Skippy Peanut Butter. It's what Americans eat!

America's favourite, Skippy Peanut Butter comes in smooth and crunchy varieties.

And both are equally delicious.

However, my wife and I noticed that the smooth version is much smoother than other peanut butters that we have tried.

And even the crunchy version is also smoother, too.

There's none of that annoying cloying lumpiness that one can come across in other brands of peanut butter.

There's enough crunch to keep your teeth busy, but there are no ridiculously large chunks of peanuts that can occur with other brands of crunchy peanut butter.

But here is a curious thing. My wife, who for years has assured me that she "hates" peanut butter, has really and seriously fallen very deeply in love with both the smooth and the crunchy varieties of Skippy Peanut Butter!

Rather than hating peanut butter, it looks as if the real reason for her previous antipathy to peanut butter was that she had just never tried Skippy Peant Butter, before!

They are available in 340g jars and cost £2.25 each from Sainsbury's.

Goa Premium Beer

The island of Goa, off the coast of India, is known for its beaches, its sun... and its beer.

Goa is the home of the Impala Distillery and Brewery, Ltd., of Assolda, Quepem, Goa.

One of the beers that it brews is Goa Premium Beer, which is a lager style beer.

It is brewed with all of the essential ingredients to create a good, classic lager style beer.

Water, malt, maize flakes, hops and yeast.

It is a good, honest lager style beer, yet there is something else there, almost, in the complex background flavours, there seems to be a hint of spiciness, that adds a little certain something else to this light and refreshing lager style beer.

Is this due to a reaction between the maize flakes and the other ingredients? It could well be.

It is best served chilled and it makes an excellent accompaniment for all types of food, it goes well with tapas, meals from the Indian subcontinent, British, American, European and African foods, and a bucket of these bottles kept chilled with ice is a perfect addition to anyone's BBQ spread.

In the UK it is distributed by The Offie Ltd., for Viking Ventures UK Ltd.

Aduna cacao bars. Heavenly eats!

Aduna cacao bars do make for Heavenly eats!

For example, please take into consideration the Aduna Cacao bar with the crunchy cacao nibs, walnut and hibiscus.

Some people in the food industry argue that they need to shove large amounts of sugar or artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives into pies, puddings and confectionery because they need to make their products sweet enough for the British palate.

Well, Aduna products are living proof that the above argument is just not true!

The bar is sweet and delicious, with the combination of tastes nothing short of phenomenal.

There's the cacao, the almonds and the walnuts, with a very alluring tang of hibiscus flowers, too.

It's also a good source of fibre, is good for vegetarians and vegans, too and is compatible with the paleo diet so there's a whole lot going on in favour of this nifty product and the other bars in the range.

To learn more please visit www.aduna.com.

We will be reviewing other Aduna products over the next several days. Please do look out for these.

Chika's Plantain Crisps

Chika's Plantain Crisps are a real taste of West Africa brought to the UK.

The plantain is described as the West African reply to the humble spud.

Well, whilst there's some truth in that, you have to remember that the plantain has a little bit more of a taste thing going for it than the more traditionally known potato.

It's also just as versatile as the potato, as Chika has been able to prove with her highly delicious and most agreeable Plantain crisp snacks.

They are hand cooked and the ingredients are plantain, sunflower oil, a little bit of salt (but not too much!)  and with the addition of some kickingly good chilli in the chilli flavoured plantain crisps.

You know they are different to crisps when you open the packet. Well, they are plantains, after all!

But the things you notice about them is their unique flavour.

There is a subtle sweetness there, but then there is also a nice savoury tang to it, also.

There is also a good, satisfying crunch to them, too.

And the kick from the chilli flavoured plantain crisps? It's good. Excellent, in fact, though it is not over-the-top, it's got a sort of laid back kick to it.

Chika has taken her West African heritage and used it to serve up a veritable plantain feast for us.

They are ideal for a snack, as a lunchbox treat, something good for a party or as a tasty supplement to a summer BBQ.

And the clincher is? They are gluten free, too!

To learn more please just visit www.chikas.co.uk.

And these fantastic crisps are available through Ocado, which is one of the main retailers for Chika!

Gluten Free Nutribix

Gluten Free Nutribix is a very helpful breakfast cereal.

Very helpful in that they provide a nutritious breakfast meal that does not cause the poor family members who crease up in agony when they eat breakfast cereals that are laden with gluten.

