New Cawston Press Sparkling Drinks - Ginger Beer and Elderflower Lemonade

Cawston Press have released two new drinks into their lightly sparkling drinks range, a fiery root Ginger Beer and an Elderflower Lemonade. Each canned drink is made from a blend of pressed fruit juices mixed with sparkling water and without any colourings, preservatives or artificial sweeteners. The ingredients list is reassuringly short! I previously reviewed the Cawston Press Cloudy Apple and Rhubarb Sparkling Drinks and was thoroughly impressed with their "grown up" take on canned drinks. 

Cawston Press Elderflower Lemonade: This drink contains Sparkling Water, Pressed Apple Juice (15%), Sicilian Lemon Juice (6%), Sugar, Elderflower Infusion, Vitamin C and nothing else! I love elderflower flavoured drinks and this Elderflower Lemonade gives it a unique twist with it's sweet apple and zesty lemon background. It's a lovely light and crisp flavour that is extremely refreshing.

Cawston Press Ginger Beer: The Ginger Beer contains Sparkling Water, Pressed Apple Juice (13%), Sugar, Ginger Extracts and Vitamin C. The ginger flavour here has a gorgeously strong kick but is perfectly balanced by the sweet apple juice. The combination is just delightful and creates another wonderfully refreshing drink.

Overall, I really enjoyed both of the new flavours in the Cawston Press sparkling drinks range but especially the lovely Elderflower Lemonade. 

Grocery Gems Review: Cawston Press Sparkling Drinks

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available at Ocado.
Nutrition (per 100ml): Ginger Beer - 33 calories, Elderflower Lemonade - 30 calories.

Products sent for an honest review. 

Review: Warburtons Thin bagels

Thank you to Warburtons who recently sent me a hamper full of their new Bagel Thins to try. These bagels are ideal for this time of year, as they have all the taste of a regular bagel, but are slightly smaller and thinner, with less calories too. 

There are three varieties available; Plain Bagels, Sesame Bagels and Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels. The Plain variety has only 120 calories per bagel, whilst the Sesame and Cinnamon & Raisin bagels have 130 calories each. 

Warburtons Thin Bagels - Plain: Even though the Warburtons Bagel Thins are hinner than regular bagels they are still a good size and are big enough to make a decent sized bagel sandwich. The Plain variety has a lovely soft texture which is great for toasting. I also found that because these are thinner, it makes them less chewy then regular bagels so they can also be easily enjoyed without toasting - which is great for packed lunches!

Warburtons Thin Bagels - Cinnamon & Raisin: These are just delicious and I have to admit I enjoy them most when just lightly toasted and spread with a little butter. Each bagel has a lovely sweetness from the juicy raisins with a wonderful cinnamon spice flavour. My eldest son is a big fan of hot cross buns and he really enjoyed the similar warming flavour in these delicious bagels too.

Warburtons Thin Bagels - Sesame: I don't often buy Sesame bagels but I actually really enjoyed these as an alternative to my usual bread for sandwiches. They're also delicious with cream cheese! 

Overall I really enjoyed the Warburtons Thin Bagels range. I actually prefer this slightly smaller size, as I found them satisfying enough for a filling breakfast or lunch, without being too doughy or heavy. 

Warburtons Thin Bagels are available at Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's - they're currently on offer for £1.00p a pack in Tesco. 

New Instore: Asda Biscuit Spread, Gourmet Coffee Drops & More (UPDATED!)

Asda Crunchy Biscuit Spread: This appears to be a biscuit spread made of digestive biscuits (going by the picture on the front and the ingredients list). It looks quite interesting but I don't see how a digestives spread can compete with the speculoos biscuit spread. Let me know if you've tried it! 

Star Wars Wookie Cookie Kit: There is a range of new Star Wars themed baking kits, made by Fiddes Payne, in Asda including this Star Wars Cookie Kit which comes complete with a Wookie cookie cutter. £1.98p at Asda.

Pictured above there is also a Star Wars Cupcake Kit and a Stormtrooper Cookie Kit (on the right of the photo). £1.48 and £1.98p each at Asda. 

Star Wars Stormtrooper Pops Kit: There is also a bizarre looking Stormtrooper Cake Pops Kit which presumably will never turn out looking like the ones on the box... ever. £1.98p at Asda.

Tresseire Gourmet Coffee Drops: These are sugar free Vanilla or Caramel drops for coffee. They look a bit like those Robinson's Squash'd flavourings for water as they have a similar little squeezy bottle. Thanks so much to Sarah T. for the photo - I'll definitely be giving these a try. I can imagine carrying these around with me to flavour coffee on the go - yes I am a complete coffee addict! £2.00p at Asda (introductory offer). 

