Kev's Snack Reviews

Here we have the latest chocolate bar to shake up the confectionary world, the imaginitive new Aero Mousse! Please do forgive my sarcasm, it's just that this bar seems a bit plain and pointless to me, but nevertheless I still had to give it a try when I spotted it in Boots recently. According to the press release, it's being marketed at women, because of course no man would ever eat such a light chocolate bar. Only Yorkies for us please!  Opening the wrapper and placing the bar next to it I was struck by how small it looked. I presumed this is because the mousse adds extra to the weight of the bar...but it only weighs 34g which doesn't seem a lot! I'm not sure how much a regular Aero weighs these days as I never buy them, but I'm pretty sure it's more than 34 grams.  Anyway, the front of the pack gives the calories for half of the bar...because of course any self respecting woman would only eat a measly 17 grams! Being the manly man that I ...

Whilst in Hotel Chocolat recently I noticed they had several new products as part of their summer range. As always I wanted to try them all, but with the selector offer I limited myself to three (very difficult!) The most unique were these carrot cake chocolates, described as "carrot ganache layered with a walnut, hazelnut, cinnamon and nutmeg praline sealed in a milk and white chocolate vanilla seed shell, decorated with naturally coloured white chocolate". At this point everyone's probably thinking "carrot ganache?!"....surely vegetables and chocolate don't mix? Well, they actually do and very successfully! According to the pack, Britain first embraced the carrot cake during wartime rationing, and it's now loved more than ever. I have to say I'm very partial to a good carrot cake...it's the one cake I'd break any diet for. Do these chocolates live up to the much-loved British treat? Well, yes and no. They're a different beast and...

Whilst perusing B&Ms range of imported snacks recently I spotted some new guys on the (chocolate) block (har har!). Magnum have now launched their signature chocolate in white, milk and dark varieties. By signature chocolate, they of course mean the chocolate used on their Magnum ice cream sticks. Initially I couldn't decide which one to go for - I wanted to try all three but that'd be greedy! - so I went for the White since it's always been my favourite Magnum. Like the sticks, the chocolate contains Madagascan vanilla extract and vanilla bean pieces. Opening the wrapper, I was surprised to find the chocolate split into two huge blocks. Which is probably just about right...one block is the perfect size for a creamy sweet hit! Both had the signature "M" stamp printed on.  The chocolate tasted delightful, it's that same creamy, vanilla flavoured chocolate you get on a white  Magnum, but in a more intense and concentrated form. The vanilla makes it ...

I've been curious about this chai tea latte for a while now. I've seen it in tesco for ages, so when it was reduced to 50p recently I decided it was about time I gave it a try! It's a basic milky chai tea, but cold of course. And to be honest it doesn't work very well as a latte drink. Chai tea should be warm and comforting, the spices just aren't as tasty with cold milk. There was a notable lack of tea flavour too. Overall, a pleasant milky drink but a bit lacking in the chai department. I would recommend spending your money on a Costa or Caffe Nero chai instead! RATING : 7 out of 10.

Recently it was announced that the U.S "Air Heads" sweets brand would be launching in the UK by Chupa Chups. U.S. brands launching here can often be hit or miss, so I was curious to see if these were just hype or if they're actually any good. Well, I can say that they're certainly very tasty sweets. They're like Skittles with a similar chewy texture, but taste a little more fruity and tangy. I really enjoyed them, but would I buy them over Skittles? Probably not to be honest, as they're not different or unique enough. Overall, as nice as these are I'm not sure I can see them lasting. We already have Skittles and other similar chewy sweets on shelves, so I don't think there's a gap in the market for these. Time will tell I guess! RATING: 7 out of 10. Not suitable for vegetarians. 

Whilst in Sainsbury's recently I fancied something a bit different to a regular ice cream, something light and refreshing. So instead of the usual Ben and Jerrys or Haagen Dazs (which are always on special offer making it hard to break my addiction to them!) I went for this dairy free frozen yogurt alternative. It's dairy free because it's made with coconut yogurt instead of regular milk yogurt. Yes...for those who may be unaware you can now get yogurt made from coconut milk! I sneakily ate some at the Sainsbury's cafe, which I know is strictly  verboten  but I had paid for a coffee so I wasn't totally taking the Mick! Anyway, I can report that the ice cream...er...frozen yogurt was very tasty indeed! It's definitely not as full on as a tub of Ben and Jerry's, it tasted light and refreshing, and not overly sweet either. It didn't feel "heavy" like regular ice cream, which is no doubt due to it being dairy-free. It doesn't contain sugar...

When a new range of Heidi branded chocolates popped up in Asda recently I was very keen to try them. There's some interesting flavors in the range such as cranberry, lemon and mint, pistachio etc. However as I'm slightly addicted to coffee I thought this Espresso flavor would be the best to try first. Unfortunately, I can't say I was all that impressed with it. The dark chocolate tasted quite mild and cheap - this is certainly not good quality chocolate! It contains only 50% cocoa which may partly explain it, but as well as that the coffee flavor wasn't all that nice either. It tasted like cheap instant coffee.  Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with Heidi chocolates. Since this is my first taste of the brand I'm not too excited to try the rest of the flavours in the range. If you've tried any yourself please do get in touch via the comments!  RATING: 6 out of 10. 

