Review: New Nescafé Gold Vegan Oat, Almond & Coconut Latte Sachets

Nescafé Gold has released three new dairy-free varieties of their instant coffee sachets. I used to love these type of sachets when I was younger. I haven't had them for years but the release of these plant based lattes was enough to get me interested in coffee sachets again!

Each sachet is quite large and makes a decent 200ml of coffee. There are 66 calories per cup for the Oat and Almond varieties and 62 calories for the Coconut.

Almond Latte: Almond milk is my first choice of dairy free milk so I was excited to try this one first. It was sweeter than I was expecting with a mild coffee flavour. I would definitely have this as a soothing afternoon pick me up.

Oat Latte: This one was actually my favourite of the three. It seemed frothier and tasted creamier than the other two which made me enjoy it even more. 

Coconut Latte: The coconut aroma is quite strong here and leaves an aftertaste that I didn't really like. This is purely personal taste as I'm not really a fan of coconut milk. My vegan family members all enjoyed this one more than me.

Grocery Gems Review: Nescafé Gold Dairy-Free Oat, Almond & Coconut Latte

RATING: 7 out of 10 for the Oat and Almond.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Vegan:  Yes.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £2.50p each (currently on offer for 2 packs for £3.00p). 

Review: Vegan Go Max Go Chocolate Bars - Jokerz, Mahalo & Twilight

A trio of vegan chocolate bars for review today. I was lucky enough to get a lovely foodie gift basket from my vegan brother for my birthday. He included loads of interesting vegan treats that I've never tried before but he assured me were just as good (or better!) than the real thing. 

These Go Max vegan bars are all made in the US and have simple, yet distinctive, packaging. These are often sold as vegan versions of the popular chocolate bars - Bounty, Snickers and Mars Bar (the Milky Way Bar in the US).

Twilight: The Twilight bar is described as 'layers of chocolatey nougat and caramel in a chocolatey coating'. I've never been a fan of the regular Mars bar but the Twilight bar is a different story. The nougat is soft and delicious whilst the generously thick caramel layer is extremely satisfying. The outer chocolate is impressive for a vegan bar and adds enough cocoa flavour. The overall bar is very sweet but I really enjoyed it.

Jokerz: The Jokerz is described as 'caramel, peanuts and peanut nougat in a chocolatey coating'. I really loved the peanuty nougat in this one, the hint of saltiness from the peanuts really helps to balance out the sweetness of the nougat and chocolate. Maybe I'm greedy, but I would have liked a few more peanuts in the filling but overall it's a great vegan replacement for the classic Snickers bar.

Mahalo: Lastly is my favourite of the bunch! The Mahalo is described as 'coconut and almonds in a chocolatey coating'. This is billed as the vegan Bounty bar but in my opinion it's much superior. Even though I love coconut I don't like Bounty's at all, especially their horrible texture. The Mahalo bar in comparison has a gorgeously fudgey texture alongside the sweet coconut flavour. The combination of almonds too is a lovely addition. I'd take the Mahalo over a Bounty any day! 

Find the Go Max Go range from many online vegan stores. My brother bought them from www.veganstore.co.uk. They're quite pricey at £2.39 each (I assume because they're US imports) but they're also free from artificial ingredients of any kind or hydrogenated oils . Even my husband, who's not usually a fan of vegan chocolate, enjoyed all of these bars - they're definitely a treat but worth a try!

Grocery Gems Review: Go Max Go Chocolate Bars

RATING: 8 out of 10 (with 9 out of 10 for the Mahalo).
Buy them again?: Maybe next birthday - but YES.
Vegan: Yes
Purchased: www.veganstore.co.uk.
Price: £2.39p each.

Review: KIND Bars - Almond & Coconut and Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond

I was recently sent a selection of KIND bars to review. My favourites were the Almond & Coconut and Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond flavours - both very different but packed full of flavour and delicious ingredients.

KIND Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond: This bar is made with 58% whole almonds and is gluten and dairy free, with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.  The dark chocolate gives this bar a deliciously rich flavour without any bitterness, whilst the almonds are all super crunchy and full of flavour. The hint of coffee flavour that comes through adds to the deliciousness and is perfect for any coffee fan. 

KIND Almond & Coconut: The almond and coconut bar has a softer and chewier texture compared to the first dark chocolate bar. It's made up of 32% almonds and 27% coconut and is also gluten and dairy free with no added nasties. The crunchy almonds and soft coconut is such a wonderful combination and the flavours work together perfectly to create a deliciously sweet treat.

