Shigekix Super Lemon Sweets (Mount Fuji, Birmingham)

I realise I wrote about the sour sweets Lemonheads last week, well since then I have found some more sour sweets, and I think these may well be in a league of their own! They are also lemon in flavour, just about, but they make your face turn into the image on the front of the packaging!
I thought I would take you through the taste using a time scale so as to describe my thoughts throughout the experience.

• 0 to 1 seconds: Wow!!! Oh boy! Why would they make a ‘sweet’ that sharp. Can lemon burn? It is ridiculously sour, and causes me to have to fight an involuntary reaction to spit it out.
• 2 to 3 seconds: Oh my word that is sour, zingy, and tastes like a really nasty lemon flavoured acid.
• 4 to 5 seconds: Still a very sharp flavour, but notable more lemon in taste, and like lemon rind dipped in extra strong lemon juice.
• 6 to 10 seconds: Settles to an acceptable zingy lemon flavour.
• 11+ seconds: It actually becomes quite a sweet lemon flavoured chew, and is very pleasant.
• After the sweet is finished: There is a nice sweet lemon taste in the mouth, and the memory of the initial hit has gone. Accidentally reach for another sweet and repeat cycle above.

If you find these hidden away in an import store, or have tried them before, I’d love to know what you thought.

Daim [Dime Pieces, Sweden] (IKEA)

It strikes me that Daim (Dime) are far more popular abroad than they are here in the UK. I put this realisation down to the fact that Daim seems to come in all different formats in foreign countries, from being a guest filling in Milka bars in Germany, through to Daim cake and these Daim pieces being available in Sweden, and therefore of course IKEA here in the UK!
Well this is yet another review of a product in a sharing bag, which seems to be the ‘2009’ way of producing products. I do have to say I was a little disappointed that the bag wasn’t re-sealable though. The pieces of Daim were far smaller than I first imagined, and compared to the way they look on the packaging. They actually ranged in size from 5mm to over 1cm and as such were tiny compared to what I was expecting. However this made for a good proportion of the combination of flavours, as you get quite a bit of chocolate in the surface area. These are the kind of choccies which you have a few of at once, and they crunch rather pleasingly as you munch! The Daim flavour (i.e. nut brittle / cracknel) is all present and correct with its nice nutty, toffee, honey flavour and they chocolate is spot on too. A lovely snack, it just needs a nicer bag that lets you seal them after you have eaten a portion. Otherwise (oh no) you’d feel obliged to finish the pack in one sitting, as they are quite dangerous when left in the bag, as it doesn’t even stand upright!

Fiona Sciolti Botanical Chocolate Selection (Event in Warwick)

Many thanks to my dad for finding these for me at an event in Warwick. Hidden within the cute little container are six chocolates, all with rather interesting fillings:

Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar (Dark Chocolate)
This chocolate had a soft strawberry flavour which was a little sour in it is aftertaste from the vinegar. It is by no means offensive, but it is does give the impression of tasting like mild strawberry yoghurt.

Green Tea and Cherry (Dark Chocolate)
The green tea in this chocolate added an almost herby taste, but I thought there was only the mildest hint of cherry. There was a certain pepper y edge and a slightly bitter flavour. I have had green tea in many sweet forms from ice cream thought to cake and I thought that there was more potential to enhance this one with a stronger kick of cherry.

Apricot and Almond (Milk Chocolate)
I thought this was the most disappointing of the chocolate I tried, it had very vague flavours, and I could pick up on a mild unidentifiable sweet fruit taste with a tiny hint of nut.

Scorched Caramel (Milk Chocolate)
Despite being a milk chocolate, the ‘scorched’ flavour from the centre enhances the chocolate and almost made it taste darker than it was. The filling also tastes of cream, and toffee and fudge and was actually my favourite of the selection.

Blackberry and English Apple Brandy (White chocolate)
There is a definite hint of alcohol in the flavour for this one, and it also draws in a sweet but slightly salty taste. I thought that the blackcurrant was only vague in its nature.

Lemon Verbena and Hand Candied Lime (White Chocolate)
I didn’t think that the citrus flavour was as zesty as it at could have been, although the flavour was pleasant and it felt like there was almost a hint of pepper or mint mixed in. A nice chocolate, but not what I was expecting from the name.

All in all I thought that each one of these chocolate had a good quality chocolate casing, and the texture of the fillings was wonderfully light and fluffy. The ideas for the centres were interesting and well thought through, but I did think though that the flavours themselves need to be a little more defined, at the moment they are overly mild and delicate.

Aero Mint and Choc Bubbly Dessert (Asda)

The packaging on these mousses (is that the correct plural?) is nothing amazing, it is however a noticeable green. What is surprising then is that the contents within the containers are really pretty, but not visible from the outside. The mousse is green and marbled with brown chocolate sauce, if I was packaging these items I would have gone for a clear container to show them off properly.
The mousse itself is really fluffy and light, and lovely and refreshing. The minty taste is just at the right level, not overly strong, but with a good peppermint hit. The chocolate taste blends in well with the minty flavour, and it makes for a lovely light and fresh dessert.

Jacob's Crack 'O' Bites - Barbecue (WH Smiths)

This product consists of mini Jacobs crackers with a barbecue flavour seasoning. I approve of the name as I find Crack 'O' Bites surprisingly pleasing to say! It was nice to see that the calories in this snack product are reasonably low, and I put this down to them being baked rather than fried.
The seasoning is really nice; the barbecue flavour seems to mingle tomato, paprika and herbs and has a sweet aftertaste.
It has well put together flavours that are lovely and moreish. I have to admit, before tucking in, the idea of crackers in a snack like this worried me. I thought that they might just be a little stodgy, thankfully I was wrong. These are light and easy to eat, yet surprisingly filling. All in all these will definitely be making their way back into my lunch box again in the future!