Foodstuff Finds

Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter [New] [Limited Edition] [By @Cinabar]

2012-02-03T17:55:00.002Z

Wow – I can’t tell you how excited I am to have one of these bars sitting in front of me!
This Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter may be part of the new Limited Edition range of Kit Kat Chunkys currently frequenting our shelves, but we have seen this bar before in the UK. It was discontinued in 2009 to my dismay and replaced by the caramel version. If you too have been missing the bar, you now have a chance to get it back on to British shelves permanently! You can vote for its return on the Facebook page (there are some other choices on that page too – but seriously who cares about them).
So with some excitement I unpacked this fabulous bar. I found one giant Chunky stick, neatly marked so that it could be broken into three pieces. I snapped the first chunk off and had a look at the layers of wafer, chocolate and that warm beige blanket of peanut butter, and a smile appeared on my face.
As I sunk my teeth in the peanut butter and chocolate blended together and created a flavour match made in heaven. The smooth but thick paste of peanut butter brought a rich nuttiness and a touch of salt, it filled the senses, and blended with the sweet cocoa flavours. It’s so much more than a bar, it’s an experience for the taste buds. As the bar is in the Chunky range it feels wonderfully substantial and filling to get your teeth into. This is my little corner of chocolate heaven, and I do not understand why we don’t have more peanut butter and chocolate options available in the UK. It’s crazy, we are all missing out, if you don’t believe you need to hunt down this Kit Kat and see what chocolate bars could really be like!
This previously discontinued Kit Kat left a peanut butter shaped hole in my heart. I will be voting for the Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter daily and keeping my fingers crossed for its return.
On the off chance it doesn’t make it back, I’m guess I’m going to have to bulk buy the Limited Edition version... anyone know if you can freeze Kit Kats?

By Cinabar

Kellogg's Totally Chocolatey Krave (Ocado) [By @NLi10]

2012-02-02T17:55:00.002Z

First up - as requested on Twitter this is a picture of all the cereal I currently have in the house. I happened to mention I'd made a big Ocado order to stock up, but this isn't a particularly unusual amount for me to have (although I have been cutting down recently). There are also back up boxes of some of the staple cereals like Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.

And on to the review!

There are lots of competitions to find new flavours in snack food. Cinabar had a KitKat from one the other day! Essentially these are a Simon Cowell style way of getting the public to not only tell you which b(r)and they prefer, but also then feel like you have won when you have told them. It all originally stems from the kind of end-of-year poll that magazines do so they know what films to write most about next year to keep you buying it!

I've no objection to this approach, more cereal is good, and keeping the popular ones usually happens anyway.

This sees a double chocolate version of Krave vs a caramel chocolate version of Krave. I haven't eaten the right hand one yet so that will be for another day. In my last visit to the Krave Krusader's lair (when he didn't have a name and the cereal was pretty new) I remarked that the Asda own brand is cheaper, nicer and therefore better. I'll stick to comparing this to normal flavour Krave today though.

I'm not sure this double choc version is aimed at me, my tastes are drifting away from the sweet into the more balanced cereals. I like a good shreddie or the nice plain cornflake so overloading this with sweetness wasn't a great thing. That said it's quite nice, and would do well as a mixer cereal where you have a plain base cereal with something sweet or chocolatey on top. I think I prefer the original recipe Krave after this one bowl, but I'll keep munching on both boxes and give you a full review in a couple of weeks.

By NLi10

Flying Dutchman (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-02-01T17:55:00.001Z

This Wit Bier (wheat beer) was brewed by the Caledonian Brewery, in Edinburgh, with the aid of specialty brewer Henk Oexman from Heineken, in the Netherlands. This is a 4.5% volume malted wheat beer, made with barley and hops, with the addition of coriander, orange peel and liquorish in the brewing. At the mention of orange peel I first thought this beer would go well with fish meals, and would have been a keen rival for the orange peel beer that I like to buy from Marks and Spencer’s in the summertime. On opening I could smell mainly liquorish mixed with a leafy or coriander undertone. On initial taste there was a quick hit of coriander, then an almost peppery bitterness, followed by a heavier liquorish flavour, ending with a mild bitterness from the hops. I couldn’t detect a hint of orange peel in the flavoured beer. The aftertaste mainly consisted of liquorish with the undercurrent of hoppy bitterness. Henk Oexman’s 30 years of knowledge and experience really shone through, making this beer a tour de force of the care and attention from Scottish Brewing mastery mixed with Henk’s European influence. I really enjoyed this wheat beer and would hunt it out again. I changed my mind after the first couple of mouthfuls, as I wouldn’t necessarily drink this beer with a fish meal. The robust flavour from the liquorish lends my thinking more towards a roast pork or sausage meal. I reckon Henk Oexman’s influence has been most welcome at the Caledonian Brewery, and I’m sure he would be welcome to visit again any time he likes!

