Scottish food taste test

Buckfast was the drink I was nervous about trying. For the Scottish food and drink taste test I shared in April 2021, I had sweet treats, a bottle of Irn-Bru and a cider I already loved. Then there was this bottle of tonic wine, whose reputation had made me expect something awful.

I’d been living in South-East England for about five years, and viewers had kindly sent some of the things I was trying. There were two kinds of Scottish tablet to compare, shortbread fingers, and a chance to give Irn-Bru another go. I hadn’t liked it when I first moved over, but several years later seemed a fair time to try again.

Two very sweet tablets

The first tablet was Ross’s Scottish butter tablet. It started off flaking and a little chalky in my mouth, then became creamy. It was buttery and very sweet. I thought of fudge when explaining what tablet was.

Mrs Tilly’s was milkier and creamier. I thought I liked it a little better than the Ross’s version, which had been very buttery and felt heavier. Both were sweet, but the milkier one was my preference in that comparison.

Irn-Bru still wasn’t for me

Despite its orange colour, it didn’t taste like oranges to me. When I tasted it, though, the flavour that came to mind was pink cotton candy in liquid form. It was so sweet. I couldn’t really describe it another way, and trying it again hadn’t changed my mind about wanting to drink it.

My verdict was still that it wasn’t for me, even after giving it another chance. That left the shortbread to try, and I was much more enthusiastic about that.

Shortbread and a favourite cider

I love shortbread, despite not generally thinking of myself as a cookie or biscuit person. These were Paterson’s shortbread fingers. I found them a little dry, and thought they would be lovely with coffee or tea. My choice would have been Yorkshire Tea with milk and no sugar. The shortbread got ten out of ten fingers, which conveniently used both my hands.

Paterson's shortbread fingers box
The Paterson’s shortbread fingers I tried during my Scottish taste test.

Thistly Cross was already a favourite. I’d been sent a big box of its ciders for Christmas, and had tried varieties including original and elderflower. The Whisky Cask one had been sitting in my fridge while I waited for the perfect time to drink it. A Scottish taste test seemed like that time.

It tasted great. I was extremely happy with it, and called it my favourite cider. I’d found it difficult to get hold of where I lived in Kent, which made receiving the Christmas box particularly exciting. There was no hesitation about this verdict: eight out of eight whisky casks.

Buckfast surprised me

Despite its association with Scotland, Buckfast tonic wine comes from Buckfast Abbey in Devon. I’d saved this viewer-sent bottle for the taste test, and now I was finally going to try it. I was very nervous.

It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good, either, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected. It was thick and sugary, with a grape-juice flavour and a burn as it went down. I thought it didn’t really taste like alcohol. After all that worrying, my rating was four out of five English monks.

I put the Buckfast down and went back to my Thistly Cross. The wine had surprised me, but I was still very pleased to have my favourite cider to drink.

Watch my Scottish food and drink taste test.