Today's Review: Doritos A: Spicy Salsa

There's not just one, but two new Doritos flavours on the shelves, and the packaging is a little... interesting. We have bold black and white bags, and the flavours are labelled "A" and "B". You see, this release is part of a new campaign and competition. The idea is to try both, decide which one is the best, and come up with a novel idea of how to destroy your least favourite. The winner gets their idea made into an advert, and £20,000 on top of that. Not a bad deal, I'm definitely going to give it a go, but to do that I need to try both flavours first. So here we have "A", the spicy salsa Doritos.

Wow, these are good. They taste like salsa, pure and simple. From the moment I popped one into my mouth, I was greeted with a great tomato flavour, with hints of jalapeno and peppers, and a nice amount of sauciness too. They pretty much taste like the Doritos salsa dip, I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate it was. However, these chips aren't perfect. After eating a few of them, the salsa flavours started to become less pronounced, and the chilli became more prominent, and by the end these tasted more like the chilli heatwave Doritos than the salsa it started out as. I mean, I like chilli heatwave, but I was here for salsa, and while these delivered beautifully at first, it doesn't hold up forever. 

So there you go, flavour "A" is pretty good, but it does have its flaws. Still, it could win over my affections, flavour "B" does have a lot of work to do to be crowned my favourite. So tune in tomorrow to see how it goes.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: The DVSA Hazard Perception Test

I took my driving theory test today. I guess I'm a little late to do so, considering my age, but hey, I'm getting there now. Prior to the test itself, I, of course, practiced both the multiple choice and hazard perception parts using a couple of resources. Hazard perception is a bit of a tricky beast, being presented with real life road situations, during which you have to click during a very specific window of time to show you pay attention while you're driving. The ones I practiced were fine, they gave me a feel of what to expect in the test proper. Or so I thought. Apparently those real life videos have been pushed aside to make way for some fancy computer generated situations.

I clicked through to the hazard perception part of the test, and found myself transported to a different world for the next 20 minutes or so. A world in which I sat in a self-driving car, coasting down the streets and country roads of a world that looked like my own, but which didn't feel the same. Houses lined the streets, but they just seemed... off. It was daytime, but the curtains were all drawn, or simply greyed out. Trees stood in rows, but strangely devoid of any movement, any rustling of the leaves. It was like a sort of dystopian near future, everything in neat little rows, but something was slightly amiss. But let me tell you about the people.

Oh yes, the people. This is hazard perception after all, and all hazards involve people, because people are awful. So, of course, there were people dotted around this alternate reality I found myself in. They had all the right features, but also a strange, glossy sheen. They walked, but uniformly, and without any sense of character, their faces expressionless. A rubbish truck came around the corner, manned by twin men staring blankly at the road ahead Like sentient androids, these "people" carried out their daily routines, and sometimes darted in front of my car, I guess technology can't fix everything. All I could do was watch, from my little, presumably car-shaped, box, being transported though this unsettling world, my only input being a single button. I was told to push it only when I saw a developing hazard, but the overall feel of this reality was that it was, as a whole, a hazard waiting to happen. Or perhaps the hazard had already passed, and this was the result, like the Matrix.

After being transported through several unsettling scenarios, I was instructed to leave the room, and I emerged, blinking, into the sunlight, into a world with sounds and movement, clutching my certificate to my body with apprehension. Will our world one day become flat and emotionless, like the theory test suggests? Or were these scenarios created just to pinpoint hazards, so they don't have to make people drive around for ages? Probably the latter, all I know is that as I walked home, my movements felt a little too robotic.

Don't even get me started on the sheep, those things looked ridiculous.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Pringles Spicy Chilli Samba

Turns out there are two new Pringles flavours coming out alongside the start of the Olympics, I reviewed the salsa ones earlier in the week, but I managed to pick up a can of these chilli ones today. These seemed as if they'd be much more to my liking, I mean I like salsa, but I love chilli, and these just promised a chilli taste.

These are pretty hot, I'll give them that. They're not outrageous by any means, they won't blow your head off, but the heat is fairly strong, and that signature Pringles shape ensures that the entire tongue is exposed to the spice. As far as the taste goes, it's pretty good. There's a distinct green chilli pepper flavour, mixed in with some other spices and flavourings, There's a bit of competition on the taste buds between certain aspects of the flavour, but overall it's a somewhat clean chilli taste with some other little twists added in. These aren't the best chilli crisps around, but they're a good offering from Pringles. 

My rating: 4/5 

Today's Review: Dyson Airblade Tap

It was just a regular lunch out at a restaurant today, until I went to the toilet, and was greeted by this construction attached to the sink. "That's an odd tap", I thought, washing my hands under the motion activated nozzle at the front, "what are those arms for?" As I turned to find the hand dryer I was greeted with blank walls. At first I figured it was a gross planning error, but quickly the realisation dawned upon me. I turned back to the sink and thrust my hands under those elongated arms. Lo and behold, a rush of air greeted my palms, and my hands emerged dry. This is the Dyson Airblade Tap, and I immediately went out and told everybody that they should go to the toilet and try it out.

