When I first visited a Poundland several years ago, I bought a couple of bags of sweets - toffees and fruit flavoured chews. They were so disgusting that I never bought any other confectionary there until recently, bar items from brands that I have heard of such as Cadbury's. When my friend offered me a unfamiliar but great tasting sweet that she had bought there, I knew I needed to go and buy a bag of my own. They were Kopiko coffee sweets, costing £1 as you can guess, for a 120g bag.


Kopiko isn't a brand that I have heard of, but the bag states that they make the world's best selling coffee candy. Having tasted it, I am not surpised! The sweets are individually wrapped little squares, in a big hanging bag. You do seem seem to get a lot in the pack, which is always a nice to find. The individual wrappers need to be torn open quite forcefully, so I tend to attack one with a biro nib if I am out and about! Once opened, the sweets are revealed to be very dark coloured oblongs. They look like you would imagine solid coffee to look, not that I ever really imagined such a thing.


The company state that the sweets are made with the finest hand-picked Java coffee beans "for a rich taste sensation." I think you can can taste that the real thing has been used to make these, because the taste is amazingly authentic. The flavour really is rich and intense, and the scent is not much less strong. It is exactly like drinking a strong black coffee, with a slight sweetness, and a hint of bitterness at the same time. I would say that they have the same lovely full roast taste of a really good coffee drink. The candies are smooth and hard, like a boiled sweet, which means they last for a long time in your mouth. Even when finished, the coffee taste lingers pleasantly. I usually have a cup of the real thing before I leave for work, but occasionally I run out of time. I found that having one of the sweets instead did give me a pleasant substitute. They obviously don't give me liquid refreshment in the same way, but for a sweet, the taste is quite unusual and very nice. I especially like the fact they are not very sweet, which makes them more palatable to me. I couldn't eat very many at once though, because one gives so much flavour. This is a good thing if anything, because I feel that I have had a real treat after just one.


I would definitely recommend these to coffee lovers, providing you like your drink strong. I have also tried the newer cappuchino varient of these, which are milder and milkier, as well as sweeter. So if that is how you like your coffee, you would probably prefer the cappuchino flavoured ones. They are fantastic value for £1, and they taste high quality despite the low price. They are suitable for vegetarians, but they aren't vegan due to the presence of milk. I have seen both varieties in all of the major poundshops such as 99p Store and Poundworld. I am not sure if they are available in the supermarkets, as I have not seen them there. If you find them, give Kopiko a try, as they are excellent sweets.