Today's Review: A Review A Day

Well, this is awkward. For a blog named "A Review A Day" there seems to be a significant amount of days now without a review. I'll preface this by saying I'm fine, nothing traumatic has occurred to explain my absence. On the flip side, I haven't been off sunning myself in an exotic location either. I'm afraid the reasons for my lapse in reviewing are fairly mundane. Life has simply caught up with me lately.

Those of you who read my reviews daily (there may be a few of you out there) may have noticed over the last month or so that I've had periods of a few days where I've failed to write anything, only to catch up after the fact. Even then, my reviews have been brief, uninteresting, mundane. Simply put, I've been ticking boxes. Phoning it in. 

I started A Review A Day over seven years ago, a young man with a semblance of a dream to become a writer. I worked in Blockbuster at the time, and watched a hell of a lot of movies, alongside my hobby of eating a hell of a lot of food. So I figured the best way to hone my writing chops would be to write a load of reviews, the daily element just clicked one day, and off I went, not knowing that it would lead me on a non-stop seven year reviewing journey. 

I've reviewed through good times and bad. I've lined up a week's worth of reviews to publish autonomously while I've been on holiday. I posted reviews while my baby daughter stayed in the ICU, and once later on while I applied pressure to her almost-severed finger in a hospital waiting room (keep your hands away from doors, kids!) I've written some reviews drunk, some half-asleep, some on trains, some in the middle of nowhere. I've received care packages, interesting products, I've been invited to press events where I didn't feel I belonged. I've been accepted into the fold of snack food bloggers (there's a lot of great ones out there, check them out for all your foodie needs). I've even received fan mail. It's been surreal at times.

At first I was full of ideas, I loved coming up with unique concepts and doing in-depth analyses of mundane things. After a few years I settled pretty wholly into snack foods. They were quick to write and delicious to eat. Well, some of them. But therein lies the problem. Naming the blog "A Review A Day" backed me into a corner from the start, I set myself a deadline out of the gate. Quick, easy reviews were the best way to reaach that deadline, and although I loved hunting down new and interesting foods (and still do), there are only so many ways I can say something is delicious, or disgusting, or somewhere in the middle. I may be consistent, but I'm a little stagnant. 

They say all good things must come to an end. I've contemplated it for a while now, and was waiting for some mind of nice rounding off point. I was hoping to reach my eighth anniversary, or my 3,000th review, but they're still a ways off. But family, career, general life have gotten in the way of me consistently cranking out a review every single day, and finally letting go of that daily deadline has alleviated my overall stress levels. So here I am, signing off. 

Wow, that's a lot of writing there. I'm a modest man, I'd be the first to say I'm not sure anyone will read this, but I know I have some fans out there, and I want to thank you all for accompanying me on this awesome journey. Just know that this is not the end, just the end of A Review A Day. I may yet come back with more reviews in a different form, and hopefully a more creative one. I may establish some other form of blog, I've toyed with a few ideas in the past, and letting go of this may allow me to focus on other projects in the future. Thanks to all my readers, you're all amazing.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Cadbury Darkmilk Roasted Almond

Perhaps I should have covered both Darkmilk varieties in the one review, but I have a slightly different opinion of this one. I was going to grab the almond one on its own, but went for both flavours just to get a nice comparison going. While I was blown away by the creamy darkness of the original Darkmilk, the addition of almonds here doesn't add a whole lot. Sure, they taste nice, but it's just a somewhat subdued nut flavour, especially with the chocolate there struggling for dominance. Maybe a different filling would work out better, but I prefer the unadulterated experience of this new dark(ish) chocolate. Worth a try, but grab one without nuts as well.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Cadbury Darkmilk

Cadbury have just brought out something a little different, instead of stuffing things into their Dairy Milk, they've gone and released a dark chocolate bar. Not majorly dark, mind you, this isn't a rebranded Bournville. This bar consists of 40% cocoa solids and 14% milk, so there's still a bit of creaminess in there to take the edge off. Dark chocolate has grown on me over the years, so I was hoping this would sit well with me.

Say what you will about Cadbury and their changing recipes, but I still enjoy it. This bar is another great effort, a lovely dark chocolate that is just the right balance of bitter and sweet. It's definitely dark, that's obvious from the first bite, but the milk is there to lay down a nice creamy base and make for a smooth, very chocolatey bar. Yes, I'm sure there'll be much uproar about the size reduction compared to Dairy Milk, but I still enjoyed my experience, and paid less than the retail price, pick it up for £1 in Tesco, it's worth it.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Gingerbread Matchmakers

