Vale of Mowbray Pork Pie

Bought from: Supermarket in Peckham

Made by: Vale of Mowbray

Pastry: Unpleasantly soggy all round with a hard, tasteless bottom. 1/5
Meat: Too soft; almost like paté. An unhealthy pink colour with horrible lumps of fat; unpleasant taste. 0/5
Jelly: A rubbery, almost inedible jelly: not something you'd want in your mouth. 0/5
Appearance and value: An unwell looking outside. Very cheap at £1; and it's not worth that! 1/5

Overall rating and summary: Unpleasant in every way. Perhaps more suitable for a dog than a human being; I didn't eat it all. Do not buy this pork pie.  2/20

Morrisons Melton Mowbray Pork Pie

Bought from: Supermarket in Camberwell

Made by: Morrisons

Pastry: Quite soft and almost powdery. Uninteresting; not much flavour; quite greasy. Could do with some spice. 2/5
Meat: No resistance except for almost occasional harder lumps. A cheap flavour; grey in colour: 1/5
Jelly: Adds slight moisture; could do with more jelly. 3/5
Appearance and value: Cheap in price at just 74p per pie. This is reflected in its taste. A greasy looking pie. 2/5

Overall rating and summary: A cheap pie with a cheap taste. Better than I expected from a supermarket's own pie; however, I wouldn't buy this again unless quite hungover. 8/20

Windsor Farm Shop Pork Pie

Bought from: Windsor Farm Shop

Made by: Windsor Farm Shop (on site)

Pastry: Quite thin all round; although it leaves more room for meet, it could do with slightly more pastry. Soft but a bit plain in taste; on the whole, pleasant but not very interesting. 3/5
Meat: Good quality with good texture; but not much resistance ; again, slightly plain in flavour. Could use some seasoning. 3/5
Jelly: Contains no visible jelly but is still moist. Some jelly would be an asset. 2/5
Appearance and value: A short pie; less square in height and width but with a nice top. £1.95 is fair value for money. 3/5

Overall rating and summary: A fair price for a small pie of reasonable quality but no great taste. I'd buy it if I were in the shop but I wouldn't go to the shop especially. 11/20

Cotswold Pudding & Pie Co.

 Bought from: The Cotswold Cheese Company in Moreton-in-Marsh

Made by: Cotswold Pudding & Pie Co.

Pastry: Pastry was okay. A bit dry; slightly overcooked for my liking, but not at al bad. 3/5

Meat: Crumbly and moist; lightly spiced; tasty and really quite good overall. 4/5

Jelly: A bit too much of it, although it was good, soft jelly. Almost melts in the mouth. 3/5
Appearance and value: A huge pie for £3.95. Enough for a two or three people to share. Looks quite nice. Well presented. 3/5

Overall rating and summary: Tasty and great value for money. Nothing particularly outstanding; although the meat was good. I would buy this again. 13/20

Pork Farms Mini Pork Pie with Branston Pickle

Bought from: Supermarket in Peckham

Made by: Pork Farms and Branston

Pastry: Soft, almost soggy on the inside. Slightly overcooked on the outside. Tastes greasy. 1/5

Meat: Tastes very cheap. Mushy yet tough. The wrong combination. 2/5

Jelly: Hardly any jelly. None visible. 1/5
Appearance and value: Very cheap but not a great product. Nonetheless, fair value for money. Looks factory made. Not very attractive. 2/5

* This pie gets one extra point for some okay, but not great, pickle.

Overall rating and summary: A cheap pie that tastes cheap. The pickle was a nice touch but I wouldn't often buy these. 7/20

Old Jamaica Ginger Beer

Bought from: Supermarket in Windsor

Made by: D&G

Sweetness: Quite sweet. Too sweet. 2/5

Fieriness: Immediate heat but not at all fiery. Accumulating but not enough. 3/5

Gingeriness and other: A slightly better ginger taste. The sweetness ruins it though. Again the ginger starts tasting a bit strange towards the end. Not too bad. 3/5

Summary and overall rating: There is nothing about this that really excites me. 8/15

Abbot's KA Jamaican Style Ginger Beer

Bought from: Convenience shop in Camberwell

Made by: Abbott's

Sweetness: At first not too sweet. Sugar starts to build up, not horribly so but by the end your mouth is left feeling a little sticky. Could definitely do with being a little less sweet. 3/5

Fieriness: Accumulating heat but not very fiery initially. Heat builds nicely towards the end but does not linger. 3/5

Gingeriness and other: So fizzy it's difficult to drink from a glass because of the bubbles going up your nose. Ginger taste is present but could do with being a little bit stronger. Towards the end of the glass the ginger starts tasting a bit funny. 2/5

Overall rating and summary: Impact drink. I wouldn't want a second. 8/15