By Spectre

Rice Krispie Squares – [New] Rocky Road Edition (Nisa) [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-31T17:55:00.003Z

I have had my eye out for this new flavour of Rice Krispie Squares since DavidH let me know that he had spotted them in Asda. I found mine on a trip to the local shop nearest work, on a hunt for cheap coffee. I discovered that they stocked these and all four flavours of the new Chunky Kit Kats – hurrah!
Anyway I got back to my desk and carefully unwrapped the Rice Krispie Square. I did have a moment of disappointment when I first saw the bar, as the description of the topping was shortbread, raisins and white chocolate but it wasn’t really visually represented. After a further look I worked out that although I was a little short changed on the white chocolate, the biscuit pieces and the raisins were actually within the mallow.
If you haven’t seen Rice Krispie Squares before they consist of Rice Krispies, all stuck together with chocolate mallow. There are various versions of the bars available, and the toppings are often quite creative. I never know whether they are meant as an alternative breakfast food – but I tend to have them as my elevenses snack!
This new variety has a good selection of goodies, and I think it is the first time they have used raisins. I liked the raisins with the chocolate, and of all the Rocky Roads goodies it was certainly my favourite. The juicy sweet fruit worked well with the sticky chocolate coating and broke up the texture and flavour. The texture of the biscuit was a bit more lost as the bar is so crunchy anyway, but the buttery taste did shine through when you got a chunk.
My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen a bit more white chocolate on the topping, as it was barely noticeable on my bar. The chunk I had was nice enough with a creamy vanilla flavour, but where were the rest of them? To be honest I think I was just unlucky on that front, but for all the other ingredients I have to give the new flavour a thumbs up.

By Cinabar

Walkers – What’s That Flavour? Mystery Flavour A [Crisps] [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-30T17:55:00.003Z

The new products just keep on rolling in... and I’m pleased to announce some new crisps from Walkers. I can’t tell you what flavours they are though – because it’s all part of the mystery!
Walkers have created three new varieties of crisps, but not labelled what they are on the bag. You can take a guess at the flavours (via Facebook or Text message) and then be in with the chance to win some serious cash prizes!
I can’t resist a challenge, so was eager to dive in. I started with the reasonably named bag ‘A’. The only clue on the packet was that this was a dairy based flavour. The ingredients list on the back didn’t offer any more clues than that!
I opened up the bag and was pretty sure I could pick up on a garlic smell and some cheese. When I actually tasted a crisp, I could no longer pick up on that garlic hint and the flavour seemed far more focussed on the cheese aspect. It was a strong cheese, something quite powerful and distinct, and perhaps that garlic I thought I smelt was a background onion taste, possible even shallots?
The main thing is that these crisps were really nice, and if you like Walkers Cheese and Onion then you’ll find these a good alternative. They are certainly similar to that classic taste, but still are unique and they have stumped me a bit. I’ll be honest I not sure what I’m going to enter as a potential answer, and I’m going to have to have another bag to give them a try before I settle on a final decision.
If you want to give them a try yourself they should be appearing in supermarkets and other shops very soon. Allan H has already spotted all three flavours packaged in a multipack in Tesco – if you want to hunt some down. If you do, please leave a comment, let me know what you think!

By Cinabar

Pokka Blueberry Tea (KK Mart - Bromsgrove) [by @NLi10]

2012-01-29T17:55:00.002Z

A while ago I drank quite a lot of the Pokka lemon tea and decided to write it up for here. Essentially it's a bottled tea but made with actual brewed tea instead of tea flavours being added. This is similar but with Blueberries added instead of lemons!

I bought this a while back but saved it for when I thought I'd need a nice drink and took it to an all day gaming tournament in Birmingham, UK for Magic: The Gathering.

The tea flavour wasn't quite intense enough for me, but the blueberries ended up giving it quite a nicely interesting aftertaste. It was very drinkable, refreshing and perked me up a bit too. I think that while I prefer the original lemon variety I'll end up buying this again, it's more exciting than the typical fruit cordials we get as 'still' drinks here in the UK. It's just unfortunate that only Spar and speciality retailers like KK Mart & Yum Yum seem to stock them. Us Brits need to be more adventurous!!

By NLi10

Fox’s Glacier Citrus (WH Smiths) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-01-28T17:55:00.003Z

Fox’s have been producing sweets in the UK since 1897. Peppy the Polar Beer joined as their chief Quality Checker when Glacier Mints were brought out in 1918. I’ve always been partial to the odd packet of Fox’s Glacier Mints ever since I was a young lad. A year or so ago Cinabar reviewed Fox’s Glacier Limited Edition Mango Peach Passion Fruit Smoothies. These Fox’s Glacier Citrus recently appeared in my blogger’s in-tray between the iron bars of my cell in the Foodstufffind’s dungeon. There were four flavours to choose from, which were; lemon, lime, grapefruit and clementine. Clearly with such big sour fruit juice titles such as lemon, lime and grapefruit, I thought these glacier mints were meant as a bitter treat to dull the taste of whatever strange flavoured beer Cinabar had plans to torture me with. The Glacier Citrus were made in some part with actual fruit juice and with no artificial flavours or colours. It was good to see Fox’s were trying new flavours of sweets after so many years on the market. So I put down my beer bottle opener (fashioned from the skull of a previous Foodstuff blogger) and hungrily tore open the 200g Glacier Citrus bag. There was some confusion to start with as all the wrappers of individually wrapped sweets inside the bag were the same colour! I first thought that they were all four flavours rolled into each sweet, but I was just so wrong…

Clementine flavour

Unwrapping a sweet and taking note of the orange colour, I dumped it in my mouth and immediately noticed that it tasted just like orange jelly. This is great if you like orange jelly and don’t have one to hand. Fortunately I love orange jelly. I’ve always said that if jelly wrestling became an Olympic sport (London 2012?), then the bikini girls should wrestle in orange jelly. There was no sourness, just a juicy mouth watering clementine taste that was totally scrumptious.

Lime flavour

Green in colour and frustratingly in the same coloured wrapping as the clementine flavour, the lime flavour had a good sour taste to it, not face twisting, but enough to wake me up a bit whilst I sat bored at my desk at work. It had the same mouth watering tastiness as the Clementine flavour, with a delightful lime zing. Although I was beginning to wonder if I would have to unwrap most of the sweets to find the other two flavours!

