Chews
This candy is totally new to me. Until I saw it just before buying it, I hadn’t any idea such a thing existed. That was the novelty, the new candy terrain to be discovered. It also sounded pretty promising, as I’m a fan of its cousin the NERDS Rope. Surely this would be an interesting twist on that. Or at least that’s my hope.
Each rope is about five inches long and looks like red licorice with a blue green goo on the inside. It smells very sour and well, tart. Like a red licorice injected with some sass. I could see this really appealing to kids.
The texture is awesome. You get the nice chew of red licorice and the smoothness of the inside, which is just slick and not slimy. It reminded me of frosting and it has a little bit of graininess to it like chunks of sugar that missed getting mixed in. The licorice is more rubbery and isn’t sticky.
The flavor starts out nice as a good fruity red licorice-like chew, then the goo comes in with a sour berry like flavor. It all goes wrong from there. An intense flavor of soap comes through and just washes all the candy flavors out. Seriously, this aftertaste of fake, perfumey, waxy soap just kills this whole thing, it’s really nasty. I couldn’t finsih my first log because I felt like I had bitten into the bar that was sitting in my shower.
So nasty ICK.
Rating: Inedible
Links:
Wonka Website
As Halloween draws near (horray!) I’m subtly reminded of all the random candy I’d get trick-or-treating that I normally don’t buy for myself. Walking down the aisles in my local grocery stores and seeing the bags upon bags of candy, I see favorites that I haven’t had in a long time. The Tootsie Fruit Rolls are one of these favorites.
I recall fishing these out of my Halloween swag and setting them aside along with my other “don’t trade with the sibling” candy. These usually came with the other “loose” candy, such as Mary Janes, SweetTarts, Hershey’s Kisses, Candy Corn and regular Tootsie Rolls. I was always happy to trade my SweetTarts to my sister in return for these and I also never had a flavor preference either. All of them were delicious to me.
Since I’m too old for trick-or-treating (sob), I picked up a bag to review for the blog. That’s my excuse and I’m standing by it.
Vanilla (blue): This is very mild and sweet with a good vanilla flavor. Aside from the good chewiness factor of the tootsie base, this remnds me of nice fresh vanilla marshmallows.
Lemon (yellow): I love the sunny yellow color. The flavor is like lemon meringue pie, or cake, or some sort of lemon dessert. It’s zesty and sour with a strong lemon essence. The Tootsie part delivers a creamy sweetness, with almost a hint of coconut, and it’s just so tasty. It really got my saliva glands going.
Lime (green): Really nice lime flavor, which is hard to pull off without tasting like a cleaning product. The taste has a nice kick to it and the Tootise base adds a good subtle sweetness.
Cherry (pink): A pretty salmon pink color. The flavor is reminiscent of the cherry Tootsie Pop. It’s extremely fruity with a good juciness and those bright, sweet-sour cherry notes. It’s not medicinal at all, but does have a little bitterness towards the end.
Orange (orange): This has a nice flavor, but it’s not as intense as I was expecting. The actual orange flavor is mild, and the zest it the main feature. It’s juicy and really gets the mouth saliva going.
What can I say, I really enjoy these. Maybe not enough to pick them up any other time of year, but come October they satisfy my cravings for sweet nostalgia.
Rating:Will Eat Again
Links:
Tootsie Website
My sister one the one that recommended that I try these, as she’s a big fan of them herself. SweetTarts are something I only ate at Halloween, as they are pretty standard trick-or-treating fare. They were something that never struck me as anything special, and I’d always go for chocolate when given an option. I saw this bag of the chewy mini version and liked the idea of it. If I’m going to try something, why not go for the kind that seems more like fun?
The SweetTart minis are indeed small, about the size of pencil eraser heads. The colors are much more muted than I expected: very washed out and lightly flecked with white. There’s five flavors in the assortment: grape, apple, cherry, orange and lemon. Pretty standard flavors as you can see. Nothing off the wall or wacky here, which I strange for a Wonka product.
The chewy texture is odd, as they’re a little crunchy and a little chewy. Neither texture is substantial enough for me to feel like describing them as such though . Perhaps they are chewy in regard to the original candy, so it’s all really relative I think. You feel a hard crunch when you first bite down on the hard outer panned shell. The inside feels grainy and a little fluffy. The mini is chewy for maybe 5-15 chomps, but then it just dissolves into sugar bits after that. It is fun to play with them in your mouth though, so I give them points for that.
Grape: Nice grape flavor, not unlike grape soda. At first it tastes muted and then it’s overtaken by the “tart” part.
Cherry: Has a very medicinal flavor at first, then the tartness comes in and it becomes more fruity and authentic. Cherry lovers won’t be disappointed.
