The good, the bad and the delicious!

This week we try some M&S biscuits, a variant of a firm favourite and an ice cream that intrigues us both.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:06

Hello everybody. Welcome to Snacks What You Get, the weekly podcast where mother and son review snacks and discuss what they've eaten this week. I'm Chris, the son, and this is Debbie.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

The mum.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Welcome to this week.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Welcome.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Thank you everyone for joining us again. Um, just as a quick housekeeping before we uh jump into it, uh, we have been notified that some people have been messaging on Spotify. I didn't know you could do that. This slightly different system where where we upload it, you have to actually then also create a Spotify account to take ownership of podcasts there, and then you can access all that stuff. So I'm gonna get that sorted this weekend. Apologies, we haven't been ignoring you, we didn't know uh on there because you don't have to do that with the others um places, although I believe again a lot of other places you can't uh message directly. So, yes, we'll do that. And we have had some suggestions via a few means. So once we when we do do a suggestion, when we pick that up and we use that um for our tasting rounds, we'll make sure we call it out and say thank you for the suggestion. Unless it's a rotten suggestion, unless it's a bad one, then we'll we'll berate you, obviously. But yes, right. Well, I think we'll just jump into it. So jump into new bites.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

New bites. New bites, new bites, new new bites, bites.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

So, what's your new bites this week?

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Well, it was something I was very much looking forward to trying, and I was actually quite disappointed. Okay, so it was the um they're in Aldi, but they're in other places as well, and it was £3 for four of biscoff ice cream sandwiches.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Oh yes, I've seen them biscoff ice cream sandwiches, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Yeah, I love biscoff, and they were very disappointing, I have to say. So much so that Dave at the following the or the final three, I only had one.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Really?

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yeah, it was, and I do think there wasn't enough biscoff in the ice cream, it was very lacking in biscuff flavour, and the biscuit was just a soggy biscuit.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Really?

SPEAKER_02 2:13

It didn't stay crisp.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Well, I will say a lot of them can be like that. Yeah. Oh, and and I still often enjoy uh what was it, Maxi Bon? Is that what they used to be called? And that was quite a soft biscuit on there. Yeah, but if you're not if you want a crispy biscuit, then that is disappointing.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

I was disappointed because I thought there uh there just wasn't enough biscoff flavour in the ice cream, and then it was topped off with a soggy biscuit. It just didn't do it for me.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

No, there you go then. That is disappointing. It is disappointing. How much were they? Three pounds for four. Three pounds for four, and I feel like that's I feel like I've seen them in Sainsbury's or somewhere else when they're more like four pounds or so.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Yeah, I think that obviously they're a good price in old day, aren't they? Yeah, but yeah, I was disappointed, so I will not be repurchasing those.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Okay, well that is sad, very sad.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

What about yourself?

SPEAKER_03 3:03

So I'm I I am cheating a little bit. My new bite is actually from the week before because I had a few things when we were away. Oh of course, yeah. Um, and again, so this is another Marks and Spencer's one last week, but I this one I I liked a lot as a spoiler alert. Oh, um, and I thought I I needed to bring it up on there. So this was the chocolate and salted caramel cheesecake spheres on there.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

What like a little ball of sort of, yeah, it's more like a dome, really, on there.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

Oh right, okay. But it was covered in chocolate to contain it, I guess, in there. So if I I'll read out the description on it. So it's creamy Madagascar vanilla cheesecake with a delicious sea salted caramel sauce centre coated in milk chocolate and cookie crumb.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Oh, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Yes, and it was it was delicious.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

What sort of size are they? Are they like the size of a tea cake or bigger than that?

SPEAKER_03 3:56

Bigger than that. They are they they're um trying to think, you know, like if you go into a supermarket and you get uh the pack of two shoe buns with cream inside. Yes, they're probably similar size to that, to what they are now because they've obviously got a bit smaller over the years, haven't they? But yeah, to those ones reasonable size, I will say they were delicious, they just were it's hard to um you know hard to not emphasize it and like to to tell you it was just tasty, every part of it worked, it was delicious. I thought it was gonna be a bit overblown, and I only got it because it was reduced, and I'll I'll say that in a minute. But no, it was delicious. The cheesecake was perfect texture and flavour, salt caramel in the middle was just enough to be nice, not too sweet on there. And yeah, the the chocolate on the outside was a bit of a star for me because I I it had then a bit of a consistency, not too dissimilar to like you know, like a walnut whip where you had chocolate and then like that soft bit in the middle. Yeah, so when you had a mouthful of that, it was quite it was like that, it was lovely. Um, the cheesecake was really, really light and soft as well. It wasn't um and it kept shape, but it wasn't a dense, heavy cheesecake. You didn't have to cut it, it was really smooth and lovely.

