Hi folks,
A somewhat somber post for you today.
This year I am pursuing further study, which involves a move to Perth (from my current residence in Victoria). As I've left my job, I will no longer have handy insights into future releases, but I will continue to photograph and review new releases as I spot them. The blog is not closing! The frequency of posts, however, may slow somewhat as I get back into the swing of studying.
If you spot new releases around, feel free to reply to any blog post if you want to let me know about them. Perth should hopefully get the same releases as the east coast so I don't think I will miss any, but your patience is appreciated!
Please enjoy the blog, and keep rockin' that sweet tooth!
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Mars Honeycomb
Mars Australia has started off 2013 with a bang, introducing their next seasonal Mars bar release: Mars Honeycomb. When my lovely Mars rep described this to me as a Mars bar but with honeycomb-flavoured nougat, I was both intrigued and concerned, both for the same reason: who puts honeycomb and caramel together?
Honeycomb in general is a hard, aerated product. Technically it's a toffee, made with sugar, golden syrup (here in Australia, anyway), and baking soda. The main players in the honeycomb game in Australia are Nestle Violet Crumble, and Cadbury Crunchie. More Aussies usually side with one or the other, due to their different textures. But both are hard, chocolate-covered products. A honeycomb-flavoured Mars bar takes the standard chocolate-covered honeycomb idea and turns it on its head by making the honeycomb part soft instead of sticking-to-your-teeth hard.
Weighing in at 53g, the Mars Honeycomb bar is the same size as your regular bar. The wrapper describes the product as 'whipped honeycomb flavoured nougat, topped with caramel covered in thick Mars chocolate'. Nothing earth shatteringly interesting there. The label does carry the note that Mars now uses 'Rainforest Alliance Ceritified' chocolate in all of their products, including this one. Good move, Mars!
Inside, the bar looks no different to your average Mars bar. It has the now-standard ripples across the top, and is enrobed in light brown milk chocolate. As soon as I opened the packet, I did notice a strong scent that smelt vaguely of honey, but that may have been because my bar was a little crushed on one end. On closer inspection, the scent is quite sweet, and definitely in the right realm for honeycomb. It reminds me a lot of times when I have made honeycomb by hand. There's a lot of golden syrup notes (possibly strengthened by the prescence of the caramel) and it does smell quite tasty.
I was surprised when breaking the bar in half to find to the nougat is YELLOW. It is bright, lolly-banana yellow. The ingredients do note that natural colour 100 is used. The caramel is lovely and a medium to dark tan colour, with that stretchy viscosity that I personally enjoy but some people hate.
On biting in, the honeycomb flavour is very much at the forefront. It definitely dominates the outer chocolate layer (which I find is usually dominate in regular Mars bars), and stomps over the caamel too. Having said that, once the products start to mix more during the chew, the caramel pops in to gently complement the honeycomb-flavoured nougat. I don't know how it does this, but it's a pleasant effect. The bar is not overly sweet at all and is actually rather mild after the first bite. Despite my misgivings about the combination of the honeycomb flavour and caramel, they work quite well together. The product doesn't stick to my teeth (always a bonus), but I do feel the need to finish with a glass of water afterwards.
The chocolate in a Mars Honeycomb bar contains a minimum of 25% cocoa solids and 22% milk solids. It contains wheat, milk, barely and egg. It may contain traces of peanuts and treenuts.
(Semi-related: today I learned that honeycomb is a term used only in Australia, Britan and South Africa. Other countries have different names - including 'sea foam' in parts of the USA.)
Honeycomb in general is a hard, aerated product. Technically it's a toffee, made with sugar, golden syrup (here in Australia, anyway), and baking soda. The main players in the honeycomb game in Australia are Nestle Violet Crumble, and Cadbury Crunchie. More Aussies usually side with one or the other, due to their different textures. But both are hard, chocolate-covered products. A honeycomb-flavoured Mars bar takes the standard chocolate-covered honeycomb idea and turns it on its head by making the honeycomb part soft instead of sticking-to-your-teeth hard.
Weighing in at 53g, the Mars Honeycomb bar is the same size as your regular bar. The wrapper describes the product as 'whipped honeycomb flavoured nougat, topped with caramel covered in thick Mars chocolate'. Nothing earth shatteringly interesting there. The label does carry the note that Mars now uses 'Rainforest Alliance Ceritified' chocolate in all of their products, including this one. Good move, Mars!