Grapefruit flavour

Luckily the sixth sweet I unwrapped was an off yellow colour, and I popped it in my mouth figuring this would definitely be the lemon flavour. I was immediately taken aback by the face twisting sour heavy kick of pure grapefruit. Sucking down hard sent pleasurable shivers up and down my spine that I’d never felt from a sour sweet before. Usually sour sweets make me squirm or hurt the roof of my mouth with their acid sour strength. This was a strange ecstatic tingle that I’m certain no other food could ever reproduce. It was raining big freezing dollops of icy water outside at the time I began to suck on this mouth watering sweet, however inside the office at my desk I felt an oddly warming sensation as my senses delved into grapefruit and all its tangy goodness. Honestly, you have to try this sweet, as it was quite an experience!

Lemon flavour

After unwrapping another three sweets I found a very yellow coloured sweet that just had to be lemon. I popped it in my mouth and was first pleased to be kicked by another face twisting sour sweet and second that I’d located the last of the four flavours amongst the individually and identically wrapped sweets. I almost gave out a cheer, but remembered that I was at work and that my office was far too serious for such a thing! The tangy sourness of the lemon flavour, made me think of pancakes in the spring time covered in brown sugar and lemon juice. The sweet was far more sour and face twisty than the grapefruit, and although it didn’t give me the same ecstatic back tingling feeling, I reveled in the squirming zingy sensation that ran around my senses like a hamster on steroids.

These Fox’s Glacier Citrus sweets were mouth wateringly genuinely fruit juicy tasting and fantastically moreish. Whilst sampling them my mind went on an adventure from the (Olympic) joy of orange jelly wrestling, to being shaken awake by fresh lime ready for a Tequila Sunrise, replaced by the previously unknown ecstasies of grapefruit and brought thudding back down to earth by the squirming awkwardness of lemons! These individually wrapped sweets also presented a certain anonymity that was kind of fun to discover what flavour I’d be eating when I unwrapped it at the time. I’m definitely keeping these sweets in my draw at work to suck on whilst I trawl through endless paperwork and dream of the next weekend.

By Spectre

Kit Kat Chunky Orange [New] [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-27T17:55:00.004Z

As mentioned earlier in the week there are four new Kit Kat Chunky bars on the market as Limited Editions, the most popular of which will become a permanent member of the Kit Kat Chunky family. I am working my way through the varieties and the next one on the list is Kit Kat Chunky Orange. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!
The bar is brightly packaged in an orange wrapper, which of course matches the flavour. Once opened I discovered that the bar had a nice sweet smell, with a pleasant natural citrus aroma, which made it rather appetising. I think it is safe to say that orange and milk chocolate work well as a flavour combination, and it is nice to see Kit Kat giving it a try.
The bar is lovely and Chunky, and when you bite in the chocolate and orange blend together perfectly creating a cocoa filled fruity sensation. The orange flavour is soft; it’s not sharp or tart, but pleasantly sweet. It is reassuringly natural in taste too, and I’m pleased to say that the packet states that there are no artificial flavours which is always nice to see. The good solid large wafer inside the Kit Kat gives the bar the substantial feeling you’d expect from one of the Chunky bars.
I felt that the orange worked really well, and made the bar much easier to eat. The fruitiness breaks up the flavour and stops the bar from being overpowering or too rich. It instead had a lovely freshness about the chocolate that made it feel like a proper treat.
If I didn’t know that there was a Peanut Butter Chunky remaining to be tried, I think I’d be real excited about this new Kit Kat!

By Cinabar

Um, Big Chocolate Star? - The Cocoabean Company (Boots) [by @NLi10]

2012-01-26T17:55:00.001Z

I don't have much details about this, it being a Christmas present, but due to the little green gift sticker I'm guessing it came from Boots and as the ribbon says the cocoabean company I'm going to guess it comes from this place up in Scotland!

I'm not a massive fan of milk chocolate, it's something that's always been around and just doesn't excite me that much. This fulfils the 'add an angle' and makes boring old milk chocolate exciting by adding little rice crispies in chocolate to the outside, adding some deceptively chewy toffee to the points and spraying titanium dioxide in the middle.

As with most Christmas things I'm only just getting around to starting eating this and it's actually quite enjoyable. I'd say that it's more of a Hotel Chocolate style experience than I'd expected, and the website shows that these guys go all the way to the extreme luxury slabs of chocolate end too! The rice was plentiful enough to give me a crunch but not so overwhelming that the chocolate was flooded. I'm also working under the assumption that eating titanium gives you super-powers but I haven't checked Wikipedia yet so fingers crossed on that one.

It's a bit much for one sitting, but sitting watching all the TV programs recorded over Xmas and playing all of the Xmas games I picked up this was a nice thing to reach for and aggressively bite a chunk out of while steadfastly avoiding all the real food in the kitchen. I'd hapily try other things in this range, especially as they do fruity chocolates by the look of it too.

By NLi10

Feel Good – Cloudy Lemon Flavour (Westmorland Service Station ) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-01-25T17:55:00.002Z

I bought this lemon drink from the Westmorland Service Station just outside Penrith, on the way back from a recent trip to Northumberland. Cinabar had a good hunt around the farm shop there for Foodstuff Finds goodies after we’d sat down for a first-class meal. I had a hearty curry and chips and fancied a drink that was refreshing, healthy and zingy to keep me awake on the long drive home. The 100% natural ingredients and no added sugar caught my eye on the bottle label. This drink was made with water and 82% fruit juice, of which is apple, lemon, grape, orange and aceroia (a type of cherry apparently).
To start with I can definitely confirm that this drink is cloudy. The drink tastes sweet with an underlying sour lemon flavour, giving it the zing I needed. It did make me “feel good” and had a healthy feel to it. It was easy to drink and I felt refreshed once I’d finished it. The only problem was that I wanted another one straight away. I would certainly buy this cloudy lemon drink again, and not just for a long jaunt down the motorway.

