And it's only half a percent matcha - and not ceremonial grade Matcha because you bet they'd tell you if it was.  You won't notice in this mind.

And if you brew up a shot of your Exhale espresso and dump it in (with ice - not pictured) then frankly it's my drink of the summer.  I've been tempted to make a whole filter coffee pot of the stuff at espresso strength and then keep that in the fridge to use with this carton - only there isn't much left now.

It's not a thirst-burster until you add the watery ice, and it does overshadow the coffee unless you do it as a 50/50 Matcha cortado style but it's great for these heatwaves and I'll be getting more as soon as it's cool enough to leave the house.

Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites (Home Bargains) By @SpectreUK

It’s rare these days when I bite into a snack and I’m surprised by it’s chilli heat. So, when I saw these Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites I figured they would just have a light chilli warmth. I haven’t tasted any really hot snack food for such a long time.

These Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites are ‘Hot BBQ Flavour Mini Biscuits’. I haven’t had Peperami for a long time, so I can’t recall what they taste like, asides being spicy and meaty. I had the green one, I think.

I opened the packet and there was quite a good chilli aroma from the round reddened biscuits inside. The first crunchy biscuit made my tongue tingle with chilli. It took me aback a bit. There was a meaty barbecue taste and a slight cheesiness too. I really enjoyed these Hot Peperami Cheezy Bites with my messy tuna sandwich.

Information on the bag; Per 6 x 30g bag is 152 calories, with 8.7g of fat, 1.9g of sugar, and 0.6g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Frijj Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake (Morrisons) by @cinabar

The weather is heating up again and, whatever your views on sunshine, we definitely need to stay hydrated. For me, I much prefer the mid twenties to thirties before it starts becoming a bit uncomfortable, but I am enjoying discovering all the summer drinks.

Here we have Frijj Strawberry Cheesecake Milkshake, and everyone knows strawberry is the fruit of summer.

I poured the drink into my cup. It was the usual thickish liquid you expect from Frijj, with a pale light pink colour. I took a sip and at first thought it was very much a strawberry milkshake. There was a sweet, fruity strawberry taste, but as that melted away, the creamy flavour came through, with just a tiny touch of sourness giving it the cheesecake edge.

Mostly though, it is a subtle twist on a strawberry milkshake and a lovely fruity drink.