Grocery Gems: Top 10 Reviews of 2014

Following on from my Best of 2014 list yesterday, here's a look at the readers favourites - the Top Ten most read reviews of the year on Grocery Gems. It's always a surprise to see which reviews are the most popular and I have to admit that I was completely surprised about some of the posts which made the top ten, including the number one most viewed post on Grocery Gems in 2014! For this list, I left out any post that made the top ten that wasn't actually published in 2014 (there are a couple of reviews from 2013 that are still very popular). You can click on the product name for links to the original review.

10: Coke Life

Just making the top ten is my review of the first new core brand to be released by Coca-Cola since 2006 - Coke Life. This also made my personal favourites of the year list. It's no surprise to me that this is in the top ten, in fact I'm just surprised this review from back in August it wasn't higher up on the list.

9: Müller Corner Bliss Whipped Greek Style Yogurt

This is one of those reviews that I had completely forgotten about so I was completely surprised to see it anywhere near the top ten. The photos are ones that I had taken on my kitchen worktop which usually means that I'm not planning to even review the product (I pretty much take photos of everything now just in case!). Anyway, I'm certainly glad I posted this review in the end, as readers were obvioulsy curious to know more about this new Whipped yogurt from the Müller Corner range. 

8: Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread

Coming in at number 8 is the Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread review. This was definitely one of my favourite finds of 2014. Even though it had been around before in previous years, this is the first time I had managed to find and review it. Lidl brings out the Deluxe range of spreads for sale at sporadic intervals during the year and it remains a frustratingly difficult product to find.

7: M&S Toffee Fudge & Belgian Choc Hot Cross Buns

At number 7, the M&S Toffee Fudge & Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns. I was quite shocked to see this review amongst the most popular of the year, I didn't really remember these hot cross buns at all. Looking back, however, they were one of the more interesting products released last Easter, along with the equally tasty Double Chocolate Hot Cross Buns from Tesco. I hope we'll see some interesting hot cross bun flavours for 2015 too.

6: Haribo Minions

I'm pleased to see these Haribo Minions in the Top Ten even though the sweets themselves were quite disappointing in terms of flavour. Despicable Me 2 is one of our favourite family films and I think the cheeky Minions characters are here to stay as popular characters for products aimed at children. In fact, I spotted Minions products for Easter already - check out my instagram photo of these Minions Eggs. 

5: Asda Piñata Cake

Asda came up trumps with this great value piñata cake - a celebration cake filled with sweets. Piñata cakes were already popular on blogs and Pinterest but it's handy to have a supermarket version for anyone who is not a keen baker. Asda often releases celebration cakes with wow factor - such as the Asda Rainbow Cake back in 2013. 

4: Tesco Custard Cream Spread

Reaching the number 4 spot, this review of the Tesco Custard Cream Spread, was the post I was expecting to hit the number one spot easily. I hands down thought this was my most popular review, especially after it was mentioned on various news sites and my photos used on Buzzfeed. However, not only wasn't it number one, there was actually another sweet spread review that beat it on viewing figures.

3: Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread

Surprisingly, there are a total of three chocolate spreads in this top ten! I posted this Maltesers Teasers Review just a few days before the Tesco Custard Cream review but I didn't expect it to have been more popular. I guess that's what happens when you turn a favourite chocolate brand into a spread. Here's hoping that 2015 sees the release of a proper Bounty Chocolate Spread! 

2: Walkers Ranch Raccoon Crisps

Of all the crisp reviews I posted in 2014, I didn't expect the one with the worst rating to become the most popular and certainly not to be the second most viewed post. This was a variety that divided crisps fans with it's love-it-or-hate-it gamey meat and sour cream flavour. I wasn't even going to review this variety, having already reviewed all the other varieties in Walkers Do Us A Flavour promotion. However, even though I hated the flavour, I decided to review them just to complete the series. Funnily enough this review was also posted in the same week as the above Tesco Custard Cream Spread and the Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread. Looking back that was an important week for Grocery Gems!  

1: Kinder Surprise Disney Princess & Marvel Heroes

And finally, easily being my most popular post of 2014 is this review of the Kinder Surprise Disney Princess and Marvel Heroes range. It's funny to look back and see a Disney Princess product that doesn't include any of the characters from the movie Frozen! This review from back in February 2014 was my most popular post by far in 2014. It even attracted a staggering amount of comments, with a mini swap-shop taking place via the comments section. I thought that was just wonderful! 