By Spectre

MaltEaster Mini Bunnies (W H Smiths) [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-24T17:55:00.002Z

Back in 2009 the MaltEaster bunny was launched and it was an amazing success. I can tell that it does well, because my short post from January 2009 still proves to be one of the most popular here at Foodstuff Finds!
The thing about bunnies is that they tend to multiple, and now instead of just being available singularly, you can now buy multiple chocolate creatures in a bag, albeit ones that are a bit smaller than the original. Yes, MaltEaster have expanded their range this year and inside this bag are mini bunnies all individually wrapped. They weigh in at just under 12g and contain just 62calories so they are perfect if you fancy a smaller chocolate treat. Other than that the bunny is much the same as the previous year’s versions; with thick creamy chocolate a malt cream filling and pieces of honeycomb to give it a bit of a crunch. It does essentially taste like a large bunny shaped Malteser but with a softer filling, and absolutely lovely it is too. These are great for sharing, but also as they are individually wrapped they would be good for popping into a lunch box as a small chocolate treat.
Finally I hope everyone realises the name of this product contains the word Easter... oh my, the seasons gets earlier and earlier every year!

By Cinabar

Galaxy Bubbles Orange Bar (Boots) [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-23T17:55:00.002Z

January is normally a slow month snack wise, but things seem to be going a bit crazy at the minute. I have SO many new items to tell you about, I can foresee it being a good week ahead at Foodstuff Finds so keep your eyes open!
First up is a new product from Galaxy, that I first saw sitting quietly on the chocolate counter in Boots. Sometimes when a new product comes out there is a big fanfare about it, and the shops have promotional displays and advertising boards, but this new bar appeared without fuss on the shelf. There was no more than the word ‘new’ written on the wrapper of this Galaxy Bubbles Orange Bar to mark its arrival.
I opened up the bar and as you would expect from Galaxy it was neatly marked into pieces so that you could snap off bite size chunks. The aroma was mild, but I could certainly pick up on the chocolates sweet citrus tones. I picked up one of the chocolate pieces and gave it a try. The first thing I noticed was that as the texture of chocolate wasn’t as clean with its bubbles as other bars such as Wispa. I guess this is because the pieces are thinner and that the chocolate has a much thicker melt, I noticed when I wrote about Galaxy Bubbles for the very first time (i.e. without the orange flavour) I also picked up on this. The Galaxy bar still had its indulgent feel when combined with the heat in the mouth, as the soft bubbles melted and coated the tongue with a very indulgent thick smooth finish. The flavour was spot on, the orange taste was fruity and sweet working well with the rich chocolate bringing balance instead of cutting it up with a sharp zesty flavour. This gentler orange flavour didn’t distract from the super creamy chocolate it complemented it and added a new level to the Galaxy chocolate. This bar is a total success, and really did deserve some fanfares at it launch. It is nice to see a bit of variation with some lovely new chocolates on the market – although this one is surprisingly similar in name to the other recently launched: Aero Bubbles in Orange.

By Cinabar

Sobe V Water - Shield, Lemon & Lime (Tesco) [By @NLi10]

2012-01-22T17:55:00.003Z

Usually when I pick up multiple flavours of the same drink I do a joint review, but this one is a bit different so will come in two parts. This is part 2 - part 1 was on Thursday!

Having picked this up as the plus one to a special offer of a drink I'd found disappointing I wasn't holding out much hope for this. I'm not even sure why I picked up this flavour to be honest! The previous drink had been deep in colour and slight in taste and lemonade style drinks that are flat are something that it's hard to get right.

I picked this up after returning late from work instead of making a cup of tea, I figured it was easier and frankly cutting back on caffeinated drinks is probably wise. I did my usual web surfing and video watching at the computer and barely even registered the fact that I was drinking it. And after a short while it struck me why - this is fundamentally Pocari Sweat! I didn't write the entry for that product, mainly because it's one of those odd things that I'm a little evangelical about - I can't get enough of this stuff!

Don't get me wrong though, this Sobe Shield isn't Pocari Sweat, it doesn't have the smoothness and I think it's a note or two less sweet, but it's pretty close and doesn't have to be bought from import shops which is a bonus. Given the choice I'd happily choose the original over this every time, but I'll certainly pick this up again.

I'm not sure how you'd describe the taste of this other than unsweetened lemonade with the sourness tuned down - and flat. The aftertaste is possibly a little flat for my liking, but that really is nitpicking. Oddly this contains lemon, lime and chilli flavourings and several natural herbal extracts (echinacea and astragalus) AND zinc sulphate which suggest that Britvic has put a lot of thought into the health angle for these drinks (for people who don't go on PubMed and check on the efficacy of these things as part of their jobs anyway...).

When a new range is launched I tend to either like or dislike the whole thing, but with these V Water things they produced one disappointing weak cordial, and one surprisingly nice delicate lemon drink. That's not a terrible strike rate if you ask me.

But oh - what is this - there are SIX flavours... and two energy drinks? I'm not sure I can risk that...

