Popping Candy

Ever heard of Popping Candy or Space Dust? It’s a sweet very popular with kids of all ages and comes in a range of colors that pop in your mouth when it comes in to contact with your tongue. This candy comes in a range of appetising flavours and tastes including orange, cherry, strawberry tutti frutti and cola.

Space Dust was prevalent in the late 70s but is more commonly referred to nowadays as Popping Candy. Regardless of whichever name you choose to call these sweets they are as delicious, fun and as popular as ever.

The idea of producing Space Dust was first conceived in 1956 by William Mitchell, a chemist at General Foods. However, Space Dust as a form of candy actually only came in to circulation in 1975. A decade later, Space Dust temporarily went out of circulation but four years later, Popping Candy finally reemerged enjoying sales that were even better than during its original heyday, making it one of the most popular candies on the market.

Space Dust is primarily a type of carbonated candy comprising of ingredients such as sugar, milk, corn syrup, lactose and flavouring. It can also include chewing gum and bubblegum. Popular brands are Fizz Wiz that comes in three different flavours namely, strawberry, cherry and cola. Pop Rocks is a popping bubblegum which is also very popular.

Sherbet Foutains

Sherbet fountains are a timeless classic and one of the most popular sweets ever. It is perfect for those who like their taste buds stimulated. As soon as you put this sweet in your mouth, it starts to produce effervescence along with a sweet and tangy flavor.

They are packaged in a plastic tube with a liquorice dip. Formerly, they were sold in paper packaging. Many consumers regret this replacement since paper packaging added an extra dimension to the experience.

In order to enjoy this confectionery delight, you used to have to bite off the straw and then suck the sherbet through the straw to experience the sherbet dissolving and fizzing on your tongue that was indeed a fun experience. A lot of people prefer to douse the liquorice in the sherbet and then lick it off. Some people simply put the sherbet inside their mouth and enjoy eating the liquorice separately.

Barratt, a division of Tangerine Confectionery, manufactures Sherbet Fountains these days. According to Tangerine Confectionery, the change in the packaging was for hygiene reasons.

If you want to partake in Sherbet Fountains in the traditional way, you either have to look for traditional sweet shops in your area or order sweets online.

Having sweets is a great way of rediscovering your childhood time when nothing mattered more than visiting a traditional sweet shop. Though you may not find the same scenario again you can certainly replicate the experience that you enjoyed in your childhood by seeking out a traditional sweet shop on the high street or buying sweets online.

Retro Sweets

Retro sweets jog the memory and help to recall the charm and glory of ones childhood whether you have reached your 60s, 70s or 80s. Childhood were the days when sweets were at their best and it was fun going to the local sweet shop where you could ask the vendor to take out your favourite sweet from the jar that was filled with yummy delights.

These sweets recalled from your childhood might be Candy Necklaces, Black Jacks, Anglo Bubbly, Cola Bottles, Sweet Tobacco, Space Dust, Sherbet Fountains, Liquorice Wands, Gobstoppers, Wham Bars, or many more examples. Back in the olden days, it used to be fun choosing and buying a quarter of this and that.

In the course of time, many retro sweets have disappeared and branded sweets have taken their place. But surprisingly, in small shops and Internet stores the same magical sweets are still available. These sweets were undoubtedly mouthwatering but it is now becoming increasingly difficult to find a place where you can purchase these confectionery delights on the high street.

Don’t get too disenchanted though as they can be found through online sweet shops and getting them delivered to your doorstep is just a mouse click away. Moreover you get the opportunity to choose an assortment that contains your favourite sweets.

It’s easy to order retro sweets online from the comfort of your home, make your choice from the available selection, place your favourite ones in the cart and get them delivered to your doorstep. Buying them is sure to take you for a stroll down memory lane.

Sweet Shop

We Luv Sweets is not just a fantastic online sweet shop. We also have real, traditional sweet shops aswell. If you would like to visit either of our stores you can find them at the following locations:

Southgate: 44 Chase Side, London N14 5PA
Pinner: 2 Red Lion Parade, Bridge Street, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 3JD


Here you can see sweets in their natural habitat and meet our wonderful and friendly staff. So if you want sweets, chocolates, nougat or any other type of confectionery including a number of classic american candies and american sweets please visit our sweet shops.

Sweets

Sweets, candy, whatever you call them they are delicious, comforting and a great way to enhance entertainment activities such as watching movies. Sweets come in all different shapes, sizes, flavours, textures, guises, and there are always some types of sweets or candy that even the most hardened savory fans will enjoy. We Luv Sweets aims to make sure that whatever your needs are with regards to sweets, we are here to make sure you can get what you need.