Inside, the bar looks no different to your average Mars bar. It has the now-standard ripples across the top, and is enrobed in light brown milk chocolate. As soon as I opened the packet, I did notice a strong scent that smelt vaguely of honey, but that may have been because my bar was a little crushed on one end. On closer inspection, the scent is quite sweet, and definitely in the right realm for honeycomb. It reminds me a lot of times when I have made honeycomb by hand. There's a lot of golden syrup notes (possibly strengthened by the prescence of the caramel) and it does smell quite tasty.
I was surprised when breaking the bar in half to find to the nougat is YELLOW. It is bright, lolly-banana yellow. The ingredients do note that natural colour 100 is used. The caramel is lovely and a medium to dark tan colour, with that stretchy viscosity that I personally enjoy but some people hate.
On biting in, the honeycomb flavour is very much at the forefront. It definitely dominates the outer chocolate layer (which I find is usually dominate in regular Mars bars), and stomps over the caamel too. Having said that, once the products start to mix more during the chew, the caramel pops in to gently complement the honeycomb-flavoured nougat. I don't know how it does this, but it's a pleasant effect. The bar is not overly sweet at all and is actually rather mild after the first bite. Despite my misgivings about the combination of the honeycomb flavour and caramel, they work quite well together. The product doesn't stick to my teeth (always a bonus), but I do feel the need to finish with a glass of water afterwards.
The chocolate in a Mars Honeycomb bar contains a minimum of 25% cocoa solids and 22% milk solids. It contains wheat, milk, barely and egg. It may contain traces of peanuts and treenuts.
(Semi-related: today I learned that honeycomb is a term used only in Australia, Britan and South Africa. Other countries have different names - including 'sea foam' in parts of the USA.)
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Mentos Raspberry, and Limited Edition Strawberry
(I'm putting both of these in the same post because I'm lazy. Also, similar.)
Mentos needs no introduction (but I wrote one anyway when I reviewed the Mystery flavour). Recently, I've spotted two new flavours of Mentos dragees in supermarkets (mostly Woolworths), Raspberry, and the Limited Edition Strawberry.
For those not in the know, the limited edition Mentos are basically a test product. That's usually while you'll only see them in one store/chain - the distributors, Stuart Alexander, are testing the market. If it sells well, the flavour is usually rolled out to other chains and stores. If it flops, well, you won't ever see it again. (Recent examples include Watermelon (spotted at Woolworths a few years ago) and Cola.)
Only the Strawberry roll here is Limited Edition; it's possible that the Raspberry went through as LE and I missed it on the shelves. I've been informed by my Stuart Alexander rep that the Strawberry flavour is the same as that found in the Fruit and Rainbow rolls. It's just a solid roll of one flavour, as is the Raspberry (also a flavour from the Rainbow roll, and probably Berry Blast as well).
Despite the bold red packaging, the strawberry dragees are a soft baby pink colour, very lightly speckled with white. The interior is also white. The pack and the lollies are scentless, and the flavour is sweet and mild. It's quite a soft, artificial flavour, and pleasant to the taste. It doesn't taste anywhere near real strawberries, though - it's more of a strawberry ice cream kind of flavour. There is 2.5% reconstriuted strawberry juice in here.
The raspberry Mentos are packaged in a bright, dark pink packaging, complete with pictures of (pink) raspberries. Unlike the strawberry flavour, these dragees are also bright pink, enough that they clearly match the packaging. There's a faint white speckle to the hard outer shell, and they have no scent. The centre is also white. Surprisingly, the flavour on these is quite strong. I don't know that I would peg it as specifically raspberry over generic berry flavour, but there are some warm, jammy notes in there that are tasty and fresh. There's none of the tang that I would have expected from something that was more natural tasting, despite this roll also containing 2.5% raspberry juice. As it's more stronger, I enjoy this one more as a lolly than the strawberry roll, which felt more like a mint with his gentle flavour.
For the curious, the raspberry roll contains colour 120 while the strawberry roll does not (it contains colour 162). I only mention this as colour 120 has been in the news lately, with regards to the Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappe.
Mentos needs no introduction (but I wrote one anyway when I reviewed the Mystery flavour). Recently, I've spotted two new flavours of Mentos dragees in supermarkets (mostly Woolworths), Raspberry, and the Limited Edition Strawberry.
For those not in the know, the limited edition Mentos are basically a test product. That's usually while you'll only see them in one store/chain - the distributors, Stuart Alexander, are testing the market. If it sells well, the flavour is usually rolled out to other chains and stores. If it flops, well, you won't ever see it again. (Recent examples include Watermelon (spotted at Woolworths a few years ago) and Cola.)