It's September, so you know what that means. Yeah, it's Christmas! So cast aside those "it's too early" naysayers, and check out some of the new stuff starting to fill the shelves. Like these gingerbread Matchmakers. Last year saw the introduction of the excellent salted caramel flavour, so I was worried these wouldn't quite live up to those lofty heights. I was expecting something unpleasantly spicy, but instead I was pleasantly surprised. The ginger is mild, but has a nice impact on the flavour. Creamy chocolate with a nice little hint of spice, that builds up to a nice point but doesn't overwhelm too much. Eating a whole box full would probably get a bit too much (not that I'd know anything about that), but for a little Christmas sharing snack, these are sweet and warming. Not quite as good as the salted caramel, but another great effort.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: 7 Days Bake Rolls Garlic

Well, that was quick. Yes, I picked up the other variety of Bake Rolls at Poundland, and after the fantastic pizza ones I was looking forward to these, although apprehensive that they'd be a little heavy on the garlic. The good news is they're not, but the bad news is that makes them a little on the bland side. not too much though, these are some lovely crunchy snacks with a nice garlic flavour, it's nice they didn't go overboard, I wouldn't have wanted to walk round with horrible breath all day. So yes, the pizza ones are supreme, but these are pretty good too, just not as flavoursome. Worth hunting down these bags of bagel shaped goodness.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: 7 Days Bake Rolls Pizza

I've spied these treats in several places, but was always wary to take the plunge, pizza flavoured treats don't normally satisfy me, especially in what looks to be dry bread form. Still, I took the plunge after finding these on offer in Tesco, and I have to say they're absolutely delicious. The bag basically consists of a load of dry, crunchy bread rings, but the flavouring is top notch. You can taste the cheese, you can taste the tomato, there's a hint of herbs in there, these things taste like pizza, they deliver what they promised. I was worried they'd be a bit too dry, and I'd be choking them down like crackers after a few, but I polished off the bag with no worries. These are great, and I'm definitely going to seek out the garlic variety. Grab these bagel-shaped bites when you can.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Primo Magic Croissant

A little pick up from my local Polish store, I was promised magic in the form of a croissant, complete with chocolate, hazelnuts, shoved into a croissant so brown I can only assume it could be classed as triple chocolate. I was excited, despite this being an ambient pacakged croissant, fresh it was not. 

This isn't magic, well, it might be black magic. The croissant is indeed chocolate coated, but that coating is dark and bitter, and gives way to a dry doughy centre with no flavour. The hazelnuts are barely noticeable over that bitter chocolate taste, I had to give up halfway through this and throw it away. It's less a magic croissant, and more a pile of what that chocolate swirl up there looks like.

My rating: 0/5

Today's Review: Maynards Bassetts Soft Jellies Wild Safari

It's time to go on safari! A soft jelly safari! These are safari themed animal shaped jellies, which are apparently new, but I think they're just another variety of jellies that have already been around a while. Either way, they're basically wine gums without the wine. The texture is a little firmer, but that's pretty good, more chewing means more flavour coming out. They're fairly generic fruity flavours, but there's a lot packed in to each sweet, and I found myself devouring quite a few before I was done. They don't beat wine gums, but they're a good alternative.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Durian Chocolate

Hailing from Indonesia, here we have durian chocolate. I knew this would be... interesting straight away, as I've heard durian is something of an acquired taste. Thankfully the chocolate is there to take the edge off, although it's not particularly great chocolate, a little dry and bitter. That's alright though, because when the durian kicks in you'll wish you could go back to disappointing chocolate. It's not an awful taste, it's just very weird, some combination of sweet and savoury, with some aromatic hints thrown in. A very odd flavour, and still a taste I have not acquired. Thankfully the chocolate helps, but I don't think I'd eat any more of these.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Müller Light Banoffee Pie Yogurt

Müller limited edition flavours are something to look forward to, and they've bought into the recent banoffee craze with this Light yogurt offering. There's not too much to say about this, banoffee has been done many times before by many others, and this is a decent effort. The banana is there in full force, but not overwhelming the toffee, which is a smooth, sweet underlayer. It's a good blend, a tasty one, and definitely worth picking up for a mid-morning snack. I would say that the pie element is lost entirely, which I figured would be the case. Why not just call it banoffee flavour? Then I wouldn't expect some pastry flavouring chucked in. So I was a little disappointed, but this is still a pretty tasty yogurt.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Yushoi Inclusions Fire Roasted Chipotle

The market seems to be getting saturated with popped snacks these days, I guess everyone's hoping we'll be eschewing the classic crisp for its healthier cousin. As a result, I've met some pretty great flavours, and some that are very underwhelming. Fortunately these fall into the former. These popped chickpea based snacks are from Yushoi, who have already released a few tasty products, and the promise of some spicy chipotle led me to grab this bag, even though I was convinced the spice would be non-existent.