Gluten Free Nutribix are carefully made to an exacting recipe that consists of sorghum, which is "an awesome ancient grain", which makes up to 96% of the Gluten Free Nutribix breakfast biscuits.

There's also a small amount of salt, a little bit of Golden Syrup and Niacin, Thiamin, Riboflavin and folic acid. 

And that is about it.

Apart from the fact that Gluten Free Nutribix will not cause gluten intolerant people to double over in agony after breakfast, what other advantages are there with  Gluten Free Nutribix?

They are a good, traditional breakfast product. 

Served with milk (cow, goat, sheep, soya milk, rice milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc) and perhaps with some sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, whole blueberries or the like, they make an amazingly tasty breakfast treat that will give you the energy you need to tackle your daily life with renewed gusto. And without having to reach for tablets, pills or potions to fix your poor stomach if you have a gluten intolerance problem.

They are tasty and are a good, light eat. By light I mean that they are not stodgy like some gluten free products.

They are available in most supermarkets (check out their "free from..." section if they aren't with the other4 breakfast cereals) and healthfood stores.

They should cost up to £3.79 for a 375 gramme box of 24 breakfast biscuits, though do shop around for a good price.

To learn more please visit http://www.nutribix.co.uk and do please check out their other breakfast products.

Lizi's gluten free granola

Lizi's gluten free granola is a delightful breakfast treat that is not only tasty but very good for you, too!

Lizi makes a very good point. Although oats are, of themselves, a naturally gluten free food, the problem can arise should oats become contaminated with other crops that do contain gluten.

Also, some companies that produce oat-based granolas and other breakfast foods add other grains that do contain gluten into their recipe.

The ingredients of Lizi Shaw's granola are as follows:

Rolled-oats, rapeseed oil, desiccated coconut, fructose, black treacle, chicory fibre, cashew nut pieces, pumpkin seeds, suinflower seeds, golden linseeds, chopped almonds, chopped walnuts and chopped hazelnuts.

Lizi also makes the point that oats contain a protein called avenin, to which some people might be sensitive.  

The product is suitable not only for vegetarians but also for vegans and the product is GMO-free.

So, that's some of the technical details out of the way. So, what is the product like?

It's softer than many granolas. With some granolas older people with teeth that are way past their use by date find it a nerve racking experience as some granolas are a bit hard on the teeth and elderly fillings have been known to go ping! with some of the harder, perhaps over-baked types of granolas.

But that certainly is not the case with Lizi's gluten free Granola.

It is obvious that you are eating an oat-based product, which is, in my opinion, a good thing. There is a perfect balance between the flavours of the oats and the other ingredients.

Combined together this is an excellent breakfast meal. And yes, admittedly, it makes a good supper, too!

You can buy Lizi's entire granola range direct at https://www.lizis.co.uk.

At present the price for the gluten free granola is £2.99 for a 400g packet.

Red Stag from Jim Beam

Jim Beam's Red Stag Black Cherry flavour is Jim Beam's finest whiskey but infused (and also perhaps enthused?) with natural flavourings.

When you open the bottle you know that it is going to be somewhat different. For there is an earnest aroma of fruits, which comes, naturally enough, from the cherries that are used to create this somewhat unique American bourbon whiskey.

There's actually a hint of the scent of a good old fashioned Bakewell Tart coming through on the nose, as they say.

Wow! Talk about sweet! it is as sweet as a bowl of very pleasent sun ripened cherries.

If ever a bourbon deserved to be described as a sipping whiskey, then this, surely, must be it?

There are a number of complexities in the flavour, there's the good, standard Jim Beam flavour, but the rich flavours of the cherries take it to a whole new level of taste excellence.

Good by itself, over ice or as part of any cocktail that you care to mention, though do be aware that if you use this in place of Jim Beam in a recipe do, please, be ready for a taste of something out of the ordinary.

I now find myself wanting a bowl of ripe cherries or a slice of Bakewell Tart, so alluring was the taste of this whiskey.

Soupologie. It's dairy and gluten free

Soupologie. It's dairy and gluten free. So, one might say it is "dairy and gluten negative" but it's also highly "taste positive."

In the 600 gramme range there is Broccoli and Matcha Green tea soup, Adzuki Bean Soup, Beetroot and Pomegranate, Roasted butternut and red pepper, Curried sweet potato, Three mushroom broth, Ancient grains, Amaranth, flaxseed and millet,  Celery apple and ginger, Cauliflower and kale with black garlic, Wartercress, courgettes and quinoa, Spirulina greens, Pea and leek, plus Spinach and kale with garlic.

