The Collective Duples - Black Cherry

In my opinion, The Collective yoghurts are the best out there. Not only has every flavour I've tried been delicious but they're good for you too - filled with cultures, a very reasonable excuse to eat as much as I can! 

Up until recently you could buy 500g or individual pots of the flavours and small pouches called Suckies which are aimed at kids with no bits or pulps. They've just released these new Duples though which are basically The Collectives version of a Corner or Split Pot. 

There are three available; Scottish Raspberry + seeds, nibs'n'coconut, Passionfruit + toasted granola and the tub I chose, Black Cherry + dark Belgian choccy curls. 

I tried each part alone before mixing them all together, I wasn't suprised to find the yoghurt itself up to the The Collectives usual standards, plain but still creamy tasting, thick and rich. 

The Black Cherry compote on the bottom was good, a sweet cherry flavour that wasn't that strong in the tiny spoonful I scooped out but I didn't want to eat too much before I'd stirred it in. 

The chocolate was lucky it wasn't eaten completely before it got a chance to be tipped in the other section of the tub! I do like a nice bit of dark chocolate and this hit the spot. A small amount of sweetness and not quite bitter (it's only 53% so toward the lower end of a dark chocolate) but it's worlds away from a milk. The difference between the chocolate here and the chocolates used in other corner type yoghurts is ridiculous, this tasted like chocolate I'd happily eat as chocolate, not sugar and fat flavoured like chocolate thrown in as an afterthought to a yoghurt. 

It doesn't look very attractive all stirred up together but these things never do! 

Once I wasn't scared to get a proper spoonful I found the cherry flavour was perfectly strong enough and was fighting with the dark chocolate as to which was strongest. The sweetness of the cherry won out through the plain yoghurt but all I could taste for ages afterwards was the rich dark chocolate. I also found that the compote was 'bitty' which I loved and not only were there little pip like pieces but whole chunks of cherry which came as a very welcome suprise. 

The chocolate really benefits from being stored in the fridge as it keeps a lovely, crunchy bite which both compliments and contrasts against the cherry compote and thick yoghurt. 

This is another winner for me, both in taste and texture and I'm looking forward to trying the Passionfruit + Granola. I'll give the Raspberry a swerve though - yuck coconut! 

7/10 

The Collective Dairy - limited edition Gingerbread Live Gourmet Yoghurt

I don't know what it's like where you are, but down here in miserable London it's dark and freezing when I start work and dark and cold again by the time I finally sit down and start to think about dinner. With the change in weather, longer nights and shorter days, I'm embracing all the Autumn and Winter themed products that are being released wholeheartedly.. I can't wait for snow! 

The Collective live gourmet yoghurts are a favourite of mine, especially Coffee, Russian Fudge and the Banoffee flavours and I've reviewed a couple here. They are a little on the pricey side but I think they're the Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dazs of the yoghurt aisle. 

Gingerbread is nice and straightforward a live yoghurt with a gingerbread syrup swirl. 

The foil seal is themed as always and the back has a little 'run, run as fast as you can - you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!' ditty, alongside a little paragraph explaining that it's not made to hang around and there is "no Bull". This is also gluten free, suitable for vegetarians and made without artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. 

I don't buy gingerbread ever, I think I don't like it but then I get to my mums house, find the gingerbread house she's made and inhale the lot. So I went into this with an open mind - remembering that although it's not a particular favourite of mine, gingerbread is addictive! 

I couldn't explain to you what plain yoghurt smells like, but I could smell it after I peeled the foil away, the huge swirl had a delicious scent that reminded me of Christmas. 

The Collective yoghurt is great quality as always; thick, creamy and rich. It's thick enough that it feels like you're eating a Greek yoghurt just without any of the tang but not so thick that it ends up being a chore to eat it. I'd say easily the nicest commercial plain yoghurt I've eaten. 

The gingerbread syrup is amazing. It's very thick, rich and sweet with a gritty texture. It is gluten free but the Collective have included breadcrumbs made from rice and potato flour. This really makes it feel like you're eating crushed up gingerbread - some of the little pieces were big enough to get a proper chew on. The flavour is delicious, a warm, slightly spiced (hello again cinnamon!) proper gingerbread flavour. It's quite sweet but like with yesterday's review the sweetness is balanced out by the rich warmth and depth of the flavour. 

It mixes in with the plain yoghurt perfectly and I was impressed, as I always am with these tubs, that the gingerbread was consistent thoughout and I had barely any layers with just plain yoghurt. You could easily portion this out over a few servings and get an equal helping of both parts in each one. 

I really like this flavour, another good Autumn/Winter flavour and it tasted to me like Christmas, not long now.....

8/10 

Liberté Greek style yoghurts

There are a few new Liberté yoghurts that have been released recently and I picked two of them up to try, Muesli & Summer Fruits and Seeds & Mixed Berries. 

First up was Muesli & Summer Fruits - a low fat strained Greek style yoghurt with red fruits muesli. 

The ingredients have confused me a little, I'm unsure if this is actually a plain yoghurt with the fruit added to it or a fruit flavoured yoghurt but either way it has a delicious taste. Strawberry is the main fruit and to me the main taste too, it's sweet, fresh and despite being low fat is thick and creamy. 

The muesli and summer berries could have been just an added bonus but they are delicious too. The muesli is chunky, chewy and give a nice little bite that cuts through the thick yoghurt beautifully. The textures work very well together and made for a very filling snack despite this being quite a small pot. 

