Glico Coconut Pocky (Japan)

COCONUT POCKY! One of my snack dreams just came true! I was thrilled when I heard that Glico were releasing these awesome Coconut Pocky as part of their summer Pocky range, and I'm extremely grateful to Oyatsu Cafe for sending them to me for review. There is also a Mango & Pineapple Pocky variety available, which look just as appealing.

I always love the packaging from Glico Pocky and this Coconut version is no different. The outer packaging is bright and colourful, whilst the see-through inner packs are aptly decorated with coconuts and tropical flowers.

Even though I'm a fan of coconut, it doesn't mean I will automatically like any product which has coconut added. I haven't been let down by a Pocky product yet, and I'm pleased to say that these Coconut Pocky continued the high standard I have come to expect. The sticks themselves are the usual plain biscuit, providing the perfect base for the coconut embedded layer of milk chocolate. The coconut scent is immediately evident and enticing. Each coconut piece has a sweetened flavour and slightly crispy texture, and tastes superb with the milk chocolate and crunchy pretzel stick.

I loved everything about these Coconut Pocky. They're especially fantastic to eat in all this heat (apologies to anyone reading this outside the UK - we're currently in the midst of a heatwave here). Chocolate has been a complete no-go recently, turning to liquid within a few minutes, and proving that most of our air conditioning is either completely awful or non-existent. Luckily Pocky sticks are very light to eat and have a handy chocolate-free gripping section - so you're guaranteed no melting accidents!

This product was very kindly sent to me by Oyatsu Cafe for review but all views are my own.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Coconut Pocky

RATING: 10 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Price:  $2.99 (approx. £1.96)

Limited Edition Crusha Apple & Blackcurrant

I've been waiting to see what the latest Limited Edition offering from Crusha would be. I loved the Vanilla Ice Cream from a few years back and also the Cherry & Vanilla from last year. Although this is purely due to the fact that I use Crusha in a rather unusual way and not for making milkshakes! See my post HERE for more details but basically Crusha works brilliantly to create flavoured colas and fizzy drinks. It's not as weird as it sounds, since Crusha is essentially a flavoured syrup and doesn't have any milk ingredients itself, it can work well add extra flavour to soft drinks. However, I only ever use it with diet drinks and I certainly wouldn't recommend adding more syrup to the full fat versions!

The latest Crusha variety this year is the Limited Edition Apple & Blackcurrant. It's surprising to note that there are no artificial flavourings in this drink because the flavour is very similar to that found in apple and blackcurrant sweets rather than any real fruit. The sugary flavour is dominated by the blackcurrant, with only a hint of the apple. I personally can't imagine this tasting good with milk, but since I never drink the stuff I can't really be the judge of that!

The Apple & Blackcurrant was enjoyable as a mixer for fizzy drinks, adding a little bit of extra sweetness and fruity flavour, but I doubt I would buy it again. Even though I only buy Crusha on rare occasions anyway, I'm still hoping the next one will again be vanilla based.

Smooze Coconut & Pineapple Fruit Ice

I bought this box of 10 Coconut & Pineapple Smooze Fruit Ices at the recent Allergy show, held at the Olympia in London. I also received samples of their other flavours to try; Simply Coconut, Coconut & Pink Guava, and Coconut & Mango. They're described as a coconut milk based gluten and dairy free iced treat with no artificial colours, preservatives or cholesterol.

The Smooze come in pretty nifty triangular packaging that's easy to hold without any mess. The fruit ice iteself is made of pure coconut milk and simple 100% natural ingredients.

All the Smooze flavours are deliciously creamy - it's hard to believe they are completely dairy free. My kids loved all the flavours, but the Coconut & Pineapple and the Coconut & Mango were their favourites. The coconut milk provides a perfect base for the fresh and sweet fruity flavours. At only 64 calories in each Smooze, they're also a fantastic alternative to ice cream and have been going down a treat during this heatwave!

I bought these at the Allergy Show, but they are also available at some health food shops. (They can be stored at room temperature until they need to be frozen).

Grocery Gems Verdict: Smooze Fruit Ice

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 64 calories each. 
Vegetarian: Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Purchased: Allergy Show, but check local health food shops.
Price: £3.99 for box of 10.