By NLi10

Alpro Soya Chocolate Flavour (Sainsburys) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-01-21T17:55:00.002Z

I have tried soya milk previously and wasn’t that keen on it, therefore I’ve always been put off trying other soya milk products. When Cinabar suggested I try this Chocolate flavoured soya alternative to chocolate milkshake, I was pretty much against the idea from the start. This chocolate flavoured soya milk was packaged in a 1 litre carton with 77 calories per 100ml, and was rich in calcium, and vitamins B2, B12 and D. Reading the carton further, I found that this chocolate flavoured soya milk was vegetarian and a vegan friendly, produced in a nut free environment, and was dairy, lactose, wheat and gluten free. It was also free from dairy fats, artificial sweeteners, colours and preservatives. Alpro Soya is also a good source of plant protein, and is “planet friendly”, using less land and water, and five times less carbon dioxide than 1 litre of diary milk. Alpro Soya uses ethnically sourced non genetically modified organic (GMO) soya beans. Apparently increased soya in your diet reduces the risk of prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women, and also improves cognitive and verbal memory.

Realising I was starting to sound more like a health food advertisement I decided to open the carton. On opening I noticed the brown milk smelt like chocolate, which I figured was a good start. It had a thick texture, but didn’t have a sweet chocolate taste, as it tasted almost identical to chocolate rice pudding. There was definitely a heavy rice pudding aftertaste with a hint of chocolate, which made me feel a little thirsty. Having said that, I was still pleasantly surprised by the satisfying chocolaty taste of this chocolate flavoured soya milk, and believe it would make a good healthy alternative to chocolate milkshake and chocolate puddings in general. So next time you see a carton in the fridge section in the supermarket don’t be shy and give it a try, it’s not bad at all and it’s good for you!

By Spectre

Kit Kat Chunky Double Choc (By @Cinabar)

2012-01-20T17:55:00.002Z

Let me start by sharing some fantastic news – Kit Kat have launched four new limited edition Chunky bars! The most popular of which will be added to the permanent range! Its popularity will be based on an online vote on their facebook site, so after you’ve tasted the bars – vote for your favourite there.

The four new bars are pictured above, but just to clarify they are:

Double Choc
Orange
White Choc
Peanut Butter!!!

First up though we have:

Double Choc

As far as flavours go, this one probable sounded the least diverse in the selection. I don’t mean to be unnecessarily negative towards the bar before I begin, but as an addition to the permanent selection I think I’d prefer something a little bit more different.
I pulled back the wrapper and found that the large stick of Kit Kat was marked into three pieces. I broke one piece off, which was still quite a hard task. It took more pressure than expected to snap and it felt wonderfully substantial. Once open I saw that some of the wafer had been replaced by a layer of thick chocolate fondant that looked quite dark. My first thought was that I had hoped that the wafer would have been chocolaty too, but I guess that would have made it a triple chocolate bar!
I bit in and have to say the layer of extra chocolate did make this a seriously indulgent Kit Kat. The cocoa tones fill the senses and the huge wafer gives it a very satisfying feel. The extra chocolate worked like a dream, and actually impressed me.
I would find it impossible to say anything bad about this Kit Kat Double Choc as it just tasted so darn nice. The chocolate layer gave it an edge on a regular Kit Kat Chunky, and to say that I originally felt this bar sounded the least interesting I now have to confess to liking the extra chocolate and the difference it made. I still have that thought in my head though about there being a real chance to get Kit Kat Chunky that adds some proper variety to the brand, and as much as I enjoyed this bar, I’m not sure it is different enough for me to get excited at voting it in as the permanent member to the range. I will however wait till I’ve tried all four before I make any decisions on where to place my vote.
The write-ups of the other three bars will follow shortly, and if this one is anything to go by, I am rather looking forward to tucking in!
Have you tried the bars yet? What do you think? Which one will be getting your vote?

By Cinabar

Sobe V Water - Glow, Pomegranate & Blueberry Flavour (Tesco) [by @NLi10]

2012-01-19T17:55:00.001Z

Usually when I pick up multiple flavours of the same drink I do a joint review, but this one is a bit different so will come in two parts. This is part 1 & part 2 will be up Sunday.

I happened to be out and looking for a drink to take with me to a games night (which turned out to be a venue that didn't want you to bring your own drinks...) and saw this Sobe V Water drink. It had geckos on the bottle and contained pomegranate, it was also on a buy two for a bit more than one offer in Tesco so I picked up a second flavour too.

As mentioned I didn't get to drink it on that day, but as the photo shows I got chance to drink it while out shopping the following day. I'd not really thought about the prominence of the word water in the name and so was very surprised by the weakness of the flavour. Not only could I not tell that it was pomegranate or blueberry but I think I'd have struggled to guess even close if it wasn't for the colour. It tastes like when you've had a nice bottle of Ribena and then reused the bottle without washing it by filling it up from a tap. Except the Ribena flavour would probably still be stronger.

It was certainly refreshing, and I didn't really put the 'glow' part to the test as my brain refused to believe that something so mild in flavour would have medicinal properties. If you want something that is one step above water in the flavour department and is fairly expensive for what it does then try this out! I think there is probably a market for refreshing things with a sporty edge that you can just drink large quantities of like Lucozade Light and other non-sugar sports drinks but I'd need a bit more oomph in the taste department.

