British Sweets

I've been tracking down some of the most iconic British sweets in order to do a massive taste test. I convinced my friends, Cierra and Lisa, to help me with this task so it wouldn't be just my opinions. 

Liquorice Allsorts--a variety of liquorice sweets

Pink with liquorice in the center (the pink part had coconut) 

Lisa: "The pink disguises the liquorice which I'm into."

Cierra: "It's not terrible."

Liquorice man

Rachael: "Surprisingly chewy."

Lisa: "Less terrible."

Cierra: "I typically think of black liquorice as tough."

Roll with white center

Rachael: "Not a fan of that!"

Lisa: "This is how I expected them all to be."

Yellow with liquorice in the center

Lisa: "A sub par version of one that was already in there."

Cierra: "Not as good as the pink one."

Liquorice Allsorts

Solid black flower shaped roll

Lisa: "I strongly dislike this."

Orange stack

Lisa: "It is like an orange starburst."

Cierra: "Too orangey."

Brown stack

Cierra: "If you are going to have chocolate don't put it with black liquorice."

White stack (not pictured)

Lisa: "Like a marshmallow in between."

White and yellow stack

Lisa: "Why?!"

Liquorice Allsorts Overall

Rachael: "Not as terrible as I expected, but still not good." 1 Star

Lisa: "There isn't a situation dire enough sweets-wise where I would stoop to this level." 1/2 Star

Cierra: "If it was sitting there, I wouldn't eat it." 1/2 Star

Sherbet Fountain--a sweet, fizzy powder with a long piece of liquorice to dip (it should be noted that sherbet in the UK is always a fizzy powder, never a type of frozen dessert)

Rachael: "As a child I would have loved this." 1 Star

Lisa: "It reminds me of the foamy stuff they use at the dentist." 1 Star

Cierra: "Not a good flavour. Tastes like slightly sweetened baking soda." 1 Star

The inside of a Sherbet Fountain

Jammy Dodgers--a shortbread cookie filled with strawberry jam

Rachael: "Not the best shortbread I've eaten." 1 Star

Lisa: "Not the best jam I've had." 2 Stars

Pear Drops--a type of hard candy, voted 14th most popular sweet in the UK in 2009

Pear Drops

Rachael: "I would eat this if I had a sore throat." 2 Stars

Lisa: "Tastes like overripe bananas!" 1/2 Star

Cierra: "Tastes like the hard candy my great-grandma had in a crystal dish." 1 Star

Bounty--coconut filling with milk chocolate coating

Rachael: "I wish it had an almond on top. The chocolate and coconut is better than an Almond Joy, though." 3 Stars

Lisa: "I would eat a whole lot of these." 4 Stars

Ceirra: "These are actually one of my favourite candies." 5 Stars

Bounty

Roast Beef Monster Munch--a baked corn snack, often referred to as "Monster Munchies" (on the back of the package it says, "Suitable for vegetarians and monsters")

Rachael: "Not nearly as bad as I expected. I'm not going to lie, Warren and I will probably finish off this bag later." 3 Stars

Lisa: "Tastes like the flavouring on Bold Chex Mix. If I was at a party and feeling pretty bad about myself I might consider soothing myself with these." 3 1/2 Stars 

Cierra: "I would not buy them, I wouldn't eat them at a party. But they are better than I thought. I would prefer this if it was covered in cheese." 2 3/4 Stars

Roast Beef Monster Munch

Brighton Rock--a hard candy in stick form, similar to a candy cane. Typically found in coastal towns and has the name of the town going through the middle of the candy

Rachael: "This tastes old. It is probably better fresh." 2 Stars

Lisa: "I don't know what it is supposed to taste like, but probably not this." 2 Stars

Curly Wurly--a chocolate coated caramel bar (these typically only cost 20p each!)

Rachael: "It tastes like the caramel from a Twix bar!" 5 Stars

Lisa: "I plan to buy this." 5 Stars

Cierra: "It would be delicious melted in hot chocolate." 4 Stars

Curly Wurly

Fruit Salad--a type of raspberry and pineapple flavoured chew

Rachael: "This is the worst thing I've ever eaten." 0 Stars

Lisa: "It is like the worst parts of bubble gum and Laffy Taffy." 1/2 Star

Cierra: "I didn't expect it to taste this bad because of how good it smelled." 0 Stars

Jelly Babies--a soft jelly candy covered in a fine powdered sugar. In the 1960s fans of The Beatles would throw them at the band after they found out George Harrison liked eating them. 

