Vimto Discovery Zero: Mango & Dragonfruit (Iceland) By @Cinabar

What better for a warm day than trying out a new soft drink? We regularly buy Vimto here, but mostly we get the regular flavour, and mostly in the form of a cordial. I do always keep an eye out for new flavours, especially when those flavours are a bit different, and I think this is the first time I’ve seen this mix in a drink. The new flavour is Vimto Discovery Zero: Mango & Dragonfruit. I do know what dragonfruit is, but I can’t pretend that it is a regular purchase. I was looking forward to trying it out.

The drink is a lovely pink colour, and there is plenty of fizz packed in. There was a light syrupy aroma while I poured. The flavour is so good. It is sweet and very fruity; the dragonfruit is actually predominant, and then it mellows to the softer tone of mango. It is sweet but refreshing, and such a good new combination for summer. I’m really impressed that Vimto has brought out such a nice new and different flavour. If you are looking for a soft drink that is a bit different, I do thoroughly recommend this Vimto Discovery Zero: Mango & Dragonfruit. 

Vimto Bon Bons (#Gifted) By @Cinabar

It has been ages since I had Bon Bons, they aren’t that easy to find. The lovely folk at Vimto asked if I wanted to try their new, improved recipe for the sweets, and this lovely bag arrived in the post. Here we have Vimto Bon Bons, and I couldn’t wait to give them a try.

I opened up the pack, and the first thing I noticed was the scent. It was like smelling a new bottle of Vimto cordial, it was strong and fruity, with loads of berries in the aroma. Each sweet is lightly powdered, round, and pink in colour. One rolled off the table, you need to keep an eye on round sweets. I gave a Bon Bon a try, and they are so very fruity! I could taste all the berries. There was an absolute blast of Vimto flavour as I chewed. I liked the texture too, they were chewy but not too sticky. I remember Bon Bons being the kind of sweet that gets stuck in your teeth, but these had a good chewy texture without that, which was nice. We are regular purchasers of Vimto, so the flavour was always going to work for us and these sweets were rather lovely, nice and strong, they are fruity and fun.

Vimto Zero Fruit Drops (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

I found the Vimto marshmallows that I wrote about the other week at a petrol station, and after that blog post went up, Vimto very kindly sent me a box of their new boiled sweets, Vimto Zero Fruit Drops, to try too. I love Vimto, we regularly buy it at home, and it is one of our favourite drinks. I’m really pleased to find them moving into the sweets market, and I absolutely loved the marshmallows, so I was keen to try this packet of sweets.

The Vimto Zero Fruit Drops are in a small box, so they're perfect to fit in a pocket or handbag. They are pink-coloured oval-shaped sweets. I gave one a try, and the initial flavour seemed a little muted, but quickly developed into the yummy Vimto flavour that I associate with the drink. There were lots of berries, and the sweets were sweet and super refreshing. They're also sugar-free, which makes them ideal for a January treat if you're watching your calories after Christmas but still have a sweet tooth like me. 

Vimto Marshmallows (Petrol Station) By @Cinabar

I always have my eye open for marshmallows, but I don’t normally expect to spot them at the local petrol station. I do search the import shops for interesting ones from abroad, where I usually buy American marshmallows as they have interesting shapes and flavours. I wouldn’t have gone to the garage there looking for even plain marshmallows, so these were a pleasant surprise. I did, however, have my eyes open, and I did get a little excited to see these Vimto Marshmallows. The lady behind the till also reassured me that she had tried them and that they were really good. I opened up the bag and found that the marshmallows were purple and two-toned. They are quite pretty.

I gave one a try and realised that these marshmallows are fizzy and, as such, super zingy. The fluffy texture was good, soft, but it still had a bit of give. The coating around them was where the fizziness came from. I loved all the berry tones from the Vimto drink that were mixed in, and I loved the sour tingle from the flavour. I think these might be a little too flavourful to go with hot chocolate, but perhaps the contrast will be nice. I’ll try that out later!