Pick 'n' Mix

Whether you are partying, going for a long trip or just planning to have a sweet treat, pick ’n’ mix has always been the best choice for many. Whether you like chocolates, mints, jelly sweets, liquorice or chews, this is a great way to enjoy the freedom of having an assortment of the sweets of your choice.

It is a method of displaying confectionery in small tubs or bins. Customers get the advantage of choosing their favourite combination, which they select by putting the sweets into a bag themselves with the help of small tongs or a scoop that are provided by the store. Generally, pick ‘n’ mix sweets are sold by weight but they can also be sold according to container size.

Such delights as Giant Strawberries, Mushrooms, Jelly Spiders, ABC Letters, Dolly Mixtures, Jelly Babies, Teddy Bears, Cola Bottles, Fizzy Bubble Bottles, Bumper Bananas, Vampire Teeth, Fizzy Mix, Fruit Salad Chews, Black Jack Chews, Marshmallows, Fudge and much more can be found in most selections.

The tradition was practiced by some of the old mainstays in the UK such as Woolworths. Though there are still a number of newsagents and small stores that offer the same treats, to a degree the tradition has fallen by the wayside. These days, one of the most convenient places where you can find pick ‘n’ mix sweets is on the Internet. There isn’t a better way to taste a variety of sweets of your choice so get online now and start ordering.

Penny Sweets

If one popular type of sweet has something memorable to leave in the minds of consumers, it would definitely be penny sweets. Unfortunately, due to inflation the sweets remain but they can no longer be referred to as such.

They came in a mixture of shapes and flavors. Besides their physical appearance, these penny sweets were one of those rare varieties that allowed every lucky consumer the opportunity to enjoy the taste for as cheap as a penny.

Prior to their worldwide existence, these sweets were known to have a British origin. However, they are available everywhere in the world, thanks to a range of online sweets stores.

The extensive choice of shapes, sizes and flavours allowed for an extensive choice for the consumer. They offered a bounty of candies, a plethora of tastes, a large amount of flavours to choose from, a mass of sweets as well as tons of candy treats. Whether you were giving yourself or someone a treat, penny sweets had something for everyone.

Old School Sweets

Would you like to turn back time and relive your childhood? Bringing out your inner child and experiencing the time that you spent as a child, especially old school days is not easy. But if you have already made your mind to stroll through the olden days, there is nothing better than a trip to the local sweet shop.
It is not always easy to find an authentic sweet shop, especially one that contains old school sweets that do not just taste great but are good enough to ignite the sweet memories of childhood. Since such sweets are difficult to find these days, you can create your own small sweet store in your imagination and fill it up with retro sweets that can transport you back to your old school days.
Whether you're having a get together party of old school friends or just a bunch of you have decided to meet up, old school sweets can become an amazing centerpiece and help in creating a wonderful talking point, as by having them everyone will surely remember something or other about their childhood, even if you thought you’d left it behind decades ago. In fact, a custom-made jar of retro sweets can be a great gift for a friend or anyone who is close to you who wants to take a trail through long-forgotten times of play and fun.
Retro sweets include delicious Flying Saucers, Candy Necklaces, creamy Chocolate Mice and a lot more. A personalised jar of old school sweets is great to remind you of the excitement that you used to feel when a shopkeeper unscrewed his jar so that you could choose a treat for yourself.
If you're planning to host a get-together of old friends, you can spice up the party by thinking of a game such as Snakes and Ladders or Ludo and recreate the old carefree days that you spent at school. Retro sweets can be kept as rewards for various different stages of the games.

Old Fashioned Sweets

It is not easy to turn back time or recapture old childhood days when we used to find immense pleasure in going to a local sweet shop and buying handfuls of sweets with a small amount of pocket money. It was fun to be greeted by rows of jars that contained every kind of sweet that one could imagine. You made your choice and then the shopkeeper opened the jar to weigh a quarter of pound and then pack your favorite sweets in a small white paper bag. It is impossible to forget the joy that savouring each sweet gave.

Unfortunately, as we have grown-up, old fashioned sweets are harder to find. People have started buying pre-packed sweets and there is no longer the option of choosing your favourite ones. However, there has been a recent upsurge in old fashioned sweets returning to the high street. Also, if you can’t find a traditional sweet shop in your local area, you can always purchase from an online sweet shop and get them delivered to your doorstep.

In recent times, old-fashioned sweet retailers have made a comeback but they cannot be compared to online sweet shops. The online sweet retailers have a range of old fashioned sweets that will roll back the years. By remaining in the comfort of your home and using the Internet you can choose those sweets that you would have chosen when you were young. As an added bonus, online retailers also sell sugar-free versions of the same sweets. That's great news for those suffering from diabetes and similar problems. Just choose your favourite sweets and enjoy them in the comfort of your home.

