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Happy New Year, 2017 + Kaffre talks Candy #26
8 years ago
Greetings journal-readers!
First, please accept my apologies for the delay in getting around to typing this up. I was a bit busy over the weekend and am only now getting caught back up with my online activities.
2016 wasn't a great year for me, but I am pleased to say that my resolution was partially successful in that I managed to post at least one journal per month as promised even though my artistic output plunged to abysmal new depths. For this year's resolution, I intend to try and organize my life a bit more in the hopes of getting more stuff done - with any luck this will include me creating more art and writing to submit here, but based on the failure of previous years' promises I'm leaving that particular as a maybe in the hopes that I won't grow frustrated and give up on the resolution prematurely. Sadly, I'm off to a rather poor start this year, but I'm putting that down to a lot of stuff being closed for the holidays still and hope to get on track soon.
Also, we'll soon (January 28) be transitioning from the year of the Monkey back to the year of the Rooster. I'm a bit concerned about the whole Fire theme though. Will the new roosters like to set fires or will they just be extra-crispy? I suppose, as the Metal variety, I'll probably be OK either way, but I am a bit worried for the Wood Roosters born 12 years ago... :concern:
Well, I guess that's about it for this month's journal entry. Thanks for reading and I wish you all a very happy 2017! *New Year's Hugs*
Name: Awake Caffeinated Chocolate, Milk
Manufacturer: Awake Corporation
Size: 44 gram bar
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Awake consists of a bar of milk chocolate containing added caffeine equivalent to a cup of coffee (110mg). The bar features furrows that can be used to break it into four segments. Seems to have a slightly lower melting point than most chocolate.
Opinion: A Canadian product I'd seen before, but never really paid much attention to before grabbing it for this review. The bar's taste was a fairly standard milk chocolate - sweet, creamy, but with a slightly gritty texture and a distinct, but not unpleasant, aftertaste that I was unable to identify. Overall, I thought this was an interesting product and reasonably tasty, but ultimately there are milk chocolate products I like better that are much easier to acquire so I can only really see myself grabbing this product if I want a quick caffeine rush - a rather rare situation for me.
Name: Brio
Manufacturer: Party Beverages Limited.
Size: 1L bottle
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Brio consists of a dark carbonated beverage flavoured with chinotto (myrtle leaved orange), as well as sweet orange, licorice, rhubarb, and vanilla. Said to go well with pizza.
Opinion: A Canadian soft drink I've had before, but haven't tasted in a few years. The first time I tried the stuff, I founded it unbearably bitter, but it grew on me fairly quickly. This time, however, I was able to make note of a complex blend of flavours albeit still with a bitter aftertaste. Overall, I found Brio to be an interesting beverage with a very unique taste, however, despite no longer finding it overpoweringly bitter, I just don't like it enough for it to ever be more than an occasional change from my usual drinks of choice.
Name: Dairy Milk Mint
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 100 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Dairy Milk Mint consists of a flattish bar of Cadbury milk chocolate flavoured to taste like mint The bar features a series grooves allowing it to be broken up into 21 pieces (three columns and seven rows). Visually indistinguishable from the standard 100 gram Dairy Milk bar.
Opinion: A product I'd seen, but never tried before today. Obviously one's enjoyment of this bar is dependent upon an appreciation for mint-flavoued chocolate, but if so this has smooth flavourful chocolate with a pleasant mint taste - a bit milder than I'd expected, but ultimately I think it works well within the context, retaining much of Dairy Milk's iconic flavour with the mint taste acting as a counterpoint. Overall, I liked this product a lot and would probably buy it again, but between the large size and greater availability of Mint Aero, it would likely only be as an occasional treat.
Name: Walkers Ready Salted Crisps
Manufacturer: Walkers (Lays)
Size: 32.5 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Walkers Ready Salted consist of fairly normal looking potato chips.
Opinion: A flavour I was dimly aware of as the UK equivalent of Original/Regular, but picked up a part of a variety pack. The flavour was more or less what I expected though perhaps a touch saltier than its North American equivalent, but that may be coincidental. Overall, these were pretty tasty but too similar to the domestic version for me to bother tracking them down again. That said, 'plain' does tend to be a rather underrated flavour, I think.
Name: World of Flavours Maple Bacon Chips
Manufacturer: President's Choice
Size: 200 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shoppers Drug Mart
Description: World of Flavours Maple Bacon chips consist of ripple-cut potato chips with a slight orange tint from the flavourings used.
Opinion: While I've sampled the World of Flavour line before, I can't remember whether I've had these particular chips before or not. In any case, they do manage to deliver a smoky-sweet flavour as advertised though I don't think I've ever had maple bacon myself and so can't vouch as to the faithfulness of the representation. Normally, I'm not a fan of 'sweet' potato chips, but I actually think it works well here. First, it's not overly sweet, more like a maple sugar taste and in any event, the smoky flavour is quite dominant with the sweetness playing only a supporting role. Overall, I liked these chips better than I thought I would and would probably buy them again from time to time, but there are other flavours in this particular line that I liked better.
First, please accept my apologies for the delay in getting around to typing this up. I was a bit busy over the weekend and am only now getting caught back up with my online activities.
