Today's Review: Tic Tac Popcorn

There have been quite a few new Tic Tac flavours popping up in the last year or so, from the banana to the flavour-changing Mixers. They're mostly fruit themed, but apparently that's not enough for these guys, as they've released a popcorn flavour. Yeah, popcorn flavour. I don't know who's idea that was, but hey, it seemed interesting at least.

These are Tic Tacs that taste like popcorn. Well, actually, they taste like what most other popcorn flavour products taste like, a vague, toasted popcorn-like experience that isn't particularly nice. They are quite a bit like the Jelly Belly popcorn beans, although here the flavour is a lot less pronounced, and at times they are a little bit bland. I still don't know why popcorn was chosen as a Tic Tac variety, and after trying them I can safely say they probably should have left it alone. One thing I will say is that these don't have that vague mintiness that most other Tic Tacs have about them, including that probably would have made these completely unbearable. As they are they're just quite boring, slightly popcorn flavoured pieces of candy. Stick with the fruits and mints, guys.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Cadbury Crunchie Spread

Cadbury already have a chocolate spread on the market, and it's pretty good. Obviously, Nutella is the king, but sometimes I may not be in the mood for hazelnut. A rare thing, I know, but hey. So this is a variation on the Cadbury chocolate spread, it's pretty simple really, it's got Crunchie pieces in it. But sometimes simple things can be great things, and I saw nothing wrong with the idea of having bits of honeycomb mixed in with my chocolate spread.

The chocolate spread base is as good as ever. It's smooth, creamy and above all, chocolatey. The one thing I do find with Cadbury spread is it's a little solid, meaning it's not as easily spreadable as others, but it's a relatively minor thing that doesn't affect the experience too much. The addition of the Crunchie pieces is a stroke of genius, and thankfully they've really packed them in the jar. The smell upon opening was distinctly like that of a Crunchie bar, and every single mouthful had a great crunch and a sweet honeycomb flavour. I was worrying that there wouldn't be enough honeycomb to go around, but at at times it seems the honeycomb even outweighs the chocolate. It's quite sweet, but still good. This is a fully realised spread that I can't seem to stop eating. I may falter a bit on the spreading, but it doesn't matter too much, it's all getting crammed in my mouth in a short space of time...

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Krispy Kreme Reese's Peanut Butter & Jelly

What with the excitement surrounding the new Nutella filled Krispy Kreme doughnut, this one was in danger of passing under my radar, but thankfully I caught wind of it. It's a peanut butter and jelly doughnut! For all the peanut butter products being released over here, I'm surprised I can only get hold of PB&J in import jar form. But now Krispy Kreme have me covered, and it looks magnificent.

Look at the mixture inside, it's great. Reese's peanut butter and raspberry jam, together as God intended. There's a chocolate drizzle on top, complete with Reese's peanut butter drops. I'll tell you right now this is a very peanut buttery doughnut, but that shouldn't be a problem for you if you picked it up, this is one for the peanut butter lovers. I'll say there's perhaps a little too much peanut butter, it does overwhelm the jam in some places, but mostly it's a good combination of the two fillings that tastes just like the good stuff. The topping, while looking and tasting awesome, does shift the balance more in favour of the peanut butter element, so maybe it's not too necessary an addition. Still, this doughnut is great, and I hope it's the start of more PB&J foodstuffs coming to our shores. Krispy Kreme, I'm a huge fan.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Krispy Kreme Nutty Chocolatta

As there's no Krispy Kreme store near me, I don't normally grab their doughnuts, despite the Tesco down the road stocking them. But I figured I'd make the effort today when I heard they had a new Nutella filled doughnut on offer. Lo and behold, there they were, filling not one, but two slots in the cabinet, which is a good thing as the guy in front of me grabbed three of 'em. It's described as being filled with "pure Nutella spread", and coated in chocolate, white chocolate swirls and caramelised hazelnuts.

