Galaxy Ultimate Frothy Hot Chocolate

 

A Christmas themed sleeve for the Galaxy Frothy Ultimate Hot Chocolate. Very cute. Instructions are to use four heaped teaspoons and pour on either hot water or milk. We used water for this first experience. I tend to put milk in instant hot chocolate anyway, and the girls like a squirt of cream, often with sprinkles. I also sometimes put in a spoonful of real hot chocolate, just to give some added depth. But for reviews I just follow the instructions. This is modest hot chocolate. Quite pleasant and inoffensive, but rather less body and chocolate flavour than average. It seems it would be better to make with milk, and we'll give that a go next time. 

Date: Nov 2020    Score:  3 1/2 

Now called Galaxy Ultimate Frothy (Fabulously frothy hot chocolate), this is thicker and more frothy than I recall from 2020, though still a little bit lacking in chocolate. The main ingredient is whey permeate, which is a by-product of cheese making, and is a cost-effective milk powder substitute and bulking agent - it is likely the whey permeate that results in the thick body that produces the "froth".  Only 9% cocoa powder and 3% milk chocolate - the rest is sugar and other ingredients.  Price is £2.60 for 275g from Tesco (or £2.00 with a Clubcard membership). We make it with some milk and mostly hot water. It is an attractive milky drink with some chocolate flavour. 

Date: August 2021   Score: 4 

Montezuma's Dark Drinking Chocolate

 

Gift from a friend. The disks are slightly discoloured, and the Montezuma website doesn't have the drinking chocolate for sale at the moment, and though there are bags still available on Amazon there is a note saying: "These details were last updated on 9 October 2017", so the chocolate is likely not fresh. I warmed up some milk in a jug then put in the disc and stirred, as per the instructions. The instructions then say to wait and be patient - but meanwhile the milk is getting cold, so I popped my jug into the microwave to to keep it warm, then stirred a bit more and put it back, and then stirred again before serving.  

Ingredients: Cocoa Solids 73% Organic Dark Chocolate (Organic Cocoa Mass 67%, Organic Sugar 25%, Organic Cocoa Butter 8% & Organic Vanilla Extract).

When my friend made it for me, the hot chocolate was fairly bitty with spots of chocolate floating around in the milk, and the milk was not creamy. So I am glad I returned it to the microwave for more warming and stirring. I think therein lies the secret to success with these discs.  

The final result is a pleasant creamy hot chocolate with a hint of vanilla. Quite satisfying, but not indulgent and not characterful. Pleasant is what it is. Most people would find this acceptable, but few would find it wonderful. 

Date: Nov 2020    Score: 5 

Tesco Instant Hot Chocolate

 

This is a fairly standard and fairly modest instant hot chocolate. There is a modest chocolate flavour - quite milky. It's a pleasant, easy drinking hot chocolate. It won't be entirely satisfying and not entirely yummy, but it'll do the job in an average low expectations way. It is, after all, a budget instant hot chocolate, and that's what it tastes like. 

Ingredients

It's £1.60 for 400g. The suggestion is four or five teaspoons per serving, so there are approximately 14 servings. That's around 12p per serving.  The main ingredients are milk, sugar and glucose syrup - cocoa powder amounts to 13% of the contents, which is why it doesn't taste much of chocolate.  It's more of a lightly chocolate flavoured instant milk drink. Not too far from the instant frothy coffee drinks. 


Date: Oct 2020   Score: 5 

Tesco Stockwell Instant Hot Chocolate

 

Stockwell is Tesco's really cheap and basic brand line to compete with Lidl and Aldi. The quality of Stockwell branded goods tends to be very low, and that is the case here. The recommendation is five spoons (compared with two spoons for the Galaxy Light), and even with five spoons it tastes thin and watery with little chocolate flavour. There's no character here. This is about as basic as you can get.
  

Sugar is fairly high in the ingredient list (the higher the ingredient in the list, the greater the amount - so the first ingredient will have the most amount, while the last listed ingredient will have the least amount). There is more sugar than cocoa powder. The top ingredient is maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is similar to the glucose syrup  used in Galaxy Light, and some glucose syrup is used here as well, but much further down in the ingredients list. Given the better taste and cost of Galaxy Light my assumption is that maltodextrin does the same thing as glucose syrup but not as well and for much cheaper. 

The jar is 375g and costs 89p. The claim is 13 servings, so that's just under 7p per serving. Very cheap. But not good value for money. 

Date: Oct 2020    Score: 2 

Galaxy Light Instant Hot Chocolate

 

As I can no longer drink tea or coffee - not even the instant frothy coffees or decaffeinated teas - because of my body's now total intolerance of caffeine, I have been drinking herb teas like peppermint, and camomile, and also the occasional hot chocolate. I like hot chocolate - it's the nearest thing to coffee. But as it is generally made with milk and sugar, it is an indulgence that I need to moderate if I am to keep my weight under control. This Galaxy Light seems a good compromise. 

The ingredients

I generally dislike "light" or "low fat" products because they often lack the very qualities I am looking for in that product. In a chocolate I want the rich creamy indulgence, but low fat versions tend to be thin, dry, and lacking in the creamy sweetness I am looking for.  But this does taste rich, creamy, sweet, and indulgent. There's a decent chocolate flavour - milky smooth the way Galaxy is, rather than the full on chocolate of other products, so not top class, but certainty in keeping with what you'd expect from a hot chocolate trade marked "Galaxy". And, along with full on and exciting proper chocolate, I do like a Galaxy now and again - smooth, easy eating, very commercial. 

This doesn't contain much actual sugar, but it does contain a lot of glucose syrup  which is apparently a cheap product made out of starch, commonly corn, that gives body, sweetness and richness to food products. 