Only the Strawberry roll here is Limited Edition; it's possible that the Raspberry went through as LE and I missed it on the shelves. I've been informed by my Stuart Alexander rep that the Strawberry flavour is the same as that found in the Fruit and Rainbow rolls. It's just a solid roll of one flavour, as is the Raspberry (also a flavour from the Rainbow roll, and probably Berry Blast as well).
Despite the bold red packaging, the strawberry dragees are a soft baby pink colour, very lightly speckled with white. The interior is also white. The pack and the lollies are scentless, and the flavour is sweet and mild. It's quite a soft, artificial flavour, and pleasant to the taste. It doesn't taste anywhere near real strawberries, though - it's more of a strawberry ice cream kind of flavour. There is 2.5% reconstriuted strawberry juice in here.
The raspberry Mentos are packaged in a bright, dark pink packaging, complete with pictures of (pink) raspberries. Unlike the strawberry flavour, these dragees are also bright pink, enough that they clearly match the packaging. There's a faint white speckle to the hard outer shell, and they have no scent. The centre is also white. Surprisingly, the flavour on these is quite strong. I don't know that I would peg it as specifically raspberry over generic berry flavour, but there are some warm, jammy notes in there that are tasty and fresh. There's none of the tang that I would have expected from something that was more natural tasting, despite this roll also containing 2.5% raspberry juice. As it's more stronger, I enjoy this one more as a lolly than the strawberry roll, which felt more like a mint with his gentle flavour.
For the curious, the raspberry roll contains colour 120 while the strawberry roll does not (it contains colour 162). I only mention this as colour 120 has been in the news lately, with regards to the Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappe.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Gossip: New Seasonal Mars Bar Flavour
The next seasonal release of the classic Mars Bar will be out very shortly, in January 2013. The new flavour will be honeycomb.
To clarify, the nougat will be honeycomb-flavoured, and the bar will be topped with caramel and enrobed with milk chocolate as usual. According to my rep, it tastes similar to the Honeycomb Pods.
What do you think, readers? Are you mystified (as I am) by this flavour combination? Or does this sound strange and outlandish?
To clarify, the nougat will be honeycomb-flavoured, and the bar will be topped with caramel and enrobed with milk chocolate as usual. According to my rep, it tastes similar to the Honeycomb Pods.
What do you think, readers? Are you mystified (as I am) by this flavour combination? Or does this sound strange and outlandish?
Friday, 21 December 2012
Mars M&M's Orange
(Sorry folks, I promise I am still alive. Things just got a little hectic there for a while. And while I was gone, we managed to hit 50k hits. Wow! Thank you all so much! :D)
Mars' latest seasonal M&M's offering is Orange flavour. Although the package doesn't actually say it on the front (or anywhere but in the ingredients), these are milk chocolate M&Ms. The orange flavour isn't new to the range; a few years ago we saw it in dark chocolate M&Ms.
These M&M's are the first packet I've picked up in Mars' new gusseted bags. These bags have been introduced over the past few months, and will also be used with the Maltesers and Pods ranges. Despite what some customers seem to think, there has been no sizing change. Because the bag is shaped differently (wider, rather than narrow and tall), it feels like there is less product, but the product weight is the same.
The new bags also come with the ability to be 're-sealed' - although in this case it is with the roll-over-and-use-provided-sticker rather than with an included ziplock closure. The sticker may annoy some people as it's not very sticky, and I found that it would pop off the sealed bag at times if closed too tightly.
On the front we have Orange, the orange-coloured M&M, shown getting into (or coming out of) an orange fruit costume. At the bottom near his feet, there is a cute message indicating that 'no oranges were harmed in the making of this product'.
Inside we have orange and white-coloured M&M's. They look no different in size to regular milk M&Ms, and bear the classic m logo in some icky colour (mottled blue on orange, and green-brown on the white). The vast majority of mine were undamaged and rounded in shape, but I did have a couple of deformed ones, as you do.
They are very strongly scented. The scent is a lot like that of the Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange, but more fruity and essence-like (whereas the Terry's can be overwhelmingly strong and sweet). It's quite a nice scent, and the chocolate scent is discernable as well. They complement each other nicely.
On taste, these M&M's are quite mild compared to a Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange. Whereas the first bite of a Terry's can make your teeth hurt, these are nicely flavoured, not too strong or overpowering. That may be because of the candy shell, as it doesn't seem to be flavoured. The orange and chocolate tastes go together well, neither dominating the other. There is no citrus tang or sharpness; the orange flavour is a well-crafted fake but mild. There's no mention of zest, juice, essence or other genuine orange flavour in the ingredients list.