Oh how wrong I was. Not that these are really spicy, but they are very flavoursome, a rich tomato base that has a lovely build up of heat with a smoky flavour, these are just delicious, with the texture of the chickpea based discs providing a lot of surface for the flavouring to sit on, and a great overall taste. These are some fantastic popped treats, and they give me hope that more are on the horizon.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Cadbury Oreo Hot Chocolate

I'm pretty sure Cadbury won't rest until they put Oreos in everything, here we have an Oreo version of their got chocolate powder. Add some hot milk, mix it all together and you’ll have yourself Oreo in a cup, or that’s the idea anyway. This stuff isn’t bad, but it is unremarkable. It pretty much just tastes like hot chocolate, with a little hint of creaminess that doesn’t exactly emulate the stuff in the middle of the biscuit. It’s nice enough for a nice hot drInk, but it’s not worth paying a premium for, and this seems to be more expensive than the regular Cadbury powder.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Warburtons Toastie With Sourdough

I love sourdough bread, and I love Toastie bread. So to see the two combined in some striking black packaging was enough to get me salivating. I had to be careful not to crush the bread as I grabbed the loaf, and I had some slices straight in my toaster when I got home.

Now, please note, this is not purely sourdough bread, it's bread with sourdough, only 3% in fact. Still, the flavour shows up, and it's pretty good, not entirely authentic, but a lovely hint of sourness that really ramps up the flavour in the bread. Unfortunately the regular bread flavour wins out in the end, but this is a pretty good twist on the original Toastie, and I'm hoping it's a gateway to a higher ratio of sourdough in the future.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Rowntree's Watermelon

I've had my eye on this watermelon lolly all summer, but the multipacks have always been expensive, and the seaside shops have sold out. Well, I finally took the plunge and got a pack on a multi-buy, the promise of watermelon was too much to resist. Basically, as the name suggests, this is a watermelon flavoured lolly, but it's also in the shape of a slice of watermelon, complete with little chocolate button seeds.

It looks great (sorry for the lack of picture, they were all eaten very quickly), a nice bright and colourful watermelon wedge. The flavour is great, a natural fruity watermelon with a texture similar to ice cream. There's nothing more to it than the watermelon, so I guess it might be a bit bland for some, but if watermelon is what you want, this delivers. Delicious.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Croco Salt Crackers

I grabbed this bag of Croco Crackers at my local Polish shop, the pictures on the packet reminded me of Ritz, and seeing as it was less than a pound for a fairly sizeable bag I couldn't resist. Basically these are salty crackers, which are somewhat similar to the almighty Ritz, they're slightly buttery, but not quite on the same level. Thankfully the salt isn't overpowering, just enough to give a nice overall flavour that blends in nicely with the biscuit. These could just do with being a bit more buttery, they're a little dry, but they do taste good. A good, cheap alternative.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Snickers White

Another limited edition I picked up on my travels, though not as exciting as the Lion latte bar. Here we have a white Snickers, which is like a regular Snickers, but with white chocolate. It's a decent enough change, the chocolate on the outside isn't bad, but it doesn't blend well with the stuff inside. I think the chocolate is a bit too creamy to interact well with the caramel, it's a bit too sweet, and the peanuts don't do enough to bring it back down. An interesting enough change to try out, but I wouldn't take it over a regular Snickers.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Lion Latte

An interesting little pick up from the petrol station the other day, here we have a latte flavoured Lion bar. It doesn't seem to herald from the UK, there's not a lot of English on the packaging, so I don't know how successful a hunt for another would go. That's a shame too, because this is great. The regular milk chocolate has been swapped for a creamier coating, which emulates that milkiness. The insides contain a lovely coffee flavouring that doesn't overpower, and that blends in really nicely with the wafer to give that chewy Lion experience, but with the flavour of a latte. Really well done, I should have picked up a few more.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Oasis Aquashock Spicy Raspberry

I was not a fan of the cherry variety of Oasis' new flavoured water, but seeing another one while stopping for petrol, I couldn't help but give it another go. Here we have "spicy raspberry", which I thought was just a funky name, but it turns out it's raspberry and chilli flavoured. Why is there chilli in everything these days? I mean, I love spice more than anyone I know, but can I have a drink without my mouth burning?

Well yes, I can have this one, because it's not all that spicy. The raspberry is nice enough, I get something of a Volvic Touch Of Fruit vibe, but not as nice. The chilli tastes more like dodgy sweeteners than anything particularly spicy, and while it does leave a little bit of heat in the back of the throat after a few gulps, it's just not worth it. This is nicer than the cherry, but this whole Aquashock thing just isn't working for me.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Poundland White Chocolate Malt Balls

Poundland are bringing out quite a lot of knock off versions of famous chocolates, and none have exactly wowed me so far. Here's their take on Maltesers, but with a twist. Can you see? Let me give you a clue. They've got white chocolate on! Yes, these are the snazzily named White Chocolate Malt Balls, which are white chocolate coated malt balls.

