coffee / Georgina Does

LIFESTYLE: #CostaChristmas Launch & GIVEAWAY

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

A few weeks ago I went along to Costa for the launch of their new Christmas drinks. I had been excited about it all day - We got to try each of the new drinks plus all the new cakes and snacks which officially launched the next day - Friday 7th November.

The whole idea with the new drinks is for them to add a little magic to every day which each of them do - they are each so special and well thought out - not to mention the golden chocolate powder and golden stars that go on top of some of them and of course the cups are back! This time we have a santa, a snowman, a reindeer and an elf! How Cute!? They are also doing pretty ceramic mugs in the same 4 designs at £7.95. Super Cute.

So on to the drinks!

First we tried the Hot Spiced Apple which I think was actually the most christmassy of them all! It looked so pretty with a star anise and a cinnamon stick floating on top and it smelt amazing!

Brownie Hot Chocolate was next. This one sounded super excited - its a normal Costa Hot Chocolate with an added shot of walnut brownie syrup topped with cream and brownie fudge pieces. I'm not really a nut lover so it's not my favorite of the range, although I did eat all the cream and brownie pieces off the top. Obvs. I couldn't resist the four plates of cakes next to me by now so I had to try a Christmas Cornflake Crunch with it which as you can imagine, was delicious and it was super cute topped with white Belgian chocolate and a sugar paste holly decoration. It looks just like a mini Christmas pudding!

The Orange Hot Chocolate this year was super special. The drink itself was a Costa Hot Chocolate with an added shot of orange syrup and it was super orangey but this time they wanted a change from whipped cream but something just as indulgent and decadent and I think they came up with the perfect topping! Gold chocolate powder and a pure Belgian chocolate lattice that melts on top. Its really good!

.Next was a sticky Toffee Latte which surprisingly was in my top 3! I'm not normally a huge coffee fan but two of my top 3 this time around were both lattes! This one was served with Sticky toffee sauce and topped with cream, does it get any better than that?!

Drinking that, meanwhile we were all messing about with our Ice Your Own Gingerbread haha Mine turned out a little scary but its a great way to keep the kids entertained while you relax with a drink! They come in different shapes and with smarties and icing!

This one, I think is my favorite of them all - Gingerbread & Cream Latte topped with a tiny little gingerbread man, soooo cute and super tasty

Ok, so whats next hmm there the Black Forest Hot Chocolate which I really enjoyed! It has a shot of Blackberry syrup inside and cherry sauce on top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of Belgian Dark Chocolate curls of course!

Only two left and by this point we had all had enough haha first out was the White Hot Chocolate which was my favorite last year so I knew I was going to love it anyway especially with the cherry sauce and a little sparkle. Since I couldn't handle another hot chocolate that evening. I took Andrew to Costa and had to get myself a white hot chocolate (He went for a brownie one) and it was delicious. Definitely my favourite!

And finally we get to the last one - the Praline Cappuccino blended with Praline Syrup with the prettiest golden snowflake on top!

Costa kindly gave me a lovely christmas cup to giveaway with this post and I am going to include a lovely Lush Magic wand as well! As usual just enter in the rafflecoptor below! It runs for two weeks and hopefully I can get the prize out for xmas although I cant promise anything!

UK ONLY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Whats Your Favourite Costa Christmas Drink?

Friday, 15 August 2014

To celebrate Costa Coffee's delicious new Summer menu, they got in touch and asked me to take part in their #HelloSummerMoments challenge which of course I was very happy to do! I had loads of fun with it - I love a good blog challenge to spend the week thinking about!

I was sent an amazing little picnic basket filled with treats! I got one of each of the new menu cakes which were never going to last a long time in my house! They disappeared as soon as my dad and brothers arrived home haha Luckily I guessed this might happen and hid the white chocolate Blondie (which is my absolute favourite) so I could eat it myself later on! I also got a £30 gift card to help me with my tasks, three pretty nail polishes, a Frisbee, clutch bag and a Champneys nail file and a note detailing my tasks! I feel like a secret agent spy reporting my findings back to you guys!

We were given four tasks to complete over five days - have a look how I did!

Ok so let me set the scene for where the majority of these were taken - Sunday morning, Andrew and I had spend the night in Covent Garden, stayed overnight in a hotel (more to come in a week or two) and wanted to pop into Costa before jumping on the train home, right? Well as we left the hotel, the heavens opened and its started pouring! Luckily for me, I brought along one of Andrews hoodies for the stay, unluckily for him, he decided to wear just a t-shirt and shorts haha we literally ran all the way to cover in Costa! I took of the hoodie and was dry. I turned around and saw this...

hahahahahahahah I couldn't stop laughing but then I felt like the worst girlfriend ever so I sat him down and got him a toasty and a drink - he soon perked up and dried off! Costa to the rescue!

Ok so now onto the tasks in hand!

Take a #selfie with an item from Costa’s Summer menu

I took this one possibly a little before he perked up (see photo) haha I was still in histerics but I felt bad laughing at him so I went off to take a toilet selfie and left him in peace with his toasty haha

I also took these with that cheeky blondie that I hid away for myself earlier!

