Haven't had a survey for nearly 3 months from ciao :(
Haven't had a survey for nearly 3 months from ciao :(
Member since:20.03.2007
Reviews:85
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At the tender age of 22 I am lucky to have any teeth left after the amount of Polo's I used to eat at secondary school. Fortunately for me I have excellent teeth, but that's no thanks to the vending machine company who installed a sweet confectionary vending machine in our school hall and our sports hall. As a result I think I was known for having at least one packet of Polos in my pocket at any given time, and I mean at least one. Each packet of Polo's between 1997 - 2002 used to cost 0.20p from the vending machine which always left plenty of dinner money left over. They are also the most convenient mint to stash in a small blazer pocket and distribute amongst friends without being noticed by the eagle eyed teacher.
Whilst at secondary school Polo were selling 6 different varieties, though our school only stocked 4, I preferred the mint versions to the fruity varieties or the sugar free and so these became by sweet of choice.
The 6 varieties (+ additional varieties on sale at other times) are as follows:
Original
- a peppermint sweet with
approximately 23 mints in a tube. Each tube is wrapped in a silver foil which is tucked in at the end to preserve their freshness. The silver foil is then wrapped in a green paper wrapper which details the "POLO" logo and the original flavour. The back of the wrapper has the ingredients written on it. The Original Polo was introduced to the public in 1948 and quickly became a favourite.
Spearmint
- again with approximately 23 mints in a tube and wrapped in exactly the same way as the Original mint, but with a turquoise blue paper wrapper. The Spearmint Polo was launched in 1994 and has also become a firm favourite, however over the last few years I have found that they are not being stocked as readily by shops as the original variety are. The old version of Spearmint Polo's were white with blue specs, this was the spearmint bits. Unfortunately now if you put Original mints and Spearmints in the same bowl you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, aside of the overpowering spearmint smell from them. The Spearmint Polo's are no longer white and blue, they are solely white and also much easier to eat, just like the Original ones. I used to find that the Spearmint Polo's were sensitive on my teeth; this is no longer a problem.
Fruit
- These boiled sweets compressed into the traditional polo shape are still available and stocked throughout the UK. They come in several fruit flavours, including; black-current, strawberry, lemon, orange and lime. I really dislike this brand as I prefer mints and not boiled fruit sweets.
- These mints are exactly the same as the Original flavoured Polo's but substituted Sugar for Sorbitol.
Citrus
- The Citrus flavoured Polo's were a limited variety available when I was at secondary school. They were lemon flavoured and not smooth like their peppermint friends. Instead they were rougher and slightly more crumbly compared to the hard texture of the Original Polo.
Buttermint
- I think I remember these from school also, they were similar to the Murry Mints you can buy in the shop, but as standard they were compressed into the Polo shape. I believe these were a very limited edition.
Extra Strong
- Polo went into competition with Trebor Extra Strong Mints by producing Extra Strong Polo mints. They have the same peppermint qualities of the Original mint but tickle the taste buds of those who fancy something a little stronger.
Cinnamon
- I know nothing of this flavour and have never experienced them, so cannot comment on the flavour of longevity of their survival.
The Hole
- Nestle created the "hole" in Polo, the centres of the original Polo's were all put together in a tin and sold separately as an add-on to the Polo success. These mini mints were a novelty at the time but fell in line with several other brands of mint breath fresheners such as tic-tacs and failed to make an impact on the market.Nestle have also manufactured the Smoothie Polo's, fruit and cream flavoured. I believe these come in Strawberry and Cream and Black-current and Cream, though again I haven't tried them and cannot comment on how pleasant they are.
All Polo's are compressed sugar and glucose with added flavouring, peppermint oil for Original mint in which the peppermint oil gives it its shine and smooth texture. Polo's were launched with 16 mints to a pack and if you go abroad of buy foreign packaged Polo's in cheaper UK shops the packets are noticeably smaller, just the like older versions. Nestle claim to produce 20million Polo mints a day in the UK alone.
If you enjoy Polo's as much as I do I would recommend buying the 'real' UK ones. The Polo's with foreign packaging never taste the same and often crumble much easier than the fresh UK variety. Also they are no longer a mere 0.20p in the shops. The average price for a packet of Polo's is anything between 0.25p and 0.43p - the Spearmint version tends to be priced a penny or too higher than the original mint.
I have placed this under the mint category on Ciao because that is my preferred choice of Polo, I do find them addictive, which is why I used to purchase so many at school, though I will admit I am not quite so bad nowadays. I find that once I eat one the rest just fall out of the tube and are quickly consumed. This is especially true of the Spearmint variety though I cannot pinpoint what makes them so more-ish.
Do I recommend them? Of course I do and it is for this reason that i believe i am Potty about Polo!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
You certainly like to compare UK and non-UK versions of stuff! Very well researched, or in a couple of cases, re-lived (I suspect?) from your schoold days! I had entirely forgotton about the "murray-mint-like" polos; like you, I have not experienced the cinnamon variety - methinks that's an American-market release, to compete with their Fireballs and similar. Exceptional.
Gary25 12.09.2008 18:12
Some interesting facts there, there's something extra to the spearmint, I agree - sort of a mellow calming taste (if there is such a thing). I'm intrigued that you say approximately 23 per pack, have you come across any with more or less? If so, perhaps they could become collectors items. Regards, Gary.
Aug 18th, 2008
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
