Today's Review: Tropical Skittles

It's not often you find a new variety of Skittles on the shelves at Tesco, but apparently the Skittles market is opening up, as this is the second new variety to come out in as many months after the Darkside arrived in time for Halloween. This time we're transported from the darkness to a tropical paradise. Well, maybe not paradise, I haven't told you how they taste yet.

I wasn't exactly sure what the flavours were meant to be from the packaging, but a little bit of research provided me with an answer. Each colour is a combination of two flavours, and there are some interesting ones in there. The yellow are kiwi lime, the orange are mango tangelo, the blue banana berry, the pink strawberry star fruit, and the purple are pineapple passion fruit. Why they yellow don't contain banana, I don't know, but I went with it, and on the whole these are very nice.

The kiwi lime doesn't immediately taste like those fruits, but there's a certain tanginess that's present throughout, and it's a good overall flavour. The mango tangelo focuses a lot more on the tangelo, a bold orangey taste with not a lot of mango to be found, which slightly disappointed me. Banana berry is an interesting one, a very prominent banana flavour with some other hint of fruitiness underneath. I'd rather have the berry, but the banana is actually pretty good. The pineapple passion fruit is my absolute favourite, a very distinct and wonderful passion fruit flavour that I couldn't get enough of. This is a nice variety of Skittles, that definitely evokes some tropical thoughts. It's not perfect, but it's a good collection of interestingly paired flavours that made it hard to put the bag down.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Whitworths Fusions Cinnamon Apple Jumble

I've seen Whitworths lining the shelves before, but I've never really dabbled. Dried fruit isn't exactly my number one go to snack. But now they've come out with these Fusions, which incorporate nuts and fruits in one bag, like a trail mix. This one contains pecan halves, raisins, chopped dates and cinnamon apple pieces.

The raisins and pecans are your usual fare, they're pretty good, some nice juicy fruit and some flavoursome nuts that add a crunchy texture. As for the chopped dates, I didn't quite get on with them. I'm not much of a fan of dates anyway, they leave my mouth dry and aren't exactly what I'd call tasty, and the ones in this bag just look like inedible, unappetising lumps. Thankfully they're balanced out by the cinnamon apple pieces, which are really nice. They're quite small, but they're juicy, and there's a nice coating of cinnamon that works well with the taste of the apple itself. Overall though, this works out to a pretty average bag. Most of it's alright, and the apple pieces are great, but their size is a little disappointing, and the dates are not a good addition in my eyes. This bag is alright for a healthy snack, but I'm sure there are better out there.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: M&S Peaches & Cream Fudge

We may be in the midst of winter, but that doesn't stop me longing for warmer climes, and apparently M&S are in the same boat. Here's some peaches & cream fudge, evoking fond feelings of summertime.

Being M&S, there are some good and proper ingredients here, in the form of clotted cream and peach purée. The results is a wonderfully creamy, fruity fudge that is fantastically sweet and flavoursome. The peach is instantly noticeable, while the cream provides a lovely light base that works well with the fudge itself. There are also pieces of dried apricot thrown in, which I thought might compromise the flavour, but instead adds another great layer of fruitiness with a great texture.

It's a testament to how good these are that I planned to space out the bag during the day, but ended up finishing it in one sitting. I was met with a somewhat uncomfortable sugar rush at the end, but it was worth every second to enjoy a great pack of delicious fudge.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Lipton Mango Iced Tea

I like a bottle of Lipton, they do some great flavours, but they're somewhat limited. Recently there's been the addition of raspberry, but I stumbled upon this mango variety that I haven't seen before. I've grown to love mango, so I was interested to see how it would be in tea form.

This is some good stuff. The mango flavour is noticeable straight away, and it's a lovely fruity taste. With some mango confectionery the somewhat chalky texture of the fruit shines through, but here it's well represented by the slight dryness of the tea itself. It's a refreshing, fruity drink, and it tastes like mango. I'm not really sure what else to say about it, it's a good flavour, and well worth seeking out.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Walkers Mixups Meaty Snacks Mix

Mixups Snacks Mixes came out last year, providing an interesting mix of Walkers crisps in either spicy or cheesy flavours. Now there's another variety added to the range in the form of these meaty snacks, and while they didn't draw me in as much as the other two, I was interested to see what meaty Wotsits and French Fries would taste like.

