Product name: Haribo
Tangfastics: Minis
Calories: 75 per 22g bag
Calories: 75 per 22g bag
This evening’s review is of another sweet treat that Father
Christmas brought me – Haribo Tangfastics: Minis (the ‘mini’ part seemed to
relate to the size of the packet rather than the sweets inside!).
Despite not being chocolate, I am a fan of Haribo, although I have a love-hate relationship with tangy sweets. I’m not really keen on the sharpness involved but, at the same time, I find it’s worth pushing through this by sucking the sugary coating off in order to get to the good stuff.
Despite not being chocolate, I am a fan of Haribo, although I have a love-hate relationship with tangy sweets. I’m not really keen on the sharpness involved but, at the same time, I find it’s worth pushing through this by sucking the sugary coating off in order to get to the good stuff.
These Tangfastics (I love this play on the word ‘fantastic’,
by the way!) contained no artificial colours and were represented by orange
packaging. The front of the wrapper contained cartoon images of the Haribo bear
and other characters that, I assumed, would be found inside. No country of
origin was stated but the only contact details provided were for the UK and
Ireland.
The ‘sour mix’ was described as ‘fizzy fruit flavour’ and ‘sweet foam gums’ and I was surprised at just how many fruit and plant concentrates they contained (*deep breath*: apple, blackcurrant, carrot, elderberry, grape, kiwi, lemon, mango, nettle, hibiscus, orange, passion fruit and spinach!).
The ‘sour mix’ was described as ‘fizzy fruit flavour’ and ‘sweet foam gums’ and I was surprised at just how many fruit and plant concentrates they contained (*deep breath*: apple, blackcurrant, carrot, elderberry, grape, kiwi, lemon, mango, nettle, hibiscus, orange, passion fruit and spinach!).
The two obvious shapes present in the pack were cherries and
the famous cola bottles. However, partly due to the sugar coating, I struggled
to work out what the other two were supposed to be. I thought one was a frog
head but, looking at the wrapper, I wondered if this was supposed to be the
crocodile. The other, I decided, was a spoon, so that’s what I’ll refer to it
as!
All of the shapes were colourful and the ones with foam
backings had really white and fresh-looking bases. Due to the stiff, gummy
nature of the sweets, I only bothered cutting one of them open, but I was
pleased to see a clean jelly appearance inside, despite the rough outer
texture.
The Tangfastics didn’t have an obvious scent but it was
possible to smell the sugar up-close. This sugar did have a sharpness, when
tasted, but this didn’t last too long, and I found that sucking it off left a
flavourful, smooth sweet in the mouth.
The spoon sweet had an apple flavour which I found to be fruity and quite juicy. Like all of the sweets in the bag, it was a bit too chewy for my liking as it was hard work to get to the end of it!
The crocodiles had foam backings which provided both a softer taste and texture. In fact, texturally, they were a bit like chewier marshmallows. The red crocodile had a nice berry flavour whilst the yellow one appeared to be lemon but, thankfully for me, it wasn’t too citrusy. As for the purple sweet, this seemed to have a blackcurrant flavour – it had a deeper fruity taste which was quite like Maynards Wine Gums.
The cola bottles tasted as you’d expect cola-flavoured sweets to taste! I love coke (I drink Pepsi Max all day long) and I do quite like it when this taste is transferred to edible items. However, whilst Haribo did a good job of recreating the flavour here, I do prefer their standard cola bottles to these tangy ones.
As for the cherry sweets, these were my favourite of this selection, and they had an instantly recognisable flavour.
I’m still not a massive fan of sour sweets, and I’d always opt for plain ones when given the choice, but these Tangfastics were a lot more flavourful (particularly beneath the tang) than I remembered, and there were some good tastes there.
The spoon sweet had an apple flavour which I found to be fruity and quite juicy. Like all of the sweets in the bag, it was a bit too chewy for my liking as it was hard work to get to the end of it!
The crocodiles had foam backings which provided both a softer taste and texture. In fact, texturally, they were a bit like chewier marshmallows. The red crocodile had a nice berry flavour whilst the yellow one appeared to be lemon but, thankfully for me, it wasn’t too citrusy. As for the purple sweet, this seemed to have a blackcurrant flavour – it had a deeper fruity taste which was quite like Maynards Wine Gums.
The cola bottles tasted as you’d expect cola-flavoured sweets to taste! I love coke (I drink Pepsi Max all day long) and I do quite like it when this taste is transferred to edible items. However, whilst Haribo did a good job of recreating the flavour here, I do prefer their standard cola bottles to these tangy ones.
As for the cherry sweets, these were my favourite of this selection, and they had an instantly recognisable flavour.
I’m still not a massive fan of sour sweets, and I’d always opt for plain ones when given the choice, but these Tangfastics were a lot more flavourful (particularly beneath the tang) than I remembered, and there were some good tastes there.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7/10
