De Bron Sugar Free Cherry Gums (Sweets Without)

Last month Sweets Without sent me those lovely Diablo cappuccino sweets to try - which I'm rather gutted to have finished. Luckily for me, Peter has since sent over a different brand of sugar free sweet for me to try. In fact, Peter gave me a choice between the vast range of sweets made by Dutch confectioners De Bron, and although I was tempted by the exciting sounding Caribbean Mix, it was the gummy cherries that caught my eye. I do love a good jelly cherry sweet! Could a sugar-free version be anywhere near as tasty though?

The sweets looked exactly like their regular, full sugar, counterparts but are made with Maltitols to sweeten them instead. They were soft and chewy like the regular versions too, with a strong yet sweet cherry juice flavour. In fact, they were really rather good!

I wafted one under Bert's sceptical eyes. He doesn't buy into sugar-free/low-fat/low-carb/high-protein anything. He eats what he likes and never contemplates having any healthier alternatives. He also adores sweets. Whilst he's never tempted by my excessive chocolate collection, he can't help but dive into the sweetie jar that resides on our coffee table in our living room. The sweetie jar was empty though (a very rare occurrence) and so he tried one of the De Bron Sugar Free Cherry Gums. 

"Oooh they're nice."

I promise you, that's high praise from Bert -for reference, his response to the banoffee cheesecakes was "yeah, they're ok".

I think he's since aten more of the pack than me! 

You can find these sugar free Cherry Gums, and the rest of the De Bron range on Sweets Without's website. Thanks for the samples Peter.

8/10

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (Sweet Victory Products)

A week or so ago I received the following message from Sweet Victory Products:

"Hi Amy,we noticed you are a fan of peanut butter and was wondering if you would like to sample some of our sugar free peanut butter crunch bars for a review?"

Well, of course I did, how could I refuse such a gracious offer? A couple of days later a parcel arrived containing a purple pick and mix bag...




The bars are made by an American brand, Atkinsons, who make all sorts of sugar-free sweets. As you may have gathered, I've recently been venturing into sugar free sweets (courtesy of Sweets Without) but had never come across peanut butter flavoured ones!

"Crispy, crunchy and completely peanut buttery! Peanut Butter Bars are packed with our famous peanut butter and handmade with Splenda."

Uh oh. That sounded remarkably similar to the description of my peanut butter nemesis: the Butterfinger bar. They did however smell extremely peanut buttery and so I put my preconceptions aside to give them a good go!

They tasted delicious! The peanut butter was prominent throughout, with a resounding sweetness. I tried my hardest to suck them as I would a normal boiled sweet, but due to their size (and the overwhelming temptation to crunch) it wasn't long before I cracked them open between my molars. 

Unlike the Butterfinger bar, they didn't make my jaw ache and were fairly soft. Without the chocolate coating, they were also far less sickly than the Butterfingers, however, they did lodge themselves between my teeth -making them fairly awkward to eat in public. Fortunately, I'm not particularly ladylike so I've kept on eating them regardless, but I thought I should let you know what you're letting yourself in for with these Atkinsons peanut butter crunch bars!

At £1.59 for 100g I think these are excellent value for money, and are perfect if you want a sweet (yet sugar free) peanut butter fix to keep in your handbag (or car). As far as I'm aware, we have nothing similar to these in the U.K so please do head over to Sweet Victory's website where you can benefit from 10% off your first order with the code AMYS10!

8/10

Thank you to Sweet Victory for the samples!

:Diablo Sugar Free Cappuccino & Cream Sweets (Sweets Without)

It's time for another review of a sugar-less sweet treat courtesy of Sweets Without. This time I was sent a pack of the :Diablo Cappuccino & Cream sweets. As a fan of the ALDI s/f coffee sweets I was really looking forward to trying :Diablo's version, which are sweetened with isomalt.