I hope you enjoyed this run down of the Top Ten Grocery Gems posts of 2014. Thank you to all my readers, commentators, and anyone who's sent me photos over the year. I really do appreciate your support. Here's to more foodie gems in 2015 :)

Grocery Gems Best of 2014

It's been another enjoyable year of reviewing new and limited edition products with quite a few gaining my highest rating of 10 out of 10. So it's time to look back and choose my favourite products, and reviews, from the past 12 months. 

Let me know in the comments below what you would choose as your top picks of 2014! Click on the product name to view the original review. 

BEST CHOCOLATE:

Lindt Hello My Name Is Salted Caramel

It was actually quite hard to choose the overall winner here as I don't feel I found any lasting favourite chocolate this year. The Lindt Hello My Name is Salted Caramel, however, is an extremely tasty chocolate and easily got a 10 out of 10 rating from me, just by being so delicious. Other chocolates I enjoyed this year were the new Beech's Fine Chocolate Bars and the awesome Milka Champiolada (see below).

BEST SPREAD:

Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Chocolate Spread

If it was purely based on the popularity of the review, I would be awarding this to the Tesco Custard Cream Spread. However, that wasn't my favourite spread of the year, and the only one to get a 10 out of 10 rating was this spiced treat from Hotel Chocolat. It has such a gorgeous combination of rich chocolate and warming spices. For a more budget friendly choice, I also have to mention the gorgeous Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread. I reviewed it for the first time this year but it's not actually a new product for 2014 - otherwise it would have won this category for sure!

BEST HEALTHY SNACK:

Nakd Christmas Pud Bar

This was an easy winner to choose and I just had to mention this new Nakd Christmas Pud bar in my best of 2014 round up. I've always been a fan of the Nakd raw fruits and nuts bars, and the Christmas Pud variety just has an added hint of cinnamon and spices that makes it absolutely delicious. Special mention also goes to the Creative Nature range of superfood snack bars. 

BEST SWEETS:

Haribo Happy Cola Cherry Edition with Liquid Filling

Apologies for choosing an international product for this category but this German limited edition Haribo Happy Cola Cherry Edition were by far my favourite sweets of 2014. I hope they release these in the UK in the future. 

BEST DRINK:

 Coca Cola Life

I wasn't totally sold on the idea of Coke Life when I first reviewed it back in August. However, I have to admit that since then it's become one of our favourite types of soft drink. It's lighter than regular Coke and more refreshing than the diet stuff. Even though I don't often buy fizzy drinks this is the one I would choose if it's available. Other new drinks I've enjoyed this year are the gorgeous Cawston Press Sparkling Drinks and the Starbucks Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. 

BEST BISCUITS:

Tesco Bounty Cookies

Tesco had a great new range of instore bakery cookies, especially in their popular chocolate bar inspired biscuits! I also enjoyed their recent Mince Pie Cookies too. I must also mention these Pocky Bear Milk Cocoa biscuit sticks, just because this was one of my favourite reviews to write this year - I just love how cute they are! 

BEST INTERNATIONAL:

Milka Champiolada Coconut

Many of you will know that I'm a coconut fanatic so I couldn't resist including this limited edition World Cup chocolate from Germany here. It had a creamy milk chocoolate base with a gorgeous coconut flaovur and added coconut flakes. I'm still dreaming about this one! A very close favourite for Best International was the Sakura Matcha Kit Kat from Japan. Other international products that I enjoyed were the Japanese Meiji 70% Banana Bar and the Bakeable Kit Kat chocolate bars! 

BEST CAKE:

Asda Piñata Cake

Not so much for the flavour, even though it was very tasty, but mainly because of how awesome it looked, especially for the price. A few of my favourite cakes in terms of flavour were the M&S Pineapple & Coconut Cake and the Mr Kipling Gingerbread Whirls. By the way, I'm not including any category for "BEST DESSERT" as I realised I've only actually reviewed ONE dessert this year (the M&S Salted Caramel Cheesecake). Note to self: eat more desserts in 2015! 

BEST YOGURT:

Müller Light Greek Style Mango

I reviewed this all the way back in January. The Müller Light Greek Style range of yogurts are the brand I buy the most and the Mango variety is my favourite flavour. I also enjoyed the new Danio Mini sizes and the Liberté Strained Greek Style Peach Yogurts. 