A big thank you to Lucy. W. for the next photos:

Müller de Luxe Corner Triple Chocolate: Müller are continuing to release new flavours in their de Luxe range of Müller Corner yogurts. This Triple Chocolate variety sounds very indulgent with a white chocolate yogurt, a hidden dark chocolate layer and milk chocolate "candied fancies" on the side. £1.00p in Asda.

Emmi Caffe Latte Espresso Zero: This is a ready made iced coffee that is both sugar and lactose free which makes it unique for this type of product. I'll definitely be giving this a try too. £1.35p at Tesco.

Hotel Chocolat Carrot Cake: I was also sent this photo of the new Carrot Cake Selector chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. Lucy tells me there are several other new flavours in the selector range. The Carrot Cake chocolates actually contain real carrots and are made with carrot purée within a walnut praline, with cinnamon and nutmeg spices, encased in a milk chocolate shell and topped with vanilla bean white chocolate. I haven't been to Hotel Chocolat in absolutely ages (years even) but these are enough to tempt me back! £3.75 at Hotel Chocolat.

Krispy Kreme Cheesecake Doughnuts: Thanks also to Lucy W. for this photo of the new cheesecake themed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. There are two limited edition varieties; Salted Caramel and Lemon Cheesecake.

Rubik's Chocolate Bar: My eldest son is a bit of a Rubik's cube fan - it's seriously impressive how quickly he can solve them. I couldn't resist buying him this Rubik's Chocolate Bar which also appeals to my inner geek. £0.99p at B&M Stores.

Kingsmill Burger Thins: I picked up a pack of these new soft white Burger Thins. These have 112 calories per thin which I think is quite good. £1.00p at Tesco.

Mars & Snickers High Protein 22g Milkshake: Mr. Grocery Gems is a keen runner and he's been enjoying these new high protein chocolates shakes as his post-run drink. Apparently there is also a new lactose free Mars Bar Milkshake too. £2.00p each at Tesco. 

Thank you to Sarah T. and Lucy W. for their photos. As always if you spot any new products I'd love to hear from you - grocerygems@gmail.com or @grocerygems. 

Review: Limited Edition Tic Tac Minions - Banana Flavour

I feel like I've reviewed more than my fair share of Minions tie-ins on Grocery Gems - from CapriSun Banana &Apple juice to Haribos Minions sweets. However, I think latest limited edition from Tic Tac might be the cleverest yet. Tic Tac drops (or is it pills?) are just the perfect Minions shape, especially in yellow. The only thing missing from this release in the UK are Minions faces printed on each Tic Tac (which has actually happened for this product in other countries).

There are several different boxes to collect which feature their own Minions character - mine were Bob and Kevin. The banana flavour here is initially quite authentic and mellow but builds to a stronger candy banana taste. Unlike otherTic Tac varieties, this doesn't leave your mouth refreshed in any way, it's much more of a banana-flavour-hit than a cleansing one. You might need a regular minty Tic Tac after a few of these to get rid of banana breath! As a banana fan I really enjoyed the strong flavour here and I'll probably stock up on a few boxes before they disappear. 

Interestingly in the US a similar Limited Edition Minions Tic Tac that are not banana flavoured (see this review on The Impulsive Buy). The decoration on each Tic Tac is genius but the fact that they're not banana flavoured is just weird! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Limited Edition Tic Tac Minions - Banana Flavour

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes .
Purchased: WHSmith.
Price: £1.49p.

Review: Alpen Light Banoffee Bars

I've been on the look out for the new Alpen Light Banoffee for a few weeks now - is it just me or are these really hard to find? There is also another fairly new flavour Alpen Light Jaffa Cake which I still haven't been able to track down.

I usually keep a couple of packs of Alpen Light Cherry Bakewell and Lemon Drizzle bars in the house just because they are quite low in calories for such a sweet treat. Unfortunately, the Banoffee flavour was ultimately a disappointing one as the dominate flavour is of the sugary sweet toffee rather than banana or even "banoffee". I'm not actually a fan of toffee as a flavour on it's own so I mostly found these bars overly sweet and cloying. The banana flavour comes through weakly in the form of little banana chips, of which there wasn't enough. I would have preferred a lot less of the toffee pieces and more of the banana chips. Having said that, they are still a pleasant enough sweet treat as long as I have a strong coffee to hand!

Grocery Gems Review: Alpen Light Banoffee

RATING: 6 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Probably not.
Nutrition (per 19g bar):  66 calories.

Price: £1.99 box of 5 bars.