Jamtastic - Well maybe not! (Jambos)

Member Name: MaryanneH

Product:	Jambos
Date:	26/09/04 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Kids might like them

Disadvantages: Read review

ARRRGGHHHH. I am appalled, I have found a biscuit that is not coffee or coconut that I don’t like, so now I’ve had a lie down to get over the shock I thought I’d share the experience with my friends.

It all started when in a hung-over state this morning, (we were at a wedding last night, congratulations Shaun and Fiona.) I was walking around Sainsbury’s trying to find something nice to take back for our kids who had spent the night with my mum, then I spotted a very inviting bright orange box with Rowntrees, Fruit Jambos written in big, inviting letters on the box and they looked like those lovely little Jam biscuits that you can get in France, I honestly couldn’t resist.

So, we are all settled down in front of the television having a family night (A Ham tradition where every now and then the kids are allowed to eat their dinner in front of the TV and we watch a film together) and we opened them. Now I was expecting a box similar to the Jammie Dodgers where they were all piled up on top of each other, but no! to my surprise I got 6 longish packets which upon a little investigation by prodding the package revealed 3 biscuits in each one. My reaction to this was one of disappointment as they would be ideal for lunch boxes and to be honest – I wanted them, I didn’t want them to get a ‘lunch box label’ so I’d feel guilty opening them. The packets were quite substantial though and certainly would keep the biscuits fresh.

Anyway, the next step is of course to open the packet, I don’t know why as on the packet it clearly shows a picture of them being round, but I was expecting oval shaped like the French ones, so was a little surprised when I took out a circular biscuit about 1.5” across. But not to be put off by the mere shape I happily pulled out the first biscuit. I am a huge fan of Jelly, so was really exited when a strawberry one came out, it felt odd, not like I was expecting, the outside was harder. Probably again I was expecting it to be like the French ones but it wasn’t. It smelt quite strongly of concentrated jelly, but looked well cooked.

The first taste was nothing less than one of severe disappointment. I took a bite, and it was quite crunchy but so artificial in taste, you could taste the jelly very well, a very strong strawberry taste but the biscuit itself tasted awful, it was not like I was expecting, a good buttery taste like a Jammy Dodger, or nice and soft like a Jaffa cake, it was very bland and just crunchy.

The second taste was not much better. But in true biscuit lovers fashion, and reviewers fashion I completed my research and moved onto the next one in the packet. This was Blackcurrent flavour, and again the Jelly tasted ok, not great but ok and the biscuit was again so artificial.

The final biscuit was Orange flavour and as with orange jelly, the jelly was ok, and well! I think you’ve got the jist of my opinion of the biscuit.

Now moving on to the techie stuff on the packet, the number of calories per 100g are horrendous 435! And quite frankly its not worth it, nor the 99p it set me back. There are also 13.4g of fat in it and the list of ingredients had I read them before hand would have warned me of the artificial taste. Unlike Rowntrees jelly though it contains gelling agent, pectin so is suitable for vegetarians, the Jelly usually contains gelatine.

However I do think that kids would like it, we’d bought ours some Jelly Tots which they were eating instead (guilt at having left them over night) so they haven’t had any yet. They usually have mixtures of dried and fresh fruit in their sandwiches and not sweet stuff, but I will probably let them have a packet each at some point, simply because I will not be eating any more of them. It is the sort of thing that kids will enjoy, they can lick the jelly out and generally make a sticky mess.

So I will end with a shortened list of why not to buy them:

They are by Rowntrees, part of the Nestle group. (check out Jill Murphys review if you want any more info on that)
They taste artificial
Of all the great jelly flavours they do, for some reason they only have 3 flavours in the biscuits
They are horrendously heavy on the calories and fat
I now have a horrid aftertaste in my mouth, that is not hangover related

So all in all do I recommend them, well no all things being equal, I’d rather have a Jaffa Cake.

Thank you for reading

Summary: