Today's Review: Tango Cherry Liquid Ice

I reviewed the orange variety of these Liquid Ice lollies a while back, and was unaware that these came in a different flavour. I can't say I was overly impressed, although they weren't bad. I'll say that these cherry ones are a lot better, but I may be biased seeing as I'm always a fan of the darker colours. These are cherry flavoured ice lollies, which have a pretty bold, juicy flavour. That regular lolly soon gives way to the centre though, which very much does fit the term "liquid ice". It's frozen, but also fairly soft and almost runny, it's a great cold, refreshing filling that packs a lot of tang and adds even more flavour. My major gripe is that the filling only lasts halfway down the lolly, but otherwise this is a great effort, and much better than the orange in my eyes. Tango has made a hit for the frozen aisle.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Penguin Cake Crunchies

I do enjoy a good cake bar, although I don't pick them up as much as I should. Still, when there's a pack of new ones, I'll quickly snap them up, as was the case with these Penguin Cake Crunchies. As the name implies, they're Penguin cake bars that are also crunchy. Self explanatory. There's also the nifty cross section that highlights the chocolate cake, cream filling and biscuit pieces.

It's nice that they mention the biscuit pieces, because I didn't notice them all that much. There's a certain texture in there, but there isn't a significant crunch, it's more of a bit of grittiness. I know that sounds bad, but it's still tasty enough. The cream is good, and there's a bit of a biscuity element in the flavour, so all in all it isn't a bad cake bar, but as the crunchiness is a big selling point, I can't say there's much of it in there. An interesting enough change from the norm, but not executed all that well.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Vimto Fizzy Balls

The Vimto sweet train just keeps on rolling. Here we have some Fizzy Balls, I figured they'd be an extension of the bon bons, which are fantastic, but it seems they're a different thing entirely. Not that that's objectively a bad thing, so let's see what's in here. These are basically Vimto flavoured boiled sweets with a fizzy centre, and also a fizzy exterior. Fizzy indeed, so how are they?

The first experience I got was a frothiness upon popping one in my mouth. It's a bit odd, and I was taken aback, but as I went on it grew on me, it's an instant frothy fizz that's pretty tart and somewhat satisfying. Unfortunately it soon fades, and what's left is a regular boiled sweet. It tastes like Vimto, so it's not awful, but it could be a bit more interesting. Once the majority of the sweet has given way, you're treated to a bit more fizziness in the middle, but it's not quite the same. A nice thing to end on, but pretty lacklustre compared to the outer layer. These aren't that great to be fair, there are better Vimto sweets out there, but they're worth trying out.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Domino's Lotta-Choca Pizza

So, you've just had your Domino's pizza, preceded by a cheesy garlic bread pizza, but there's still something missing, something sweet. So what better way to fill that void than with this chocolate pizza? Yes, completing the three course pizza trifecta, we have the Lotta-Choca Pizza. Quite simply, it's a pizza base covered in melted milk chocolate. Simple, sure, but is it effective?

I wasn't expecting the dough here to be all that well suited to a dessert, but there seemed to be a certain sweetness to it, and it provides a nice base for the chocolate sauce to be laden upon, and laden it is. This is pretty sickly stuff, a very generous coating of chocolate, and although it's pretty good quality, and it works pretty well with the base, there is perhaps a little too much of it. Besides the chocolate is all there is. This is supposed to be a pizza after all, where are the toppings? Marshmallows, cookie pieces, a caramel drizzle? A wasted opportunity. So while this is by no means a bad dessert, it could have been so much more. Less chocolate, more topping, and this would be a lot better.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: AUKEY Aroma Diffuser

I was recently sent this diffuser by AUKEY to try out, I can't say I've ever used one before, but it was intriguing enough to get me to have a go. For those of you who may not know (I wasn't particularly knowledgeable), this little device humidifies the air, you fill it with water, and out comes a fine mist. Adding essential oils into the mix can release some lovely aromas, which can make the place smell nice, amd give some added benefits. Now, I've never used another diffuser to compare this one to, but I have to say this is a very well made piece of kit. It's small, sleek, and easy to operate. It comes with everything you need in the box, including a little measuring jug to fill it up with. Basically, all you do it fill it with water, plug it in, and turn it on, you're good to go.

Here it is in action. You may see the fine jet of mist coming out of the top, if you can look past that lovely warm glow. Yes, this doubles as a light, and there are seven colours to choose from, which shine with varying intensities. You could probably find a light setting for anything you wish, from a calming atmosphere to a brilliant white you could probably read by. There are a few little buttons on the front, but they're all very simple and self explanatory. Aside from the light, you can change the setting on the mist itself, as well as setting a timer of one, two or three hours, or choosing continuous use. It's nice setting this up before you go to sleep, knowing it will shut off after an allotted time. Even so, if you set it to continuous, it will shut off when it runs out of water, so there are no worries whatsoever.

So besides the aesthetics and function, does it actually work? Well, I spent some times experimenting with a few oils, and I must say this does a good job. A few drops of orange helped to clear the smell in the kitchen from some forgotten potatoes, and some eucalyptus helped to clear my stuffy nose overnight, as well as providing a pleasant atmosphere for sleep. This is another appliance I can see myself using very regularly, it's nice to be able to get some nice aromas going throughout the house with minimal effort. This diffuser is definitely worth a buy. Amazon Prime Day is happening soon, so look out for discounts on AUKEY products at the beginning of July.

My rating: 5/5

Buy the AUKEY Aroma Diffuser here

Today's Review: Chocolate Covered Millions

What is it with people trying to put chocolate and sweets together? They're separate entities in my eyes, but several attempts have been made. The Cadbury and Maynards mashup bag was just odd, and Millions have tried this before with the Millions Chocolate Bar. Seems like they were intent on breaking into that sweet/chocolate market though, as now you can get your strawberry Millions coated in chocolate. 

There's not much to say about these, they're your regular Millions, but coated in chocolate. To be fair, the chocolate isn't bad. Obviously not of gourmet standard, but it's good enough. What I have issue with is that it's covering some particularly chewy sweets. Now, these are standard Millions, so they're great, but The chocolate is gone too quickly, and leaves behind a faint taste that just sort of interferes with the chewy stuff, taking the edge off that great strawberry flavour. No one element of this is bad, I just can't get on board with the combination. Take your chocolate elsewhere.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Co-Op Benji Bears

Oh, Co-Op, you're so shameless. Percy Pigs are a national institution, but you've gone and pumped out these "Benji Bears", identical in design, but surely not in execution? Alright, let's not be too harsh right off the bat, it's nice to have a bit of competition in the market, and besides, these could be great, right?

Yeah, they're not great. I tried to be diplomatic, but these are a somewhat poor imitation. They look like a knock off version of Percy Pigs, and they taste like one too. These come in cola, lemon and berry flavours, and while the berry and lemon are actually quite alright, the cola leaves a lot to be desired, a little bitter from too many flavourings. While the other two flavours are a marked improvement, I wouldn't say they're perfect. Besides, the texture is off too, these are chewy, a little overly so. The time it takes to polish one of these off exceeds the amount of time the flavour lasts, so even the two good flavours lose their charm. So overall, a poor imitation of a classic, turns out we don't need more variety, Percy Pigs are the way to go.

My rating: 2/5