Whittard Tea - Dung Ting Oolong and Ceylon black [@NLi10]

It's Easter and you are all probably fed up of chocolate, so what better to cleanse ones palate than a nice cup of tea.  If found it quite hard to review the latest batch that Whittard sent me, so have taken a while to sip and savour.

First up we have a nice Ceylon black leaf tea. There is something here that seems different than my usual PG Tips as it always comes out very milky. I think that the flavours go together so well that you end up with a dark yet smooth taste. It's very refreshing because of that and will be a great warm weather tea.  Ive yet to try it with ice and lemon but I do think it may also work.  While not an English Breakfast blend I think this is a great afternoon tea.

This im not so sure about.  I was sure I'd had an Oolong tea before, but this blend of green and black caught me off guard.

The teabags themselves are very Tea Pigs in style and have tightly packed leaves that explode with flavour once infused.  I'm just not that sure that I like the flavour. I think if you hadn't told me that this was an official blend I'd just think I'd made it wrong, but I get the same confused feeling from the coffee tea hybrids and I'm not sure I like it. Now technically PG is a black/green blend but one that is on the right side of things for me. I tried this on many occasions, with and without milk, but I just couldn't fall in love with it so I passed it on to someone who will.

I will endeavour to try other oolongs and see whether it's just me (it usually is) and stick to my lovely strong green and lovely smooth blacks as separate entities to be enjoyed on their own merits.

Harry Hopalot (Thorntons) [By @SpectreUK]

Cinabar was given this white chocolate bunny with milk chocolate, dark chocolate and pink nose decoration for Easter, as a nudge from her brother back to a time when she dressed up as the White Rabbit in a school play of Alice in Wonderland. Although the photo of her in her costume is strictly under lock and key somewhere, Cinaber seems quite proud of her role singing the "I'm late" song. Perhaps she had a better singing voice back then? :-D

Unlike that White Rabbit this white chocolate (and darker chocolate parts) rabbit wasn't holding a smart pocket watch, but he did have a fetching satchel with a chocolate egg just poking out of it. Partly because Harry Hopalot had seemingly forgotten a watch I felt that time was running out for him, and partly because I rather like white chocolate. So I nabbed Harry for a short while when Cinabar wasn't looking. You see I wanted to find out where he'd got the egg in his satchel from. He foolishly let out that he knew the Easter Bunny. I said that if he knew the Easter Bunny he must know where his secret hideout is where he keeps all his chocolate eggs. Except Harry wouldn't tell me. He appeared a tough little rabbit, and I quickly began to wonder just how much torture this cute white chocolate rabbit could take.

I prized Harry Hopalot out of his plastic recyclable box and asked him one more time. "Where's the Easter Bunny's hideout, Harry?" Harry wouldn't say. So I took an ear. A mixture of silky white chocolate mixed with a hint of milk chocolate and the mildest of squeaks from the hollow rabbit followed. Still no information other than that. So I took another ear with much the same delightful creamy white chocolate flavour. By now Harry was looking pretty worried, though he was still resolute not to tell me the location of the Easter Bunny's secret base. So I bit off his white chocolate paw. Not a word. I bit off his milk chocolate paw to make sure he couldn't hop off anywhere. Harry was definitely a tough little rabbit, although creamy in flavour. He obviously hadn't had a belly full of my torture as that was hollow too and made for quite a mouthful. I have to hand it to Harry Hopalot, he never told me the location of the Easter Bunny's secret chocolate stash. Not once did he lose his head. Well except for when I ate it in the end! :-D

Happy Easter!

Information on Box;
Net weight 60g. Per 100g at 545 calories with 30g of fat and 62g of sugar. Suitable for vegetarians. Ingredients contain no artificial colours or flavours; sugar, cocoa butter, dried whole milk, cocoa mass, emulsifier; soya lecithin, milk fat, flavouring, fat reduced cocoa powder, colour; Beetroot Red. May contain nuts.

