Mars Starburst GummiBursts Flavor Duos

Yet another Mars review! It takes time for new candy to work its way into my local grocery stores, and it looks like all the Mars products hit at once. Again, it's a familiar product with new fusion flavors.

Starburst GummiBursts haven't been around as long as some other classic Mars fruit candies like Starburst fruit chews and Skittles, but they seem to be doing well. Flavor Duos is the third variety of GummiBursts (after regular and sour) I've seen, and there are probably more. There were four flavor combinations: Green Apple Strawberry, Cherry Fruit Punch, Strawberry Watermelon, and Lemon Cherry.


Green Apple Strawberry was dominated by the crisp, tart green apple flavor. It was good, but I could hardly taste the strawberry! The firm texture of the gummy part made for an enjoyable chew.

Cherry Fruit Punch had a yummy classic red fruit snack taste. It was both tart and sweet with a hint of a vitamin flavor. Also, the colors of this piece reminded me of a red blood cell.

Strawberry Watermelon was the star of the bunch. The watermelon center was sour and fantastic, and it went well with the fairly authentic flavor of the strawberry gummy.

Lemon Cherry had the same zesty lemon flavor as a regular lemon Starburst, but the cherry center tasted a bit medicinal to me. Still, this one was enjoyable, it just wasn't my favorite (and lemon flavors are usually a sure bet for me).

All in all, these GummiBursts were sweet but not cloying, tart but not sour, and the slightly firm, bouncy texture of the gummies was just right. The flavor combinations weren't all that new or exciting, but the Strawberry Melon and Cherry Fruit punch were particularly well done.

B

Starburst website

Mars Starburst Sweet Fiesta

The thought makes me cringe now, but I used to play with my Starbursts like modeling clay to create hybrid flavors. I would mold two or more flavors together, make little shapes, and eat them. The idea of handling candy so thoroughly grosses me out these days, but maybe it was part of the reason I rarely get sick as an adult.

The newest (to my knowledge) offering from Starbust is called Sweet Fiesta, and it offers a more sanitary set of hybrid flavors. The fiesta includes Strawberry Pineapple, Peach Guava, Cherry Mango, and Melon Berry. Though the flavors are different, I was certainly reminded of the recent Skittles Blenders.


I could smell the pineapple in Strawberry Pineapple, which got me excited. It had a sour, juicy, slightly woodsy flavor, and I could taste the pineapple much better than the strawberry (fine by me). It was a great combination of sour and sweet.

Peach Guava had a tropical, papaya juice-esque flavor. I could only catch a slight hint of peach, and this one was quite sweet and juicy.

Cherry Mango had a fantastic cherry flavor that seemed better than the regular cherry Starburst, but I couldn't figure out why. I didn't taste the mango, just a modified cherry. It reminded me of fruit punch.

Melon Berry had a very fake melon flavor with a richer berry background flavor. It was my least favorite flavor of the bunch, but it wasn't bad.

Overall, the combinations felt fresh, and although some of them missed the mark, it was hard for me to save any for my husband (though I managed to leave him one of each flavor and a spare Melon Berry).

Check out some other reviews at Sugar Hi and Sugar Pressure.

B+

Starburst website

Mars Skittles Blenders

Did anyone else use M&Ms or Smarties in their elementary school math classes? I think it was third grade when my teacher presented every student in the class with their own bag of M&Ms to illustrate simple lessons in percentages and probability. I'm not sure if it was effective, but it was a lot of fun. I still remember that most of the M&Ms in my bag were light brown (I'm dating myself here - this was before the blue M&M).

There are five new flavors in this mix: Melon Berry Burst, Strawberry Lime Blast, Watermelon Green Apple Freeze, Cherry Tropicolada, and Mango Lemonade Freeze. I'm sure it's no accident that those names sound like they came straight off a Sonic Drive-in menu. Now, I mention M&M math because I applied some of the same principles when I sampled this bag of Skittles Blenders. It was immediately apparent that my bag did not contain an even flavor distribution (Mango Lemonade Freeze in particular was underrepresented). Here's a chart to illustrate my point.