Mints

Mints are essentially an edible product that is characterized by the presence of mint oil or a mint flavour. The scent and flavour of mint confectionery is a derivative of oils that are extracted from herbs belonging to the genus Mentha. This means that the source of mint flavour can be anything from Wintergreen oil, Peppermint oil and Spearmint oil.

Confectionery in the form of a hard mint is well liked by people of all age groups and is commonly used as a breath freshener. This is because the smell and taste of mint oil refreshes the mouth and its active components help clean and cool. Some forms of these hard mints such as Tic Tacs and Altoids have a soothing effect on the stomach. Breath freshening mint candies help digestion and are often consumed after a meal.

Peppermint is a natural muscle relaxant and it acts by relaxing the lower esophageal sphincter. When the lower esophageal sphincter gets relaxed, the contents inside the stomach are able to move upwards easily and reach the esophagus. This way, peppermint candy can prove helpful in relieving indigestion and intestinal gas.

In fact, real peppermint oil or its extract is used for treating gastrointestinal tract disorder that results in cramp-like complaints. This accounts for the popularity of mints that contain real gourmet oil, which is consumed frequently after meals to assist digestion and to freshen the breath.

A soft mint has higher butter content so these candies get dissolved almost instantaneously in one's mouth.

Millions Sweets

If you imagine our life without sweets, chocolate and sugar, you would surely realise that it would be a miserable existence. It would be very much like a life without music and it is due to this reason we are attracted more towards sweets as opposed to other tastes.
One of my favourites is Millions sweets. They come in flavours such as bubblegum, orange, cola, raspberry, strawberry, blackcurrant & strawberry yoghurt.
If you think that you are one of those people who are attracted to Millions sweets, then you should not blame yourself for that. I myself am driven towards them.
This liking of sweet things is not just confined to human beings but research has proven that monkeys and apes also have a profound affection towards sweet tastes. Monkeys and apes, when jumping from one tree to another, are actually looking for fruit, and they prefer ripe fruit which is obviously sweeter.
Human beings have created various ways to obtain nature’s sweet tastes and to use them in different forms. Today we have a wide range of sweet products available on the market. Kids especially love confectionery and Millions sweets remain ever popular in the various forms readily available.

Medicinal Sweets

When Summer draws to a close and Autumn rears its head it is not rare for people to start suffering from sore throats and the common cold. While there are plenty of products available through your local pharmacy one can also turn to the local sweet shop for medicinal sweets to help you through these periods.

Some of the most popular choices are:

Army & Navy - a traditional hard boiled sweet available in the United Kingdom. They are black lozenge shaped and flavoured with liquorice and herbs, with a flavour that is similar to Cough Candy.

Cough Candy Twists - a herbal/spice with a medicinal taste.

Throat Chest - A menthol sweet that is very effective in soothing your throat.

Grays Herbal Tablets – a great choice for soothing your throat…and delicious too!

Jakeman’s Menthol Sweets - carefully blended medicinal sweets to provide a soothing vapour action with exciting and mouth watering flavours, including Menthol & Eucalyptus, Cherry Menthol, Honey & Lemon Menthol and Blueberry Menthol.

Aniseed Twists - a type of boiled sweet commonly available in the UK and one of the most popular sweets of its kind on the market.

Although none of the above will cure your ailments on their own they certainly will help soothe your problems and make the experience a better one than it would have been without the benefits that medicinal sweets can offer.

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms is a well-known trademark of cereal or puffed rice product produced by the food company General Mills of Golden Valley in the United States of America.

It first appeared on the market in 1964. It comprises of two major components: grilled oat-based slices and mar bits. Mar bits or marshmallows bits have various colours and shapes. 25% of the volume of Lucky Charms cereal comprises of the latter.

The first packets or boxes of this brand included marshmallows of various shapes and sizes like green clovers, yellow moons, pink hearts and orange stars. With the passage of time the line-up has transformed. Starting with the blue diamond and in 1984 the purple horseshoes and as time passed by various shapes came and went. Pink hearts is said to be the only shape, which is still present on the market since the product’s inception.

In 2004, the size of the marshmallows increased. In early 2006, a different sort of marshmallow named ‘Hidden Key’ was introduced. Its appearance is similar to the shape of a tombstone and coloured yellow. Later on in the same year General Mills introduced another new marshmallow to Lucky Charms named Magic Mirror.

