Awesome Naturals - Milk Bottles product reviews

I was thrilled to get the chance to review these Milk Bottle lollies by Rainbow. We are avid Rainbow lolly lovers in our house, in particular miss 4.5 who has Coeliac as the Rainbow lollies are gluten free. The first thing I loved about the packaging was that it clearly stated on the front about no artificial flavours, gluten free etc and this is something I look for immediately when I pick up a bag of lollies. I must admit when I looked through the viewing window when I picked these up my first thought was how these didn't look like the old milk bottle lollies we had when I was younger, so I was hesitant as to how well they would stack up.

I was pleasantly surprised. These lollies had such a nice creamy taste to them, not too overly sweet, they were soft so easy to chew as I am not a fan of hard lollies and boy did they taste good. They took me back to my childhood of getting milk bottles from the dairy. I loved the amount you got in this packet and there were plenty to share around. Miss 4.5 loved the milk bottles and was sneaking them from the packet when I wasn't looking as she loved them that much. It is great to see some more amazingly yummy tasting gluten free lollies coming to the market. In particular Rainbow brand as they are always great quality and the price is a bargain for a gluten free product.

Again, I really love the packaging of these lollies. The colours are nice and bright and catch your eye, so you get drawn into the product very fast. The picture of the bright and cheerful wee elephant on the front of the bag makes you want to smile and I think this product would stand out easily on the shelf at the supermarket. I love the fact that this packet was so super easy to open. I didn't have to use much force and or power to get the packet to open with ease. Another fabulous gluten free lolly product, thanks Rainbow we will be back for more for sure.

Milk bottles are another one of those lollies that bring back happy childhood memories. Heading to Nana's every Saturday morning we were allowed to stop at the dairy on the way and pick out a 50c lolly mixture each. Often milk bottle lollies were hiding inside and they were among my favourites, often left to the end as I always kept my favourites to eat last - after all, the flavour would hang around in my mouth after I had finished right?!

Upon receiving my latest review parcel I was excited to see a bag of the Rainbow Confectionery milk bottles inside. I was really keen to see if they had been able to recreate such a yummy lolly, or even more, if they had managed to make them better.

Looking at the pack I liked that it is bright and eye catching, with a little clear window at the bottom. I do prefer to buy products like this that I can see what is inside the packet. The little elephant means that the packet will appeal to younger children, which I'm sure will help to sell more! It was great to see that there are no artificial colours or flavours in this product, and love that it is a South Island made product, being made just up the road from me in Oamaru (I live in Dunedin).

The first thing I noticed upon opening the packet is that the colour is a little different to what I remember milk bottles looking like. I remember them being while, just like a bottle of milk. These ones however are a little more cream in colour. This does ring true to having no artificial colours in them though and I liked it. Upon tasting one I was pleasantly surprised - they have managed to recreate the milk bottle lolly perfectly! The flavour was just as I remember, and even if this is just because it has been a long time since I had one, they are definitely very yummy. When my husband tried one he said the same thing, they they are just like the lollies from years ago and he found them very yummy!

Unfortunately we had eaten a few before I even thought about counting how many were in the bag. However, compared to some other lolly brands, there were definitely a lot of lollies in the bag. They certainly do seem like value for money and I know this bag will last us a few after dinner helpings!

Awesome Naturals milk bottles really are awesome! I've always loved a good milk bottle lolly but the good ones are hard to come by these days and are usually just in the pick n mix style bags which aren't normally my first choice. You could say that I was definitely excited to try these and introduce them to my children for the first time! I have to say that when the pack arrived, it looked just as great as the photo showed and I feel that these would stand out amongst the hundreds on the supermarket shelf. The fact the bag has a window so you can actually see the product you are buying is very desirable and I would choose this over another brand that didn't any day of the week!

Being that these milk bottles contain no artificial colours or flavours along with their name awesome naturals... then when I looked at the almost yellow colour of the milk bottles (as opposed to being white) I had a little moment of concern that these may not taste the nicest and lack any real flavour. However as soon as I tried one I was pleasantly surprised and taken straight back to the original milk bottle flavour and texture of my childhood. Awesome work Rainbow confectionary, a New Zealand company which makes me even more willing to want to buy this product, you are quite clearly achieving great things.