Strawberry Lime Blast was similar to a normal red Skittle with a hint of sour lime. It was fruity, tart, and tasty, but it wasn't terribly exciting or special.

Cherry Tropicolada reminded me of cough syrup. The pineapple and coconut flavors were present along with the strong cherry, but it really rubbed me the wrong way.


witness the distinct lack of mango
Watermelon Green Apple Freeze worked well. The initial flavor was an artificial but tasty watermelon, followed by a green apple tartness. I'm not usually a fan of these flavors, but I liked them both here.

Melon Berry Burst reminded me of grape Nerds, but with more of a blueberry flavor. I didn't get much of a sense of melon flavor from this one, and it seemed to just be a rehash of a flavor from Wild Berry Skittles.

Mango Lemonade Freeze reminded me of my favorite smoothie (I've mentioned it before), so it was a bit nostalgic (especially since I just found out that shop is closed). The lemon flavor was sour and almost hit some floor cleaner notes, but it was saved by a good, distinct mango taste. Of all the flavors, this was the most unexpected.

Overall, Skittles Blenders is a decent mix, but it didn't really offer anything new or exciting. Still, it's worth a taste for fans of Skittles and fruity candy in general. Also, it seems like every time I review Skittles, their website just gets more and more cumbersome to navigate. I guess I'm not the target demographic.

B-

Skittles Website

Mars Twix Coconut

Even though I eat a lot of candy and chocolate just for this blog, I try not to let myself lose my love for the stuff. Sometimes, I eat candy just to eat it, and it feels good. One of my favorite "just for fun" candy bars is Twix, so I couldn't pass up a chance to try Twix Coconut. The sample in this review was kindly provided by a PR representative, but please rest assured that I did not let that influence my opinion (and I definitely would have bought it myself eventually anyhow).

Twix Coconut is a new, summery variation on the classic Twix, available starting this spring. The coconut flavor is in the caramel, which should be good news for those wary of coconut texture. Coconut is one of those great polarizing flavors, or at least, when people don't like it, they really seem to hate it. I don't know if it's the flavor or the texture, but I used to be a coconut-hater myself. Thankfully, my husband turned me around.


When I opened the package, the mild chocolate and strong coconut scent of the bars reminded me of German chocolate cake. The coconut flavor in the caramel was good, not too strong and not too sweet, and it went well with the milky flavors that were already there.

Twix is all about the chocolate/cookie/caramel texture combination, so no changes were made to that formula. I liked the addition of coconut flavor; it seemed to temper the sweetness of the bars, which made me happy. As long as you like coconut, this limited edition bar is certainly worth a taste.

B+

Twix website

Mars Starburst Sour/Sweet

Since I usually pay for gas with my card at the pump, I don't often go in gas station convenience stores around town. However, they tend to be treasure troves of new and old candy, and an easy place to find regional items when travelling.

These Starburst don't fall into the "new" category. I'm not sure if they are still in production, but they were purchased in a gas station, and there were only a couple of packages left. It was a risky move, but I went for it.


Sour Green Apple was so sour that it prickled my throat. The apple flavor was very fake, but recognizable.

Sweet Blue Raspberry had a nice sweet (albeit fake) raspberry taste with hints of the tart zing of the fruit, and it was probably my favorite.

Sour Watermelon had an impressive sour punch, but I didn't think it tasted at all like watermelon. It's such a mild fruit that adding sour really makes it unrecognizable.

Sweet Strawberry reminded me of ChupaChups suckers, with a fake but familiar strawberry flavor. It did seem sweeter than the normal strawberry Starburst, and it wasn't as good.

This variety was nothing special, although the sour ones were quite sour. Maybe it's just bad execution, but this variety of Starburst didn't add anything to the brand. I'll stick with the original.

Have a look at Candy Blog for another review.

C+

Starburst website

Mars 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp

Outlet malls are never as good as they seem. It sounds great, decent products at discount rates, but anything that's actually cheap tends to be damaged or defective. When I shop at clothing outlets, good stuff never seems as cheap as it should be.

