Squares Salt and Vinegar

 As a huge lover of snacks I obviously love to eat crisps, though sadly I'm quite picky on what flavours I eat (I don't like cheese at all), thankfully FarmFoods are currently selling 2 big bags (6 packs per bag) of Squares for £2 so we picked up a few bags of them.12 packs of crisps for £2 is, at least in my eyes, great value money.

So what are so special about Squares? Well Squares live up to their name, they are square crisps (well most of them are) unlike the normal rounder crisps you usually find in packets. I'm not sure whether this actually adds anything to the product, but it's a nice gimmick all the same and it does make them stand out physically due to a very unusual shape.

As well as their unusual shape Squares also stand out due to their flavour. Not only do the crisps taste of salt of vinegar but they are also really sweet and very moreish and have a very fullsome flavour. The flavour is really wonderful and a stand out reason to buy them (much more so than their peculiar shape). Sadly the moreish quality of the crisps is probably also their downfall, as the packets are all quite small and you never feel full from a packet. Oddly however the packet size is likely also part of the selling quality allowing Walkers to sell the packets as containing only 97 calories.

In terms of their flavour I love them, sadly however I tend to find myself eating 2 packets at a time and the 6 packet-bags don't tend to last too long as a result. Based on their flavour alone it's impossible to complain about them

Likes-
Unique shape, excellent taste, great value for money

Dislikes-
Small packets

Score-91%

Details-
Walkers
Contains-Sulphites (They are made in a factory which also contains Wheat, Soya, Gluten, Barley, Celery Mustard, and Milk)
Size-Approx 18g (packet fails to tell us)
Price-£2 for 12 packs 

Oreo's

Everyone loves a good biscuit right? Well with that in mind we recently purchased some Oreo's from Tesco for around 50p a packet and decided to check out these highly regarded American biscuits.

For those who aren't aware of Oreo's they are are a chocolate flavoured biscuit sandwich with a vanilla filling. The biscuit pieces are are wonderfully patterned with a very intricate design (as you can see in the picture on the right). I'd be shocked however if you'd never seen them as
they are heavily advertised in both the US and UK with the adverts playing on them being dipped in milk, sadly however I don't have any milk.

The taste of the biscuits is pretty nice, the chocolate taste isn't amazing but the Vanilla taste is lovely and compliments the chocolate excellently. Whilst the taste of the chocolate flavour may be relatively substandard the biscuit is very fresh and crunchy giving a very satisfying texture to the biscuit when you bite into, and chew it.

Whilst they certainly aren't the best biscuits on the market they are an enjoyable snack and with around 20 biscuits in a 154g pack they you do get a decent amount for your cash. They are enjoyable enough and there is enough of them to be worthy of you money.

Likes-
Texture, packaging, size of packet, price

Dislikes-
Not the greatest taste

Score-78%

Details-
Made by Kraft Foods
Contains-Wheat, Soya and Milk
Size-154g
Price-50p-£1

Blaze - Up Energy Drink

When in Home Bargains, we noticed a new energy drink called Blaze-Up, which as you can see from the picture is quite appealing, with it stark black background and fire style writing, it looked new and interesting. The cost was only 19p, which hopefully will mean it is good value too!

Blaze-Up has a usual energy drink smell, which I expected, but the smell isn't overpowering, so easy to drink. The taste is very similar to other energy drinks on the market, I would say it is most similar to Energe. The taste is nice but plain, could benefit from a fruity flavor maybe, but it is easy to drink and pleasant. I would say the drink was much better chilled, but not everyone in Snack Lovers HQ agrees!

The Blaze-Up drink wasn't as gassy as other energy drinks, but also doesn't give me a buzz of energy like others do, which was slightly disappointing, but it's a nice easy drink, with a nice flavour. Would recommend.

Likes –

Simple flavour, cheap and easy to drink

Dislikes –

Not available everywhere.

Score – 75%

Details –

Made by Crest Connection UK Ltd
High caffeine content – 20mg/100ml
250ml can.
19p in Home Bargains. 

Frijj Fudge Brownie Milkshake

 I'm a massive fan of milkshakes and anyone who knows me will know I drink far too many of them though sadly they often seem a bit pricey. Recently however our local Tesco has been selling 500ml bottles of Frijj for 60p and with this in mind I stocked up on the Fudge Brownie flavour of the drink filling up an otherwise empty Fridge with Frijj.

Frijj stands out on the shelves due to a very particular type of bottle that is much thicker than that of many of it's rivals. It has a very unique bottle shape with an outer plastic sleeve that is coloured depending on the flavour, in this case a light brown for Fudge Brownie though they also do blue for Vanilla, pink for Strawberry and Yellow for Banana.

As with all Milkshakes I've let this sit in a fridge for a night or two and shaken thoroughly before drinking. I'm sure we all agree that it's wrong to drink Milkshakes any other way.

Upon opening the bottle the drink has quite a faint scent though the magic comes in the drinking of the stuff. The first thing that hits you is it's thick, creamy texture, followed by gorgeous fudgy-chocolatey flavour that runs down your throat smoothly. It's as gorgeous to taste as it is to feel in your mouth. Whilst many milkshakes feel runny in the mouth this feels thick and filling just as a milkshake should feel when you drink it, it feels like a premium product whilst you drink it.

