Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl

Product name: Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl

Purchase details: £1.00 for a 375ml bottle (tesco.com)
Calories: 266 per bottle
Country of origin: UK

Yesterday I reviewed a white chocolate and strawberry combo which tasted like milkshake (Lindt Lindor: Strawberries & cream), and today I’m reviewing an actual white chocolate and berry milkshake – Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl.

I love this kind of flavour combination and I’ve been wanting to try this particular product for a while but I was waiting for it to be on offer as I’m watching the pennies. I quickly snapped it up when I saw it for £1.00 online but, when it arrived, I realised its cheaper price was down to a smaller bottle than normal (by nearly 100ml). I actually saw this as a good thing, though, as I’ve previously found other Frijj milkshakes a little too large, and this made the treat less calorific whilst still allowing me to save money despite it not being as good value as I’d originally thought.

As part of the Supreme range of milkshakes, this bottle had the same overall design as the Sticky toffee pudding variety, but with purple and white splodges instead of brown ones – I thought it looked gorgeous. It carried the same general promises and was described as ‘fresh milk combined with indulgent flavours – a source of calcium and vitamin B12’. It contained no artificial colours or flavours and no gluten, and I was surprised to see that the ‘high temperature pasteurised’ drink was also low in fat – it contained 1.3g of fat per 100ml, with 0.8g being of saturates.

I was a bit confused by this shake on the basis that it contained 70% skimmed milk and 22% whole milk which was almost the same as the standard Fudge Brownie and Cookie Dough varieties. Since this was marketed as being more indulgent, I didn’t understand why it didn’t have the higher whole milk content that the Supreme: Sticky toffee pudding had.

Despite my concerns, I carried on, shaking my chilled bottle well before opening. The liquid’s appearance looked exactly like milk but it was visibly thicker and heavier to pour. It had a fantastic, gentle scent of Mr Whippy ice cream with raspberry sauce, and the base flavour was essentially sweetened milk with a bit of vanilla. However, the main taste element was the raspberry which was bang on what the aforementioned ice cream sauce is like. My brain actually found it hard to process because it tasted so much like ice cream but there was no raspberry ripple to look at!

As delicious as these flavours were, I found it a shame that I couldn’t taste the white chocolate at all, despite it being an actual ingredient rather than just a flavouring. However,  I wasn’t all that surprised by this as I remember once getting a Nestlé Milkybar milkshake from Sblended Milkshakes and finding I couldn’t taste the white chocolate there either, despite there physically being bits of it throughout! I guess it’s a flavour that’s easily overpowered...

Not to end on a downer, the drink’s texture was nice and thick and smooth. I had been feeling a bit dehydrated but it was wonderfully refreshing and, as I said, it did taste fantastic despite the absence of a noticeable white chocolate flavour. A very enjoyable treat.

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10

Shaken Udder Banana!

Product name: Shaken Udder Banana!
Purchase details: £0.39 for a 200ml carton or three for £1.00 (Home Bargains)
Calories: 136 per carton
Country of origin: England 

Tonight’s review is my last of the Shaken Udder range designed for kids: Banana!

The concept and health claims of this product were the same as the Chocolate! and Strawberry! versions, and it came in a bright yellow carton.

The drink was made from ‘real banana’ and contained 94% semi-skimmed milk and 1% banana puree. The liquid pretty much looked like standard milk but it did have a very, very slight yellow tinge to it, and I noticed that it had been coloured by pumpkin and apple concentrates. Unusually, I found the scent of the milk itself to be stronger than the banana, but there was still a slight aroma of the latter present too.

As always, I chilled and shook the carton before opening. The milkshake still wasn’t quite as thick as I’d like but it did have a lovely creamy smooth texture. I somehow managed to lose the straw from my carton so I was unable to try drinking it in this way but, presumably, this would have made it feel a little thicker.

The banana flavour was noticeable but quite subtle – it tasted sweet and almost vanilla-like. I did think there was a slightly artificial element to the taste, too, but this was almost not worth mentioning compared to many other milkshakes I’ve had in my time.

What I enjoyed most about this Shaken Udder Banana! drink was just how refreshing it was. It was obviously more of a treat than a standard glass of milk but it didn’t provide the heaviness or sickliness that so many other flavoured milks and shakes do. As a result, this will be my variety of choice in future.

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

Shaken Udder Strawberry!

Product name: Shaken Udder Strawberry!
Purchase details: £0.39 for a 200ml carton or three for £1.00 (Home Bargains)
Calories: 136 per carton
Country of origin: England 

Following on from my review of Shaken Udder Chocolate!, the time has come for me to review the Strawberry! version.

This ‘delicious blend of natural fresh milk and real strawberries’ was exactly the same concept as Shaken Udder Chocolate! but was made of 93% semi-skimmed milk and 1% strawberry puree and came in a red carton to represent the flavour.

As instructed, I sampled the drink ‘ice cold’, and shaken. The liquid was extremely pale pink in colour which suggested that it was as healthy as it claimed to be – I noticed on the ingredients list that even this shade had been achieved by using concentrates of radish, pumpkin, apple and tomato!