I'd never tried the range of KIND bars before but I will definitely be buying them in the future. The ingredients list is reassuringly simple but the flavours are all decadent and filling.

Grocery Gems Review: KIND Bars

RATING: Coconut & Almond: 9 out of 10, Dark Choc Mocha Almond: 10 out of 10.
Buy it again?: Yes.
Nutrition: Coconut & Almond: 194 calories, Dark Choc Mocha Almond: 199 calories. 
Purchased: Available at Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Amazon and Whole Foods. 
Price: £1.29p.

PR Samples.

Chocolate Review Megapost: Gnaw Peanut Butter, Deluxe Banana Milk Chocolates & More!

A massive thank you to the wonderful +BringBack Banjo who recently sent me a massive box full of delicious chocolates and treats. Running the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar takes a lot of time of effort but somehow BBBC manages to also keep her eye on spotting interesting new products. I always love her selections and this time was no different! 

Inside the parcel I found an awesome banana spread called I'm Bananas from The Wild Peanut, a Gnaw Peanut Butter chocolate, Snyder's Pretzel Pieces in Honey Mustard & Onion, a Twix Cappuccino, Chewits, Oh So Good Chocolate (no added sugar or dairy and with a boost of friendly bacteria), Tago Chocolate Muse (from Poland), Deluxe Banana Coated in Milk Chocolate, and Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coconut Chips.

Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coated Coconut Chips: Even though I love coconut, this isn't the sort of product I would usually go for. I think I would assume that the flavour would be a bit dry and boring, but I was happy to find that that's not the case!

Each dark chocolate coconut chip has a lovely crunchy texture that gives them an almost caramelised taste. The dark chocolate coating is really sweet but still has a strong chocolate flavour. Of course, the best part is the coconut flavour that comes through with each crunchy mouthful - it's sweet and just delicious. Even my kids couldn't get enough of this snack and they don't usually like coconut. I would definitely buy these in the future. Rating: 9 out of 10.

GNAW Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate: Gnaw is a range of handcrafted chocolates made in Norfolk. I love just how extensive the range is in terms of different flavours. As a fan of peanut butter I was excited to give this particular one a try. 

The Gnaw Peanut Butter is described as a milk chocolate with ground and chopped peanuts. There isn't any peanut butter as such in this bar, just little pieces of peanuts. The milk chocolate itself is very tasty, with a creamy flavour, but the little peanut pieces just provide a salty, peanut flavour rather than a 'peanut butter' one. It's still a tasty enough chocolate bar, especially for any peanut fans. Rating: 7 out of 10.

  

Lidl Deluxe Banana Coated in Milk Chocolate: I've often been tempted by the range of chocolate covered fruits in Lidl (such as the Deluxe Cherries Coated in Dark Chocolate) but I've never tried them before. I don't think I've ever seen this banana version or I would have snapped them up!

I'll be honest, I was quite shocked that these chunky chocolates were so dark inside - I was expecting a yellow coloured centre! Thankfully, the flavour is much tastier than I was expecting from appearances. The centre has a softly chewy texture and the whole thing has a deliciously sweet and ripe banana flavour. I really did enjoy these! They taste quite rich and satisfying, and the chocolate is very sweet, so I only eat one or two at a time, but I'll still be stocking up if I ever see these instore. Rating: 8 out of 10.

If you've tried any of the snacks in this post (or any of the products in the first photo) then I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Look out for the rest of the reviews from this parcel soon.

Another big THANK YOU to the wonderful @BringBack_Banjo 

Don't forget to take a look at the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Facebook Page and please sign the petition here. There seems to be a trend for bring back retro snacks and chocolates so let's make it happen for Banjo Chocolate Bar too!

Review: E. Wedel Polish Chocolate Bars: Karmel Love Wafers & Dark Chocolate with Coconut

The lovely @Banjo_Chocolate recently sent me these two chocolate bars from Polish brand E. Wedel - and as always she's managed to find some delicious treats! Take a look at some of my previous posts courtesy of the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate campaign, from this Chocolate Megapost to even more Polish treats. 

One chocolate bar that you can't find any more in the shops is of course the much missed Banjo Chocolate - if you remember this bar from the 1980's then be sure to take a look at the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Facebook Page and please sign the petition here. There seems to be a trend for bring back retro snacks and chocolates so let's make it happen for Banjo too!

When I first saw this I thought that I had already reviewed it before, but on closer inspection this Karmel Love with Wafers is different to the salted nuts version I tried previously here.