It's easy to take a handful and munch away, but I do find that these are not as encouraging of mindless eating as many other M&M types. Maybe it's because the orange taste lingers for a little while afterwards, delicately reminding me of what I just ate like a mild mint. It's not an unpleasant situation (and perhaps may complement a sip of hot chocolate), but it may not go so well with something else eaten immediately afterwards.
Mars M&M's Orange includes milk and wheat products, and traces of peanuts, treenuts and barley may be present.
Mars' latest seasonal M&M's offering is Orange flavour. Although the package doesn't actually say it on the front (or anywhere but in the ingredients), these are milk chocolate M&Ms. The orange flavour isn't new to the range; a few years ago we saw it in dark chocolate M&Ms.
These M&M's are the first packet I've picked up in Mars' new gusseted bags. These bags have been introduced over the past few months, and will also be used with the Maltesers and Pods ranges. Despite what some customers seem to think, there has been no sizing change. Because the bag is shaped differently (wider, rather than narrow and tall), it feels like there is less product, but the product weight is the same.
The new bags also come with the ability to be 're-sealed' - although in this case it is with the roll-over-and-use-provided-sticker rather than with an included ziplock closure. The sticker may annoy some people as it's not very sticky, and I found that it would pop off the sealed bag at times if closed too tightly.
On the front we have Orange, the orange-coloured M&M, shown getting into (or coming out of) an orange fruit costume. At the bottom near his feet, there is a cute message indicating that 'no oranges were harmed in the making of this product'.
Inside we have orange and white-coloured M&M's. They look no different in size to regular milk M&Ms, and bear the classic m logo in some icky colour (mottled blue on orange, and green-brown on the white). The vast majority of mine were undamaged and rounded in shape, but I did have a couple of deformed ones, as you do.
They are very strongly scented. The scent is a lot like that of the Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange, but more fruity and essence-like (whereas the Terry's can be overwhelmingly strong and sweet). It's quite a nice scent, and the chocolate scent is discernable as well. They complement each other nicely.
On taste, these M&M's are quite mild compared to a Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange. Whereas the first bite of a Terry's can make your teeth hurt, these are nicely flavoured, not too strong or overpowering. That may be because of the candy shell, as it doesn't seem to be flavoured. The orange and chocolate tastes go together well, neither dominating the other. There is no citrus tang or sharpness; the orange flavour is a well-crafted fake but mild. There's no mention of zest, juice, essence or other genuine orange flavour in the ingredients list.
It's easy to take a handful and munch away, but I do find that these are not as encouraging of mindless eating as many other M&M types. Maybe it's because the orange taste lingers for a little while afterwards, delicately reminding me of what I just ate like a mild mint. It's not an unpleasant situation (and perhaps may complement a sip of hot chocolate), but it may not go so well with something else eaten immediately afterwards.
Mars M&M's Orange includes milk and wheat products, and traces of peanuts, treenuts and barley may be present.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
M&M's Milk Chocolate Christmas Tube
The 2012 Christmas release from Mars features regular milk chocolate M&M's (anyone else wonder why there is an apostrophe in the brand name?) coloured red and green, and shipped in a lengthened plastic tube. The tube come sin two colours, red and lime green, and the outer packaging features snow flakes, and Red and Miss Green wearing Santa hats. Prety cute.
In the picture above you can see both the red and green tubes, and a tube of M&M's Minis. The Christmas version of the tube is a bit more than 1.5 times longer. It's long enough to hold odds and ends like pens, nail files and other things in your bag. At least, that's what I'll be using mine for. :)
It's important to note that the M&M's used in this package are of normal size, not minis. The tube holds 45g, which is four grams less than what you find in the normal bag. These retail for the same price as a medium bar, which I think is about $1.85 RRP.
These don't taste any different to me than normal M&M's - probably because they're not. But the red and green candy coating is a fun seasonal difference, not that chocolate lasts awfully well in these Australian summers, mind you. They would make a cute extra as part of a Secret Santa/Kris Kringle gift, too.
M&M's contain wheat and soy, and may contian traces of treenuts, peanuts and barley.
In the picture above you can see both the red and green tubes, and a tube of M&M's Minis. The Christmas version of the tube is a bit more than 1.5 times longer. It's long enough to hold odds and ends like pens, nail files and other things in your bag. At least, that's what I'll be using mine for. :)
It's important to note that the M&M's used in this package are of normal size, not minis. The tube holds 45g, which is four grams less than what you find in the normal bag. These retail for the same price as a medium bar, which I think is about $1.85 RRP.