SPEAKER_02 5:05

Sounds delicious.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

It was now the the only issue is that they are £5.50 for a box or two normally. Two. Yeah, for two, five pounds fifty for a box or two. We got them for £3.80 on a yellow sticker reduced at the end of the day thing. And I think at sub four pounds, I think that's a that's a good that's doable. Yeah, it's it's okay to have that. It's hard to say that one was enough, but I did have one and then one the next day, and that was fine. Um, around there. Obviously, I I I would probably have preferred bigger ones, but I think these days there's always a bit of a difficult crossover, isn't there, because of how cheap a full-size cheesecake can be. Yeah, or something from some brand, even from a branded one. £5.50. I noticed when I was there the other day, I think it's called the Cheesecake Company or something like that, one of those branded cheesecakes, they're doing full-size ones and they're six pounds. So it's only 50p away from one of those full branded flavoured, you know, sponsor. I think they do like a they do a Reese's collab one as well. So it's definitely pushing the price there, but it was delicious. So if I was doing a fancy meal and you wanted to get a nice dessert for it, yeah, it it was definitely it definitely suited it um on there. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Nice. Oh, lucky you.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, yes, that was uh new bites for today, and um I think that leads us straight into the tasting grounds. It's the tasting grounds, yes, so this week.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

I'm looking forward to this week.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Yeah, so backed by our own demand, we've got some ice cream. Because it's hot enough for ice cream, it's definitely hot enough um on there, and then we've got two of the I think there's a selection of four, isn't there? But we our local only had two um of the Marks and Spencer's creams.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

They're they're basically like outrageously chocolatey something.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Yeah, and they're the new, they've got four new ones or something out there um on there. So we've got two of those, and another of the blue ribbons that isn't the standard one. Yeah, so we'll get into those. So, which one would you like to go for first?

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Oh, let's start with the blue ribbon because I'm interested in this one.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Yes, start with the blue ribbon. Okay, so this is the blue ribboned dark on there. Now we were thoroughly impressed with the hazelnut, weren't we? We were, and I like a normal blue ribbon, so yeah, yeah, they had me on side at the start. So a dark chocolate one.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

I I I think these are gonna be good. Well, uh yeah, I say that and then I could be disappointed, but I was so impressed with the hazelnut ones that when I saw these ones, I thought I've got to pick them up and try them.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

So I I agree, I think these have the potential to be very nice because blue ribbons, because it's wafer, there's a bit of sweetness in there. Yes, and dark chocolate can often be quite a good way to temper sweetness, and this describes it as because it's a mod pack of six initially, um, six crisp wafer biscuits covered in dark chocolate. That's all it says. Nice, nice, nice description.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

But I did notice from the picture the wafer looks chocolatey, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Yeah, so that that is a really good point. The so the packaging is like the blue ribbon packaging, yeah, but on the hazelnut one, there's like a wave that goes across the front. Uh the hazelnut one is green. Yes, the blue ribbon, the standard one, is just blue, uh, like a slightly different shade of blue. The dark chocolate ones are red, it's got a nice red on it. It looks very, very nice, very pleasing. Yeah, but the yes, on the front of the multi-pack, it has a cross section, like a lot of these things do. Yeah, and you're right. The um the actual wafer is a brown, dark brown colour, not the normal white ones. Yeah, whitey cream colour of a wafer.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Um when I looked at the description, it doesn't mention anything about it being chocolate, does it? It just says it's a wafer.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

It doesn't, it just says it just says a crisp wafer biscuit on there. So, yeah, interesting that is.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

I like the packaging. I think it's classic blue ribbon.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

It's a bit of a classic brand, isn't it? So, yeah, you can see that. Again, clearly because of the wafer and that thrown out there, the 91 calories on there. And it it tells you here that serving is one bar. That's good. I just don't think that's true, but that's the bars this size. Well, you know, I think two or three is one serving.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

I don't I get uh whilst I would normally say these are suitable for pack lunches, I'm not sure children would want dark chocolate. I think these are aimed at adults.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Yeah, so that that I do agree with that. They yeah, it's a kind of perfect format for a pack lunch, but actually, dark chocolate often isn't quite as sweet as kids tend to like, do they? Yeah. So yeah, and again, the the the individual packets when you take out them out of the monitor pack, basically the same as the um the big pack, except they don't have the uh they don't have the cross section on anymore.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

No, then there's no picture on the individual bars, is there? Although there is a big circle with the 91 colours, there is, yeah, again, that is on each individual bar.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

So again, they really are pushing that um on there. But yes. Shall we give it a go?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

Well, that was nice.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

That was really nice.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Yeah, um, yeah, I thought I thought the dark chocolate, but firstly, it tasted like dark chocolate, it wasn't one of those It's definitely dark chocolate. You've seen a few, I've seen a few anyway, where they say it's dark chocolate, but then you read it and it's like a milk dark in between. This tasted like dark chocolate. It had the I don't want to say bitterness, but it had that kind of thing in the back because it wasn't bitter.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

No, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Yeah, there was definitely sweetness there. But I think your observation at the start is right. I think it is a chocolate wafer with a chocolate cream or dark chocolate cream and and the dark chocolate on the outside.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

Very nice chocolate, very nice flavour. Loved it.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

I really enjoyed it. I will say, for me, I do think, because I really like a normal blue ribbon, it's probably my least favourite of the three options we've had, but that that's not very low, it's not going to be low scoring because of that. Because I love the I really like the other two so much.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

So um I thought it was a really nice flavour and it really worked. The definitely got the dark chocolate from it, and it was just yeah, it went down really well. I liked it.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Yes, I agree. It really nice, went down well. Um, texture-wise, exactly what you wanted. Ways were nice and crispy on there, wasn't it? And how much of these then?