Between 1999 and 2000, the mix saw the addition of ‘New Sparkling Rainbow’ for a limited period. General Mills described it as a multi-coloured sugar sprinkled white rainbow mar bit. This marshmallow replaced the original rainbow.

Love Hearts

Love hearts are small and circular sweets that are manufactured by Swizzels Matlow. The sweets are quite popular in the United Kingdom and they are essentially fizzy, hard, tablet-shaped sweets that are available in a range of fruit flavours. What makes these sweets different from others is a love-related short message on a single side of each sweet.

They can be sucked or chewed. As you chew these sweets, they will immediately disintegrate into a starchy, powdery consistency and then start producing effervescence. The experience is quite similar to having sherbet. In both cases, you'll experience a small amount of foam in the mouth. The key ingredients of these sweets are sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and sugar.

They are available in six different flavours and six different colours, which are yellow, white, green, orange, red and purple. While the yellow coloured ones have a sherbet-like flavour, white coloured Love Hearts have a distinctive tart vanilla flavour. The orange coloured ones have a slight orange after taste, the green colour has a lime flavour, the red coloured variety has a cherry flavour and the purple has a berry-like flavour.

Love Hearts are favourites amongst youngsters and teenagers. That's because of the love related messages that are engraved on these sweets. There are different kinds of messages that one can find on these sweets.  Messages like ‘I Surrender’ and ‘Just Say No’ can be commonly found on these sweets. This makes them personalized and a perfect gift for somebody special.

These sweets are sold in a tubular pack that contains 20 tablets. You can also purchase a larger bag that contains 50 sweets. Alternatively, personalised packages are also available. The production of these sweets began somewhere around 1933 by Swizzels. Today these sweets are just perfect for celebrating or presenting to someone who is close to you.  They are also very popular for wedding favours.

Lollipops

There are a large variety of candies available on the market. There is a widely held opinion that candies were at their best in the 70s and 80s. The kids of that time were really fortunate to have such a choice. I don’t believe that anyone from that generation didn’t like lollies.

Everybody has their own unique way of eating them, some twirl them with the stick, and others roll it with their tongues and enjoy it for as long as possible. Nowadays, lollies come in a wide variety. You can enjoy the hard crust and after eating it you can have the fun of chewing the gum inside. There are also some lollipops that are battery operated. These have the advantage that the consumer doesn’t have to rotate it with his hand or have to roll it with the tongue.

There are some candies that have very high nutritional value. A lollipop can be one such confectionery delight that has a very high nutritional value by having fruit syrup, vanilla extract or milk as an ingredient. In other words lollipops have, in some cases, become a source of high quality food for kids of all ages.

Lollies can be given as presents to your friends; you can also buy them in different designs such as heart-shaped, teddy bears, a flower or even a Barbie doll. Also, if you don’t want to leave your home and you want to get yourself a lolly then you can always shop online and the lollipops will be delivered directly to your home.

Liquorice

Liquorice, also spelt licorice, is very much like the ancient confectionery that people used to use before the invention of fructose syrup. It is highly recommended due to its unique taste and is flavoured with the extract of the roots of the liquorice plant.

It comes in many shapes and sizes including Black Jacks, Catherine Wheels and Pontefract Cakes.

In the USA it is called black licorice to distinguish it from similar confectionery varieties that are not flavoured with the original extract. In Scandinavia there are many varieties manufactured, with an extremely salty version being very popular.

In some countries such as Spain, the UK, Holland, Germany, Canada, Australia and the USA, a product known as red licorice remains equally as popular. Although it certainly looks like liquorice it is made with such flavourings as raspberry, cherry, strawberry or cinnamon rather than the extract itself. Popular versions of this to be found in North America are Twizzlers and Red Vines. Other flavours such as apple, mango, blackcurrant, kiwi and watermelon are becoming prevalent.

The root of the plant contains a sweetener that is far sweeter than sucrose. It also has many health benefits and is known to clear the lungs by way of coughing after consumption. It also has the effect of increasing blood pressure. It is also said to be a mild laxative.

Kids Sweets

I haven’t come across any kid as yet who doesn’t like sweets. Even in my childhood, my friends used to eat so many sweets, from chocolates and candies to anything that tasted sweet. I, being a preschool teacher, used to spend most of my time with kids. I have noticed that parents quite often put something in their children’s lunchboxes that taste. During the break periods kids sweets always got the canteen cash registers ringing and ringing.

With the passage of time one’s preferences and choice changes. There is immense difference in the sweets that I used to eat in my childhood and the kids sweets that are consumed today. I was a bit curious to know whether today’s kids like the traditional sweets that I used to eat in my childhood, so I decided to conduct a mini survey at my school. There was a small talent show in my school so I decided to offer some traditional sweets as a prize. I thought this would give me an idea about this generation’s preferences.

