Today's Review: Fanta Zero Fruit Twist

Fanta Zero has been a thing for a while, but the selection is pretty meagre compared to the array of flavours available in their sugarful counterparts. Thankfully, now one of my favourite Fanta flavours is available in a sugar free form, Fruit Twist. I was worried about whether the flavour would carry over, but it still contains some fruit juices, so hopefully it wouldn't be too far off.

This is pretty good, I've got to say. It retains the fruity flavour of the original, thanks in part to the orange, peach, apple and passion fruit juices. Granted, it's not quite as strong, so on the whole it tastes a little watered down, but it's pretty good. There's also the slight aftertaste of sweetener present, but it's definitely not as bad as other sugar free drinks on the market. This is a great effort, and a tasty bottle of Fanta with very few calories. I'll be picking up some more of this for sure.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Maltesers Cookies

There have been a few cookies popping up based on Mars confectionery, such as Bounty and Mars. I thought that's all I could ever want, until I spied this nice red bag on the bakery shelf in Tesco yesterday. Maltesers cookies, what could go wrong? The bag contains four malted chocolate cookies, embedded with pieces of Malteser.

The malted chocolate cookie is the most interesting part of this, and it's pulled off quite well. The biscuit is predominantly chocolate flavoured, but there is a slight hint of malt to it that stops it being your average chocolate cookie. It's not particularly strong, but it is something a little bit different. The Malteser pieces are quite generous in size, but they only seem to be concentrated in the middle of the cookie. I guess that makes sense from a logistic point of view, but it makes the surrounding biscuit a little bland in comparison, despite the malty flavour embedded in it. The Malteser pieces themselves aren't fantastic either, they provide a nice crunchiness but that bold Malteser flavour doesn't fully materialise. Don't get me wrong, these aren't bad cookies, they're definitely chocolatey and have something of a malty twist to them. But for what I was expecting these disappointed somewhat. I'll probably stick with the other Mars adaptations in future.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Asda Carrot Cake Puds

Carrot cake cravings are only natural, but what do you do when you don't want to buy an entire one, or if you prefer to have it contained in a single serving size dessert pot? Asda have you covered with these carrot cake puds. Tesco have wandered into this territory before with a carrot cake yoghurt, but this one seems to offer a more authentic experience. It consists of a spiced carrot compote, spice cake pieces and a cream cheese flavoured mousse. Like a carrot cake in a cup, right?

I made a bit of a mistake with eating the first pot. I figured just dipping through all the layers with my spoon would serve me well, but having them all lined up in a row means I isolated the taste of each layer, and overall its wasn't a fantastic experience. While the mousse is lovely and smooth, with a pretty authentic cream cheese flavour, it felt like there was too much of it compared to the other elements. But the compote, it seemed, was way too strong, providing a spice that I didn't quite enjoy. 

All was forgiven with my second pot though, when I decided to get in there and stir it all up before digging in. It made a world of difference. The majority is still the cream cheese mousse, but mixing in the compote gave it an overall carrot cake flavour rather than a concentrated, slightly unpleasant one on the end. The cake pieces are nice and soft, and add in an extra bit of spice, but there isn't a whole lot of it. This still gives a nice carrot cake experience, but it could have done with a bit less mousse and a bit more cake. A good effort from Asda, just make sure you mix it up before digging in.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Monster Punch

It's another Monster flavour. Sadly, it's not sugar free like the last few that came out (that were actually very good), but it's an interesting one. They've gone for a fruit punch, a mixture of fruits instead of just one or two. Also, although the bottom of the can technically says "punch + energy", I more like to think this is supposed to provide energy to punch things with. I know Relentless recently came out with a punch flavour too, but I was aware of this one first, and finally found it in Asda after searching high and low for it. This can contains some real fruit juice, including apple and cherry,but does that provide the flavour that is needs?