They were exactly like the soups that our ancestors used to make on the range many years ago.

Well, except for the fact that many of the above highly health-giving and nutritious ingredients were, sadly, unknown to our ancestors.

But each soup tastes like a little visit to Soup Heaven as they all taste so utterly deliciously divine!

But there's much more to the great tastes. Each soup recipe is entirely plant-based, there is on added sugar (incidentally, the lack of sugar made no difference to the taste, so other soup producers could take note of how Soupologie makes their soups!) and each 600 gramme serving is two of your five a day, so what could be wrong there? Not a blessed thing!

Soupologie describes their soups as: "Soups with benefits" and it would be very difficult to argue with that, packed as they are with a variety of supergreens (Shouldn't that be soupergreens? Sorry!) and highly important and highly nutritious vitamins and minerals.

They have also recently introduced a range of Raw Soups, a first for the UK. They are designed to be eaten without cooking and are chock full of  important enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

These are available as Beetroot and mint, Strawberry, tarragon and lucuma, Watermelon and chilli, Spinach, mango, lime and baobab, plus Cucumber, avocado and kale.

 You can buy the soups online (the 600 gramme tubs cost £2.99) other sizes are available.

For details email info@soupologie.com, visit www.soupologie.com or call 020 7435 2245.

Super Greens From Heck

Super Greens are vegetarian meat(less) balls from North Yorkshire's very own Heck Foods.

They are made from a range of superfood green vegetables, Quinoa, Spinach, Kale and to add some spicing up to the whole recipe, some tasty ginger, too.

And they are guaranteed to be gluten free, too.

They cook within 20 to 25 minutes, but if you have a microwave you need to use the combination oven setting -if it has one- as Heck tells us that the Heck Super Green Veggie meatballs are not suitable for microwave cooking. (So, no ping cuisine for them!)

When you have cooked them you will be just bowled over by the taste.

The taste is hard to describe. It's 'meaty', yes, but there's no meat and all of the different vegetables crowd together on your tongue, to dance a dance of savoury goodness!

You can serve them with fried eggs, with poached eggs, or maybe an omelet. Or how about a nice, fresh salad?

Heck recommends a crisp beansprout and cashew nut salad, and I do not think I could argue with that idea, to be honest.

Though a large plate of nicely buttered mashed potatoes very liberally seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and a light sprinkling of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt or Welsh sea salt, plus a good portion of baked beans would also be an ideal way to serve these Heck Super Greens.

They should cost £3.00 from all good stores and from https://www.heckfood.co.uk.

Fava Beans. Finland's Nordic Superfood

Fava Beans. Finland's Nordic Superfood?

You could have heard it here on That's Food and Drink, first. The Fava bean from Finland is reputedly the new Nordic superfood.

Why and how? Because it's low in salt and low in sugar and high in fibre, but it has more protein than an egg.

The Fava Mill has a range of very tasty and very filling granolas based on the Fava bean in the following flavours:


Fava Mill Crunchy Granola

Fava Mill Cranberry Granola

Fava Mill Apple and Cinnamon Granola

Fava Mill Apricot and Papaya Granola

and

Fava Mill Berries and Beets Granola.

All of the above are utterly delicious and if you enjoy a bowl at breakfast time, you'll remain fuelled and focused for a long time thereafter!

But breakfast meals made with wholesome and sustaining  Fava Mill Fava Bean Granolas are not the only use that you can put Fava beans to.

For also in the range are Fava Mill Ground Fava Beans, which can be used as a substitute in vegetarian or vegan recipes which normally use soya beans. A boon for those vegetarians who are allergic to soya products.

You can find out about a whole host of recipes (soups and starters, desserts and savoury meals, snacks, smoothies and more) at http://favamill.com/recipes.

J. J. Whitley Elderflower Gin

J. J. Whitley Elderflower Gin is what a good gin should be.

No distilling in giant vats for J. J. Whitley Elderflower Gin! Indeed not!

For J. J. Whitley Elderflower Gin is batch distilled in a proper and very traditional copper pot still.

It is the type of gin my wife prefers and recommends to people who ask her the best gins to try.

There's a reassuring sound as the cork is pulled from the bottle and then there's the heavenly scent that wafts from the contents of the bottle.

There are floral scents -is that a hint of an English hedgerow, there? I rather think there is!

But the difference is the first taste. Oh, my word, that first taste!

