[NEWSFEED] Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Kellogg's Rice Krispies Squares Totally Chocolatey



"

Jim

"

reports: You may recall me being none to impressed with the caramel used to fuse the

Caramel Chocolate

version of these, thankfully this bar seemingly replaced this overly sugar-based tasting element with a more cocoa-based mix. This meant that the rice pieces actually had more of an impact, and allowed them to substantiate a sweet, yet slightly salted base element to the taste. Within the syrupy glaze that held the bar together, the chocolate flavouring could perhaps of been a little stronger, though this was helped to some degree by the chocolate chunks placed on top.

Again I would like to have seen these implemented a little more generously, though having now eaten a few of these bars I can confirm the amount does vary a little from product-to-product... you just need a little luck I guess. A 36.0g bar provided an adequate snack, and complimented both a light sandwich lunch and mid-afternoon tea well.

...Excerpted (with permission!) from

"Jim's"

review over on his site

, which also features a competition to win a bar - though the closing date is currently 16th March, so don't hang around if you want one. In other chocolatey blogging: Foodstuff Finds has the lowdown on both Cadbury's

Brunch Breaks

and the confusingly similarly-named

Brunch Bakes

; Cadbury-owned Green and Black's are getting into Dairy Milk territory with a 30% cocoa

Creamy Milk organic bar

; and Kellogg's naming division aren't doing much better with their

Nature's Pleasure baked mueslis

or

Live Bright Brain Health bars

.

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Macadamia/ Phish Food Frozen Yogurt/ (US) Ginger Snap



"

choccieman

"

reports: Still haven't found the elusive

new Cheesecake Brownie flavour

but did get my hands on this and Phish Food Frozen Yogurt. Usual high quality B+J ice cream here, for those not so keen on nuts (myself included) it is surprisingly tasty. This is largely because although the tub claims "10% chocolatey covered macadamia nuts", in the ingredients it actually lists 3% nuts! That means each 'nut' is made up of over twice as much chocolate as there is actual macadamia.

As for the

Phish Food Frozen Yogurt

this is the same change (compared to regular) as

Chocolate Fudge Brownie

was/is, ie not as creamy therefore not as nice a taste, but equally not quite as heavy.

...And congratulations to

"

choccieman

"

(who's sent in some great stuff over the

past 5 years or so

) for submitting

Snackspot's 1000th posting

- thanks to everyone else who's contributed in any way, here's to the next 1000! In other pint-sized celebrations,

"Graham"

paid $4.49 for a tub of

Ben and Jerry's Ginger Snap

at his

regular haunt

of Safeway, Shoreline, WA, USA, revealing:

I hadn't seen any other Limited Batch products recently and its promise of "brown sugar cinnamon ice cream with gingersnap cookies and a ginger caramel swirl" promised a nice alternative to the usual cinnamon options. I liked it quite a lot - not unlike the ginger snap/vanilla ice cream cookies I used to make when I was a kid. If I were to be hyper critical the cookies are more squish than snap, but it doesn't really detract much.

Caramel Cinnamon Waffle

is also this summer's new flavour of

Walls' Carte D'Or

, part of a (Mc)flurry of ice-cream launches that includes

Magnum Temptation, Pure White Delight or Mint Choc Truffle Thorntons sticks, Haagen-Dazs Limited Edition Cherries and Cream

and the slightly unusually-named

Cornetto Love Chocolate

, which combines "milk, dark and white flavour chocolate ice creams in a chocolate wafer cone topped with triple chocolate curls".

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Red Sky crisps



"Nick T"

reports: As you can probably tell by the twitch and the drink habit, I work in advertising. And I can tell you with some authority that there is no less innovative or creative industry than the giddy world of FMCG marketing. Their stock-in-trade is to spot a consumer trend, shamelessly copy it within an inch of intellectual property law, then try to petulantly reclaim the entire sector as their own rightful territory and otherwise give the original golden goose a good shafting. Past "me too" products have included Cadbury's Aztec (not really a Mars bar at all, mi'lud), cyclonic vacuum cleaners (Dyson who?), and every energy drink that's not Red Bull in any way, honest.

And now, clap hands, here comes Red Sky, Walkers/Pepsico's attempt to leech off the good works of true artisan snack pioneers such as

Kettle

,

Tyrrell's

and Burt's. Witness the hyperbolical guff on the pack: "We only use the best ingredients from Nature's Kitchen..." blah blah blah. A cynic might continue: "...and when Nature's Kitchen has finished, we send cheap spuds to a sodding great factory in Coventry/Leicester and put them through the same mass production process as everything else we churn out, but this time covered in a thick, thick marketing budget to help screw over the people who gave us the idea. Cheers guys."

