Kev's Snack Reviews

Today's review is for Plamil, who sent me some dairy free chocolates a while ago, but they're back today to get the review treatment with their So Free Milk Chocolate Alternative bar - a dairy free, vegan organic bar made with 45% cocoa and lower in sugar than the average milk chocolate bar. This is a bar perfect for those on a dairy free or vegan diet, and is great for use in baking or just eating! I chose the latter of course. I like that this bar has a higher cocoa content than some dairy free chocolates, it tastes like you're actually eating chocolate rather than just sugar! The rice powder used to replace the milk works well to give it a creamy, soothing edge that makes a fine dairy substitute. It's not exactly the same of course, but that's to be expected. I imagine this would be great used in brownies or cookies - and luckily Plamil make some dairy free baking chips just for that purpose. For more info see their website:  https://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/ ...

Following on from my review of the Prestat Ruby Chocolate Bar , today's review is for their Ruby Chocolate Thins. I was super excited to try these, perhaps even moreso than the bar because who doesn't love nibbly pieces of chocolate - they looked like buttons, albeit very large buttons! They're made with the same ingredients as the bar version, a mixture of cocoa butter, milk powder and ruby cocoa . The cocoa solids are lower in the ingredients list that regular chocolate, making this more of a creamy chocolate akin to white chocolate, but with a fruity, slightly tart edge. How pretty do they look? I mean I'm not usually one for pink coloured things but these are rather special indeed! The discs or "thins" were nice and big, perfect for nibbling on and felt like a real treat indeed. The taste is fruity, creamy and slightly sharp, like that of a good quality cocoa but toned down with a creamy edge from the milk powder. They're highly moreish, and I c...

Ruby Chocolate is becoming quite trendy now in the confectionery world it seems. It's been described as a "fourth" type of chocolate, after traditional milk, dark and white chocolate, and is pretty much a type of fruity chocolate thanks to the cocoa beans used. Nestle recently launched their own  Kitkat Ruby bars in the UK to capitalize on the trend, but other companies are also making versions of the pink stuff. Enter Prestat, a London company famous for making quality handmade chocolates. Prestat kindly sent me some of their range to review recently, spanning the history of their company from the launch of their first The Red Box in the 1950's, to the present day when Ruby Chocolate was created. I'm starting with the bar version, but Prestat also sent me some Ruby Chocolate Discs as well as The Red Box, which I'll review separately. Ruby chocolate is made from Ruby cocoa beans , which are especially selected for their exceptional colour and forest...

So there's been a big fight recently between Waitrose and luxury chocolatier Hotel Chocolat; the latter have claimed that Waitrose's new chocolate slab range are copying their famous Selector bars (see my #slabgate post for pics of the new range). They've even gone as far as taking legal action, but that hasn't stopped Waitrose who launched their new range this week. I thought I'd try one of the bars to see what all the fuss is about - would it live up to Hotel Chocolat's high standards? I chose the Espresso Swirl bar as it appealed to me the most; these are currently on offer for £2 and this bar is described as "Marbled Belgian milk and dark chocolate delicately swirled with hazelnut praline and coffee, topped with chocolate mocha beans". Sounds delightful doesn't it? Opening the wrapper it was definitely reminiscent of Hotel Chocolat's slabs, the sides are curvy although less so than a HC bar. One side contains the coffee beans whil...

Whilst in Tesco recently I spotted a rather new and unusual flavour of Sprite and must admit I had to do a double take - "Does that say cucumber?!" I thought. Yes, indeed it did, and as a new flavour I had to give it a try in the name of snacks science! This variety is available in multipacks of cans or large 2 litre bottles in both Tesco and Morrisons. I went for the bottle which cost a pretty reasonable £1. The ingredients consist of fizzy water, sweeteners, citric acid and natural flavourings. I'm not usually a fan of drinks like this due to the artificial sweeteners, but we can let that slide once in a while right? Opening the bottle I was met with a cucumber aroma that wasn't really enticing...in fact my reaction was "ewww!" But nevertheless I took a sip, and after the initial faint cucumber flavour disappeared I was met with the traditional sweet lemon and lime Sprite flavour. It's actually not too bad at all and is rather refreshing - I ce...

