Pops Crunchy

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 48g

quantity: 2-24g bars

country: sweden

description: chocolate covered pops with a salty twist

more crispies! Pops is something akin to a Crunch bar in the states, although much thicker. i actually think i prefer the size/shape of the Crunch bar as the crispies tend to be a bit more evenly distributed, and the ratio of chocolate to crispies is better. this was kind of a lot of chocolate, more than i can usually take, although there are two small bars in here which makes it easier to deal with. there isn't as much crunch as i would have expected in a crispy bar; the more i have bars with crispies in them, the more i think i prefer the cornflakes for their crunch factor. and i'm not sure about the "salty twist" mentioned in the description on the package, i don't really remember there being a distinctive salty flavor although it's been a few days since i ate this. i do tend to remember saltiness in candy though as i am a pretty big fan of it. not a bad bar but i think i still prefer a thinner, crispier crunchy bar. 

rating: 4

ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, corn flour, rice flour, vegetable fat, wheat flour, salt, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavourings (vanillin).
allergen information: may contain traces of nuts and peanuts.

Kex Choklad

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 55g

quantity: 1 bar

country: sweden

description: filled wafers in milk chocolate

this is a pretty straight-forward wafer bar, more of the large, flat, kriss-krossy wafers than the skinny kit-kat wafers. i like it, although i think i actually prefer the small wafers since their crunch is a little more rambunctious. really this bar is pretty average; if you're craving a wafer it's worth going for but nothing to write home about (do i use that phrase a lot?). something i'm noticing about a lot of the sweets over here is that they are pretty much all made of exactly the same ingredients with a few different flavors or a nut thrown in here and there. i know that's to be said of all goodies in general but i just can't help but laugh every time i'm writing the ingredients and i barely have to change anything.

another good word learned last night: in nederlands, which i was informed is the proper name for the language spoken in the netherlands (not dutch), they call candy snoep. pronounced "snoop." awesome!

i've also been visiting the goodie stores here and they have a lot of pick-a-mix (bulk candy) which is very interesting and generally tasty. i don't really like reviewing bulk candies because i can't ever remember what the candies are called or say what's in them, but maybe i'll start to mention some once in awhile. like today i had blåögon, giant blue gummy eyes. they also had a sour version. i'm assuming they're blueberry-flavored but they were a bit off. a tad tangy, but not bad. i'd give them a 6. just because they're blue. 

rating: 5

ingredients: sugar, wheat flour, vegetable fat, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, whey powder, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), salt, raising agent (sodium bicarbonate), flavorings (vanillin).
allergen information: none

Plopp Kärlek

parent co.: Cloetta

net wt.: 50g

quantity: 1 bar

country: sweden

description: milk chocolate filled with caramel with taste of raspberry jelly and raspberry bits in white truffle

this Plopp is weird. the original Plopp is just chocolate sections filled with gooey caramel, and while this bar claims that is has caramel (toffee) in it i really only taste the raspberry jelly and the white "truffle." the picture also seems to lack any visual indication of caramel, so i'm going to assume that they mean the caramel is raspberry-flavored and therefore it is really more just jelly filling than caramel. that truffle is in quotations up there because i'm not really sure what makes this white stuff truffle-y, it certainly isn't truffle in the traditional sense of ganache, so i guess it's just cream filling. regardless, i don't care for the white part; the raspberry part isn't bad but overall it's just not really my kind of candy. the filling is a little too sweet and the smooth, gooey texture of the jelly contrasts with the gritty texture of the truffle in a strange way so when they combine in your mouth it just feels like there's something chunky in the jelly. not great. and i generally really like raspberry chocolates so this one was a little disappointing. i also noticed that the ingredients include pineapple fibres and while i hate to sound like a crazy person i seriously think i can taste that acidic, tropical taste that they add to the filling. it kind of makes your mouth tingle, not necessarily in a bad way but not in a good way either.

the name simply translates to "plop" and kärlek is "love" so i guess anything pinkish is considered a good gift for your sweetie?

rating: 4

ingredients: sugar, glucose syrup, milk powder, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, skimmed milk powder, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, raspberry purée, apple, emulsifier (soy lecithin), salt, dextrose, flavorings (vanillin), pineapple fibres, citric acid, gelling agent, colour, stabilizer.

allergen information: may contain traces of nuts.