Our whole family has really enjoyed this product and with the amount that's in the bag for a little $2.79 we will definitely be buying this product time after time. My 3year old thinks these are a massive treat and just one keeps her going for quite some time - she prefers to suck on them. When I asked her what she thought about the milk bottles she told me "they taste yum. I'm lucky to have them. They taste like bananas!" I tried to clarify the bananas point of view several times and as much as I got was "yep bananas", sometimes milk can be a little like bananas". Go figure but hey a 3 year olds perspective is still good for the market they are targeted at These are a little chewy for my almost 2year old but being that he wants to do everything his big sister does he tries his best to eat them and certainly enjoys trying to!

Keep an eye out at your supermarket and give these a try if you get the chance! Not only will we be buying them again but I'll be making sure to try this company's other products as well.

Well anyone who is my age (or older) grew up with the most awesome lollies, such as Raspberry + Blackberries, Candy Carnivals, Spearmint Leaves and of course who could forget the NZ icon the Milk Bottle. I'm not even sure who made the Milk bottle back then, all I know is I used to be able to buy a bag full from the corner dairy for 10c; I'd run back down the street towards home with my friends while we tucked into the overflowing bag on the way. I loved their Milky taste, creamy and sweet.

When I saw there were Milk Bottles to buy by the bag again, I just had to try them. I have only ever seen them in amongst a party pack mix and they aren't the true Milk Bottles, their taste is no longer creamy, they are jubey in taste and consistency and they totally lack the milky taste. When the bag arrived I was surprised and totally impressed to see they were manufactured by Rainbow confectionery in Oamaru (about 90min drive from my house). I visited the Rainbow factory shop over Easter this year and walked away with over $50 of bulk lollies to give as presents to family and friends in Christchurch (they were awesome by the way and very well received).

The bag of Milk Bottles had a viewing window on the packet and initially I was a little concerned by the colour of the bottle, they were not very white, more a cream colour. However, this concern was soon allayed by the taste, the bottles were fantastic tasting, milky and sweet just like the lolly of old! The packet was soon torn completely open and shared by my whole family, they all commented on their yummy flavour with my youngest saying "we need to buy these again Mum".

So I would recommend to all lovers of lollies and old school lollies to buy these Milk Bottles, they are just awesome!

A favourite sweet of mine (among the many I had) was milk bottles, I would buy one or two of the little $1 bags and chew on them on the way home or to school, in recent years though (even before Pascalls went milk free) I have found the flavour going downhill and ceased enjoying them at all. I have been missing having a good milk bottle lolly and so I was very happy to get to try this (as were the kids, because LOLLIES!!!). The packaging is perfect for catching the eye and I love that it loudly and proudly states that it in made in good old New Zealand.


These are an off white colour, which if my knowledge serves me right, is closer to the unprocessed original milk colour than the milk we buy in store. Handed this out to the kids and the ripped into their 'bottle' and promptly asked for more, dissapointed when I only let them have one at a time. I liked that these were a bit chewy, perfect for my preferred way of eating which is chew, suck, chew, suck etc. I wanted to bake these into a cake but I simply didn't get the chance to because the kids just couldn't get enough, and I can't say I blame them, these were delicious. These are also a great price and it seems like a huge amount of product for the size of the bag, I will be buying these again, without a doubt.

When I was teaching in the Middle East one of my Kiwi colleagues would request people sent her Milk Bottle lollies from home. I had wondered what the fuss was a the milk bottle lollies I knew were white, hard and tasteless from the jars at the dairy. I think my friend must have had Rainbow Milk Bottles (she was from the South Island not far from where these are made) as they are so much nicer than any other ones I have tasted. I recently had some milk bottle lollies in a party mix pack and they were so bland compared to the Rainbow ones.

My family were keen to share the task of eating the lollies. My husband's first reaction to seeing them was "They are quite yellow." I agree they were a creamy colour compared to what we were used to. This just shows that it was made with milk and not filled with artifical colouring. Miss 7 and Miss 8.5 quickly got their jobs done so they could have some. They really enjoyed them and loved both the taste and the texture. One of the girls was heart broken when she dropped one and the dog got it. We had a giggle watching her chew on it very happily for a few minutes.

