Berry Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms have added a new berry variation to their cereal range, and I'm a sucker for a new cereal. I loved standard Lucky Charms, but was a little unimpressed by the Chocolate ones. So which way would the new berry flavour go? Is it going to be thumbs up, or thumbs down?
The box is all purple and has Lucky the Leprechaun juggling marshmallows in front of a bowl of purple Lucky Charms. Purple is a pretty bold colour and I was getting worried that the cereal inside the box would actually be purple. I dismissed it as colourful marketing designed to draw in the very young.
When I opened the box there was a sweet, pungent aroma that immediately found it's way into my nostrils. It's not a nice smell. It has strong chemical overtones.
When I poured it out into a bowl, it was a vibrant purple colour. I'm clearly not against colourings in food, but there's something about a purple cereal that just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe it stems from the playground rumours about those dodgy looking purple crisps that you would occasionally find in a packet.
Nonetheless, I delved in and gave it a try. This does taste of berry's, but in an extremly artificial way. These are beyond sweet. In fact, for me, these are practicaly unpalatable. Thumbs down.

Star Wars Pop Toppers

I found these Star Wars Pop Toppers in the bargain bin at Woolworths. They're an interesting idea, a large plastic head depicting a character from Star Wars (as you can see, I picked up Chewbacca, Yoda and Darth Vader) to protect your lollipop when you are bored of sucking it.
When I was a kid, you either ate the lolly in one go or you left it somewhere where it might get dirty, but ants and stray dogs couldn't make off with it. Keeping it for later was far more important than keeping it clean.
But todays kid's are a safe generation and keeping sweets free from dog licks and insects is probably a big sell to todays overprotective parents. There's even a large clip for attaching it to yourself, so you don't lose it.You can put any lollipop you like inside, but these come with a high quality Chupa Chup (all strawberry flavour). I don't know how much these retailed for before they ended up in the bargain bin, but the 54p I paid was great value. If you need to store a lolly somewhere, then a plastic Star Wars character head is as good a place as any.

Coca Cola Black Cherry Vanilla

What do you know? Another Coke flavour variant. This one is black cherry vanilla flavoured as illustrated by a couple of black cherries dropping into a vanilla coloured swirl on the can. Something else I noticed on the can was the statement "very low sodium" above the ingredients list. Does anybody drink Coke for it's intrinsic health properties? Strange.
It tastes just like Dr. Pepper to me. I couldnt taste any black cherry or vanilla flavours at all. The overall taste was very smooth, but frankly, if I want a Dr. Pepper, I'll buy a Dr. Pepper. Unimpressive.

Free Water

The weather has been really hot today, pushing into the thirties (or nineties depending on your preference). I'm sure there maybe someone from Texas or New York reading this and thinking "Pfffttt...so what? It touches forty here". Well that maybe true, but England just isn't prepared for this kind of weather. Air conditioning is still something of a luxury and travelling on public transport is a horrible, sticky experience. The tube is to be particularly dreaded.
The company that's responsible for running London's tube network has applied a novel solution to the overbearing heat by giving out free water to travellers. Marvellous. There's even a big blurb on the label about the regeneration and renewel of the system. No mention of air conditioning I notice.
I've no idea where the water inside was sourced. I just hope it wasn't from aquifers underneath King's Cross.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

Those of you familiar with the Harry Potter series of books or films may remember a line of sweets called Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The magical twist was that they were literally every flavour you could conceive of, with earwax and vomit sitting alongside apple or blueberry.
Jelly bean makers extraordinaire; Jelly Belly, have sought to bring the world of Harry Potter closer to us muggles with a licensed range of jelly beans based on Bertie Bott's. A close inspection of the box revealed flavours such as bacon, booger and rotten egg waiting inside. There was no way I was eating that stuff, so I roped in some work colleagues to do it for me.
Stepping up to the plate were my good friends Chase, who has a sense of adventure where his stomach is concerned and John. John's recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, so some iffy flavoured sweets should be a walk in the park for him. I rounded it up to a trio by forcing the work experience boy, Danny to participate.
I poured the beans into a cup and hid the box. Each volunteer had to remove a bean and without looking, eat it. Things went quite pleasantly at the start with some decent flavours being pulled out; cherry, popcorn, lemon drop etc. But then Chase's face wrinkled up as he coughed "Urghh...it's earwax", soliciting a sympathetic round of guffaws from the rest of us.
Things went swiftly downhill from there with participants reeling from dirt, soap and sardine flavour beans. Poor Danny on just his second day working in the office, managed to get the only dreaded vomit flavoured bean in the pack.
The general concensus was that these are horribly authentic and the disgusted faces that I witnessed seem to second that. These are great for gags or dares, but probably not if you've just got a sweet tooth.

Sprite Remix Aruba Jam

It's hot, hot, haaawt tonight and I just sank a Sprite Remix Aruba Jam to cool down. Very nice it was too. I have no idea what aruba jam is (fruit flavours is as good as the description gets on the can), but it's a nice light, refreshing addition to the regular lemon/lime Sprite tang.

Bassett's Dessert Allsorts

Bassett's have been tinkering with licorice allsorts and trying to lure in those who detest licorice. The fruit allsorts that appeared about a year ago seemed to have filled that niche, but evidently not well enough, as Bassett's are having another crack at it.
The ones in this pack are based on a variety of desserts such as chocolate tart, lemon cheescake and summer fruit pudding.
Bertie Bassett takes up his usual spot on the front of the pack with a pile of allsorts in a dessert dish. A sign also proclaims that there is no licorice. It's not particularly imaginative, but Bassett's probably don't have to try too hard as they are pretty synonymous with any kind of allsort, licorice or otherwise.
The sweets themselves look like standard Bassett's except instead of licorice we have some brown toffee flavour stuff filling them out. They tasted for the most part very artificial and nothing like their dining table counterparts. The apple ones were especially nasty.
There has been a strange glut of dessert flavoured items appearing of late, and every one I have tried has been a miserable failure. Bassett's Dessert Allsorts join that list.

Breakfast at Ed's Diner

There's a great little 50's style American diner just off of Old Compton Street in Soho, London and that's where I had breakfast this morning. My Wife and I had enjoyed a fairly raucous night out in town and fancied some maple syrup and pancakes to get our energy levels back up.
The diner looks great. The whole thing has as an authentic 50's vibe as someone who didn't live through the era can tell. Lots of chrome, gingham and signs imploring the patrons not to dance in aisles. Red vinyl stools line the counter where you eat and there are jukeboxes in front of you to browse whilst you mull over your food selection.
The whole place was also bedecked in balloons too, as today is Gay Pride and Soho is the starting point of the march.
I ordered the silver dollar haystack. Four pancakes, butter and Maple Syrup. The pancakes were done to perfection. Very light and fluffy. The last time I ordered pancakes for breakfast it was in an IHOP in New Jersey. These were easily their equal.
I washed it all down with a banana and coffee shake, which was also superb.
If you're anywhere near Soho one day, then check Ed's out. The place looks great, the staff are amazingly friendly and the food is great. I've also eaten burgers in there before and they are also worth having.

Pee Wee's Playhouse Calender 1990: July

It's July. Click the pictures to make them bigger.