NEW! Ben & Jerry's Home Sweet Honeycomb Ice Cream (Tesco)

Ben and Jerry's have a cruel habit of releasing a batch of new flavours in quick succession. I get that this may lead to exciting times for our tastebuds, but it's not so easy on the wallet -especially at the newly inflated price of £4.20 per pint (and it's only been spotted in Tesco thus far). The launch of Home Sweet Honeycomb has swiftly followed the fairly unexciting Berry Neighbourly, and also marked the end of my self-imposed ice cream buying ban. That didn't last long.

"Have we got a sweet treat for you; creamy ice cream, chocolatey honeycomb chunks, a salted caramel honey swirl – your taste buds will feel the buzz (bees, geddit?) with this concoction. Home Sweet (Honey) Comb was created to carry an all-important, timely message: it’s time to come together for people in need of a safe place to call home. It’s time to come together for refugees."

Christ, it was soft. I mean, so soft that I couldn't scoop it properly. It had a fair amount of chocolate honeycomb nuggets though, and a faint ripple of the caramel honey swirl. I really hoped it would be less sweet and more luxurious than the Sainsbury's Honeycomb & Caramel Dairy ice cream tub.

The cream flavoured ice cream was so-so. I mean it was sweet and creamy, but offered very little in the way of excitement and melted far too quickly. To be honest, I thought that it was a fairly uninspired flavour from the brand that used to be relied upon for their ingenuity and imagination. Somehow the cream flavour worked much better in the Strawberry Swirled -perhaps because it had the fruity sauce to break it up. 

The honey caramel swirl was also a little lacklustre. I can't help but feel like the developers couldn't make up their mind either. Choose honey or salted caramel Ben & Jerry's for goodness sake! In any case, the sauce wasn't thick like the centre of their Karamel Sutra or Blondie Brownie pints, and kind of fused with the cream flavoured ice cream, resulting in a mild toffee throughout. Humf. 

On to those chocolate coated honeycomb bites. Thankfully were delicious and reminded me of the bags that ASDA used to sell. Again though, they weren't anything particularly innovative, and I can't help but think that Ben & Jerry's have been more than a little lazy with this tub. 

To be honest, this is no better than the Sainsbury's tub. In fact I'd rather save my pennies have the Sainsbury's honeycomb & caramel ice cream... 

scrap that... I'll stick to their peanut & caramel tub instead. 

6/10

Ritter Sport Honey Salt Almonds Milk Chocolate

I fully acknowledge that I am exceedingly late to the Ritter Sport party. In fact I'm more than a little bit embarrassed to admit that this Honey Salted Almonds bar was the first I've tried from their range. I wasn't actually out to buy chocolate, but was in the local corner shop buying vegetables when it called to me. That's what I like to refer to as balanced shopping. I have seen this bar in Waitrose however, and Ritter Sport is widely available now, so should you read this review and decide to buy it (if you haven't already) then I'm sure you won't have any problems finding it.

"Milk chocolate with roasted, salted almonds with a honey flavoured coating (25%)."

It's strange. Ever since I reviewed that Muller Goes Nuts corner I've been craving caramelised almonds. I've also moaned about the lack of almondy chocolate bars in the U.K so I hoped Ritter Sport would hit the spot!

The chocolate was rich, more so than the standard U.K bars, but I had predicted as much considering the cocoa content -30% cocoa solids. It melted fairly slowly too, with a creaminess that I've come to expect from Belgian chocolates (I guess Ritter Sport is closer to the country than us Brits). 

As for those almonds, they were sizeable and crunchy. Although the size of the nuts may feel overbearing for some, I liked the fact that they hadn't been chopped up beyond recognition. There was a slight honey note that came through, and I was left wondering whether Maple syrup would have worked even better. Aren't I a pernickety sod? 

The other aspect that slightly bothered me was the lack of salinity. I adored the larger rock salt crystals that adorn the Grown Up Chocolate Company's salted caramel cups, and found that this bar could've done with a similarly obvious salty boost. The salinity was there, but it was just on the weaker side. 

I'd happily buy this bar again, however I'm now keen to try the Cornflake and Rum & Raisin Ritter Sport bars. Which flavour is your favourite?

