Brio Grädd

Brio Grädd (grädde meaning cream in Swedish) is a hard toffee with a cream and caramel flavour.

The toffees are small and flat and has a distinct caramel smell and the flavour is both rich caramel and full, heavy cream. The flavour are great, but the main problem with this toffee is it's too sticky. It's hard at first, then it gets softer when you chew on it and suddenly it's stock onto your teeth. And not too easy to get off either. So you shouldn't have teeth problems if you wanna eat these.

Maybe they had been on the shelf for a while and harden up? A long time since I had those and they always been sticky, but not this much. Brio also comes in a fruit flavour. The lower grade is just for the texture, otherwise it would be a 3.

RATING: 2

Brand: Malaco

Size: 80 g

Price: 8 kr | £0,70 | $1,05

Purchased: Sweden

Julenisse (Marshmallow Santa)

 

Julenisse, meaning little Santa or Santa's little helper in Swedish, is a marshmallow figure which tastes of strawberry. Only sold from September to December.

It has a strong and fruity strawberry smell and the taste is also very strawberry. Even though it's artificial it's quite good and I'm sensitive to unnatural flavours. The marshmallow is chewier than the American kind and I like this texture better. There is some sugar dust on top, which is a bit odd though. It's the same kind of candy like these Juleskum but Julenisse is individual wrapped and bigger, which fits these marshmallows better because one is enough in my opinion. 

RATING: 3

Brand: Cloetta

Size: 22 g

Price: 4 kr | £0,35 | $0,55

Purchased: Sweden

Dufvenkrooks Julmust Original (Christmas Soda)

Now for another julmust (christmas soda) review, which I talked about here. For some year now it's become trendy for breweries to release premium, aged julmust. Some aged on oak or rum barrels, but still alcohol free off course. Dufvenkrooks Julmust Original in a glass bottle is a newcomer this year and according to the label it's aged 1 year.

The head is very foamy and after the first sip you don't notice anything special about it, just a sweet, malty julmust. But after a few drinks the sweetness fades out and the taste gets to be more beerlike with particularly distinct hops flavour. It's interesting how the flavour deepens and changes but there are also a not so nice bitter and metallic aftertaste. Great to try it, but one time was enough. I want julmust to be a little sweeter.

RATING: 2

Brand: Herrljunga

Size: 750 ml

Price: 33 kr | £2,85 | $4,45

Purchased: Sweden

Karl Fazer Apple, Caramel & Hazelnuts in Dark Chocolate

Karl Fazer is chocolate tablets from Finnish candy manufacturer Fazer, which are also sold in Sweden but in a limited variety. Their latest edition is a winter themed dark chocolate with apple bits, caramel and hazelnuts.

 

The dark chocolate is rich in flavour and when you take a bit you get the crunchiness of the caramel (which are hard), some reminiscence of nuts and at the end the tartness of the apples. It's a great combination which gives room for all the flavours. In my opinion Fazer makes one of the best chocolates in Northern Europe in competition with Swizz ditos. It's rich and creamy but not too sweet. These chocolates are a perfect complement to a hot tea och coffee a cold autumn or winter day.

RATING: 3

Brand: Fazer

Size: 200 g

Price: 22 kr | £1,90 | $3,00

Purchased: Sweden

Mårtensleverkorv med russin (Liverwurst)

Mårtensleverkorv med russin is a liverwurst flavoured with raisins.  It's a limited variety sold during November when the south of Sweden, particularly the province of Scania where I live, celebrates St. Martin's Day (Mårtensafton) with a big goose dinner, blood soup and this kind of liverwurst apparently. Personally I never heard of anyone eating liverwurst at St. Martin's Day but this special liverwurst is produced by several companies, so it must be in demand. This one specifically is made by Lantchark, a small, local meat producer in the heart of Scania.

I think liverwurst is more common down here in the south parts because of the closeness to the sausage's native Germany.

The liverwurst has a full flavour of creamy liver, allspice and cloves. The raisins doesn't do much for the  overall taste but you know when you bite into one and their subtle sweetness. There's also a firmness which makes it more sausage-like than other brands which seems more like pâtés. It's a good quality product and you know Lantchark has their heart into what they're doing.

RATING: 3

Brand: Lantchark

Size: 300 g

Price: 22 kr | £1,90 | $3,00

Purchased: Sweden

Apotekarnes Julmust (Christmas Soda)

Apotekarnes Julmust is the most classic brand of Swedish Christmas soda sold during the holidays in Sweden. Julmust (Christmas sap is the best translation) outsells Coca Cola every year and Swedes binge drinks approximately 45 million litres of julmust (!) during the Holiday season.

