Today’s Review: Hi-Chew Pineapple

I found these in the Co-Op, a little pack of sweets that promised to be “sensationally chewy”, and one that was exclusively pineapple flavoured as well. That really got my interest, normally they just lump all the tropical fruits together. So I had to check these out, thinking they’d be like those super chewy Japanese sweets.

These are certainly very chewy, treading that fine line between edible sweet and bubble gum. I would say the chewing goes on slightly too long, I was beginning to question whether I should swallow it or not. As for the flavour, it’s alright. Definitely pineapple-like, but it gets worse as it goes on, and since I was still chewing after a while the flavour had faded quite a bit. This is a decent enough attempt at a pineapple flavoured sweet, but it’s just a bit too chewy and the taste isn’t quite good for long enough. I’ll have to try out the more regular strawberry ones.

My rating: 3/5

Today’s Review: Drumchick Squashies

Yes, it’s only January and I’m reviewing my second Easter product. Big whoop, wanna fight about it? Anyway, I couldn’t pass up a new flavour of Squashies, they’re one of the best sweet products in recent years. These aren’t your regular Squashies though, they’re shaped like chicks! Aww.

Yes, very adorable, almost made me not want to bite their little heads off, but of course I did. These are a bit tougher than the regular Squashies, which is a little disappointing, I like the softness of the original. While the orange and pineapple is nice and fruity, that extra chewing time means the flavour outstays its welcome a little bit, the citrus element comes through a bit too much at the end. Still, a minor thing, it certainly didn’t stop me scoffing a few down at a time. Thee aren’t as good as the fantastic Halloween edition, but they’re a nice fruity spring offering.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Maynards Bassetts Soft Jellies Wild Safari

It's time to go on safari! A soft jelly safari! These are safari themed animal shaped jellies, which are apparently new, but I think they're just another variety of jellies that have already been around a while. Either way, they're basically wine gums without the wine. The texture is a little firmer, but that's pretty good, more chewing means more flavour coming out. They're fairly generic fruity flavours, but there's a lot packed in to each sweet, and I found myself devouring quite a few before I was done. They don't beat wine gums, but they're a good alternative.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Barratt Dip Dab Softies

Not content until all sweets are available in soft chewy forms, Barratt have now turned the classic Dip Dab into Softies, meaning you can get that sherbet/lolly combo without the mess. Or can you? Well, no, you can't. I love a Dip Dab, and this is not a good representation. They've tried to emulate it with these lemon and strawberry sour sweeties, but the flavours are off, the lemon just ain't right, and the strawberry doesn't pack nearly as much punch as that little round lolly. They are soft at least, they're definitely chewable, and they grew on me after a few sweets, but I'd rather go for a real Dip Dab over these, even if I do end up covered in sherbet. Oh well, they can't all be as good as Drumstick Squashies.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Skittles Chewies

You know how you love Skittles, but hate the shell? No? Did anyone ask for these? Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause here they are, shell-less Skittles. The same flavours, but without the crispy bit on the outside. That's all I can say about them.

As pointless as thought these seemed, they're pretty good. Forgoing the shell means you can get straight to the chewy, fruity goodness, and while they are a little more chewy than regular Skittles, the flavours are as good as always. Not so much a fantastic new way to experience Skittles, more an alternative, worth trying out for a change.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Asda Jewellery Laces

I was recently sent these Jewellery Laces to try out, they're new at Asda, an interesting combination of candy necklace and laces. Inside you'll find liquorice style laces in various flavours, as well as some smaller shaped sweet charms. Each of those has a hole in the middle, so you can thread them onto the laces and create your own jewellery! Necklaces, bracelets, rings, the possibilities are... well, that's most of the possibilities. But it's a very neat idea.

These sweets taste good, that's the first thing I made sure of. They're all brightly coloured, with a lot of bold fruit flavours. I'd buy a bag of just the laces on their own, but these have the added bonus of jewellery, of course. Threading the charms on takes a bit of practice, and squeezing, but it's easy enough. I will say that there weren't too many charms compared to laces, you can't make every necklace chock full of charms. Tying them up is a bit of a pain as well, if you want to wear the jewellery you have to be careful not to snap the laces, but that's a small issue. I gave a pack to my daughter, and her and a friend spent a full hour making stuff out of them, that's more than you get from any other pack of sweets. A very neat idea that's a big hit with the kids, they just need to balance the charms and laces a bit more.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Maxons Sherpot Lemon

It's another Home Bargains sweet find, this one is a Sherpot, which is literally a pot of sherbet. It came in lemon or cola flavour, and I opted for the former so I could get that zing. Unfortunately I was just met with generic, flavourless sherbet. There may have been a hint of lemon somewhere, but it wasn't even that sour. I was starting to wonder if I'd gotten a pot off the wrong shipment, but those fears were dispelled once I didn't reach an intense high.

