Clonakilty duo

Having survived the expired sheeps yogurt successfully, I was home in Ireland for Christmas and took the opportunity to try some different dairy options from Lidl.

The first thing I tried was Clonakilty’s kefir, which I think is probably widely available from multiple outlets. I had pretty high hopes for this one as it won an award not that long ago.

It was almost as thick as Greek yogurt even when stirred, falling from the spoon in blobs rather than flowing like natural yogurt.

There was a very mild flavour which caught me off guard as kefir tends to be more tangy. There was basically no tanginess or distinct flavour to speak of at all, which is a kind of achievement in itself for this product.

Instead, the main thing that I noticed was a grainy texture and the fact that it almost pulled moisture from my mouth.

I think one reason kefir isn’t more popular is that it is a stronger flavour profile so this may well be suited to a wider population. It is a moderate protein (6.9g), relatively high carb (7.3g) zero fat product, seemingly designed to appeal to the widest possible market.

Clonakilty Greek-style Yogurt

I had more difficulty with this product. The Greek wave design was back with aplomb, so I had a feeling that this would be a ‘middle of the road’ offering, but it was pretty disappointing.

The yogurt itself had the faintest blue tone that initially I thought came from the tub’s green exterior but it persisted even in the bowl - I previously thought this colour was connected to fat content but not so here.

The graininess was again noticeable and became rather offputting by the end of the tub. This also has a high carb content but zero sweetness. I can’t find the exact product online right now, I think partly because it was perhaps sold in Lidl-specific packaging, but I think it had very similar macros to the kefir, if not more carbs.

This time there was a bright almost lemony flavour which was initially welcome but especially with the graininess started to wear on me pretty quickly.

Having googled grainy yogurt this probably indicates a problem in production or a corner cut - possibly either using extra pasturised milk, too high a temperature or additives - as there were no additional ingredients I would cross that one out.

There’s a small chance perhaps that the carb content was just so high that they added the texture to the yogurt but if so that is still a mark against it in my opinion.

All in all quite disappointing especially with the Great Taste awards that both products had won.