I went to the candy shop to buy some traditional sweets. It was a long time since I had had the chance to go there. It wasn’t that I don’t like sweets; I love sweets, but I just hadn’t bought any for ages.

After searching for a while for the sweets in the candy shop, I noticed that I couldn’t find any of the traditional sweets I had enjoyed so much when I was younger. I decided to ask for assistance from the salesman. He told me that he only had contemporary kids sweets in the shop but he gave me the contact numbers and addresses of some shops that might stock what I was looking for.

Thanks to his advice I found the candies I was looking for. I bought the candies to school and there I was pleasantly surprised to see that the kids loved them. This clearly proves that no matter from what era the sweets emanate from, they will always be popular and loved by the current crop of kids.

Jelly Belly

Jelly Belly has established itself as a candy corporation specialising in jelly beans production. The company has its headquarters in Fairfield, California, USA. It has an annual output of a reported thirty four million pounds of jelly beans, with a production unit spanning almost 74,000 square metres. There are also production facilities located in the north of Chicago as well as Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin.

Today, Jelly Belly is the world's No. 1 gourmet jelly bean, the bean of choice for all those with the most discerning taste, and made in 50 official flavors and a dizzying array of new flavors, special collections and wacky flavors.

The range features amongst others the following: Berry Blue, Blueberry, Bubblegum, Buttered Popcorn, Cherry Cola, Chocolate Pudding, Cinnamon, Coconut, Cotton Candy, Green Apple, Juicy Pear, Kiwi, Lemon, Lemon Lime, Liquorice, Mango, Orange Sherbet, Pina Colada, Pineapple Crush, Raspberry, Red Apple, Sizzling Cinnamon, Smoothie Blend, Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Daiquiri, Toasted Marshmallow, Top Banana, Tutti Frutti, Very Cherry and Watermelon.

Other products in the Jelly Belly range include BeanBoozled, a type of confectionery Russian Roulette, featuring some of the well loved flavours named above along with stomach churning alternatives such as the vomit flavoured Barf, Canned Dog Food, Baby Wipes and Rotten Egg. The regular flavours are the same colours as the crazy flavours so you never know what you’re going to taste until it’s too late!

Jellies and Gummies

Made from a clear tasteless substance on to which candy is added, jellies and gummies are also known as jelly sweets. Among the various types available, Gummy Bears are probably one of the most popular.

They were invented in 1922 by Hans Riegel, the owner of the German candy company Haribo. In the United States, Haribo gummi bears come in 5 flavours: raspberry (red); orange (orange); strawberry (green); pineapple (colourless); and lemon (yellow). Many other companies use more exotic flavours and colours. Another German company, Trolli, manufacture "gummy" bears that are similarly most often sold in five flavours in the United States, however Trolli's red gummy is cherry-flavoured as opposed to raspberry.

There are countless kinds of jellies and gummies available including cola bottles, Smurfs, cherries, army men, watermelons, oranges, apples, octopuses, lobsters, worms, frogs, sharks, peaches, fizzy blue bubble bottles, soda bottles, etc.

Concerns arose five years ago as to what impression gummies would give to children in respect of the safety of animals. This was raised by an animal rights organisation. It should be noted that jellies and gummies were produced in shapes similar to chickens, squirrels and snakes. Concerns were raised by the fact that these animal shaped products could create a negative point in the minds of kids with regards to appropriate conduct towards these animals.

Jack Daniel's Fudge

Jack Daniel's Fudge has for a very long time been considered one of the most sought after sweets among confectionery lovers. Are you in search of a mouth watering fudge? If you are, this is why you need to keep reading.

There is no doubt that Jack Daniel's Fudge is amongst the most fashionable sweets and candies in the United Kingdom and is now readily available as a specially branded fudge. It has the ingredients that any fudge normally has as it is soft, fresh and creamy and is made with sugar, syrup and milk – the discernable difference is the added touch of the worldwide renowned taste of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whisky

Aside from fudge, there is also an assortment of products available from Jack Daniel's. These include amongst others Jack Daniel's Coffee, Jack Daniel’s Chocolate, Jack Daniel’s Mustard, Jack Daniel’s Toppings and wonderful Jack Daniel's Cookbooks which give you access to a multitude of recipes that incorporate the unique taste of Jack Daniel’s.

There are simply scores of different products incorporating the unique taste of Jack Daniel's but we suggest you start your journey by sampling the delights of Jack Daniel’s Fudge. It is also worth considering as a gift, as the packaging makes for a perfect present for all occasions. Enjoy!