I was surprised to see how affordable these lollies were for the quality. I am sure we will be buying some more packets and trying more of the Rainbow Confectionery range.

Growing up as kids we would buy 50 cent mixtures which always included Milk Bottles. I have fund memories of trading the lollies I didn't want and taking the ones I did want from my brothers, and, I always ended up with their Milk Bottles. I am sure the Milk Bottles tasted like milk back then or maybe it is my memory playing tricks on me. But either way I used to love sucking on the milk bottle as it could last for ages. Fast forward some years later and although I still love Milk Bottles I do not find them as flavoursome as I remember and I find more often then not, they are lacking in taste. I usually eat them along with a jellybean just to get some real flavour into them. When I saw these up for review I was eager to try, more so to see if they are how I remember from years past or at least if they have more of a milky flavour since they use 50% real NZ Milk.

I found the bag they come is nice and eye catching and think the Elephant is so cute. As my youngest adores Elephants she automatically picked up the bag and said it was hers. The bag definitely catches your eye and would be easy to spot in any supermarket aisle. It is also very clever having a clear patch showing the milk bottles as after she had seen the elephant she noticed the lollies and was eager to open straight away and try one.

Opening the packet is not hard at all and can easily be ripped into and I was surprised by how many milk bottles where actually in the bag. I was expecting the bottle to be more white but instead found it a dusty kind of cream colour. But, after popping it into my mouth I found after about 3 chews the milk flavour hits you. Although it is not as strong as I would like they are better than any of the others on the market today. They were a hit with both girls. My husband who is not a huge fan of Milk Bottles tried one and said they had way more flavour then the Pascal ones.

I find the price is awesome and I would have no hesitation in purchasing a packet again. Overall I am impressed by the flavour of them and like I said the elephant is so cute and my daughter already has dibs on cutting it out once the milk bottles have been finished. One good thing is I found I only needed about two or three and I was content - which means this packet could last for a very long time.

I absolutely love milk bottles but when we get them out of the supermarket pick and mix, they seem to be quite hard and lacking flavour so I was keen to try these ones out and compare. As soon as Miss 8 saw them, her eyes lit up and we were both keen to try them out. Miss 8 isn't the hugest lolly fan, so we were off to a great start.

I handed her four milk bottles as an after-school treat, along with a muffin, some icing and a few other supplies and told her to go for it decorating the muffin. 3 lollies went straight into her mouth, but I have to say I was quite impressed with how she used the remaining one - she discovered it made a great butterfly along with cut up marshmallows for wings as per the picture. We've already done the butterfly birthday theme in this house, but I'd definitely recommend these lollies for anyone wanting to a butterfly theme as I thought it looked great and it was so simple!

We've been enjoying these lollies, a few at a time over the last few days and I am loving how long the bag is lasting - this bag is huge for less than $3 - awesome! And I was really happy to note that these have a beautiful soft texture with a noticeable milky flavour - no complaints at all on this basis. I love that they are NZ owned as it's nice to support local enterprise too.

Miss 8 has her own little quirky way of eating these - taking the lid off (ie biting off the top) and then sucking the milk out (ie sucking on the remaining bottle)... it's memories like this that will stay with her a long time and become special childhood memories for her so I hope milk bottles don't go anywhere any time soon - they are such a fun lolly, and this brand certainly comes highly recommended,

Milk bottles have always been my 15 year old daughter's favourite lolly with a pascal party mix she would always search through and pick out all the milk bottles only to be dissapointed that there were very few in these mixes. I could never get to grips with the pascal milk bottles they were just too hard on my teeth and I do myself prefer a softer lolly. Fussiness goes out the window when you adjust to being gluten free so when I saw these lollies were gluten free I wanted to try them.

I must admit I really enjoyed them the milk bottle was a lot softer and easier to eat than I remembered they felt less jelly like and more milky. You could definitely taste the milk flavour come through and being made from 50% milk solids you know you are getting a natural milk taste come through. My Miss 15 loved them and was impressed with the size of the packer and just how many milk bottles there were in the bag. This gave everyone else in the family a chance to actually have a milk bottle for a change.

