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