Orange: Very bright, sweet and a little reminiscent of Tang. Not as zesty as I was expecting.
Lemon: Hardly any flavor to this, which I find so disappointing! I kept waiting for some nice sour lemon flavors to come forward, but nothing. I don’t even get a tart with this one. It’s just mild and sweet. Too sweet for lemon.
Apple: Very juicy and floral. It’s really one of the best green apple flavors I’ve had to date. The tart was complimentary and it’s very nice.
The flavors of the chewy SweetTart minis were impressive even though the texture wasn’t. I suppose I should just stick to the original next time, right?
Rating:Might Eat Again
Links:
Wonka Website
I know what you’re thinking: what am I doing reviewing Jolly Rancher Chews when I don’t even like the regular Jolly Ranchers? Well, didn’t I say I’d try anything once? I admit, I was curious to see how the authentic Jolly Rancher flavors translated into a chew. I’m not big on hard candies to begin with, so perhaps the different texture is enough to make me change my mind about the flavors. Only one way to find out!
Immediately out of the box they remind me of Starburst, but with subtle differences. The chews are rectangular as opposed to square and they’re also extremely colorful. They must pump a lot of food coloring into these babies. Popping one into my mouth and I can feel a difference right away. The chew is not as long as satisfying as I’d like. Still, they hold their own nicely and are a great option when you want something chewy with those familiar tart flavors.
Green: Green Apple. I expected this to be terribly fake tasting, but it didn’t end up being so. Yes, since it is Jolly Rancher, it still manages to taste fake to me. But here a majority of it comes off as very authentic. There’s a nice tartness to it that tastes of a fresh granny smith. It still really gets the saliva going.
Pink: Watermelon. The flavor is not as artificial as the actual hard candy. It’s much lighter with fresher notes of melon. It still has that strange zestiness to it though.
Red Cherry, yet it doesn’t taste of cherry. It’s very tart, sort of woodsy with deep flavors that strike me more like plums. It’s more of a tart generic “red” flavor. It has a bitter finish reminiscent of medicine.
Blue: Blue Raspberry. Wow, this tastes very fake, even more than the original candy. It’s very fruity, floral with a bubble gum essence to it. Maybe that’s where the fake intense sweetness comes from? I also taste a little melon in there too. Odd how it’s overall effect is blue raspberry. Very strange.
I was hoping that these chews would change my mind about Jolly Ranchers, but they didn’t. I think I have learned my lesson and will move on to better things.
Rating: Not Worth It
Links:
Jolly Rancher Chews Website
Haribo (rhymes with Caribou) is a German confectionery company that is the largest gummi and jelly candy manufacturer in the world. How’s that for an impressive opening statement? They are most well known for their Gummi Bears, which they invented, along with many other classic favorites. Like many candies I feature here, I’ve only gotten familiar with them in recent years and am working my way though all their delicious confections.
Haribo Brixx caught my eye immediately because of the beautiful red package, along with how unique the candy itself is. The Brixx look like little thick rectangles, similar to licorice chunks in a way. They have a “cut” side exposed with six holes filled with a white cream and the whole thing is dusted with some sort of sugar. I’ve read different descriptions online saying it’s either sour or fizzy, and I didn’t know which to believe or expect. To keep things interesting, the Brixx also come in three colors: yellow, red and green.
After my first few pieces, I’m immediately struck by how odd the texture of these are. I expected it to be gummi like, but instead it’s more chewy like licorice. It feels grainy, thick and substantial with a good chew.
Green: The flavor is very sour from the sugar coating (ah ha!) and the flavor is akin to green apple: very bright, floral and juicy. The cream here doesn’t really add anything.
Red: It’s hard to lay my finger on this flavor, but my best guess is strawberry. It’s sweet with fruity notes that learn on the berry side. It’s the least tart of the bunch, but the sour kick does work with it, even though it’s an odd paring with strawberry.
Yellow: This was a surprise. It tastes like pear and this one isn’t as tart as the green apple. The pear flavoring is pleasant and works well with the sour coating. I find it quite unique. On a side note: during my tastings, I got one yellow one that tasted really…off. It’s flavor was of burnt plastic. I’m hoping that’s a fluke.
I loved the texture of these. I didn’t find that I tasted the “cream” inside, but maybe that’s where that subtle sweetness resides. The sour is so strong it’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. The sour coating as odd though, and after a few pieces my mouth began to hurt from the sourness of it. It’s a shame, cause they’re so much fun to chew and the flavors are good, I just don’t want to burn my mouth raw with these, cause pain and candy don’t mix in my mind.
Happy I tried them, but I won’t be getting them again. There’s bigger and better Haribo candy to try!
Rating: Not Worth It
Link:
Haribo Website
