Stainer chocolate and thick hot chocolate drinks

I am so glad I came accross Stainer chocolate which is an Italian brand of chocolate because their chocolate range is amazing.
They have so much to offer from chocolate, chocolate aperitifs, chocolate desserts to thick hot chocolate drinks.

Interestingly, Stainer is a popular chocolate brand in Japan.

I got samples of chocolate aperitifs, pralines and thick hot chocolates.

It was really difficult choosing which one to try first because they are all good.

Chocolate aperitifs:

These are basically pre dinner chocolates which come in three herby flavours: Parmesan, Pesto and Olives.

To my surprise, they were white chocolates.

The Pesto was a surprise because the strong aromatic flavours blended well with the white chocolate so it ended up quite floral.

The Parmesan was interesting because it was cheesy and sugary while the olives had a nice salty kick which worked well on white chocolate.

Salted Caramel and Pistachio Pralines:

The pistachio praline was smooth and nutty while the salted caramel was quite fudgy with a butterscotch tone to it.

Last but not least, Stainer Hot chocolate which comes in so many flavours from plain to hot chocolate with bourbon to chilli.

The selection of hot chocolates that I had:

Chocolate ginger, Chocolate cinnamon, Chocolate coffee and vanilla, Bitter chocolate, Chocolate bourbon, Ecuador chocolate and the classic hot chocolate.

I started with the ginger hot chocolate and the thickness made it really indulgent and the gingery kick was there.

Next was the thick drinking chocolate with cinnamon which had a lovely cinnamon kick to it.

My favourite turned out to be the thick chocolate with coffee and vanilla which had a balanced sweetness to it.

Out of the thick chocolate series, there is a white chocolate [bianca con vaniglia bourbon] which I find really unique because I've never really seen thick white chocolate offered at any cafe.

The taste of this was decadent and not sugary like most white chocolates.

Ecuador chocolate was another good one as it was not sweet but more like a dark thick chocolate.

Iberitos pates

As a pate lover, I was really impressed with pates from Iberitos who are also suppliers of Iberico pork fat to Sainsburys.
Their pates are light as whipped mousse which are delicious on anything.

I tried a few and all of them were tasty on toasted ciabatta.

https://www.iberitos.com/

Unusual sweet flavours for Halloween - Onion Sweets by Lidl and FlyingTiger

For Halloween, I was impressed that Lidl and FlyingTiger both did these unusual sweet flavours.

Lidl did gummies for 79p while FlyingTiger did beans for 2 quid.

I didn't hesitate to get the Lidl ones because of the price but for Flyingtiger I got them after Halloween when they were half priced.

To summarize, Flying Tiger were executed better as you get 10 flavours in total and each flavour was distinct.

For Lidl, some of the flavours were fused with other flavours which meant you couldn't try the individual flavours properly.

Most comments were on how awful the onion flavour was which both brands had.

Lidl Halloween Scary Mix: orange chilli (two colours), apple chilli (green), vanilla (pale yellow), onion (black), cooling raspberry (red), and ginger (light orange).

There were five flavours that you could try on their own but the orange chilli was stuck to pink base so I had to bite the top part off or you can use a knife to separate it.

Overall, I didn't like the orange chilli because it was the usual orange sweet flavour with a chilli kick, the apple chilli was much the same.

The vanilla was tasty just like ice cream chews and the ginger was in a similar fashion but it lacked a fiery kick.

Last but not least was the onion which was my favourite, it tasted like caramelized onions that you get on hotdogs.

Overall, not bad but I just didn't like the ones with two flavours stuck together and the colours didn't make sense especially for the vanilla which was not white.

Flying Tiger Tricky Beans: 

In the pack, two colours were represented differently where the blue is green and the white is yellow.

The rest corresponded to the flavours.

For the same colour, there are two flavours where I discovered that visually there is a slight difference in size, the smaller ones were the weird flavours.

All four were easily distinguishable except for the yellow which were all the same size.

Oddly, I really enjoyed the bacon and onion.

The chilli was basically chilli and the pepper tasted like Jalapeno.

A bit pricey for 2 quid if you are not a sweet person hence the late review because I waited until today when it was half priced.

Marsh lamb and seaweed sausages from Hawkins and Sons butchers in Havering

I love sausages as well as unusual flavours so when I spotted these marmite sausages and seaweed sausages at Hawkins and sons butchers I had to give them ago.
As I was going out in the evening I had to get them on another visit but sadly the marmite sausages were all gone which shows their popularity.

Luckily the Marsh Lamb and seaweed sausages were still available so I got that instead.

With the marmite, you can pretty imagine sausages with marmite.

The lamb and seaweed sausages were pretty tasty without any gameness but the seaweed was rather subtle even though you could visually see lots of it.

Sainsburys spiced green pepper & onion relish - summer edition

Although summer is well gone and it's autumn and almost touching into Christmas, I spotted the Sainsburys summer edition spiced green pepper & onion relish reduced for 60p so decided to try it.

It is relish with courgettes, onions, green peppers and spices according to the ingredients.

To be honest, I would say it was a really good onion with depth but the green peppers were not that prominent.

The relish was really tasty with sausages in a roll and also with Gentlemen's relish (salted anchovy paste).

Moju Ginger shot and hot mango immunity

I was given these shots at London Bridge from a Moju popup jeep to try.

After trying them, I can definitely confirm it is made with ginger alright because you can feel the ginger burn your throat as you swallow it.
It is definitely legit because it tastes the same as homemade but better because it is not sweetened with honey.

After drinking it, you can feel your body warm up a bit from the heat in the ginger.

The hot mango immunity was very different in taste, also fiery but very spicy from the cayenne peppers.

It also has vitamins as well as apples, oranges and mango.

Moju Ginger Shot

Sainsbury's Pigs in snowy Blankets dragon roll

I love trying anything unusual and different so when I spotted the pigs in snowy blanket ie pig in Japanese blankets I had to give it a go.

A lot of people may think it is wrong on every level but if you have been to Asia and had their their fake Western food, this couldn't be more right!

Surprisingly, I found it delicious because the cranberry chutney worked really well and the sweet chilli wasn't too sweet.

I felt that if the onion toppings were crispy then it would have been perfect because sausage and onions are always a match made in heaven!

On my next visit, I will have to get Sainsbury's Rudolph's Christmas Feast Sandwich.

Root vegetable patty, sage and onion vegan mayonnaise, umami carrot ribbons, caramelised carrot chutney, roasted seasoned and sweetened pumpkin and sunflower seeds and spinach in a star shaped roll.

AND ITS VEGAN!!!

Also to come is the Brussels sprout and parsnip snacking bhajis which I hope to find soon at Sainsburys.