Chupa Chups

Taste

Ahhh, good old Chupa Chups. They seem to be a staple of childhood, and I’m glad to see them carry on for so long. They haven’t gone on without innovation though, as the rainbow of new flavours attest to. I tried the Apple, which was very nice. It captured that crisp, tarty sweetness of a green apple perfectly.

Rating - 6

Look

It’s always run to eat, recapture your long lost childhood. That pesky covering doesn’t come off any easier with age though.

Rating - 2

C-factor

One 13g stick has now gone up in price to about 50 cents… considering kids these days get about $50 pocket money a week, this is still extremely affordable.

Rating - 2

Swiss Points - 10

Ingredients

sugar, glucose syrup, food acid, concentrated fruit puree, apple

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Ricola Swiss Herb Drops

Taste

These new herb drops from Ricola are advertised as sugarfree and contains 13 natural swiss herbs. I don't know how beneficial this was for me, but I taste quite a bit of lemon in the Elderflowers. It is certainly much better than a cough drop and is not bad as a lolly. So if it's good for me? All the better. The cranberry was great too, somewhat different.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Healthy, I suppose, it's orange brown in colour, and the packaging is purple with all these herb looking plants.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

This was a trial pack.

Rating - 2

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

elderflower

isomalt, acid,k extracts of elderflowers and Ricola's herb mixtures, concentrated lemon juice, sweeteners, flavourings, fruit and plant preparations

cranberry

Isomalt, acid, concentrated cranberry juice, extract of Ricola’s herb mixture, concentrated black chokeberry juice, sweeteners, flavourings

Available At

JellyBelly Jelly Beans

Taste

Jelly Belly are an upper class jelly bean. They certainly taste a lot, and I mean a lot, better than your average supermarket variety. I sampled:

• peach - just like those peach lollies you can get
• juicy pear - tastes like a sweet william pear, absolutely divine!
• coconut - beautiful, sweet coconut fragrant!
• raspberry - a bit too artificial and too sweet
• green apple - tastes more sweet than tart and sharp, not the best
• lemon - an intense burst of lemon flavour, quite nice
• orange - pretty ordinary and boring
• tangarine - quite tangy and fresh, much better than the orange
• red apple - much better than the green apple and more the apple flavour I was expecting
• wild blackberry - kinda sweet, taste a bit more like grapes than blackberry... or maybe that was grape...
• grape - like the fake grape lollies you get at the Asian stores
• blueberry - a subtle berry flavour and very pleasant, not too fake but beautiful
• plum - very similar to the blueberry but a bit sweeter and sharper
• banana - like those banana lollies I hate. People really should stop making things with that banana flavouring. It doesn't taste like bananas at all!

Now I want to try them all!

Rating - 6.5

Look

Love it. My sample came with a "recipe" where you can make all these food by combining different jellybean flavours. e.g. tiramisu = cream soda + cappuccino + cappuccino + coconut
banana split = top banana+chocolate pudding+crushed pineapple+strawberry jam+very cherry+cream soda

They come in the cutest packaging, with the cherry Jelly Belly logo. Each jelly bean is very small, and colour coded to represent the different flavours. They have the coolest names too!

Rating - 3

C-factor

I got all my samples for free but they are a bit exy when you buy them normally.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

sugar, glucose syrup, modified cornstarch, grape juice concentrate, peach concentrate, blueberry puree, raspberry puree, banana puree, citric acid ,plum juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, coconut, colours, fumaric acid ,alctic acid ,acidity regulator, glazing agents, malic acid ,tapioca dextrin

Available At

specialty stores

Katjes Fred Ferkel

Taste

I'd tried the Katjes Summer Fruit Frenzy Fruit Jellies before, and these are just as good, if not better. They are 99% fat free, in the shape of a bear face. The fruit gum ears are different flavours, cherry, strawberry, raspberry, although I really couldn't tell the difference, and the face is a soft fruity foam in grape. Katjes is still one of the best gummies I've tasted.

Rating - 8.5

Look

The bears are cute, the packaging is fun. This is great for kids and adults alike!