2016 wasn't a great year for me, but I am pleased to say that my resolution was partially successful in that I managed to post at least one journal per month as promised even though my artistic output plunged to abysmal new depths. For this year's resolution, I intend to try and organize my life a bit more in the hopes of getting more stuff done - with any luck this will include me creating more art and writing to submit here, but based on the failure of previous years' promises I'm leaving that particular as a maybe in the hopes that I won't grow frustrated and give up on the resolution prematurely. Sadly, I'm off to a rather poor start this year, but I'm putting that down to a lot of stuff being closed for the holidays still and hope to get on track soon.
Also, we'll soon (January 28) be transitioning from the year of the Monkey back to the year of the Rooster. I'm a bit concerned about the whole Fire theme though. Will the new roosters like to set fires or will they just be extra-crispy? I suppose, as the Metal variety, I'll probably be OK either way, but I am a bit worried for the Wood Roosters born 12 years ago... :concern:
Well, I guess that's about it for this month's journal entry. Thanks for reading and I wish you all a very happy 2017! *New Year's Hugs*
Kaffre talks Candy #26Name: Awake Caffeinated Chocolate, Milk
Manufacturer: Awake Corporation
Size: 44 gram bar
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Awake consists of a bar of milk chocolate containing added caffeine equivalent to a cup of coffee (110mg). The bar features furrows that can be used to break it into four segments. Seems to have a slightly lower melting point than most chocolate.
Opinion: A Canadian product I'd seen before, but never really paid much attention to before grabbing it for this review. The bar's taste was a fairly standard milk chocolate - sweet, creamy, but with a slightly gritty texture and a distinct, but not unpleasant, aftertaste that I was unable to identify. Overall, I thought this was an interesting product and reasonably tasty, but ultimately there are milk chocolate products I like better that are much easier to acquire so I can only really see myself grabbing this product if I want a quick caffeine rush - a rather rare situation for me.
Name: Brio
Manufacturer: Party Beverages Limited.
Size: 1L bottle
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Brio consists of a dark carbonated beverage flavoured with chinotto (myrtle leaved orange), as well as sweet orange, licorice, rhubarb, and vanilla. Said to go well with pizza.
Opinion: A Canadian soft drink I've had before, but haven't tasted in a few years. The first time I tried the stuff, I founded it unbearably bitter, but it grew on me fairly quickly. This time, however, I was able to make note of a complex blend of flavours albeit still with a bitter aftertaste. Overall, I found Brio to be an interesting beverage with a very unique taste, however, despite no longer finding it overpoweringly bitter, I just don't like it enough for it to ever be more than an occasional change from my usual drinks of choice.
Name: Dairy Milk Mint
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 100 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Dairy Milk Mint consists of a flattish bar of Cadbury milk chocolate flavoured to taste like mint The bar features a series grooves allowing it to be broken up into 21 pieces (three columns and seven rows). Visually indistinguishable from the standard 100 gram Dairy Milk bar.
Opinion: A product I'd seen, but never tried before today. Obviously one's enjoyment of this bar is dependent upon an appreciation for mint-flavoued chocolate, but if so this has smooth flavourful chocolate with a pleasant mint taste - a bit milder than I'd expected, but ultimately I think it works well within the context, retaining much of Dairy Milk's iconic flavour with the mint taste acting as a counterpoint. Overall, I liked this product a lot and would probably buy it again, but between the large size and greater availability of Mint Aero, it would likely only be as an occasional treat.
Name: Walkers Ready Salted Crisps
Manufacturer: Walkers (Lays)
Size: 32.5 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Walkers Ready Salted consist of fairly normal looking potato chips.
Opinion: A flavour I was dimly aware of as the UK equivalent of Original/Regular, but picked up a part of a variety pack. The flavour was more or less what I expected though perhaps a touch saltier than its North American equivalent, but that may be coincidental. Overall, these were pretty tasty but too similar to the domestic version for me to bother tracking them down again. That said, 'plain' does tend to be a rather underrated flavour, I think.
Name: World of Flavours Maple Bacon Chips
Manufacturer: President's Choice
Size: 200 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shoppers Drug Mart
Description: World of Flavours Maple Bacon chips consist of ripple-cut potato chips with a slight orange tint from the flavourings used.
Opinion: While I've sampled the World of Flavour line before, I can't remember whether I've had these particular chips before or not. In any case, they do manage to deliver a smoky-sweet flavour as advertised though I don't think I've ever had maple bacon myself and so can't vouch as to the faithfulness of the representation. Normally, I'm not a fan of 'sweet' potato chips, but I actually think it works well here. First, it's not overly sweet, more like a maple sugar taste and in any event, the smoky flavour is quite dominant with the sweetness playing only a supporting role. Overall, I liked these chips better than I thought I would and would probably buy them again from time to time, but there are other flavours in this particular line that I liked better.
I suppose if you grow up with "ready salted" meaning "basic crisps with no flavour", it doesn't seem weird... ^.^
Also, unless wikipedia is telling fibs again, the name dates back to a time when some English crisp brands were sold bundled with little packets of salt so that you could season them to taste. And there was no reason to think about distinguishing the varieties in terms of flavour because flavoured chips wouldn't be developed until the mid 50s...