Oddly enough, this candy bar was purchased at an outlet mall candy store. As you can see in the next picture, it was $1.25 US, which is a little pricey for a candy bar. Since it was an outlet mall, I figured the bar was discontinued, but it's actually rather new to the market. Rosa at ZOMG, Candy blogged about how Truffle Crisp is actually a re-brand of a poorly marketed bar called Fling, and it's an interesting read. The original Fling slogan was colossally bad.


I was expecting the Truffle Crisp bar to be like a Twix, with a cookie layer under nougat, so it was a bit of a nasty surprise when the bottom layer was more like meringue. It was chalky and sweet, and I really wished it was a cookie instead. I only like meringue on pies - things like meringue cookies really don't do it for me.

The candy bar was pretty much doomed for me after that. The melt was nice, but the nougat was so very sweet (especially atop all that crunchy sugar/fat). My husband didn't really care for it either, but one of my friends liked it. I suppose it comes down to your feelings on meringue. Still, it was nice to see something different.

C-

3 Musketeers website

Orbit Pina Colada Gum

I'll admit it - my heart did a little dance of joy when I saw this gum at the grocery store. Orbit is my favorite brand of gum, and rarely am I disappointed by it. One such case was the recent flavor, the polarizing Positively Pomegranate, which tasted good but had a bizarre texture. I should pick up another pack to see if anything has changed.

On the topic of this flavor, both my husband and I thought we had tried Pina Colada gum before but couldn't remember a specific instance. In any case, the gum came home with us because I couldn't resist.


It smelled like toasted coconut, which might instantly put off some people, but I can't imagine those people choosing to buy this gum. The piece was hard at first, and took some tough chewing to get started. It was fruity and sour on the tongue, and sweet coconut dominated the flavor profile, with a background pineapple and a hint of mint.

The sweetness was the first to go, after a couple minutes, and then it was just a mild coconut. The mint hung around for a while, and the leftover flavor wasn't bad. There were occasional bursts of pineapple as I continued chewing. The gum seemed to get harder as I chewed, and had somewhat of a rubbery texture. It became a workout for my jaw after about 15 minutes. Despite this, the flavor was tasty and original, and it makes a great addition to the Orbit line up.

Have a look at Gigi-reveiws and The Impulsive Buy for more.

A-

Orbit Website

Reminder

I just got back from visiting friends in Kentucky, so I have plenty of new snacks to review, but in the meantime I just wanted to remind readers in the United States that the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act is still going on.

If you haven't gotten in on it yet, every Friday, Mars gives out coupons for a free candy bar to the first 250,000 people to register at the website. The promotion is only running until September 25, so be sure to sign up. There is a 4 coupon per household limit, so you still have time to get all 4 if you haven't yet!

Mars Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms

While grocery shopping, I was on the lookout for these M&Ms. The Mint Crispy M&Ms that came out with the most recent Indiana Jones movie were quite tasty, and I looked forward to trying another limited edition movie tie-in (the new Transformers movie) M&M.

I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, despite having them every day at school pretty much until college. I wanted to get a small bag, but the only size my grocery store had was the medium bag. Thanks to a review from Candy Blog, I knew that M&Ms were similar to regular peanut butter M&Ms, only with strawberry flavored chocolate.


The little speckles on the pieces were really cute, and the pieces smelled like berries. The fruity chocolate was a much better match for the peanut butter than I thought it would be, and with the peanut butter, it reminded me of strawberry cake or cookies. The saltiness goes well with the berry taste.

I can't say I liked them better than regular peanut butter M&Ms, but Mars has made a combination that I never would have imagined working here into a pretty good candy. The novelty factor is high, but the taste isn't so bad, either.

B+

Mars Website

Mars Starburst GummiBursts

Here is yet another fairly new product from a familiar brand. I heard about these sometime last year and had been seeing commercials for a few months before I actually saw them at a convenience store near work.

Having grown up loving Gushers fruit snacks, I imagined (hoped) that these GummiBursts would be like Gushers. It seemed weird to see these in the candy aisle, since they look more like fruit snacks, but maybe they are too sugary to be considered fruit snacks (not that those are all good for you).