The Doritos and Monster Munch in this mix are already lining the shelves, BBQ rib and roast beef flavours respectively. They're classics, and they're well represented in this bag, the Monster Munch being pretty huge and packing a nice meaty flavour, while the Doritos have a lovely saucy texture with a strong rib-like taste underneath. Apparently beef Wotsits were once a thing, though I don't remember them. The Wotsits in these Mixups are pretty huge, and do have a certain beefy flavour, but they're just too similar in texture to the Monster Munch. They are a little softer, but to me that was somewhat disappointing, and the flavour isn't nearly as pronounced as it is in the Monster Munch. As for the French Fries, I don't know if there has ever been a proper meat flavour, but if these are anything to go by they shouldn't have bothered. They're very bland, there's a hint of sauciness every now and then that seems like it might be nice, but on the whole they're pretty flavourless. 

I'm a little torn with this bag. Half of the stuff is great, while the other is disappointing. I don't think I'll pick up another bag when I could just get a pack of Monster Munch or Doritos, but on average these Mixups are really just mediocre. If you've got a hankering for beef Wotsits, by all means go and buy one.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough S'Wich Up

After the lovely array of flavours that popped up at the end of last year, I thought it would be a while before another one came along, but thankfully it's arrived already. This is Cookie Dough S'Wich Up, a flavour that's exclusive to Domino's at the moment. As soon as One Treat reviewed it the other day I've been looking for an excuse to order pizza. I don't particularly like paying full price for anything, but I think good old Ben & Jerry have earned my trust enough for me to justify splashing out £5.49 on this tub. This is, as you may have guessed, a variation on the classic Cookie Dough flavour. It's got the vanilla ice cream, it's got the cookie dough chunks. But it's also got a chocolate cookie swirl and chocolate cookie sandwiches embedded throughout.

The vanilla ice cream and cookie dough are as good as ever, a nice creamy base with some gritty, doughy chunks, it's what Ben & Jerrys have been doing best for years. But they contribute to just a fraction of the overall flavour, the real draw here is the chocolate cookie stuff. The swirl is omnipresent, a constant chocolate layer applied to the ice cream, with bits of crushed up chocolate biscuit spread throughout that provide an extra layer of gritty texture and a good flavour to boot. But the main event is the chocolate cookie sandwiches. From the name I was getting somewhat excited that they would be like the old Ben & Jerry's 'Wich that were discontinued some time ago, so I was quite disappointed to find they were just regular Oreo style biscuits. That's not to say they aren't bad, they're massive and still have that nice crunch to them, giving way to a creamy interior. 

There's a lot going on in this tub, and it's all good stuff. Sure, the cookie dough element is somewhat lost underneath the amount of chocolate, but the chocolate parts aren't overwhelming. In fact, this tub doesn't scream chocolate, it's more about the cookie, and the different textures throughout the tub are what makes it great. It's not the most perfect Ben & Jerry's, but it's pretty damn good.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Walkers Tear 'N' Share

Wow, look, a new bag of Walkers! Well, it says it's new, but I only saw three flavours available when I picked these up, the classic ready salted, salt & vinegar and cheese & onion. But the bag, let me tell you about this bag. It's not just a bag, it's also a bowl! So you can do just what the name says, tear it and share it! Immediately! Because the bag is a bowl! Let me show you:

Well, I suppose that could be considered a bowl, if you're following the dictionary definition, which is a container that is open at the top and deep enough to hold food. But I don't know if I'd refer to it as a bowl, it's more like a shallow packet, that stays open better than regular packets. But I guess that's not as catchy. Yes, it's a gimmick, and one that I guess has some use in sharing amongst friends on a coffee table. I wouldn't nestle it among other party foods in a big spread, I'd probably just empty them into a real bowl. But on the whole, I feel it's pretty unnecessary, have we as a species lost the ability to share from a deep packet of crisps? I don't think so.

Novelty aside, the contents here are pretty good. They're thicker cut crisps, so they're basically Extra Crunchy Walkers by a different name. There was a very decent amount of flavouring in here, and they were definitely moreish. I'm sure we all know how good Walkers salt & vinegar crisps are, and it's not different here. But I fear this is another case of gimmicky packaging stinging you on the contents. This bag contains 150g, the same as your regular pack of Extra Crunchy, but the RRP for the Tear 'N' Share appears to be £1.99 compared to the Extra Crunchy's £1.50. I got these on offer for £1, so at that price it's worth it, but be aware of the regular pricing before you're lured in by the promise of that fancy bowl bag. Maybe you'll be able to pick them up for the same price, but it remains to be seen.

These are good crisps, there's no mistaking it, but the packaging seems to be a way to get more money out of us. You're probably better off going for a bag of the Extra Crunchy, they're just as good. Apparently the Tear 'N' Share have a new sweet chilli flavour though, so I'll probably pick some of those up to try them out. Otherwise I'll be leaving them on the shelf.

My rating: 3/5