BEST CRISPS:

Walkers Market Deli Flame Grilled Spanish Chorizo with Roasted Onion

Overall I think 2014 was quite a weak year for new crisps, I actually struggled to find anything to win this category, so in the end I had to pick a flavour I've only tried once but really enjoyed - the Walkers Deli Flame Grilled Spanish Chorizo with Roasted Onions. The promotion earlier in the year for the Walkers Do Us A Flavour competition, with six new crisp flavours, certainly didn't yield any favourites for me, although I did quite like the Hot Dog with Ketchup flavour. If you have any suggestions for best crisps this year then let me know in the comments below!

BEST ICE CREAM:

Walls Gingerbread Sandwich

It might seem like a strange choice but this has been our favourite family ice cream by far and the one that I've bought the most this year. Other ice cream favourites in 2014 were the Cornetto Chocolate Intense from earlier in the year, and also the more recent Asda Loaded Gingerbread Fudge. Also worth a mention is the Ben & Jerry's Satisfy My Bowl - it was great to see a new banana flavoured ice cream from Ben & Jerry's.

I hope you've enjoyed this round up of 2014 reviews.  I'll be back tomorrow with the TOP TEN Grocery Gems Reviews of 2014 - a run down of my most viewed posts of the year. All the best to everyone for 2015 :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Instore Round Up - Cakes, Christmas & More

A quick post today with a few new and limited edition products that I've spotted instore recently. Considering the time of year I was disappointed at the lack of autumnal themed products in the supermarkets. It would be great to see just a few pumpkin spice or cinnamon spice limited editions. As always let me know in the comments if you've spotted anything new instore or if you've tried any of the products I've featured below.

Toblerone Merry Christmas Tablet: I might as well start with a couple of Christmas products since most supermarkets seem to jump straight from summer to Christmas, ignoring Autumn altogether. This Toblerone Merry Christmas tablet features a new format for Toblerone, it's a large flat chocolate with snapable triangle shaped segments. £1.00 at Tesco.

Mr Kipling Gingergread Whirls: Even though I dislike Christmas products appearing in the supermarket so early, and usually refrain from buying any until at least late October, I have to admit I'm really tempted by these Gingerbread Whirls! I might have to give these an early try. £1.00 at Tesco.

Mr Kipling Festive Bakewells: These Festive Bakewells aren't exactly new, but they do have a new look for 2014. Instead of a little Christmas trees on the icing, these are covered in "festive sprinkles". £1.00 at Tesco.

Mr Kipling Chocolate & Slime Slices: I've only spotted one new Halloween themed product instore, these Mr Kipling Chocolate & Lime Slices. I expect there will be more Halloween products hitting the shelves in a few weeks time. £1.00 at Asda.

Philadephia Lactose Free: I know that the Lactofree brand already make a cream cheese spread but I was still pleased to see this version from Philadephia. There was also a half fat version too. £1.99 at Tesco.

Kinder Surprise Barbie Fashionistas: The Kinder Disney Princesses range from earlier this year was incredibly popular and it's a shame that these surprise eggs are now Barbie themed again. Good news for Disney fans though is that there is a Disney Fairies Kinder range coming soon. £1.89 at Tesco.

Kinder Surprise Transformers: These are a worthy follow up to the previous Marvels Heroes theme. I know my kids would like to collect these (and probably my husband too!) but I'll wait until I see the individual eggs rather than these Triple Packs as they only contain one Transformers toy out of the three eggs. £1.89 at Tesco.

Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes: Interesting to see a major brand offering a gluten free version. There was also a Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes with Honey variety available. £2.00 at Asda.

Nutella Limited Edition 1kg: Anyone with willpower issues look away now! I know this massive Nutella jar has been available before but I personally haven't seen it in my local supermarkets. Anyway, I don't think I could be trusted with a 1kg jar of Nutella in the house! £5.00 at Asda.

Asda Bourbon Biscuit Spread: I wonder if this means Asda will also be selling a Custard Cream spread like Tesco? £1.30 at Asda.

Reese's Peanut Butter: I was quite tempted by this one! £3.49 at Asda.

Gale's Honey with Cinnamon: At least I managed to find one new cinnamon product. I love the idea of this Gale's Honey with Cinnamon on porridge during the winter months. £2.99 at Asda.

Gale's Honey with Vanilla: This vanilla flavoured honey also sounds delicious. I'll probably try these at some point, especially the cinnamon variety. £2.99 at Asda.

Febreze Winter Collection Vanilla Latte: A solitary non-food item for this round-up, but I was quite surprised by this offering from Febreze. Vanilla Latte seems like such an unusual scent for an air freshener. £2.00 at Asda.