These are pretty good actually. Obviously not as good as Maltesers, because Maltesers are perfect, but these are a damn good effort. The malt is a little on the crumbly side, but packs quite a bit of flavour. The coating is actually chocolatey, has a nice creaminess to it and doesn't leave a bitter taste in the mouth. I polished these off fairly quickly, and I wouldn't mind picking up some more. A nice little Poundland offering.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Barratt Dip Dab Softies

Not content until all sweets are available in soft chewy forms, Barratt have now turned the classic Dip Dab into Softies, meaning you can get that sherbet/lolly combo without the mess. Or can you? Well, no, you can't. I love a Dip Dab, and this is not a good representation. They've tried to emulate it with these lemon and strawberry sour sweeties, but the flavours are off, the lemon just ain't right, and the strawberry doesn't pack nearly as much punch as that little round lolly. They are soft at least, they're definitely chewable, and they grew on me after a few sweets, but I'd rather go for a real Dip Dab over these, even if I do end up covered in sherbet. Oh well, they can't all be as good as Drumstick Squashies.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Häagen-Dazs Coconut Chocolate

I like a new Häagen-Dazs flavour, even if every time I write about one I have to look up how to type an "a" with an umlaut. Here we have coconut chocolate, which is capitalising on that coconut craze but, you know, with chocolate. Not much to say to describe this. It's coconut ice cream with chocolate pieces in it.

This is pretty good, if a little boring. But hey, it does what it says on the tub. The ice cream is creamy and coconutty, with a few pieces of the shredded stuff thrown in for a bit of extra flavour and texture. It's perhaps a little too sweet, but there's a nice amount of chocolate shrapnel thrown in to break it up a little and provide a nice crunch. So the flavours are all there, but it's all a bit too sweet, and a bit boring. A good effort, but not their best flavour.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Skittles Chewies

You know how you love Skittles, but hate the shell? No? Did anyone ask for these? Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause here they are, shell-less Skittles. The same flavours, but without the crispy bit on the outside. That's all I can say about them.

As pointless as thought these seemed, they're pretty good. Forgoing the shell means you can get straight to the chewy, fruity goodness, and while they are a little more chewy than regular Skittles, the flavours are as good as always. Not so much a fantastic new way to experience Skittles, more an alternative, worth trying out for a change.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Aldiva Happy Wheels

Not to be confused with the dismemberment happy Flash game, Happy Wheels are a pound store knock off of Wagon Wheels, or Moon Pies, or somewhere in between. Basically, it's an unappetising biscuit with minimal and flavourless caramel stuff in the middle, covered in disappointing chocolate. I couldn't pick up the caramel at all, the biscuit was dry, this is just an experience devoid of anything. Despite my dislike for them, I'd eat 50 Moon Pies before even entertaining one of these. Happy Wheels? I'm not happy, I'm just disappointed.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Snyder's Hot Buffalo Wing Pretzel Pieces

I love Snyder's pretzel pieces. They're one of the only American snacks I regularly pick up from Tesco, £1.30 a bag may seem a bit pricey, but they're worth it. I vowed to get my hands on as many flavours as I could, so when Tesco recently started selling these massive bags of hot buffalo pieces, I snapped it up, despite being £3.40.

It may seem a bit steep for the bag, but it is pretty full, and these are pretty delicious. They're not as hot as the jalapeno variety, but there's a lot of flavour packed into there, a saucy, peppery taste that builds up a lovely level of heat. These are extremely moreish, and satisfyingly crunchy. Another great flavour of pretzel pieces, they make me want to go stateside and grab everything I can.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Asda Jewellery Laces

I was recently sent these Jewellery Laces to try out, they're new at Asda, an interesting combination of candy necklace and laces. Inside you'll find liquorice style laces in various flavours, as well as some smaller shaped sweet charms. Each of those has a hole in the middle, so you can thread them onto the laces and create your own jewellery! Necklaces, bracelets, rings, the possibilities are... well, that's most of the possibilities. But it's a very neat idea.

