Kev's Snack Reviews

Quality Street have recently expanded their range by branching out into Lindor territory...with truffles! But they've given their own unique spin on them and these have crunchy coatings to fit with some of their classic Quality Street Chocolates. There's Orange which is a bit like the Crunchy Orange chocolate, Salted Caramel which is apparently based on the toffees, and Praline which is of course based on the Green Triangle. Sounds a bit gimmicky but they actually do fit with the Quality Street chocolates rather well. Consisting of a smooth, almost gooey truffle centre, coated in chocolate and with various crunchy coatings. The Orange was a favourite - a smooth orange flavour centre with some crunchy orange bits on top. It tastes like the orange chocolate from quality street but the truffle adds an extra dimension to it, replacing boring crunchy inner chocolate with a smooth ganache. I think I liked this better to be honest. The crunchy bits still give you the crun...

It's been a few years now since Nestle added a new variety to their Quality Street boxes, which was Honeycomb Crunch - do check out my review of it from 2016. They're at it again however and this time have even admitted it's a ploy to get folks attention - they've removed the Toffee Deluxe from boxes and replaced it with a "Chocolate Caramel Brownie". Does it contain brownie? Of course not, and maybe that's all part of the controversy plan...it's simply a chocolate flavoured caramel. Now don't get me wrong, it tastes very good! Chocolate flavour caramel is always a nice variation of regular caramel, giving it an extra oomph of cocoa flavour, and somewhat toning down the sweetness of the caramel. But it ain't no brownie - a brownie is a fudgey cake! Since when did it become shorthand for companies to do an "extra chocolatey" version of whatever? The rest of the chocolates are all as you'd expect, full of sweet, cheap fa...

It's that time of year again...September, the classic month to get in the festive mood prematurely! Yep, lots of Christmas themed snacks and gifts are now appearing in shops (plus a few Halloween things), and amongst all the niknaks this year is a new Matchmakers flavour! Initially I thought this might be replacing the Salted Caramel Matchmakers from last year, but it appears not because that's also available alongside this in Tesco Express, currently for a mere 75p. At that price I couldn't say no to a pack! Described as "Gingerbread flavour chocolates with skimmed milk chocolate, dark chocolate and boiled sugar pieces" these weigh 120g. Opening the box I was immediately hit with a sugary, slightly artificial but definitely gingery aroma. It was very strong indeed...I wasn't sure if I liked it to be honest! I did what had to be done: dug out my fancy festive star-shaped snacks dish and arranged the Matchmakers on it. It's surprisingly perfect fo...

It's time for another Spotted In Shops, since we're gradually heading towards that time of year when Christmas and Halloween products start appearing on shelves - yep it certainly #getsearliereveryyear!  First up are the New Limited Edition Quality Street Gingerbread Matchmakers pictured above, an early product for the festive season. They're only available at Tesco for £2 so far, and presumably replace the Salted Caramel variety from last year. Nestle have also added a new Orange Flavour to their Kitkat Bites range, which is currently only exclusive to Morrisons. Luckily, if you have no Morrisons nearby you can get Orange Kitkat Chunky multipacks from Poundland as well as Home Bargains. Poundland are also selling their own take on White Maltesers - White Chocolate Mat Balls. Of course they probably won't be half as good as the glorious White Maltesers were ( sign the petition if you'd like them brought back), but I guess we'll have to mak...

I first ranted about Christmas coming early several years back, and it seems that Christmas products seem to appear in shops earlier and earlier every year. We've now reached a point where they're apparently necessary whilst still basking in the Summer heat! I must admit I was a little surprised to see these tubs of Cadbury Heroes and Mars Celebrations on Friday. It's become the norm to get them in September but I don't think they've ever been out this early before? If you're desperate to get your hands on some of the sugary goodness, they're £5 a tub in Tesco which is pretty reasonable (that said, they may be rather melted depending on the heat where you are!) As well as the tubs, B&M have started stocking...stocking fillers! Such as Nestle Jelly Tots: Caramac Buttons: And Swizzel's Lovehearts tubes, now with Emojis: As well as those, in Tesco Express I've seen tubs of Quality Street: Plus Cadbury Roses: There's also...

The Salted Caramel trend has been going for at least a few years now, and it seems that companies are determined to put it in everything. Galaxy Salted Caramel is a few years old, and more recently we got Salted Caramel Kettle Chips . Nestle have got in on the act too and added a Salted Caramel variety to their Matchmakers range (which now bizarrely has been lumped under the Quality Street brand, even though Matchmakers never had anything to do with Quality Street). This is no doubt a replacement for the Matchmakers Yummy Honeycomb  which is still available in Home Bargains, although it could be old stock. You can pick these up for around £1 in most shops currently - Tesco have them at half price and they're also in Poundland and other discount stores for £1. They're described as "salted caramel flavoured chocolates with skimmed milk chocolate, dark chocolate and boiled sugar pieces". Yum - boiled sugar, sounds so enticing! Opening the box they had ...