These don't taste any different to me than normal M&M's - probably because they're not. But the red and green candy coating is a fun seasonal difference, not that chocolate lasts awfully well in these Australian summers, mind you. They would make a cute extra as part of a Secret Santa/Kris Kringle gift, too.
M&M's contain wheat and soy, and may contian traces of treenuts, peanuts and barley.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Au'Some Candy Apps
As soon as these came into my work I was both fascinated and amused by the clever packaging. Au'some (pronounced awesome) is a subsidiary of 'Candy Novelty Works Limited, which, from that name alone, should give you an idea of what sort of confectionery products they manufacture. Au'some itself was established in 1998, and produces some great 'interactive candy'. Their Head Office is in the US, but they have sales offices all over the world.
This particular product is basically a repackage of some of the many products that Au-some sells individually. The package itself is quite large, 17cm long x 10cm wide x 1.5cm deep. The front cover is created to replicate the face of an iPhone or similar product, with 'app' images representing the products inside. (Interesting to note: the top left app is a sticker for their Facebook page Underneath the app says 'Bobbys'.)
The rear of the package is a neat moulded tray which holds seven different products (eight items but one is duplicated). What I found especially fascinating was that the apps on the front cover actually line up with the products in the tray underneath, so there was no guessing as to what items were inside.
The first product is the 'Sour Candy Bone'. It's very large, a bit over 5.5cm long and 2cm wide, and is about 1cm thick. Mine was a very pale pink, and covered in gritty sour power, while the interior was chalky and stiff. I'm not a fan of sour products in general, but this one was very weak - even I could tolerate it! It has a faint artificial strawberry taste, and is actually somewhat refreshing. The snap is pretty stiff - I had to use my back teeth to bite off a piece - but as with compressed lollies the piece broke up easily.
The next product I tried was the '3-Dees Gummy'. Mine was yellow, and was moulded from two pieces so it had a 3D shape of a bunny. The sculpt is really cute - the bunny is about 3.5cm tall at the ears (including his base), and is lightly textured all over to represent hair. He didn't smell like much, and faintly tasted of a generic tropical flavour. He was made from a very stiff gummy (think Starburst babies, but firmer) and was very average in flavour.
My next piece was a 'Sour 3-Dees Gummy'. I studied the shape very hard but couldn't work out what he was supposed to be - a penguin? A person? The other non-sour 3-Dees piece in the package was the same mould, but even with another to look out, I have no clue what shape it's supposed to represent. (As an aside, I went hunting on the 3-Dees website and found the mould used with their Easter seasonal release, but I'm still no closer to deciphering his shape.)
Both of them had a very stiff chew - similar to the bunny, but different in that they felt more like plastic. They were both strawberry flavour, and again the sour piece was weak in its kick. I actually preferred the sour piece over the other one.
At the top of the package we have the 'Au'some Candy Roll', a basic compressed candy. Mine had 11 pieces all up, each tablet was less than 1cm wide and several milimetres thick. These These felt stale to me - they were very dry and had a sharp snap, with little to no flavour across the different colours.
The blue pieces are 'Blue raspberry flavoured Mega Bitz'. The little pieces were random in shape and quite small, about the size of a Tic Tac, but many were stuck together. I was surprised to discover these are actually gum, which a nice strong blue raspberry flavour (which is a manufactured flavour). They were tart and jammy too. At least, I think they were gum - it felt like it but after a few chews they started to disappear.
Next up was the 'Crunchy Candies'. (If that doesn't sound generic, then I don't know what does.) These are coated compressed candy about the size of a tablet, with little smiley faces painted on one side. Like most coated compressed candy, these had appeal, although I did note that the yellow pieces had a mild lemon taste, the pink was an awful berry flavour, blue was blue raspberry, and green was just bland.
Lastly we had the 'strawberry flavoured Au'some Nuggets'. I'm not sure how to describe these - they're like gummy but softer, and coated. Whatever they are, they are meant to be eaten by the handful to enjoy the jammy-but-artificial strawberry taste. I liked these the best, but not enough to actively seek them out.
For the price I paid (we sell these at $2.20), I was pretty disappointed. It's a cute way to sample different Au'Some products, but the flavour was sub-par on most products. Kids would probably enjoy the variety though.
There's no allergen statements on the back, but you would need to examine the (lengthy but detailed) ingredients list for additives.
This particular product is basically a repackage of some of the many products that Au-some sells individually. The package itself is quite large, 17cm long x 10cm wide x 1.5cm deep. The front cover is created to replicate the face of an iPhone or similar product, with 'app' images representing the products inside. (Interesting to note: the top left app is a sticker for their Facebook page Underneath the app says 'Bobbys'.)
