The National Confectionery Company Sour Chews

Last month I reviewed the other new release from TNCC, their Smoothie Chews, which you can check out here. The sister release is Sour Chews, small tangy fruit-flavoured pieces designed to compliment the existing Fruit Chews product as well.

The pieces are described as 'sour fruity with a tasty tang' and come in four flavours: grape (purple), lemon-lime (light green), raspberry (dark pink) and apple (dark green). Like the Smoothie Chews, the Sour Chews have the flavour name printed on the wrapper, as well as Fantale-esque questions for you to 'ponder while you chew'.

Three of the wrapper colours are the same as those used in the Smoothie Chews bag, so if you were to combine both ranges in a bowl, well - be sure to read the labels because you may get a surprise. It was quite cold when I reviewed these, so the chew was a little stiffer than usual to start with, but then softened.

Raspberry is a solid musk pink piece. It smells a little of artificial colour (odd as TNCC products don't use artificial colours or flavours). On the tongue, it's nowhere near as sour as I expected - and I'm not a fan of sour products as all. It's a little in the realm of raspberry cordial, which a half-hearted tang thrown in at the end. Neither the flavour nor the tang is strong - no eye-watering here - but it was enough for me. There's also a really weird taste in that that reminds me of something unpleasant, though I can't for the life of me describe it. I didn't like the taste of this one at all.

In the light green is lemon-lime flavour, and it's a pale yellow piece that smells faintly of lolly bananas and a mild citrus flavour. Thankfully this one comes with a good sour burst, right from the start. It starts with lemon but then lime quickly joins the party. It's a little like Solo with a tang of lime trailing behind. This one is lovely, and refreshing to boot.

Grape is the purple piece, and it's a muted magenta colour that smells like grape Hubba Bubba (it looks a bit like it, too!). Like the other pieces it is not very sour, but has a mild tang that makes the mouth water. The flavour is warm and leans in the direction of grapes but doesn't really get there. I'm actually really surprised to find that this is a dead-set replica of the Hubba Bubba flavour, just more sour. Considering these are from a different company, it's a little bit mind-blowing!

Finally, apple is a light lime-green coloured piece that sadly doesn't smell like anything at all. It does get the green apple flavour spot on though - a little grass, a lot of sharp tang and a fair bit of apple juice makes this a surprisingly realistic flavour. Like the lemon-lime flavour, apple is refreshing.

Given the mild sourness from each piece, I found four pieces plenty for the afternoon. My tastebuds have had enough of the flavour rollercoaster! When I finished the bag, I avoided raspberry and went straight for the lemon-lime every time.

Score: 3 out of 5 stars.

Like the Smoothie Chews, The National Confectionery Company Sour Chews are made in Thailand. They are a sugar confectionery, contain wheat, glucose syrup and may contain traces of soy. A serve is 3.3 pieces.