When I was asked if we'd like to receive some Llama snacks to review, the name already had me smiling - and that was before they arrived and I saw the packaging ! The front of the pack shows some very funky-looking (in a seventies throwback kind of way !) llamas and, above the brand name, the text "one mammal's mission to rid the world of boring snacks" ! That sets the tone for what you'll find on the back of the bags !
The red sweet chilli bag says : "What is it with you British and your boring snacks? Where I come from, our nibbles have some kahunas ! Big flavours, big crunch, big attitude. So hasta la vista ready salted, adios dry roasted, my delicious sweet chilli flavour baked bites are ready to rumble". The purple BBQ ones say : "What's tasteful, good looking, adored by everyone and forever brushing lips with the beautiful, rich and famous? Me? Well, yes, but I was actually referring to new snacks - whole wheat, full-flavoured, oven-baked crackers with a crunch that packs a punch. So rip open a bag of these feisty BBQ flavour bites, because things are about to get a whole lot tastier round here." And the yellow cheese flavour : "What happens when you give a llama a boring snack? Spit happens ! And believe me - since I came over here, I've had a lot to spit about. Potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes. Such lack of imagination ! That's why I, the llama of great gastronomy, the llama of exceptional taste, the llama who's simply known back home as "the deli llama", have decided to help you Brits out. I spit on your potatoes !"
Well, I already loved the brand before I even got as far as opening the pack, but I was even more excited when I saw that they're not just llama by name, they're llama by nature too because they're llama-shaped snacks !
Before we started eating them, I had a giggle making them kiss ...
Then someone who will remain nameless came along and made them do rude things. Luckily Pierre thought they were doing piggy-backs ! (Or maybe they were all along and it was MY mind in the sewer !)
Next we got down to the serious business of tasting them. Starting with the cheese ones, they reminded me, in terms of flavour and texture, of cheesy Tuc biscuits. They're crunchy, delicately-flavoured (they could have done with being a bit cheesier to be honest) and not too salty. My joint favourites are the BBQ and sweet chilli ones which have a more robust flavour and a slight chilli-hit which makes your tongue zing, but the kids preferred the cheese ones.
Lovely flavours and crunchiness aside, they also have another big advantage. They're baked, not fried, so they're better for you than many other snacks such as crisps. One portion (a sixth of a bag, which is 25g) of the cheese flavour contains 115 calories, 0.5g of sugar, 4.8g of fat of which 0.5g saturates and 0.3g of salt. The other two flavours contain more sugar but less calories - 110 for chilli and 100 for BBQ, and for both 3.5g of sugar, 4g of fat of which 0.4g saturated and 0.3g of salt.
I only have two niggles. One is that the handy (in theory) adhesive strip to reseal the bag doesn't stay stuck so the bag keeps popping open again (forcing you to eat another handful each time !). The second is that you do get messy fingers, in particular when eating the cheesy ones. Make sure you take along some wet wipes if you're planning on packing them in the family picnic !
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £1.69 for 150g (available at Tesco's)
for more information : www.llamasnacks.com or join the herd @llamasnacks on Twitter
Disclosure : We received some Llama snacks in order to write an honest review.
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Very cool but a little expensive maybe
ReplyDeletei love the packaging, my daughter would probably spend more time playing with these than eating them
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