Review

What can calm our nerves in this post-referendum uncertainty? I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to that yet, but yesterday I figured a KFC Krushem would at least do some good. So imagine my horror as I pulled up at the drive through and find that Krushems are no longer on the menu, and in their place is a standard selection of milkshakes. Nothing fancy shoved in them, just vanilla, strawberry and chocolate shakes. Determined not to leave empty handed, I went for the vanilla, 'cause I'm not adverse to a simple vanilla shake at times. I just hoped my despair at the absence of a Krushem would still allow me to form a valid opinion. 

This ain't no Krushem, that's for sure. It's the same kind of stuff that they had in the Krushems, just with a distinct lack of chocolate pieces, and without those pieces the consistency of the shake itself is clear. It's not very thick, it's pretty watery in fact, so it's more akin to a Nesquik than a standard fast food ice cream shake. There's a little thickness, sure, but it's just not enough. The vanilla had a nice enough taste to it, so this wasn't a total loss, but I wouldn't call this a good milkshake, in fact it's pretty disappointing. We want our Krushems back. In fact, go back further and revive the Joosters Avalanche, that was the good stuff.

My rating: 1/5

There are an awful lot of new ciders popping up these days, and I don't mind at all, there's a lovely variety of flavours around that are mostly pretty damn tasty. Now Smirnoff want to get in on the game, so they've made their own cider. Yes, a Smirnoff cider, a mixture of fruit cider and Smirnoff vodka. The alcoholic blend was enough to pique my interest, but the flavours they've gone for were even more tempting. They haven't started out with the mainstay of apple or pear, instead we get raspberry & pomegranate, and passion fruit & lime. The bottles look great too, apart from the strange placement of the flavour titles on the bottom there.

Relentless has recently undergone a rebranding, and now their cans stand out with solid, bold colours. I'm more of a Monster man now myself, but I've got to say these new cans look good. They've also snuck in another flavour to go along with the relaunch, and it's one that piqued my interest. It's a fruit punch, and the can is presented in a fantastic purple hue. It's hard to say which fruits are meant to be in this punch, since there aren't any fruit juices in the ingredients, but hey, as long as it resembles fruit it should be good enough, right?

The first thing I was hit with when I opened the can was the smell. I don't know if it was just me, or whether this drink isn't all that, but it smelled a little something like... dirt. Strange, I know, but that was my first thought. The taste of the drink itself raised it in my esteem, although not a whole lot. The overall flavour is fruity, and a nice dark fruitiness at that, but it's hard to tell exactly which fruit they were going for. My brain was trying to grasp at passion fruit the most due to the title on the can, and I did pick some up in the flavour, but there are clearly some other elements at play too. At times it does get a little overwhelming, or starts to taste a little syrupy, but overall it's not too bad. It's not particularly good either, there are far better Relentless flavours out there, so it was somewhat disappointing given the promise of the fruit punch. Clearly not the best Relentless flavour, but it's still better than some energy drinks on the shelves...

My rating: 3/5

I'm really digging mango lately, so my head almost swivelled 180 degrees as I walked past this mango drink nestled amongst Tesco's other fizzy offerings. Not only is it a mango fizzy drink, it's a zero calorie one at that. That went straight in my basket.

There's 5% mango purée in this, and it shows. It has a great, juicy mango taste. It also means it's not quite zero calorie, but at 11 per 250ml I think I can forgive it. For the calories it has it manages to be pretty fruity, although it could stand to have a slightly stronger flavour. Also, the sweeteners contribute to a little bit of a sour aftertaste, but on the whole this is a great drink, and one I'll probably be picking up a lot of in the future. A good offering for the mango lovers out there.

My rating: 4/5