Have A Break and Be The Inventor For Once! | KitKat Chocolatory Bars Review

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new post! I've been gone a while. due, to writing a ten thousand word dissertation. As we all know, we are in hard times at the moment. I thought, that, I would create some content to hopefully help you all escape the problems that we are all going through for a good five minutes.

On that note, I thought that today, I would talk to you all about KitKats. Yes, you heard right. These aren't any ordinary KitKats though! These are weird and whacky KitKats that the people at KitKat Chocolatory have created.

KitKat Chocolatory is a concept brought to you by the wonderful people at KitKat. You get to make your own KitKats from a plethora of combinations. This concept was at York Chocolate Factory, but it might now be at John Lewis at their Oxford Street branch. Don't take my word for it though, as that's only what I have seen on the internet. Along with this create your own concept, KitKat Chocolatory have also created some innovative and interesting bars that you can also get at the Factory or John Lewis. I got mine from my local John Lewis a few weeks ago. They do a mixture of singular bars which come with six fingers, or a multipack of two different bars. I decided to get two packs of the multipacks to enjoy as many flavours as I could possibly get my hands on.

The Explorer: 

'A pack of 12 crispy wafer fingers covered in chocolate. The pack contains six KitKat Springtime in Japan wafer fingers with a cherry-flavoured and apple filling covered in high-quality Ruby couverture chocolate, as well as six Jewels of the East wafer fingers with a pistachio and rose petal filling covered in smooth dark chocolate.' - KitKat Chocolatory.

Springtime In Japan:

The bar looks magnificent even before you've tried it. On the front, it looks like your traditional KitKat but on the back, it looks like a magnificent art piece. The back resembles a Cherry Blossom with blasts of red and green running through the bar. The reasoning of this is due to Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) normally come into full bloom during the Spring.

The Cherry comes through instantly when you bite into a finger of this delicious delight. The Cherry is a sort of less intense Sour Cherry flavour which cuts through some of the milkiness of the Chocolate. After this, your mouth gets an intense textural contrast, via, the smoothness of the chocolate, the crispiness of the wafer, and the chewiness of the Apple pieces. Last but not least, the fruitiness of the Ruby Chocolate comes blaring through. The Berry sort of hint from the Ruby Chocolate makes you realise how elevated of a KitKat this is.

I honestly hope that KitKat, well KitKat UK bring this out as a permanent within the future. I think that it would be a great Spring product in the UK, as most Spring time sweet things are based on Strawberries and Cream, therefore this would be a fresh stand out against all of that.

Jewels Of The East: 

I liked this one, but I also had a problem with it.

I love Pistachios. I love the flavour they bring and the texture. So. it was great to have a different texture within the KitKat. I love the texture of the wafer. but having that little bit extra crunch just made the chocolate bar that little bit better. I love the sort of fresh nut flavour that the Pistachios brought, as it cut against the slight bitterness of the Dark Chocolate.

Sadly, my problems included the Rose Petal element of the bar. I love Rose anything. I love the taste of Rose in things, and I love the slight sweet floral scent that Rose brings to a lot of things, Saying this, the petals didn't really add much to the bar, except aesthetics. They just didn't add anything and it was a bit of a shame. I think that having Rose Oil within the bar might have been a bit better.

The Mixologist 

'A pack of 12 crispy wafer fingers covered in chocolate. The pack contains six KitKat Whisky & Ginger wafer fingers with a whisky flavour and ginger filling covered in dark chocolate, as well as six Zingtastic Gin & Tonic wafer fingers with a gin and tonic flavour caramel filling (made with sugar and sweetener) covered in milk chocolate.' - KitKat Chocolatory. 

Zingtastic Gin & Tonic: 

I'm not the biggest fan of Gin and Tonic, but these are pretty fantastic. The Caramel is slightly crunchy which gives a different textural element to the bar. The Gin and Tonic flavour isn't too full on that you only can have one, but its not too subtle that you're looking for the flavour for a good five minutes after you've eaten a finger. I'd definitely have these again.