SPEAKER_02 11:43

They're a pound.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

One pound again.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

I picked them up in Food Warehouse.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Food warehouse, there you go. So one pound for a pack of six of them.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

That's not bad.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

It's not bad. It's not bad. Now, again, they are only 17 and a half grams per bar, but that's down to the wafer. I don't feel yeah, getting through them that it's a small bar, it's just it feels like a very standard size of that. But the wafer obviously keeps it light um on there. But yeah, one pound for six, it it's it's pretty good prices.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

I mean, it is pack lunchbook price, isn't it? You can't argue with it.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Yeah, it definitely feels like you buy a pack of that, and then that's five school days and one for the road sort of thing, isn't it? There on there, but yeah, and it's a perfect size for that as well. Yeah, yeah, but yes, delicious. So, what would you score it?

SPEAKER_02 12:37

I'm gonna go seven.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Seven, nice.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

I enjoyed it, I really liked it. I would put that on a par with the original, okay, with my the hazelnut still being my favourite, but yeah, that's fair, that's fair.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

And I I I would give it a seven as well. Yeah, and I think I had the hazelnut over eight, and I would give a normal one, probably seven and a half and eight. Um for me, just a little bit behind the normal one, but that's only because I like it so much, the normal one. And then the hazelnut was again a really impressive step up. So yeah, I highly recommend them, and particularly if you're someone who does like a slightly less sweet biscuit, because it's not it's not not sweet, it's just compared to overly sweet, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. It's not overly sweet compared to the original and the hazelnut. There's definitely um a muted sweetness to it when in a I would say well done blue ribbon.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

That was very nice.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Yes, well, that all three uh are highly rated, delicious biscuits. Not many brands have that, you know, no on there. So yes. Well, that was the Blue Ribbon Dark doing very well there. And that okay, so next we have the first of our two MS outrageously chocolatey um biscuits here. So for anyone who is unfamiliar, these are their like a custard cream covered in chocolate, is how it started on there, and they were the ones to do it.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Custard cream and bourbon bourbon. Yeah, but they I think MS did them first, didn't they?

SPEAKER_03 14:04

I think they did them first, yeah. I don't want to claim it definitely, but I feel like they did. And yeah, effectively they took a custard cream covered in chocolate. I I don't want to say they took a bourbon bourbon biscuit and then covered in chocolate because they didn't, they reshaped it into the shape of a custard cream. Yes, it is. They did. So it's it's it's no the custard cream is the original, clearly, because that's what they copied the idea from. But they did them both at the same time. They released a chocolate covered custard cream, chocolate covered bourbon cream, and then obviously every supermarket's released a version pretty much since, haven't they? Yes, and we reviewed some of them not that long ago on here. Um, didn't we? They're not gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

We did the little ones, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Yes, so MS not to be outdone, have released this summer, I think, a selection of four four more flavors. Yeah, four more flavours of it. And we've got two of them here. And the first one we're gonna look at is the outrageously chocolatey, white chocolate coated cookies and cream.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

So I'm guessing this is their version of an Oreo.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

No, I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, they do. Have you seen they do coated Oreos? They do, like a load of coated. Yeah, so that is a good point. Cookies and cream is Oreo, isn't it? I suppose. Um I'm trying to just get the description on here underneath the um apologies for the wrapper. So it says six white chocolate coated chocolate, six white chocolate coated chocolate flavour sandwich biscuits with a vanilla flavour filling. I didn't mention anything about cookies there, did it? Or cream. No, yeah, so that's that's their own description for it. Okay, well, it's 191 grams for six. Oh, there it is. So that's just over 30 grams each bit. So yeah, one of these is twice the weight of a blue ribbon.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Shall I tell you the price?

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Go on, I am sat down.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

I'm glad you're sitting down because this this is this is the shocker. £3.25.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

See, this is the six biscuits. For six biscuits, and let's remember that the base for these, the original starting point was a custard cream. A biscuit that you can get about 20 for 40p. Yeah, you know, on there. It would it would it would be literally cheaper for you to go buy a packet of custard creams, a load of chocolate, and just dunk them in there, and you and you probably yeah, and you'd have about 40 of them on there.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

So it is shocking, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 16:37

It is it's a lot for six biscuits. Now, most things can be forgiven if they're delicious, but it just stops them from being a staple, doesn't it? Like on there, if you you know, that's the issue.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

You you'd be bought well. I'm wondering if they're gonna bring out a tin of them at Christmas with all the different flavors. That's a good point because they didn't because it would be a special occasion tree, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_03 17:00