It's a gin, so yes, there is juniper... but there's a depth of character, too. There's the taste of the elderflowers, plus the added spiciness of the coriander and cinnamon. But not too much, and other  there's just the right amount to take this gin out of the ordinary and to elevate it to the sublime gin drinking experience.

It's smooth and sweet. In fact the smooth easy drinking of this gin belies the fact that it is 38.6% volume of alcohol!

Drink it neat with some ice, or drink it with a nice tonic (Fevertree is a good one to match this gin)  or use it to make some exquisite cocktails. The choice is yours.

The J. J. Whitley family have been distilling gin for eight generations, and there experience shows in this most excellent gin, which contains 8 distinct botanicals.

It should cost around the £25 mark for a 70cl bottle.

If you can't find it in a local shop, you can find it at https://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/halewood-international/j-j-whitley-elderflower-gin and other online retailers.

Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream

Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream is a truly amazing drink.

It is a strawberry cream liqueur with just a hint of Tequila.

You can serve it at room temperature, or chilled, which is probably the best way, to be honest.

My wife is not a particular fan of either strawberries or Tequila for that matter, so her liking for Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream is a matter of some wonder.

Basically, it is a strawberry based cream drink with just enough Tequila to make things a little bit more interesting.

You can use it to make cocktails (we'll include some recipes) but many people just prefer to chill it and sip it. Sat outside on a hot, summer's day, there's nothing like a chilled  bottle of Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream to help the day pass more smoothly.

And at only15% alcohol by volume, it's lighter on the alcohol than you might think.

So, what about these recipes, then?

Mix it with Irish cream, or coconut flavoured rum, or vanilla or toffee flavoured vodka, serve with ice, crushed or chunked, add some real dairy cream and you have a wide and perhaps wild range of cocktails.

And here's an off the wall idea, when you are making a strawberry cheesecake, add some Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream into the mix and chill well before serving. Obviously you'll need some glasses of chilled Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream to help it go down!

It's distilled in Missouri and is imported exclusively into the UK by those very nice folks at Halewood International in Liverpool.

It should be available in all good stores throughout the UK.

For details of Liqueur de Tequila Rose Strawberry Cream and other products please visit http://mccormickdistilling.com/tr/

Heck! If you like cheese, you'll go Nuts about these!

Yes, indeed! Heck! If you like cheese, you'll go Nuts about these!

There are a number of different types of vegetarian sausages that are available.  But there is only one Heck Nuts About Cheese!

These sausages are made by Yorkshire's Heck Foods and they are made from cashew nuts, two types of cheese, some flax and chia and a tiny bit of chilli to add a bit of zip and zing to the proceedings.

You can taste the cashew nuts, there's a hint of the flax, plus the chia comes through with a little hint of chilli (but not too much, thankfully!)  but the predominant flavour is that of the cheeses.

The cheeses are Mozzarella and Cheddar and the taste combination is utterly sublime!

You can have them as sausage sandwiches or served in the traditional way, as bangers and mash (perhaps with fresh green beans or baked beans, with a fried egg or two?)  or you can use these as the vegetarian option next time you do a BBQ, perhaps with seeded baps?

However, you'd better get extra packs in as the meat eaters may well be tempted to start wolfing these down, too!

Learn more about them and the other sausages in the range by visiting www.heckfood.co.uk.

English Heaven in a can from Folkington's

Folkington's is a modestly sized and utterly independent drinks firm based in the English county of Suffolk.

They have launched a new range of effervescent (but not too gassy)  drinks.

They are charmingly called Folkington's Garden and are a range of four fruit pressés.

There's an utterly delicious and very traditional elderflower drink, with just enough Sicilian lemon juice to add a little bit of a zip to it. Works very nicely with the genuine wild hedgerow elderflowers.

There's a fiery ginger beer that uses some awesomely hot West African ginger root. Very refreshing! (That one was my wife's favorite.)

There's a very nicely created English Rhubarb and Apple drink. Often when drink firms make anything with rhubarb, they tend to overdo the rhubarb, which can create an over tart taste, that sets one's teeth on edge.

This is simply not the case with Folkington's English Rhubarb and Apple drink. The predominant flavour is that of real English apple juice with just the right amount of rhubarb juice to add a very pleasing tart zing to the drink.

Then there is the more than excellent Lemon and English Mint drink which has a perfect combination of  refreshing lemons and calming mint.