The bag smelled exactly like fruit snacks that I used to take to school in my lunch. The pieces even had that waxy, firm, slightly sticky feel of fruit snacks. Also, I was really surprised how much juice was in each piece! The pieces may be small, but they are pretty packed. Here's what I thought of each flavor.

Orange was sour, sweet, and burned my throat a little. It didn't taste much like orange Starburst, but it reminded me of orange Dum Dum suckers.

Lemon had better tasting juice - nice and sour, but a little less sweet. The outside gummy didn't taste very lemony, though.

Cherry was the only flavor that genuinely matched its Starburst original cousin. The flavor was exactly the same. Also, it wasn't painfully sweet. I liked it best.

Strawberry had tasty fake strawberry juice, and even though it wasn't as good as a pink Starburst, it was still pretty enjoyable.

Overall, I would have to say that these were worth trying, but maybe not worth buying again. I loved how packed with juice they were, but the gummy part was a little too firm for my liking. Definitely took me back to the old days of lunchboxes, peanut butter and jelly, and quieting down in the cafeteria, though!

B

Starburst website

Skittles Crazy Cores

These have been out in the United States for quite some time now, and there are a ton of other sites that have reviewed them, but I might as well throw in my 2 cents. Everyone's tastes are different, so if your tastes are similar to mine, maybe you'll relate to my take on these.

I have loved Skittles ever since I was little, so a new variety is extra exciting. I remember when Tropical Skittles were introduced, and I devoured those, despite my feelings about banana flavored candy (hint: negative). So, when I saw that the Crazy Cores would include flavors I typically like, such as mango, peach, and lemonade, they sounded pretty promising.


Mango Peach, peach with an orange core, had a tropical feel and a nice amount of tartness. Peach seems kind of neglected in American candy, and this tasted like a passable mix of peach and mango. It was my favorite of the bunch.

Melon Berry, which was pink with a green core, tasted berry sweet and not too melony. It was my least favorite, and just didn't have that tart punch that even the Wild Berry Skittles carry.

Cherry Lemonade was red with a yellow core, and the outside tasted like a cherry cough drop. That was a big negative right off the bat, but I did enjoy the citrus zing of the lemonade core.

Blue Raspberry Lemon was blue with a yellow core, and a little perplexing. The coating had an almost perfumy taste to start with, and that was downright gross. But it faded quickly, leaving a classic blue raspberry flavor (like Blow Pops). The lemon was mellow and sweet, and could have used a little more sourness.

Strawberry Watermelon, green with a pink core, was my second favorite. The strawberry was like a good sucker - bright and a little tart. The watermelon core tasted fresh and light (and fake), and it wasn't too sweet.

I am not sure why there are two flavors with lemon-based cores, but these Skittles were at least enjoyable. The regular flavors are better, but the Crazy Core concept was fun to eat. After my third Skittle, I could feel a sugary film in the back of my throat, which one of my coworkers calls The Skittle Spits. Just thought I should warn everyone.

B-

Skittles Website

Skittles Unlimited

I picked these up at a gas station in London, Ontario last year and it was the last bag left. In America, these came out as Skittles Carnival, but in Canada, they were the Unlimited limited edition. One of my Flickr contacts pointed out what a contradiction that is.

Anyhow, these were a little old when I bought them, and since I didn't eat them right away, they were harder than usual, so I'm going to ignore the texture for the purposes of this review. Also, I apologize for only having a picture of the bag. In any case, here are my thoughts on the flavors.

Cotton Candy was very sweet and definitely tasted like the real thing. It was light blue in color, but reminded me of bubble gum, which brings me to...

Bubble Gum was pink, and also tasted like the real thing. It was that Dubble Bubble flavor of classic bubble gum, but also reminded me of some bubble gum flavored medicine I had to take as a child.

Candy Apple was a pale yellow, and made me nervous before I ate it. Apple doesn't always translate well to candy, but this wasn't too bad. It reminded me of apple cider.

