Made in Australia, Fino is a brand that specialises in all natural, vegan, gluten free jellies. They have a strong philosophy based on producing a confection without artificial additives, so the flavours are sourced from fruits and the colours from plants, fruits and vegetables. The gelling product used is pectin (commonly used in homemade jams) sourced from fruit and vegetables, whereas most commercially made jellies use a wheat-based glucose product. If you're at all inclined towards natural products, their FAQ is worth a read.
Fino only produces two products - Citrus Flavoured Jells, and Berry Flavoured Jells (the latter will be reviewed next week). This review focuses on the citrus jellies.
Come on down for the rest of the review!
The citrus bag contains three flavours: lemon, lime and orange. Each bag weighs 120g, and contains around twelve individually wrapped jellies. The allocation of flavours is random; I received a large amount of lemon jells, but only two each of orange and lime. The little individual packets ae well labelled with the product name and flavour, plus an image of the jell itself, so they could easily be mixed in a serving jar or bowl and you could find your favourite. Since the packet doesn't mention the individually wrapping, I was surprised when I opened the bag.
The little foil packets hold a single jell each. The jells are a very large half-sphere, measuring about 3cm in diameter and 1.5cm tall. They each have a very faint dusting of cane sugar, light enough that most of it is absorbed back into the jell. It does a fairly good job of keeping the jell touchable, but I did discover some sticky spots. (This could be related to the fact that it is 37 degrees on the day I'm writing this review!)
The jell itself has a lovely glassy opacity to it, and the texture is beautiful; there is no pull to the piece and a piece comes off easily. There is no resistance to the bite, and it doesn't stick to your teeth either, so I imagine it would be suitable for braces- and denture-wearers. It's also lovely to let it melt onto your tongue at well.
The lime jell is green, and has a mild grassy scent to it. The flavour is mild, but quite sweet. It's not a flavour I would directly peg as lime; I couldn't find any tartness that gave the flavour direction. Still, it is very pleasant.
Lemon is bright canary yellow. It doesn't smell of much, and the flavour, like that of the lime piece, is very mild and unoffensive. There is a very faint note of tartness that passes quickly, leaving a flavour reminiscent of lemonade.
Orange has a bright blood-orange colour to it. It smells great, like orange skin. The flavour is similar, albeit a lot sweeter. While there isn't any tart citrus notes, this is definitely my favourite of the bunch. I just wish I had more of them!
I love the texture of these jells, but the weak flavour is a letdown. The brand has a great social conscience as well as trying to be applicable to as many consumers as possible, so extra brownie points there.
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Fino Jells are made in Australia.
Disclaimer: This was a sample provided to me by Fino, but all opinions are my own. See Disclaimer Policy page for further information.
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