Recently three new varieties of Starburst jellies have popped up at my local Coles supermarket - Noughts and Crosses, Snakes and Ladders, and Very Berry Chews. Today I'll be looking at Snakes and Ladders - and why does the pack look so different to other Starburst, anyway?
Head after the jump for more!
Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to that question! At first I thought that these were imported stock, but the back of the pack indicates these are made in Australia, along with its sibling, Noughts and Crosses. They seem to be unique to our fair country as well. I've been in contact with Wrigley's, the Australian distributor of Starburst, but have not yet heard back. I'll update if I do receive an answer!
The other notable feature of the Snakes and Ladders pack is the playable board on the back, enabling you to literally play with your food (provided you carry a die around with you). The board is rather small, and there are no instructions on the pack either, or player pieces. I suppose you could use a snake as your player piece.
The lollies themselves use the same jelly that is used for the Rattlesnakes product - a firm, brightly-coloured jelly that is given a non-oily coating to protect the pieces from sticking together. I'm no Starburst Rattlensake expert but I would hazard a guess that the moulds are the same. The snakes were all bi-coloured. The ladder pieces did not survive the pack well - most were squished and misshapen. Some were solid-coloured, some were bi-coloured. Each ladder measured about 4cm tall and 3cm wide, so they are quite large pieces.
The yellow jelly I think was lemon. The flavour is not strong; it's sweet and a little like (carbonated) lemonade. It had a nice tartness to it.
Green jelly is apple flavoured. Only at the very end did I get a semblance of green apple juice. There's a half-hearted tartness, but the flavour is mostly bland and uninteresting.
The purple jelly I think was some sort of berry. I would say it had a bit of a mild jammy note if I was pressed to give a description.
Red is strawberry. It's bright and warm and quite sweet and tasty. I'd happily eat a whole bag of this!
The orange jelly is orange flavour. I only got one lonely orange snake in my whole bag. It's a delicious and surprisingly juicy citrus flavour that is fairly similar to a real orange, just sweeter.
Blue is the problem child. It could be anything from blue raspberry to tropical (both common flavours for manufacturers to attribute to the colour). I got warm, juicy notes with a touch of berry that makes me lean towards blue raspberry for this one.
Score: 4 out of 5 jelly beans.
Starburst Snakes and Ladders are made in Australia. They contain glucose syrup (from wheat), and artificial colours and flavours. A serving size is two pieces. There is no allergen statement on the pack.
I asked my husband to pick me up a bag of snakes to enjoy while watching TV. I don't do this often as he buys the jumbo bag and I eat far too many. The other night he bought a bag and not looking at the label I just ate them what a shock! Apparently they were called Sunburst I was not at all impressed, I managed to eat 3 snakes and that was my limit. I will be looking to see how I can offload the rest of the Jumbo bag and not to be purchased again.
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