And as well, MS, if I remember correctly, were the first I get maybe first is is the wrong, but they they were one of the first to do the extremely chocolatey or outrageously chocolatey biscuits at Christmas, weren't they? Because we used to like the foxes' biscuits you get at Christmas, that were the really chocolatey ones. Then MS actually brought theirs out, which were double the chocolate on it, and they're delicious. So that is a really good point. And MS, if you do it, we want our cut, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Um we gave you the idea, you heard it here first.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Exactly. Um, for a box with all the flavours they've released of them, or better still, just send us each a box. Just send us a couple of boxes each, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

We'll a couple of boxes each.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

We'll make yeah, we'll make that contract now. There you go. Um, but yes, so packaging, they're all very similar. This is actually, I would say, maybe my least favourite. I like the blue on its own.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

I I think the blue, even though it's not the same blue as an Aurea, is what made me think of Aurea's when I saw it.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

That's your point. So the packaging for these are very similar to all of them, where it's very plain, very uh stylised, like my like Marts and Spencer's stuff is very um doing how to describe it, but it's quite minimalist, isn't it? Yes, on there. So it's like one colour on it, it's got a cross-section and a non-cross-sectioned um biscuit on the front, and it just says outrageously chocolatey, white chocolate coated cookies and cream, more chocolate than biscuit, is their tagline for it. Yeah, and it says on all of them, they're all done in the same layout, but they're all a different colour. And this one is a very pale, like sky blue, would you say baby blue kind of yeah?

SPEAKER_02 18:30

It's not my favourite version of blue. I'm not, I'll not I'll be honest.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

Yeah, I think on its own, I don't mind the blue, but I just don't think it works in this group. It's the odd one out, isn't it? The others are a bit more within the same brown, they're on the same colours as the biscuits, aren't they?

SPEAKER_02 18:45

This this stands out, and yeah, I think I'm not sure I like it.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

No colouring.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

No, I don't like it.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

I think it really like the others, the biscuit almost, as you said, blends into the look of them. But actually, this one, the biscuit really stands out against it in a way that doesn't feel like on brand with them. No, um, on there.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

I mean, when you look at the cross section, it is like looks like a dark coloured biscuit and a light coloured cream, which again reminds me of Oreos, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Yes, I think yeah, when you say cookies and cream and a biscuit, I think is Oreo is the is the brand you're competing against, isn't it? So I'm assuming that's also what they've done um on there. But yes, white chocolate coating on paper we should like it.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:31

So shall we give it a go?

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

I'm not a fan of that.

SPEAKER_04 19:38

No.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

It was very, very sweet. When I put into it, the chocolate was the same thickness as the biscuit and the same thickness as the cream.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

And the same on mine as well. When you look when you look at the cross section, once you've bitten into it, you can see that they are outrageously chocolatey. The top layer of chocolate is about as thick as the each of the biscuits individually.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

But the white chocolate, although I wouldn't say white chocolate had a particularly strong flavour, it did overpower. I didn't get any flavour from the biscuit, and then a little bit of vanilla from the cream in the middle. So it was overpoweringly sweet.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Yes, I I I agree completely. I I thought there was zero flavour from the biscuit, there's barely a texture from it at some point. I mean, there was a bit of crunch, but that was it. Yeah, it just sort of disappeared then, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 20:30

That if that was a biscuit on its own, um and I'm harping back to Oreos now because it was very thin for a biscuit, if you know what I mean. Like an all a normal Oreo is quite thin biscuit on there.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

Yeah, and I will say, as much as Oreos can be nice, I'm not the biggest fan of them because they're quite the biscuits quite bitter often, in it. But at least there's some flavour there with this. You didn't even get the bit. I was kind of hoping that the bitterness would counteract some of the sweetness on the thing, but they didn't. Um, one thing I will say, and you you pointed this out when you did it though, I quite like the detail of the biscuits, uh MS branded. Yes. Now you can't see it on top, obviously, on the side, but if you look on the bottom, where the chocolate is. It's quite clear on the bottom, yeah. Well, it's quite clear on my next one. We couldn't see it as easily, yeah. But um, you can on my one, so it depends on how thick the chocolate is on the bottom. But that's quite nice detailing on there, which I I get, you know, adds to the price when they've got to do custom moulds and all this stuff. But yeah, that that was a lot of sweetness and not much else, was there?

SPEAKER_02 21:35

No, I I feel like that should be in a chocolate biscuit selection pack because it it's not it's not strong enough to hold its own. No, it's not for for and £3.25 works out at for six biscuits is like £55 a biscuit.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Yeah, which for that that kind of biscuit is is a lot of money. It's a lot of money, and well that's more one pack of that is more than you could buy a normal pack of castor creams for unless you.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

Actually, if you see what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

One yeah, one biscuit costs more than a whole pack of standard ones. And I if I'm honest, I think I'd prefer a pack of custard creams to I agree. That was very it was yes, they're outrageously chocolate, but it was very rich.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

And it just Not in the pleasant way, was it? There was a bit I will say the vanilla, there was a bit of vanilla occasionally, not every bite, so it did come through. But then all you were getting was really sweet vanilla flavour, which isn't always that pleasant.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Yeah, no, I I I am I wouldn't be buying I wouldn't be buying them again at £3.25, but I wouldn't be buying them again because I'm just not a big fan of them. I feel disappointed with MS.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Yes, same. Disappointed entirely. So what would you score them then, given all the you know the price and everything into it?