Vimto Jelly Babies (A Taste of the States) By @Cinabar

I bought these from an import shop but I don’t think they are an import. Vimto is a British thing. It is a popular drink here flavoured with blackcurrant, raspberry and grape. The name came from Vim Tonic being abbreviated. There are many variations of the Vimto drink here, even seasonal specials etc, but sweets are much harder to find. I couldn’t resist picking up these Vimto Jelly Babies when I saw them.

I opened up the bag and the hit of aroma of Vimto was amazing, it was rich and fruity and I knew immediately these were going to be good. I gave one a try and they are seriously juicy and fruit bites of joy. The jelly is firm, but gives easily. The Vimto flavour was sweet and intense and all the berry goodness was just amazing. I swear I only meant to have a few. That was my intention. Somehow, the bag now appears to be empty and I’m not sure what happened. I think I might need to order some more. These were so tasty they had almost addictive qualities.

Vimto Flying Saucers (GB Gifts) By @SpectreUK

I've loved Vimto since I was a young boy. Sometimes I feel I've been alive so long it takes quite a bit for my memory to track back that far. I was definitely as rotten at spelling then as I am now. Predictive text can be a pain on many devices. If I didn't keep looking up whilst I type this blog very nearly ended up being called "Vimeo Flying Sausages"!

I've popped open a bottle of Vimto cordial to have a glass with these Vimto Flying Saucers. Don't worry I'll add water! A friend of ours from across the great pond sent us a clip of someone drinking undiluted Ribena the other day, because that's how she thought it should be drunk. Oh, well… she seemed to like it though.

Anyway, the mixed flavours of grapes, raspberries, and blackcurrants in Vimto always take me back to my childhood, no matter how long it takes to finish the drink just to wind back the years. I do like to eat sweets. They make me feel young. I do like to feel young.

Two people have called me, "Young Man" today, which is always nice. My dad used to call me that all the time. No matter how many years roll by, no matter how many ups and downs, trials and scars we try to learn from and heal from, most people are still kids inside. Most adults are generally falling over ourselves and making it up as we go along.

Flying Saucers have always been a big favourite of mine. I usually bite the wafer disc in half, lick all the sherbet out and eat the rest of the Flying Saucer. It feels like a just comeuppance for Mars Attacks. This method of eating usually goes well unless I sneeze half the way through eating a flying saucer and end up covered in sherbet.

On opening the bag each Vimto Flying Saucer has "Vimto" on one side and words such as "I see Vimto in you" and "cheeky rascal" on the other side, and of course don't forget the screaming pile of Alien sherbet inside. They must know how I eat Flying Saucers. Unfortunately I don't think I've been called a "cheeky rascal" in forty years.

Eating these Vimto Flying Saucers in my traditional way whilst drinking a heavy on the cordial glass of Vimto was a blast. Pure joy really. It doesn't take a lot to get me going, I can tell you. There were fruity flavours both in the wafer and the sherbet. The sherbet had a light fizz whilst eating it. All washed down with my fruity Vimto drink.

I'm now back in full rehabilitation for my knee, shoulder and other injuries and a few months to recover after fifteen months of rotten jobs, some not so nice people and not much fun at the best of times. After getting up at 6am and exercising until 10am, then spending a good couple of hours in the sauna and steam room, then a COVID-19 booster jab, and some supermarket shopping, it feels good to kick back and eat some really good sweets. So I've got my Vimto, my Vimto Flying Saucers, and now all I need is some kids TV… Thunderbirds anyone?

Information on the packet; The 40g bag contains 367 calories per 100g, with 0.5g of fat, 56g of sugar, and 0.93g of salt. The ingredients have natural colours, and natural Vimto flavours including extracts from fruits. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Vimto Candy Floss (GB Gifts) By @Cinabar

I do like Candy Floss it is something that fills me with nostalgia and makes me think of childhood. I like the way the texture dissolves in the mouth too, it is fun to eat. Vimto is also one of my favourite drinks and we usually have a bottle in the cupboard so I couldn’t wait to try this Vimto Candy Floss when I spotted it.

I know my photography skills aren’t the best but candy floss really doesn’t take a good picture. I have tried before to take a picture of the actual fluff and it just always looks weird. I mean I poured this out and it looked unattractive. In reality it was pale pink and fluffy, but it looks like a broken sand castle in the picture!

