One of the annoying things about visiting my boyfriend in Eastbourne is that the minute I get back from my trip, I have to go back out again to the shops almost immediately to stock up on essentials - bread, milk, eggs etc .

I started thinking it wouldn't be so bad if only I could sit down with a cuppa for half an hour or so before heading back out - and it was this that led me to buy coffee mate, in order to be able to drink a hot cup of white coffee before traipsing out again .

I'm actually much more of a tea drinker, only tending to drink coffee when out and about shopping, but on my return from my last trip, knowing there was no milk for tea, I opted for a coffee instead, with a teaspoon ful of Coffee Mate stirred in .

It's simple to use, simply stir it into your hot coffee, and it disolves, whitening your coffee . It doesn't lighten the colour as much as milk does, so it's best to keep sipping until you figure out how much you need to get your coffee the way you like it .

I have to say, I really do like the taste of this in coffee - in fact, I prefer it over milk . It gives coffee a lovely creamy taste, and makes it seem a little richer and more of a treat . However, I do have one minor criticism, in that it can seem a little greasy. There is a virtually fat free version, but that doesn't give the same creamy taste.

There are 36 calories per 6.5g serving , and 2.2g of fat , so it wouldn't be too great for you to use to much of this, as that is a fairly high fat content to have in a hot drink .This probably also accounts for the slight greasiness .

There are various pack sizes of this, I purchased a small pack 200g, for £1.25 as I only intended to use this on those occasions when I have no milk, and pleasingly the pack I purchased had a little under a years shelf life.

I would recommend this - it adds an element of creaminess to a bog standard coffee, and is very convenient when you've run out of milk. However, it is quite high in fat, so I wouldn't use it too often .

4 stars .