ViBERi Ruby product reviews

I was lucky enough to receive three Viberi products to try - much to the excitement of my children, who love it who Kiwi Review boxes arrive, as it means goodies for them too, usually! This time, their faces said it all when I suggested we try these of top of their dessert of custard and peaches (gotta combine healthy and treat, right!?)

I tried something different this time, asking the kidlets to tell me what they thought was in the packet - a true test of advertising images and packaging. The result - the kids were able to decipher that is was berries, with white chocolate and pink powder..... I think that is a pretty good description! The packet itself is a foil packet with a resealable top - meaning you can, if you want to, stick to the suggested serving size of 18g, not that I did (opps!), every last morsel would be as fresh as possible. Though I did not manage to keep these out of my tummy for long, each time I opened the packet after resealing, the flavours, crunchiness, and freshness were retained. The packet also shows the ingredients - 81% Belgian White Chocolate, and Freeze Dried organic Blackcurrants, any allergy warnings, and a breakdown of the nutritional info bit by bit.

After opening the packet, I poured a few of the Ruby Viberi's out, and the kids smiles grew. I gave them one each to eat, a few on the dessert, and poured myself a little pile before handing them to hubby., knowing that I may not get the packet back..... and I was not wrong - these ones actually were our favourites out of the three we tried - and the kids just could not get enough of them!

Eating these little morsels is a mini party in your mouth - sweet, and creamy with the white chocolate, and the tart of the blackcurrant, is a delight - and a combination I probably would not have thought of to put together. Even my husband, who is not normally a fruit and chocolate type of person, had to admit that he liked these!

The first thing that comes to mind to try with these next time is a cheesecake. I can envision a white chocolate cheesecake, topped with a blackcurrant syrup, and dotted with these around the outside - and that is only my first idea - others include muffins, in yoghurt, on cereal, and the list goes on. These are a delightful treat - with the price being the only downfall - in saying that - organic blackcurrants from NZ, and Belgian white chocolate - well, that adds up to top shelf treat in my book!

Thank you Viberi - a treat, with wholesome goodness that the whole family loves - excellent!

Two things I love the most about being a KIWIreviews member is sampling new products and then going on to regularly buy these products for myself and my family. When I saw the ViBERi range of products, they looked so amazing and really tempting to say the least. I decided the mix of white chocolate and blackcurrants had my taste preferences all over it and I was excited when the bag arrived for me to sample.

The bag was a good size and I was very happy to see once again that these was a New Zealand made product; ViBERi is based in Timaru and I'd never even heard of it which was completely sad. I tore open the resealable bag and inhaled the contents, the smell was the essence of berry which was intoxicating to me - I love berries so this to me was essentially in heaven. The balls inside where coated in this amazing berry power then Belgian white chocolate with freeze dried blackcurrants inside, my children and I eagerly popped one ball into our mouths and OH MY GOD, what a taste explosion! The berry powder was marvellous, the chocolate creamy and rich but the best bit was the blackcurrants - they where absolute bliss; tart, rich and totally the essence of berry.

I decided that the balls (along with the raspberry straps I had to review) would be added to the chocolate rocky road cupcakes that I was making for a work shout the next day. They were so easy to use for decoration and owing to their amazing taste I decided one for cupcake would be enough. The next day when my work colleagues tried my cupcakes, I eagerly waited for their thoughts on the ViBERi topping and I can say I wasnt disappointed, they all without exception commented on the ViBERi ball and enquired as to what they were. Many of them asked for me to bring the bag in the next day so they could see for themselves, I did and they were very impressed, with many of them checking out the ViBERi website at their desk.

I will totally be buying them again, and I see they offer free postage over $25 on their website, so that has made my future purchase even easier!! I look forward to sampling the other products in their range as well.

I love the taste of blackcurrants, have done ever since I was a kid too young to know anything about the health benefits. I just really liked that sweet/tangy combination... so to try freeze-dried berries, wrapped in milk chocolate and dusted with powdered blackcurrant... well, that sounded like heaven in little ball format to me!

Trying them on their own, the crisp snap as I bit down was strangely satisfying, although with my naturally brittle teeth every sharp snap had me doing a quick tongue-check to see if it was the berry or a fang that had made the noise. Still, the flavour was rich and sharp, full of the tanginess I know from old but smoothed out by the richness of the white chocolate. Sucking on one gave layers of flavour - first the sharpness of the blackcurrant powder, then the smoothness of the chocolate, followed by the almost-fizzy feeling of the freeze-dried berry breaking apart as it absorbed moisture from my mouth. A bit like slow-burn popping candy.

Wanting to experiment, and having failed miserably to make the "Noir" survive long enough to try with ice-cream, I used the left-overs of the Ruby and the last few "Cacao" to mix into "Toasted Coconut" flavoured ice-cream to give what I hoped would be a tropical flavour. The first thing I noticed was that the blackcurrant powder coating the Ruby didn't stain the ice-cream in the manner I thought it would. There was a small amount of colour bleeding as the dish came to an end and the ice-cream had melted more, but initially it was a clean mix that was quite pleasing to look at. (NOTE: The photo linked to this review was taken about half-way through the eating process, because I got so carried away I almost forgot to snap one!)

The resulting mix was delicious, and while not the flavour profile I was expecting, it was still a delight to eat. The mix of textures - creamy ice-cream and brittle freeze-dried berries with the smooth chocolate as well - proved to be a wonderful mixture for my mouth. As I crunched up the berries, the ice-cream mixed with them to create an almost cheesecake-like texture with a really nice tangy taste. I think if I were to try making this again, I would drizzle some Manuka honey on top to add some really deep natural notes to it - or may just go the whole hog and whizz the lot up in the blender and make an awesome dessert soft-serve ice-cream.