The drink had a sweet strawberry scent that reminded me a bit of Storck Campino sweets. Whilst this was deliciously strong on first sniff, it was the type of aroma that didn’t linger.

The milkshake’s flavour took me right back to the occasional drinks of strawberry milk I had when I was a kid. I did find it tasted slightly artificial, despite its natural ingredients, but I did enjoy the flavour and found it had a little sugary kick too. To top it off, it was also surprisingly creamy.

As with the Chocolate! variety, this drink wasn’t as thick as I like my milkshakes to be, but it was smooth and a little thicker than standard milk. However, I did find it felt almost watery when first entering the mouth, which was a shame.

Since Shaken Udder Strawberry! was designed to be drunk straight from the carton, I also tried the shake through the straw provided, and found that this intensified the flavour – presumably due to it being focussed on a specific area of the tongue!

Once again, this was a tasty little offering from Shaken Udder, and one I would have loved to have found in my childhood lunchboxes.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Frijj Supreme: Sticky toffee pudding

Product name: Frijj Supreme: Sticky toffee pudding
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 471ml bottle (tesco.com)
Calories: 405 per bottle
Country of origin: England  

I’ve reviewed both sticky toffee pudding products and milkshakes recently so I jumped at the chance to buy a sticky toffee pudding flavoured milkshake! This was from the Frijj Supreme range and I just loved the sophisticated black label that represented the line of ‘supremely thick’, ‘smooth’ and ‘indulgent’ shakes. The packaging did also maintain the cow-like splodges of the more standard Frijj milkshakes but, in this case, they were rich brown swirls that made me think more of chocolate than toffee.

This product was clearly going to feel a bit more special than the Fudge Brownie and Cookie Dough standard Frijj drinks I’ve previously reviewed since it contained 45% each of whole milk and skimmed milk – this was just over double the amount of whole milk and considerably less skimmed so it seemed like good news for the tastebuds but not the waistline! What hadn’t changed was the fact that the milk used was ‘fresh’, and the milkshake was also a source of calcium and vitamin B12, whilst containing no artificial flavours or colours.

The drink was beige in colour (well, ‘plain caramel, apparently!) and had a lovely, buttery caramel scent. The bottle described it as ‘temptingly delicious’ so, having chilled and shaken it, it was time to see for myself. 

The initial taste that hit me was a milky one but then a sweet toffee flavour did come through too. Exact flavourings were not included on the ingredients list but there were two types of sugar (normal and ‘caramelised’!) as well as buttermilk powder, so I imagine these had quite a big part to play in the ‘indulgent flavours’. 

What pleased me most about this Supreme: Sticky toffee pudding milkshake was the texture – it was definitely thicker than the other varieties I’ve tried and, since this has been something I’ve previously commented on, it was a welcome improvement. Furthermore, it maintained its vital smooth texture too. 

I’m not going to pretend this milkshake’s flavour was as deep as that of real sticky toffee pudding but it was delicious nevertheless and has become my favourite Frijj variety so far. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8/10

Shaken Udder Chocolate!

Product name: Shaken Udder Chocolate!
Purchase details: £0.39 for a 200ml carton or three for £1.00 (Home Bargains)
Calories: 140 per carton
Country of origin: England 

Having reviewed Shaken Udder Vanillalicious! when I first started my blog, I was pleased to see this great offer on the brand’s newer kids’ cartons. I bought one of each flavour and tonight’s review is of the Chocolate! variety. 

  

This fun, slightly more angular than usual,  brown carton was very much focussed on being natural and having health benefits. It contained no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and, containing vitamin B12 and calcium, provided ‘natural immunity support’. The ‘high temperature pasteurised milkshake’ claimed to be a ‘delicious blend of natural fresh milk and real chocolate’ and ‘full of great tasting natural milk goodness’. Furthermore, it met government guidelines for use in schools. 

As instructed, I enjoyed this drink chilled and shaken (the latter caused the extreme frothiness at the top of my glass!). You may be wondering how a child could enjoy this chilled having taken it to school in their lunchbox. The answer? Freeze it overnight – sorted! 

The drink was the shade of brown I’d expect for a chocolate milk drink but I was pleasantly surprised that it smelt more like a sweet milk chocolate itself rather than a chocolate flavoured milkshake. However, this aroma wasn’t overly strong. 

Since 95% of the milkshake consisted of semi-skimmed milk, with only 1% being milk chocolate powder (plus some cocoa powder for added measure), the chocolate taste was quite subtle.  However, the cocoa flavour was definitely present and it did taste more interesting than standard milk. For me, the best thing was that it wasn’t at all sickly! 

In terms of texture, this drink was only a little thicker than ordinary milk, so it felt more like a flavoured milk than an actual milkshake. That’s not to say it wasn’t pleasant, but I do prefer a thicker liquid for milkshakes. However, this probably would have been more difficult to be consumed through a straw. (Incidentally, I intended to try this milkshake in that way too but I completely forgot until I finished it and then spotted the straw on the side – oops!) 

I’m not going to pretend this milkshake was mindblowing but I do love the concept of a relatively healthy but fun drink aimed at children. I know I would have loved to have found this Shaken Udder Chocolate! in my lunchbox when I was a kid! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10