It took me a good few sips to figure out what this drink reminded me of, but it hit me in the end. It tastes pretty much like a fruit punch Snapple, and that's not a bad thing at all. It is perhaps a little too sweet, but it's a great mixture of dark, bold fruit flavours, and while it's quite sugary and has something of a grittiness to it, it's also very refreshing. Add in the added energy you get as standard with Monster, and this can is very nice indeed. I was a little skeptical of the punch theme after trying the Relentless version, but the Monster wins out with some somewhat authentic fruit flavours. This isn't quite up to the standard of some Monster cans, but it's a good addtion to the range.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Dum Dum Donutterie Zebra Cronut

I decided to check out the market that pops up on my high street at the weekend, and stumbled upon a stall selling some pretty good looking donuts. Not just donuts either, cronuts too! The stall belonged to Dum Dum Donutterie, a shop that's based in Brick Lane, but has made its way in smaller form to my home town. Now, I could have gone for the more traditional donut for a start, but the draw of the cronut was too much. There was a Nutella filled one on offer, but I couldn't help but be fascinated with this zebra cronut, layers of croissant and chocolate croissant, filled with chocolate cream, and topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings. Basically, a whole lot of chocolate.

Yup, it's a lot of chocolate, and it's some good quality stuff. That chocolate cream in the middle is divine, smooth, light and creamy, and the shavings on top are a great mix of milk and white. The pastry is wonderfully layered, and while it is a little dry towards the edges, it's soft and not too crumbly, so I managed to get most of this thing in my mouth without making a mess. Towards the middle where the cream resides is a great combination of flavours with just enough moisture to make one very nice cronut.  I guess the chocolate ganache could have been laid on a bit thicker to prevent that little bit of dryness, but I can't complain too much, this is still good stuff. I'll be sure to visit again to try out the other varieties on offer, and I'm pretty tempted to pop up to the main shop to get one of those amazing looking giant donuts. Might need to take a few friends along for that one though.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KFC Vanilla Milkshake

What can calm our nerves in this post-referendum uncertainty? I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to that yet, but yesterday I figured a KFC Krushem would at least do some good. So imagine my horror as I pulled up at the drive through and find that Krushems are no longer on the menu, and in their place is a standard selection of milkshakes. Nothing fancy shoved in them, just vanilla, strawberry and chocolate shakes. Determined not to leave empty handed, I went for the vanilla, 'cause I'm not adverse to a simple vanilla shake at times. I just hoped my despair at the absence of a Krushem would still allow me to form a valid opinion. 

This ain't no Krushem, that's for sure. It's the same kind of stuff that they had in the Krushems, just with a distinct lack of chocolate pieces, and without those pieces the consistency of the shake itself is clear. It's not very thick, it's pretty watery in fact, so it's more akin to a Nesquik than a standard fast food ice cream shake. There's a little thickness, sure, but it's just not enough. The vanilla had a nice enough taste to it, so this wasn't a total loss, but I wouldn't call this a good milkshake, in fact it's pretty disappointing. We want our Krushems back. In fact, go back further and revive the Joosters Avalanche, that was the good stuff.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Tesco Jellybean Jumble Bites

Tesco came out with a new range of bakery bites a while back now, and so far I've avoided these ones as they didn't really appeal to me. But during today's shopping trip I was lacking in new products, and I re-read the description on these and figured they were worth trying at least. These bites consist of jelly beans, chewy fruit pieces, marshmallow and biscuit all coated in white chocolate.

It sounds like an odd mixture of flavours, and it is. I skipped out on these for so long because I was sure the difference in textures between all the elements would result in an uneven chewing experience, and in that respect I was right. After the chocolate and biscuit have been chewed away, the fruity bits still remain, and it's a bit of an odd sensation. The taste, however, isn't all that bad. It definitely benefits from having white chocolate over milk, it's a lighter taste, and while it's not the best quality chocolate, it adds a layer of creaminess to what's underneath. The biscuit and marshmallow aren't bad, the biscuit is a little soft, but it has something of a crunch to it. Even the jellybean and fruit pieces aren't all bad, but they're more on the generic sweet side rather than the good Jelly Belly stuff. So there's good and bad all over the place here, it all adds up to a pretty average bag of bites. They're better than I thought they would be, but they're still not great.

My rating: 3/5