Whiskey & Ginger: 

Okay, so I'm already going in with a bit of a bias, due to loving both Whiskey and Ginger. I love this one. When you bite into it, the Whiskey instantly hits you, but after a minute or so, the Ginger punches through and stays there for the rest of the flavour experience. I love the taste of Whiskey and Ginger and Dark Chocolate as the Ginger kind of cuts through the Dark Chocolate slightly and the Whiskey gives you a hit that you weren't expecting.

Have you tried any of these? What's your favourite flavour of KitKat to date? Are you a two finger, a four finger, or a chunky sort of person? Let me know down below!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Danny Gruff - The Coffee Beans Tour

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! Today, I thought that, I would talk to you all about a tour that I will be attending soon. This isn't a spon or anything like that, I just like the music and the person of whom I'm promoting, and, I think that it's great to promote artists when possible!

Wrexham born singer songwriter Danny Gruff got his big banging break after supporting artists like Frank Turner and Bastille to name a few. Within 2015, Danny created a project which was dubbed ONTAW which consisted of releasing one new track a week for a year which then led him onto a 2 official UK tours including a first headline tour. Danny has the spent since October creating his self titled album via the funds from singles, merchandise and tours. Danny is known for his cheeky yet friendly personality. 

In June 2017, Danny released a self titled album consisting of 13 amazing songs, under an album. This album covers a plethora of genres, themes and tempos, to suit a magnitude of moods. If you want to read more about what I thought about this breathtaking album then click here to read my full review of Coffee Beans. 

To match the name of the album, Danny thought that, it would be an interesting idea to hold the dates of the tour in actual coffee shops, and, small venues around the UK. Not only would it showcase the symbolism of the album as a whole, but, it would also give Danny and his audience the perfect atmosphere for a personal, and, intimate performance. 

The dates that are still available to purchase are, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, and, Portsmouth. Click here to find your nearest gig and purchase tickets. 

Check out Danny's music via his Spotify. 

Visit Danny's website to find out more about him and to purchase merchandise. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post, Let me know if you will be attending any of the dates. Comment down below with your favourite song from Danny Gruff. I've also included the lyric video to Coffee Beans just in case you want to check it out. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x 

Finding The Birth Of Alcohol In The Yorkshire Dales | Copper King Distillery

Hey!

Welcome to another blog post. Today I'm talking about Cooper King Distillery. The guys behind the distillery have asked me to talk about them and their new Founders Club to you before they launch so that's what I'm doing today.

A black diamond logo with white text saying Cooper King Distillery with a gold logo above it on a white background. 

Located just ten miles from the historic city of York, Cooper King Distillery will sit nestled between the handsome Howardian Hills  and the rugged Yorkshire Dales.  The distillery will have major attractions such as York Minster and Whitby nearby to keep it company. The business will produce small batch, whisky, gin and other adventurous yet superb spirits.

Cooper King Distillery is inviting whisky and gin enthusiasts to become part of their whisky distillery via its Founders’ Club which will launch this month hopefully.

Once an architect and a scientist, Chris & Abbie’s love for craft spirit distillation grew after deciding to embark on a life-changing trip to Australia in 2014. After visiting all eight operational whisky distilleries in Tasmania, they were inspired by these small producers who were carving a path for hand-crafted premium whisky. Taught by Bill Lark, the godfather of Tasmanian whisky, and armed with a wealth of knowledge gathered from across Tasmania’s now acclaimed New World whisky distilleries and beyond, the pair have brought their ethos back home to the UK to influence this independent craft distillery.

A small cylindrical glass filled with clear gin with a herbal green garnish floating at the top of the liquid on a wooden background. 

A small cylindrical glass filled with clear gin with a herbal green garnish x at the bottom of the liquid and in front of the glass on a wooden background.

The couple will be hands on at every stage of production. They will mash, ferment, distill, age and bottle the single malt whisky all under one roof, making them one of only a few English distilleries to do so.

Cooper King Distillery are now launching their Founders' Club to the public this month (May 2017) hopefully. Members/anyone that joins will be rewarded with first release products, rare bottlings, merchandise and lifetime membership.