SPEAKER_02 22:49

This is gonna sound really harsh, but I'm gonna go 4.5.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

And and you know what it's gonna sound silly because I'm I'm agreeing with you. I'm gonna do I was gonna do the exact same. I I originally was gonna go five, five point five, but then I remembered the price. The price and drops it down, doesn't it? It really does have an effect, and it can I mean the price sometimes for me can be a whole point deduction on there, and it's been nearly that this time because I was um in an iron on five to five point five, but I settled on four point five because the price really um had an impact. If they've been two pounds, we're probably talking of five and a half six almost. Yeah, five and a half maybe, but they're not two pounds, three pounds twenty five.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

£3.25. It is such a lot of money for six biscuits, and it's the novelty. They've bought out four new flavours, and you feel like you've got to try them. I'm glad I've tried them, but I won't be buying those again.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Yeah, and I will say though, the flavours, I can't remember what the other two are from the two we've got, but this feels like the the least fatty, and what I mean by that is you'll see with our next one that a lot of the flavours were to do around stuff that's got popular last year. So I feel like that is a more classic, yeah. I say classic, modern classic flavouring. Um, but I it just didn't do very well. I just yeah, it didn't work really. It doesn't work, no. No, okay. Well, that's a shame. However, that brings us on to our next one.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Well, I'm hoping this one's gonna be good because I am looking forward to trying this.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

Yes, I agree. So this one is the outrageously chocolatey blonde chocolate coated speculous creams. Now, again, has a tagline more chocolate than biscuit, and it is very clearly jumping on two trends of blonde chocolate, which is about the last year has been popular. The speculous being unbranded biscoff, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 24:33

So it's yeah, it's it's in that world.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

So two really popular, two of our favourite trends in the we both like blonde chocolate and we both like biscoff, don't we? All speculous.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

Exactly. So again, this one packaging a lot more pleasant. Yeah, it's a it's a bit of an is there a bit of like an ombre as well, it gets lighter over the other side. Yes, I think it does. Where it goes from like a yellowy, pale off-white yellowy to a slightly paler, closer to white colour, and it really blends in nicely with the actual uh I think it suits the picture of the biscuits.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yes, the biscuits, that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Yeah, and I'm just gonna apologize, I've got to fold down the thing. Right. This one says six white chocolate with caramelised sugar, coated cinnamon flavoured sandwich biscuits with a caramelised biscuit flavour filling. So that sounds a lot nicer as well.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Well, hopefully there'll be some flavour in them.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Yes, and so again, the cross section on the front, it looks a little bit, to be fair, like a custard cream covered in blonde chocolate because it's got the the white filling, if you see that, and the um and then the the yellowy biscuit covered in blonde chocolate. But yeah, these are more what I expect, which is a little bit of we're releasing like the other one, is a flavour they could have done at any point. They could have released that cookies and cream is now quite a more like I say a modern classics, but no, but these are jumping on and and having a creative way of fitting two flavours that people are into at the moment into a biscuit. So I was quite happy when these ones came out.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

I think there is another one that's a very I think no is it is it a white chocolate covered?

SPEAKER_03 26:13

There's another speculative one, I think, isn't there?

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Yeah, I think it might be white chocolate covered.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Yeah. But they smell nice. Smell in the packet. I don't know about the actual biscuits.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Which is biscoff, isn't it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

Yeah, in that in that realm.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

So again, £3.25. Oh, £3.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

So, yeah, that is with all of the MNES stuff, it it always will detract from it slightly because you know, when we're talking about snacks, we're not talking about one-off treats forever generally, we're talking about stuff people could pick up and they're feeling snacky.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

And at £3.25 for six, it feels a little bit more like a novelty thing you'll pick up once and never again kind of thing. Which maybe they're targeting that. Yeah. But it does feel like there's a lot of a lot of this this market is actually stuff people might pick up regularly. And there's there's only you know, you have to be quite well off, or only like those to pick these up every week. Yeah. Again, six biscuits are $3.25.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

It's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

And they tell you that each biscuit is a serving.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Yeah, which I don't think is very fair again. Yeah, serve six each biscuit provides.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Serve six. Can you imagine if at Christmas I'd pull a pack of these out for dessert and we all have one each?

SPEAKER_03 27:37

I know, I know. I know. I think if people kick off, I'd kick off. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

But yeah, I'm sure your brother would too.

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Yeah, he would. Yeah. Okay, so should we give him a try?

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Yeah, let's get in through this.