The Karmelowa Z Wafelkami has the same sweet and creamy caramel flavoured base, but also contains little pieces of wafer throughout, which add a lovely light crunch. This is such a delicious sweet treat, I found myself unable to stop from having just one more piece! I love the super sweet caramel flavour here - it's definitely one for fans of Caramac. RATING: 8 out of 10.

The E. Wedel Gorzka Kokosowa is a dark chocolate bar with a coconut filling. As a fan of anything coconut flavoured this is instantly appealing!

This is another wonderful chocolate bar. The inner filling has a lovely creamy flavour that is combined with dessicated coconut to give it a deliciously natural flavour. The dark chocolate coating here is just amazing; it has such a rich dark flavour that perfectly compliments the sweet and creamy centre within. I just loved everything about this one and I'd recommend it for any coconut fans. RATING: 10 out of 10.

Thank you again to @Banjo_Chocolate, for sending me these chocolate bars. Please don't forget to like the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar Facebook Page and sign the petition here! Thank you :)

Grocery Gems Review: E. Wedel Chocolate Bars

RATING: See end of each individual reviews above.
Buy them again?: Yes - both!
Purchased: Check out your local Polish grocery shops or Tesco Polish section.

Review: Mallow And Marsh Coconut Marshallow

Last year I reviewed the Mallow And Marsh Raspberry Marshmallow, that I received in a Degustabox, and really enjoyed. I've been looking out for the coconut version for some time now and Mr. Grocery Gems finally found it in a Whole Foods store. 

The texture is just as soft and squidgy as I was hoping with a deliciously sweet and strong coconut flavour. It's a really good combination but funnily enough I preferred the Raspberry Marshmallow overall. That one just had a sensational fruity flavour that I couldn't get enough of. Given the choice I would definitely go for the Raspberry flavour again, but I would still recommend the Mallow And Marsh Coconut Marshmallow to any coconut fans.

Grocery Gems Review: Mallow And Marsh Coconut Marshmallow

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Raspberry all the way.
Nutrition (per 25g serving): 83 calories.

Purchased: Whole Foods (also available at Sainsbury's).
Price: £2.00p.

Review: Bounty Coconut Spread

A very quick review of the new Bounty Spread. Thank you to @eveningtreats who let me know about this one a few weeks ago. My initial thought was that it looked very similar to the extremely popular, and often hard to find, Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread. The new Bounty Spread is part of a range of chocolate bar spreads by Mars that already includes a Maltesers Teasers Spread and a new Milky Way Spread.

My first tasting confirms that it's a very similar flavour with the same type of Milk Spread base and added bits of coconut flakes. As I described in my original Lidl spread review it tastes a bit like the super sweet and creamy filling from a Kinder Bueno combined with a fairly natural tasting coconut flavour (which is only found in the added coconut flakes rather than in the milk base itself). 

Whilst this was fine for the Lidl spread, I don't think it fits the 'Bounty' theme at all. I'm not actually a fan of the Bounty chocolate bar - I find the coconut flavour in those far too artificial and cloying. However I'm sure that a stronger coconut flavour of that type would be expected in this spread. Also - where's the chocolate? Wouldn't a milk chocolate based spread (rather than this plain milk one) be a better fit with the Bounty branding? 

It's interesting to note that the ingredients also look the same compared to those that I listed in my Lidl spread review of sugar, vegetable oil, skimmed milk powder powder and some cocoa butter, although the Bounty Spread lists rapeseed oil rather than vegetable oil (which I believe is still be the same thing). 

Grocery Gems Review:

RATING: 7 out of 10 (it's just not Bounty enough!).
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition:  117 calories per 20g.

Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £2.00p.

Review: Müller Light Coconut Sprinkled with Dark Chocolate Yogurt - Limited Edition

Thank you to Amber who emailed me about this new limited edition Müller Light Coconut Sprinkled with Dark Chocolate. Müller are constantly bringing out new limited editions, and it appears the popular Müller Light Cappuccino has been replaced replaced with this latest coconut flavour (which I believe was previously released as a limited edition a few years ago). 

The Müller Light Coconut Sprinkled with Dark Chocolate has a slightly runny texture and light creamy taste. The coconut flavour here is very strong, possibly the strongest in a yogurt I've tried so far. It has that artificial, and very sweet, type of coconut flavour rather than a fresh, natural coconut flavour. To be honest I'm a fan of both types of coconut and I didn't mind the sweet and strong taste here. The chocolate flecks are very small but somehow they still manage to give subtle bursts of chocolate flavour. Overall, it's an enjoyable pairing, but not an especially exciting one.

