Lord knows how many American treats I've sampled since starting this blog. I fell in love with the country and their never ending supply of super sweet goodies a number of years ago, and my obsession hasn't even begun to wane yet. Cue my absolute glee when I received an email from Sweetly, inviting me to try their brand new American themed subscription box. Yes please!
So who are Sweetly and what do they offer exactly?
"Hi, we're Sweetly and our mission is to deliver enjoyment and satisfaction through the medium of candy (sweets, if you prefer). We started Sweetly as we had grown tired of the the same old chocolate bars and sweets and wanted to give our taste buds something new to munch on. We visited the great country of America while visiting some old friends and that is where we fell in love with American candy. When we arrived back in the UK we craved for more American sweets but not only for ourselves, we wanted to share the sweet American taste with friends, family, co-workers and more importantly, you!
And that's how Sweetly was born."
Almost a month ago my Sweetly Box arrived, and if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my excitement when I opened the parcel and uncovered all the goodies. I don't know about you but I'm often disappointed when I place an order online, for it to be delivered and only be half full. The day the Sweetly came felt like Christmas in comparison, for the box was jam packed full of all sorts of goodies. I expected a couple of candy bars, and some sweets but not the can of pop, pick and mix like sweeties and the little sachet of Kool Aid!
Even better yet, I hadn't tried many of the goods before, which was altogether astonishing given how much I've spent on Imported goods this year. In fact I've been trying to get hold of a whatchamacallit for months now, but every time I place an American Fizz order it's ourt of stock. The MoonPie also filled me with excitement, again it's something I've been eyeing up for a while, but my local shop sells stock that's over a year out of date (apparently it's allowed because it's 'Best Before').
5th Avenue
I had my doubts about the 5th avenue bar, and considered it to be a chocolate covered version of Nestle's Butterfinger. Given my ongoing love affair with Hershey's, I almost didn't want to try the 5th avenue for fear of ending our relationship.
Opening the bar, and snapping it in two confirmed my worst fears. Yes, this was all too reminiscent of the horribly sickly Butterfinger. I bit the end, but alas, that's all I could manage. The chocolate was pretty decent for American stuff though.
2/10
Whatchamacallit
I really enjoyed this caramel, rice crisp, and peanut filled bar and would describe it as a peanut butter toffee crisp. The combination of textures and flavours worked well together, and I'd be more than happy to buy them in future.
8/10
U-NO
U-NOs are made by Annabelle's, who alsoproduce the Rocky Road S'mores bar. The U-NO bar is described as 'a smooth rich milk chocolate bar with a truffle-like center covered in milk chocolate and ground almonds.' It's a whopper of a bar though, but I'm afraid the taste wasn't fantastic -it made me think of the cheap Christmas truffles you might find in poundland at Christmas time. That said, it was very chocolatey, and fulfilled my chocolate cravings.
6/10
Mallo-Cups
Boyer say that here are 'seldom better combinations in candy than gooey marshmallow and chocolate'. I'm not sure I agree with that -peanut butter and, well anything?- but I do like chocolate, and marshmallow so was looking forward to tucking in. The centres were gooey, more like Marshmallow Fluff, and the chocolate was waxy -but I was hit by a shock! The chocolate contained coconut, which gave the Mallo-Cups a much more unusual edge which was rather pleasant. Coconut and chocolate isn't my favourite, so I probably wouldn't buy them again, but if you're a fan then give the Boyer cups a go sometime!
6/10
Gatorade
The iconic American drink that I have never tried. I rarely buy lemon or lime flavoured drinks but was more than happy to find out what all the fuss was about. I was disturbed by the colour however -it looked like it would make me glow in the dark! The other surprise was that it wasn't carbonated (I always assumed that 'ade' =fizzy, cherryade for example). Unfortunately it really wasn't my cup of tea but now I can tick it off my 'must try one day' list at least!
4/10
Lemonheads
Ahh these little box of bright yellow nuggets packed a punch. They were like zingy, hard coated, chewy centred jelly beans and were one of my favourites in the Sweetly box!
8/10
Now and Later Extreme Sour Watermelon Soft Chews
I'm really not good with really sour sweets -Tangfastics are abour my limit- so I was a bit cautious when trying these. I needn't have been though, sour fanatics might be disappointed, but they delivered a tartness that was enjoyable! The texture was like chewits too which meant that my fillings stayed in place too, hurrah!
7/10
Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid
I know I said I don't often by lemon or lime flavoured drinks, but pink lemonade is my exception to that rule -don't ask me why, not much makes sense in my mind anyway! The packet advised to add either sugar or sweetener and to dissolve in water, but I was feeling rebellious and poured mine into Cream Soda. It was genius though! I felt both girlie, smart and Kool with my pint of 'homemade' ;) pink lemonade.
8/10
Starburst GummiBursts
Rob and I fought over the 10 or so sweets in this little pack. Each sweet was packed full of flavour (especially the red ones!) and I really wish that they would be released in the U.K
9/10
MoonPie Chocolate Double-Decker
I've heard the MoonPie likened to Wagon Wheels on a number of occasions, but this wasn't just any MoonPie, it was the double-decker version! The MoonPie comprised of layers of marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate, which sounded rather delicious to me. Now as far as I was aware, Graham Crackers are the U.S equivalent of our digestive, i.e a staple, crunchy biscuit type affair. Well the 'cracker' in the Moon Pie was more cakey than that -but honestly? It made it even scrummier.
After eating one half, I popped the rest in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. This happened to be another lightbulb moment -all the marshmallow went stringy, whilst the chocolate had started to melt. I made an awful mess eating it, but it brought out the child in me and made me grin (isn't that the Wagon Wheel thing?).
9/10
Summary
I'm super impressed with Sweetly. In fact its the best subscription box I've tried to date, and if I weren't constantly buying snacks to review on the blog I would most certainly sign up. Sweetly costs £13.99 per month and there's no delivery fees. Each box contains 12-14 full-size treats (including at least 5 premium items) which the company says is worth more than £30 in retail value (and I believe them), so it's fantastic value for money. You've got just 6 days if you want to get your hands on November's box, otherwise I think it would make a fab Christmas present for fellow sugar addicts! For 10% off your first order enter SEEKSNEWTREATS10! Click here to visit their website.
Sweetly = 10/10
Thanks very much Sweetly for sending me one of your first boxes!
