Earlier this week I promised a review of the goodie bag I received at the Vegan Life Live event at Alexandra Palace. Well, here it is …
First, a nice note with the large reuseable and recyclable paper bag. The printed quotes outside the bag were also a nice touch.
The inside of the bag held a number of treats, and proved to be one of the most generous goodie bags I have been fortunate to receive from many a festival or show.
- Linwoods: Milled flax, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and goji berries.
- Ape: Coconut bites – natural
- Vita Coco: Coconut oil, 5ml
- Sacla: Free From no.9 basil pesto
- Sweet Freedom: Fruit Syrup, 350g
- Naturya: Organic wheatgrass powder
Since the show, I have tested the goodies and here are my thoughts on each product;
- Linwoods: Milled seed and goji mix
This is a new product for me, and I have to say, I like it. On it’s own it tastes great, adding it to salads and cereals, it’s superb. I think this would be a useful ingredient in many recipes, especially soups, breads and stews. It could also be used as an alternative seasoning. However, I wonder if making your own seed and berry mix would be more advantageous. It’s a great idea and versatile, but personally I think I would prefer to make my own.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
- Ape: Coconut bites – natural
The actual coconut bites in this sample pack are tasty, but I find the brand name very off putting. Dont really understand why anyone would call a food product aimed at the vegan market after an animal, but hey! Also not sure many people would be comfortable purchasing a product often used as a term of racial abuse.
The bites are the size of 2, 10 pence coins, have a crunchy texture and a very coconutty flavour. There is some sweetness, but it’s not overpowering. It would be easy to eat a normal sized pack of these in a sitting. However, personally I would stick to raw, fresh coconut pieces, but if you like potato crisps, these could be a viable and healthier alternative.
Rating 3 out of 5
- Vita Coco: Coconut oil 5ml
It’s coconut oil! It’s brilliant! Nuff said! Nice and useful pocket size I can use as a hand cream whilst travelling. A fabulous thing I discovered at the Vita Coco stall was fresh popcorn cooked in coconut oil. It was delicious. The money off vouchers included are an added bonus.
Rating 5 out of 5
- Sacla: Free From no.9 basil pesto, 190g
As a pesto loving eater, I was very excited to try this tofu version, cheese free version, especially as I just happened to use the last of my pesto stash. Yes, I usually have a pesto stash. It’s a thing. Don’t judge!
I tried it on a baked potato, and it was lovely. Plenty of basil flavour and has a good creamy consistency. With a sunflower oil base, I do miss the flavour that comes with organic olive oil and I think it could have done with a higher amount of pine nuts and a lower amount of cashew nuts.
That said, as a full sized product, I think it was a rather lovely sample size and I have made room in my fridge for this little gem. Nice to know I have lunch sorted for the next couple of days.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
- Sweet Freedom: Fruit Syrup, 350g
A very generous size, I found this syrup extremely sweet, so a little goes a long way. I used it over unsweetened breakfast cereals and found it very enjoyable. It’s nice to know that there is only 13 calories per teaspoon, but I only needed to use 1/2 a teaspoon. I hope to try baking with it, but over pancakes this should be great.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
- Naturya: Organic wheatgrass powder, 7g
I’m new to the whole wheatgrass vibe, somehow it missed me. So I’m particularly glad to give this a try. I added a teaspoon to a glass of coconut water and the verdict – I would happily do this again. It gave a fresh ‘green’ taste to the coconut water, and I would say it would be lovely with apple juice, lemon water and an elderflower drink, I can’t imagine this being nice with orange juice, but I’d geive it a try and let you know.
The only slight quibble, the powder is so finely milled, it does tend to go everywhere. But as the colour of the year is Greenery, I’m not too bothered as I can say it’s part of my new decorating colour scheme 🙂
Rating: 4 out of 5
Did you go to Vegan Life Live? What did you think of the goodie bag? Have you used any of these products? Let us know in the comments.
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