These sweets taste good, that's the first thing I made sure of. They're all brightly coloured, with a lot of bold fruit flavours. I'd buy a bag of just the laces on their own, but these have the added bonus of jewellery, of course. Threading the charms on takes a bit of practice, and squeezing, but it's easy enough. I will say that there weren't too many charms compared to laces, you can't make every necklace chock full of charms. Tying them up is a bit of a pain as well, if you want to wear the jewellery you have to be careful not to snap the laces, but that's a small issue. I gave a pack to my daughter, and her and a friend spent a full hour making stuff out of them, that's more than you get from any other pack of sweets. A very neat idea that's a big hit with the kids, they just need to balance the charms and laces a bit more.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Kit Kat Chunky Salted Caramel Fudge

A new Kit Kat Chunky flavour is nothing to be sniffed at, there's not a one I met that I didn't like, and this one looked to be no exception. Salted caramel and fudge, all wrapped up in one Kit Kat? Count me in! There's not much to say about this, other than it's awesome. It's actually salty, which I find is somewhat lacking in this salted caramel trend, and there's a nice sweet underlayer of caramel, as well as a nice substantial fudgy flavour to round it off. Complete with the classic Kit Kat chocolate and wafer, it's another great variety of Kit Kat. Gorgeous.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Mikado Corn On The Cob

Hey guys, do you like corn on the cob? Of course you do. But who wants to go to all that trouble of cooking it, right? Well, it turns out you can get your corn on the cob pre-cooked and vacuum sealed in plastic, all for the low low price of 89p, thank you Home Bargains!

Of course, cooking corn on the cob is one of the simplest things you can do, and buying the stuff fresh isn't much more money than this sad looking packet. So why is this a thing? Well, the packaging states that they can be a "quick and easy meal solution", but if an ambient temperature corn on the cob is your idea of a hearty meal then I feel sorry for you. You can heat these up, there are instructions included, but doesn't that then negate the point of having it pre-cooked in the first place? 

Well, enough about why it exists, let's move onto the taste, which is terrible. Ever so slightly salty, ever so slightly sweet, but otherwise devoid of flavour and disappointingly watery. I pity the lovely corn who grew so promisingly in the fields, only to be snatched up in their prime and reduced to this.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Maxons Sherpot Lemon

It's another Home Bargains sweet find, this one is a Sherpot, which is literally a pot of sherbet. It came in lemon or cola flavour, and I opted for the former so I could get that zing. Unfortunately I was just met with generic, flavourless sherbet. There may have been a hint of lemon somewhere, but it wasn't even that sour. I was starting to wonder if I'd gotten a pot off the wrong shipment, but those fears were dispelled once I didn't reach an intense high.

So yes, disappointing sherbet, but how are you going to eat it? Why, with the disappointing lolly of course! "Fruit" flavoured, though the fruit isn't specified, and isn't easy to make out. Also, I got two lollies on either end of one stick, bent into a sort of twin cherry shape, which was just odd and unwieldy. I had to twist the stick until it snapped in two, so I wasn't going at it like a confectionery based Darth Maul. As sherbet goes, this is probably the worst I've tried.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Blueberry Fruit Rockets

I do love a trip to Home Bargains, it usually rewards me with an array of cheap, off brand sweets. Take these Fruit Rockets, for instance, a knock off version of Millions in a blueberry flavour. I thought at least the flavour itself would be unique, and it mostly is, but I wouldn't consider it distinctly blueberry. It's fruity enough, but a little disappointing. As for the texture, these are significantly more chewy than Millions, so much so that my jaw hurt by the end of the pack, they're just too hard. I mean, I like really chewy sweets as much as the next guy, but these are just not great. Not awful, but definitely not great.

My rating: 2/5

Today’s Review: Food Menus On TV Screens

Ordering food can be a stressful situation. If you’re not a regular and want to peruse, there are many things that worsen the situation. Overworked employees, queues of people, your hangry companions. My point is, it’s already bad enough perusing the menus, finding out they’re on TV screens is just so much worse.

I love technology, I can’t get enough of it, but I think some things were fine how they were, and fast food menus are one of them. I get it, sometimes there’s not enough space to display everything, though that’s rare. Most of the time every item is displayed over several screens, with a brief interlude of the latest special item flashing up, normally as I’m trying to read something. It’s just not necessary. If you want to sell me the new double triple whatever, just put up a paper sign, don’t interrupt the ordering process.

I think the worse one I encountered was at Jump Street the other day. Their cafe is not exactly known for its haute cuisone, and their food items fit on once screen, their drinks another. Behind the counter are, you guessed it, two screens. But still, each screen cycled through the menus with transitions that would make an 11 year old PowerPoint amateur weep tears of pride. But why? Just leave the things static, they were changing at a rate that left me gaping cluelessly at the thing for a full 3 minutes, and that’s not helpful by anyone. Ditch the screens. Just give me a menu I can read through.

My rating: 0/5

Today's Review: Oasis Aquashock Chilled Cherry

Ah, you can always count on Oasis to deliver refreshing drinks in tasty flavours, so when I saw they’d brought out flavoured water, I had faith that they’d carried on their trend of success. Here we have Aquashock, a zero sugar water! So really, just regular water with low calorie sweetener chucked in. But this bottle promised chilled cherry, and I was interested to see what a cherry oasis would taste like. 

