NEW! Milbona Skyr Pots (LIDL)

If you look into our 'drinks fridge' (aka the skanky fridge that we inherited with the house, but worked fine so we couldn't throw it out) you'll find a rather impressive selection of yogurts. My other half and I love the stuff -his shelf contains Muller corners, mine Skyr. I'm a happy girl with a bowl of yogurt so thick I can stand my spoon up in it. The trouble is, my preferred brand -Icelandic Skyr- is so much more expensive than the ARLA big pots, so I end up buying the cheaper version most of the time and then flavour it -at the moment I can swap between: banana, salted caramel, white chocolate, almond and tiramisu. With that in mind you can imagine my animation whens spotting the photo Alex posted onto Instagram of a selection of flavoured small pots he'd found in LIDL this week, and I made a beeline for the discount retailer after work. Everyone else must have seen Alex's pic too, because they had sold out the first day, but thankfully I was in luck the second! Each 150g flavoured tub cost 49p, and the plain 45p. 

Strawberry

So keen was I to try this new Skyr that I even took my first pot to the cinema with me that very afternoon (together with a generous supply of popcorn and sweets). I had assumed that the strawberry flavour would be amalgamated within the yogurt, so I was shocked -and excited- to find that in fact it formed a separate fruity layer at the bottom. The layer was also thick, and even better... it contained whole strawberries. I gleefully informed my fiance of this whilst we were watching the trailers, but I don't think he was as impressed! As for the Skyr, it tasted just like the ARLA stuff to me, and passed the thickness test.

8/10

Raspberry 

Unfortunately the thick layer of compote at the bottom of the raspberry yogurt wasn't quite as successful. It was very runny, and the natural tartness of the fruit didn't do enough to counteract the acidic yogurt on top; resulting in quite a bitter yogurt pot.

4/10

Blueberry

The balance of sweet-sour was better with the blueberry, but again the fruit layer was too watery, meaning that it was more like a sauce. The pot was pleasant though, and certainly much more enjoyable than the raspberry.

6/10

Peach & Passionfruit

The almost tropical flavours worked well with the Skyr in this pot, helped again by the natural sweetness. My only complaint would again be the thickness, but it was better than the blueberry.

7/10

Plain
As expected, I couldn't handle the acidity of the plain Skyr. I can't fault LIDL for that though, seeing as I'm not keen on the taste of any natural yogurt. Not to worry though, my trusty tiramisu syrup came to the rescue!

 7/10

Summary

These little pots from LIDL make a welcome change to ARLA, and are handy to pack in my lunchbox. They're not even close in deliciousness to the premium Iceleandic Skyr -but then I didn't expect them to be either. For anyone interested, the macros for the fruity are roughly: 6.6C/13.4P/0.3F (83Kcal) and the plain: 6.2C/17.7P/0.3F (98kcal).

Icelandic Skyr: Blueberry and Strawberry Flavours (Waitrose)

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a yogurt brand that I hadn't come across before. My dear friend and fellow blogger Laura (A Daisy Chain Dream) coerced me into popping into my local Waitrose to pick up a pot of Vanilla Skyr. Laura's judgement was spot on, and if you remember my review you'll recall that I made the bold statement that it was the best high protein yogurt I had ever tasted!

I would therefore have been foolish to turn down the opportunity* to try -and review- Skyr's other two flavours: blueberry and strawberry.

Blueberry

What I didn't mention last time was that each of the pots come with a handy spoon in the lid, perfect if you're grabbing a pot to enjoy at lunch or on the go. I peeled back the foil and discovered the pale mauve colour blueberry Skyr. As with the vanilla flavour the yogurt was thick enough to stand my spoon up with, as you can see in the photo below. The flavour was slightly tarter than expected, but not unpleasantly so, and I found that it was just enough to offset the sweetness. The creaminess was again outstanding and I found it hard to comprehend that I was enjoying such a healthy treat.

Strawberry
This flavour is a brand new contender in Skyr's line up. I had high expectations given my experience with their blueberry and vanilla yogurts, so could it be as good? 

What a silly question; of course it was. Strawberries and cream are natural born partners and with Sky's unbelievable texture the melt-in-the mouth treat was a winner once again. Iceland you've done the British proud! 

Seeing as Skyr is so saintly I decided to adulterate it with a few extras for an evening treat. One side was decorated with fresh strawberries and the other with Graze's strawberries and cream protein granola topper, oh my days! Soooo good. 

Summary
Asking me to choose a favourite flavour would be like asking me to choose between my siblings (that's a lie, my sister is my best friend) but you get the gist. Try any of these pots and you'll be a Skyr convert for life! I promise you that Arla has nothing on these guys. Skyr is available in Waitrose stores nationwide.

10/10

*Skyr have kindly reimbursed me for the yogurts I have reviewed.

Vanilla Icelandic Skyr (Waitrose)

I'm au fait with the big Skyr pots made by Arla that are available in all of the major supermarkets. I like the thickness of them and find them much more filling than ordinary yogurt, probably thanks to its high protein content. I hadn't come across the other brand who makes Skyr until Laura (A Daisy Chain Dream -please go and visit her blog, she's truly wonderful) mentioned to me how much she loves their vanilla yogurt, which happens to only be available in Waitrose. 

Non-Arla Skyr are proud of the fact that they are the only manufacturers of yogurt made with Original Icelandic Skyr Cultures. They say:

"The art of making Skyr is especially noteworthy. Skyr is made from skimmed milk which is a naturally fat free milk product. When making Skyr a large amount of milk is used but about three to four times more milk is needed to produce one can of skyr than one can of yogurt."

If that sounds particularly wasteful to you (as it did to me when I first read it) then be rest assured in the knowledge that all of their products are made using only 100% carbon-free electricity. It's all about the balance after all. 

The 170g pot was pricier than what I would normally spend at £1.25, but I fancied a little treat and also trusted Laura's sage advice.

I was pleasantly surprised when I lifted the lid and discovered a beautifully thick yogurt speckled with bean seeds. It's a sure fire sign that you're in for a treat when you can see the vanilla before you get the chance to taste it. 

My, oh my. The yogurt was worth the extra expense. So substantial was it that you could stand your spoon in it. So creamy was it that it tasted convincingly sinful -are you sure these are healthy Skyr? The vanilla flavour was quite rightly the star of the show, backed up by just the right amount of sweetness despite its low sugar content of 3.3g per 100g. Scrummy. 

The Skyr vanilla was hands down the best high protein yogurt I have ever tasted. Next time I visit Waitrose I will certainly be picking up a pot or two of their blueberry flavour too.

10/10