"Pure Nutella" is the correct term. I was a little worried when my first, tender bite revealed no filling, but my word did the following ones make up for it. This doughnut is absolutely packed with Nutella, and only Nutella, so it's a fantastically bold flavour that works incredibly well with the dough it's encased in. The toppings are a nice addition, with yet more chocolate that compounds the sweetness, and while I wouldn't have said the hazelnuts were a necessary addition, they are a welcome one. They add a nice crunch and another layer of nuttiness, without compromising that pure Nutella taste. This doughnut is just plain fantastic. I kinda wish I'd bought three myself, but there was another flavour that demanded my attention. "What's that?" I hear you cry. Well, tune in tomorrow to find out.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Pot Noodle Mac & Cheese

You wouldn't normally catch me eating a Pot Noodle, but sometimes I need to grab a quick, light meal for work, and having heard about this mac 'n' cheese flavour I hunted it down. Now, mac 'n' cheese is great, Pot Noodles not so much, but I was hoping they'd find a middle ground and deliver something fairly nice. 

It probably should have been clear from the offset that this wasn't going to be the best thing. For starters, it's a mac 'n' cheese without the mac, they should have called this noodles 'n' cheese, but I understand why they didn't, it doesn't sound appetising. So the macaroni is out, how does the cheese taste? Well, it's a little cheesy, but it's not your classic cheese sauce, it's a bit unpleasantly tangy, and there are some chives mixed in that really don't help with the flavour. The noodles are your average Pot Noodle offering, as in they're limp, chewy and not very nice. But hey, at least there's the sauce sachet to make things better, right? Except it's tomato sauce, which is a bit of a strange thing to put on your mac 'n' cheese, and it just blended right in, completely overwhelmed by the disappointing contents of the pot. I wasn't expecting much from this new Pot Noodle offering, but I've got to say it's just not nice. Give me Kraft any day.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Strawberry Cheesecake McFlurry

I thought I'd carry on the McDonald's theme today, I reviewed the burger yesterday, so now I'll review the dessert. The cheesecake McFlurry has been around since the beginning of the Great Tastes, but I hadn't picked one up until yesterday, which is odd, because I love me a piece of cheesecake. I guess I was just skeptical about how it would turn out, how good could it really be?

Basically this is the regular McFlurry ice cream, topped with strawberry sauce, biscuit crumble, and white chocolate cheesecake truffle pieces. That last one is a bit of a mouthful, why the chocolate and truffle? I guess they were trying to be fancy. Also, note I say "topped", and not "infused", because it's become apparent to me lately that McDonald's don't flurry their McFlurries (McFlurrys?) any more. Why, guys, why? The spoon is designed for sticking in that machine, and you want me me mix it up myself? 

Anyway, let's talk about how it tastes. I've got to say I was quite underwhelmed. The strawberry sauce is alright I guess, and the crumb is a pretty good addition, a little bit of crunch and a nice biscuit taste. But the cheesecake pieces were lost in the fray. I think for a cheesecake themed ice cream to work, the cheese needs to be infused into the ice cream itself, and here that just isn't the case. I picked up the odd hint of cheesecake-like flavouring here and there, but all the other times the plain old ice cream just got in the way. I guess springing for a whole new ice cream would have been a bit much, so I guess I don't know the answer here, more cheesecake pieces maybe? But what sounded like a great McFlurry just fell short. Put some better stuff in my ice cream next time guys, and mix it up while you're at it.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: McDonald's Tex Mex Stack

It's the last of this year's Great Tastes, not that I managed to try the first one, but the New York Stack was pretty fantastic. So I was looking forward to the Tex Mex Stack, it promised spicy, and spicy is my jam, or rather, my chilli jam. This burger features a double beef patty, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, nachos and a "spicy sauce", all wrapped up in a "hot and spicy bun".

There's a lot of spiciness promised here, and this burger does deliver amount of heat. It wasn't immediately noticeable, but after eating there was a lingering spice on my tongue that was pretty nice. I was expecting a little more based on all the spicy elements chucked in there, and I have to say I didn't find the bun particularly "hot and spicy", it's no red Burger King bun, that's for sure. The nachos were another interesting addition to this burger, but in practice they were pretty underwhelming. There was some crunch to it, but a fair proportion of the nachos were a bit soggy and gave more of a chewy effect. All the ingredients add up to a fairly nice burger, it's just the new additions weren't as good as I thought they'd be. Bring me another New York Stack, this one just ain't as good.

My rating: 3/5