Kev's Snack Reviews

My first post-Christmas review...hurrah! And in typical fashion it's for something healthy, which is just what the doctor ordered after all the rich food and sweets over the festive season. This new Blueberry Muffin flavour Nakd bar caught my eye in a local Sainsbury's Express only a few days after Christmas, and being a huge fan of their other varieties it went straight into my basket. How would it compare to previous editions like Lemon Drizzle and Carrot Cake ? The bar cost 85p and consists of a mixture of dates, cashews, raisins, almonds, blueberries and a hint of natural flavouring. Opening the wrapper it had a super strong blueberry aroma - wow it smelled like a blueberry muffin alright! Taking a bite, it tasted even more of blueberry muffin than I'd expected. I mean yeah I expected blueberry, but the cashews and almonds actually gave it a muffin-like taste and texture. This was a real treat indeed, and better than some of the previous limited editions, in my ...

I reviewed Asda's Free From Mince Pies last year, but this year they have only gone and bloomin' improved them (again), so here I am reviewing the new and improved versions. The things I do for food research haha! It's always nice to have more gluten free varieties, and thankfully all the supermarkets are expanding their options all the time - with even Aldi currently doing Gluten Free Mince Pies and Christmas Puddings. It's a step in the right direction for us gluten free folk for sure. I do enjoy Asda's offering, in fact I'd say they're the best budget gluten free mince pies around. Free from Dairy and Gluten, but sadly not egg these aren't suitable for vegans. And despite the lack of butter, the pastry on these still tastes lovely and buttery, melt in the mouth and has just the right thickness. The filling is moist and gooey, with the right balance of fruits and spice, never tasting too syrupy or sugary. In fact it's rather authent...

Taking a break from the indulgent foods this festive season, today we have a healthier product, Twinings Cranberry & Blood Orange Herbal tea. This is the perfect drink for the festive season, and a nice way to warm up without loads of calories. I found these teabags in Poundland but most supermarkets stock them I believe. They taste as you would exspect, warming tart cranberry with the sweeter, punchy blood orange, making for a great combination. I added some stevia to mine as I always do with hot drinks, for a hint of sweetness without the calories. I'm constantly sipping on this stuff in these Winter months, it's such a treat in the mornings especially! Also good when trying to watch your caffeine intake before bedtime. Overall, I would highly recommend this Twinings tea, they do a great range in general but this one is particularly suited to the Winter months! 8 out of 10.

Since my last review was for the poor quality Terry's  Dark Chocolate Orange , I thought I'd brighten things up and spread some festive joy by reviewing a much better quality orangey chocolate - and not just any orangey chocolate - Marks and Spencer's Dark Chocolate with Clementine! Yes, regular old oranges are not posh enough for M&S and they've flavoured their bar with clementine instead, so how does it fare? I've had this in the archives for a while now, just waiting to be reviewed, and what better time than the festive season? This is a single origin Peru dark chocolate with 52% cocoa solids, blended with clementine oil. A bit different from the usual orange oil found in most orange dark chocolates! The bar I bought was in the mini 35g range for around 80p, although you can buy larger 100g bars for £2. The 35g bar is just the right size for a nice chocolatey hit, I really enjoyed it. The clementine oil is a bit zestier than regular orange, sligh...

Today's review is for a chocolate I have yet to feature and one that is long overdue. I've done most of Terry's Chocolate Orange range now but somehow this classic Dark variety slipped me by. Well not anymore! With Mondelez continually cheapening their chocolates with added sugar and vegetable fat I wondered how the latest version of this classic dark chocolate would taste. I certainly didn't expect it to taste quite as woeful as it did, so let this review serve as a warning and hopefully a wake up call: invest in better quality chocolate this festive season (the Magnum Signature Orange Milk Chocolate is much better quality!) The Milk Chocolate Terry's Chocolate Orange is a classic Christmas staple, and they've done some interesting variations over the years from Exploding Candy to Toffee Crunch , as well as White Chocolate ( which I reviewed back in 2013 !), White Chocolate Smasher and even a Chocolate Orange Goes Minty variety. All of them delicious...

Taking a break from the constant deluge of sugary treats this festive season, I've decided to review something a little more normal but still fitting for Christmas and the snowy weather - snowdrop carrots! No, these are not parsnips despite looking like them, they are actually carrots and taste like carrots. So what's the difference between these white versus orange carrots? And are they just parsnip-carrot wannabes? I bought these from Waitrose, reduced to 85p from £1.50. I peeled, boiled and chopped them as you would regular carrots. Taking a bite of a slice before cooking, I was subconsciously expecting the taste of a parsnip...but they tasted just like a carrot, albeit slightly sweeter and lighter. They didn't seem as "heavy" tasting as regular carrots is the best way I can describe them! Cooked and mashed, they were also a little sweeter and lighter tasting than regular carrots, but not much different. It was nice to have something creamy looking an...

