Califia Farms Go Coconuts Coconut Milk

I've been trying a lot of sugar free, dairy free vegan nut milks recently, in an effort to be healthy and find the best tasting ones. The results have been mixed, with the new Innocent Almond Milk being the best I've tried so far. Another new brand on the U.K market is Califia Farms, who make a range of nut milks and cold brew coffee drinks. Unlike other brands their range is free from the thickener carageenan, which has been linked to various health problems, and contain 50% more calcium than milk. Pretty impressive right?!

This Coconut variety is available from Waitrose, and Sainsbury's also used to stock it although I haven't seen it there recently. It's made from a blend of coconut and coconut water to give it an authnetic light coconut flavour without the need for added sugars.

And it tastes pretty good! It has a creamy, frothy texture and tastes quite light and refreshing to drink. The added calcium is noticeable and does give it a slightly chalky taste which I wasn't too keen on though. Compared to Vita Coco Coconut Milk, I would say that one is nicer and closer to regular dairy milk than this is. But this is a decent enough alternative. What I don't like is the chunky bottle it comes in - yes it looks fancy, but it's very uneccesary and means more plastic to recycle. You don't get this problem with tetra packs.

Overall, this is a good coconut milk, although probably not one I would go out of my way for with the other alternatives on the market.

Ingredients: Coconut Milk (Water, Coconut Cream), Coconut Water, Calcium Carbonate, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Potassium Citrate, Locust Bean Gum, Gellan Gum.

7 out of 10.

Oreo Birthday Party - new for the UK!

Just a quick post today as a heads up...Oreo Birthday Party variety is now available in the UK! From Asda specifically, these are on offer for 50p and consist of regular Oreo vanilla creme cookies with sprinkles in the centre. They're pretty much the same thing as Oreo Birthday Cake which have been available as imports for a while, and have been launched to celebrate Oreo's birthday.

Have you tried these? Are they as good as Oreo Birthday Cake? Let me know in the comments!

Cadbury Dream Ice Creams - back for Summer! (UK)

If you've sorely missed Cadbury Dream White Chocolate since it was withdrawn from UK shelves many years ago, fear not, it's going to be back for Summer, albeit in a colder form - yes, ice cream! Dream Ice Creams have been in shops sporadically for several years now (including a Strawberry variety that was exclusive to Farmfoods) but finally they're getting an official release just for the Summer, yay! It will be sold in major supermarkets in packs of three, and impulse sticks will cost £1.80 from convenience stores.

Maybe Cadbury are testing the waters to see how popular they are...who knows, maybe the proper Cadbury Dream bar may be resurrected if sales are good!

You can already find Cadbury Dream ice creams in Fultons Foods, a Northern based frozen food store if you're lucky enough to live near one (there's a store finder in the link above). I'm not sure if they sell imports or the official UK version, but here's some I spotted in there recently:

Have you tried Cadbury Dream Ice Creams before? Have you seen them in Jack Fultons? Let me know in the comments!

Nestle Ruby Kitkat to launch in the UK!

Good news snack lovers, Nestle are going to launch their much-hyped Ruby Kitkats in the UK - hurrah!

The Kitkats, first launched in China last year are made with naturally pink-coloured Ruby cocoa beans and will go on sale in Tesco in four finger bars.

The specially coloured beans are grown in the Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil and promise "an intense fruity taste". The chocolate was created by Swiss chocolatier Barry Callebaut - the world’s largest cocoa processor.

Nestle are calling Ruby Chocolate a "fourth chocolate", after traditional Milk, Dark and White. It's the first new natural colour for chocolate since Nestlé unveiled white chocolate more than 80 years ago.

The Kitkats will go on sale in the US and Europe following the UK launch. Wow - must be the first time we are getting a product launched here before other countries!

Do you fancy the look of the Ruby Kitkat? Have you seen it in shops yet? Let me know in the comments below!

Innocent Dairy Free Almond Milk Review

Innocent, famous for their bottled smoothies have attempted to branch out in a few areas in recent years. They've done things like vegetable juices and Fruity Spring Waters, but now they've launched their own range of vegan and dairy free Nut Milks, made with just three ingredients, and no stabilisers or thickeners. This is certainly a good move, since many who buy nut milks are tired of all the weird things added in brands likes Alpro.