None of this is to say Red Sky is a bad product. This flavour, just one of the new range's imaginative advance guard, actually contains bacon and real cream cheese - and what a relevation THAT must have been for Walkers. The taste is pleasant enough in an anodyne way, with a good crunch and attractive packaging. It's just that Red Sky is simply unnecessary. The originators' ranges are excellent, and there's plenty of good competition from supermarket own-brands (take a bow Sainsbury's). So will Red Sky prove to be a brand manager's delight? I hope not. We should reward real innovators. Disingenuous rip-o... sorry, 'tributes' like this should just be pitied for lack of corporate imagination. Kids, just say no.

...Another impassioned analysis from

"Nick T"

today - while, amid the pleas for

Mild Curry Flavour Wotsits

(

"They were fantastic but very shortlived, I would say they only lasted about six months, 1985-6. I would willingly campaign to bring them back"

-

"Chris Wyatt"

) and

Smith's Scampi Fries

(

"We found them easily in Scotland (Paisley), but here in the Midlands it's a Scampi Fries-free wasteland!"

-

"Simon J. Mills"

) comes

"Oli's"

more unusual request, inquiring:

"Does anyone have the little paint image of Crisp Commando mascot from ilovecrisps.com?"

Try

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ilovecrisps.com

, Oli - could

this

be what you're looking for?

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Cadbury Dairy Milk Hot Choc Chunks



"Robert Funland"

reports: The blocks do just look like

giant blocks from Dairy Milk bars

, but they aren't solid - they are filled with soft chocolate mixture. I think you are supposed to just place the block in a mug and pour hot milk over it, because adding the block to a saucepan of hot milk makes it look like you've burned the chocolate. Doesn't have the heavy aftertaste which clings to your tongue like regular hot chocolates :D

...First-time spotter

"Robert"

shares some of

Foodstuff Finds'

puzzlement over how these are supposed to work - I found that they make a recognisably Cadbury's-flavoured beverage when added to microwaved milk (though not as nice as the Gu Hot Chocolate from the Waitrose cafe on Edgware Road), especially if you resist the temptation to take a peek at the chunk while it's disintegrating.

In other Cadbury creativity: they're also producing a new range of

Cadbury Clusters, Cadbury Peanuts and Cadbury Raisins

(all from 50p); I was completely wrong about

Green and Black's Creamy Milk

being a Dairy Milk-alike, as it actually has a burnt-sugar taste much more like Galaxy; and

"George and Kim"

were at least intrigued by this

Bournville Orange bar

(launched in conjunction with

Bournville Old Jamaica

) which

"My dad Ian found while on a chocolate binge in the Cadbury shop in Portsmouth. It has strange almost jelly-like pieces in it. Not unpleasant but not quite as nice as Terry's Chocolate Orange."

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Burton's Jammie Dodgers Snack Bars/ Maryland Munch Bars



"Cathy"

reports: You can get Jammie Dodger Snack Bars from Sainsbury's, my mother-in-law bought some last week and handed 'em over! In reference to Maryland Munch, if you're not bothered about sell-by dates, there's a site online called

Approved Food

that will sell you a whole slightly out-of-date or short-dated box for coppers... did an order off them yesterday...

...And thanks to

"Cathy"

for eliminating an

almost year-old

"Awaiting Sighting" - though the apparent apathy about this Jammie Dodgers brand extension didn't stop them adding an extra

Splat Snacks

format in the meantime. In other raspberry-ish centres:

"Saw a huge French Fancy cake in Morrisons' in-store bakery in Wolverhampton. It's one of the party cakes that's baked in store. Not Mr Kipling though but still looks great,"

claimed

"michelle"

- has demand for

the real thing

reached such a peak that supermarkets are now synthesising their own?

Elsewhere, after a quiet March,

Zeddy

is back with these

Lotte Koala Strawberry Flavour Biscuits

seen for £1.08 in Tesco, Springburn, Glasgow, causing him to go a bit Jeremy Clarkson with the remarks:

"The Tesco in Springburn is frequented by the immigrant community in Glasgow and as a result stocks a lot more foreign foodstuff. In saying that I don't know how many Japanese asylum seekers they have. Onto the product itself. These are little crunchy biscuits with a food-dyed print of a koala bear on them. The strawberry cream filling is just that, more sweet than fruity. Imported by 'Double Happiness Wholesale Ltd' in Romford so maybe other shops will have them. Cute koala pictures all over the packaging will win the kids and women over when it comes to buying."