Well, this cherry is particularly chilled, to the point where it doesn’t seem to be doing anything at all. There’s a little hint of something, a little sweetness, but all in all it’s just a very lightly flavoured bottle of water. The only Aquashock here is the fact that Oasis disappointed me.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Krispy Kreme Caramel Swirl

Krispy Kreme have brought out some new caramel based flavours, and they've gone all the way with this one. It's filled with salted caramel sauce, topped with caramel frosting, a caramel cube and a caramel drizzle. But is there such things as too much caramel? Well, yes, when you're trying to differentiate between different types, it's a bit of a muddle. The salt in the filling is lost when trying to compete with the three other caramel elements going on at the same time, and despite everything going on, this just tastes like a regular old caramel filled donut. There are far better Krispy Kreme choices that incorporate many flavours, so while this one is quite good, it didn't blow me away.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Kettle Discoveries Patatas Bravas

The next bold flavour that Kettle have decided to bestow upon their potato chips is... potato? Yes, potato flavoured potato chips, but not just any potatoes.Here we have the patatas bravas variety, which promises paprika and aioli. Not exactly the most ambitious flavour, but sometimes less is more.

Well, they got the potato part right, seeing as these things are mostly potato. So there's a good base there, upon which is piled a pretty nice combination of flavours. There's the smoky, slightly spicy hint of paprika, and an element of garlic chucked in for the aioli. The garlic does seem to hang around a bit more than anything else, so the balance is a little off there. These are better than I thought they'd be, but all in all they're still a bit bland. Potato flavour potato chips may be a safe bet, but they're not terribly exciting.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Oreo Joy Fills Choco Caramel Creme

While I was sorely disappointed in the last bag of Joy Fills I got, I figured it was worth trying out the Oreo themed ones. Unfortunately, there's not much more I can say, as they're pretty much the same, but with a chocolate shell. I guess you're supposed to be able to pick up hints of that Oreo creme in the outer layer, but it's very dry and not particularly flavoursome. The insides are a bit better, but they're not exactly packed with caramel flavouring. I mean, all the signs point to suggesting these are eaten straight out of the packet, but they are a lot better with some milk, Krave style. That kicks them up a notch point wise, but I wouldn't suggest grabbing a dry handful, they're way too dry. Not a great snack, despite the varied flavours.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Popchips Ridges Sea Salt & Vinegar

Carrying on the theme of disappointing salt and vinegar versions of really nice spicy crisps, here we have Popchips Ridges, which have a "crazy hot" flavour that was actually sort of crazy. These ones, however, are pretty underwhelming. That ridged texture does give it abit more oomph in the flavouring department, it's just a shame that neither the salt nor the vinegar are very strong. One day I'll find some that will burn my tongue from my mouth, but today is not that day. Not worth it, get those popped spicy ones instead.

My rating: 2/5

Today’s Review: Hula Hoops Salt & Vinegar Flavarings

After trying out the spicy Flavarings, I just had to go back and grab these salt and vinegar ones. Unfortunately, they’re not quite as good, but they’re still a fairly decent bag of crisps. These are some fairly sizeable chunky rings of salt and vinegar, not quite as caustic as I’d hoped, but there’s a decent amount of flavouring chucked onto each one. It does build up as you go, but doesn’t quite reach the peak that the spicy flavour has. Worth a try though.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Doritos Collisions Honey Glazed Ribs & Lemon Blast

After trying out the habanero and guacamole Doritos the other day, I had to grab these ones too. Thankfully they're on offer for £1 in Tesco Express, so it's the best time to grab a bag. This one combines honey glazed rib flavour with lemon, emulating that bag of ribs you get from the Chinese. How do they translate to chip form?

While the difference in colour between chips is quite noticeable in the habanero/guacamole bag, these ones aren't so much. Still, with a little studying you can pick out a pair, and the combination is... okay. The lemon chips are great, much along the same lines of the hint of lime Doritos, but with a bit more of a citrus kick. The ribs chips have a certain sweetness to them, but not too much meatiness behind them. Adding in the lemon creates a nice enough overall flavour, but I think I'd appreciate a whole bag of lemon more. Work on your rib flavoured chips guys, these are good, but not great.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Starburst Minis

Starburst are one of those absolute classic sweets, the formula is perfect, but now they've switched it up. So here we have Starburst Minis, which seem to only exist to cut down on paper waste. They're unwrapped, but present in the same classic flavours. 

Well, they had to do something with these to offset the lack of paper, otherwise all the Starburst would stick together.So yes, these are significantly harder than their classic counterparts, and therefore chewier. I'd say they're something between Starburst and Tooty Frooties in texture, and while the flavours are the same, I wasn't a fan of the excess chewing I had to do. Perhaps these will grow on me, but they're not up to the standard of the wrapped ones.

