Feeling Fruity? – Jordans Cereals New Frusli Bar

I was recently asked if I would like to sample the new Frusli bar from Jordans and upon hearing that it was apple, sultana and cinnamon flavour – some of my all time favourite things (see name of blog!) I was only too eager to accept.

The box arrived yesterday, a little battered but the bars inside had come to no harm. I liked the bright green packaging which instantly made me think of green apples and grapes.

Once unwrapped, the use of whole oats is instantly apparent. As were the sultanas and thin slivers of apple, complete with their red skin. There were also little gooey dark brown blobs which turned out to be pureed apple flavoured with cinnamon.

So how did it taste? It was very fruity and the apple and cinnamon flavours although quite subtle at first, developed as you ate. I would have liked the cinnamon to be used throughout the whole bar rather than just in the gummy pieces, but this is just because I’m a cinnamon fanatic. It reminded me a bit of a caramel apple pie, only with honeyed oats instead of pastry. However, the bar itself was very sweet, chewy and sticky – almost too sweet for my liking. This isn’t necessarily down to too much added sugar, as they also use honey and the concentrated apple puree for sweetness, which is good, but still resulted in a really sweet taste and about half way through I found I could no longer appreciate the actual fruit flavours which was a shame.

I loved the texture the raw oats added to the bar. As you chewed they released a creamy oatiness that helped combat some of the sweetness and I was pleased to read they were British oats.

Overall I’m undecided by these bars.
Good bits – Loved the British oats, real apple slivers, cinnamon flavour and high fruit content.
Not so good bits – overly sweet which overpowered the fruit flavours.

Jordans make plenty of other products which I adore, so maybe my excitement at an apple and cinnamon bar rose my expectations too high. It’s probably best to try these bars yourself and make up your own minds.