Overall, while the price tag will put some off, and push these into "treat" or "special occasion" brackets for others, I personally feel the price is very fair for such a niche product. It's not as healthy as just the berries, but there are a lot worse "treats" out there full of additives and who-knows-what-those-numbers-mean chemicals. I would eat something like this - which has a minimal ingredient list with no "numbers", and is certified organic so you know it's not had any sprays or nasties - in preference over anything bought from the dairy or supermarket shelf.

Blackcurrant berries, rolled in white chocolate, dusted with blackcurrant powder? It sounds like sweet, rolled in rich, coated in tart. which is pretty much exactly what I tasted when I tried one. What I wasn't expecting was the texture that I got. A quick read of the back of the packet and I had my explanation. Unlike the Viberi Noir, where the blackcurrants were soft-dried, in Viveri Ruby, the blackcurrants have been freeze dried. So the Noir blackcurrants were condensed like raisins, packed with flavour. The Ruby blackcurrants are roughly the same size, but the freeze dried nature makes them crispy and crunchy, like a healthy malteser or crispy M&M.

These Ruby treats are quite an interesting flavour. The combination of blackcurrant and white chocolate actual creates a faux-cheesecake flavour, which comes across very decadent and rich. It's very difficult to stop eating these, but considering these treats are nearly 53% sugar, they are definitely in the "eat with moderation" pile.

For something that is coated in powder, I was quite surprised how little mess came from them. I expected my fingers to be coated in them, instead I just get the odd dot of powder here and there. Quite a well thought out treat.

I asked two friends to help me review this product. He is known for his sweet tooth and his habit of leaving no sweet packet behind, so I told them both that I needed them to give me some feedback and let me take notes before allowing them unrestricted access! His wife is less of a worry, although she too enjoys confectionery of all kinds.

She took one and bit into it with interest, thought for a moment, then said she really liked its crispness and its definitive taste. She could taste the berries as the chocolate, nice as it was, did not overwhelm them. She also thought it had a bit of a "zing". He, on the other hand, said he needed to eat half a dozen before he could give an opinion - but, having done that, he told us that they were one of the most delightful combinations he has tasted. As he has had a lot of experience with confectionery over the years, I trust his opinion. Like his wife, he thought that the white chocolate is a perfect complement to the blackcurrants and the crunch of the fruit provides a delicious contrast in textures.

My own reaction was similar. I really liked it although I had expected a white product, not brown, so that surprised me initially, but then I realised that the outside is dusted with Viberi powder. All three of us could have just eaten our way through the packet, but as usual I wanted to try some other ways of serving the currants.

I tried some with jelly and a blob of cream. I am taking a plate to a children's birthday party in a few days and thought this might be something nice to bring along. So I used a packet of ready-made traffic light jellies as the base (I will probably make my own jelly for the party), put a blob of cream on each one, and then topped it with a blackcurrant. Then I let my visitors choose which colour jelly they would like before taking the third for myself.

They were both enthusiastic about using them in this way. He said he had not had jelly for years so it was a really nice way to showcase the product, and he thought the jelly itself went well with the chocolate and blackcurrant topping - it gave that little extra crunch which was very satisfying. She had eaten jelly only a few days earlier, at another child's party, but said she would not have thought of combining them so it was a good idea which she plans to copy.

All in all, this was a very successful outcome. All three of us enjoyed our introduction to a new product and will be looking out for it in the local supermarket.

This is the third Viberi product which I have been lucky enough to review, and I have to say I think it's my favourite. A delicious crispy blackcurrant berry, encased in a creamy belgium white chocolate and all dusted in a delightfully tangy Viberi powder. The combination of these 3 delectable ingredients made it hard to stop eating these yummy little treats, especially for me being a fan of white chocolate.

When you eat one of these tasty little morsels you have so many combinations of different textures and tastes going on a little party in your mouth. First of all there is the tangy and tart flavour of the Viberi powder, which is then struck by the sweet creaminess of the belgian white chocolate and then all of a sudden there is the crunch of the crispy blackcurrant berry. These do come in a resealable pouch like all of the other VIberi products I have tried however keeping them long enough that you actually get the chance to reseal them is a bit of a challenge with how good they taste, unfortunately for me both my partner and Miss 4 were quick to get on board of trying these and decided they quite liked them too.

I somehow managed to save half a bag and so with these I decided to use them to top some blueberry and white chocolate muffins I had baked after first topping these with a blackcurrant flavoured icing which was made using the Viberri powder, these not only added a lovely crunch to the muffins but they looked lovely upon the bright purple icing. Next of all I decided to take some vanilla ice cream and slightly thaw it, into this I added some grated white chocolate and some roughly chopped VIberi Ruby and mixed it all together. I placed the ice cream back into the freezer for about 15minutes just to help it set a bit more and then dished it up, it was an instant hit with my family and there was certainly none left for another day!

An absolutely scrumptious treat, that believe it or not is actually good for you, as it's packed full of goodness with lot's of vitamin C and antioxidants. The only gripe I had with this product was the teeny tiny seeds of the blackcurrants that continuously seemed to get stuck in my teeth, but then I guess that's what you get for eating blackcurrants. A product I hope to buy again soon, only next time I think I may have to keep them well hidden.