Take 5, Mike and Ike Zours, Twizzlers & Nerds (Taffy Mail Conclusion)

Take 5
The item I was most undeniably excited about in the Taffy Mail goody box was this Take 5 Bar. It's an unusual concept, and it's called Take 5 because it consists of 5 components: chocolate, pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and peanuts. The packet told me it contained 2 bars, and I was expecting them to come in a 2-finger format like Twix, but instead they were a couple of square-ish shaped blocks.

Once the blocks were sliced into, you could easily distinguish the chocolate, caramel, peanut butter and pretzels, which were evenly distributed (unlike the Cadbury's marvellous creations bars). As a fan of cleanliness and order this pleased me enormously. The structure of the bar meant that you could taste each of the elements in every bite. The chocolate wasn't great, and it reminded me of the coating of Reese's PB cups (I then read the packet and realise that it is indeed made by the same company- Hershey's). The caramel was gloriously sticky, although there wasn't a great deal of it because the bar is so compact. I could taste the peanuts & peanut butter which resembled the filling of a Snickers bar. The most enjoyable element however came as a surprise- it was the pretzels- which added a lovely saltiness to the bar and complemented the sugary chocolate and caramel wonderfully. 

The amalgamation of 5 completely different constituents resulted in textural heaven: bite, chew, smooth and stickiness. Yum.

If you're a fan of the sweet/salty combination I'd definitely recommend Take 5!

9/10

Mike and Ike Zours

These little pellet shaped sweets pack a punch. I'd describe them as a Jelly Bean version of Haribo Tangfastics -minus the sugary coating. Each flavour is perfectly represented (lemon, apple, watermelon, blue raspberry and cherry) and is chewy without pulling being filling-removers. They're utterly different to what we have in the UK, and I'd happily buy them again

7/10

Twizzlers
I've seen these in the import sections of both B&M and Tesco. Twizzlers are another Hershey's product and are strawberry twisted licorice. The flavour was mild and very synthetic, and although they're quite fun to eat in a 'Cheesestrings' kind of way, I'd probably opt for normal strawberry laces in favour of Twizzlers.

3/10

Nerds
Nerds were something I remember enjoying as a child, and this duo pack of cherry lemonade and watermelon apple rekindled my love of these little crunchy miniature sweets, although I'm not sure I could identify the flavours if asked!

7/10

Taffy Mail Conclusion
Once again, a huge thank you to the guys at Taffy Mail for sending me a sample of their Classic Box to review.

Christmas is just a couple of days away, and if you're panicking that you've not finished buying gifts for those you love, then why not subscribe to Taffy Mail for them, boxes start from just £7.49 and that way they recieve a box each month!

Alternatively If you've got a sweet tooth, and crave something a bit different to what's available on the UK market, Taffy Mail might just be your answer.

For more info please visit: www.taffymail.co.uk

Twinkies, Hawaiian Punch & Laffy Taffy Strawberry (Taffy Mail Pt2)

The second instalment of my Taffy Mail review contains the American iconic filled cake 'Twinkies', Hawaiian Punch 'Fruit Juicy Red' and the strawberry Laffy Taffy.

Twinkies

I've heard 'Twinkies' being referenced in many an American TV show, and I remember hearing about the outrage stateside when its manufacturer -Hostess- filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Hostess made a comeback the following year, and I've been intrigued to find out what makes Twinkies so special ever since. 

They are in fact just oval shaped sponge cakes with a creamy filling. I couldn't find a best before date on the pack Taffy mail sent but they'd got a horrible sweat on the inside of the pack, and when I unwrapped it the cakes had glued themselves to the cardboard sleeve. 

Biting into my Twinkie (yes I was kind and shared the pack of two with my other half) it tasted just the same as regular long-life cakes such as the teddy bear shaped 'Barney's'. The creamy centre however was the star of the show- it was soft, fluffy and almost marshmallowy in texture. The ratio of cake:filling was spot on, and I wished I hadn't given up my other one! 

7/10

Hawaiian Punch

I have heard less about Hawaiian punch but vaguely recollect seeing it when I visited Miami a few years ago. I don't drink sugary pop so it's not something I'd usually choose, but facing a long afternoon of studying I gave it a go.

This 'fruit juicy red' was as bright as the name suggests, and had an abundance of tropical flavours. I could taste the pineapple and passion fruit although it does contain apple, orange, apricot, papaya and guava too. The can is supposed to contain 100% of your daily vitamin C, but also contains 22g of sugars too. It was a nice treat but not something I'd make an effort to purchase. 

6/10 


Laffy Taffy Strawberry
There's not much to report when it comes to the Laffy Taffy Strawberry, as it's very similar to the Sour Apple that I reviewed on Sunday.

The flavour is of course your standard synthetic strawberry flavour, despite the packaging claiming that it contains no artificial flavours.

It's a nice sweet treat, but nothing particularly special

5/10

Laffy Taffy Apple, Funyuns & Trident Pineapple (Taffy Mail Part 1)

As a lover of American snacks, I was over-the-moon when Taffy Mail kindly offered to send me a box of their November 'Classic' Box to review. Taffy Mail are a subscription based service who will send a surprise selection of American treats to your door every month, with prices range from £7.49-£24.99 depending on how many goodies you'd like to receive. The classic box is their mid-priced product and contains 10-12 American Sweets & 1 can of Pop.

I felt like Christmas had come early when the Postie dropped mine off. The box was chock-a-block full of goodies, and so I'll be reviewing it in parts over the next week or so! 





















Just for info, the box contained:

• Laffy Taffy Sour Apple
• Laffy Taffy Strawberry
• Mike & Ike Zours
• Trident Pineapple
• Take 5
• Twinkies
• Double Dipped Nerd
• Hawaiian Punch "Juicy fruit Red"
• Twizzlers Twists
• Milk Duds
• Funyuns

Laffy Taffy Apple














The Laffy Taffy was a very long rope style sweet, and although it claimed to contain no artificial flavours, it certainly contained  artificial colours as it was luminescent green and would have made an excellent glow-stick!




















It was apple-y although not particularly sour, and had a good amount of chewiness (which I was thankful for as my teeth can't handle hard caramels). It was fun, but nothing hugely different to what we can get here in the UK -it's  similar to a long Maoam- although I did like the terrible joke on the back!

5/10

Trident Pineapple
I get through quite a lot of chewing gum, and I really like flavoured gum- especially the Turbulence range because the flavour is powerful and it lasts a long time too. I wish we had more of the exciting flavours that the Americans are accustomed to, and so I was looking forward to enjoying a fresh new flavour.

It certainly tasted exotic and refreshing to begin will, but within 30 seconds the flavour faded to nothing and I was forced to throw my piece in the bin.
3/10

Funyuns

Ooh clever play on words- but basically these are just onion rings -standard, maize based snacks that you can buy from any British supermarket. 

They were tasty, but they're not particularly different to what we have here in good ol' Blighty (and pickled onion Monster Munch waaaay outstrip them!)
4/10