It's not an idea I would have thought of, to deal with washing and drying in the same basin. I mean, those soap and water dispensers built into the walls of some public toilets operate that way, but they're invariably rubbish. This, however, is a revelation. It cuts down on wall space for those with little bathroom space, but also saves the problem of looking around or waiting for the hand dryer with dripping wet hands. Everyone gets their own personal hand dryer built into the sink! Well, that's assuming every business wants to shell out over a grand per tap, but with sleek design like this, why wouldn't you? Hopefully these become as ubiquitous as the regular Airblade dryers have in the last few years. It's nice to see Dyson continuing to revolutionise the bathroom. I mean, who knows what's next? Washing and drying your hands at the toilet? I know that sounds gross and unnecessary, but who knows what the future holds. All I know is you should find one of these bad boys and try it out. Great stuff.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Finding Dory

We had two original Pixar movies last year, which was a right treat, but I guess that means they were overdue for wandering back into sequel territory. Not that Pixar sequels (or prequels) are necessarily bad, there just seem to be more coming out than ever these days. The idea of this one wasn't entirely unappealing though, Finding Nemo is a fantastic movie that has aged well, and the underwater ecosystem theme was surely ripe for more storytelling. Besides, it's been 13 years since the first movie came out, I guess we're all ready for a bit more Nemo. 

Finding Dory picks up a year after the events of Finding Nemo. All is well with Dory, Marlin and Nemo, but when Dory starts to get concrete flashbacks of her family that she lost as a child, she drags the other two on a trip across the ocean to find her parents. Cue the colourful cast of characters, such as camouflaging octopus Hank, and beluga whale Bailey, as Dory faces all the odds and just keeps swimming (see what I did there?)

I'll say it from the start, I didn't get the same sense of wonder with this movie as I did with the first. I guess that's somewhat understandable, it's a sequel, but I feel Finding Dory lacks a certain depth that seemed pretty firmly established in Finding Nemo. Everything seems a little bit rushed, and there seem to be a lot of characters being introduced left and right. Looking back, I guess the same could be said for Finding Nemo, but there seems to be more depth to everyone than in present here. 

Not that there's no depth, no character development. It's still better than most animated films, it's just that up against the classic powerhouse that is Finding Nemo, Dory just isn't on the same level. There are still plenty of good things to be said about this movie. It looks absolutely fantastic, and the voice acting is pretty top notch. Sure, Nemo sounds a bit weird, but they wouldn't have been able to get the same voice if they called back the kid who voiced him 13 years ago, so I'll forgive that discrepancy. While the characters may not be especially deep, they are memorable. They've got some great interactions with Dory and each other, and Dory's journey to find her parents sees everyone popping in and out of the picture, delivering some sound dialogue and helping push the story further. Sure, the plot is a little more contrived than the original, but I guess the first one was already a fairly big leap of the imagination, they couldn't help but go more outrageous for the sequel. 

Finding Dory is not a perfect movie, and it probably won't take its place on the top shelf of Pixar animated classics. But it's still good, a nice effort to bring back beloved characters that doesn't feel too forced, despite being a little rushed and over the top. I certainly have more hope for this one than for Cars 3...

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Jack Link's Sweet & Hot Beef Jerky

Beek jerky is something of a divisive food. Some people love it, while some people are revolted at the mere concept. I lean towards the love camp, because come on, it's big lumps of beef in chewable snack form. Lovely. It's been a while since I've picked up a bag though, but I've had my eye on the ones in the American section at Tesco for a while now. Thankfully (though sadly) these bags are now reduced to clear, so I picked this one up for just over 40p. Not only is it beef jerky, it also promises sweet and spice in the same bag. Oh, the anticipation.

Unfortunately, this was not quite the beef jerky experience I was hoping for. It's just not that great. The beef itself has a nice, chewy consistency, it's not as if the texture is different from any other jerky, but the flavourings fall a bit flat. While chewing, I didn't pick up much, and while there was a definite hint of sweetness, it wasn't enough to make me think I was eating anything special. The heat presented itself afterwards, and is a pleasant warm, mellow spice, but I'd rather have that while I'm chewing on the stuff, not in the after taste. Okay, this isn't exactly like chewing flavourless lumps of beef, there's something there, it's just the flavourings take a while to come through, so I'd rate it a pretty average experience overall. Not a fantastic jerky, but it's alright.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Reese's Puffs

American cereals have become more prominent in this country, but despite some brands having some fairly reasonable prices (like the off brand Cap'n Crunch and Apple Jacks), some still suffer from astronomical mark ups. Reese's Puffs is one such cereal, it's been £5 for a good long time in Tesco's American section, but I finally caught a break today and found it was reduced to clear for half the price. I couldn't resist them at that price, although it's a wonder I resisted them for this long anyway. I mean, come one, peanut butter and chocolate for breakfast?

Well, yes, I already have the peanut butter and chocolate covered in the Reese's spread I sometimes put on my morning toast, but this is something else entirely. This box consists of corn puffs infused with Reese's peanut butter and Hershey's chocolate, and you can tell the Reese's is being properly represented, because peanut butter is the third most prominent ingredient. It shows as well, this cereal tastes a lot like peanut butter, and it's good peanut butter. The puffs themselves have a satisfying crunch, and the flavouring is laid on thick. The chocolate puffs add a nice little edge to the overall flavour, despite my dislike for Hershey's chocolate they seem to have done a good job. It does seem, however, that the balance is a little off, I could taste a lot more peanut butter than chocolate, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I would say there's a little too much peanut butter at times, it gets a little sickly. But hey, this is a peanut butter and chocolate cereal, of course you'd expect it to be a little sickly, and on the whole this stuff is great. I'm glad I picked up a box, I just hope they're not cleared from the Tesco shelves anytime soon.

My rating: 4/5