Barratt Fruity Coconut Mushrooms (Poundland)

You can't beat coconut mushrooms. They're one of those classic Pick & Mix sweets that many of us know and love, and now Barratt have only gone and made a Fruity variety. Happy days! I was expecting these to taste of just regular coconut mushrooms when I saw them in Poundland recently, but to my surprise they actually turned out to have different individual fruit flavours.

How pretty do they look? A lot nicer than regular coconut mushrooms that's for sure!

There's classic fruit flavours like strawberry, lime, lemon, orange and er...blackcurrant? They contain no artificial colours or flavours, which is always a plus, but unfortunately aren't suitable for vegetarians as they contain gelatin.

They're super tasty and moreish, with the coconut giving them that unmistakable tropical edge and the fruit flavours enhancing them even more. These were a lot nicer and more interesting than regular coconut mushrooms, and it's very easy to scoff most of the bag!

Overall, I reckon Baratt are geniuses for making these, they're a simple twist on a classic but they work so, so well! If you happen to be in Poundland and spot these pop some in your basket - you won't regret it! They'd be particularly good for snacking on at the cinema.

9 out of 10.

Maynards Bassetts Tropical vs Original Jelly Babies

Todays review is a face off...well...a jelly baby off between the new Tropical flavour Jelly Babies from Maynards Bassetts vs the Original Jelly Babies. It seems incomprehensible that a new variety could beat the originals, so this will be interesting!

Firstly, I must mention the new name: Jelly Babies were originally labelled as Bassetts, but Mondelez have put both the Maynards brand (which is on things like Wine Gums and Sports Mixture) and Bassetts (which includes the likes of Liquorice Allsorts - who can forget the character Bertie Bassett?) I'm not sure it's a good idea to lump two brands together like this, but I guess it fits with Mondelez' marketing strategy of making everything the same.

First up, the Tropical Jelly Babies. These come in mango, pineapple and BANANA (ooh!) flavours so straight off they are at a disadvantrage of containing less variety than the Originals, despite the fancy flavours. But are they good flavours? Yes, they are as it turns out! They are all fruity, tropical and lovely, and make for a nice change from regular Jelly Babies. The banana is interesting and if you like banana sweets you're bound to love them...it's a bit less artificial tasting than foam bananas. The mango and pineapple are both lovely, fitting the tropical theme perfectly. I really enjoyed these! 8 out of 10.

The originals are...well, the originals and the best! They have a wider variety of flavours, with citrus as well as berry, giving a nice contrast. The berry flavours distract a bit from the overly sweet citrus ones, and strawberry is always a winner. Overall, a fantastic and classic selection that has stood the test of time. 8.5 out of 10.

Overall then there's a clear winner - original Jelly Babies! The Tropical ones certainly make for a nice change and I've always loved tropical sweets in general - I used to love the tropical Fruit Pastilles available when I was a kid, more so than the originals. These Tropical Jelly Babies don't quite beat the originals, but they are certainly very tasty. And they get extra points just for including a banana flavour...because we need more banana flavour sweets on shelves!

Which ones did you prefer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!