Posts tagged hot chocolate
Review: Weight Watchers Instant Hot Chocolate
13 months ago
I love hot chocolate. But I am totally fussy. It has to be proper hot chocolate, made with hot milk.
Weight Watchers sent me some of their instant hot chocolate to see what I thought. Instant hot chocolate like this is a great way to warm up and get a sweet chocolate fix without many calories – about 40 in each mug full. Made with boiling water it’s easy to grab quickly when only chocolate will do.
I was given three flavours to try. The usual hot chocolate, a caramel one and a mint one. The sachets are really easy to take to work, and are made using water from the kettle.
Unfortunately Weight Watchers have been unable to change my mind. Instant hot chocolate still tastes horrid to me. It certainly smells of chocolate, but it doesn’t taste like it. It’s watery. It’s disappointing. I should add it’s not just Weight Watchers… they have only failed where all other instant brands have failed before. Sorry.
Hot chocolate will remain a high calorie treat made with hot milk for me. I would rather drink it much less often than have an inferior instant product.
Disclaimer: I was sent these hot chocolate sachets to try out and review here on Splodz Blogz. I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the product for free.
Rocket Fuel Self-Heating Coffee
11 year ago
This was an interesting cup of coffee I was sent to review. Not only is it supposed to wake you up and give you energy, it’s also “self-heating”.
Rocket Fuel is the sort of thing you might drink the morning after the night before AND you’re running really late/don’t have a kettle to hand.
I love the technology at work here. I mean, the can heats itself! To activate it you take the pull-ring lid off the bottom and press down on the plastic-like base – you have to push hard, until it kind of caves in.
Then you shake it from side to side (four times according to the instructions), put the can up the right way, and wait three minutes.
After a few seconds I could hear fizzing and there was a little leakage on the desk – not much. I could feel the can getting warm. After my three minutes was up I opened the can (another pull-ring).
I poured the coffee into a mug to drink it (so I could look at it!) and was surprised how little there was compared to the size of the can. That’s a normal sized mug on the right above. I shouldn’t have been surprised – it clearly says 200ml on the side of the can, but I guess I just assumed most of the can would be coffee. It was really dark in colour, white coffee yes, but not much milk.
And wow it was strong! I mean, I knew this was going to be strong as my normal choice is a nice milky latte, but even with added milk I found this far too strong for me (I didn’t manage to finish the 200ml!).
The technology had worked though, it was a hot cup of coffee. And there was definitely a massive caffiene hit – the coffee has added Guarana (is that the stuff in Boost chocolate bars?) for an added energy boost. You’ll be buzzing!!
Rocket Fuel is available in Sainsbury’s priced at £2.49 each. Not something I’ll be buying but if you like strong coffee and are in need of a boost on the road, then give this a try – and let me know what you think! There is also a Hot Chocolate version which might be worth a try.
Year in Photos (31 Mar 11)
02 years ago
by Splodz
in Year in Photos
Where is the year going?! A quarter of it done… is it summer time yet?!
I finished today by having my first taste of white hot chocolate, courtesy of this from Whittards. And it was really (really) yummy. It’s got a slightly malty flavour. A very good way to relax at the end of a long tiring month.
Thursday 31st March 2011
31/03/11: Luxury in a mug
Hot Vimto
32 years ago
The good people at Vimto would like to suggest that hot chocolate should move along and out of the way… and that we should replace it with a mug of hot Vimto this winter.
Vimto have seen that all things North are the talk of the town at the moment – Agyness Dean and Henry Holland setting the fashion agenda, the BBC putting Manchester in the spotlight, and more. Hot Vimto is apparently becoming the stylish drink this winter for those in the know. Celebrities like Steve Coogan and Peter Kay have been spotted sporting the “it’s hot up North” tshirts that go alongside the new Vimto campaign.
And to prove to me it’s a tasty alternative to hot chocolate, Vimto sent me a hamper of drinks. They gave me just one instruction – make sure I try the Vimto cordial hot. And to be honest I wasn’t really looking forward to it… only because I can’t drink fruit teas because they’re all scent and no taste, and I struggle with lemsip unless it’s made incredibly strong.
But of course I did as I was asked and tried it. More about that in a bit.
First, though, I tried the fizzy stuff. I love coke and lemonade and pretty much anything fizzy. There are now three varieties of Vimto fizzy – original, diet and cherry. Ooo cherryaid yummy!
I don’t normally drink “full fat” fizzy drinks but I did enjoy the original Vimto and the cherry one… in fact the cherry one went down very well, a really nice flavour.
I will most certainly be buying that as a treat in the future!
The no added sugar Vimto, which let’s face it is much better for my calorie intake, was also very good. A lot of flavour, it doesn’t lose out because it’s not quite as sweet.
But Vimto isn’t just fizzy of course. I was recently introduced to Vimto cordial when staying with my brother-in-law before Christmas, and I enjoy it very much. You need a lot of the cordial when you mix it with water because the flavours work best when they’re strong. Still Vimto comes in bottles of cordial or pre-mixed cartons which are perfect for lunch boxes.
So on to the point of the exercise – the hot Vimto. Knowing I like it strong when it’s cold I decided to use the same ratio with the hot version. I boiled the kettle but didn’t make the drink until the water had come off the boil. And then I tasted…
And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, despite being in the house alone, after swallowing my first sip I said outloud: “Oh actually that’s really nice”! And I went back for a second sip, more confidently this time, and a third, until the whole mug was empty. If you knew the face I pulled when I tried fruit tea you would understand what an achievement that is! The flavour was very good – good and strong and sweet.
Now I’m not sure if this would replace the need for a nice luxury proper hot chocolate made with milk on a very cold evening when all I want is a hug inside. But I could see myself choosing a mug of hot Vimto over an Options or similar hot chocolate when the mood takes me. I’m certainly not ruling out more hot Vimto in the near future.
If you’ve never tried hot Vimto you should at least give it a go. I’m told that Rosie’s Delhi in Brixton Market and Cafe 1001 in the heart of the East End, both boutique tea and coffee shops, have started to sell hot Vimto as an alternative – so maybe it is becoming THE drink of the season.
Oh and the lollypops are a very nice treat too!