The julmust has a gentle, foamy head and a deep malty flavour. It contains both hop and malt extract but doesn't taste anything like beer. The flavour has a  certain richness and depth, uncommon for a soda, and even if it's sweet I think the maltiness takes the top of the sweetness. It's a very unique taste actually and it's totally wrong when Wikipedia compares it to root beer. The tastes have nothing in common except for maybe the maltiness which are even more distinct in julmust than root beer.

There are many julmust brands but Apotekarnes is the largest. It comes in different sizes like 33 cl cans, 50 cl glas bottles and 140 cl plastic bottles etc and the smaller ones obviously maintains the flavours best. A brand called Zeunerts, made in northern Sweden, is my favourite (may review it later) but Apotekarnes is always great and a classic which all other julmust brands are compared to.

 RATING: 4

Brand: Apotekarnes

Size: 33 cl

Price: 5 kr | £0,45 | $0,70

Purchased: Sweden

AKO Chok

Ako Chok is a mint/chocolate toffee. It comes in two other varieties (Mint and Cream). The toffee has a interesting history because it was around for about 50 years or so and then it was discontinued in 2006. But people wanted it back so due to pressure it was re-released this autumn by Swedish candy manufacturer Cloetta.

It's a chewy toffee where the mint flavour is more dominant than the chocolate. But it's a smooth mint flavour so even if the chocolate stays in the background you still get the feeling of both mint and chocolate. I remembered Ako vividly and was looking forward to the comeback. Some say it doensn't taste like before, but I think it does.

RATING: 4

Brand: Cloetta

Size: 120 g

Price: 15 kr | £1,25 | $2,00

Purchased: Sweden

Anthon Berg Crispy Orange Marzipan

Marzipan is my favourite candy and if the German brand Niederegger is the Nr. 1 maker of marzipan, Danish chocolate manufacturer Anthon Berg comes 2nd. The things that sets these two makers apart are the distinct almond flavour and the lack of sugary sweetness, which isn't uncommon with other brands which makes the marzipan taste more like a lump of sugar than almonds.

Anthon Berg also makes premium chocolates but are most famous for their marzipan bars, which is sold in mainly Denmark and Sweden.

Anthon Berg Marzipan bars comes in 4-5 varieties and the newest edition is Crispy Orange. This was a really great bar! First of all, the dark chocolate cover has a great, balanced sweetness. The almond smelling marzipan is infused with tangy orange pieces which has a slightly bitterness, taking the top of any initial sweetness. This is tastewise like a chocolate bar for grown ups. A new favourite for me!

RATING: 4

Brand: Anthon Berg

Size: 33 g

Price: 8 kr | £0,70 | $1,10

Purchased: Sweden

Dumle Gingerbread

Oh, time again to review another Dumle variety. And another Christmas item! Earlier I reviewed Dumle Dark and Dumle Snacks. For some Christmas Seasons now Dumle, these lovely chocolates filled with chewy toffee, has launched a Dumle Gingerbread variety.

The gingerbread flavour is pretty spicy here (cinnamon and clove comes to mind) and it can be almost overpowering with these spices blended with the slightly salty, chewy toffee. You get thirsty after a few and the taste gets kind of dull in long run. But they smell delightful

RATING: 2

Brand: Fazer

Size: 220 g

Price: 23 kr | £2,00 | $1,90

Purchased: Sweden

Juleskum Pepparkaka (Gingerbread)

Juleskum Pepparkaka is a marshmallow candy with gingerbread flavour. Pepparkaka is Swedish for gingerbread.

Juleskum (Christmas Marshmallows) is sold in Sweden during Christmas season and the original flavour is strawberry. But for a few years now the manufacturer Cloetta has made a special Juleskum taste for each year, which has included Winter Apples, Knäck (a hard toffee made in Sweden for Christmas) and this year it's Gingerbread.

Juleskum are shaped like little santas. The marshmallow are chewier than American type  and lasts longer in the mouth. The gingerbread flavour in these are quite poignant and a bit too overwhelming I think. I got thirsty after a few. Also I noticed some hits of tangy cola flavour.

RATING: 2

Brand: Cloetta

Size: 100 g

Price: 14 kr | £1,20 | $1,90

Purchased: Sweden

Fransk Nougat

Fransk Nougat is a French nougat/Spanish turrón-inspired bar covered with dark chocolate.

The chewy, French nougat tastes of almonds and notes of honey and blends well with the dark chocolate. The dark chocolate takes some necessary sweetness off of the French nougat and the two is a great combination. One of my favourite bars.

RATING: 4

Brand: Marabou

Size: 46 g

Price: 7 kr | £0,60 | $1,00

Purchased: Sweden

Remi Mint

 

Remi Mint is mint flavoured, dark chocolate biscuits from Swedish cookie manufacturer Göteborgs Kex.

The biscuits are very delicate and coated by a thin layer of dark chocolate. The mint flavour is intense and puts the dark chocolate a bit in the background. It's like a After Eight-biscuit with a more powerful mint flavour. Quite yummy. They come in 12 pieces per 100 g package.