By NLi10

Fig Newtons (American Soda @americansoda) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-01-18T17:55:00.003Z

These Fig Newtons are cookies (or biscuits to us Brits) with a fig centre, and were made in Mexico by Nabisco, for Kraft Foods. The 226g box had sixteen biscuits inside it. Two biscuits were considered a serving size, which was 110 calories. The fig biscuit’s ingredients included; figs (bit strange if they didn’t), wheat flour, milk, soy, sulfites, baking soda and sugar. On opening the box and tearing open the biscuit’s plastic wrapper, there was a strong and gorgeous smell like cookie dough (er… biscuit dough?) mixed with fig. I mentioned to Cinabar at the time that I could have quite happily breathed in that smell all day. It was a heavenly newly cooked fig biscuit smell that could easily be used as an air freshener. I have never understood why air fresheners generally have a strong flowery or fruity smell that doesn’t truly cover up a stink (whatever it is…), but rather adds to it, creating an all together new chokingly fruity flowery stench of doom that could have without doubt been used in trench warfare…

Anyway, these biscuits have a very soft and slightly crumbly outer biscuit that had a very mild wheat flour flavour with a hint of soy. The main flavour of the biscuit concentrated almost entirely on the juicy fig wrapped inside, which shined through ecstatically. There was a moistness that some dryer biscuits on the market don’t have, giving these fig biscuits a fresh chewy texture and whetting the palate, willing you to have just one more… and then another, and another. With the knowledge that I could have effortlessly pigged out and eaten the whole sixteen biscuits in one sitting, I decided to be controlled when eating these imported biscuits, savouring their taste and only having a few each day. I’ve always raved about how Sainsbury’s own fig rolls are the best fig biscuits on the market (and trust me, they are really good), but Fig Newtons had a soft sumptuous luxury feel to them, pushing Sainsbury’s fig rolls to second best and dwarfing Jacob’s hardened biscuit fig rolls. I must get some more of these Fig Newtons sometime soon. Once you find something so good, you just have to indulge… Well, you just have to!

By Spectre

Want your own Fig Newtons? They are available here!

Aero Orange Bubbles (Sainsbury’s) [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-17T17:55:00.002Z

Aero Mint Bubbles are my first choice of chocolate snack if we go to the theatre as they are such an easy chocolate to eat (as an added bonus they have no wrappers to rustle and annoy other theatre goes). Aero Bubbles are obviously popular as Nestle have expanded the range and released these new orange flavour ones to sit alongside the mint version. It is an obvious brand continuation as they re-released the Aero Orange bar just last year and people were very pleased to see that back on our shelves.
These new milk chocolate coated bubbles may look like Maltesers from the outside but the citrus aroma and light weight give some clues to the contents. I was impressed to see that the bubbles inside each of these new chocolates is a lovely orange colour, and matches the more famous Aero bar.
The thing I love about Aero Bubbles is the texture. The light ball of bubbly chocolate just melts away in seconds in the mouth when you bite in, leaving the most amazing chocolate orange flavour behind.
The chocolate is sweet and milky, and the orange flavour is fruity and zesty. Spectre enjoyed the Orange Bubbles but wanted a stronger zingier orange flavour, like you might find in a Quality Street Orange Cream, but the recipe is the same as the Orange Aero bar which is a softer warmer orange flavour.
Each Bubble may only be light but it is just enough chocolate to fill the taste buds, and after the sweet chocolaty orange flavour gentle dissolves and subsides you find yourself reaching for another Bubble... and another... until the bag sits empty in front of you... and you find yourself blaming somewhere else for the disappearance of the chocolate. This is perfect snacking chocolate, easy eating and very moreish. They are ideal for sharing, but you might just find yourself fighting over the bag!

By Cinabar

Anchor Elevenses Competition

2012-01-16T21:40:00.000Z

Anchor Butter is bringing back Elevenses!

Well… It never really went anywhere; it’s just been a little forgotten. We want to inspire people who feel the need to have a nice little sit, with a cup of tea and a nibble at around 11 o’clock.
You might call us crazy, but we find that a buttered crumpet or slice of cake at this time of day is just what’s needed. The kids are at school, you’ve made countless packed lunches, the dogs’ been for a walk and before you start your day (as if it hasn’t already been going for hours!) you need a bit of a recharge.
We want people to embrace this mid morning snack, in all its glory and we want you to join us! To help bring Elevenses back we’d like to offer all the readers of Foodstuff Finds the chance to win a full set of Anchor memorabilia! That’s a butter dish, a pair of egg cups, a cake stand, a cake tin, a tea towel, an apron and a toy van!

All you have to do is tell us what’s your favourite elevenses snack?
Please email you answer to admin@foodstufffinds.co.uk and mark the subject line Comp

They’d love to talk to you more so why not hop over to Anchor's Facebook and Twitter for a chat.

Competition closes - Friday 20th January at 8pm
Good Luck all!

Pom Bear Pizza (Sainsbury’s) [By @cinabar]

2012-01-16T17:55:00.000Z

I have to be honest, as a kid Pom Bear skipped me by. I can’t actually remember every having tried them before. I know this is shocking, and I’ve certainly seen them in the shops many times, but they have never made it into my basket before now. The thing that encouraged me on this occasion was the exciting word ‘new’ on the bag, and I felt that this seemed like a good place to start with the brand.
I poured some onto my plate at lunch time and have to be honest, smiled at the sweet shape of these crisps, because they do look like smiling bears. They seemed be made of an aerated potato base, that made them look quite light and a little bit like Quavers.
I bit into one and was impressed by the texture. It was very light, but also pleasantly crisp and crunchy. The flavour was more complex than expected and had tomato, cheese and a nice hint of Italian herbs such as Oregano. The taste is fairly mild, but certainly had the major ingredients for recreating a pizza taste. The lightness of the crisps makes them very easy munching, I thoroughly enjoyed the bag. I know they appeal to children because they are rather cute, but as an adult I can’t resist the fact that they are less than 100 calories a bag too!
There was something very refreshing about trying a new brand of crisps, and I will be looking out for the other flavours in the range. A little birdie tells me that there are more new varieties on the way too – so keep your eye out for Smoky Bacon and Prawn Cocktail coming very soon.