The rear of the package is a neat moulded tray which holds seven different products (eight items but one is duplicated). What I found especially fascinating was that the apps on the front cover actually line up with the products in the tray underneath, so there was no guessing as to what items were inside.
The first product is the 'Sour Candy Bone'. It's very large, a bit over 5.5cm long and 2cm wide, and is about 1cm thick. Mine was a very pale pink, and covered in gritty sour power, while the interior was chalky and stiff. I'm not a fan of sour products in general, but this one was very weak - even I could tolerate it! It has a faint artificial strawberry taste, and is actually somewhat refreshing. The snap is pretty stiff - I had to use my back teeth to bite off a piece - but as with compressed lollies the piece broke up easily.
The next product I tried was the '3-Dees Gummy'. Mine was yellow, and was moulded from two pieces so it had a 3D shape of a bunny. The sculpt is really cute - the bunny is about 3.5cm tall at the ears (including his base), and is lightly textured all over to represent hair. He didn't smell like much, and faintly tasted of a generic tropical flavour. He was made from a very stiff gummy (think Starburst babies, but firmer) and was very average in flavour.
My next piece was a 'Sour 3-Dees Gummy'. I studied the shape very hard but couldn't work out what he was supposed to be - a penguin? A person? The other non-sour 3-Dees piece in the package was the same mould, but even with another to look out, I have no clue what shape it's supposed to represent. (As an aside, I went hunting on the 3-Dees website and found the mould used with their Easter seasonal release, but I'm still no closer to deciphering his shape.)
Both of them had a very stiff chew - similar to the bunny, but different in that they felt more like plastic. They were both strawberry flavour, and again the sour piece was weak in its kick. I actually preferred the sour piece over the other one.
At the top of the package we have the 'Au'some Candy Roll', a basic compressed candy. Mine had 11 pieces all up, each tablet was less than 1cm wide and several milimetres thick. These These felt stale to me - they were very dry and had a sharp snap, with little to no flavour across the different colours.
The blue pieces are 'Blue raspberry flavoured Mega Bitz'. The little pieces were random in shape and quite small, about the size of a Tic Tac, but many were stuck together. I was surprised to discover these are actually gum, which a nice strong blue raspberry flavour (which is a manufactured flavour). They were tart and jammy too. At least, I think they were gum - it felt like it but after a few chews they started to disappear.
Next up was the 'Crunchy Candies'. (If that doesn't sound generic, then I don't know what does.) These are coated compressed candy about the size of a tablet, with little smiley faces painted on one side. Like most coated compressed candy, these had appeal, although I did note that the yellow pieces had a mild lemon taste, the pink was an awful berry flavour, blue was blue raspberry, and green was just bland.
Lastly we had the 'strawberry flavoured Au'some Nuggets'. I'm not sure how to describe these - they're like gummy but softer, and coated. Whatever they are, they are meant to be eaten by the handful to enjoy the jammy-but-artificial strawberry taste. I liked these the best, but not enough to actively seek them out.
For the price I paid (we sell these at $2.20), I was pretty disappointed. It's a cute way to sample different Au'Some products, but the flavour was sub-par on most products. Kids would probably enjoy the variety though.
There's no allergen statements on the back, but you would need to examine the (lengthy but detailed) ingredients list for additives.
Monday, 29 October 2012
Lindt Extra Creamy Milk Milk Chocolate and Cookie Crunch
Lindt & Sprungli is one of those brands that is synonymous with quality. The brand is available worldwide and is just as widely known for their quality Swiss-made chocolate products.
Recently Lindt launched a campaign with their new 'Creamy Milk' range of 100g milk chocolate blocks. The campaign even included giving away free blocks through their Facebook page. I wasn't lucky enough to win one of the blocks, but that's how I found out about their new product.
The range comes in three flavours: Milk, Cookie Crunch, and Hazelnut. I have the first two flavours for review.
Since its launch, these blocks can often be found on special for about $1.99 (half price) at the two major Australian supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths. The packaging is surprisingly cheap for a Lindt product, just foil and a paper outer layer, but it still manages to look rather dignified with a raised gold logo and a brilliant royal blue background. The Cookie Crunch features a wide yellow swatch across the bottom to help distinguish it from the Milk Chocolate version.