Red Licorice was red, obviously, and tasted like Twizzlers. It even had some of the licorice texture, but that could have been my imagination.

Green Slushy was light green, and so tasty. This one was my favorite, and I could have eaten a whole bag of them. It had a nice sour lime flavor.

As a huge fan of tangy candy, the Green Slushy flavor stood out the most to me, but there weren't any bad flavors. I do prefer the regular Skittles, but these were a lot of fun to eat and share.

B

Skittles Website

Mars Galaxy

My boss recently spent a week in England, and since she is so thoughtful, she brought back British chocolate for my group at work! According to her, the Galaxy bar is better than Cadbury, so I was very excited to try it.

I vaguely remember seeing someone else's review of a Galaxy bar, but I can't remember which blog it was or what they thought. It's a nice theme, though, Galaxy bar from Mars. And, the chocolate bar itself has an adorable design. I love the little G!


The chocolate smelled very sweet and a little nutty. It tasted unlike chocolate I've had in the past - very rich, creamy, and velvety. It really stuck to my teeth! It reminded me a little of Dove milk chocolate, in taste and texture. I have no nutrition info on it, because I think it was sold as a set and not an individual unit, but it tastes very fattening - that's good for chocolate, though.

I'm glad the bar I had was portioned, but I don't think I could eat more than one block of this at a time because of the sweetness. On taste alone, it might be better than Cadbury, but for mass consumption potential, I think Cadbury wins. I'm not a huge fan of eating chocolate by itself, so I might not be the best person to appreciate this, but it was a nice change of pace from all the Hershey here in the US.

B-

Mars website

Mars Starburst Tropical

I should know by now to be wary of "tropical" versions of things. I learned my lesson many years ago with Tropical Skittles. But I guess I forgot that lesson when I bought this bag of Tropical Starburst. Let me break down each flavor.

Mango Melon: I don't really taste mango, but I can kind of taste the melon (cantaloupe). I don't think either fruit is as sour as this tastes, though.

Royal Berry Punch: Tastes a lot like clear gummy bears, but not good ones. I don't really taste berry at all, actually, although the first bite was almost cranberry, in a bitter sort of way.

Pina Colada: Very plastic-y taste. I think it's from the attempt at tasting like coconut. The pineapple is almost there, but the sugary taste is overpowering.

Strawberry Banana: I liked this best of the bunch. It tastes very artificial, but at least it does hit its target of strawberry banana. Not that it's a very tropical combination.

Starburst is one of those candies that was better as a child. Now they all just taste too sweet. I can still eat the originals, although too many gives me heartburn, as I recently discovered. If I get the urge for Starburst again soon, I won't pick Tropical.

C

Starburst Website

Skittles Shakes

Does anyone remember Skittles Shakes? I got them about a four years ago at a foreign goods store in Nagoya, Japan in the Australia section. It's been four years, but I still remember these things as the nastiest candy I've ever had. We get to catch a glimpse of them with the chocolate Skittles that are out now, but for some reason, I remember the Skittles Shakes being worse. I looked up the flavors, so I'll see if I can remember what they tasted like, in order from most to least tolerable.

Lime Spider: This was the only one I could swallow. That's not saying much, because even that was hard.

Strawberry Vanilla: I think the problem here was trying to make the Skittles taste like milk. It just tasted sick and sweet and rotten.

Banana Split: As a general rule, I hate banana flavored candy, and this was no exception. You know how if you mix a bunch of colors together, you get brown? This was the taste equivalent.

Chocolate Honeycomb: This was just like the chocolate Skittles out now - wrong texture, wrong taste, just wrong wrong wrong. And I'm not even sure about the honeycomb part, but maybe they're referring to the waxy aftertaste.

Caramel Cream: I've saved the worst for last. Can you imagine a butter and sour milk flavored Skittle? If so, then you're pretty close. I still remember how disgusting that one was, and I don't think I ate more than one.

Luckily, these are no longer made. To get the idea, try Chocolate Skittles. Or actually, don't, because they're just awful.

F

Skittles Website