By Cinabar

Lychee Flake Pocky, Glico [By @NLi10]

2012-01-15T17:55:00.000Z

At the end of last week's review I remarked how similar the Mango Pocky Mouse was in taste to the Lychee Pocky and stated that I should try them together to see the similarities. I hadn't realised at that point that I hadn't actually reviewed the Lychee Pocky (but had eaten a few of the boxes!) so that should be the next one to write up. I also had a Thai red curry with Lychees in from Ma Ma Thai last night so it's been a very lychee week.

Lychee is one of those odd fruits that doesn't seem to crop up that often in UK foods. It's very sweet and fragrant and hides in a soft red shell and has a hard stone in the centre. It also looks a little like an eyeball. One of the most palatable ways to try a lychee flavour is to get the Rubikon Lychee juice drink from the Caribbean section of your local supermarket. This really does taste like the real thing.

This tastes similar, but with the emphasis on the cream for the deluxe Pocky style the taste is a little richer than normal and consequently this is a snacking Pocky rather than a consume the whole box in one sitting thing. Also this is Thai Pocky where as the Mouse is Japanese Pocky. The flavours vary but the essential experience remains the same.

As this has actual flakes of dried lychee on the sticks they are a little crunchier than you'd expect and the flavour has a sharper edge similar to the blueberry or dried strawberry varieties. Directly compared to the mango there are indeed similarieites, but the lychee flakes mean that after a few bites this is the more lychee experience. The mango flavour is still suspicious but when directly compared there is more of a mango hint and the lychee is maybe more of an aftertaste.

Lychee Pocky is one of the great summer flavours and one I've been happy to pick up and munch on for a good while.

By NLi10

Wonka Laffy Taffy Mystery Twirl (American Soda @americansoda) [By @SpectreUK]

2012-01-14T17:55:00.002Z

I’m always excited when Cinabar passes me another of Wonka’s fine sweet inventions. This Laffy Taffy was a two flavour Mystery Twirl from Nestlé USA. The long stick was half purple and half green in colour. It was around the same length as a thirty centimeter ruler and less than a centimeter in width, weighing in at 22.9g. The two coloured flavours were stuck next to each other in a line, rather than twirled around each other. I noticed that there was no juice mentioned in ingredients, like Rowntrees pride themselves on adding at least some juice into the manufacturing of their gums. The Laffy Taffy was very sticky to touch and I had to completely destroy the packet to get to the sweet. Fortunately the wrapper didn’t rip like some chewy sweet wrappers can and you end up eating half the packaging. I worried that the sweet would pull my fillings out, but the Laffy Taffy was nice and chewy, like Starburst or Chewits. The purple colour had a false, but not unpleasant grape flavour that mostly overpowered the green colour, which I figured was apple flavour. The wrapper did state “Mystery Twirl”, and there might not have been a “Twirl” involved, but the second flavour did keep most of its “Mystery”. Having said that, I did enjoy this sweet, it had a pleasant flavour and didn’t pull my teeth out. It made me feel young for a while, as I had fun tearing apart the wrapper on the bus after another busy day at work. So thanks, Wonka, I can always rely on you to make me smile. :-)

By Spectre

Get you own Laffy Taffy from American Soda: There are plenty to choose from!

Cadbury Wispa Gold [It’s back and it’s permanently!] (WH Smiths) [By @Cinabar]

2012-01-13T17:55:00.002Z

Wispa Gold is one of my favourite chocolate bars of all time. It has had an uneasy past, being discontinued, then brought back for a short period of time and then discontinued again. I’m pleased to say it has now been brought back to the shops as part of the permanent range. I’m not sure what permanent means to chocolate bar manufacturers, but it certainly sounds hopefully that it will be around for a while yet! I get the impression that someone at Cadbury HQ saw the Olympic tie-in of gold medals and gold chocolate and gave this bar a new lease of life due to the name.
The bar is actually slightly different to its last release, but only subtly so. The biggest difference I spotted was that on the old bar (in its last incarnation), one end always had a large section of bubbly chocolate before you got to the caramel bit. This meant that if you bit in at the wrong end you could be fooled into thinking you were eating a regular Wispa, as the caramel wouldn’t be revealed until the second bite. I have tried a couple of these new ones and can confirm that there is no such issue with this new variation and that the caramel goes all the way through!
The chocolate is as you would expect, and is the usual sweet creamy stuff from Cadbury, formed into soft bubbles so it gives willing when you bite in. The caramel is super gooey and oozes pleasingly as you work your way through the bar. It is a flavoursome filling and Cadbury do always seem to hit the right note when it comes to caramel. The fabulous golden concoction in the centre makes this bar, that and the rich chocolate just work together in perfect harmony. A sweet treat that has a good mix of textures and the perfect caramel chocolate ratio.
I would like to say a big Foodstuff Finds welcome back to Wispa Gold, and may it be with us forever more! ;-)

By Cinabar

Pocky Mouse, Green Tea, Chocolate, Mango – Glico [By @NLi10]

2012-01-12T17:55:00.001Z

Happy New Year - Happy New Pocky!

I've had these sitting in my work drawer for a while and thought they'd be perfect for a quick review.