My 5 year old enjoyed them but did say he preferred the fizzy bottles to the milk bottles but anything with sugar you can see would take that little guys fancy. I found the bag lasted a good amount of time even with everyone having a share because the packet has a good quantity and for the price means these are really great value for money. I love they are made in NZ with NZ milk so we are supporting local by buying them.

I will definitely be buying again and have seen them at my local four square recently so am quite excited to buy some when the kids lolly jars need topping up. I also noticed some other varities in the range that we would be keen to try next so we may have to have a little lolly testing party with the cousins.

Growing up my grandparents owned and lived in a dairy, which is where as a child I spent all of my school holidays. I always remember the containers of sweets lined up above the top of the scoop and serve ice cream counter which me and my siblings were allowed to help ourselves to when we were good, which as a child you can imagine was the greatest experience in the world, being able to create amazing ice cream sundaes topped with all the lollies you could dream of. Amongst the containers of sweets were milk bottles, these were an absolute favourite of mine and often my go to, however as years have gone on the milk bottles that you can buy these days just do not compare at all in regards to taste and texture, so I was loving the idea of trying another version of milk bottles.

The first thing I noticed was the large quantity of milk bottles per bag, I was impressed by this as bags of lollies seem to be containing less and less pieces these days, the packet says that it holds 11 serves per bag which is a lot, and i'd say without having to count each and every one of the milk bottles that this would be roughly 4 or 5 lollies per serve? This product is made right here in Oamaru, New Zealand which means you are buying and supporting a NZ product when you purchase this which is something I always try and do when I can. With no artificial colours of flavours these lollies really are 'awesome naturals', it is great to see a company taking these factors on board while at the same time being able to create a yummy and delicious tasting 'treat food'.

Taste wise these were amazing and most probably the most original tasting milk bottle I have had in a long time, they are creamy and milky and have just the right touch of vanilla flavour to them, they are made with 50% real NZ milk, which would explain this, in a way they taste to me a lot like condensed milk. I shared this with my lolly loving partner and Miss 4 and they were an absolute hit with them both coming back for more. I would have loved to try these out in a fudge or similar however as we are about to go away on holiday I don't have time, but would love to do so in the future when I can track down somewhere that sells these.

A fantastic product, that is rather allergy friendly with soy being the only allergen present. This makes it an ideal birthday party food, which Miss 4 has already requested. A quality product which I will be buying more of, I can't wait to try other products in the range.

I remember eating milk bottles when I was a child and wondering why, when I could eat them by the handful, I could not tolerate fresh milk. Now I know it is all in the chemical composition, but in those days that was far too complicated. Either way, they were always a lolly I enjoyed.

But they were quite different from this variety. Where they were white, these new milk bottles are creamy in colour. The texture is different too - more chewy, which is great because they last longer. And the taste is stronger and more flavoursome. I ate half a dozen before I could comment with authority: this new version is a definite improvement.

I took them with me when I was visiting friends - we were in Christchurch for the weekend and were calling in for a quick catch up. They are known for having a sweet tooth so I knew they would happily try some of the lollies and give me their feedback.

Mrs Just-Got-A-Gold-Card was really enthusiastic about them. She said they were much nicer than other varieties she has tried in the past, and also said she thought they tasted quite strongly of condensed milk. As the label assures the consumer that they contain 50% milk, that is probably a fair comment.

Her son, who is staying with her between jobs (he is a seasonal worker), also liked them. He said they would be great to have on some of the long trips he makes on the way to different farms as he likes something to do when he is driving - and chewing is one of his favourite hobbies. Since these lollies are quite firm, they would keep him occupied. I am not sure whether or not he was joking; but what was quite sure was that he enjoyed the handful he took to try.

Mrs Just-Got-A-Gold-Card asked if she could try a couple more. This time, instead of eating them, she placed them end to end on her tablecloth then said she thought they would make an attractive decoration on a light coloured cake like a cheesecake or iced sponge. She is famous for her baking, so knows what she is talking about. She also thought they would look good on top of an iced biscuit.

Personally, I thought they were delicious so could probably eat half a dozen in one go. I like the idea of keeping some in the car - I make a lot of long trips too, and sometimes it is nice to have something to nibble on when you are hungry but don't want to stop. I will be looking out for these in the supermarket when I am next in town.