[Review] Lollies by Leah gourmet lollipops (Part 1)

 

• Shop name: Lollies by Leah

• Location: Austin, Texas

• Known for: Colorful, handmade gourmet lollipops that are vegan and gluten-free

TL;DR I was not completely in love with the flavors I got, but they were fun and made me want to try others. I think it's personal preference, though, because they were a big hit when I shared them!

 

Flavors

🖤Blueberry Cobbler

(As described) 

I was so excited about this one that I ordered a set of 12, because I obviously expected to love them. Unfortunately, it didn't resonate in exactly the way I wanted. This tasted like there was some cardamom or other spice, which took away from what I was expecting. I don't think there was a longer description of this flavor, either, so there was no way to tell that was part of the blend. It did taste overall like a cooked blueberry with some sort of vanilla or other creamy flavor next to the warm baked goods. While it wasn't my style, my coworkers specifically told me how much they loved this one.

 

🖤Captain Conehead

(Crunch Berries + ice cream + waffle cone)

It does smell like a waffle cone, which is cool. This one is very sugary! It has a berry ice cream taste, especially in the aftertaste. The waffle cone and cereal are hard to distinguish from one another, which lends to more of the ice cream vibe rather than cereal. I think I would like this better in real life instead of lollipop form.

 

🖤Circus Animal

(Circus animal cookies + sugar cookie dough + frosted sugar cookies)

I was very excited for this one. Since I don't eat dairy, it has been impossible to find a frosted animal cookie that I can eat. (Sure, I could make them myself, but that is more work than I am often trying to put in.) This disappointed me because it not only does not remind me of those cookies, but I realized that for my taste, I was probably not going to be happy getting more of these lollipops with multiple flavors listed (spoiler: it will not stop me from trying again). Three things were listed here, and I expected to distinctly taste all three. It seems silly now, since everyone experiences taste differently, and it's no doubt very similar to smell, where you find more nuances once your nose is trained to pick up on them. Regardless, this tasted generic, pretty much like sugar with the smallest amount of some "confetti" or birthday cake-type flavor. I ate a lot of it while waiting for more, but it wasn't there.

🖤Dole Whip Float

(Pineapple vanilla soft serve)

Unfortunately, I didn't get much pineapple from this. It mostly tastes like sugar with the vague impression of some nonspecific fruit.

🖤Elephant Ears

(Cinnamon sugar + flaky crust + fried batter)

Immediately, this is very familiar. It reminds me of a cinnamon breakfast cereal that I don't really like. Maybe I'm thinking of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which, like this, I only eat when I am in a very specific mood. After a minute or so, I get through the initial layer of sweetness and mostly get a dulled, spicy cinnamon on slightly-fried dough. There's not much flavor, and I wouldn't reach for this again.

 

🖤Fry Bread & Mesquite Honey

(As described)

This was a free lollipop with my order. It was one of the last ones I tried, because I kept reading 'fig bread', which sounded unappealing. I think it tastes pretty much like it sounds - like fried dough but mostly a dark, deep honey. I'm picky about honey, and this was not my style. Something about it reminded me of bananas, like the honey was the same flavor as caramelizing a banana dessert.

🖤Pear

(As described) 

This is a very warm real pear flavor, more savory than cool and fresh. It almost seemed spicy at first. It is not exactly what I expected but still good.

 

🖤Pool Day

(Salted watermelon + pineapple + blue raspberry) 

This does taste overwhelmingly like salted watermelon, with hints of the other flavors that are hard to pick out but give some nuance to it. Funnily enough, I ordered this even though I don't like salted watermelon. It's pretty good but not really my style.

 

🖤Step Right Up

(Caramelized pralines + popcorn + Nilla wafers.)

Very sweet; the dominant flavor is half caramel that is pretty good and half nuttiness, with salted popcorn appearing on occasion. I wouldn't say I get Nilla wafers specifically, but I can detect something that is a little bit like a vanilla cookie.

 

Thoughts

Do you ever have something enter your mind and stay for so long that you don't remember the origin? I cannot remember who first posted about these gourmet lollipops, but I got so excited to try indie candy that I started following the company on Instagram immediately. Being on a huge blueberry pastry kick (big surprise), I ordered as soon as the owner posted the Blueberry Cobbler flavor in summer 2019. It's hard to judge a lollipop - the presentation was nice, and the flavors were fun. This assortment happened to not be my style, unfortunately, but that's no discredit to Lollies by Leah.

Overall, I don't have any bad things to say about the company. I think they are doing a great job at communicating and executing on a ton of creative ideas! This package was fun to receive, and the lollies were exciting to photograph. The brand image was so strong that I ended up trying many more flavors in subsequent orders - stay tuned for those!