RATING: 3

Brand: Göteborgs Kex

Size: 100 g

Price: 20 kr | £1,70 | $2,90

Purchased: Sweden

Faygo Grape

 

Faygo Grape is a grape soda from the Detroit-based soda pop producer with the same name, Faygo.

 

Grape sodas is not very easy to come by in Sweden and the only reference of another grape soda I've tasted is Fanta's (I imported Faygo from the UK by the way). Even if the grape soda flavour in both Fanta and Faygo is artificial off course, the grape flavour in Faygo tasted more of grape flavoured jelly gums than any reminiscence of natural grape flavour.It was too artificial for me and overly sweet (not uncommon for American sodas though). What I remember Fanta's grape version was better.

RATING: 1

Brand: Faygo

Size: 710 ml (24 oz)

Price: 12 kr | £1,00 | $1,70

Purchased: American Fizz

Dumle Snacks

Dumle Snacks is another Dumle variety. Chewy toffee covered with puffed rice and milk chocolate.

Even though the puffed rice gives another dimension and makes the toffee chewier, it's doesn't improve the chocolate bits, and I do like the original Dumle better. I wouldn't understand why the sugar content in Dumle Snacks is higher but it tastes sweeter and it got me thirsty. I got tired of the taste pretty quickly.
 

RATING: 2

Brand: Fazer

Size: 200 g

Price: 23 kr | £2,00 | $3,35

Purchased: Sweden

Yankie

 

Yankie, also known as Yankie Bar, is Denmark's most famous chocolate bar with nougat and caramel covered in milk chocolate. A Danish version of Mars so to speak.

It's made by Danish chocolate manufacturer Toms and according to Wikipedia, Toms was contacted after WW2 by the United States high command in Germany to produce a candy bar with a cocoa content similar to American candy bars (like Mars) so the American troops in Germany could get their beloved candy bars instead of the US having to import them to Europe.

This is an interesting fact because it explains why (I think) Yankie tastes inferior to other Danish chocolates (which generally holds a high quality); it has lower cocoa content like many American chocolate bars.

The lower cocoa content makes the bar taste overly sweet. There seems to be no difference between the chocolate and the nougat, it just a sugar tasting mash. The caramel flavour stands out but it can't save the bar. A real disaster, my lowest rating so far.

RATING: 1

Brand: Toms

Size: 50 g

Price: 7 kr | £0,60 | $1,00

Purchased: Sweden

Djungelvrål

 

Djungelvrål, meaning jungle roars in Swedish, is a supersalty liquorice.

The hard liquorice bits are covered with salt but when the salt is licked off they have a sweeter, caramelesque liquorice taste and they get softer the more you chew. After a few you get thirsty so I glass of milk is a good companion to Djungelvrål. If you try them be prepared they are REALLY salty and if you're not use to salty liquorice it may take some time to get acquired to the taste.

RATING: 3

Brand: Malaco

Size: 80 g

Price: 8 kr | £0,70 | $1,15

Purchased: Sweden

Leopolds Magnifika Chocolate Chip Cookies

Leopolds Magnifika Chocolate Chip Cookies is a new variety of (big) chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk chocolate. They're produced by Sweden's largest cookie manufacturer, Göteborgs Kex, and the name Leopold is after the company's founder. He was Belgian so according to the package the chocolate is also from Belgium. Magnifika meaning magnificent in English has in this context probarbly a double meaning because of the Swedish word for coffee break, fika.

The cookie has big chunks of chocolate chip in them and they're both chewy and firm at the same time. Also the chocolate rim elevate the cookie even higher (also good to dip in tea/coffee). These chocolate chip cookies is hands down the best I've tasted apart from the American Keebler Chocolate Chips.

There are 8 cookies per package (200 g) and they also comes in a mini cookie variety and a blueberry and chocolate chip variety.

RATING: 5

Brand: Göteborgs Kex

Size: 200 g

Price: 25 kr | £2,15 | $3,60

Purchased: Sweden

Dumle Dark

Dumle is a chocolate candy with a chewy toffee filling popular in Sweden and Finland. The brand's newest edition is a dark variety, Dumle Dark.

The dark chocolate is very rich and it infuses with the chewy toffee making it a very chewy chocolate-intense experience. It's hard to stop eating these. I like the original Dumle but the dark chocolate really improves the candy.

RATING: 4

Brand: Fazer

Size: 200 g

Price: 23 kr | £2,00 | $3,35

Purchased: Sweden

Potatischips kryddade med parmesan (Crisps)

Potatischips kryddade med parmesan, crisps flavoured with parmesan cheese, is another crisp product from Swedish, artisan crisp manufacturer Rootfruit. The umami flavoured crisps from Rootfruit I tried last time was pretty tasteless. But the parmesan variety was the opposite and very tasteful.

