RJ'S Raspberry Choc Twists product reviews

I love RJ's Raspberry Choc Twists, in fact, they're one of my favourite lollies to munch on. I was pleased to see that they now had a Palm Oil Free version and was interested to see whether it had an impact on the taste. The packet looks like paper but has a plastic feel to it and the Twists on the front are almost to scale. There is no way to seal the bag up but I didn't think that would be too much of an issue.

Appearance-wise, I couldn't tell the difference between the old and new versions. Same red twisted licorice with a chocolate cone centre. When it came to tasting, the only difference I could find was the milk chocolate. It tasted the same - smooth and velvety - but didn't have the same hardness to it. With the older version, you could snap the chocolate whereas, in this newer version, you couldn't. To be honest, it does say it has an 'improved softer centre' on the packaging and I'm assuming this has something to do with it being palm oil-free.

My girls tried them and loved the flavour. When I asked them what they thought, they both just said, 'delicious!' and then asked for another one! The packet says that there are 7 servings but I would imagine they would be more. My girls were satisfied with 2 pieces and you could always cut them in half to make them go a little further. In the end, I did need to seal the packet up and save them for another day. I am really impressed that RJ's have made the conscious decision to make palm oil-free products that have not compromised the taste or flavour. These are delicious treats and now I can claim they're almost guilt free!

Sweet treats are my Achilles heel, I have never really been a savoury food person. While browsing the KIWIreviews website I noticed that there were some packets of a delicious RJ's product available to review. The product was Raspberry Choc Twists, now while these are not a new product, there have been some changes made to the original version. I put my request in, and was stoked to receive a packet.

The packaging is like most of RJ's products, bold and beautiful, certain to catch your eye on the shop shelf. The RJ's logo sits proudly at the top, and to the left of this is a statement saying 'Proudly Palm Oil Free', to the other side it says 'Nut Free.'
There is no mistaking that inside the product is Raspberry Choc Twists, and there is a visually appealing image of 4 of the delicious twists, with a comment saying they have an improved softer centre. This packet is 280g in size, which according to RJ's means there are 7 servings, however me being a garbage guts only managed 2 servings OOPS!

I cut the packet open and took my first tasty morsel out, the texture was as I expected of the licorice. When I took my first bite I was pleasantly surprised to taste that the chocolate in fact was softer than the original, however this also meant that I craved more. The twist outer is a tad chewy, but the raspberry flavour is delicious and more dominant in my opinion than the chocolate, I would like a dark chocolate version to try balance the flavour a bit more. The twist colour is a vibrant red, and encompasses the chocolate filling with a good ratio.

RJ's has developed this product free from palm oil, as is now the case with all of their confectionary products. I personally try to purchase items without palm oil, this is mainly because I do not like the environmental issues which come from the planting and harvesting, including the loss of habitat for some endangered animals. I believe brands like RJ's that operate ethically should be supported, especially being a NZ brand.

I highly recommend this product as a treat or a snack for all ages, my children quite happily gobbled these up. In the future it would be nice for the packaging to be resealable to retain the freshness once opened, I look forward to seeing some new products in the future from this company.

Raspberry is a flavour that I really enjoy but that I rarely get because the flavour is either always to weak or the sweet is too strong, but I am always open to trying things again (especially when I know that someone in the house will usually finish off whatever it is that I donâ ™t like). The kids had their hands out for one as soon as they heard me fighting to open up the bag and quickly got into taste testing the piece placed on their waiting hands. The first thing I really noticed was h=the nice strong raspberry smell coming from the piece in my hand, followed by the fact that the portion size is really good.

Biting into this gave me the perfect balance between the chocolate and raspberry, and it was undeniably raspberry with the perfect amount of flavour and no sickly sweet overdose. I did find it felt a bit gluey if I ate the whole piece in one go and so needed to eat one over three bites, but this just helped lengthen the enjoyment of the treat, so I wasnâ ™t annoyed. The kids loved theirs and would have finished off the bag if I hadnâ ™t been keeping an eye on it and all three agreed that we should buy some more in the future. This was a great treat for the family, the only downside being that the bag was rather tough to open without scissors, so I will just keep some next to me when we get a bag of these next.

My whole family has been brought up on licorice. For as long as I can remember, my nana has had a bowl of the stuff and whenever we go to her house the first place we all beeline to is the kitchen. Growing up mum always brought licorice as a treat and I have followed the tradition and you can always find licorice in the house somewhere.

Because my girls have got the same licorice bug I actually took to hiding these in the vegetable draw and have been having one or two every couple of hours content in the fact I would never be caught out. Last night however, my youngest had a craving for carrots and opened the vegetable draw and looked straight at me. My face dropped and my husband said whats wrong. When she said at the top of her voice, with hands on her hips 'what is this doing in here and can I have one' all I could do was laugh - busted!

I love every flavour when it come to licorice and especially when you add chocolate to the mix. I do admit when I go to the dairy I always end up buying a chocolate licorice log or on occasions the raspberry flavour so I kinda knew what to expect. Except these have a twist to the raspberry so they are more chunkier. The flavour is still spot on and you can taste both components easily. The licorice also gets stuck to your teeth so you get the enjoyment of running your tongue over the little nuggets until they unlodge.

Although I adore these, the flavour is a little sweet and where as with other flavours I can not stop eating them I find with this flavour that you only can eat two at a time or else it becomes too much. Which I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing? I don't think I would buy a packet of these again, only because I prefer other flavours better.

What I like most about these sweets is the way you can eat several in a row without getting a sore mouth! Some licorice can be acidic and cause irritation to the tongue and inner cheeks, but this variety is beautifully smooth and can be eaten ad lib. Maybe that is not so good - I certainly was tempted to eat more than I should have done. However, I consoled myself by checking that the ingredients were high quality with the bonus that rice bran and coconut oils were used instead of palm oil - a plus for the environment.

We ate several apiece before deciding it might be time to put them away to finish another day; there can be too much of a good thing. I don't usually eat much chocolate as it is not my favourite confectionery item, but these twists have the chocolate hidden in the middle. They are fun to eat: whether you suck them slowly or bite into them, there is always that wonderful moment when the chocolate melts and suddenly rushes out to greet you. At that stage it does not really taste of chocolate; it is more of a sweet, sticky mixture that joins the soft raspberry shell to plaster itself on your teeth. That may sound weird, but it is a wonderful sensation. You then spend the next few minutes waiting for it to soften some more and detach itself again. Those minutes should be relished as you can simply stop talking and enjoy the experience.

Because they were so delicious, we decided to eat them as they were straight from the packet. A slight compromise was made as we had some blanched nuts, so thought it would be fun to tip the sweets on to the plate and mix the two. I will admit that the combination of the licorice and nut was much nicer than either on their own; they also looked good on the plate together and would not be out of place as a party dish or an afternoon tea centrepiece.

Because of our lockdown status, I was unable to get the rest of the family to come over and try some as they normally would, so I made sure to keep a few back for them to sample when we next see each other. Knowing that licorice is a favourite for all of them, I am sure they will be appreciated! Meanwhile I will try to keep my hands off them, but it is possible I might need to buy another packet for sharing if I have to wait too long. Who knows?