Kev's Snack Reviews

When Thorntons announced the launch of a new Popcorn range I couldn't wait to try it. They make very tasty toffee products, and mixing this with chocolate and popcorn sounded like a perfect combination! The one I wanted to try the most was Toffee & White Chocolate, which was hard to find since it kept selling out at Asda - must be popular! I finally nabbed some on special offer for £1. The bags contain 100g and contain popcorn coated with toffee and white chocolate. I found the popcorn was very more-ish, the toffee very sweet and crunchy with the white chocolate adding a nice creamy edge to it, but mixed together it was all a little bit too sweet. I usually love white chocolate but I don't think it worked so well with the sweet toffee here. I think next time I'll try the Milk Chocolate variety instead. Overall, a tasty popcorn but definitely one for the very sweet-toothed! RATING: 7.5 out of 10.

I've been on the hunt for this "Coconut Bliss" variety of Nákd Fruit & Nut Nibbles ever since I first heard they were available. They must be pretty popular, as Asda are almost always sold out. Luckily I finally managed to nab a bag, probably thanks to shopping very early in the morning! They're pretty similar to the other Nibbles in the range, but with the addition of some toasted dessicated coconut and natural coconut flavouring. They have a slightly more speckled appearance than the other nibbles. They tasted very nice, although maybe not quite as coconutty as I was expecting. I'm often making my own desserts with dessicated coconut so I suppose I'm used to having a more intense coconut flavour. They were nice, don't get me wrong, but I do think they would've benefitted from a greater ratio of coconut. The other ingredients are dried dates, raisins and cashew nuts. Overall, these are a tasty, healthy snack and do give a nice coconut

Green & Blacks recently launched a range of "THIN" chocolate bars, amongst them flavours such as Salted Caramel ( which I reviewed previously ), Dark, Mint and this 37% Milk. The range is currently on offer for £1.50 at most Tesco Express stores. This Milk variety contains 37% cocoa solids, which is a little higher than the  average milk chocolate. As with all G&B chocolates all the ingredients are organic and they use raw cane sugar, giving a more "rustic" flavour. The squares are fairly large, and I found two to be a nice amount for a cocoa fix. The chocolate was very flavoursome, much richer than regular G&B milk chocolate and Lindt's Creamy Milk chocolate. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, I was expecting it to be very milky but instead the milk took a back seat and the cocoa flavours were more prominent. As a fan of rich milk chocolates from the likes of Hotel Chocolat I was really pleased by this! I found a few squares very satis

A few new products I've seen in shops recently... Maryland Mix'Ems: An obvious and almost direct copy of the UK Chips Ahoy! cookies, these come in two varieties, one which includes popcorn and candy shells, and one which contains fruit jellies and candy shells. Considering Chips Ahoy! don't seem to have taken off in the UK (they're currently found in all good discount stores for £1!) this might be a canny move from Maryland. Spotted in The CO-OP.                                       Jammie Dodgers Jammie Bakes: Burton's have also brought out this new range of Jammie Dodgers "Jammie Bakes", which contain fruit fillings inside a biscuit coating. The idea is similar to Maryland Gooeys, but these are apparently aimed at a more mature audience. Spotted in Asda. Cadbury Mini Rolls Cola Special Edition: Cadbury have been tinkering with weird flavours again and have brought out these cola flavoured MIni Rolls as a limited edition. If you'

Initially I wasn't too interested in trying this new Espresso flavoured "Black" Magnum. I love coffee but didn't think it would work so well in this format - most coffee ice creams are usually too weak and watered down. However as these were on special offer in Morrisons I decided to give them a try. They're described as "Vanilla flavour ice cream & coffee sauce coated in dark chocolate". I paid around £1.50 for them on special offer. There's 3 ice creams per box, although these boxes are now being phased out in favour of 4-pack boxes. Taking a bite, I first noticed how rich the chocolate coating was. I wasn't really expecting it since Magnum's are usually so creamy and milky. The coffee sauce was pleasant and gave a nice flavour, although it was a little weaker than I had hoped. The ice cream was of course typically creamy with a lovely vanilla flavour. Overall, as pleasant as this Magnum is I don't think I'd buy it aga

Whilst in Starbucks recently I was determined to try the new Maple Macchiato I've seen advertised everywhere. Alas, they were out of stock, so I had to make do with the caramel version instead. Booo! It's described as "Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and finished with caramel sauce". The coffee was just what I needed at the time; a milky, sweet pick-me-up with a subtle boost of espresso for energy. The caramel sauce added a touch of luxury, however I felt it needed something extra to jazz it up a bit. As nice as it was, it got a bit lost in all the milk. Perhaps a dollop of cream or some real caramel pieces might have improved it a bit.  Overall, this is a nice drink and perfect if you want a light energy boost, but it isn't the height of luxury. I'm still hoping to try the Maple Macchiato! RATING: 7 out of 10.