My rating: 3/5 

Today's Review: Penguin Neapolitan Cake Bars

If you like a bit of neapolitan ice cream, but don't want to deal with transporting it around in this hot weather, then it looks like Penguin have the answer for you. It's a cake bar that promises that trifecta of ice cream goodness, a strawberry sponge, topped with a layer of cream, and wrapped up in chocolate. It's not bad, you do get a taste of all three flavours, although the focus mostly settles on the strawberry. It's nice that it actually tastes like ice cream, instead of just a generic strawberry flavouring, so while it does overwhelm everything else, it's pretty good. An interesting little cake bar.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Cadbury Joy Fills Choco Cookie Creme

This is an odd new product from Cadbury, a share bag of wheat pillows with a chocolate filling. Not quite on the same level as a bag of buttons, but they looked interesting enough. Sort of like Cadbury's version of Krave. Thing is, that's a cereal, and this is a bag of snacks. So how do these measure up?

These aren't great. They are pretty similar to Krave, but you wouldn't want to eat them dry either. There's a lot of wheat here, and not enough filling to make up for it. The bag says "choco cookie creme", but there's not a whole lot of cookie, the chocolate chips in the outer layer aren't really noticeable. The filling is nice enough, creamy and chocolatey, but that dry wheat really dampens it. I couldn't take it after a while, I went full on Krave and dumped the rest of the bag in a bowl with some milk. These taste significantly better in cereal form, but not much better than the actual cereal versions. Plus these are £1.50 for a small bag, so you're just better off getting your favourite supermarket's off brand pillows. 

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Rowntrees Randoms Sours

I wasn't sure what to think of Randoms when they first came out, but they quickly grew on me. Now they've gone and covered them in sour stuff, so I had to give these a try. There's not much more to these, they're pretty much exactly the same as Randoms, but with the sour coating. So you have sour foam sweets, sour foam backed sweets, and sour liquid filled sweets. I can't say I prefer these to the original, but it's a simple change to the formula that gives a nice little tart kick and adds a new dimension to this sweet bag. The coating distracts a little from the flavour of the sweets themselves, but if you're a sour fan you should probably grab a bag.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Chewits Crazy Face Mad Sour

I think these are supposed to be sour, there's something about the packaging that is trying to relay that to me. I mean, apple and lemon are some tart flavours, but these must be something else if they promise to make my face go "ssssshhhhhiiiiiiffffff", whatever that means. I was revved up for something spectacular, but I was disappointed. I mean, my face did something, sure, but I wouldn't call it crazy or rely on confusing onomatopoeia. The actual sweets are somewhat small, and the fruit flavours aren't amazing, all in all it's just a disappointingly average bag of sweets with a bit of a sour kick. Don't buy into the hype.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Walkers Poppables Sweet Chilli

There are new crisps popping up all over the place lately, these ones especially, they've popped up and are poppable. I'm guessing they're so named because they're easy to pop in your gob. They come in a few flavours, but of course, I went for the chilli. 

These are pretty good. The texture is interesting, much nicer than the recently reintroduced Bugles. These are light and airy, and the 3D shape makes for a good amount of flavouring. These have a nice, subtle heat, it could perhaps have been a bit stronger. These ain't no sweet chilli Sensations, but they're good. An interesting little variation on the regular old crisp that's worth trying out.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Hula Hoops Spicy Flavarings

Oh yes, it's another form of Hula Hoops. First we had the small crunchy kind, then the big crunchy kind, then the small Puft ones, and now the size of the puffiness has increased. So now we have these big share bags of Flavarings, which are similar in texture to Wotsits, and come in a variety of flavours. I went for spicy, as always, and I have to say I was blown away. These are fantastic. The texture is great, and they leave behind that oh so delicious dust on the fingertips. The heat level is just right, not too hot, but it lasts for the entirety of the experience and then lingers some more. They're almost identical in flavour to the Wotsits Zombie Fingers, which I absolutely love, so it's safe to say I'll be buying more of these in future, and I can't wait to try the other flavours too. This is a great bag of Hula Hoops, even if they're not traditionally crunchy.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review:Trolli Dino Rex

I should have known when I saw the packet, I shouldn't have believed it. But there it was, a bag of overly sugary dinosaur shaped sweets, with the blurb "Xtra sour!" I should have known that spelling "extra" like that was a ploy, and as such I was rewarded with sweets that were not extra sour, they were in fact just a little bit sour. 