The blocks are broken into small rectangles rather than squares, and each has the brand name impressed into the top.The block is slightly wider than Cadbury's 100g blocks, at a hair under 7.5cm wide and 16cm long, and 5mm thick. At first glance, there seems to be little difference between the Milk Chocolate and the Cookie Crunch, although on closer inspection the cookie version is a touch lighter in colouring. And of course there is the addition of cookie pieces: from the top they are mere specks below the surface, but flip the block over and the texture fro the tiny pieces is wonderful. The back shows the pieces are well distributed, and just about all are covered by chocolate. The reverse of the Milk Chocolate block is smooth and mostly unmarred, although not glossy like the Cookie Crunch.
There's a definitely a strong milky note to the scent of both blocks - it reminds me of the Lindt Easter Bunnies. :) It's strong and creamy, and without much of a cocoa scent to interrupt the sweetness.
The first block, the Creamy Milk, has a firm snap to it, indicating freshness. In the mouth it melts quickly and evenly, spreading the sweetness all around. It is perfectly tempered and smooth, but quite sweet.
Cookie Crunch had quite a different flavour to it. The malty cookie pieces stole the show from the first taste, standing right in front and dominating the chocolate flavours. The tiny pieces are evenly dispersed throughout the chocolate, adding great texture to the chew but also imparting a strong malt favour. I honestly could barely taste the chocolate beyond a passing background taste. It was like eating a chocolate-dipped biscuit - the biscuit is the star of the show and the chocolate is the chorus. I wasn't disappointed, but I was baffled at the amount of biscuit. Dropping the amount would allow the chocolate's taste time in the limelight.
Both blocks contain a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 20% of milk solids. Both may contain traces of almonds and hazelnuts.
Recently Lindt launched a campaign with their new 'Creamy Milk' range of 100g milk chocolate blocks. The campaign even included giving away free blocks through their Facebook page. I wasn't lucky enough to win one of the blocks, but that's how I found out about their new product.
The range comes in three flavours: Milk, Cookie Crunch, and Hazelnut. I have the first two flavours for review.
Since its launch, these blocks can often be found on special for about $1.99 (half price) at the two major Australian supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths. The packaging is surprisingly cheap for a Lindt product, just foil and a paper outer layer, but it still manages to look rather dignified with a raised gold logo and a brilliant royal blue background. The Cookie Crunch features a wide yellow swatch across the bottom to help distinguish it from the Milk Chocolate version.
The blocks are broken into small rectangles rather than squares, and each has the brand name impressed into the top.The block is slightly wider than Cadbury's 100g blocks, at a hair under 7.5cm wide and 16cm long, and 5mm thick. At first glance, there seems to be little difference between the Milk Chocolate and the Cookie Crunch, although on closer inspection the cookie version is a touch lighter in colouring. And of course there is the addition of cookie pieces: from the top they are mere specks below the surface, but flip the block over and the texture fro the tiny pieces is wonderful. The back shows the pieces are well distributed, and just about all are covered by chocolate. The reverse of the Milk Chocolate block is smooth and mostly unmarred, although not glossy like the Cookie Crunch.
There's a definitely a strong milky note to the scent of both blocks - it reminds me of the Lindt Easter Bunnies. :) It's strong and creamy, and without much of a cocoa scent to interrupt the sweetness.
The first block, the Creamy Milk, has a firm snap to it, indicating freshness. In the mouth it melts quickly and evenly, spreading the sweetness all around. It is perfectly tempered and smooth, but quite sweet.
Cookie Crunch had quite a different flavour to it. The malty cookie pieces stole the show from the first taste, standing right in front and dominating the chocolate flavours. The tiny pieces are evenly dispersed throughout the chocolate, adding great texture to the chew but also imparting a strong malt favour. I honestly could barely taste the chocolate beyond a passing background taste. It was like eating a chocolate-dipped biscuit - the biscuit is the star of the show and the chocolate is the chorus. I wasn't disappointed, but I was baffled at the amount of biscuit. Dropping the amount would allow the chocolate's taste time in the limelight.
Both blocks contain a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 20% of milk solids. Both may contain traces of almonds and hazelnuts.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Gossip: Mars Minstrels
I know some of my readers love the bags of Minstrels chocolates that Mars imported earlier in the year. I have some sad news for you guys.
The Minstrels were brought into Australia by Wolworths and Coles on what is called a 'job lot'. Basically it means a seller (in this case, Woolies and Coles) requested a product to be imported. The sad news about this is that the stock is limited and won't stay around forever. Once it's sold out, it is gone.
I've seen Minstrels on clearance for $1.99 at Woolworths a couple of weeks ago (stock was still good through 2013). If you're a fan of these, I suggest snapping them up now before they run out!
The Minstrels were brought into Australia by Wolworths and Coles on what is called a 'job lot'. Basically it means a seller (in this case, Woolies and Coles) requested a product to be imported. The sad news about this is that the stock is limited and won't stay around forever. Once it's sold out, it is gone.
