Today's Review: Stella Artois Raspberry Cidre

After my review of Carling's cherry cider but a few weeks ago, I was surprised to discover a new interesting flavour from Stella Artois, in the form of this raspberry variety. I've been a fan of the other flavours of Cidre, so I was expecting good things from this one.

Turns out it's another hit. The raspberry is very sweet and tasty, without being saccharine. There's a nice tartness that masks the taste of alcohol, so it's extremely drinkable. There may only be three flavours of Cidre to choose from, but this is by far my favourite. It's bold and delicious, and and definitely one of the most refreshing ciders I've tasted.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Dunkin' Donuts Strawberries & Cream Donut

It's summer time, I think... Well, with the intermittent bursts of sunshine and rain, I guess it's shaping up to be a true British summer, and what better way to celebrate than with a distinctly British summer themed donut from a distinctly American donut shop? This strawberries and cream donut certainly looks good, but I wasn't too sure what to expect when I took a bite.

The donut itself is pretty fantastic. The dough is soft and sweet, as with all the Dunkin' family, and while I was a bit disappointed at finding only one side seemed to contain cream, it turned out it was injected all around the outside, meaning every bite was accompanied by smooth, sweet creaminess. The strawberry elements exist in the frosting on top, and while the pink icing is certainly wonderful and flavoursome, the strawberry bits sprinkled on top are a little distracting. The crunchy texture doesn't really go with the rest of the soft, doughy goodness, and the flavour is certainly very bold, distracting from everything underneath that works so well together. This is certainly a nice donut, but I think it would work a lot better without the pieces on top. Still, it put me in a summer mood, and I'm looking forward to whatever Dunkin' Donuts might have up their sleeve for the coming months.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Kettle Chips: Jalapeño Chilli Salsa

I've reviewed a couple of limited edition Kettle Chips flavours before, and have very much enjoyed them. So I was pleased to find another flavour that I haven't tried today, in the form of these jalapeño chilli salsa crisps. Would it be a hat trick of awesome flavours? 

You may know that I love my spicy food, but obviously jalapeños aren't the hottest of chillies out there, so I wasn't expecting to singe my tastebuds with these. What I found inside were some Kettle Chips pretty generously coated in flavouring, giving them a lovely dark colour. There's certainly a lot of flavour packed into the bag, and while they're certainly not very spicy, the flavours all work extremely well. The jalapeño gives a lovely mellow spice, a warm tingly feeling that spread across my tongue, while the salsa is certainly noticeable in the form of a great saucy texture. Basically, they taste just like the flavour name implies, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them despite their quite subdues spiciness. This flavour is another great effort by Kettle Chips, and I'm certainly looking forward to their next limited edition flavour.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Butterkist Pop 'N' Pour Chocolate Microwave Popcorn

I mentioned yesterday that Butterkist have a few new sweet flavours on offer, so I thought I'd review another one today. This one is a little different, as it's a microwave popcorn with a sachet of chocolate sauce. Sounded good to me though, chocolate and popcorn is a magic combination. The sauce comes in a little sachet that you can stick in warm water to make it nice and warm for your freshly popped corn. So once all the elements were ready, it was time to put them together. Put the popcorn in a bowl, drizzle over the sauce and give it a good stir.

This is the result. It may not look like a great coverage, but the small sachet of sauce actually goes quite a long way with the amount of popcorn in the bag, and it sticks quite nicely onto the corn too. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite taste as good as it sounds. The popcorn itself is plain, and while the chocolate sauce adds some lovely flavour, there's just not enough to stop the odd flavourless kernel impacting a mouthful. I think it would work a lot better if this stuff came with a bag of sweet popcorn. Also, while the chocolate sauce is nice, it's certainly goopy after sitting in warm water, so you should be prepared to get in a sticky mess when you reach in and grab a handful. This is a nice idea for a different kind of popcorn, and it's quite nice when it's all put together, but it's not quite flavoursome enough to get a high score from me. There's also a chocolate orange variety out that might add a bit more flavour, but I don't think it would be as nice as other sweet popcorns.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Butterkist Strawberries & Cream Popcorn

With the massive amount of savoury popcorn coming out lately, it's easy to forget about the sweet stuff. All you can really pick up is toffee, sweet, or some variations on those themes. But Butterkist are leading another popcorn revolution with a few new sweet varieties, one being this limited edition strawberries and cream flavour.

Yeah, strawberry popcorn. It's a simple idea, but a unique one, and the cream certainly adds a further summery twist. For the most part, it's quite nice. It's a very sweet popcorn, but the smooth creamy flavour helps offset the sugary taste. The strawberry is quite strong too, and while it blends in with the other flavours quite well at first, it soon starts to become a bit powerful, and definitely tastes artificial. But there's no mistaking that it's strawberry, and the nice creamy undertone does help take the edge off. This popcorn may not be perfect, but it's a nice new flavour that certainly put me in the mood for summer.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Tesco Peanut Butter Style Cupcakes

It was not long ago that I entertained the thought of creating my own peanut butter cupcake frosting. After all, peanut butter makes everything better. My plan may not have come to fruition, but in the last week I have found two different peanut butter cupcakes, one in a nice little cupcake shop in Covent Garden, and another in Tesco of all places. The Tesco effort is perhaps the most weird and wonderful of the two, despite not actually having peanut butter in the ingredients. 

Yes, these cupcakes have a soya frosting, that is simply flavoured like peanut butter, but let me tell you that they have done a great job. The frosting tastes distinctly nutty and creamy, and it was definitely as if someone had swirled some peanut butter on top of the cake. As someone who loves peanut butter, that first bite was all kinds of awesome. But there was more to come.

Yeah, that's right, there's jam in the middle. This just turned from an interesting peanut butter cake to a full blown American inspired peanut butter and jelly cake. Most people recoil in horror at that combination, but seeing as I love PB&J, this cake pulls it all together surprisingly well, with the jam adding a nice sweet kick to the bold, peanut flavour. This is sweet, salty, creamy goodness, all wrapped up inside a nice soft sponge. I've tried a few of the new cupcakes that Tesco have to offer, but this is definitely the most interesting, and probably one of the tastiest. You may not want to try it, but I suggest you do.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Maoam Tropical Pinballs

I couldn't care less about the football, but at least there are plenty of Brazil themed treats being brought out for me to try. Here we have some tropical Pinballs, which are like your regular Maoam Pinballs, but only in two colours, which correspond to the Brazilian flag. The green ones are lime, and the yellow are pineapple, which certainly sounded interesting. But are they a patch on the original?

Well, the lime ones are pretty nice. They're zesty and flavoursome, and pretty sweet despite their tartness. They may not be as nice as the pink and red original Pinballs, but they're definitely tasty. As for the pineapple ones? Well, they actually taste just like Lilt. There's definitely a hint of pineapple in there, but there's also quite a sour element to it that I just didn't like. I easily gave the yellow Pinballs a miss and aimed straight for the green ones. But really, what else could I do? The problem with this pack is that there's so little variety compared to the regular one, and since I don't like 50% of the sweets it's not really my cup of tea. These Pinballs are a nice idea to celebrate the World Cup, but they're not a patch on the original.

My rating: 2/5