Kev's Snack Reviews

Today it's my third and final review from the new Festival 2018 Range from Montezuma's, which have been created to celebrate their 18th birthday. Check out my reviews of their Milk Chocolate and Chai Latte plus the Dark Chocolate with Rose & Vanilla bars. I've saved the best (in my opinion) for last with today's review...who doesn't love a good old coffee and chocolate combo? Well, granted not everyone but it certainly rates highly in my books. Today's bar consists of 35% milk chocolate with 3% coffee and 2% cocoa nibs added. Maybe not enough caffeine to give you the shakes, but still enough to make a delicious bar. I'll not bore you with my thoughts on the block design or the packaging today (I love both, FYI) and get right onto the taste. Of all the various coffee flavoured chocolates I've tried over the years, from milk, to white to dark chocolate, this is perhaps the best I've tasted! It hits the right balance of creamy, flavoursome...

Following on from my review of the Montezuma's Chai Latte Milk Chocolate , today's bar from their Festival Range is one that's suitable for vegans and is dairy free, it's Dark Chocolate with added Rose Oil and Vanilla flavouring. Having tried rose flavoured chocolates before I went into tasting this with great hesitation...would it be nice or awful?! The Festival Range of bars from Montezuma's have been launched to celebrate their 18th birthday, because they're going to their first festival now they're 18. The colourfully packaged bars are specially designed to help them party and were inspired by Holi , the Hindu festival which signifies the arrival of spring and has become known as the happiest festival on earth. Opening the wrapper, the bar has the classic Montezuma's style of a section of breakable blocks with a thicker piece with the Montezuma's logo on below. I do like the design - it means you can have a chunkier piece of chocolate or sm...

Montezumas, makers of the famous Absolute Black chocolate bar are turning 18 this year, and to celebrate their coming of age they've launched a "Festival" range...because they're going to their first festival now they're 18. Get it? These colourfully packaged bars are specially designed to help them party and were inspired by Holi , the Hindu festival which signifies the arrival of spring and has become known as the happiest festival on earth. I really do like the packaging designs, they're the sort of thing I would definitely pick up in a shop to buy! There's three varieties in the range; today's review which is Milk Chocolate with Chai Latte, as well as Milk Chocolate with Coffee & Cocoa Nibs and Dark Chocolate with Rose & Vanilla (reviews to follow shortly). Containing 35% Cocoa Milk Chocolate with the addition of mixed spice, this 100g bar is suitable for vegetarians and gluten free. The spice aroma is very evident on opening the w...

A huge thankyou to Montezuma's for sending me this Absolute Black Easter egg to review recently! Since I first heard of it I was eager to try it; I do enjoy Montezuma's Absolute Black bars - they're a godsend when trying to cut back on sugar intake and still enjoy some chocolate. So in Easter Egg form it makes the perfect treat for anyone wiahing to stick to a sugar free diet over the Easter period! Not only is it made with 100% cocoa chocolate, the shell contains cocoa nibs and there's a sachet of 100% Dark Chocolate buttons with it too. The egg was silver foil wrapped, a nice touch compared to some of the shiny plastic wrappers found on many Easter Eggs. Ripping open the foil, the egg looked super shiny - I didn't want to break it! But it had to be done...for reviewing purposes! The shell is nice and thick with the cocoa nibs peeking out in places. Biting into a piece, there's the classic rich cocoa flavour of the Absolute Black Dark Chocolate punc...

Being on a low sugar diet it's hard to find many interesting chocolates, yes there's the lovely Montezuma's Absolute Black but sometimes you want some added crunch or flavour. Luckily Montezuma's have come to the rescue with not one, but two new Absolute Black varieties - the first 100% cacao bars on the market with added flavours. These are not available in major supermarkets just yet, but you can get them online from www.montezumas.co.uk . Luckily Montezuma's kindly sent me boith to review. Absolute Black 100% Cocoa Solids with Almonds: This bar is sugar free, vegan, and contains 80% chocolate and 20% almonds. Opening the wrapper the bar has the standard Montezuma's design - blocks make up half of it, with a thicker piece on one end with the Montezuma's logo. I've said it before but I do love the block design, it's nice to have the smaller pieces as well as a nice thicker piece to munch on! The almonds are clearly visible when you sn...