I've seen Minstrels on clearance for $1.99 at Woolworths a couple of weeks ago (stock was still good through 2013). If you're a fan of these, I suggest snapping them up now before they run out!
Natural Confectionery Company Strawberries & Cream Bliss
One of the two new products The Natural Confectionery Company has put out this season is a new flavour in their soft-centre Bliss range. Previous releases include Tropical (now discontinued), the holiday release Merry Blissmas, and the currently-available sour Tangy Bliss and Berry Bliss. The newest flavour is Strawberries and Cream.
Obviously a play on the traditional strawberry and cream jelly lolly, the Strawberries & Cream Bliss lolly features a 'creamy vanilla base', on which is a 'soft fruity centre' housed inside a red jelly shell. Unlike the Berry Bliss release, this version uses the same mould for the jelly shell. I'm not entirely sure what it is supposed to represent, as it looks like a child's drawing of a fingerprint and only covers one side of the lolly. The jelly itself is 2cm tall, and about 1.8cm wide at the base. The creamy base itself is thick, around 4-5mm in height. It's a cute size, enough by itself but you could choose to have several at once if wanted.
The Natural Confectionery Co. does not use artificial colours or flavours, so it was no surprise to find the scent not overwhelming. Although not immediately recognisable as strawberry or even generic berry, the gentle and sweet scent is pleasing.
I hope I'm not alone when I admit that the best thing to do with soft-centre lollies is to squeeze them and make the innards ooze out. With the creamy base to act as a solid plug, the textured top of the jelly gave out first, letting the crystal-like centre ooze out the top like a shiny little gem. By itself, the centre is similar in colour to the outer shell - a dark rose pink - but is full of tiny air bubbles that give it a somewhat crystal appearance. It's actually rather pretty. Still, with a whole bag of these on my desk I sucked it up and finished it for the review.
Alone, the centre is firm but a little slippery, and lightly flavoured, like cordial made to the perfect strength. The centre is nice and slightly floral, but although there is a tiny kick to it, there's nothing of the tang of a real strawberry. When the jelly is eaten as a whole, I got a muted version of the centre's flavour. The creamy base plays a nice background note to offset the mild berry notes, but by itself is nondescript. The jelly as a whole is certainly a nice, and more realistic, play on the all-artificial traditional strawberries and cream lolly. It's less sweet and definitely moreish. Just don't expect an in-your-face strawberry taste.
Strawberries and Cream Bliss are a glucose product, and they contain wheat. A serving size is 25g (approximately four pieces).
Obviously a play on the traditional strawberry and cream jelly lolly, the Strawberries & Cream Bliss lolly features a 'creamy vanilla base', on which is a 'soft fruity centre' housed inside a red jelly shell. Unlike the Berry Bliss release, this version uses the same mould for the jelly shell. I'm not entirely sure what it is supposed to represent, as it looks like a child's drawing of a fingerprint and only covers one side of the lolly. The jelly itself is 2cm tall, and about 1.8cm wide at the base. The creamy base itself is thick, around 4-5mm in height. It's a cute size, enough by itself but you could choose to have several at once if wanted.
The Natural Confectionery Co. does not use artificial colours or flavours, so it was no surprise to find the scent not overwhelming. Although not immediately recognisable as strawberry or even generic berry, the gentle and sweet scent is pleasing.
I hope I'm not alone when I admit that the best thing to do with soft-centre lollies is to squeeze them and make the innards ooze out. With the creamy base to act as a solid plug, the textured top of the jelly gave out first, letting the crystal-like centre ooze out the top like a shiny little gem. By itself, the centre is similar in colour to the outer shell - a dark rose pink - but is full of tiny air bubbles that give it a somewhat crystal appearance. It's actually rather pretty. Still, with a whole bag of these on my desk I sucked it up and finished it for the review.
Alone, the centre is firm but a little slippery, and lightly flavoured, like cordial made to the perfect strength. The centre is nice and slightly floral, but although there is a tiny kick to it, there's nothing of the tang of a real strawberry. When the jelly is eaten as a whole, I got a muted version of the centre's flavour. The creamy base plays a nice background note to offset the mild berry notes, but by itself is nondescript. The jelly as a whole is certainly a nice, and more realistic, play on the all-artificial traditional strawberries and cream lolly. It's less sweet and definitely moreish. Just don't expect an in-your-face strawberry taste.
Strawberries and Cream Bliss are a glucose product, and they contain wheat. A serving size is 25g (approximately four pieces).
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