Posts tagged mint
Review: Aero Bubbles (Bzz Review)
0I am a Bzz Agent and this is a Bzz Review…
Oh dear. Chocolate again? Mmmmm chocolate! Chocolate is good!! This time I am reviewing Aero Bubbles, which have returned to our stores. I didn’t realise they had left, to be honest, and last time they were out I didn’t try them, so these were new to me.

These are little bite-sized spheres of mint aero bubbles half coated in chocolate. And without wanting to waste any time rambling on, they are divine. I am a fan of mint Aero anyway so the flavour was always going to make me happy; I love bubbly chocolate because the air seems to make it taste better (obviously a very scientific observation), but these little balls of minty chocolate are even better than the bar version, without a doubt.


They are totally addictive and since I received my Bzz kit I have been out and bought several more bags for LincsGeek and I to share. The bubbly texture means each ball of chocolate is light, and the peppermint flavour is refreshing and, well, just about perfect I’d say.
One lovely warm Friday a few weeks ago when I was home from work I discovered the best use for these spheres of minty loveliness… milkshake!

I stuck one small packet of the bubbles into my liquidiser and added a couple of scoops of proper Cornish ice cream and a dash of milk, and whizzed it all up til smooth enough to drink through a straw. It totally worked – one of the best home made milkshakes I’ve ever made.

I’m rather hoping for other tried-and-tested options for making at-home milkshakes (bearing in mine my liquidiser is a very cheap model and won’t chop up sweets in the same way as those really powerful things they use in milkshake shops)… go on then…
Review: Weight Watchers Instant Hot Chocolate
1I 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.
Review: My Kit Kat Chunky Champion 2013
1Remember Kit Kat Chunky Champion? Well they’re doing it again… four new flavours of Kit Kat Chunky have hit our stores and we have to decide which one becomes the permanent member of the Kit Kat family.

Because I am a lucky blogger I received this gift bag in the post the other day with one each of the four contenders… here we have Choc Fudge, Coconut, Mint and Hazelnut.

My first impression was that the coconut one was going to end up as my favourite. I like coconut, and I love it when it’s combined with chocolate. But the others sound good too don’t they? So naturally LincsGeek and I took each in turn to see what we thought in reality…
4) Hazelnut. Quite a subtle flavour, it does have a ring of Nutella about it which isn’t very surprising. My least favourite of this year’s four, but I wouldn’t say no if I was offered one.
3) Choc Fudge. Not bad. Doesn’t taste massively different to a normal Kit Kat Chunky but it is very smooth. You can see the layer of fudge but it doesn’t make that much difference – just makes it softer in the mouth. It is nice but nothing special.
2) Mint. Who can resist mint chocolate? But for me it just wasn’t strong enough. I guess I was expecting/hoping for a layer of mint cream in there, like you used to get in a Club (if you liiiiike a lot of chocolate…). It was nice, but could have been better.
1) Coconut. I thought this would be my favourite and I wasn’t disappointed. Like all the others it is very subtle, but the coconut and chocolate with biscuit is an excellent combination. I think you can get away with subtle with coconut, it just adds something a bit different to the bar – it’s no bounty but it’s the top of the four for me.

So there we have it – my Kit Kat Chunky Champion 2012 is Coconut. I wonder if you all agree?!
When you’ve given them a try, cast your vote over on the Kit Kat facebook page, and soon we’ll have a new permanent member of the Kit Kat family to choose from.
Elizabeth Shaw Luxury Chocolates
2I have never seen so much chocolate in a box addressed to me…

…This was the hamper I received courtesy of Elizabeth Shaw so I could test and review their full range. And wow. I am a lucky blogger!
I admit I (well along with friends and family) have spent the last month or so tucking into various forms of mint, butterscotch and other chocolate. And you’ll not be surprised to know that I’ve enjoyed every mouthful. Let me briefly take you through the range.


