I was recently sent a snacks hamper from Candyland, who now make Fruit Salad and Black Jacks sweets, amongst others. There were too many goodies to review all at once so I'm starting with some newbies on the gummy sweet scene; Refreshers and Fruit Salad Softies. Both of these sweets as well as Black Jacks were favorites of mine as a child, so I was very interested to see what they would taste like in gummy form.
Fruit Salad Softies:
Starting with the ones I was most excited about, these are described as "Raspberry and Pineapple, Apple and Blackcurrant soft gums". Not suitable for vegetarians.
They tasted pretty darn good! The chewy texture was spot on, not too sticky or too hard, they were somewhere in between mallow like and gummy like. They had the classic Fruit Salad flavor we all remember from childhood, which was very comforting and unmistakable even in this different form. I would most definitely buy these again! 9 out of 10.
Refreshers Softies:
Described as "fizzy fruit flavor soft gums". Not suitable for vegetarians.
I used to enjoy a pack or two of Refreshers as a kid, they had that lovely sour fruity sherbet like kick we all know and love. But in this soft gum form they're an entirely different beast...the gums are coated in sour sugar, which is overkill to be honest, they really don't need it and it takes them too far away from what Refershers should taste like. They were very sweet and quite sickly, and hurt my teeth after a handful. The flavours had a nice sour kick, but overall these don't much resemble the Refershers I used to love. I'm sure kids will enjoy them but they were too much for me. 6.5 out of 10.
Overall, it seems these new Softies versions of classic sweets are both successes and fails. Whilst the Fruit Salad ones were delicious, the Refreshers weren't so great. These join the likes of Wham and other sweets currently being converted into gummy form. I'm just puzzled why they haven't done a Black Jacks version; now that would be amazing!