Grocery Gems Review: Müller Light Coconut & Dark Choc Yogurt

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition (per 100g):  54 calories.

Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £0.68p.

Review: Müller Corner Hawaiian Dream - Coconut Crunch & Mango Crunch

I recently bought a multipack of the new Hawaiian Dream Corner yogurts to review. I was looking forward to trying these as they have two of my favourite yogurt flavours; coconut and mango. Each multipack comes with 3x Coconut Crunch yogurts and 3x Mango Crunch yogurts.

Müller Corner Coconut Crunch: This is a coconut flavoured yogurt with a side portion of chocolate coated cornflakes. The coconut yogurt has a smooth texture and a very strong coconut flavour that is a little artificial tasting. I did enjoy the combination with the chocolate cornflakes and the whole thing is a nice coconut treat.

Müller Corner Mango Crunch: This was actually my favourite of the two flavours. The mango yogurt has a lovely fruity flavour and creamy texture. The white chocolate coated cornflakes are very sweet and create a very tasty combination with the mango yogurt. My eldest son really liked this one too.

Grocery Gems Review: Müller Corner Hawaiian Dream Yogurts

RATING: Coconut Crunch: 7 out of 10, Mango Crunch: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition:  145 calories.

Vegetarian: Yes.
Purchased: Asda.
Price: £1.94p for a pack  of 6 (special offer).

Review: Müller Light Piña Colada - Inspired by Barbados

A quick review of the Limited Edition Müller Light Piña Colada flavoured yogurt which I featured a few weeks ago in a New Instore post. 

Last year, Müller released the Inspired by Bali Coconut & Lime yogurt, and it seems that this year they are sticking to the tropical theme with another exotic island inspired coconut yogurt. The Müller Light Piña Colada is described as a pineapple and coconut, with a hint of rum, flavoured yogurt. 

The texture here was surprisingly creamy, with quite a thick consistency compared to other Müller Light pots I've tried in the past. The flavour is initially dominated by the sweet pineapple and coconut combination, which is nothing all that new or exciting. However, there is a strong background rum flavour which builds in intensity and gives this yogurt a different edge. I'm not usually keen on any alcoholic flavoured yogurts, but something about this combination of flavours really works for me.

I know that the Müller Light range is popular for those following the Slimming World diet but I'm not sure how many Syns the Müller Piña Colada has - if anyone knows then please leave a comment below. Thank you!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Müller Light Piña Colada

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 99 calories.
Purchased: Sainsbury's. 
Price: £0.70p each. 

Chocomosa - Chocolate Samosas with Peanut Butter

Happy Diwali to anyone celebrating today! Last month, on a visit to Westfield Stratford, I was lucky enough to come across a stall selling these unique chocolate samosas - Chocomosa. They are sold in really cool triangular shaped boxes and can be found in the frozen section of some Morrisons supermarkets and at various food events across the country too. There are three varieties available at the moment; the original Chocolate Samosas, Chocolate Samosas with Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Samosas with Coconut. 

Photo: London Insider

Each pack comes with 10 chocolate samosas - they are quite small in size. As these are frozen, for best results they need to be deep fried straight from the freezer. They can also be made in the oven by sprinkling them with a little oil and baked until golden but I've only tried them fried. Of course they taste indulgently delicious - the idea of making a chocolate samosa is so simple but complete genius at the same time. Imagine the filo pasty filled with peanutty chocolate or coconut chocolate, all gooey and hot, but crispy too.

UPDATED: I decided to give them a go in the oven!

I placed the samosas on greaseproof paper and brushed a little oil onto each one. They took about 10 minutes in the oven before they started to look golden brown.

I was impressed that they all help together fine, with no chocolate leaking out onto the tray. The outer pastry is slightly harder than if it had been fried, but it's also less greasy too which I prefer.

Inside the fillings were very hot but still retained a fairly firm texture. The Chocolate & Coconut samosas (cut in half on the left) has a darker filling with a rich chocolate flavour and a lovely coconut sweetness. The Peanut Butter samosas (cut in half on the right) has a chunkier and quite crunchy filling, with peanut pieces, peanut butter and chocolate. 

For more information about Chocomosa check out this article HERE.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Chocomosa - Chocolate Samosas

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Great idea - can't wait to see what other flavours they do.
Purchased: Available at Morrisons.
Price: £2.99.