There's been a bit of a barney recently between luxury Chocolatier Hotel Chocolat and Waitrose - Waitrose have launched a new range of chocolate slabs with a similar design to Hotel Chocolat's selector range. Hotel Chocolat aren't happy about this at all, and offered customers an exchange of the Waitrose slabs for one of their Selector bars for free over the weekend. They've even gone as far as demanding Waitrose removes their bars from sale and destroys them! Wow...get that promo HC! ;) The new range includes the Eton Mess White chocolate bar shown above, as well as... This Espresso Swirl bar, containing a mix of milk and dark chocolate with coffee bean pieces. There's also this Totally Chocolate variety, with a mix of milk, white and dark chocolate plus chocolate buttons. There's also this Gentle Ginger bar, with dark chocolate and ginger pieces. Unfortunately it isn't dairy free, sorry vegans :( Similar to one of Hotel Chocolat's top se...

I'm a big fan of Ape Snacks Crunchy Coconut Bites . When I tried them initally I was a bit iffy but since then I've bought a fair few packs, in fact they're my go-to snack now when I'm looking for something healthy and low in sugar. So I was excited when I saw this new Chocolate variety appear in Sainsbury's Express stores recenelty. It's pretty much the same recipe as the original plain bites, but with the addition of coconut nectar and cocoa powder. Like the original bites these are £1.50 and suitable for vegans, gluten free and the packs says "no added sugar", which I don't really agree with since they contain coconut nectar, which is pretty much a sugar. But hey ho, they're still healthy and lower sugar than most snacks of this nature. They tasted pretty good, with a nice cocoa flavour and a subtle sweetness from the coconut nectar. I wouldn't say they were better than the original variety but they're a nice change and certain...

Another heads up today for anyone who is a fan of Pretzel Flipz, the tasty chocolate coated Pretzels that were originally launched by Nestle - they're officially back! Available in both Dark Chocolate... And milk chocolate varieties, sadly there is no sign of the much-loved white fudge coated variety. Boo! Available from Asda stores now for £1, this time made by McVitie's. Are you a fan of Pretzel Flipz? Would you like to see the white version brought back too? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Another heads up; Mars UK are launching Maltesers Buttons! I'm not sure why there was a need for such a product (surely relaunching White Maltesers would have made more sense?) - rumour has it they're designed to contain less sugar due to the new UK Sugar Tax that recently came into force. These are due in shops in June.  Do you think Maltesers Buttons are a good idea? Let me know in the comments!

Another quick Spotted In Shops today as a heads up: M&S are NOW DOING CARAMEL AND TOASTED POPCORN SAUCE! Described as "A sweet, buttery and indulgent sauce made with BRITISH condensed milk, cream and butter" - how great does it sound?! Price is £2. They're also doing a Lemon, Gin and Tonic sauce described as "A tart and tangy sauce full of classic, punchy flavour and made with 4% gin". Cheers to that! Price: £2. In other innovations they're also doing Rhubarb and Custard Curd, made specifically with BRITISH rhubarb juice. Hmm I'm sensing a patriotic theme here! They're also doing Rhubarb, Raspberry and Rose Conserve, made with ENGLISH rhubarb and SCOTTISH raspberries, with a hint of rose. I'm not sure I fancy rose in my jam, personally! Something a bit more traditional with a twist, it's Blackberry Bramble and Gin Conserve made with British blackberries and London dry gin. They're also doing 50% lower fat Skinny mousse...

Recently I read an article in The Grocer about Nim's Fruit Crisps and how they've become so popular they're now being sold in Tesco stores. After spotting some in my local Tesco Express I thought I'd give them a whirl to see what all the fuss is about. They're described as 100% natural, with no added sugar or sweetener, air dried rather than fried and are made in the UK. They're gluten free, dairy free, suitable for vegans, and certified as one of your portions of fruit and veg per day. I can't remember the exact price these were, but it was around £1 or so which is quite a bit for 22g of crisps, so I was hoping they'd be worth it! Opening the bag, I tipped them into a bowl. They looked a bit like fried courgettes, or maybe it's just me?  It was obvious these were 100% natural going by appearances - honestly, they didn't look so great haha! I've tried things like this before - such as Morrisons Carrot Crisps - so with these being fruit...