I picked up this 750ml bottle for £1.99 in Waitrose, I think it was an introductory offer but I'm not sure. There was also a Hazelnut variety there and I believe Innocent make a Coconut version too.



Consisting of just almonds, sea salt and spring water, I didn't think there was much I would be able to say about this and I was right - it tastes as you would expect. If you've ever made nut milk at home this is pretty much the same thing, just pressed nuts and water. It has a slight marzipan-ish taste from the almonds and is good mixed in tea or coffee, but I think it would work best in smoothies or shakes as the consistency is a little thin. This is to be expected due to the lack of thickeners so this isn't a criticism at all. I liked that it tasted natural - other nut milks inevitably taste weird in some way due to the added calcium, vitamins and stabilisers, but this tastes pretty fresh and clean.

Overall, there's not a lot to say about this Innocent Almond Milk other than it does what it's supposed to! I would buy this again over other nut milks to avoid the unwanted additives, and I'll certainly be on the lookout for the Coconut version as I do tend to prefer coconut milks in general.

Ingredients: Spring Water, Almonds (5.8%), Sea Salt

7.5 out of 10. 

New M&S British Isles Range...and Salt & Vinegar Caramels?!

Usually it's random companies that go balls to the wall with weird and wacky new flavours, but this time it's good old "British" institution M&S that have brought out a range of not just any new treats, but a "Taste of the British Isles" range, sure to make any Brexiteer dance with joy. It includes products like the Sea Salt and Vinegar Caramels shown above. Wrong, just wrong! What next, fish and chip truffles? (they probably do exist somewhere!)

In more weirdness, they're also selling not just any nuts but British Beer Coated Peanuts!

Plus they're doing a variety of alcoholic sweets, such as Milk Chocolate Truffles made with Somerset Matured Vintage Cider.

Plus a Gin Chocolate Collection for the gin lovers...

As well as Craft Beer Fudge!

Plus, Fruity Summer Punch Mallows...

And Rum and Raisin Toffees. Now these sound more up my street!

There's also Mocktail Jellies...

And the non-alcoholic and pure Unicorns Jellies...

Plus jelly Watermelons!

A new variety of Whip - Summer Fruits Whips!

Ooh - these look nice, Neapolitan Inspired Popcorn Bites!

As do these Sticky Toffee Pudding Bites!

You can't go wrong with Sea Salt Fudge Bites.

They're even getting in on the Speculoos train with these Speculoos Biscuit Truffles.

These sound lovely - Cornish White Chocolate Clotted Cream Truffles with a Cornish clotted cream ganache.

There's also this Sticky Toffee Pudding Bar, if you don't fancy sharing the bites!

Plus a Nostalgic British Fudge collection, with flavours like Eton Mess and Raspberry Fool.

Plus Ice Cream Inspired Toffees with raspberry ripple, mint chocolate and banana split flavours. Woo!

And plain Mint Toffees, made in York.

Gourmet Caramels, with strawberry, blackberry, mango & passionfruit flavours.

A Chocolate Maltball Selection - aka Maltesers - with salted caramel, dark chocolate and milk chocolate flavours.

Handmade Toffee Nut Brittle - made to a classic recipe with almond and pecan pieces.

Taste of The British Isles box - featuring Scottish Raspberry, English spring honey, Welsh sea salted caramel, and Irish cream liquer.

English toffee and milk chocolate drizzle cookies. Yum!

Last, but not least - Milk Chocolate Emotions. Because M&S are too posh for emojis...

Well, that's all for today's post - there were a few other new things in at M&S but I've included the most interesting here. If you try any of these treats, as always do let me know in the comments!

Nestle Orange Smarties Limited Edition are back!

Just a heads up...Orange Smarties are back in small tubes for a limited period! Stock up while you can! (I spotted these in McColls)

And in the meantime, take a gander at my review of Orange Smarties Mini Eggs. Easter is nearly over but you may still be able to find some of these in shops! (try Tesco Express stores where they seem to still have a lot in).