Guzzle Puzzle

The Natural Confectionary Company, they of TRUMPETS fame, have launched a new sweet recently. Not only is it a new sweet from them but it's also a new sweet concept as well.

It's called the Guzzle Puzzle and the aim of the game is flavour combination. Whilst this isn't something new, Jelly Belly have recipes etc for their flavours, the hook here is that these sweets have been designed to actively fit together in the style of a puzzle.

So despite the suggestive style of the sweets the crux of the matter is how do they taste

On their own they have the same gentle flavourings of the naturals confectionary companies other sweets. Smooth and satisfying. Very nice. That's not really the point behind this snack though, we're meant to combine them and I guess the best thing to do is to try the combinations that are advertised on the back of the packaging.

Those flavours are

• Cinnamon + lime = cola
• Orange + banana = bubblegum
• Raspberry + lime = pink lemonade

Pink Lemonade :- I can see where they are coming from on this one but it's not enough. There's no hint of fizz and the limes not sharp enough. I mean if you compared it to something like Lorina Pink Lemonade (http://fizzness.blogspot.com/2011/07/lorina-pink-lemonade.html) I think you probably would say it fails to be that similar 5/10

BubbleGum :- I'm a big fan of the bubblegum flavour. Massive fan infact so this excited me. I didn't quite get how Orange and Bannna would make Bubblegum and to be honest. It didn't. Well nothing strong enough, if you really consider it you can get the hint of it definitely but is that enough? Not convinced 5/10

Cola :- This is better. I could genuinely taste a cola type flavour and it seemed a little stronger than the others. This is probably down to the cinnamon I guess which seems a little more powerful than the fruit flavours. Definitely the winner of the 3. 7/10

The problem isn't that these taste bad. They don't they are really nice but it's more the fact that Jelly Belly has really punchy flavours and that's the competition here. When you mix the Jelly Belly flavours there's no doubt and it's not a mild tone of the new flavour but again a good slap in the chops. That's the area this falls down and it's possibly because as the 'Natural' Confectionary company I think they don't like to overpower the flavours too much.

I would love it if they could strengthen the flavour and increase the packet size. I honestly think that's all that's missing but currently it's like a jigsaw puzzle with all identical pieces. Yes it fits together but it's not entirely satisfying.

Let's end on a high note though, the brilliant adverts voiced by the irrepressible Matt Berry from the IT Crowd