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

NEW! Danone Light and Free Greek Style Yogurts (Tesco)

I have to admit that I was rather excited at the prospect of these new yogurts from Danone. As a regular Greek yogurt eater (yes I know it's worse for the environment than the traditional kind, but it's also delicious!) I am always pleased to be able to choose from a wider variety of flavours and brands. 

The 'Light and Free' yogurts look attractive, complete with cardboard wrappers an minimalist design, and come in in five different fruity flavours: strawberry, cherry, blueberry, peach & passion fruit, and raspberry. They're also fat free, low in calories -each 115g pot contains less than 61 calories- and contain no added sugar. 

Cheapskate Amy struck again I'm afraid, I refused to pay the £2.00-£2.50 full price and waited for them to come on offer. Luckily my patience served me well as the full range is now available at Tesco for half price (£1.25 per four pack).

Cherry
The yogurts may look pretty, but the foil tops are a pain! Don't you hate it when they refuse to come off in one clean sweep? I haven't managed to open one pot yet without ripping the lid, gah.

The pretty pink yogurt was teeming with chunky cherry bits -I do love a good bit of real fruit. It became immediately evident however, that these were less set than other Greek yogurts, and were more like a thick standard yogurt. Hmm. The taste, well, it wasn't great either I'm afraid. It was perfectly eatable but there was no escaping the omnipresent back note of sucralose... one sweetener that I'm really not keen on. 

Peach & Passionfruit

I picked up the peach & passionfruit at the same time as the cherry. Admittedly If I had tried the cherry flavour first, I probably wouldn't have made a repeat purchase. Different flavour, same lid problem, dammit. Again, these were more of a thick-set rather than Greek style yogurt, but were packed with fruity pieces. I tried to enjoy this flavour sat in the sunshine, but I just couldn't get away from that nasty artificial taste. 

Conclusion
I'm afraid that these new yogurts from Danone are a bit of a non starter. It's a crowded market place full of tastier fat-free Greek yogurts such as ALDI's own (the best I've tried yet) so I can't see the 'Light & Free' range sticking around for very long.

5/10

New Peanut & Caramel Müllerlight (Tesco)

My stomach fell through the floor the other day when I saw the picture Katherine (from Grocery Gems) posted on Instagram of the new limited edition Müllerlight flavour: Peanut & Caramel. I briefly thought it was an April fools, but then realised that we're only just into January. I hot-footed it down to ASDA (where I had no luck) then on to Waitrose (who didn't even know what I was talking about) before ending up in Tesco -who had five single pots on the shelf. Being my usual greedy self, I grabbed all of the pots and rushed on home. 

The yoghurt was typically runny in Müllerlight's characteristic fashion, with a warm beige colour.

On to the tasting... The first thing I noticed was the artificial sweetness, which unsuprisingly lacked the depth and almost burnt-like tones of true caramel. The peanut came through after, but not in a rich peanut-buttery way, it also just tasted super synthetic. Oddly, the flavour reminded me of the warm drink 'Peanut Hottie' if you've ever had that before! The yoghurt had an odd fruity element, but I'm not sure where I got that from.

All in all, its a bit odd. It feels like Müller have sadly missed the mark slightly with this new limited edition yoghurt, but I'm hoping it grows on me as I make my way through my remaining four pots. If you're a dedicated peanut butter fan though, don't get your hopes up. 

5/10

NEW! Vegetable Greek Style Yogurts by Tesco

Vegetable yogurts? Give over! I almost walked past these unusual new additions in Tesco, but then I paused for a moment, remembering how surprisingly delicious their carrot cake yogurt was, and decided to give them a shot.

The four pack costs £1.25 and contains 2x Mango & Carrot and 2x Beetroot & Raspberry fat-free Greek style yogurts.

Beetroot & Raspberry 

It was a pretty pink colour -as you would imagine from its ingredients- but it wasn't as thick as most Greek style yogurts and had a watery layer on top where it had separated slightly.
Taste-wise... Yuck. I mean I probably never should have bought them because I hate the flavour of Beetroot (it just tastes like soil to me) but the yogurt was overwhelmingly sour, lacking the sweetness that normally coincides with a tart fruit such as raspberry. It was actually so disgusting that I wouldn't even give it to my dog and the second one went in the bin-  I never throw away food.
0/10

Carrot & Mango

This was a similar colour to their carrot cake yogurt and I hoped it would be just as tasty. Once again it had split slightly, but nonetheless I gave it a good mix and hoped for the best.
The mango came through more prominantly than the carrot, but as with the beetroot version it lacked the sweetness I'm accustomed to in yogurt, rendering it rather unpleasant. The sourness surprised me because carrot is such a sweet vegetable, but it tasted on the verge of going off (despite having a week left on its use by date) 
1/10


I'm not sure who Tesco are targeting with these unusual vegetable yogurts, but I won't be making a repeat purchase.