Tesco Smoky Bacon Weirdoughs: Bacon flavoured doughnuts? Even though these bacon flavoured mini doughnuts sound more appealing than the other flavours in the Tesco Weirdoughs range (cheese & onion and salt & vinegar), I'm still going to take a pass on giving these a try. £1.00 at Tesco.

Ben & Jerry's Satisfy My Bowl: If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you've probably seen my enthusiastic posts about this new ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. Inspired by Bob Marley, it's a combination of banana (yes!!) ice cream, caramel and cookie swirls, and chocolate peace signs. The good news is that it's currently on a half price offer at Tesco for £2.24. Review coming soon.

And to finish here are a few celebration cakes at Asda that are new since the last time I blogged about their cakes (in May).

Despicable Me Minion Dave Celebration Cake: This is such a great looking cake, perfect for fans of the Despicable Me films. £10.00 at Asda.

Muppets Kermit Cake: This cake also looks good - I'm a real fan of the last few Muppets films! £10.00 at Asda.

Swizzels Squashies 2 Tier Cake: A cake for anyone with a seriously sweet tooth! Asda (not sure about exact price).

Charlie the Chocolate Gingerbread Man Cake: I'm not sure if this large cake is actually gingerbread flavoured or just a chocolate cake in the shape of a gingerbread man. Either way it's an adorable looking cake. £10.00 at Asda.

Disney Frozen Celebration Cake: A pretty cake for any Disney Frozen themed birthday party. £10.00 at Asda.

There were also a few other new cakes that were sold out, including a Mankini Cake, an M&Ms Sofa Cake and of course the new Asda Piñata Cake (see my review HERE). Let me know if you spot any interesting new products instore in any of the supermarkets - I love hearing about them! grocerygems@gmail.com

New Instore Round Up

Hello all! I hope you've all had a good summer so far. We just got back from a holiday to Portugal a few days ago (I managed to keep up with blogging thanks to writing quite a few posts before I left!). Thank you to everyone who left comments over the past few weeks and I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to all of them. Anyway, I headed out to do some much needed grocery shopping and spotted quite a few new products so here's a quick round up! As always, if any of these are not actually "new" (as seen in my Who Knew it Was Not So New? features!) then let me know in the comments below.

Llama's Baked Bites Chilli & Lime: Last month my local Tesco was selling off all its stock of Llama Baked Bites as "reduced to clear", and I actually assumed the brand was disappearing. However, it seems to have just been rebranded instead and returns with a new Chilli & Lime flavour. There was also a Cheese flavour available but no sign of the original Sweet Chilli variety. Available at Tesco - £1.00.

Carex Fun Edition Bubble Gum: Following on from their Strawberry Laces and Cola Bottle scented hand washes, Carex have released a Bubble Gum edition. I should look at this with disdain and moan about kids needing this type of incentive to learn to wash their hands properly - but it's just so fun! Available at Asda - £1.78 or any 2 for £2.00p.

Alpro Gingerbread Man Dessert: This is one of the products that I had to buy as soon as I saw it. I like the Alpro range of dairy free desserts anyway so I was excited to see a new flavour. If you've never tried them before they are smooth desserts that have a custard like texture and taste. There is a bit of humour here from Alpro as these actually say "Gingerbread Man Flavoured" on the front - like they crushed up the little guys straight into the dessert. Available at Tesco - £1.00.

Nature Valley Crunchy Bites: These were released a few months ago but I haven't seen these multipacks before. Tesco - £1.99p.

Nescafé Limited Edition Café Menu Spiced Orange Mocha: I think this has been out for a few months now, but the autumn inspired flavours of the Spiced Orange Mocha seem much more appealing now. There is also a Limited Edition Millionaire's Shortbread Mocha available in the range. Asda - £2.98p.

Heinz Fajita Beanz: £1.30 for one tin of beans?? ONE tin. Really?

Heinz Tuscan Beanz: Did I mention that this new range costs £1.30 for ONE tin of beans?

Müller Fruitopolis: These feature a layer of fruit on top of a serving of Müller Greek Syle yogurt. They're available in three flavours; Cherry, Strawberry, and Peach & Passionfruit.

Activia Fruit Fusion:  A similar concept to the Fruitopolis, although these have the separate layer of fruit on the bottom. There are three flavours available; Mango & Passionfruit, Raspberry & Lychee, and Blueberry & Acai. I bought the latter but I'm sure I will try the other flavours at some point too. Tesco - £1.00. 