Each can is guaranteed free of things that many children can't have (artificial this, that and the other!) and as each can contains less than 100 calories, even those who are on a diet can sip their way through a can without any guilt.

They make ideal companions on a picnic or at a family garden party or BBQ and they make excellent mixers for artisan gins and the like. Or as part of a delicious range of mocktails for those who do not want any alcohol.

They also make a packed lunch in the office taste just a little bit more special.
 
You will find Folkington’s Garden range in independent shops, cafés and delis.

To learn more about the wide range of drinks that are available please do visit them at
http://www.folkingtons.com.

Wild West Deli Beef Jerky Thai Spice Flavour, Chilli and Lime Flavour

Wild West Deli Beef Jerky is a high protein snack range from the Meatsnacks Group of Buckinghamshire.

We were fortunate enough to try this product, recently.

It is described as a "softer beef jerky" and that is exactly what it is.

It is beef jerky, marinated in Thai spices and smoked over applewood.

The result is a softer and utterly delicious taste experience.

They make the point that they only use ingredients for their own marinade that you would be able to find in your own kitchen store cupboard.

Whilst that's true of some more advanced foodies, I think that Meatsnacks are being more than a little modest, here. For in the opinion  of my wife and myself, the herbs and spices used by Meatsnacks are probably of much higher quality than might be found in some family kitchens.

How so? Well, you can taste the sweetness of the real Demerara sugar, but there's a whole range of other flavours, there, too. Garlic, the tang of both the apple cyder vinegar and a hint of lime and the other spices and herbs that go together to make this jerky.

Apparently you van use the jerky in some recipes which you can find at www.meatsnacksgroup.com/wild-west-deli. But as my wife said: "Good luck to anyone who is trying to keep the family out of it long enough to cook with it!"

There is also the equally delicious Chilli and Lime Flavour softer beef jerky, also made in Scotland using select cuts of UK and EU brisket beef.

My wife is not a fan of chillies, but she made the point that Chilli and Lime flavour beef jerky from the Wild West Deli range has none of the harshness and over done heat of some shop bought products.

We noted that there was a well-balanced combination of flavours with a pleasant chilli kick and the sublime tartness of the limes.

These softer beef jerky snacks are idea for snacking, make an excellent and interesting course during a larger meal, are great to serve with a salad, perhaps out of doors, during a BBQ.

They go very well with a nice wine, maybe a Riesling or perhaps a bottle of something like Prosecco?  Or perhaps a nice red? The choice is yours!

Heck Chicken Italia Sauasages

Heck Chicken Italia Sausages are delightful sausages that are made with 100% British chicken meat.

Which is just like the other chicken meat sausages from Heck.

However! In the Chicken Italia sausages we see a special combination of herbs, spices and other ingredients that are mixed together to create a perfectly balanced, somewhat exotic sausage that does, indeed, have a  hint of Italy about them.

There's some basil, some garlic and a range of other spices that join together to create a fantastic taste sensation!

How to serve it? You can serve them as some of the most tasty sausage sandwiches that you can think of. Especially if you have some rustic Italian bread.

Or cook them, slice them up and mix in with Mediterranean style salad leaves and tomatoes to make a most excellent Italian salad, with lashings of olive oil dressing, of course!

Or what about slicing the cooked sausages up fairly thinly and spreading them over a pizza?

Or how about making some garlic and potato mash with olive oil and lots of freshly ground black pepper and making some bangers and mash the likes of which you have probably never tasted before?

New from Mrs Crimble! Mrs Crimble's Authentically French gluten free Madeleines

Mrs Crimble's Authentically French gluten free Madeleines come in two flavours, both a classic vanilla madeleine and a chocolate variety.

And they are made in France, the traditional home of the Madeleine sponge cake recipe.

They are traditionally baked -in proper little scallop-shaped moulds!- and are proper little sponge cakes.

They are available in two varieties, delicious plain sponge and yummy chocolate, which comes with a fantastically delightful and very tasty liquidy chocolate sauce filling.

The great thing about Mrs Crimble's Authentically French gluten free Madeleines is that they are all guaranteed to be 100% gluten free.

They come in packs of six, but each one comes in its own individual wrapper, so they make ideal and very healthy additions to the lunch boxes of children, or adults, who have a problem with being able to process gluten in their diet.

They should be widely available in health shops and also in the "free from..." section of most major supermarkets. And if not, request them to start stocking them.

To learn more, please visit www.mrscrimbles.com/blog/ooh-la-la-mrs-crimbles-goes-continental.

