I got some Iced Gems, in a fit of nostalgia for my childhood. I can only ever remember having these at birthday parties, and rightly so because they are probably quite evil and hyperactive-making.
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Here is the packet, which I note indicates the contents includes blackcurrant flavour, raspberry flavour, raspberry flavour, lemon flavour and iced flavour.
Not only am I overjoyed that I’m getting raspberry flavour AND raspberry flavour, but I’m quite chuffed at the prospect of “iced flavour”.
Upon opening one of the little bags inside, a waft of fruity-flavouring smells hits me in the nose and I am faced with the following:
The iced bits immediately strike me as looking rather like butterfly eggs:
Upon tasting, I don’t recall them being this fruity when I was little. Nor do I recall a variety of flavours. Perhaps there was only one flavour when I was small, or maybe my E number taste buds weren’t fully developed yet.
I want to eat the icing and discard the biscuit, but I have to eat the biscuit or it’s wasteful (another echo of childhood). I soon realise that you have to eat both together, and try to get the icing to mix with the biscuit in the correct ratio to make it palatable in your mouth. Trying to eat the biscuit on it’s own is like trying to eat a rich tea that has had all it’s molecules compacted. Hard and dry, and threatening to remove all the moisture from the inside of your mouth. It does however melt if you leave it in your mouth long enough, but that just makes me feel sick. It’s like childhood birthday parties all over again.
The blackcurrant and raspberry and raspberry flavours all do taste of such, but the lemon ones smell like lemon flavoured rennies and don’t taste of much. The “iced” flavour also taste of nothing. Certainly not of “iced” anyway. Not that I know what “iced” tastes like.
This is a picture of the bottoms of the gems, I noticed they have little sort of portcullises on, but only on SOME of them, not all, and to no rhyme or reason. It didn’t seem to correspond with the flavour of the icing at all.
The iced bits have dropped off some of the biscuit bits and I find there are more iced bits than biscuit bits in many of the packets. So someone out there has more biscuit bits than iced bits in their packets. My sympathies. The iced bits are clearly the best.
Despite not being sure I ever really liked these, I’m eating them anyway. Nothing changes!