You can clearly taste the parmesan with it's salty cheese taste and there is also hints of onions. They also smell of cheese.

RATING: 3

Brand: Rootfruit

Size: 90 g

Price: 20 kr | £1,70 | $2,90

Purchased: Sweden

Paolos Pizza Salsiccia

 

Paolos Pizza Salsiccia is a home-bake pizza with a tomato sauce base and topped with salsiccia, pecorino cheese and friarielli (a green leavy vegetable known in English as rabe). Swedish celebrity Paolo Roberto is the name behind the pizza. He's a former boxer nowadays mostly famous for his Italian cooking with numerous published cook books from his ancestral country and a product line of pasta, pasta sauces and pizzas. His pastas are very good but this pizza was a disappointment.

 

Like most Neapolitan style pizzas the crust was thin and even though I took it from the oven before time it was very hard. The tomato sauce had a deep and rich flavour which was a nice surprise and the salsiccia was tasteful, but the friarielli tasted of nothing and pecorino, which normally has a strong flavour, didn't come through at all. So overall the pizza tasted mostly of tomato sauce. It lacked flavours.

RATING: 2

Brand: Paolos

Size: 375 g

Price: 38 kr | £3,25 | $5,50

Purchased: Sweden

Punschrulle

 

Punschrulle, also known as dammsugare (meaning vacuum cleaner in Swedish haha), is one of Sweden's most popular pastries. The form is cylindrical and it's sort of a cookie crumble mash flavoured with arrack punch and covered in green coloured marzipan (and chocolate at the ends).

This one is made by Swedish pastry manufacturer Delicato. Even if the marzipan comes through it has a very heavy arrack punch flavour with some bitter notes. The flavour totally dominates the pastry.

Also if you look at the content there isn't any arrack punch or similar, just undefined "aromas" (not so appealing). I liked these much more before, maybe the changed the recipe? As always the best pastry is the one you buy fresh from a bakery shop.

RATING: 2

Brand: Delicato

Size: 48 g

Price: 5 kr | £0,45 | $0,75

Purchased: Sweden

Sportlunch Powerbreak 2

 

Sportlunch Powerbreak 2 has actually nothing to do with the original Sportlunch, it has just borrowed the name. SL Powerbreak 2 is described in English on the package (why I wonder?) as a chunky chocolate bar with chewy chocolate nougat and almonds. There is also a Powerbreak 1 I might add, which is more similar to the original Sportlunch with the chocolate and wafer content.

Anyway SL Powerbreak 2 is surprisingly good. I especially like how the chocolate nougat is both firm and chewy at the same time. At the first bite you think it's gonna be crumbly but it isn't. But I would like to notice the almond slivers a bit more.

RATING: 4

Brand: Cloetta

Size: 50 g

Price: 7 kr | £0,60 | $1,00

Purchased: Sweden

Japp

 

Japp is best described as a Swedish version of Mars. Chewy nougat and caramel covered in milk chocolate.

 

Compared to Mars it's lighter and the nougat is chewier. I actually prefer Japp to Mars because it's less sweet, so it doesn't become so overwhelmingly sugary with both chocolate, nougat and caramel.

It's usely sold in 60 g bars but this one was a extra large King Size bar at 82 g.

RATING: 4

Brand: Marabou

Size: 82 g

Price: 10 kr | £0,85 | $1,50

Purchased: Sweden

Bubblig Mjölkchoklad

Bubblig Mjölkchoklad is Marabou's take on milk chocolate with air bubbles like Cadbury Bubbly, Milka Lulflée and Norweigan Stratos etc.

As always the Marabou milk chocolate is creamy and milky (one of the best I've tasted) and the air bubbles melts in your mouth but there's still chewiness which makes it more interesting to eat than a plain chocolate bar. Bubblig Mjölkchoklad is only sold in 60 g bars but I think it's a good, moderate size. Otherwise it would be easy to overeat and get tired of the taste.

For some reason it's quite expensive at 15 kr (£1,30) when chocolates in similar size doesn't cost more than 10 kr (90 p).

RATING: 4

Brand: Marabou

Size:  60 g

Price: 15 kr | £1,30 | $2,20

Purchased: Sweden

Center

Center is a Swedish milk chocolate bar filled with caramel. 

It's made by Swedish candy manufacturer Cloetta which also makes the similar chocolate Plopp, known in UK (I think). Both Center and Plopp are milk chocolates with caramel fillings but the main different is that the sugar content is higher in Plopp and the filling is denser in Center.

The smooth milk chocolate blends well with the caramel, which tastes more of sugar than toffee. My only complain about it is that (as pointed out before) the caramel isn't gooey but thick so you don't get the fluidness typically associated with caramel.

RATING: 4

Brand: Cloetta

Size:  50 g

Price: 8 kr | £0,70 | $1,20

Purchased: Sweden