Walkers Jed's Sizzling Steak Fajita

Product name: Walkers Jed’s Sizzling Steak Fajita
Purchase details: £0.99 for a multipack of six bags (Home Bargains)
Calories: 132 per 25g bag
Country of origin: UK

This bag of Walkers Jed’s Sizzling Steak Fajita was the final flavour I tried from the Do Us A Flavour selection 2 multipack that I got on a Spotted On Star Buys promotion. As one of the varieties I’d really wanted to try prior to purchase, I couldn’t wait to see if I found it to be as good as Emma G's Chip Shop Chicken Curry.

The packet’s colour scheme matched its contents better than some of its competitors, with the brown and green reminding me of steak and peppers. The crisps were visibly tinted brown, too, by the powdered Scottish Aberdeen angus beef that was used in conjunction with smoke flavouring in an attempt to achieve the desired taste.

Bizarrely, the crisps actually smelt like vegetables! There was a tiny hint of meat too but, if I’m honest, I wasn’t really convinced or impressed by the aroma – it just didn’t seem to quite work in this format. However, I love fajitas (although I don’t eat them as often as I’d like!) so I still wanted to see how the taste compared...and they were actually pretty authentic! I could pick up aspects of both steak and peppers in the flavouring, and there was a very slight ‘kick’ in the mix too. It was just a shame that the sour cream and shedloads of cheese – which I think are essential for good fajitas – weren’t flavours that were included in the overall experience. Furthermore, I sometimes felt that the peppers were simply masking the taste of standard roast beef crisps. However, I was impressed by the juicy aspect of the meat which I thought was quite unique in this type of product.

Texturally, there was no change from Walkers’ usual high standards, so I was left feeling that this was a nice enough packet of crisps...just not sensational.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 5.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7/10

Asda Chosen By You: Rainbow buttons

Product name: Asda Chosen By You: Rainbow buttons
Calories: 7 per 1.5g serving (298 per 60g bag)
Country of origin: Scotland

So it turns out that Santa shops in Asda since another item in one of my Christmas stockings was this bag of Chosen By You: Rainbow buttons (that’s ‘jazzles’ to you and me!).

Since I’ve always loved white chocolate, this was a favourite pick ’n’ mix sweet of mine when I was a kid. However, when I’ve tried them as an adult, they’ve definitely not been white chocolate and just tasted like sugar. To be honest, I’ve been a bit unsure whether this was always the case, or if my tastebuds have changed! As it happened, these only came described as ‘white chocolate flavour candy buttons with a candy topping’ so they weren’t the real deal either, and the main ingredient was sugar.

Despite being aimed at children, I did love the presentation of these sweets. They came in a cute pink bag which depicted cartoons of the buttons on a rainbow that reflected the colours of the sprinkles on the top of each sweet. The bag also contained a window through which the fairly large, flat buttons could be viewed.

There were supposed to be 39 seven-calorie servings in the bag which, I assumed, meant a serving was a single button. However, since I’d planned to eat them all at once anyway, I wasn’t going to count them all just to make sure! There certainly didn’t seem to be any shortage as I was eating them, though.

The Rainbow buttons smelt a bit like a slightly sweetened milk, although it wasn’t a strong aroma. The fake chocolate had quite a grainy texture, whilst the topping (that contributed to a whopping 25% of the product), provided knobbly interest. Despite being thin, they were quite chunky to chew, and this went well with the crunchy sprinkles.

The buttons had a very sweet taste with a very slight creamy element. To my pleasant surprise, the sprinkles almost added a fruitiness to the flavours on offer, and I felt that these sweets were of a better quality than other jazzles I’ve tried. That said, I still maintain that they weren’t as good as if a real white chocolate had been used, since they were too sugary for this.

I can’t deny these were a little bit sickly, but they were stupidly moreish, and I’m sure many parents would have no problem ‘helping’ their children eat them! 

Appearance: 8.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.5/10