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Nestle Aero Filled Egg



"Paul Wolledge"

reports: Saw this in a Tesco near home, never tried one before and was pleasantly surprised. Just in time for Easter, seems like Nestle has launched the new Aero Filled Egg. It's filled with a typically bubbly milk chocolate, in a smooth milk chocolate shell. Nice small size means you're never full and makes for a great little treat.

...First-time spotter

"Paul Wolledge"

gets straight to the point here with this followup to last year's

Black Magic Truffle egg

and Nestle's

Double Cream egg

of 2004. In other potentially-imminent price-cuts:

"They are amazing!!"

blurts

"tom"

regarding the

Kinda Bueno Eggs

he claims to have seen at 2 for £3 in Morrisons and, just in case things have changed in the world of

Marshmallow Peeps

in the last 5 years, blogger

"Aaron"

appears to be duplicating some of the good work done by Google with the news that he

"just posted a story called

Marshmallow Peeps on the Internet - A Study

. I went around the web, found all the Peeps sites worth visiting, and put them in one place. 130 of them! Marshmallow Peeps are the 'bacon of the nineties' in that along with being delicious and bad for you, they've both captured the imagination of the internet."

No, I don't know whether he's saying that bacon "captured the imagination of the internet" in the nineties, or whether that's a more recent trend I've missed completely. Happy Easter everyone anyway - speaking of bacon, Foodstuff Finds seems to have spent the 5 quid or so that Selfridges are asking for a

Vosges Haut Chocolate Mo's Bacon Bar

, while

"Lisa"

- so far unilaterally - alleges:

"Why may I ask that the beloved confectionery Smarties have gone and made themselves taste like someone, after just eating a packet of pickled onion crisps, has gone and touched every single one. When I bite into a Smartie, I look forward to the nice sugary taste from the coating but instead I now get this prominent taste of pickled onion crisps. It's not just me though, my friends and family members all think the same thing. Please discuss and try for yourselves."

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Seabrook Hot and Spicy Wasabi flavour



A quick post-Easter sighting this week, as

"Dave"

reports: Amazing. Neutral, not-crispy smell on opening the bag. Usual

Seabrook

thin crinkleyness to the crisps, and yet they pack a powerful hit of wasabi - noshing down on several crisps at a time will deliver a powerful emptying blow to the throat and nose, as wasabi should. Excellent! For what I believe to be the first adoption of wasabi by a British manufacturer (possibly any manufacturer), it's an excellent implementation, and couldn't have gone to a finer and more innovative portfolio than Seabrook. Recommended - hunt down and eat.

...

"Dave"

supplied the photo here, but

Zeddy

paid only a pound for the same product in East Kilbride Morrisons, trumpeting:

"Found these buggers at last! I stumbled upon them quite by accident when I was looking at

Red Sky crisps

and wondering what all the fuss was about. These have a real wasabi flavour and cause your nose to tingle slightly upon consumption. Thumbs up from me for these."

In other spicy surprises: Burger King's latest

Texican Whopper

is "

topped with delicious taco coated chilli con carne, spicy jalapenos, onion, crispy lettuce and Cajun mayonnaise

"; or, as a more oesophagus-soothing alternative, LanesHealth's

Throat Coolers

are "

a range of flavoured ice bars

" - in other words, vaguely medicinal ice pops!

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Walls Magnum Temptation/ Carte D'Or Caramel Cinnamon Waffle



A double-scoop of

Zeddy

today, opening with: The chocolate Magnum has chocolate ice cream, brownies and white chocolate pieces all wrapped in a Belgian chocolate coating. The ice cream isn't too chocolatey in that overpowering cocoa-type way. The brownies are chewy and the white chocolate pieces are suitably chocolatey (I'm struggling here, aren't I?) This Magnum is quite nice but not a patch on

that Dark Wispa'd centre one

I found in Spain a while back. 3 to a pack each in

a separate little coffin

.

...(In case you were wondering, these appear to be an improved form of

the trial version

"robertster"

sampled in late 2007

, though the individual boxes remind me most of

KFC's Boneless Banquet

from the same year.) Anyway,

Zeddy

seems much more tempted by Walls'

Carte D'Or Caramel Cinnamon Waffle

, hailing it as:

"IMMENSE! Yes that's right. Absolutely delicious! I'm pretty sure I will develop a 'habit' for this stuff. Creamy, caramel-icious and (drum roll) cinnamon-tastic. This is my product of the year."