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

I got this 180g bag in a sample bag, so not sure how much they are. But hey, that means they were free for me!

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 12

Ingredients

glucose syrup, sugar, gelatine, fruit juice (3%) from fruit juice concetrates (orange, apple), acid:citric acid, gelling agentL pectin, fruit extracts (grape, elderberry ,currant), flavourings , glazing agentL beeswax white.

Available At

Supermarkets everywhere

Kasugai Gummy Candy

Taste

Kasugai gummies are popular in Asia, and for good reason. They are soft and juicy, have appealing flavour, and actually taste like the fruit!

I have tried a few flavours, including peach, mango, apple and grape, but this time I had the privilege to try the Kiwi. The label says "Kiwi gummy, super juicy", and they are absolutely right. It's like eating a sweet kiwifruit in each bite!

Rating - 7.5

Look

They come individually wrapped, I wouldn't expect anything less. Plus, each lolly is clear green but specked with little black spots, and they look very cute.

Rating - 3

C-factor

135g in a pack for around $5.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 11.5

Ingredients

sugar, corn syrup, kiwifruit puree, gelatin, oblate powder, d-sorbitol, acidulant, pectin, artificial kiwifruit flavour, palm oil, emulsifier, artifical colouring

Available At

Asian groceries

Katjes Summer Fruit Frenzy Fruit Jellies

Taste

Before I went to Germany, I had no idea that they are famous for their fruit jellies. But after tasting what they had on offer, I couldn't go back to just any old jellies. Katjes is from Germany, and they live up to that German goodness. Each fruit piece was juicy and soft, with no "artificial" taste. The flavours on offer: lemon, red currant, blueberries, strawberry and orange, are also more desirable than your stock standard flavours.

Rating - 8

Look

Each lolly is in the shape of its fruit flavour, super cute. The packaging looks fun, but nothing like Japan's.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

We got these 180g pack in the Vogue showbag.

Rating - 1.5

Swiss Points - 11

Ingredients

glucose fructose syrup, sugar,fruit pulp.5 & fruit juice (8%) from fruit juice concentrates (cherry, strawberry, blueberry, leemon, orange, currant), gelatine, acid, pectin, flavourings, glazing agent

Available At

Supermarkets?

Sapporo Yubari Melon Caramel

Taste

It reminds me of Swiss lolly, you know, the little square chewy lollies, but with a much more interesting flavour. This lolly is very sweet but has a fresh fragrant aroma. It's amazing they got this to taste just like melon with the ingredients they use. It's very Japanese actually.

Rating - 7.5

Look

Like all Japanese products, the packaging is very cute. A white background with cute melon picture. It was easy to reseal and each lolly is individually wrapped of course.

Rating - 2

C-factor

80g for $1 on special. It's expensive but then it's from Japan.

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - 10.5

Ingredients

glucose syrup, sugar, condensed milk powder, vegetable oil, melon flavour, vegetable protein, salt, flavour, colour

Available At

Specialty Asian stores

Pariya raahat Turkish Delight

Taste

I've tried a few other products from Pariya before, and I was very impressed, so I jumped at the chance of trying the sour cherry. They are very innovative, coming up with cool flavours like this. The delight is chewy, with a strong but not overpowering rosewater taste, and bits of sour cherry dispersed throughout. Like all turisk delights, this one is sweet, so it's best with coffee or tea.

I've also picked up the citron flavour, which I have to report is not as nice as the sour cherry, maybe because the orange peel aroma didn't go as well, tasting more like sweet jam.

Rating - Sour Cherry - 7.5, Citron - 6

Look

The packaging is top notch, with a smart silver and white design. The delights themselves look divine, with a vivid red colour, and a dusting of white icing sugar. The pieces are just the right size and you can reuse the container, which closes very tightly.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

$9.95 for 250g at DJs, but I'm SURE you can find it cheaper elsewhere. You do have to pay for quality I guess. This is high class, you can buy it at DJs afterall!

Rating - 1

Swiss Points - Sour Cherry - 11, Citron - 9.5

Ingredients

water, sugar, corn flour, sour cherries, food acid

Available At

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