SnackSurprise - The June Box: Netherlands

This is the second monthly snack box we have received and after some of the pleasant (and not so pleasant) surprises in last month’s delivery, anticipation in TIT Towers was high for this one: The Netherlands!

As you can see, we received twelve items, including a canned drink – cue flashbacks to the South Korean “beverage”… Shudder! But, new country, new snacks, so let’s get started.

Left hand side only. The right is for the big spenders.

Lays Joppie Sauce flavoured crisps – if you think the packaging looks familiar, then yeah, it’s pretty much Walkers crisps if you’re in the UK. Lays is also a popular brand in the US. These are onion and curry – intriguing. Basically, a funky Worcestershire Sauce, with a tad more heat, but only a tad mind. Actually very nice and something we’d both have again.

Croky Chips are apparently a classic, and in this box, we got the bolognese flavour. Think of a cross between beefy crisps and tomato sauce crisps. There is a bit of warmth in there too, but not as much as the Lays crisps. Nice enough, but for me, not as nice as the Joppie crisps.

Next up, Smoeltjes UFO’s, a twin pack of chocolate topped biscuits and what appear to be tiny Smarties. The biscuit part is nice, though the chocolate is claggy as hell, reminding me of the Choc-dips chocolate. It’s also very, very sweet. Definitely a sharing pack!

Ontbijtkoek – a “deliciously tender gingerbread with a surprisingly delicious taste” is the description that does not fit this lump of dry, bread-y cake! It’s apparently a breakfast table favourite, and it might be if you lather it in butter, because otherwise it literally sucks the moisture out of your mouth and leaves a very sour aftertaste. Not nice at all. If you must have something like this, stick to Soreen malt loaf.

Back to chocolate and Droste Pastilles. An orange crisp, this tastes a bit like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange but with more crunch and less flavour. Neither here nor there except that once again, the chocolate is sickly sweet and after one pastille, neither of us could try a second one.

Now these reminded my good lady of the candy tabs that used to be popular when we were children. Of course, these days, they’re candy sticks, but hey ho. The De Smurfen Knetter Sticks were advertised in the leaflet but we actually got some cheeky looking scamp with a crown. Nope, no idea who he is either. Still, the white chocolate sticks are quite nice, with a popping candy centre that’s actually rather pleasant. Again, a bit sickly, but if you like white chocolate, then these are decent.

More chocolate now, and Tony’s Chocolonely. I’m not sure what they’re trying to say here – are they Tony’s? Are they for lonely people to comfort eat? Or is Tony lonely and trying to eat himself into a diabetic coma??? No idea. But what we have here is a bar that tastes suspiciously like a Yorkee bar that’s been impregnated by a wandering Dime bar. This is the best of the chocolate in the box and not, as with others, too sweet.

The canned drink is next as is as exciting as a chocolate milk shake can get. I found it quite bland and my good lady finished the can. For me, slightly flavoured milk just doesn’t cut it.

The Napoleon Framboos were a nice treat – incredibly sticky out of the wrapper but with a lovely, strong raspberry flavour and very sour too. Quite refreshing.

The Hopjes were a delight – hard, coffee flavoured toffee with a caramel aftertaste. They take an age to dissolve but are worth it – just wonderful little sweets and something we’re looking out for to buy in future.

Now we come to our favourite of the box – the Stroopwaffel. A soft, toasted waffle filled with caramel – this was melt in the mouth wonder. Quite heavy on the cinnamon, this was chewy but smooth and as noted, would go extremely well with a cup of coffee. The highlight of the selection – this would have been the perfect end to the tasting session.

But no…

Lastly, the Kaneelkussens, and kussen we were after these little hard sweets of shite. We thought we were in bother when we opened the packet – the cinnamon assault on our noses was almost overpowering. But then we tried them. Think of a taste challenge from Takeshi’s Castle – the person who keeps the sweet in their mouths the longest wins – and for the record, I lost. After only ten seconds or so, I grabbed a tissue and spat out the offending candy, trying (manfully) not to vomit as well. There is just too much cinnamon here and the aftertaste sits at the back of your mouth like something died there.

A genuinely mixed box, there were still some good things in here: the Lays crisps, the Hopjes, the Framboos and the Stroopwafel. The rest were either average, mediocre or just plain nasty. However, it wouldn’t be much fun if everything in the Snack Surprise box was great, so roll on July’s delivery!