Despite clearly being a product aimed primarily at children the drink has all the qualities of an adults non-alcoholic drink. It almost feels like a grown ups product masquerading as a children's product, it's as if adults don't drink milkshakes! At 60p however everyone should be getting their fill of a wonderfully milky drink! Absolutely flawless.

Likes-
Taste, texture, packaging

Dislikes-
Can be priced high (up to £1.50)

Score-95%

Details-
Made by Frijj
Contains-Milk
Size-500ml
Price-60p-£1.50

Quirks Choc and Hazelnut

Recently we were picking out chocolate biscuits in Poundland (another cheap plug, can you believe we don't get anything for these?) and stumbled across the new McVities "Quirks". Quirks currently come in 2 variations these, Choc and Hazelnut in a red packet and Double Choc which come in a blue packet.

Inside the red outer packet you get an inner packet split into 2 sections with 7 biscuits in each section (sadly the picture below was taken after I'd eaten more than half a packet, oops!)

The bisuits are a golden brown colour in an almost "dome" like shape which is around 1/4 of an inch at it's thickest point and a little over an inch in diameter. On the outside they just look like biscuits but as soon as you bite into the them your struck by the thin chocolate spread which fills the centre of the biscuit.

The outside of the biscuit has, as you may expect a hazelnut-like flavour, not a strong flavour but a noticeable one. As you chew the biscuit the chocolate spread and the hazelnut flavour sort of meld together. It's how I would imagine a cheap hazelnut-choclate spread would taste if you threw some crumbly biscuit into it. Sort of acceptable but nothing that's really amazing amazing or special.


Despite being a McVities product they lack the sort of quality we expect from McVities and despite the pack being relatively big I can't help but feel disappointed with these overall. They just don't stand out from the crowd and annoyingly they seem to go soft really quickly (within a night) which means you need to rush to eat the packet.

Likes-
Nice idea, Large packet, Price

Dislikes-
Tastes cheap, Goes soft quickly

Score-65%

Details-
Made by McVities
Contains-Nuts
Size-175g
Price-£1

Bulldog Buzz Energy Citrus.

When in B&M last week, we stocked up on a range of soft drinks, this included a number of high caffeine energy drinks. One that looked most appealing was the Bulldog Buzz Energy in Citrus flavour. The can seemed very appealing (see picture) and for 29p, it was a definite favourite!

The smell of the Bulldog was citrus like, but not orange, which I first thought, more of a grapefruit type of citrus. I’m not a huge fan of grapefruit flavours, but the Bulldog was not to sharp and very refreshing for the taste buds. The colour of the Bulldog is the usual colour for an energy drink, a light yellow colour.

Drinking the Bulldog was easy, it was a nice light flavour, not to sharp. And the flavour wasn’t as “energy drink” like, often having a plain taste, but this was very tasty, and refreshing with a hint of grapefruit. I’d recommend drinking the Bulldog just out of the fridge, it’s even better chilled!

The Bulldog Buzz Citrus wasn’t too gassy either, which was such a bonus! Also the company, Double D Beverages, give 5p per can to the charity: Help the Heroes.

Likes –

Lovely flavour, refreshing, no gassy feeling, cheap price.

Dislikes –

Not available everywhere.

Score – 95%

Details –

Made by Double D Beverage.
High caffeine content – 55mg/100ml
355ml can.
29p in B&M

Rubicon Sparkling Mango Light

In a recent trip to the local "B&M" (cheap plug folks!) we stumbled across a huge variety of soft drinks that were priced around 29p-39p a can and felt that it only made sense to at least give them a go. If they were God awful we'd at least have tried them and been able to say they were awful, if they were good however we could consider ourselves fortunate to have stumbled on a bit of a bargain.

One of those drinks was Rubicon's "Sparkling Mango Light" (pictured to the left, ignore the price on the can). Despite not being a huge mango fan the price of the drink had enticed me enough to give it a try, after all Rubicon are a well respected name in the soft drink industry and I'd like to see if they lived up to their reputation.




Upon opening the can the scent of mango hits your nose immediately, the sweet smell of the drink rushing from the can to your nostrils in an instant. The smell makes you want to try the drink almost from the off but (for the sake of this review) we had to empty the can into a glass to get a better look at the drink. As you can see in the picture the drink is a yellow-orange colour, the colour expected of a mango drink.

After checking the colour I could finally get down to drinking it. The first thing you notice when you drink the liquid is that it goes down really easy, the fact it's sparkling means you don't feel gassy and there's no tingling sensation when you drink. Sadly though the taste lets the drink down. The initial flavour is lovely, it's sweet and fruity, sadly however the after taste is earthy and soiled, it's the after taste that stays with you much, much longer than the fruity mango flavour. A taste is sadly huge disappointment due to the after taste.

Overall I guess it's sort of what you expect for 29p, it's drinkable but the flavour isn't outstanding and could be improved easily. It does show some promising signs of a being a good drink if Rubicon manages to rid the drink of the earthy after taste (the drinks only real issue) but sadly that may be easier said than done.

Likes-
The smell is wonderful, The initial flavour is delightful, The price was more than reasonable

Dislikes-
The after taste is very off putting

Score-75%

Details-
Made by Rubicon
Contains-A source of Phenylalanine
Size-330ml
Price-29p-49p