8/10

NEW! Yoo Moo Honey & Granola Frozen Yogurt (ASDA)

How do you feel about froyo? I distinctly remember the first time I tried it, I must've been about 7 or 8 and I was at a flower show (or shower flow as I called it) with my Daddio -he's a horticulturist. It was a blazing summers day and amidst the various stands was a tent selling froyo. As one of four children, it was often too expensive to treat us to ice creams when we were out (unless it was a mini milk) but I think it was just my brother and I that day. In any case I was bought a froyo and fell in love with the tangy frozen dessert. 

A few years ago it seemed like froyo was going to take off here, but it never really took hold (certainly not the way salted Caramel has anyway). There's still an ample selection about though if you keep your eyes peeled, but I must admit to buying ice cream instead 97% of the time. My only exception in recent years has been the Yoo Moo range, especially when Tesco sold the mini Angelmoo and Devilmoo pots. I've been deliberating over their new Honey & Granola pint tub since it came out a couple of months ago, but as always, the new ice creams took priority. Eventually I bought the tub for £2 from ASDA.

"Frozen yogurt with honey flavoured sauce and granola"

It's been so long since I last had froyo that I forgot how much more waterier it is. Of course this do make it easier to serve and underneath my first scoop I discovered a glistening pocket of treasure, aka honey. There was a good tablespoon of the sauce all bundled together, and I hoped that it wasn't the only honey in the tub. 

The flavour had the signature tang that I love so much, however the first portion I served contained all that honey, which did render it very sickly -especially as I served it atop a Muscle Moose Mug Cake. There was little-to-no Granola chunks either, and I was all but ready to give up on the Yoo Moo.

Fortunately my second experience was much better; the honey was more evenly distributed and worked wonderfully to offset the tang. As for the Granola pieces, they were far and few between (they only make up 6%) but offered something different to the usual biscuit pieces that you find in many of the luxury ice cream tubs. I still haven't made my mind up on them though. You see, I think that Granola should be crisp with a slight crunch but -as with many of the biscuits embedded within ice creams- they'd gone a little soft. 

The new honey & granola Yoo Moo is a refreshing alternative to ice cream and also low in calories and fat (118kcals & 1.9g fat per 100ml serving) so it's perfect for dieters, but I won't be rushing out to replace my tub when it's finished.

7/10

NEW! Nature Valley Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars (Sainsbury's)

Every now and then a supermarket will bring out an own brand product that surpasses every comparative product currently on the market. Take Tesco's Banana Bliss Bars for example, or ALDI's Domio yogurts and HIKE bars. ASDA has produced corkers too, two of which were fabulous peanut butter products. Whilst I was disappointed when the supermarket stopped selling their ingenious chocolate chip peanut butter, I was devastated when they stopped selling their peanut butter granola bars. They were absolutely wonderful little packs, and I even wrote a review on them over a year ago, claiming that they were 'ASDA's best kept secret'. Of course I stocked up on the remaining boxes as soon as I saw that they were reduced to clear, but knew that my stash wouldn't last. I'd already emailed Nature Valley and requested that they produce a peanut butter granola bar, so I was at a loss as to what to do next.

Fortunately, a good 18 months after that email, Nature Valley came up trumps and released a Crunchy Peanut Butter Bar in the UK (the brand has been selling them in the USA for years). The only place I've spotted the boxes thus far is Sainsbury's, although I've patiently waited for them to come on offer (currently £1.50 per box).

"Packed with natural wholegrain oats, real peanuts, and a luscious peanut butter drizzle, Nature Valley Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars are the perfect on-the-go snack, which are there for you, whenever you need it most."

As always, each individually wrapped pack contains two biscuits. For info, the peanut butter flavour is lactose free and contains no colours or preservatives.

They looked prettier than the ASDA version with their topping drizzled on -as opposed to a slathering. Given the quality of Nature Valley's other flavours, I was looking forward to tucking in.

The beauty of Nature Valley's Crunchy bars is that whilst they're crispy like a biscuit, they're not hard enough to require the dentist's telephone number close to hand -as perhaps one would with Jordan's or NutriGrain's Oat bars. In fact they're like a lower fat Hobnob really aren't they?

I prepared myself for the incoming salty-sweet hit from my favourite spread, but it never really came. Whilst the bar promises of 'real peanuts', it actually only delivers a measly 2% within its ingredients. As for the peanut butter, it was unfortunately just too sweet. The primary flavour of the biscuits was the honey, which knocked the nutty balance off kilter so much that I was tempted to get my salt grinder from the cupboard to help matters.