Activia Multipack: I think this Activia Multipack is only advertised as new because it includes the Pear variety. I often buy these multipacks when they're on special offer and I'd definitely like to give the Pear flavour a try. Asda - £2.50p.

Activia Intensely Creamy Duo: On the subject of Activia, I haven't spotted these yet, but there are a few new releases in their Intensely Creamy range. The new Duo yogurts come in Blood Orange & Passionfruit, Pear & Apple, and Apricot & Nectarine.

Müller Rice Remix: Not sure what these are all about to be honest, the whole DJing Bear thing seems a bit strange to me. The product itself is a serving of creamy rice with a separate corner serving of fruit compote. There are three flavours; Plum, Strawberry and Apricot. Asda - £1.50p.

Coca-Cola Life: Asda has the new Coca-Cola Life in both 1.75litre bottles (on offer for £1.00) and 8 can multipacks (£2.50).

Coca-Cola Life 8 can Multipacks: If you haven't heard of Coke Life, it's the first new brand from Coca-Cola since the release of Coke Zero back in 2006. It's made using Stevia, giving it less calories and a third less sugar than original Coca-Cola but without any of the artificial sweeteners of Diet Coke. Each can has 89 calories. I'll have a review up very soon.

Rocky Big Eat Chocolate: A new addition to the Fox's Rocky biscuit range. These are also available in a Caramel variety. Tesco - £1.00p.

Lindt Intense Roasted Sesame & Lime Intense: I'm not too familiar with the Lindt Excellence range but I think these are both fairly new releases. Tesco - £1.89p.

Bahlsen X-tra Tasty Caramel: Apologies for the blurry photo. Do these chocolate covered biscuit and caramel sticks remind you of anything? Tesco.

Cadbury Crunchie Rocks: I'll be honest, when it comes to Cadbury I have no idea what is new and what isn't. These could have been released yesterday or last year for all I know. Cadbury have released quite a few new products over the summer but to be honest none of them interest me very much. If you see anything in particular you'd like me to review them let me know! Asda - £1.99p.

Cadbury Giant Buttons: I know Cadbury Dairy Milk Giant Buttons are not new in themselves, but I think this sharing sized bag is possibly newish. Maybe. Tesco - £1.00p.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chips Ahoy!: Now this one was definitely released recently but I wasn't all that bothered about trying it, despite the fact that I like Chips Ahoy! cookies. However, I recently picked up the (also new) Milka Chips Ahoy! bar which of course meant I had to buy the Cadbury one in order to compare them. In fact I have an epic Cadbury/Milka/Chips Ahoy! face-off coming up in the next few days.

Tesco Custard Cream Biscuit Spread: Now we're getting to the GOOD stuff! Tesco have a very impressive new range of sweet spreads instore. Even though Tesco is by far my least favourite supermarket, BY FAR, I have to give them credit for these biscuit inspired spreads. It's like the suits at Tesco looked at the Speculoos biscuit spread and thought let's have a go too with some British classics. Custard Cream biscuits in a spreadable form - who on Earth would say no to that? NO ONE. 

Tesco Bourbon Biscuit Spread: And if for some bizarre and inexplicable reason you're the type of person that doesn't like custard cream biscuits (such as Mr. Grocery Gems) then perhaps the chocolatey Bourbon biscuit version will be more appealing to your freakish nature.

Tesco Cookies and Cream Flavour Spread: This was the one that my kids most wanted to try. It looks a bit like Milky Way Spread I reviewed previously, although I would expect it to be more biscuity than chocolatey.

Tesco Cookie Spread: And no respectable biscuit spread range would be complete without the classic chocolate chip cookie. I'm really curious to know how this one tastes! It'll either be amazing or really bland (especially compared to the deliciously spiced Speculoos spread). Let me know in the comments if you've tried it! 

Tesco Finest Salted Caramel Chocolate Spread: This looks so good that I want to cry. I didn't buy it because if I did I know I suspect I would want to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner... AND for elevenses... AND as a midnight snack. There was also a new Tesco Finest 30% Dark Chocolate Spread available too. Each of the above spreads is £1.99 at Tesco.

Maltesers Teasers Spread: A Maltesers spread with added malty crunchy pieces. I just want to grab a spoon and dive straight in! Tesco - £2.00.

Let me know if you spot any new products instore and even send me a photo  if you can - I love hearing about them! grocerygems@gmail.com