I recently spotted these Rolo Dark Desserts in a discount store and couldn't resist giving them a try. I've already reviewed the regular Dark Chocolate Rolo's and wondered how it would translate into dessert form... They're described as "A layered dark chocolate and toffee dessert" and contain 4 small pots per pack. Unfortunately I think I must have got a bad batch. The dessert had a rather unpleasant gelatinous texture, and the dark chocolate and toffee flavours didn't distract much from this.The toffee layer tasted pleasant enough though, with the dark chocolate layer adding a richer flavour to balance out the sweetness.  Overall though, I wasn't a fan of these desserts, the texture is too off-putting. I think I'll stick with the Milkybar variety! RATING: 6.5 out of 10. Allergens : Milk, soya. Not suitable for vegetarians. 

Whilst in Aldi recently I was browsing through the clearance section. Yes, Aldi has a clearance section, despite it already being a discount supermarket! One thing that caught my interest was this Winsenia Raspberry Flavour Popping Candy Spread. It's basically a creamy raspberry flavoured milk spread with the addition of popping candy. It sounded very unique, I don't think I've seen a flavour like this before. I assumed it would also contain white chocolate but the ingredients list doesn't mention cocoa butter at all. The spread was very pink and had a strong raspberry aroma. I first tried eating it with a spoon; it was very creamy and sweet, with a strong raspberry flavour. The popping candy wasn't too intense but definitely gave a nice crackling sensation. To get the full benefit I decided to spread some onto a rice cake (boring I know, but I was trying to be healthy!). It tasted very moreish...I think I ate a bit too much from the jar in one go! Overall, t

After seeing this bar on a few Polish blogs, I was excited to see if it would make it's way to the UK, and luckily it has! It's a little difficult to track down, and only seems to be available in selected Polish stores. It's basically a Wedel version of Caramac, although it consists of white chocolate as well as caramel powder. The bar weighs 90g and cost 89p, which isn't bad considering it's an imported chocolate. Opening the wrapper, I was met with a lovely butterscotch aroma. The chocolate was of course very sweet, as you would expect. The flavour of caramel and white chocolate went together very well, and there was a hint of salt in there which helped temper the sweetness a little. Compared to Nestlé's Caramac, I would say this was nicer as it didn't have that waxy texture that Caramac does. Overall, this is a very tasty bar and if you happen to spot one in any European stores I would recommend giving it a try! It's definitely one for the

Magnum have recently launched a "New" Caramel flavour in the UK, and at first I was puzzled over what was so new about it...I was sure they already did a Caramel flavour. Turns out this is salted caramel, the flavour trend that is taking over the snacks world this year! Although salted caramel isn't mentioned on the front of the box, the back says "Vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel sauce coated in milk chocolate". I'm puzzled why they didn't advertise it the front of the box since this flavour is so hot right now! This flavour comes in the new 4-pack box format, which replaces the old 3-packs across the whole Magnum range. It's a good decision - who wants just three Magnum's per box? Now you can eat two, and give the others to a friend without feeling greedy! Each Magmum weighs 340g, I'm not sure if the size has been reduced but they seemed a little smaller than I expected. Still considering the price and amount per box I can&

This Easter I decided to go for something a little "posher" than what I'm used to for my Easter treat, and since this "Coffee Lovers Egg" was mentioned in The Metro I decided to give it a whirl. M&S are usually known for quality, and I love coffee so this sounded like a real winner! The egg is embedded with coffee beans dusted with with an edible gold coating, which really makes it stand out: How glorious does that look?! It also comes with coffee-flavoured milk chocolate hazelnuts, as shown above. They were very moreish, although I did think the cocoa powder dusting gave them a bitter aftertaste. The egg looked so nice I was reluctant to break it. Eventually the lure of coffee flavoured chocolate got the better of me so I did what I had to do, breaking the top off first. The chocolate shell was very thick and contained caramelized hazelnut pieces. It was rich and flavoursome, with a strong coffee flavour that balanced out the sweetness o

Whilst in Tesco recently I spotted this White Choc Raspberry Swirl Frijj on special offer, so couldn't resist giving it a try. It's not "new", but I've been curious about it for a while now. I was just biding my time until it was reduced in price ;) The label says "Now more indulgent", so I'm not sure what it tasted like before. It's also called "Supreme" and I'm not sure if all Frijj milkshakes carry this label now, or just the fancier flavours. Anyway it turned out to be a pleasant enough milkshake, with the typically thick, frothiness you expect from Frijj. However the white chocolate flavour wasn't very strong; all I could taste was the weak raspberry flavour. It made for a pleasant drink but didn't deliver the creamy white chocolate hit I was hoping for. Overall, as pleasant as this milkshake is it's not something I would pay full price for. If you're a fan of white chocolate I wouldn't bother with

Whilst in M&S over Easter I noticed they had a new range of snacks for the Summer season. What caught my eye most were these Earl Grey white chocolate flavoured almonds. I'm a big fan of Earl Grey tea, but wasn't sure how it might taste with white chocolate and almonds...it could have been potentially horrible! They're described as "Earl grey flavour white chocolate coated caramelised almonds decorated with a yellow glaze" and cost £3. I shared them with a friend, who seemed reluctant to try one. "They're nice, honestly!" I said, as I had already tried one by that point. And my friend agreed. The bergamot aroma is quite strong, and paired with the white chocolate it did smell a little "off"...almost sickly. But the flavour actually works. It's a citrusy, creamy combination, which pairs well with the savoury flavour of caramelised almond. The almonds were very moreish and I munched through quite a few...they definitely made