Since Montezuma's bars started appearing in my local Sainsbury's I've been gradually making my way through the range, they do everything from the intense Absolute Black 100% Bar , to the fruity Black Forest Gateau Pudding Bar , both of which are great so I thought I'd try another in their range: Spice It Up with Dragon Ginger. This bar is vegan, dairy free, gluten free and non GMO. The chocolate contains 70% cocoa solids and ginger is listed as 7% in the ingredients. I do like 70% cocoa bars, and even more so when they have some added ingredients so this bar was an absolute delight. The chocolate is rich and good quality, with a slight fruity edge. The crystallized ginger brings a warming burst of sweetness with every bite, it's gentle and fiery and definitely fits with the name "dragon" ginger. It's a tasty and moreish combination, I imagine this bar would be great in the Winter months with a cuppa! Overall, this a tasty and great quality...

I love trying new chocolate bar flavours; some of them are successful and some not so much. Since Montezuma's range started appearing in my local Sainsbury's I've been gradually making my way through them all (only when on special offer though!), and my latest to try was this Sea Dog Dark Chocolate with Lime and Seasalt. This cost me £1.49, contains 70% cocoa solids and is gluten free and suitable for vegans. The bar comes in the typical Montezuma's design, which I like very much. It's a bit different from your average bar, with regular blocks on the upper half and a thicker section at the bottom with the Montezuma's logo on. The chocolate tastes nice and rich, with a smoky cocoa flavour. The lime gives it a gentle sweet tang, with the sea salt enhancing it. It's a subtle flavour but it's very nice and makes for an interesting variation of dark chocolate. I would definitely buy this one again when I'm in the mood for something a bit diffe...

The Montezuma's range seems to be steadily expanding in Sainsbury's stores recently, from the likes of the Absolute Black bar and the Geranium and Orange , and now they're also stocking these Great British Pudding Bars. I picked up the Black Forest Gateau variety recently to see if it lives up to the classic cakey treat. Described as "Dark chocolate with cherry" this cost £1.50 and is currently on special offer. The bar comes foil wrapped, with the classic Montezuma's design of segmented blocks on the upper half and a thicker chunk at the bottom with the Montezuma's symbol on. I like the design, it's a bit different! Taste wise it was a nice fruity rich dark chocolate, with earthy tones. Sweet enough to be palatable (70% cocoa solids) but strong enough to give a good flavour. The cherry pieces enhanced the flavour with a gentle tartness, which complimented the chocolate perfectly. I did feel there could have been more of them, and there were...

If you're trying to reduce the sugar this January, it can be mighty hard to find a lower sugar chocolate bar, let alone one that's sugar free. Luckily, a few companies are now making them more widely available. One is Montezuma's, whose Absolute Black 100% Cocoa bar is now available from Sainsbury's stores. For that dramatic cocoa hit...don't say we didn't warn you!  As well as being completely sugar free (apart from the naturally occurring sugars found in cocoa beans), it's also dairy free, vegan, soya free and gluten free. However it may contain traces of dairy, nuts and sesame seeds. I've had plenty of 100% cocoa bars in my time, from the likes of Hotel Chocolat and Grenada Chocolate Company, and all have varied in taste. Some are bitter and unpleasant and some have a smooth sweet flavour despite the lack of sugar. This bar achieves some sort of middle ground. It will definitely be bitter to anyone unaccustomed to 100% chocolate, but t...

I used to bemoan the lack of interesting flavours in UK confectionery, but since I started this blog there's been an ever-increasing range of new, unique and interesting bars finding their way into shops. You have to seek them out, but they are there! The Chocolate Smiths are one company that spring to mind with their endless limited edition wacky flavours (see a review of The Bacon Bizarre here from my SW pal), but one company I never expected to do something so unusual is Montezuma's. I've tried a few of their bars before but I was never too impressed, the quality of the chocolate is good but it didn't quite justify the higher price tags in my opinion. However when I saw this Geranium & Orange dark chocolate bar on offer in Sainsbury's recently I thought this is something I have to try, even though pairing flower oil with chocolate is weird it might also...be nice? After all, Earl Grey tea works like a charm even though it really shouldn't! The da...

Welcome to another edition of Kev's Pick & Mix: an assortment of mini snack reviews! All these snacks have been in my archive for a long time now...too long in fact, so I thought it about time I gave them the review treatment! Do let me know if you've tried any of these particular snacks via the comments... Seabrooks Chicken Karahi Curry Crisps Limited Edition: These Chicken Karahi Curry Crisps were developed by Seabrooks exclusively with Akbar's restaurants and available as a limited edition last year. They were tasty, although nothing groundbreaking as far as curry flavoured crisps go. 6 out of 10 . Marks & Spencer Golden Honeycomb Chocolate Crunch: I bought these along with the Snow Ball Crunch popcorn I reviewed last Christmas, and was very disappointed. When paying good money for M&S goods I expect top-notch quality, but unfortunately these were sickly sweet and very bog-standard as far as honeycomb and chocolate goes. Give me a Cadbury's...