So yes, disappointing sherbet, but how are you going to eat it? Why, with the disappointing lolly of course! "Fruit" flavoured, though the fruit isn't specified, and isn't easy to make out. Also, I got two lollies on either end of one stick, bent into a sort of twin cherry shape, which was just odd and unwieldy. I had to twist the stick until it snapped in two, so I wasn't going at it like a confectionery based Darth Maul. As sherbet goes, this is probably the worst I've tried.

My rating: 1/5

Today's Review: Blueberry Fruit Rockets

I do love a trip to Home Bargains, it usually rewards me with an array of cheap, off brand sweets. Take these Fruit Rockets, for instance, a knock off version of Millions in a blueberry flavour. I thought at least the flavour itself would be unique, and it mostly is, but I wouldn't consider it distinctly blueberry. It's fruity enough, but a little disappointing. As for the texture, these are significantly more chewy than Millions, so much so that my jaw hurt by the end of the pack, they're just too hard. I mean, I like really chewy sweets as much as the next guy, but these are just not great. Not awful, but definitely not great.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Starburst Minis

Starburst are one of those absolute classic sweets, the formula is perfect, but now they've switched it up. So here we have Starburst Minis, which seem to only exist to cut down on paper waste. They're unwrapped, but present in the same classic flavours. 

Well, they had to do something with these to offset the lack of paper, otherwise all the Starburst would stick together.So yes, these are significantly harder than their classic counterparts, and therefore chewier. I'd say they're something between Starburst and Tooty Frooties in texture, and while the flavours are the same, I wasn't a fan of the excess chewing I had to do. Perhaps these will grow on me, but they're not up to the standard of the wrapped ones.

My rating: 3/5 

Today's Review: Rowntrees Randoms Sours

I wasn't sure what to think of Randoms when they first came out, but they quickly grew on me. Now they've gone and covered them in sour stuff, so I had to give these a try. There's not much more to these, they're pretty much exactly the same as Randoms, but with the sour coating. So you have sour foam sweets, sour foam backed sweets, and sour liquid filled sweets. I can't say I prefer these to the original, but it's a simple change to the formula that gives a nice little tart kick and adds a new dimension to this sweet bag. The coating distracts a little from the flavour of the sweets themselves, but if you're a sour fan you should probably grab a bag.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Chewits Crazy Face Mad Sour

I think these are supposed to be sour, there's something about the packaging that is trying to relay that to me. I mean, apple and lemon are some tart flavours, but these must be something else if they promise to make my face go "ssssshhhhhiiiiiiffffff", whatever that means. I was revved up for something spectacular, but I was disappointed. I mean, my face did something, sure, but I wouldn't call it crazy or rely on confusing onomatopoeia. The actual sweets are somewhat small, and the fruit flavours aren't amazing, all in all it's just a disappointingly average bag of sweets with a bit of a sour kick. Don't buy into the hype.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review:Trolli Dino Rex

I should have known when I saw the packet, I shouldn't have believed it. But there it was, a bag of overly sugary dinosaur shaped sweets, with the blurb "Xtra sour!" I should have known that spelling "extra" like that was a ploy, and as such I was rewarded with sweets that were not extra sour, they were in fact just a little bit sour. 

Alright, they're not all bad. The green and yellow ones aren't particularly flavoursome, but the blue, red and purple ones have a bit of a kick to them. They're a little tingly, sure, but by no means are they extra sour. All things considered they're pretty mediocre, definitely a few steps below Tangfastics. I don't think I'd get them again.

My rating: 2/5

Today's Review: Haribo Fruit-Mania Lemon

It's a Haribo Fruit-Mania! Well, as long as the fruits are citrus. This is an interesting little German bag of sweeties, with lime, orange and grapefruit flavours. There's not too much to say about these, they're pretty good, a nice amount of chewiness, and quite tart. The texture is a little odd, I was hoping for something a bit more like a Fruit Gum, these break down quite quickly, but all in all they're not bad. The flavours are pretty authentic, and the grapefruit is an interesting addition. A little bit more variety wouldn't have gone amiss, but if you're into citrus sweets, you can't go wrong with this bag.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Fox's Glacier Tropical

Glacier Fruits are an all time classic, and it's nice to see them bring out some limited edition flavours every now and then. Popping into The Range the other day, I found this bag of the tropical variety, which only contains three different flavours, but they're pretty good. There's pineapple, mango & passion fruit, and a nod to the current craze in the form of coconut. A coconut boiled sweet might have been a bit much, I thought, and I was right in some respects. It does taste a lot like coconut, but once I'd experienced that flavour for a minute, I was about ready to move on, whereas the sweet stuck around. Nice, but a little too sweet.