By Spectre

Growers Cup - Coffee in a Bag (Whole Foods Market) [By @Cinabar]

On a recent trip to London I stopped by the Whole Foods Market on High Street Kensington. It is like a treasure trove for Foodstuff Finds and I managed to pick up a few interesting items for my basket. A lady doing demonstrations asked if I liked coffee, and as a caffeine lover I felt obliged to see what she was offering.
This is more about coffee delivery than anything else, it a unique product that makes two cups of fresh coffee without the hassle of needing a cafetiere. So perfect if you are staying at a hotel and aren't much of an instant drinker. The coffee bags are sold in sets of three and come in at under £3 depending on the variety, so less than £1 per bag. I went for a mixed set.
I had a look at the instructions and put the kettle on. First thing was to simply click the lid from the spout off, it came away easily and let out the first aromas of fresh coffee, lovely. Next I opened up the top of the bag. It was fairly firmly sealed and I had to gentle prise it, even then it seemed not to open fully. Inside I could see freshly ground coffee sitting near the top of the bag. I poured water through the top very carefully, as the gap needed encouragement from my fingers. I thought I wouldn't be able to work out how to make the bag stand, but as the water was added it filled out and stood fine.

There were lines of the back of the pack showing fill levels, for strong and mild etc. I ended up choosing the mild option more because I could see there wasn’t much water in the bag and I'd promised to share. I noticed that the imagery on the packaging was of very dainty small white cups, admittedly the kind you do get in hotels, but not the kind my Starbucks generation are used too. Anyway I pressed the top of the bag to let it close and brew.

I poured out two small cups worth, into mugs, which ended up looking a bit empty. The coffee was lovely though, I went for the Bolivia first and even at the mild setting was still rich and tasty. I've since tried and enjoyed both the other options Honduras and Ethopia both of which also provided a lovely cup of coffee. I can't criticise the contents of the bag one bit, they did genuinely make a good brew, it is just the size I have a problem with. I would much prefer it if the bags were large enough for two mugs worth of coffee, then these would be a regular treat for trips away.

By Cinabar

Lakrids (Black Liquorice Almonds) by Johan Bulow [@NLi10]

My colleague has Danish roots and access to some of the strangest, ammonia filled sweets on the planet.  While reviewing something just to say that it's really unpleasant isn't a great idea this designer variant is something that a few people may be more interested.  It looks like the eggs from some oversized insect but they are actually chocolate coated almonds - only covered in distinct Danish liquorice!

The little story talks about raw liquorice and sea salt combined with good chocolate and a roast almond.  It truly is an odd experience!

I tried to get a better shot of the size of the Lakrids themselves but they refused to be focused on - in hindsight I should have tipped a few into the lid.

Danish liquorice is incredibly salty and an extreme taste sensation like the sourest sweet you've tried but in a completely different dimension.  Here though it's thinly coated on the outside so a quick bite balances the flavours with the chocolate and the lovely almond flavour inside.  The aftertaste is also very strong liquorice and lingers for hours so it's not really something I'd recommend if you aren't a fan.

In the office these are really popular with some of the ladies - to the extent that I had to keep a hold of the jar on my desk to try enough to review.  It's not something to sit and snack on, and it pretty much overpowers the flavour of anything you ate before or eat after - it's not one for with a cup of tea!

If you have someone with refined tastes who likes unique experiences then this is the ideal Easter gift, but I'm betting they are pretty hard to track down over here.  While I won't be hunting them out, I know that some people are already trying! 

Roasted Coconut Juice (Pinoy Foods, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]

I've tasted different types of coconut juice before, but never roasted coconut so I wasn't sure what to expect from this juice drink. One thing that stood out in the ingredients was 'coconut pulp', which generally makes for a chewy drink with little bits of coconut floating around in it. I do rather like these little bits of coconut, which is strange in itself, as I'm not usually keen on bits in my drinks. I don't even like over gloopy smoothies. On opening the can there was a roasted nutty smell with the usual sweet coconut. On pouring the almost transparent still liquid there was indeed lots of diced pieces of coconut bobbing around my glass.

Instead of being white though these coconut pieces had a slightly cooked look about them and were a little more chewy than usual, but nothing uncomfortable on my old teeth. The drink was sweet and only tasted slightly roasted, mainly of sweet coconut with the pleasurable chewy bits at the end of each mouthful. I'd say this Roasted Coconut Juice is a must if you want a sweet liquid pudding after a heavy spicy meal.

Information on the can;
Made in Thailand by Foco. 350ml can, per 100ml has 40 calories with 0.4g of fat and 9g of sugar. Ingredients included; roasted coconut juice (80%), water, coconut pulp, sugar, and citric acid.