There was certainly a lot of muesli in my yoghurt, sometimes you find a small layer on the top or bottom of any mix ins like this, but these were everywhere throughout. Mixed together this all gives a very thick texture which I absolutely loved. I'll be buying more of this flavour as not only is it filling and convenient but it actually tasted good too! 

Rating 8/10 

Next I tried Seeds & Mixed Berries. The description says yoghurt on a layer of berries and seeds but I get hangry and eat without noticing so initially I thought I'd got a duff pack when I peeled the lid back. 

Although it looked like an ordinary plain yoghurt I could smell the berries straight away, unlike the muesli pot there was none that stood out especially, it just smelt like a lovely fruity mix. Aswell as appearance it tasted like an ordinary Greek style yoghurt too, very thick with a slight tang though it is slightly creamier than other brands I've tried recently. There was a mildly sweet aftertaste where the berry layer had penetrated through a little. 

I gave up and gave it a stir (I know you're supposed to but for reviewing purposes!!) and finally got through to the berry layer. It's deliciously sweet and very fruity. As with the muesli version it tastes lovely and fresh and counters the plain yoghurt beautifully. There are sunflower, pumpkin and Lin seeds here and they are huge! They give an interesting sensation which I've not had with yoghurt before. The sunflower seeds are very crunchy and what I'm guessing are the Lin seeds (sorry I've never had them before) are chewy. 

I was a little disappointed that no matter how much I stirred this yoghurt the fruit and seeds just kept sinking to the bottom. Percentage wise both tubs have a similar amount of filling and berries but the seeds tub tastes a lot more plain and a lot less substantial than the muesli which is surprising as muesli actually has less calories. 

I wouldn't buy this one again, it wasn't that it isn't nice just a bit boring and not as tasty as the first. 

Rating 6/10 

Skyr Icelandic style yoghurts

Recently in Asda I noticed a 4 for £2 offer on some new yoghurts, these included the Skyr layered yoghurts and Arla Protein yoghurts and so I bought 2 of each.

Firstly I tried the Skyr layered with Nordic mixed berries. Looking on the tub these mixed berries are Red Currants, Lingonberries, Strawberries, Blueberries and Sour Cherrys. 

They fruit is layered at the bottom so I started just on the plain yoghurt, it's fat free which usually means high sugar but also has reduced sugar and is high in protein so as far as I can see seems a pretty healthy option. It's very, very thick and reminded me of Greek yoghurt but without the tang, so depending on your preferences that could be a positive or negative. It's just a plain yoghurt and tasted fine to me, although it could be a little boring and I probably wouldn't choose to eat it alone myself - good for if you're dieting or on a health kick though. 

The mixed berry layer on the bottom is delicious, with all the berries included it's hard to pick which one stood out the most but together they are sweet and juicy and added a lovely juicy sweetness to the plain yogurt. It's not just a sauce though it has large chunks of actual fruit, and the change in texture and sweetness cut through the top layer beautifully. 

I'll definitely buy this flavour again. 

Rating 8/10 

  

The strawberry flavour is much of the same, one slight difference I noticed was that I couldn't smell the strawberry when I peeled the lid back. As expected the yoghurt is exactly the same.

This contains only 7.5% strawberries but the layer at the bottom seems more than that. Again it's a chunky, sweet strawberry layer that I would happily eat by itself! It tastes so fresh especially considering this one has another 12 days before the use by date. 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this yogurt - if I'd eaten it first it would have rated an 8, but after trying the mixed berries I had yesterday I can't rate this higher.

Rating 7/10 

I was actually going to try a Protein Yogurt in between the two Skyr flavours but my fiancée ate them before I got a chance! Interestingly Skyr is also an Arla brand and seems to me to be the female aimed product with the huge "20g OF PROTEIN" stamped all over the other tub, aimed at men. If this is Arla's goal it obviously works!! 

Edit: I know these are reduced sugar, but I ate these around 2pm and come 5pm I was having a serious sugar crash - much more so than after I have a packet of crisps or a chocolate bar with my lunch!! 

Müller Greek style coffee corner yoghurt

Today's review is the second vote for me Müller yoghurt, first here. Again it's coffee themed and this time it's Müller Bliss corner whipped Greek style cappuccino with a coffee sauce. At least I think that's what it's called as the words don't seem to be in any order on the pack! 

I started off by trying the yoghurt first, I was starving when I ate this so didn't read the details and I actually assumed this was a plain yoghurt! If it is cappuccino flavoured as the packet insinuates it doesn't taste it.

 There is a slight tang to the yogurt but it's still mainly sweet and it's very fluffy - it has an almost mousse like consistency, so I'm not sure where the Greek style comes into play perhaps because it's thicker. It is nice, though rather plain on its own. 

Apologies for the blurry picture!

The sauce is very thick, i expected it to be runnier but after I'd tried it on its own I folded it over the yoghurt  and held it there for a good 2 minutes but it still stayed in its own little pot so I gave up and scooped it in. The coffee flavour is much stronger in the sauce than in the first Müller I tried, it could possibly even be too strong on its own - I wouldn't say it's a sauce you would sit and eat straight with a spoon like a caramel or chocolate based one. 

The two pair nicely together, the very strong thick sauce mixes beautifully into the fluffy plainer yoghurt and although neither would be particularly enjoyable alone I really liked them together. Of the two I think I prefer this one, it feels a bit more indulgent because of the texture of the yoghurt and I didn't miss any crunchy pieces as the thick, rich sauce added a delicious coffee flavour. 

Rating 7/10