They should cost £2.50 for a bag of six.

Tsingtao Beer. Lager. As it should be.

Tsingtao Beer is lager beer, as it should be.

I remember taking a sip from a glass of my late father's lager back in the early 1960s. And I enjoyed the taste.

However, when I came of age I found that lagers that tasted as refreshing as the lager I had 'borrowed' from my father's glass all those years ago were few and far between.

And then  I found Tsingtao Beer.

Tsingtao Beer is brewed in China and has been brewed by the Tsingtao Brewery since 1903, that's a proud record of over a century of brewing excellence.

What does the beer look like? It is a delightful golden colour, more golden than many other lagers, it has to be said.

It is made of water, malted barley, rice and hops. It has a respectable, but not ridiculously high, alcohol content of  4.7% Vol.

So, what does it taste like?

The bouquet is of lager hops, with a tang of something fruity.

The taste is a revelation. It is very, very similar to the delicious lager beer that I managed to take a sip of from my father's glass all those years ago.

It is refreshing, and you can notice a proper, balanced combination of flavours. There's even a hint of summer fruits, including ripe wild berries.

It goes very well with all types of foods and I think that an iced bucket filled with bottles of
Tsingtao Beer will be an excellent addition at any party this summer.

And every bottle is brewed in China. There's none of that "brewed under licence business", here!

It's also available in Wetherspoon pubs and most good off licences and many supermarkets.

To learn more please visit www.tsingtaobeer.co.uk.

Heck Zesty Chicken sausages

"Heck Zesty Chicken Sausages?" "This should be interesting," we thought as we opened the package.

The label says: "bursting with peppery watercress and lemon freshness."

And that was exactly right.

The predominant flavour was of tender, moist British chicken. Well, with 85% chicken you would expect no less!

There was, however, a very well-balanced taste sub plot going on, here, too.

The watercress was there, adding a nicely executed watercress flavour, which is peppery, but not overly so.

And what else was there? Yes! A definite hint of a lemon flavour, too.

But the watercress and the lemon had been included in the recipe to assist the chicken, not to overpower it.

We enjoyed these sausages very much.

We had them with some fresh three seed long rolls, but they would be equally at home with a salad (perhaps chilled after cooking and sliced up?) or perfect with fresh mashed potatoes and some homemade gravy, too? Or served with new potatoes and homegrown beans direct from the garden?

The choice will be yours!

Heck sausages are available from Morrisons and several other leading supermarkets.

To learn more please visit them at www.heckfood.co.uk.



 

Overhang it revitalises you very quickly

There are many drinks that claim to revitalise you. Some of them work, but others not so much.

Firmly in the former category of drinks that do revitalise you is Overhang.

It is based on a traditional Italian family recipe that has been passed down through the family for generations.

Recently late one evening I was developing a headache. I had been busy working all day, had forgotten to have lunch (that's never a good thing) and by the evening a migraine was threatening to start.

I remembered that there was some Overhang in the fridge and I took the bottle out, shook it (not necessary, but I always like to play it safe!) and poured it into a glass and started to drink it.

The first thing I noticed was the delicious taste of oranges, but with an underlying tang which I think was the limes coming through.

Then there was the noticeable and very welcome (but not too strong)  bite of the ginger.

Wow! That started me feeling better straight away!

Intrigued, I looked at the label and was impressed with the ingredients of Overhang. 

Orange juice, lime juice, ginger, burdock root, milk thistle, raspberry leaf and a whole host of vitamins C, niacin, pantothenic acid and B6.

I retired to bed and the next morning the migraine that had been threatening to start was just a sort of dull memory of what could have been a really bad migraine.

I would imagine it would be good if you have overindulged the night before, if it's been a hot day or if you have had a stressful day at work, or you have been working in the garden, doing a workout or whatever. 

Keep some in the fridge ready for when you need to be revitalised.

Where you can get it? Various retailers, including Holland and Barrett where it costs £2.49 for a 500ml bottle.

You can learn more about this drink and its unique history at http://overhangdrinks.com.

Jim Beam Double Oaked Twice Barreled

I

had never tried Jim Beam Double Oaked Twice Barreled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in oak before, so I was intrigued and pleased to be able to give it a taste.

It has an inviting golden to very light brown colour to it, so it has obviously benefited from the unique process that it has been put through.

So, it looks good and it leaves the bottle with a highly satisfying glugging sound.