:Diablo instantly won extra points from the packaging. The biggest problem with ALDI's packs is that they often tip over in my handbag. I can testify to the fact that sweets are far less appetising when you have to pick lint off them. Instead the Diablo sweets are individually wrapped which makes them perfect for picking up a couple at a time to keep you going for a few hours. 

The sweets are also fairly large in size, a little bigger but a similar shape to Werthers Originals. The first flavour that greeted me was a milky, latte-esque flavour, which subsided fairly quickly to a buttery, toffee flavour with a hint of coffee. True to their name they're creamy little sweets, and more so than the ALDI versions.

However, there's another big bonus to the Diablo sweets though: their size and shape means that each pastille lasts an extraordinary amount of time. Normally I'm a boiled sweet cruncher; I get bored all too easily and end up giving into the temptation to put pressure on them and then they're gone before I know it. Each of the :Diablo sweets lasted a good seven or eight minutes before I crumbled -or should that say crunched? 

Whilst I think that ALDI deliver a more prominent coffee flavour with their sugar-free cappuccino sweets,, the size and packaging of these :Diablo sweets actually makes them a better option for me. They're a good option for those wanting a low-calorie sweet fix too, as each candy is only 12 calories. You can buy :Diablo Cappuccino & Cream sweets directly from Sweets Without for a reasonable £1.79 oer 75g bag here.

7/10 

NEW! Monarch Sugar Free Mango & Orange Fizz (Sweets Without)

I've mentioned before the pride we take in our sweetie jar. It resides on our coffee table infant of the sofa in our living room, and is regularly filled with a combination of Haribo, foam shrimps and bananas and strawberry laces. It's Bert who can't resist their call though. He is to candy as I am to chocolate. I tend to prefer the occasional boiled sweet, and one of my favourites is Aldi's sugar-free rhubarb & custards (honestly, try them, they're brilliant). This month Sweets Without offered to send me Monarch's new sugar free Mango & Orange Fizz, which I thought would be an interesting -and seasonally apt- change. As far as I'm aware I haven't tried Monarch's sweets before, but a quick look at their website revealed their huge selection of both sugar and non-sugar sweets - which are all handmade in Scotland.

The pack contained approximately 20 marble sized colourful balls. They were bigger than I imagined they would be, and were all slightly different to each other, which gave them a wonderful traditional appearance. 

Orange was the most dominant flavour, obscuring the mango that hankered somewhere in the background. In fact the taste reminded me a little of Robinson's orange and mango squash, which I loved as a child, so I was grateful for the nostalgia. As promised there was a fizziness to the sweets, but it wasn't a sour fizz like Haribo Tangfastics, rather they struck more similarities to sherbet. In fact I kept thinking (hoping) that I'd find a pocket of mango flavoured sherbet powder in the middle, but of course I didn't. 

It's quite astounding that Monarch can produce a sweet that tastes so, well, sweet, but without the sugar and only a handful of ingredients (Isomalt, citric acid, Bicarbonate of soda, flavouring, colours: E102 E110, E142). They're tasty summery sweets, and would be perfect for diabetics, or indeed anyone trying to cut down on sugar. The Monarch Mango and Orange Fizz are available for £1.40 from Sweets Without's website, and you'll even get free delivery if you spend over £10!

7/10

NEW! Pandy Protein Candy Soda Shakers Review (CNSport)

The protein ever-expanding protein product market knows no bounds. Once upon a time I mocked the high street brands who were jumping on the high protein bandwagon, but since then I've returned to fitness and have cupboards full of bars and powders that supplement my diet (especially because I'm not a huge meat eater).

There's seemingly been a gap in the market though: protein sweets. Ever eaten a bag of Haribo and thought "I wish this was helping me hit my macros"? No? Nor me! Pandy have provided the answer to any of you who have however, and I know that I'm certainly not averse to the idea now that they're here!

"Pandy has three different bagged jelly candy products that are entirely free from sugar, gluten and lactose. They also have a high protein content, are low in calories, and are packed with BCAA. The candy is made in Sweden with the best calibre ingredients and the highest quality standards."