If you'd like to have a go yourself:

"I'm working with Ben and Jerry's,"

admitted

"Lee Washington"

,

"and thought that you'd be interested to hear that Ben and Jerry's today announced a competition called

Do The World A Flavour

"

, where you can win a trip to the Dominican Republic and possibly have your idea made into Ben and Jerry's 2010 worldwide flavour (like what they claimed happened with

2006's Glastonberry

). Thanks

"Lee"

, but you didn't think it worth mentioning that this Tue 21 Apr is also Ben and Jerry's

Free Cone Day

?

Source: Snackspot

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Walkers Sensations Buffalo Mozzarella and Herbs



Another extended crisp contribution today, so it's straight over to

"Nick T"

: If you're old enough to remember walking into Woolworths - if you're old enough to remember Woolworths, that is - and spending your pocket money on a Top Of The Pops compilation LP, you'll know the clanging disappointment when you skip home and realise it's not a bargain containing all the current teen chart-toppers at all, it's a bunch of 40-something session musicians gamely but hopelessly imitating your pop heroes. It's that cheek-slapping dawn of bitter realisation which will also be familiar to anyone googling for archive photos of Michael Jackson only to be initially puzzled, then appalled, when the search returns pictures of a sparky little black lad with the same name. Sometimes, things just aren't what you expected.

And so it is with this latest addition to the

Sensations

(am I the only person unable to say the word "Sensations" without the disturbing image of Tony Blackburn saying it in his Smashy and Nicey voice?) range. Open the attractive keenly-priced bag and you'll be welcomed by a pleasant whiff of herbs. Things are looking up. But pop one of these fragile, pale russet crisps in your mouth and the faint but unmistakable flavour is of... chicken. Hunh? Perhaps it's because mozzarella is too bland to use as a base flavour? A quick check of the ingredients and, despite the bizarre claim "Made With Real Ingredients" (as opposed to what?), things are actually better than you'd expect from Walkers Corp. There are authentic seasonings and flavourings in there, plus a few inexplicable additions such as dried pomegranate juice, skimmed milk, and that signature Walkers sweetness.

So you try another and, sure enough, there it is again in the background. Chicken. Well, chicken-flavoured crisps, anyway. No matter. I turn off my big-brand prejudices and scoff the rest of the bag contentedly. I can't see them being around for long but hey, they're worth a punt for a pound. Pondering on this odd taste swap, I am reminded of the French socialist philosopher Charles Fourier. I'm sure you are too. M. Fourier was a 19th Century Utopian who believed the seas would slowly lose their salt and finally taste of lemonade. And whilst I hope I'm not quite that batty, I do wonder if perhaps this is a precursor to a new Walkers cost-cutting stratagem: a gradual leaching out and blurring together of flavours to create one global homogenised McFlava, centrally controlled and marketed in endless variations of packaging? Pop pickers, you heard it here first.

Source: Snackspot

[goldencup]

Could 'Nick T' please join OUR forum?  I love his review!

[paulham]

He's just an old soak!

[chocadmin]

Confirmed sighting: Cadbury Clusters



"Clusters are basically mini cornflake cakes with raisins thrown in and the peanuts are, well... chocolate-covered peanuts!" hurrahs

"Heather"

, but the pic comes from

Zeddy

, who elaborates: "Noted

the comments last month

concerning these and found them today. 150g pouches of the three varieties. Essentially they are mini cornflake crispy cakes with raisins in them. They are coated in Cadbury chocolate rather than the ubiquitous

Scotbloc that your mother used to use

. Very moreish, I managed a pack to myself (more or less) in 20 minutes."

...Or, as the people I tried these on pointed out, they're a bit like broken-up pieces of some ill-fated Cadbury attempt at trying to make

a Lion bar

. Plus, no-one could think of many positive everyday meanings for the word "Clusters", which nonetheless hasn't discouraged Walkers from launching two kinds of

sweet nut Red Sky Clusters

(in Peanut and Almond, or Pecan and Peanut, £2.49).

...And in other almondy allusions,

Zeddy

adds that he also found these - presumably imported -

Galaxy Jewels

for £1.99 in the same B and M, East Kilbride, discovering:

"A box (400g) of Galaxy chocolates in the vein of Cadbury Heroes or Mars Celebrations. 12 different varieties - Ripple, Praline, Dark centre (milk outer), Almond butter crunch, Crispy, Milk (Galaxy itself), Wholenut and caramel, Wholenut, White centre (milk outer), Biscuit crunch, and Caramel. Having had 2 boxes I found only 1 Ripple in each box. They are all good and the Almond butter crunch was a particularly nice find. They are made in the UAE but still have HVF in them. A good present and talking point as they are a bit different from Mars usual fare."

Source: Snackspot

[Miki2502989]

wow,really great reviews.tnx for all the info

[muma]

Looks very attractive