The flavour though is gorgeous. It was fruity and had the berry taste of Vimto, almost a strong but sweet version of the drink. You still pick up on the base almost burnt sugar flavour of the candy floss, but the Vimto really worked well with it. These cute tubs of Vimto Candy Floss are something I would buy again, even it isn’t going to be a winner on the Instagram photos.

Vimto Skiddadles (Poundland) [By @SpectreUK]

These Skiddadles were Vimto flavoured sweets in the form of purple tablets. Made with the secret Vimto ingredient and suitable for vegetarians, these sweets had no artificial colours and included; sugar, glucose syrup, Arabic gum, vegetable oil, citric acid and 2.5% of fruit concentrates from blackcurrant, raspberry and grape. The 200g bag consisted of two servings of 100g which had 380 calories, with 71g of sugar (unsurprising, I guess) and 3g of fat. The small rounded flattened tablets were slightly smaller than Skittles and not as hard to initially chew as Tooty Frooties. They had a dry taste to start with that was quickly replaced by a juicy Vimto flavour the more I sucked and chewed them. Once I’d started eating these sweets it was hard to stop dumping more and more of them into my overly enthusiastic mouth. There seemed to be hundreds of them in the bag, so I wasn’t sure how many I ate to start with, but I reckon I probably easily hit the 100g serving mark before feeling a little ashamed, but only a little. I resealed the bag and left roughly another serving for the next day. I certainly appreciated the 2.5% of real fruit juice, but would have appreciated a little more, as Rowntrees generally try to add 25% of fruit juice to their gums, although these sweets were certainly not gums. I reckon Vimto Skiddadles are a good alternative to Skittles and also to Tooty Frooties, which have always been my favourite sweets of this genre, and I would certainly have them again.

By Spectre

Vimto Hot Mulled Berry Punch [Spiced Cordial] [By @cinabar]

The fruity mix of flavours of Vimto always takes me back to my childhood, where I drank litres of the stuff! In recent years they have brought out new flavours, and have fizzy versions too, but it is the cordial which I have a soft spot for. I was intrigued to see that this year they have a seasonal edition drink to warm us up in the winter months. The drink is mulled with Christmas spices, and is designed to be had hot and made with water from the kettle. After a long day at work, and a walk home in the cold I popped the kettle on to try it out.
Once the lid was off, I checked the aroma of the concentrated fruity mix and I could clearly pick up on the smell of regular Vimto and a nice hint of something a little spicy like cloves. I poured a large splash of the drink into mugs and topped up with hot water. The drink had a lovely rich dark red/purple colour and smelt wonderfully fruity. The regular taste of Vimto shone though, with its mixed fruit goodness. There is aftertaste with this drink that is very mildly spiced, with a just a hint of something slightly warming and woody and the end of each sip. The drink is nice because it is Vimto, but I felt that they could have turned up the seasonal flavour by adding a bit more cinnamon and spice, as the mulled part is so very mild. I say this as a cinnamon addict who was hoping for a bit more tang from the taste as it is one of my favourite flavours. I suspect Vimto kept it mild so that it would stay child friendly and not overpower the original Vimto experience. As such I think it will go down well at Christmas parties for little ones or those who don't want an alcoholic drink. It’s a nice drink – true to the original flavour, which just a subtle hint of something extra mixed in and a gentle Christmas twist.

By Cinabar

Cherry Vimto (Pound World)

It isn’t often that there is new flavour of Vimto, it is a flavour in its own right. For those that don’t know, it is a mixed fruit flavour drink with blackcurrant, grapes and raspberries, and is fames for being purple in colour.
I guess cherry does seem like a natural idea for a new edition, as it does seem to be the done thing. We have Cherry Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, Cherry 7-Up, Lucozade Cherry and Cherry Tango, so someone somewhere thinks cherry is the way to go.
This drink has a wonderfully strong cherry smell, in fact from the scent alone you would think it was pure cherryade in the bottle. In taste it is clearly the Vimto mixed fruit formula with a heavy dose of sweet but sharp cherries, and it worked really well. I enjoyed the combination, and thought the drink was lovely. It would be nice to see a Sugar-Free edition of Cherry Vimto too though.