Prep your nails for summer with a ‘Costa Summer’ inspired mani

Since the mint green polish was my favourite of the three that were in the hamper and taking some inspiration from my favourite flavour combination from the summer menu, I ended up with mint green nails with chocolate syrup dripping down them! I was quite proud of myself with theses, they took me less that 10 minutes and all I used was a tooth pick. #Skillz

Showcase a Summer outfit whereby an item from Costa’s Summer menu is the ultimate accessory

Again, taking inspiration from the mint flavours and the perfect time to wear my new top from Primark, I went for a green outfit which I kept dry with Andrews lovely hoodie - Here's me in Costa accessorising my minty look with my minty drink - we could be twins, all I need is a flower/mint crown!

Introduce/treat a friend/family member to an item from Costa's Summer menu!

Well obviously, I had to introduce Andrew to my favourite cake since it missed out to a toastie the day before! I bought one and took it home to share with him in bed for breakfast the next morning!

I hope you guys all enjoyed reading about my challenge with Costa and be sure to check the # to see what everyone else has been up to!

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Friday, 23 May 2014

I've done lots of foodie bits and pieces over the past two weeks so I thought instead of loads of mini posts, I could just put them into one!

#BirdseyeInspirations

I was invited to a sitting of the first ever pay by instagram restaurant in London hosted my Birdseye, what a strange concept, but I loved it, any excuse to take more photos of my food haha. I'll be honest, I thought it all might be a little cheap since it's free but it wasn't, you would never be able to tell! It looks just like a normal restaurant except you didn't have to pay at the end.

We started with some bread, oil and vinegar which is something I always love to start a meal with. The waiting staff were great and offered us wine, water, coke, whatever we wanted really. Once we were settled with our bread and drinks we then got to work picking our meals over the iPads, each table setting came with and ipad for you to use throughout your meal - I picked the chicken which was super yummy with a garlic sauce inside and some minted veg!

The meal finished with a choice of chocolate or strawberry desserts, obviously I went for chocolate which was a super thick and decedent chocolate pot thing with ice cream on top!

#KrispyKremeEliteTreat

Since it was national doughnut week, the next very exciting launch that I went to the unveiling of the world's most expensive doughnut with Krispy Kreme. I arrived first thing in the morning and was very excited, I didn't really know what to expect although I did think it was going to be huge!! After getting everyone's attention and a little drum roll the doughnut was revealed and although it was normal sized, it looked amazing! A sparkly gold creation sitting on a pretty cocktail. I got a chance to speak to the woman who made it and she talked me though the ingredients - Dom Pérignon jelly, 24 ct gold leaf and edible diamonds! Then finally we were told how much it cost! £1000!!! and one lucky lady - Claudine - won in on a facebook competition, what a crazy prize and as well as that she got a stay in London plus £500 Selfridges voucher - a very nice prize if you ask me! If you fancied a less expensive version for yourself, Selfridges were selling 12 bespoke doughnuts on the day at £39.99 each.

At the end of the unveiling Krispy Kreme presented a giant £10,000 cheque to the children's trust!

After all that excitement, I was off down to Oxford street for a little bit of shopping! I said goodbye and left but not before picking up a yummy chocolate doughnut for the journey!!

Costa Coffee's New Summer Menu - #HelloSummer

I didn't have time to look up the venue properly for this one so I just followed my phone to the address - I turned up outside a Hawaiian paradise club hidden behind chancery lane, definitely not what I was expecting for a coffee event, but I was very excited all the same, I love Costa's summer drinks normally so I was looking forward to what that have planned for this year! I arrived early and was greeted by the lovely Costa girls and the amazing room they had set up with deck chairs and flower garlands, a makeup artist, manicurists, food and lots of Costa treats! The girls and I got straight into eating some of the yummy food and chatting about the new releases before trying all of the drinks with a piece of cake afterwards!

There are eight yummy new drinks for you to look forward to which will be in stores from the 29th of May! Here's what you have got to look forward to -

Strawberry & Lime Fruit Cooler

Green Tea, Mint & Lime Fruit Cooler

Caramel Latte Cooler

Mint Mocha Creamy Cooler

Lemon Iced Tea

Peach Iced Tea

Coffee Cooler

Iced Ginger Beer & Mint

My favourite was 100% the Mint Mocha, I'm not a fan of actual coffee as I was a bit worried about trying it because I have never liked coffee based coolers in the past but it was really nice and the tiny little faint taste of coffee give it a little extra kick, it was also topped with whipped cream and chocolate which helped put it to the top of my list haha. I also loved the white chocolate blondie, I've never had a while chocolate brownie before but it was amazing, sweet and gooey with chocolate chunks and pecans on top, so yummy! After stuffing my face with one of every thing, you know I had to try if all for reviewing purposes, I ended up behind the bar making a ginger beer inspired cocktail in theme with the new release, I was far too full to drink and alcohol but I was happy because it meant I got a drink in a tiki glass and that was all I really wanted hahah.

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Tuesday, 15 April 2014

I recently got invited to the Caffé Nero roastary in Battersea to see how it all goes down. I was a bit unsure whether to go or not as I actually don't drink coffee, although that's not by choice, I love the taste and the smell but it makes me feel so terrible, I have a cup and ten minutes later I have a full on hangover, its horrible haha

Still, I'm glad I accepted the invite as I had a great night and learnt loads about the process! We got shown around the very noisy factory, through the whole process from bean to drink before learning how to make a perfect cup of coffee, trying each one and even some latte art!

It was a super fun night and a great experience, coffee lover or not!

Thanks to Caffé Nero for inviting me and for the gift card too! I have been making good use of it!