The main reason why I love Reese's so much is that they've utterly mastered the harmony of salinity and manage to counteract the sweetness within their products wonderfully. Nature Valley haven't been quite so clever, and although they're new Crunchy Bars are admittedly delicious and moreish, they're not quite as good as ASDA's delisted versions. Boo.

7/10

NEW! Honey Blossom Macchiato at Starbucks

I don't regularly review drinks, but I thought I'd make an exception for the new Starbucks Honey Blossom Macchiato. It's not often that I visit Starbucks (purely for monetary reasons) but when I fancy a treat (or I'm in dire need of caffeine and sugar at Uni) then their Caramel Macchiato is my coffee of choice.

Starbucks have recently added two new Macchiato flavours to their menu: Honey Blossom & Vanilla Bean. Both sounded right up my alley, but as I'm finally seeing off the lingering remnants of flu, I decided that the Honey version would do my throat more good.

'Starbucks® is now offering another edition of the signature Macchiato: inspired by natural ingredients the Honey Blossom Macchiato combines the sweet honey flavor with vanilla and coffee.'

Luckily the Barista must've heard my feeble coughing, because he slathered my drink in Honey Sauce. I say it was lucky, because the moment the froth reached my lips I was met with the rich comforting sweetness. The foam top was fluffy and sweet, which worked well with the bitter coffee beneath. I couldn't taste much honey in the drink itself, until I reached the bottom -where I discovered a pool of distinctly flavoured coffee. 

(Check out that drizzle!)

I enjoyed the new Honey Blossom Macchiato, and it makes a welcome change to the original Caramel version. Some may find the taste too sweet, but it's no more so than the Caramel Macchiato, and I appreciated the honey's more natural flavour. 

I'll look forward to my next Starbucks treat, when no doubt I'll try the new Vanilla Bean Macchiato!

8/10

Belvita Tartine Milk & Honey (Poundland)

I love Poundland, the unpredictability of their range of stock pleases me, and you never know what you might find!

I discovered these Tartines by chance in our local branch the other day; they caught by eye because I buy a lot of the Belvita's breakfast biscuits, yet I'd never come across this product. The packaging looked similar to that of the Belvita Tops, except they came in a milk & honey flavour that us Brits aren't privy to.

 

 

As with the other Tops, the pack contained 5 packs of three biscuits. Visually they weren't any different to their British counterparts, except for the creamy coloured pools that adorned each Tartine.

 

 

If you haven't tried the range before, I'll briefly fill you in: wholegrain biscuits, roughly about as thick as a digestive that supposedly release carbohydrates over 4 hours to keep you feeling fuller for longer. These Tartines follow the same recipe, and I am pleased to report that they both snapped and dunked well.

 

The only difference to the UK version was the milk and honey flavoured topping, and boy it was good! It was soft and creamy, with a genuine natural honey flavour that was remarkably similar to the local honey I use to cover my hot cross buns with.

 

I enjoyed them so much that I'd even go as far to say that I preferred them over the choco-hazelnut Tops, and as a chocoholic that's a pretty big claim! I'm heading straight back to Poundland today with the hope that I can find them again before they disappear into the Worldly abyss.

 

Belvita PLEASE release them in the UK too!

 

8/10

Honey Monster Puffs Banana Cereal Bars

I can't say that I'm a regular consumer of Sugar Puffs... or rather Honey Monster Puffs as they're now known. I do buy them occasionally, and I quite liked the banana variety when it first came out, but then I got bored and haven't bought them since. I spotted this pack of 5 banana cereal bars at the 99p store and couldn't resist the sweet little minion faces (yes I'm that much of a sucker). 
  

Each bar is individually wrapped with a little minion on! 

Texturally, its rather like Rice Krispie Squares: it holds its shape but crumbles away once nibbled, revealing it in all its sticky glory. The banana flavouring is very strong, in a foam-sweet artificial kind of way- there's no pretending it's a healthy treat that's for sure! I'm a big fan of foam shrimps & bananas, and they're a regular in our sweetie jar, so I guiltily enjoyed the sickly sugar rush. 

I appreciate that these are aimed at children, but I really enjoyed them! Taste-wise they certainly beat Alpen Light's Banoffee bars*, and if you're somebody whose interested in calories they're pretty much identical. 

7/10

* The Alpen Light Jaffa Cake bars outshine the Honey Puff banana bars though!