You all know about Elizabeth Shaw’s mint chocolates, we often see them at Christmas time. Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolate is simply yummy. The mint crisp individually wrapped chocolate discs are lovely smooth chocolates with mint and honeycomb pieces for a chocolate that melts in your mouth but also has texture. It is the texture I really like – the honeycomb really adds something to ‘ordinary’ chocolate. And the mint flavour is really good thanks to the use of mint oil – a good honest and traditional mint chocolate. I’m sure you’ve all had one before now. It was the other chocolates in the hamper that were new to me.

I have been treated to Butterscotch Crisp, Caramel Crisp, Cocoa Crunch and Honeycomb Crisp chocolate discs. Like the Mint Crisp these are individually wrapped (as you’d expect from Elizabeth Shaw) and available in various box types – they are smooth chocolate discs with honeycomb pieces to give texture. Of the four I can easily put them in order of the ones I liked least and most – Cocoa Crunch at the bottom (although I still liked them a lot) followed by Caramel Crisp, then Honeycomb Crisp with Butterscotch Crisp on top. The Butterscotch Crisp especially are very (very) moreish – a really nice alternative to thee after dinner mint tradition and great for sharing.


Even better for sharing are the Flutes. I received Orange, Latte, Mint and Amaretto Flutes. The best thing about them (well apart from the fact the smooth indulgent thin chocolate sticks are a joy to eat) is the box opens out to display the chocolates really nicely so they can be left on a table or passed around easily. I’m liking the functional packaging!


The orange and mint ones went really fast – they are very easy to eat – with the coffee and amaretto ones lasting a little longer. Both are slightly acquired tastes I think, but when my brother-in-law came to stay the almond ones didn’t last long at all as they are apparently one his favourite chocolates. If I was going out to buy some chocolates to share this very evening I would choose the Mint Flutes. Of the whole range (not just the Flutes) these were my very favourite, closely followed by the orange ones. The Flutes were definitely the winner for me.
Finally I had bars – slabs – of the Mint Crisp, Cocoa Crunch and Butterscotch Crisp chocolate. The same chocolate as in the little discs, but in a rather large bar. I had to be good and eat it square by square, as before, simply moreish. Not as easy to share… oh dear what a shame!
So there we have it, what seems like a very short review of a very large box of chocolates. Honestly though, Elizabeth Shaw chocolate is really lovely, quite luxurious, you should definitely consider any one of these for sharing with friends.
Year in Photos (9 Dec 11) – Hot Chocolate
3Which one should I pick?

09/12/11: Indulgence in a mug (or rather it will be when made up)
Fabulous Bakin' Boys Christmas Cupcakes
0Don’t like mince pies? The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys have brought out an alternative – Christmas Cupcakes.

There are two versions of these cakes – Orange Chocolate and Mint Chocolate – and I was sent a box of the latter to taste test. What you get is six individually wrapped little cakes, two each with white, milk or dark chocolate flavoured topping.

First impressions were these are a bit small. We (my husband helped me test them, of course) found the sponge was a bit thin (especially when most of it seemed to get stuck to the wrapper). Although having said that, they’re aimed at kids and so they’re probably just about the same size really.

Flavour wise they are ok. Mint and chocolate is always a winning combination, but it was a shame the mint was only in the sponge and not also in the topping. I don’t think the chocolate topping is actually chocolate, which is also a shame. I sadly have to say I was a bit disappointed. In fact there are a couple left on the side after about a week – and cakes don’t normally last very long in this house.

With no artificial colours and flavours, and cooked in a nut free zone (which is nice to see on the side of packaging rather than “may contain nuts”), these little cakes do have some things going for them. Packing them individually might seem a little OTT in today’s packaging-conscious culture, but this way you can safely put them in a lunch box – or they suggest putting them in a stocking for Christmas morning. Would beat a satsuma. Oh and without the packing where would they print the Christmas-cracker-type joke?

Don’t let me put you off these, but don’t expect an amazing cake experience.
Find out more about Fabulous Bakin’ Boys on their website – the cakes are available in supermarkets priced at £1.69 for six (£1 special offer at the time of writing).