SPEAKER_03 27:49

Okay. Instantly better. That one was amazing. Very delicious. Really, really enjoyed that one.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

The chocolate, there was a lot of straight away, there's flavour from the biscuit and the cream, and then the blonde chocolate, it was all absolutely delightful.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

Yeah, I actually the biscuit in that and the flavour that you got from that. I actually think was a bit nicer than a standard just a biscoff biscuit on its own. Yeah. Again, I know it's speculous their version, but normally everything I try that says speculous and not biscoff because it's not used in the official, is worse. You get marginally sometimes. This one I think was nicer. It was so nice. Oh, delicious chocolate, it all worked.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

It did. I mean, you'd think it would be overly sweet, but it wasn't because the biscuit itself was so flavourful, wasn't it? Very nice.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

It was, and it was interesting because I think that might have been slightly sweeter than the last one overall. But because the flavours were so well balanced and it all worked together, you actually felt like you wanted to eat, finish the biscuit, you know, and possibly have another one or two. Um, yeah, that it is very, very heavy in that sense. So again, the pack of six is going to take some doing. I think, and we said it off off mic, two of you with a cup of tea each or something like that, or a cup of coffee, that packet does both of you there. That's and that is that is a delicious dessert.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

It's very nice, very nice. You know, if I if I was doing an afternoon tea, which I have done quite a few times, yeah, one or two of them, I would put them out with me cakes as well.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

Because yeah, absolutely delicious, sounding you know, chocolate was phenomenal, biscuit was delicious, and the cream in the middle was yeah, delicious, and it all worked.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

It it it was a beautiful mouthful.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

It was, it really was, and so that yeah, £3.25 though. It yeah, but do you know what this is why it's so difficult, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 29:50

It is difficult, but I think I would buy those again because they were so nice. Special occasion, my birthday's coming up, you know. I think I'll probably treat myself to some of them.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

They're not a weekly purchase, but they're definitely. I I would have to agree, I would say buy again, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

I won't be forgetting them in a hurry.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

No, no, I won't be. And and with that, what would you rate them?

SPEAKER_02 30:12

I'm gonna say eight point five.

SPEAKER_03 30:17

I and you again we're matching. I'm saying eight point five as well. And my reasoning was I'm probably thinking more nine just over nine. It's the price, the price means they have they can't go any higher, and that's and that's I think fair, but 8.5. I thought they were delicious, and yeah, I'd happily buy them again.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

Yeah, I I think they need to be a permanent fixture in MS.

SPEAKER_03 30:38

Yes, MS if you're listening. Well, I know obviously the list. All the all the big yeah, all the important people clearly listen to this podcast. So um please keep those on the rotor. They were absolutely delicious, yeah, a triumphant product there. That is, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Yeah, yeah. I have there was nothing to fault in them.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

So absolutely nothing to fault. And so with that, we'll then move on to our final item of the day, which is our ice cream, which is nice, which is are these little? Are they little? These are the the internal brand of gelatelli. That's what it looks like, isn't it? Gellatelli, and it's the double paradise milk chocolate, black currant, raspberry, and sour cherry um ice cream. So it's blackberry, raspberry, and cream flavoured ice cream with a layer of sour cherry sauce coated in milk chocolate and wildberry flavour sugar pearls. So it's a bit like those double magnum kind of things where I'm guessing that's their take on there. That's their take.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

I've not seen a flavour like this though from Magnum or I am looking forward to this because this does sound really nice.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

Yeah, so it's got that nice ice cream in the middle in that classic shape. Um, and then yeah, there's a layer of this um sauce covered in chocolate, and that looks delicious. And the packaging is quite out there, but I quite like it.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

I like the pink, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

It's nice.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

I think it looks good. I think it suits the picture of the ice lolly or the chalk ice on a stick. Yes, I I think it's yeah, I like it. It's very stylish, I think.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

No, agree, and the um the individual packets inside, even though they are you know from Lidl, often you end up like little and oldly often to save costs, understandably. They just give you a clear packet.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

These aren't these are nice, proper, like a branded magnum. So these have got pictures of fruit on them, they say double, you know, they've got the pattern as well. So the box for anyone obviously who can't see, it's a nice pink box with a motif of like flowers on it, which um yeah, which look really nice, and they're in like slightly different coloured pinks, it's all in that thing, and then there's a cross section again um of it with the fruit that are in it on the front, and yeah, and it looks nice. And you get four of them. Um, is that three? Yeah, four by eighty-five mil on there, or four by seventy-one grams on there for a total of 284 grams, is what you get. And it says that it's a black currant and raspberry flavoured ice cream. I've read the bit on the front out, but this is what it says on the back. Flavoured ice cream, cream flavoured ice cream, covered with uh sour cherry flavoured sauce and a milk chocolate, and then there's wildberry flavoured sugar pearls within the milk chocolate, so it's like ridged. A bit like if you were to have like an almond ice cream where the almonds are under the chocolate, that's what it looks like, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 33:39

Yeah. I I think it's nice packaging.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yeah, and um are you getting the price?

SPEAKER_02 33:45

I'm just looking at my receipts on the app to see what the price was for them.