Pocky Mouse is essentially a thicker layer of Pocky coating on the same stick, meaning these are closer to the Meiji Lucky Stick that I reviewed earlier. This gives you a squishier experience and changes the taste levels too. Each box has two individually wrapped packs of 6 bars, similar to other Japanese produced Pocky.

The chocolate one is very much your basic Pocky but in a deluxe box and coating style. If you've had a regular Pocky then this is pretty much the same thing, but chewier. The flavours are nice though and it's very compulsive and tempts you to finish the packets in a single sitting.

The Green Tea one is something I've sought for a while but the flavour is pretty unusual. This tastes like the green tea at the end of the pot when the flavour is at its most intense. As there is some actual green tea in the recipe the coating is a little pastier than usual and changes the experience up a little. Non-Pocky eating people were a little freaked out by this one, but those of us who like both parts were suitably impressed after that first odd bite. I'd like a Jasmine tea one now please Glico!

Oddest of them all was the Mango Pocky. Far from being unappetising or having a bad flavour this is one of the fruitiest and most appealing Pocky I've had - it just appears to taste of lychee instead of mango! I was given some lychee flake Pocky for Christmas which contains actual physical pieces of dried lychee on it and they taste startlingly similar! Not a complaint due to the fact that the little eye-ball imitating fruit is one of my favourites (especially in curry - yum!) but somewhat unexpected. I shall take the Lychee flake Pocky to work and compare the two (if I must... :D ).

By NLi10

New Year’s Eve Chocolate Beer and Chocolate Cigar Celebrations [By @Spectre]

2012-01-11T17:55:00.004Z

Orange Flavoured Venchi Cuba Chocolate Cigar

I usually have a Meringato Venchi Cuba chocolate cigar on Christmas Eve, but Cinabar treated me to an orange flavoured Venchi Cuba chocolate cigar amongst my Christmas presents, so I decided to break with tradition and eat it on New Year’s Eve washed down with a couple of chocolate beers. We watched Jools Holland’s Hootenanny and I enjoyed my bottle of Barnstormer before midnight. Once the New Year’s celebrations and fireworks had died down I unwrapped my 100g gold labeled Venchi Cuba chocolate cigar with orange peel flavouring. Like the Meringato this chocolate cigar is made with a double layer of chocolate, which equates to 20% pure milk chocolate and 20% dark chocolate, with candied orange filling and other ingredients. Before I opened the first bottle I had a quick taste of the chocolate cigar. It had a smooth combination of milk and dark chocolates with a decent hit of cocoa, and a subtle yet sweet orange flavour mixed with vanilla and a hint of almonds. The chocolate cigar was very nice indeed. As per usual I quoted Hannibal Smith from the A Team; “I love it when a plan comes together.” I then reached for the bottle opener and the Double Chocolate Stout…

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (Waitrose)

Staying with the theme of double chocolates, this Double Chocolate Stout was brewed by Wells and Young’s Brewery, in Bedford, which was established in 1831. The stout was 5.2% volume, and its ingredients included; pale ale malt, oats, hops, yeast, malted barley, and natural chocolate flavouring. “Double Chocolate” in the title meant that it had been brewed with chocolate malt and real dark chocolate.

There was a strong chocolate smell on opening the bottle. I excitedly poured the almost black stout into my beer mug, whilst holding the huge chocolate cigar in my mouth like a mad dictator (well, they usually are mad anyway). On tasting the stout, the initial bitterness from the mix of sturdy malts and hops was quickly replaced by a luxurious soft, smooth, creaminess, which was merged with a dark chocolate flavour. The dark chocolate flavour wasn’t overly sweet and lightly tickled my taste buds, leaving a deep malt chocolate aftertaste. Whilst this stout easily complimented the chocolate cigar, I could have happily cast the cigar to one side and enjoyed the chocolate stout on its own. I’m sure this would be a gloriously indulgent pudding replacement for anyone. All I can think to say is a quote from another film, which is Sleepless in Seattle; “Tiramisu? What’s that?” Who cares…?

Cheshire Chocolate Porter (Waitrose)

Once I’d finished the Double Chocolate Stout and much of the chocolate cigar, I reached for this Cheshire Chocolate Porter. It was brewed in collaboration between Frederic Robinson Limited’s Unicorn Brewery, in Stockport, which was established in 1838, and the renowned Chocolatier Simon Dunn. This Chocolate Porter was based on a recipe that dated back to 1899. It was described on the bottle as; “Full bodied with a ripe malt and velvety smooth chocolate taste”. Dark brown in colour and 6% volume, this Porter’s ingredients included; yeast, malted barley, wheat syrup, wheat, hops, and natural chocolate flavouring. The bottle recommended this Porter for main courses of roast pork or gammon, as well as chocolaty puddings.

I washed my empty beer mug for tasting fairness before pouring. I found that this Porter was not as strong smelling of chocolate as the Double Chocolate Stout. There was an initial beery bitterness and malt taste followed by a sweeter hit from the chocolate than the Double Chocolate Stout. This was followed by a decent malt and rich chocolate aftertaste. I certainly found this Porter to be a very tasty and very moreish beer. My beer mug seemed to empty all too quickly and I wished I’d had another bottle to replace it. This Porter went very well with the other half of my chocolate cigar, but again, whilst not as creamy and smooth as the Double Chocolate Stout, I’d have been happy to enjoy this beer on its own.

Both chocolate beers and the chocolate cigar undoubtedly helped me celebrate the New Year in style. Thanks Cinabar and I hope you all are having a great New Year and enjoy the blog for another year and for many more! Cheers! :-)

By Spectre