Candy German Subscription Box Review

Some of you may have seen my German snack exchange posts, so you'll know how excited I was to hear about the new subscription box from Candy German. After trying out quite a few different subscription boxes it's great to finally see an option for German goodies and I'm sure it will be very popular. 

Candy German promise to send out boxes filled with up to 1kg of surprise treats, including chocolates, cookies and sweets. All the products are hand-picked by the founders of Candy German, Mark and Natascha, to ensure they are high quality and always made in Germany.  Subscribers can join for 1 month, 6 months or 12 months, and prices start at €24.00 (around £19.00).

Here's a look at what all the gorgeous products I received in the July Candy German Box:

Milka Choco Twist: I was so happy to see these cakes included in the box! I've reviewed them before (see HERE for the full review) and they were utterly delicious. They're not the same as most pre-packaged cakes. These are moist and melt in the mouth, with thick chocolate chips. The only problem with them is that it's hard to stop at one, and our box of five cakes disappeared far too quickly!

Coppenrath Spritzgenuss:  Coppenrath is a Germany bakery company dating back to the 1930's that is now best known for it's biscuit range. These Spritzgenuss Zartbitter Schoko are lovely and buttery shortbread biscuits dipped in dark chocolate. I enjoyed their melt in the mouth crumbly texture combined with the sweet leaning dark chocolate. 

Katjes Back to the Roots: Vegetarian licorice! Katjes are probably best known in the UK as the makers of the M&S range of Percy Pig sweets. In Germany they are well known for producing vegetarian sweets in many different shapes and flavours (I reviewed their Bears HERE!). This soft and mild licorice is called Back to the Roots because one of the first products Katjes ever produced, back in 1910, was a licorice sweet (the Katjes Licorice Kittens!). 

Hitschler Apfel Schnüre: The founders of Candy German are based in the beautiful town of Cologne. In my mind Cologne must be some kind of candy wonderland as my lovely German Grocery Exchange friend Steffi, is also from there. She has sent me a few Hitschler products in the past and this Apfel Schnüre was one of my kids' favourites. They're so excited to get to try these tasty apple flavoured laces again! 

Feodora Erdbeer Smoozi: This was my favourite product in the Candy German box! Feodora is a new brand to me but apparently it dates back to 1910 and is seen as a noble brand with a strong heritage.

The packaging is gorgeous with a sleek tube filled with a row of circular chocolates with a strawberry cream centre. Even though the outer coating is white chocolate these are surprisingly not too sweet, instead they're deliciously creamy which stops them being overly sugary. This Smoozi range of disc shaped chocolates is available in a classic Mint, as well as several new flavours for summer; Raspberry, Strawberry and Banana. I seriously HAVE to try the banana ones!

Zentis Belnuga: This one was really unusual but ended up being another favourite for me. My husband wasn't so keen however so I'd describe this as one of those love it or hate it type of products.

German company Zentis is actually best known as a jam producer but with the Belnuga they have produced a range of marzipan and praline chocolates. It's a unique combination but one that works really well (in my opinion at least!). The marzipan is smoother and more delicately flavoured then the heavier type we get here in the UK. The innermost layer is a soft hazelnut nougat that is just delicious. The flavours reminded me quite a bit of Mozart chocolates from Austria!

Kinder Joy: When I first saw this in the box I have to admit I assumed it was a regular Kinder egg that was just wrapped in plastic rather than foil. Well, I was wrong, this is a different product altogether.

The two plastic halves pull apart easily to reveal separate sections. Under one side is the toy and under the other a tasty chocolate and milk cream, with two crispy chocolate balls (that sounds so wrong!). 

The chocolate and milk cream needs to be scooped out with a little spoon. It's very sweet and creamy, and really did appeal to the kid in me! I do have a soft spot for Kinder chocolate, so I loved trying out this completely new version. 

Moam Cola: These were also included in the box as a little extra. I think Moam sweets may be hard to find in some of the countries that Candy German ship to, but here in the UK these are widely available. It was still one of the first products my kids wanted to take from the box! 

Overall I was delighted with the products I received from Candy German. Before I started this blog I wasn't that familiar with German snacks but I'm pleased to have found such a world of delights! They really do have an awesome array of products in Germany and a Candy German box is a great way to discover more.

To subscribe take a look at the Candy German website for more details: www.candygerman.com

German Grocery Exchange - Sweets, Ritter Sport, Milka Biscuits & More!

I recently took part in a Grocery Exchange with Steffi from Germany. I've already reviewed some of the products that she sent me, such as the awesome Haribo Happy Cola with Liquid Filling and Katjes veggie sweets. I've been happily working my way through the rest of the awesome products which include sweets, biscuits, chocolates and even a savoury spread. Here's a German snack megapost!

Hussel Confiserie - Froschprinzen

Starting with the sweets, these Froschprinzen are made by one of Germany's more upscale confectionery brands.

As the name would suggest these sweets feature little Frog Princes, it's such a cute idea! My packet had four different flavours and they were all very fruity and delicious.

Hitschler Confetti & Brause

I loved these adorable little bags of shaped sweets, which are made by Hitschler, a sweets manufacturer based in Steffi's hometown of Cologne.

They're very bright and colourful, and would look great for cake decorating. They're also very tasty too. The Confetti are delicously fruity and chewy, shaped into largeish batons. The Brause Sterne are a sherbet chalky type sweet, a bit like Love Hearts but not as chalky, shaped into colourful stars. My kids were especially excited by these sweets when we first opened Steffi's parcel! 