SPEAKER_03 33:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Because I feel like they were a little bit more pricey than the normal ones that they do, because these are special ones.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Yeah, and I will say it does look like that. Like like I say, you know, the actual pack itself has had effort put into it as opposed to just giving you a clear plastic one.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Yeah, I'm gonna say that all of Oldie's versions of these, little sorry, versions of these, um, do come in easily identifiable packaging.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Because I mean, I like most people, when we buy them, we bring them home, we empty them all, chuck them in the freezer.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Yeah, yeah, then it's easy to recycle the box.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Yeah, it's easy then to see which is which, which you know, I'm grateful to um um Lidl for doing that.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

Yeah, I will say because other brands don't often treat them like they're single, they know they're bought in a box and then they make them in a clear packet, isn't it? Yes, away.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Certainly the bigger supermarkets tend to do that.

SPEAKER_03 34:46

Yes, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 34:49

So the price.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Price, I'm struggling, bear with me, caller. Trying to think I did buy these a while ago.

SPEAKER_04 34:59

Yeah, you bought them a couple of weeks ago, didn't you? On there. Might just be easier to Google them at this point. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

But yes, so 284 grams. For 71 grams, I feel like that's about right. As in about standard. Again, I've it's not opened the packet, but you can kind of see size-wise that it's a very similar size to the magnums, which have all got smaller over the years. I think we can all agree on that. Um, but yes, and these are yeah, jellately, and and there is another flavour. What was the other flavour you've got in there?

SPEAKER_02 35:41

Uh, the I think it's nut and caramel.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

Nut and caramel one, which I'm sure are lovely. We just decided we thought we had quite a lot of sweet stuff to have something a bit more um fruity in our flavours.

SPEAKER_02 35:52

£3.49.

SPEAKER_03 35:54

Okay, so that is definitely more expensive than more expensive.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

The other ones, I think, uh the other ones are I think £2.69, but you get six as opposed to.

SPEAKER_03 36:02

Yeah, so that would be like the white chocolate, milk chocolate, almond ones there. So these are, but they are a double, they are there. That isn't actually far, it feels like, away from you know, Magnum branding price. Although, do you only get three of those in a bag?

SPEAKER_02 36:14

I think you only get three, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 36:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

So these are working out at 87 pence a per ice cream.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

87 pence per ice cream. Again, if you saw it in a shop, that'd be nice and cheap, individual when you're out and about, so if there's a big markup when you do it that way. But as we know, we've learned from the MS ones, price is a big factor, but if it's delicious, it can still overcome it a little bit. So, with that in mind, shall we give it a go?

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Yes. That was one of the nicest, nicest ice creams I've had for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 36:50

I agree, it was absolutely delicious.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

It really was that everything about it just worked. That that ice cream in the middle, the black currant and raspberry ice cream, stunning. The cherry sort of really worked round the outside with the cherry with the chocolate. It was it just really worked, and it was you could taste every element of it.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

You could taste every element of it, and they all worked really well together. Now, I am not somebody who would normally eat a magnum like they do in the adverts, where you eat or any ice cream like that where you just bite into it all. I would normally chocolate on the outside and work my way in. But I just started doing that and I just wanted to try them all together. It was absolutely delicious together. Individually, every single bit was good. Yeah, together though, it was absolutely delicious. Double Paradise is the name, Double Paradise indeed. It was delicious.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Um they were amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:47

The everything worked. The wild berry flavoured sugar pearls, which are in the chocolate on the outside, it were delicious with the chocolate, worked really nicely. The sour cherry, I think, was perfect because you just needed someone to bring it back in line. Yeah, so the black currant and raspberry ice cream as well, I think that wasn't too sweet on its own. No, it was really delicious, and that cream ice cream that's sort of swelled through. Although yours is a bit more chunked, wasn't it? You had like one and another.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

More of the cream at the top and the black currant at the bottom.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

Yeah, whereas mine was swelled through. That was nice with it as well. It was lovely. Yeah, I mean, again, as we we sort of said, that if they just released the black currant and raspberry ice cream on top of that with the cherry swelled through it, that'd be delicious as well. Yeah, and that and that's the thing. I think having something like that sour cherry, it allowed you to have the sweet chocolate and the ice cream in the middle without any of it feeling too sweet.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

No, it it it just all worked, and like you, I normally bite all the chocolate off, but I didn't want to, I wanted to eat it all together, eat it all together, and I did, and it was lovely, absolutely delicious.

SPEAKER_03 38:56

It was delicious, and I will say, when we first opened it, you were a bit like, oh, they've got smaller. I did say to you that that the doubles now, and we checked the magnum exact same weight, 85 uh mil, I think it says, yeah, so it's the exact same as a magnum double raspberry or whatever they do on there, it's the exact same size as those, which I belie are smaller than the regular milk chocolate, white chocolate, or almond ones you get.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

Right, yes, it is smaller than those, but I think that tastes better than any magnum I've ever had.

SPEAKER_03 39:27

Yeah, I agree. The only thing I will say in for their double is that the magnum is normally ice cream with a very, very thin chocolate coating, then the sauce, then the outer coating on it. I actually don't think that inner chocolate coating was missed on this one. No, I didn't think I thought it was no delicious. Um and yeah, I agree. Actually, I think I preferred that to any magnum I've ever had as well.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Yeah, and it's quite a thick coating of chocolate on the outside, like you say, with those little punchy bits in it. It was so nice. Nice chocolate, it was it's just lovely.

