Morrisons Hot Chocolate Instant Drink

 

Quite acceptable. Mild chocolate flavour. Not too sweet. Easy drinking. 



Date: Sept 2022   Score: 6 

Cadbury Instant Hot Chocolate

 

We bought this when staying at a Premier Inn near Tower Bridge in London because our supply of Tesco hot chocolate that we had brought with us was running out. It cost £4.00 for 400g from the Co-op opposite the hotel, though would only have cost £2.50 if we'd bought it in our local Tesco.  The Tesco Hot Chocolate cost us £1.60 for 400g. We did a blind taste test of the Tesco and the Cadbury. One of us preferred the Cadbury, one preferred the Tesco, and one couldn't tell the difference. Go figure. 

It makes a nice smooth chocolate drink. It tastes smoother and richer if some milk is used as well (or instead of) the water. That is true of all instant hot chocolates. It tastes more chocolaty if some cocoa powder is mixed in. And best of all is mixing in some cocoa powder and some milk. And save your money and buy Tesco or Lidl hot chocolate and Tesco or Lidl cocoa, blend the powder together and make with part milk and part water. Job done. Go to bed with a smile on your face. 


Date: Jan 2022    Score: 5 

Sainsbury's Mint Flavour Hot Chocolate

 

Christmas is coming so Sainsbury's bring out their Christmas themed hot chocolate powders.  The Orange was really nice. This Mint, is also good, though a little less so than the Orange. The mint flavour is not quite perky enough, and the chocolate fades into the background somewhat. Milk and sugar somewhat dominate, with the menthol from the mint making itself felt long before any chocolate gets a look in. Nice enough. Be fun to try a blend of the Orange and Mint. 

Date: Nov 2021   Score: 5

***

Sainsbury's own label

Sainsbury's Orange Flavour Hot Chocolate

 

Decent stuff.  Two spoonfuls in a mug of hot milk. Lovely. Mainly orange flavour, but with a good meld of milky chocolate. It's kind of like those Club Orange biscuits, but without the biscuit, and liquid and warm. Yes. Nice. I could drink this again. Perhaps not for when you want a proper hot chocolate, but for those times when you want something a little different. Good for Christmas for those of us who associate oranges with Christmas. I certainly do. Oranges were a treat when I was little. And on Christmas morning I would wake up with a stocking on my bed, and at the bottom would always be an orange or tangerine. Ah. Memories....


Date: Nov 2021   Score: 7

***

Sainsbury's own label

Galaxy Vegan Instant Silky & Smooth Drink

 

Vegan recipe in that there is no intended milk or milk products in the jar, however there is a warning on the jar that the product was made in a factory with milk products, so some milk traces may be present. 

It certainly is smooth - some may say oily (we do). There is some chocolate flavour here, but not much. It sort of tastes like corn mush or well coked veg. There is a sort of not-quite-right flavour to this. It's drinkable, but not entirely enjoyable - at times it tastes like warm vegetable oil (like Mazda) mixed with a little cooking chocolate. 

The main ingredients are: Sugar, Maltodextrin,  Dried Glucose Syrup, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (10%), Coconut Oil, Soya Protein. 

We won't be drinking this on its own again, but shall use it in blends to see if that works. 


Date: Oct 2021    Score: 2 

Lindt Hot Chocolate

 

Cocoa, sugar, and 8% Lindt chocolate. It's smooth and pleasant, but lacks depth and is a little sweet. Quite drinkable, but at the top end for price, even for a brand name hot chocolate. £4.00 for 300g from Tesco (£1.34 per 100g). There are some more expensive, but Twinings is £1.15 per 100g and Cadburys is 80p; while Tesco own brand is 40p. 

Meh. Not one we'll be buying again at that price, unless they bump up the chocolate content and give it more oomph.  

Date: Oct 2021   Score: 4 

Oxo Meat-Free Beef Flavour

 

Oxo is a beef tea, along with Bovril. It was developed in the late 1800s. The cube is crumbled into a mug and hot water poured on. There are, thankfully, veggie versions now. Bovril was made into a veggie version, but after some protests the liquidised remains of young cows was restored to the product. A form of beef tea can also be made from Marmite - which has always been veggie - but that doesn't work as good. 

I can remember my first Oxo beef tea. I was a child, probably about eight years old, and I'd come home from playing quite cold and wet because we'd been caught in the rain. My mother made a mug of Oxo, and put in pieces of bread. I quite liked the bread soaked in Oxo, but it was the drink that really excited me, and I can remember wanting to drink more of the juice, and regretting that my mother had put so much bread in the mug! 

This modern veggie Oxo is delightful. Just salty enough. Very savoury and satisfying. 

Date: Oct 2021    Score: 7