Rachael: "Terrible." 1 Star

Lisa: "I dislike it less than Rachael led me to believe." 2 Stars

Cierra: "I wouldn't eat it again." 2 Stars

Jelly Babies

Fruit Pastilles--round, jelly like candies coated in sugar

Lisa: "These taste medicinal. The strawberry is the least worst of a bad bunch." 1 Star

Cierra: "Tastes like a bad version of sour Skittles." 2 Stars

Fruit Pastilles

Wine Gums--Chewy candies similar to a gum drop but without the sugar coating. Even though they have names of wine on them they contain no alcohol.

Rachael: "I don't mind them." 2 Stars

Lisa: "They don't taste like anything. They are different colours but I'm not getting any different taste." 1 1/2 Stars

Cierra: "Just tastes like gummy sugar." 2 Stars

Wine Gums

Pickled Onion Monster Munch

Pickled Onion Flavour Monster Munch

Rachael: "It is so vinegary. My mouth hurts." 0 Stars
Lisa: "How did they get that through testing?" 0 Stars
Cierra: "Why would someone do that?" 0 Stars

Aero--aerated chocolate bar

Rachael: "The chocolate is not a good quality." 2 1/2 Stars

Cierra: "I don't think it is that bad." 3 Stars

Aero

Flake--bar made up of thinly folded milk chocolate. It is really popular here to put half a Flake bar in soft serve ice cream cone which is called a "99". 

Rachael: "Why is this so terrible? And impossible to eat!" 2 Stars

Lisa: "Tasted like Christmas chocolate 2 months later." 2 Stars

Cierra: "It tastes like old chocolate. It is really chalky. Why do people make bad chocolate?" 2 Stars

Flake

Wham Bar--thin, chewy taffy with sherbet bits 

Lisa: "It's not an enjoyable experience. Tasted like overripe fruit...it keeps getting worse!" 1/2 Star

Cierra: "I do not care for this. I appreciate the sour bit, though." 2 Stars

Cierra with a Wham Bar tongue

Chocolate Buttons--drops of chocolate (we tried milk and white chocolate)

Rachael: "I prefer the white chocolate ones." 4 Stars

Cierra: "The only downfall is that it isn't dark chocolate." 3 1/2 Stars

Milk chocolate Giant Buttons and regular sized white chocolate Buttons

Starburst--until 1998 Starburst were called Opal Fruits in the UK. The flavours here are: Lemon/Lime, Strawberry, Blackcurrant, and Orange.

Rachael: "I don't like these very much, but I love Starburst back home." 3 Stars
Lisa: "These flavours are sub par. I wish they had kept just plain lemon instead of lemon/lime and that the strawberry was in a pink wrapper instead of red." 3 Stars (but 4 Stars in the US)
Cierra: "I prefer the US flavours but I like the green one here. I will eat the blackcurrant." 3 1/2 Stars

UK Starburst

Crunchie--honeycomb toffee covered in milk chocolate

Rachael: "I love the honeycomb." 5 Stars
Lisa: "Very sweet. Much sweeter than a normal chocolate bar." 4 Stars

Inside a Crunchie Bar

Double Decker--a layer of crispy cereal and a layer of chewy nougat covered in milk chocolate

Rachael: "I love me a Double Decker!" 5 Stars
Lisa: "If someone gave this to me, I would be genuinely happy." 4 1/2 Stars
Cierra: "I would mail these to my family." 4 Stars

Inside view of a Double Decker

Maltesers--malted milk balls

Rachael: "Much better than Whoppers." 4 Stars
Cierra: "This is the best of British candy." 4 1/2 Stars

Maltesers

Jaffa Cakes--small sponge cakes with orange jelly in the centre, then covered in chocolate

Rachael: "I love these!" 4 Stars
Lisa: "I'm eating two. I'm into it." Then later..."This is my third Jaffa cake. I feel slightly sick but this is delicious." 4 1/2 Stars
Cierra: "I've had better Jaffa Cake products but this one is still good." 3 Stars

We had a great time tasting so many different iconic British candies but in the end most of them were not very good. But the ones that are good are insanely good. 

I apologise in advance to fans of British sweets but I think Cierra summed it up best: "There is a reason why so many American candies are popular here."