SPEAKER_03 40:00

Now, again, bringing it back round to the comparison because that's all we've got with these things, is magnums are about um £4. What was it? I said they're £4.25 for three, yeah, not on offer, but they're often, and when we looked online, there was a there's a different offer everywhere, but they were around £2.50 then for three on there, which actually brings them in line to not too dissimilar price when you think you get four for three pounds. On there, and I actually think I'd prefer to get four of those than three Magnums for a bit cheaper.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Yes. Oh, I would. I I will repurchase these if they are still available.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

Yes, yeah, because I think these are a they say new on them.

SPEAKER_02 40:39

They are, and um hopefully they're new for the summer.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Yes, I think, and to be honest, I think actually, other than the blue ribbon, they all of these are a bit of a summer, they were launched around the summer sort of time, weren't they? Yeah, so yes, but yeah, with all that considered, price and all, what would you score it?

SPEAKER_02 40:57

I'm gonna go 8.5.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

Lovely. I'm gonna go for a nine. Wow, like I said, I like an ice cream like that, and yeah, to me that was absolutely delicious.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

It really was, it really worked. Well done, Liddle, is all I can say to that one.

SPEAKER_03 41:10

I exactly, that's how I feel about it. I just say well done on that. Makes me excited to try their other flavours, although I I said that and then I went, well, actually, does that mean they're gonna be disappointing? Because that's the best one. But I suppose there's only one way to find out, isn't there?

SPEAKER_02 41:22

Well, we'll we'll just have to try another flavour next week, won't we?

SPEAKER_03 41:25

Exactly. Okay, well, that's it for the tasting grounds this week. For to be honest, only one disappointment. So it's a pretty good week for tasting grounds.

SPEAKER_05 41:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

And with that, lead us into our final segment, Debbie's Fun Fact.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Debbie's Fun Facts. This week we're talking about gingerbread biscuits.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

Gingerbread biscuits, okay. I do like a gingerbread biscuit.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

I do like a gingerbread biscuit.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Are we talking chocolate coated or non?

SPEAKER_02 41:54

Well, I'm thinking of the sort of gingerbread men more than okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

Again, like a gingerbread man as well.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

So gingerbread men are modelled on Guy Fawkes.

SPEAKER_03 42:04

Oh, are they?

SPEAKER_02 42:05

Yes. After the gunpowder plot in 1605, there was a new tradition throughout England, the biscuit figures were sold at fairs traditionally made in the likeness of Catholic Saints. But after Guy Fawkes' fault attempt to blow up Parliament, the bonfire celebrations that followed featured figures of him. And people could now show their support for Parliament for the Protestant court, sorry, by eating the um papist villain, hence the association of gingerbread with bonfire night.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Okay, I suppose ginger often associated with like more fiery ginger cake and all that.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:45

All that. So um yeah, I can see that. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

I didn't know that either, so I thought that was quite interesting.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

It's a British history to go with it.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

It is. And I thought, well, we're having mostly biscuits today, three biscuits, one ice cream. I thought a little fun fact about a biscuit would be interesting.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

Yeah, that is interesting. And Guy Forks, obviously, it's a it's a British story where he failed to blow up the House of the Parliament um on the 5th of November, as I say, which is our bonfire night.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Do you remember the 5th of November?

SPEAKER_03 43:12

Exactly, and that's our bonfire night, um, traditionally. And um, yeah, I didn't realise that that it makes sense that that would be the biscuit you do again. Yeah, a lot of the biscuits from those days and ages that it had like one strong flavour to carry it and basically cover up the fact that it was made maybe quite cheaply. Um, but everyone likes a gingerbread man, of course they do. Yeah, exactly. I wonder I wonder at what point we started decorating them. Because I imagine initially they were just a shape. Yes, yeah, but what when did we start to I suppose that comes into when did icing or when did other stuff come about, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 43:47

But chocolate chips.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

Exactly. And gum drop buttons. Oh yes, exactly. Um but yes, brilliant. No, thank you for that. Interesting fact this week with Debbie. Um so yeah, thank you for that, mum. And that's it for a week, for another week. Thank you everyone for listening.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

Yeah, thank you everyone.

SPEAKER_03 44:06

I will get the Spotify things sorted so I can check any methods you've got on there. We know we know of some, we just and we're not ignoring your comments.

SPEAKER_02 44:13

No, we we just need to get things things in order, and then we will we will be letting you know what people have said, and we will also be if people have recommended things, then we aim to try them.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

Yes, and we will, yeah. We've got we've got some recommendations, we'll be going out trying to get them, whether or not it's next week or the week after they actually end up on the recording. We shall see. Um, we've also got some ideas to do some slightly specials episode where things like you know comparing chocolate digestives at all the major supermarkets in the UK and things like that. Um that'll be a bad one. It will be a good one. But again, any suggestions, please feel free to send them in. I will definitely acknowledge them. And yeah, thank you again for this week and goodbye.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

Thank you. Bye.