Jar is 180g (10 servings). Cost is £2.99 which is 29p per mug. Good value. 

Date: Oct 2020   Score: 6  

Lidl Knightsbridge Camomile

 

Taste test against Tesco's Camomile tea. Pleasant flavour - there's a hint of sweetness, and a juicy fresh grassiness before finishing with a gentle bitterness. They are similar enough. Both the same price as well. 75p for 20 bags. 

Date: Sept 2020   Score:  8 

***

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Lidl Deluxe Chilli Flavour Hot Chocolate

 

This is a hot chocolate from Lidl's "Deluxe" range, which is equivalent to Tesco's "Finest", Sainsbury's "Taste The Difference", etc.  It's £1.85 for 350g. It's not an instant hot chocolate - this is cocoa powder to which you add hot milk, but it does have sugar included, so is termed hot chocolate rather than cocoa, and costs less than cocoa because it has less chocolate. Sainsbury's do a hot chocolate - £1.60 for 300g, and Tesco's is £1.95 for 400g. But neither of these are equivalent, as they are not the "finest" own brands. The top own brands don't have chilli, but are the best to price match: Sainsbury's Belgian Hot Chocolate is £3.50 for 280g, and Tesco's Santo Domingo Hot Chocolate is £2.50 for 250g. At first glance it appears that Lidl's Deluxe range is better value, but if Lidl's Deluxe is more equivalent to the standard supermarket own brands, then the price is roughly the same. A taste test would be needed, but this does taste a little thin on the chocolate, which is somewhat compensated for by the chilli, but it's more of a pleasant chilli enriched milky chocolate drink than a rich and smooth chocolate drink. It has 39% cocoa compared to Tesco's 52%. Despite the "Deluxe" brand, this actually sits between the standard supermarket own brands and their finest brands, and so the price is roughly equivalent, though edges in favour of Lidl. 

On the whole I really like this. Easy drinking with a pleasant chilli warmth that gently nips rather than bites deep. I'd like a bit more smoothness, and a bit more chocolate, and a bit less sugar, but I like it enough that I think it highly likely I'd drink it again. 


Date: Sept 2020   Score: 7   

***

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Taylors Yorkshire Tea Decaff

Sometimes I like a cup of builders tea, especially with fish & chips. But my IBS is a bit sensitive to caffeine so it is a bit of a gamble drinking it. Good to find a decaff version of the robust and solid Yorkshire Tea by Taylors. And it works. I wasn't expecting it to be any good, but this does taste of builders tea. Works well with fish and chips (which we are pleased we can still get during lockdown).

Date: Lockdown May 2020  Score: 5

***

Taylors of Harrogate

Tetley Cold Infusions Orange & Peach

The idea here is that you make this with cold water. I tried it and didn't get on with it. I find at first it's a little weak and watery. Then it becomes a little bitter and tannic. It's sort of refreshing with a mild fruity citric note, but nothing great. However then I tried it with hot water and the flavours came through more clearly. It ends up a sort of better tasting LemSip - more cherry than lemon.


Date: Lockdown April 2020  Score: 4 1/2

Nescafe Azera Cappuccino

There's a promise suggested by the packaging that this will be a better than average instant frothy coffee. But that promise is not met. It's still an instant frothy coffee, just not as much fun. But with more caffeine.

Date: Feb  2019   Score: 4

***

Frothy coffee

Lidl Knightsbridge Gold Tea Bags

Gold teas are made from premium tea leaves. They tend to cost a little more. If you prefer them to the standard red teas is a matter of subjective opinion. I tend to find most mainstream blends to be fairly boring, with the main difference being the strength or robustness. Most teas I drink without milk, but the mainstream blends I always use milk. I'm just looking for a basic tea to drink with my fish & chips or cheese sandwich. If I'm having a cream tea I will go for a single estate or "speciality" tea, rather than a brand blend.

Anyway, this is a fairly robust and straightforward tea - I suspect it aims to match Yorkshire Gold. For me it is better than Yorkshire Gold as it is stronger and cleaner.


Date: April 2020   Score: 5

***

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Sainsbury's Instant Cappuccino

Tastes like a sweet milky instant coffee. Well, that's about all I can drink these days. Sigh.


Date: Match 2020 during the Coronavirus Lockdown.  Score: 4

Sainsbury's own label tea and coffee

Creamy instant coffees

Mistral Kamilka Med

This is a camomile tea flavoured with honey that Chrisie brought back from Bratislava. Very nice!


Date: March 2020   Score: 8

Twinings Superblends Turmeric With Orange & Star Anise

I like this. Yes: flavours of orange, turmeric, licorice, and aniseed. Gently sweet. Mildly warm and spicy. A good combination. Invigorating and satisfying. I'd be happy to buy these again.


Date: March 2020   Score: 7

***

Twinings

Nescafe Original 3in1

An instant coffee with dried milk and sugar. This is something you find in hotel rooms these days. It's not a frothy coffee as such, though the taste is fairly close as there is sugar and powdered milk in it. I don't have milk in my coffee. Well, I don't drink coffee any more, just occasionally these instant frothy coffees. I had moved on from instant coffee to ground coffee back in the Seventies. But here we are. Top be fair, it's drinkable, but it's nothing like a ground coffee. It tastes of instant coffee - you know that artificial coffee flavour, so with the milk powder and sugar would be liked by those who drink cappuccino and instant frothy coffees. Yeah, those like me, because that's all I drink these days. It's acceptable. Not great. But acceptable as a sweet, instant coffee flavoured warm drink. Sigh. 


Date: Feb 2020    Score:   4