Cooper King Distillery will be offering numerous Founders’ Club reward tiers ranging from £30 upwards, which will make great gifts for whisky and gin lovers. The Founders’ Club launches on 25th May. Memberships are limited and are on a first-come, first-served basis, so those who want a piece of the action are encouraged to act quickly.

If you want to find out more about Cooper Kind Distillery then click here.

What's your favourite type of alcohol? Let me know down below.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post and that you have learnt some things about distilleries. I hope that you come back for the next post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

I was sharing the press release for this company and was done from the bottom of my heart to ensure that they get some coverage. Some bits have been moved about and changed. Nothing was in exchange of goods or money. 

Shopping Has Come In Peace | Christmas Gift Guide For Men 2016

Hey! It's time for my last gift guide of the year. I know that I left these until the last minute this year but I hope that you have enjoyed reading them. This last gift guide is all about what to buy the men within your life for Christmas. I am going to start off with a couple of pairs of shoes from Schuh, Guys including myself always need more shoes. I always think no matter male, female or anything inbetween, you can always do with more shoes! The first pair are from the Vans x Toy Story range so these trainers instantly make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves Disney or Toy Story. These trainers have pictures of the aliens on which I find so cute. Ooooooooooh click here to find out more about the trainers.

The second pair from Schuh are Dr Martens 14 Tie Z Boot Boots. I love them due to tallness of the boot. They're definitely a great gift for anyone who loves Dr Martens or for anyone who loves a good boot. They're quite expensive but worth it. Click here to find out more about them.

This one is from Debenhams. It's slightly boozy but I think that it is a great gift. It is a Jim Beam gift set which contains a 5cl bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon and a petrol bottle shaped hip flask which I think is an amazing gift for anyone who loves their Bourbon or are an avid petrol head. Come and find out more about this gift set here.

The next couple of items that I am going to talk about are from the brand Vercity who have a store within Queens Arcade in Leeds. The first item from them that I am going to suggest is the blue canvas backpack. I love anything that is blue. It's sturdy and can hold a lot of items within it so its a great bag for things such as work, events, travelling to various places or anything of that sort. Click here to find out more about it.

I am also going to feature the Charcoal Grey Vintage Weekend Bag as I love the colour of it, I love how big it looks and honestly I would buy it as I know whoever got this would use it as much as they can. Click here to find out more about it.

Second to last brand! Avaj who specialise in underwear, beauty and much more. They also have a store in Headingley! I had a good gander on the website and loved the colour Wicked Green so both of the products in this gift guide are in Wicked Green but do have a look on their website for everything that they sell. Product number one is a Jockstrap in Wicked Green for anyone who loves them. I just think that they give great support and make anyone feel confident. Click here to find out more.

 

There is also the green beauties that are the boxer briefs which might suit the men who don't want to show their butt off. I still think that they support quite well and make a difference from the general black/white ones that they have. (There is only the small left of these sadly.) Time for the last brand! Lord Byron Shoes are a brand that are based within Manchester who create bespoke shoes. I've featured this and Schuh as I think that they are both on the opposite sides of the shoe spectrum. The first pair are a pair of tan brogue boots. I love brogue boots as they are a slightly more sartorial version of the normal boot and I think that they are best for this time of year really. Click here to find out more.

On Wednesdays, we only wear Pink! Pink is for everyone and looks amazing via these wholecut oxford brogues which will add a bright splash to any outfit. Click here to find out more.

Final item in the gift guide! These tan and blue brogues add a slight splash without being as bright as the shoes above therefore these are perfect for someone who's a bit hesitant on being bright. These will go well with whatever you pair them with. Click here to find out more.

Have you or are you interested in purchasing any of the above as gifts for others or for yourself? Let me know down below!

That's the last of my gift guides for 2016. I hope that you don't leave any of your present purchasing until the 24th. I hope that you come back for another blog post. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

Some of the images above have been provided by the PR, All views and opinions are my own.