The big day isn't far away and the festive treats are flowing...well, they are if you review snacks anyway! Marks & Spencer have been leading the pack this year in terms of interesting Christmas foods, from the likes of Milk Chocolate Cinnamon Tortillas , Prosecco Caramels and even a  Christmas Pudding Smoothie . For more do check out my Instagram page (there's updates daily!). One thing I decided to try recently were these Chocolate Marbled Mallows, purely because they were reduced to £3, come in a fancy box and contain no suspect ingredients (for someone avoiding gluten, anyway!) They're described as "vanilla mallow with marbled dark chocolate" and come in a fancy wooden tube style box, which you peel open to reveal a bag of mallow chunks. They certainly looked super squishy and bouncy, with a nice chocolatey swirled effect going on. Plus there was the obligatory dusting of icing sugar. They tasted pretty good, sweet and chewy and as you w...

Today's review is for something a bit different. A while back I was sent some CoffeeGator products to review, and it's taken some time to get to them but I thought they'd be perfect for the festive season. Because coffee always makes a great gift! And also because I've been busy using these products to get a feel for them, and can safely say now that I love them - they've made life as a coffee lover so much easier! (For someone who doesn't have a Nespresso machine, anyway!) One of the products I was sent is The CoffeeGator Coffee Canister , a swish metal canister designed to keep your coffee super fresh as though the packet has just been opened. This is achieved with a special valve in the lid, which allows C02 to leave the canister but stops air and light getting in and affecting the flavour. It definitely keeps the coffee tasting fresher for longer, with no more having to clip pegs onto packets like I used to do! The canister also comes with a sta...

Tesco have quite a track record for unusual crisp flavours at Christmas. Last year they did the tasty Cocoa & Spiced Rum Crisps , this year the weird Candy Cane Crisps , and amongst the seasonal range I spotted this relatively more-normal-but-still-novel flavour, Creamy Brie and Cranberry. I wasn't sure about berries mixed with cheese as a crisp flavour so I went with my curiosity... For £1 a bag these are described simply as "Brie and cranberry flavour crinkle cut potato crisps". Opening the bag they certainly had a super strong cheesy aroma. They tasted super cheesy indeed, as you would expect from brie flavoured crisps! It was quite overpowering - these definitely aren't for the faint of heart and are clearly only for those who truly love their cheese. The cranberry flavor adds a slight sour tartness, it's subtle but you can (just) taste it amongst all the cheese. Overall, these are some cheesy crisps indeed, and I imagine you'll either love...

I do often bemoan the quality of Cadbury's chocolate, and with good reason - the taste and texture has gone way downhill in recent years. However I am still human and love most things sweet so when offered to try the Cadbury Christmas range I didn't say no. Their 2017 products include a few newbies in their stocking fillers, including Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Faces. I was sent those along with Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons so thought I'd do a head to head comparison of the two! Starting with the Freddo Faces these aren't all in one tube but rather in little packets inside the tubes, which is disappointing. It doesn't feel special but rather that they've just stuffed some regular products into a tube and given it a festive label. Still it makes them handy to give out as snacks and keeps them fresher. Well, in theory it does if you don't intend on eating them all at once! They tasted nice, sweet and sugary, pretty much what you'd expect from Cadbury F...

The supermarkets have really upped their game in recent years for own-brand festive products, with some impressive and weird new treats out for the Christmas Season. Below are some I've seen whilst out and about...although there's lots more! For updates of the most recent do check out my Instagram Page.  Tesco Chocolate Truffle Carrots:  These don't actually contain carrot, do not fear! Instead they are coloured white chocolates with praline fillings. Tesco White Chocolate Polar Bear: Another white chocolate treat from Tesco are these cute chocolate polar bears. Tesco Black Forest Dome Gateau: Making a return for the festive season are these yummy Black Forest Dome Gateaus. Tesco Christmas Tree Ice Creams: Also making a return are these Christmas Tree shaped ice creams. Tesco Chocolate Orange Muffins: Chocolate and orange is always a welcome festive flavour and now you can get them in muffin form thanks to Tesco! Tesco Finest Gingerbread Nuts...