Whilst on a long train trip recently I needed a decent snack to keep me going. As well as a huge bag of Pick & Mix, I got one of these Betty Bakes Toffee Crisp slices from the Ikea cafe. It's a similar concept to Millionaire's Shortbread but with a base layer of crisped rice and chocolate instead. Above this sits a layer of buttery toffee, topped off with milk chocolate. The combination of all three is of course very, very delicious! The toffee layer is very buttery and great quality, giving a really luxurious feel to the bar. The chocolate is delicious and finishes everything off perfectly. Overall, this is a tasty snack whether you are gluten free or not, and I hope to see Betty Bakes slices become more widely available! RATING: 8.5 out of 10.

Since a new Tesco Express opened near me recently I've been trying out a lot of their "staple" products. I was in need of a chocolate fix one night, and decided to give their regular milk chocolate a try since it was the cheapest there for only 79p. I was a little hesitant though, since the Peanut Butter variety was so disappointing. It's actually not too bad. It's very sweet, but has a certain comforting milkiness and a flavour that reminds me of a (very) watered-down Cadbury Dairy Milk. It makes me wonder if perhaps Cadbury produce Tesco's own-brand chocolate...there's a certain distinctive flavour I can't put my finger on that tastes very "Cadbury". Overall, this Milk Chocolate isn't the best around, but if there's nothing else available and you need to save the pennies it does the job. RATING: 7 out of 10. Suitable for vegetarians.

Whilst in Waitrose recently I noticed GU Hot chocolates were reduced. I've also noticed the same at Tesco, but surprisingly they were cheaper at Waitrose...not often you can say that! I've been curious about this Salted Caramel variety for a while so I took my opportunity. It's described as "Velvety hot chocolarte with a smooth salted caramel twist", and cost £1.30 (usually they're around £1.99). I made it as directed by pouring into a mug and heating in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring, then heating for another minute. Then I topped it up with squirty cream...the full fat way to enjoy hot chocolate! Please do excuse my "tea" cup...I've never drank tea from glass cups and I don't intend on starting! (tea must be drank from china cups only as far as I'm concerned!) The hot chocolate was very nice...rich and silky, with a thick texture. The salted caramel flavour was detectable but it tasted more of salt than caramel. The ov...

I've not been a huge fan of the limited edition Pots of Joy Mondelez/Cadbury have been doing lately. The Roses strawberry cream one was a bit too sweet, the Hazel Whirl wasn't very nice, and they even got the Terry's Chocolate Orange one wrong. Nevertheless I had to give this limited edition Coffee Escape flavour a try since I loooove coffee! Like all Pots of Joy it comes in tiny pots, meaning most people will probably eat two in one go! It's described as "smooth and creamy dessert made with melted Cadbury milk chocolate with a layer of coffee fondant", and I paid £1.29 for a twin pack at Morrisons.   I was surprised to find I actually rather enjoyed this dessert. The coffee fondant was neither too weak or strong, and balanced out the sweeter chocolate layer nicely. It was a bit too sweet overall, but still nicer than some coffee desserts. Overall, if you're a fan of coffee you might want to try this, although I do think a good old ...

Tesco are doing a special offer on the Carte D'or ice cream range at the moment, and one that really piqued my interest was this new "Gelateria Blueberry" variety. Blueberry isn't a flavour you often see paired with ice cream so it sounded just a little bit unique! The tub comprises of both blueberry and vanilla ice creams with a blueberry sauce, plus dark and white chocolate hearts sprinkled over the top. It looked very pretty I have to say! And it tasted "pretty" amazing, too! Although the ice cream had melted a little by the time I got home, it was still very creamy, in fact it was the perfect temperature as it wasn't too firm or solid, giving a nice soft bite. The blueberry flavour really shone through - there were strong bursts of it from the sauce - it was slightly tangy but very refreshing. This is the sort of ice cream that will be perfect on a Summers day! The chocolate hearts are mostly for decoration, but they did add a slight cho...

Nestlé Chocolait Chips have been widely available in Germany for a long time now, and they briefly appeared in the UK in the late 90's but didn't last for long. I'm a huge fan of them, and always stock up when they find their way to UK discount stores, and luckily at the moment there seems to be a glut of them in Poundland - hurrah! Both the Milk and White chocolate varieties are available. Chocolait Chips are basically crunchy, curly shapes made from maize, coated in chocolate with an almond flavour. They're extremely moreish, and perfect for snacking on whilst watching a film! The almond flavour is quite strong, biting into one will remind you of Battenberg cake. But it works perfectly with the creamy white chocolate, which is one type of chocolate Nestlé seem to excel at making. The crunchiness and savoury flavour of the maize works perfectly with the sweetness, meaning you'll keep reaching for "just one more"! Overall, these are a fantas...

Marks and Spencer have brought out a lot of new interesting products recently. There's the unique Earl Grey Almonds I've reviewed previously, as well as a new range of British-inspired sweets and chocolates. They've also brought out this new Apricot and Marzipan bar. Now I'm not usually the greatest lover of marzipan but I decided I had to give it a try to see what it tasted like with the addition of apricot. The bar cost 60p, and has a thin fluted shape.The marzipan had a typical fudgy texture and pleasant almond flavour, but the apricot really stood out. It was strong and quite overpowering, almost artificial-tasting. It wasn't bad but it's not really something I would buy again.  Overall, if you like Marzipan you might want to check this out but it's nothing spectacular. I would recommend other products from the new M&S range instead; there's a lot of interesting things such as Malted Milk Chocolate, Peaches & Cream Fudge, Ear...