But what of the taste?

The first word that comes to mind is sublime.

It's smooth, in fact it is, in my opinion, smoother than smooth.

There's a hint of oak, there. It's almost as if someone has taken the soul of an oak forest and distilled its essence and bottled it.

 But oh, boy! Has it got a kick to it! But, and yes, let's mix the metaphors here, it's like a velvet gloved kick, as there is no harshness in this drink!

There's an undertone of sweetness as if there are some really rather exotic fruits within the DNA of this Bourbon.

Is there a hint of earth ands fire, there, too? Yes, I think there is. Toffee? Yes. That, also.

The flavour is very intense, but pleasingly so.

Serve it by itself, with water, with ice, as part of any cocktail that demand whiskey or whisky as one of the keynote ingredients, and you just can't go wrong.

But my advice is, it doesn't really matter much how you serve Jim Beam Double Oaked Twice Barreled Bourbon, so long as you serve it!

Elizabeth Shaw chocolate orange sticks

Please picture the scene, after a hard morning's writing, my wife and I decide that the next food tasting we would undertake would be on the patio, with some delicious cocktails (more on those, later) and some delicious snack foods on what must have been the hottest day of the year, so far.

And some utterly delicious Elizabeth Shaw Chocolate Orange Sticks made the experience one of utter bliss and contentment.

There is something very special about all Elizabeth Shaw chocolate products, they are all perfect. Which is why they do not feel the need to tamper and tinker with their recipes.

The chocolate is sublime and the amount of orange oils that they use is just right, offering the correct balance of creamy milk chocolate and tagy, tasty orange flavours.

However, even under the shade of the umbrella table the chocolate began to visibly wilt and bend, so we put them into the fridge to allow them to firm up a bit.

Have you ever had Elizabeth Shaw Chocolate Orange Sticks chilled, before? If not, you will find it a marvelous experience. I served them up with some ice cream!

Learn more about the delicious Elizabeth Shaw range at   https://www.elizabethshaw.co.uk.

Firefly revitalising juice drinks

Firefly revitalising juice drinks do exactly what it says on the tin, or rather exactly what it says on the bottle.

They provide a properly balanced drink when you need refreshment.

They taste good -which isn't always the case with some drinks that are supposed to rehydrate you!- for example the Peach and Green Tea flavour that we tried had hints of green tea, with a goodly amount of peach in the flavour.

But it also contains vital ingredients like kola nut, yerba mate and rosemary.

I personally think it is ideal if you wake up cranky after a poor night's sleep, if you have been feeling low after having a cold or an annoying summer bug, if you overindulged at the BBQ or if you have managed to get a bit dehydrated in the hot, summery weather.

It tastes good even at room temperature, but it is better if you allow it to chill before drinking it.

And you must, we are informed, consume it within 24 hours of the bottle being opened.

In fairness I would say that it would be a miracle if it lasted longer than 24 seconds!

You can learn more at www.fireflydrinks.com. They are produced by Purity drinks and there are six delicious flavours.

For a list of stockists please visit http://www.fireflydrinks.com/stockists,

Liberation Nuts. Lots for everyone

No matter what type of nuts you like, Liberation Nuts have some nuts for you and for everyone else!

But they put the exact same amount of effort, skill and knowhow into each of their products.

For example, there's the subtlety warming, yet not fiercely hot, Oven Baked Chilli and Lime Cashews with peanuts and roasted corn.

Plus there is the  absolutely delicious Oven baked peppercorn, peanuts with cashews and Habatas Fritas crunchy beans, which is an International Food Festival in a bag, all by itself.

The next one we tried has got to be my favourite, the Get up & Glow bag, not only is it a source of Vitamin B1, it contains nuts  (brazils and almonds) pears and luxurious chunks of ginger all wrapped up in some of the best dark chocolate that I have ever tasted!

And there's loads of other types to choose from and some peanut butter, too!

Not only are they extremely tasteful, they are also good for you in some way (though I only speak as a nut eater, not a nutritionist)  because if they are oven baked, well, that speak volumes, doesn't it?) and also better for the whole world, as they are all Fairtrade, too!

Where can you make purchase of these most excellent nutty products? Waitrose, Traidcraft and Oxfam.

To learn more just nip along to http://chooseliberation.com/products-stockists/.

Next time I go into town I think a visit to our local Oxfam shop would be a good idea. I think I need some more Get Up & Glow.