Pandy have produced three varieties: fruity 'Sour Plates', liquorice 'Salty Kettlebells' and pop flavoured 'Soda Shakers'. Fortunately for me my local sports nutrition shop manager, protein guru, and all round good guy Conor (of CNSport -who can also deliver) has just started stocking their entire range and offered me a bag to sample. The Soda Shakers sounded hardest to resist and so I gleefully nabbed a bag.

The 70g bag contained 20+ bottle shaped sweets, with a roughly even mixture of cola and lime flavours. They looked so convincingly like normal sweets that I'm not sure I was convinced that the whole pack could contain just 151kcal on 16g of protein!

Damn. They tasted just as good as they looked, and were addictive to boot. They were chewy and sweet with a surprising flavour likeness to their full-sugar and non-protein containing counterparts. Even my Haribo addicted other half was impressed!

So where's the catch? Well the only ones I could find is that they're still quite high in carbs (43g per 70g which comes from polyols) but that makes them perfect for leg day, am I right? They're also not suitable for vegetarians (due to the pork gelatin but that's probably obvious because they're jelly sweets) and excessive consumption may have some dodgy side effects for your tummy (also unsurprising due to the sugar substitutes used). They are however gluten and lactose free!

9/10

Macros per bag: 151kcal P16/C43/F0

Thank you Conor for the sample, I'll be buying more shortly! 

NEW Chocolate Orange Beanies Coffee

I love coffee -especially flavoured coffee. However, as a student I sadly don't have a huge amount of disposable income to be able to regularly get my fix from coffee shops (although I did treat myself to the new Tiramisu latte at Costa yesterday, which I thought was delightful). 

Fortunately there is a solution in the form of flavoured instant coffee. I fell in love with the Douwe Egberts 'Flavour Collective' range when it was released two years ago, and haven't really returned to standard coffee since. More recently I've dabbled into Beanies' flavoured coffee range, although my local Tesco only stocks their Amaretto Almond. Sainsbury's stock a much larger range and so I took the opportunity to stock up on the different flavours when I visited recently, including the new Chocolate Orange Coffee.

Chocolate instant coffee is something I've had bad experiences with. I once bought Little's Swiss Chocolate Coffee, but it was so bitter and had such a disgusting chemical aftertaste  that I was put off the idea completely; so much so that I haven't even dared try the Douwe Egberts version. As the entire Beanies range was on offer for £2 per jar, and given how much I enjoy their Amaretto Almond coffee, I decided to give their jaffa-inspired coffee a go.

'So chocolatey, so orangey, it’s not theirs it’s ours! Smooth milk chocolate with tangy orange flavours - try it once, you'll be hooked - trust us! At just 2 calories per serving every cup of Beanies Chocolate Orange is like a little taste of happiness. All our flavours are 100% SUGAR FREE and suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans!'

Lifting the lid, I was greeted by the sweet scent of dark chocolate combined with an orangey citrus zing- it certainly smelt better than what I remember of the Littles' coffee. Sadly, the chocolate didn't translate as well in taste, however the orange was much more palatable and came through as the star flavour. I guess that making a chocolate coffee with no sugar but maximum taste is quite the challenge, which meant that the cocoa element had a similar (although much less sharp) synthetic aftertaste to the Little's chocolate coffee.  Fortunately the orange saved the day, and whilst it's certainly not my favourite coffee, it won't be going in the bin. It's a shame though, because I think that the other Beanies coffees are wonderful.

5/10

Ratings I'd give other Beanies Coffee:

Amaretto Almond 8/10 

-It's smooth with lovely end note of Almond

Cinder Toffee 6/10

- I didn't find that there was huge amount of flavour, although it's pleasantly sweet

Irish Cream 9.5/10

- If you like bailey's I'd highly suggest buying this, it's difficult to believe this creamy coffee is just 2cals* per serving!

*unless you give it a good slug of milk like I do!