The other two flavours are great, bold and fruity, and pretty authentic, the mango passion fruit is especially good. So not a perfect bag, but a good few interesting fruity sweets, worth trying out if you can find them.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Haribo Squidglets

Why, it's an all new bag of Haribo, I do love it when this happens. ere we have Squidglets, which are tiny cubes of chewy Haribo goodness. Also, they have faces on, because Emojis are all the rage these days. They come in a few interesting flavours, some fruity, some not, but they are all cuboid.

Oh man, these are so good. The texture is a little odd at first, almost bubblegum-like, but don't let that deter you from swallowing. These little cubes pack a lot of flavour, be it raspberry, cola, apple or vanilla. Each one tastes damn good, and they're really moreish. Seeing as they're small as well, I had no trouble polishing these off. Just writing about them now makes me want another bag, another Haribo hit.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Haribo Tangfastics Fruit Spritzers

I do like these yearly variations on the classic Haribo bags, even if they're pretty much different combinations of fruit. So there's not too much to say about these if you've had any of the other "Frenzy" bags. Here we have quite an eclectic mix, featuring pomegranate, lemon, blueberry, apple, pineapple, all in strange combinations. For the most part the fruity flavours are pretty authentic, though some of the mixtures are a little off. Still, a decent twist on a classic formula, and it's nice to see they're not just rehashing their Frenzy flavours from last year. Worth grabbing while they're around.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Happy Shopper Candy Cones

Here's the other bag of sweets I picked up to go alongside my off brand Minstrels at the corner shop. Candy cones, which are pretty much foamy ice cream cones. Think foam bananas, but a bit softer and in a variety of flavours. It's hard to identify exactly what they were going for, but these do taste a bit like how I'd expect yellow, brown and pink to taste, so there you go. They have a decent consistency, perhaps a bit on the chalky side, but it'll do for a cheap bag of sweets. The flavours leave a little to be desired though, so it's a pretty average bag overall. Definitely a cheap treat you can chuck at the kids.

My rating: 3/5

Today's Review: Skittles Orchards

I do love a new bag of Skittles, even though this one has been available in the form of an import for some time. Still, it's nice to be able to pick them up for a reasonable price, and the current £1 in Asda is certainly worth paying. These are some new flavours based on... orchard fruits apparently. Well, they're not all new flavours. You have lemon and orange, which were already there, so really we're looking at the cherry, apple and pomegranate.

The pomegranate is great, a dark fruity flavour that's very bold and pretty juicy. The cherry is good too, not exactly authentic, but with a nice sour kick. The apple is particularly sour, really fruity and tart, and perhaps my favourite in the pack. The orange is your standard Skittle fare, and while the lemon has a bit of tartness it's a little on the bland side. Still, this is a decent bag of Skittles, with some interesting new fruits thrown in. Well worth picking up while they're around.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Walker's Yummy Banana Toffee

Banoffee seems all the rage at the moment, everyone seems to be coming out with a banana toffee variation of their snacks. But today I picked up banoffee in its simplest form, it's a bar of banana flavoured toffee. That's it, toffee with banana. Simple in design, but pretty tasty. The toffee itself is nice and chewy, a smooth, sweet offering that is definitely moreish. The banana is pretty prevalent throughout, another layer of sweetness that is somewhat authentic, but more in line with that artificial banana flavour than that of the fruit itself. Still, I think that overly sweet banana works with the toffee, neither flavour overwhelms the other, making for a nicely balanced bar. It's not false advertising on that packaging, this is yummy.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: KaDunks

Here's another little interesting sweet I picked up from the pocket money section at the shop. I did take a picture of mine, but apparently it doesn't want to work, so you can enjoy this generic photo I found instead. Here we have KaDunks, which are basically like Dairylea Dunkers, but made out of sweets. The pack I got consisted of strawberry flavour gummy shapes, and a blue raspberry dip to dunk them in. Sound gross? Well, they are. I mean, the blue raspberry has a nice sour tinge to it, but it's pretty sickly and sugary. As for the gummies, they're pretty hard and flavourless, and really don't add anything to the experience. These basically seem like a way to deliver sour goo into our mouths, I get they're trying to make it enjoyable, but this isn't a tasty treat.

My rating: 1/5