Leibniz Pick Up! Choco & Caramel

Leibniz biscuits are usually either a plain buttery biscuit or chocolate covered on one side. Here the biscuit has been filled with an extra layer of chocolate and caramel, creating a classic sandwich biscuit, with added sweetness. 

The individual portion makes it a great little snack. There are several other varieties available in the Liebniz Pick Up range such as Choco & Milk and Choco Black & White which are both stocked in the UK by Monster Sweets. 

Alnatura Cocos Sesame Krokant

Thank you Steffi for adding something coconutty to the parcel! These organic sesame bars are essentially Sesame Snaps, but with added coconut flavour. They're a very sugary treat, but one that's great with a cup of coffee.

Milka Choco Pause

A huge tube of new chocolate filled biscuits from Milka. Steffi described them as a bit like Prince biscuits, a type of chocolate sandwich biscuits that is very popular around mainland Europe.

The outer biscuits reminded me of rich tea biscuits, but just a bit more golden and buttery. The inner chocolate is very tasty as you would expect from Milka! It's a classic combination that works very well here.

Ritter Sport Erdbeer Vanille-Waffel 

I love Ritter Sport bars and this new for Summer 2013 Strawberry Vanilla Wafer was no exception. In fact it was one of those bars that we finished in one sitting, it's just too good to resist.

The filling is a Loacker wafer biscuit base with a strawberry yogurt filling. I love Loacker wafers (see here) so I was intrigued try them in a Ritter Sport bar. Even though it sounds like quite a simple flavour combination, the overall taste is just fantastic. The strawberry yogurt filling is sweet, fruity and slightly tart, and the vanilla wafer provides the perfect crunchy backdrop. This is a Limited Edition, so they won't be around very long.

Tartex Kräuter

Lastly is this really interesting savoury spread which is described as a "herb pate". It's a spread made with organic parsley, chives and leeks, with yeast and vegetable oil.

I tried mine on some dark rye bread but it can also be used as a base for cooking such as in a pasta sauce. The flavour is unusual but very enjoyable, slightly salty and herby but smooth and creamy at the same time. It's totally different to anything I've tried before! Apparently there are also lots of other versions of these spreads in Germany, such as Ratatouille, chilli, and even mushroom.

 I hope you enjoyed this snack round up. Many thanks again to Steffi for sending these out and for providing so much background information to each snack. There is still one more review to come from our Grocery Exchange! 

Review: Katjes Grün-Ohr Bärchen - Veggie Sweets

Another lovely German product from THIS awesome parcel that I received as part of a Grocery Exchange with reader Steffi. Katjes is a brand that I've tried previous as happily their vegetarian Better Bunny sweets are stocked by Tesco. Katjes is actually the second largest producer of fruit gums in Western Europe and rivals Haribo by offering a large range of sweets. These Grün-Ohr Bärchen (literally meaning green eared bears), are one of their newest additions, a bear version of the popular Grün-Ohr Hase - green eared bunnies! And yes, each sweetie bear does have a green ear. Apparently this represents the Katjes guarantee that these sweets are free from gelatin.

The bears have very cute little faces and are a lot more attractive than the slightly freaky looking Better Bunny sweets. There are five fruity flavours each represented by a different colour; cherry, lemon, orange, pineapple, and apple. All the flavours are extremely sweet and fruity and were a bit hit with all my taste testers. We all especially loved the pineapple flavoured bear, as it represents such a unique flavour for a sweet of this type. The fact that these are vegetarian makes the texture quite different to the usual gelatin based sweets, I find them to be not as chewy but slightly stickier overall.

I certainly hope that Tesco picks up more of the Katjes range as I'd love to be able to buy more of these in the future. Thank you again to Steffi for her wonderful parcel. There are many more reviews to come, including a German Snacks Megapost! :)

Grocery Gems Verdict: Katjes Better Bunny

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 327 calories per 100g.
Vegetarian: Yes and free from artificial colours and flavourings.

Katjes Better Bunny (Veggie sweets)

I'd never heard of Katjes confectionary before, but apparently it's a family owned business based in Germany, and is the second largest producer of fruit gums and licorice in Western Europe. The brand is available in the UK for the first time (at Tesco) with the Better Bunny vegetarian friendly sweets.

These bunny sweets bear more than a passing resemblance to a certain range of piggy shaped sweets made by M&S. Yes, I'm talking about Percy Pig. Having taken a quick look at the Katjes website it seems that they also produce a pig shaped sweet, called Pauly the Pig, although only in a veggie version. Funnily enough, M&S now sell a vegetarian version of Percy Pig. So which was first? Veggie Percy or Pauly the Pig? 

Update: In fact since writing this review I've realised that Katjes are actually the makers of the Percy Pig sweets' range. No wonder they look so similar!

Now, I'm no expert on Percy Pig sweets, please check out Gobble Monkey for all your Percy Pig needs. I haven't even tried the Veggie Percy yet, so I can't really compare them to the Katjes Better Bunny in terms of taste. I can only say that I really enjoyed these bunny sweets, especially the texture. They're super squidgy and soft, without any of the chewiness that you would find in a traditional jelly based sweet. The flavour is fairly simple and very sweet, with the fruitiness of the 3.5% apple juice coming through nicely. They do have a slight tart edge in them too, especially the white ones, which provide a pleasant counterbalance to the sugary taste. The pink ones were much sweeter, but still apple flavoured, which is slightly disappointing.

Overall, these are a very tasty treat, and it's always great to see a different brands of vegetarian sweets becoming available in the UK.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Katjes Better Bunny

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 340 calories per 100g.
Vegetarian: Yes (but not vegan as beeswax is listed as an ingredient).
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £1.48p for 170g bag.