Note: apologies for the lack of photos - I'll be updating with more soon!

New Bounty Cookies (Tesco)

I was super excited when I first saw a photo of these Bounty cookies on Facebook - via Laura from A Daisy Chain Dream blog. I think my reaction was of the OMG!!! variety. Thankfully they seem to be easy to find and my local Tesco always has them in stock in the bakery aisle, along with the other new Mars branded cookies; Galaxy and Milky Way. 

There are four large cookies in each pack, with a hefty 215 calories each. They have a lovely golden appearance with a generous amount of milk chocolate pieces and flecks of dessicated coconut.

The cookies themselves have a good consistency, with a firm outer but soft and chewy centre. The dessicated coconut adds a further softness and chewiness to the texture, giving these a very moreish quality. Fellow coconut fans will be happy to know that there is plenty of coconut flavour within each biscuit. There's no mistaking the coconutty taste in every bite here. The milk chocolate chips have a lovely flavour too, and add plenty of extra sweetness to the mix. The combination of the plentiful dessicated coconut and the rich milk chocolate really does successfully recreate the flavours of a Bounty bar but in a cookie format. 

If you're a Bounty fan then you really need to try these!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Bounty Cookies

RATING: 8 out of 10.

Buy them again?: Yes.

Nutrition: 215 calories each.
Vegetarians: Suitable for vegetarians.

Purchased: Tesco.

Price: £1.30p for 4 pack.

German Candy & Snack Review Round Up!

Following on from my awesome Grocery Snack Exchange with Steffi last month, here's the last of my reviews of the German snacks I received. Most of these are World Cup themed. At the time I was surprised at how extensive the range of World Cup themed snacks available in Germany was, especially compared to the UK. I guess it shows just how much I know about football! 

Milka Champiolada Coconut: First up it's the epic Milka Champiolada chocolate bar. Apparently Milka always release the Champiolada for big football tournaments. It's a mammoth 300g bar with fun football shapes on each segment. And luckily for me, this year's limited edition Champiodada bar is coconut flavoured!

I don't think I've ever tried a coconut Milka chocolate and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I'm not sure if this is just because it's filled with dessicated coconut, but as you can see in my photo above the chocolate has a slightly aerated texture. This meant it was essentially like eating a coconut flavoured Wispa bar (if only Cadbury would make that!). The combination was absolutely heavenly! I loved everything about this Champiolada, from the sweet coconut flavour to the lighter texture of the chocolate. 10 out of 10.

Ferrero Duplo Coconut: These are small chocolate batons with a wafer and coconut cream filling. I'd previously reviewed the Ferrero Duplo Hazelnut and enjoyed them so I had high hopes for this limited edition coconut version.

Each 18g bar has a crunchy layer of wafer topped by a thin layer of creamy coconut filling. The flavour profile is similar to many Ferrero products, with that sweet alpine milk chocolate and light wafer combination. It's perfectly suited to the subtle coconut flavour here, creating a very tasty little treat. I find these quite irresistible and usually can't stop at just one! 9 out of 10.

Yogurette Brazilian Summer: These are very similar in size and appearance to the above Ferrero Duplo. Steffi mentioned that in Germany these are marketed as a "healthier" treat, and even though they have fewer calories compared to the Ferrero Duplo (73 calories versus 108 calories), it's probably only because they are even smaller at 12.5g. 

The flavour here is definitely unique, it's a combination of white chocolate outer, filled with a lime flavoured yogurt centre. The filling is quite tangy and tart with a lovely lime flavour, but it works well with the sweeter white chocolate coating, and it's certainly a flavour I enjoyed. Other members of my family were not so keen on the tartness of the centre, so the enjoyment of this one really depends on whether you like yogurt fillings in chocolates. 8 out of 10. 

Fritt WM-Pack: The 'WM' stands for Welmeiesterschaft which means World Cup in German. This special WM-Pack is made up of three packs of chewy Fritt sweets, with a new Blackcurrant flavour included.

Each pack has five individually sealed sweetie strips. There are three flavours, Cherry, Lemon and Blackcurrant. I was pleased to find that these sweets have a softly chewy texture that is akin to a flattened out Chewit sweet, rather than being like a horribly hard Wham bar. Each Fritt flavour is delightfully fruity and sweet with a pleasantly natural aroma. A real hit with all my testers! 8 out of 10.

Thanks again to Steffi who sent me all these fantastic treats and good luck to Deutschland in the World Cup final match tonight! :)