Celia organic premium Czech lager. It's gluten free and flavourful

Celia organic premium Czech lager is an organic lager that is guaranteed gluten free and also guaranteed to be 100% organic.

It's also suitable for vegans as no animal by-products are used in its production.

Some lagers can leave you feeling bloated, this is because carbon dioxide gas is relentlessly pumped into the beer, making it more like fizzy pop than genuine beer.

This is not the case with Celia. Because the only carbonation within Celia is that of the natural brewing process so it does not leave you with that horrible bloated, gassy feeling that comes with some other lagers.

Celia is brewed with Moravian Malt and 100% Organic Saaz Hops. The water used in the brewing process is locally sourced from the neighbouring Zatec foothills, where it is naturally filtered through sand.

Incidentally, the hops are chosen from a specially selected crop in Zatec, where hops have been farmed since 1004, well over 1,000 years of farming history served in a bottle of Celia!

The Saaz hops are the world's only protected hop, which is why Celia Organic Lager is allowed to use the Protected Designation of Origin symbol on their bottles.

It's also carefully brewed to make sure it is an able and very willing accompaniment for almost every type of food, savoury or sweet. (EDITOR: We found it especially good with a chicken dish.)

So, it's organic, it's gluten free and it's safe for vegans to drink.

So what does it taste like?

It's a real premium Czech lager beer. It's lighter than many you might have tried, the bubbles are refreshing, but they do not get in your way of enjoying the flavour of the beer.

There's a refreshing bitter edge and depth to the flavour and there's also more of a fruity background to it, I was thinking berries, my wife was more convinced it was a hint of several citrus fruits, combined.

My wife is, or rather was, not a lager fan, though she has been converted to Celia.

We will be seeking this out again, as it is the only lager so far that my wife (who needs to be gluten free) can both enjoy and tolerate.

It costs £2.50 a bottle and can be found at Waitrose, Ocado, some Oddbins, Booths and Whole Food Market.

Coronation Chicken flavour crisps. From Tyrell's, of course!

Tyrell's are, as the saying goes, never backwards in coming forwards, and this latest addition to their range is no exception to that maxim.

Coronation Chicken flavour.

Now, first, a little background about what is, after all, a quintessentially British dish.

It is generally held that the dish was specially created for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, by Constance Spry, an English cookery expert and food writer and Rosemary Hume, both of the  London-based Cordon Bleu Cookery School.

It basically consists of cold cooked chicken meat, herbs and curry spices all blended in mayonnaise and often served with a salad, as a filling for jacket potatoes and the like.

It is an extremely popular dish in the UK. So, how would the Tyrrell's version stand up to the taste test?

The answer, if there had been any room for doubt, was that it stood up to the taste test very well indeed!

The crisps taste exactly like a good Coronation Chicken.

There's a nice mixture of flavours, roast chicken comes through, very nicely, there's a hint of a nice and creamy mayonnaise dressing, plus a rather nice  tang of curry that comes through very well.

It is important to point out that no one flavour predominates or over-powers. The chefs at Tyrell's have worked really to come up with this creation.

In fact I think Tyrell's -if they haven't done so already- should send a crate of these Coronation Chicken Crisps 150g bags to Buckingham Palace!

By the way, these are seasonal so do not miss out!

Tyrell's Poshcorn. Best popcorn I ever tasted!

This summer those clever folk over a Tyyrell's have introduced a special summer flavour for their Poshcorn popcorn range.

Summer strawberries and cream.

When we opened the packet there was a delightful scent of strawberries and cream.

As we sat out on the back patio of That's Food and Drink House, my assistant (well, manager really, AKA my wife!)  we dipped in and our reactions were immediate.

Mine: "Oh, wow! Just like strawberries and cream!"

Hers: "Good heavens! It is just like strawberries and cream!"

It is British grown popping corn combined with real strawberry juice (and some raspberry juice, too) and real, honest to goodness Dorset cream.

At the rate they were being consumed a 75g bag lasted far longer than we thought it would.

Or you can even find a massive 270g party bag!

For a really decadent idea, why not serve them with a bowl of fresh strawberries and real cream?

That was my plan, but sadly we accidentally ate them all before we could put my plan into action.

Next time? Yes. Definitely next time. Unless, of course, we eat them all again before we can get around to doing it!

My advice? Buy several bags and lay them in ready for Wimbledon.

Other flavours available are: Coconut and caramel, sweet, sweet and salty, sea salted, salted with a twist of black pepper and lemon cupcake.