Alright, they're not all bad. The green and yellow ones aren't particularly flavoursome, but the blue, red and purple ones have a bit of a kick to them. They're a little tingly, sure, but by no means are they extra sour. All things considered they're pretty mediocre, definitely a few steps below Tangfastics. I don't think I'd get them again.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Haribo Fruit-Mania Lemon

It's a Haribo Fruit-Mania! Well, as long as the fruits are citrus. This is an interesting little German bag of sweeties, with lime, orange and grapefruit flavours. There's not too much to say about these, they're pretty good, a nice amount of chewiness, and quite tart. The texture is a little odd, I was hoping for something a bit more like a Fruit Gum, these break down quite quickly, but all in all they're not bad. The flavours are pretty authentic, and the grapefruit is an interesting addition. A little bit more variety wouldn't have gone amiss, but if you're into citrus sweets, you can't go wrong with this bag.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KFC Zinger Double Down

KFC were on quite a roll before their deliveries got all messed up. It's been a while, but they're finally starting to get back on form. First they reintroduced the Double Down, and now they've spiced it up a bit. Basically, it's the same as a Double Down, but with spicy fillets, and if you don't know what a Double Down is, you should get some real world education. A chicken burger with chicken instead of buns, and loaded up with bacon and cheese in between. This is a meaty, cheesy concoction that's every bit as good as the original Double Down, and the introduction of the Zinger fillets ramps it up, but not too much. There's a pleasant introduction of heat that left me with a satisfying spicy tingle for a while after. Let's hope the Double Down comes back around again soon, whether original or Zinger, it's a winner.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Gianni's Cheeky Monkey Ice Cream

Anyone who reads my reviews is likely aware of my unwavering love for Ben & Jerry's, so I was excited when someone told me Aldi were offering something pretty similar for a smaller price. This appears to be the Aldi answer to Phish Food, but with pretty much the same name as Chunky Monkey, which was a little confusing. It consists of chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and caramel swirls, and little chocolate monkey faces. Aww.

Well, whoever told me this was just like Ben & Jerry's, they lied. I mean, it's not a bad tub of ice cream, it's supremely chocolatey, but the texture is somewhat moussey. The swirls and chocolate pieces are plentiful, it's just all the ingredients are a little off, clearly not the best quality. Definitely good for the price, but not quite a patch on Phish Food.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Fox's Glacier Tropical

Glacier Fruits are an all time classic, and it's nice to see them bring out some limited edition flavours every now and then. Popping into The Range the other day, I found this bag of the tropical variety, which only contains three different flavours, but they're pretty good. There's pineapple, mango & passion fruit, and a nod to the current craze in the form of coconut. A coconut boiled sweet might have been a bit much, I thought, and I was right in some respects. It does taste a lot like coconut, but once I'd experienced that flavour for a minute, I was about ready to move on, whereas the sweet stuck around. Nice, but a little too sweet.

The other two flavours are great, bold and fruity, and pretty authentic, the mango passion fruit is especially good. So not a perfect bag, but a good few interesting fruity sweets, worth trying out if you can find them.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Doritos Collisions Habanero Chilli & Guacamole

Doritos sure are loving their dual flavour packs recently. They started out with the Roulette, hiding a few hot chips in the midst of some cheesy ones, then moved onto chips that changed flavour as you ate them. Now you can grab Collisions, which are two differently flavoured chips in one bag, designed to complement each other. Seeing as I'm a spice fiend, I couldn't resist the call of the habanero, and this bag also features a guacamole flavoured chip, which intrigued me to no end.

The lighting is not the best there, but you can just about make out that the chips come in both a green and reddish hue, so it's easy to identify which chip is which, and pair them up accordingly. There's a good number of both flavours throughout the bag, so you won't be left with one over the other. But how do they taste? Well, the habanero is something of a return to form, similar to the ones found in the original Roulette bag before they wimped out and replaced them with the inferior Tobasco chips. They taste like habanero, and have a decent level of spice that builds up quite effectively the more you eat. I was a little disappointed on first trying these chips, I was expecting more of an instant hit of spice, but looking back having demolished a few, my tongue is on fire to a satisfying degree.

The guacamole chips are very interesting. Definitely reminiscent of that classic dip, a smooth, cooling guacamole taste that complements the spice quite well. The flavouring doesn't quite last as long as I hoped, the chilli wins out fairly quickly, but it's a pretty novel flavour for a chip that's done pretty effectively. This is another good idea from Doritos, and I'll be hunting down the other variety as soon as I can.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Costa Watermelon & Coconut Cooler

Here's a quick review of the new summer cooler from Costa, an interesting combination of watermelon and coconut. Previously I would have shuddered at the thought of this, but coconut has grown on me in recent years, and I can never resist the call of the watermelon. It's a nice light, refreshing cooler, the watermelon provides a good base, a nice fruity flavour, but I'm sure we all know that it can be pretty watery, I mean the clue's in the name. That's where the coconut is on hand to fill in the gaps, and it does a somewhat decent job. It's a little overwhelming, the sweetness is a little over the top, but combined with the watermelon it does make for a nice little concoction, sweet and refreshing and definitely a summer drink. Worth picking up.

My rating: 4/5