In this review, I’m taking a look at Cherry flavoured Balla Stixx from Haribo.

These are a popular fruity candy stick, with a firm but creamy candy centre and a fruit flavoured faux-liquorice like outer coating.

The popular product specialty from Spain, HARIBO Balla Stixx, are aromatic-delicious cherry-tasting fruit gum confectionery bars in a 200 g bag. | Haribo

Prior to this I’d tried the Raspberry and Blackberry flavoured version, though honestly I couldn’t tell you which flavour the blue part is supposed to represent.

Haribo manufacture these in Spain and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at least the Strawberry and Cola varieties available in UK supermarkets. The fact there’s no less than EIGHT additional languages on the packet tells me these are a popular export in Haribo-land… with the interesting part being that none of those languages are English!

Flavour wise, these are a dark sort of cherry flavour with a pleasingly tart tang. It’s not a real fruit taste, but it’s far enough away from Cherry Chapstick to not be off putting.

These sticks aren’t tough to bite through or particularly chewy either. Pieces break away easily enough and if you’re the ‘playing with your food’ sort, you’ll be able to peel the outer fruit gum away from the candy paste interior without much difficulty. You’ll also be able to snap a shorter length off, squeeze it in the middle and push the filling out… leaving you with a perfect cylinder of fruity outer. There’s just something about them that invites messing about.

They’re not a gourmet candy by any stretch of the imagination but you get pretty much what you’d expect. I have to say I preferred the Raspberry and Blackberry flavour to Cherry, so I wouldn’t bother making a repeat purchase of these particular ones… but I could be tempted to give the Cola version a try!