New Cadbury Crispello Vanilla Velvet

The Cadbury Crispello Double Choc was released to some fanfare last year (review here), as the first new counter chocolate from Cadbury for 15 years. Even though I enjoyed the Crispello, I have never purchased it again since that initial review. I was pleased to see this new Vanilla Velvet Crispello and decided to give the Crispello bar another try. I've already reviewed an almost identical version of this, the Milka Crispello Vanilla Cream (review here), which was quite disappointing, so I was curious to see how the Cadbury one would compare.

The Cadbury Crispello Vanilla Velvet comes in the same format as the previous Crispello bars. There are three individual milk chocolate covered pieces, each with 55 calories.

The inner filling consists of a vanilla cream surrounded by crispy wafer and covered in milk chocolate. Each chocolate is a decent size, with the deliciously familiar Cadbury chocolate scent. The wafer is light and crunchy and provides a lovely background to the vanilla centre. I was pleased to find that there was no horrible artificial vanilla flavour, as I found with the Milka Crispello. Instead, the vanilla centre has more of a creamy flavour with a subtle vanilla taste. The overall effect is not dissimilar to a Kinder Bueno, but without any of the nutty flavour of that bar.

Without a doubt this Vanilla Velvet is my favourite of the Crispello bars I have tried thus far. It might be a bit foolhardy of Cadbury to release a new chocolate in the middle of a heatwave, but I think this Crispello Vanilla Velvet will do extremely well regardless!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cadbury Crispello Vanilla Velvet

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition (each piece): 55 cals, 3.5g fat, 4g sugars.
Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £0.60p.

Cookies & Cream Kit Kat (Japan)

I've always been a fan of anything cookies and cream themed so I was delighted to be asked to review these Cookies & Cream Kit Kats by Oyatsu Cafe. This is the latest Limited Edition flavour Kit Kat to be released in Japan this year, hot on the heels of the Passionfruit Kit Kat and the Match Green Tea Kit Kat, which I've previously reviewed.

The Cookies & Cream Kit Kat, come in multipack bags containing 13 mini Kit Kats. Looking closely at the packaging, with it's ice crystals decorations and overall wintery appearance, I realised that this is not just an ordinary cookies and cream theme - this an ice cream version!

Just like the previous mini Japanese Kit Kat I've reviewed, these are gorgeously packaged and I love the space to write your name on the back of each one.

As soon as I opened the wrapper I loved way the appearance of the chocolate - it's mottled creamy colour with dark biscuit bits is just what I would expect from a cookies & cream flavour.

This is by far my favourite of all the Japanese Kit Kats I've tried. The outer chocolate is creamy with an intense vanilla flavour that is perfect for the ice cream theme. The cookies add a lovely biscuity flavour and a slight texture to the chocolate too. The inner wafer is slightly different to the usual Kit Kat, with extra vanilla flavour within all the layers, adding even more sweetness. The whole thing is absolutely delicious and tastes like the Haagen Daz ice cream flavour Cookies & Cream in chocolate form! 

I just want to mention the Cookies & Cream Kit Kat already available in the UK. I've had a review sitting in my draft folder for a long while now, but it's never as much fun to write reviews for products that have been disappointing, and the UK version was very much a let down. Here's a quick comparision between the UK and Japanese Cookies & Cream Kit Kat's. 

Immediately the outer packaging is completely boring and lack any of the charm of the Japanese version. It's also got that garish 5 + 3 FREE logo that is typical for UK multipack. It's also a bit misleading since these multipacks never come in packs of 5 anyway, it's always 7 or 8 in a pack.

Above: UK Kit Kat     Below: Japanese Kit Kat

As you can see the Japanese Kit Kat's are mini versions so obviously they are quite a bit smaller. However, what they lack in size they make up for in flavour. The UK version is simply a cookie flavoured white chocolate on top, with a milk chocolate layer underneath. The flavour is fairly standard - very sweet, and nothing special about it at all to justitfy it as a Cookies & Cream flavour. It certainly can't compete with the superb flavour of the Japanese Cookies & Cream Kit Kat.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cookies & Cream Kit Kat

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available from Oyatsu Cafe
Price:  $6.49 (approx. £4.33)