Gimbal's Sour Lovers

My candy stash has been woefully low for the past month, and my blogging has suffered as a result. Well, this review is just the thing to recharge my blogging spirit. Not long after posting a review of the highly disappointing Nobel Blueberry Sours, a PR representative for Gimbal's candy offered me samples of Sour Lovers gummies. In other words, the product in this review was provided by a PR company, but I promise that I treated it just like any other candy I review.

I had never seen Gimbal's products in stores and only vaguely remembered reading a review of earlier products on Candy Blog, but now that I've had Sour Lovers, I'm afraid I'm hooked. Sour gummies have been one of my favorite candy categories since I was a kid, and Gimbal's did an amazing job. There were 12 distinct flavors, and I liked every single one of them.


Meyer Lemon was tart and tangy, with just the right amount of sour - enough to make you pucker just a tad, but in a pleasant way. The flavor had a zesty, citrus feel without tasting at all like a cleaning product.

Georgia Peach had a distinct peach flavor, and while it was sour, it was a bit sweeter and fruitier than many of the other flavors.

Watermelon had that classic watermelon candy flavor (real watermelon never tastes that intense), charged up with a nice sourness. That's another great thing about these candies - they are sour throughout, not just in the outer sugar coating.

Bing Cherry fell somewhere between real cherries and cherry Kool-Aid. It had a nice, rich flavor and a great sour/sweet balance.

Mango was one of my favorites of the bunch. It reminded me so much of real mango that it almost seemed pulpy.

I'm not sure why Sour Blueberry was named as it was; all of the flavors are sour! But anyhow, this one was tart and just a bit bitter (but in a good way, like real berries). It was a good blueberry, but if I didn't know, my guess would have been raspberry.

Strawberry Daiquiri had a lovely sweet strawberry flavor, and it felt pretty authentic. It seemed to have some citrus as well, making it extra sour.

Fuji Apple tasted a lot like apple juice. It was sour and fruity, but if I had to pick a least favorite flavor, this would be it. I didn't have any trouble eating it, though.

Baja Margarita tasted just like margarita mixers from grocery stores. To give you an idea of the flavor authenticity, if you are nursing a hangover, you may want to skip this one until you feel better. It definitely packed more than just lime flavor!

Pomegranate had an earthy, juicy flavor that was richer than the cherry. It was the least sweet of the bag, but I'm afraid it's been so long since I've had pomegranate seeds that I can't comment on the flavor well.

Tangerine was extra sour and extra citrusy. It had that classic vitamin C-laden flavor I used to crave as a child and still enjoy. This was another top flavor.

Grapefruit was sweeter than the real thing. It was tart, but less so than Tangerine or Meyer Lemon. It had just enough grapefruit bitterness to give the right effect.

I'm so glad I got to try these. As a sour candy lover, I can say Sour Loves definitely got it right. The texture of the gummies was thick and sticky, a bit like a fruit gem. I found that about 6-8 gummies at a time hit the spot, so I took several days to review these properly. Every single time I tried them, I was impressed.

I should also mention that both Gimbal's Sour Lovers and the Gimbal's factory are free of just about every common food allergen (peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, gluten, soy, fish, and shell fish), and Sour Lovers are kosher pareve.

The only minor annoyance was that they got stuck in my teeth, making me want to brush. I can certainly forgive that - it's candy, after all. Everyone I shared these with (my husband, my father, my boss, and some coworkers) enjoyed them - though my husband wanted me to leave the bag open and let them get a little stale because he claims it improves the texture. Honestly, once the bag is open, I'm not sure I could make them last long enough to get stale!

A

Gimbal's Fine Candies website

Wonka Fruit Exceptionals Grapefruit

That sexy package in the picture is from Wonka's fancy new line of products, Wonka Exceptionals. The whimsical packaging definitely evokes images of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, if you prefer).

Movies that scared me when I was little aside, I must mention that whimsy comes at a cost - the tiny gummy cubes came in a bag in a box within a box. At least the pieces themselves were very cute, and that's a plus for me.


The candies smelled strongly of grapefruit zest, and they had a nice, authentic flavor as well. As such, it was quite tart and a bit bitter, and I think Wonka may have overcompensated with sweetness. I really liked them, but they hurt my teeth a bit to eat.

The gummies had the texture of fruit gems or jelly fruit slices, which is my favorite texture for a gummy. They were a bit sticky, but still held their shape well. The accuracy of the flavor reminded me of the Japanese Pure gummies. If these hadn't been so sweet, I'd give them an A+.

A-

Wonka Website

Ferrero Tic Tac Pink Grapefruit

My older sister and I were big Tic Tac eaters when we were younger. We both liked the orange ones best, even though it was common knowledge that they actually made breath worse.

I first heard about these from a candy blog, but when I searched the Internet, I couldn't find it, so I can't remember which it was. Anyhow, they were released a while ago, but it takes some things a while to get to my town.


They look like standard Tic Tacs, despite coming in a bigger box. At first, the taste is very similar to orange, but once a little of the coating is gone, the grapefruit notes really kick in. It's sour, a little bitter, and fairly authentic ("dry pink grapefruit juice" is listed in the ingredients). There's also a mintiness in the background, but I wouldn't choose these as a breath freshener.

The taste was very similar to grapefruit Jelly Belly jelly beans, or grapefruit e-ma, which also has a minty kick. The mintiness did remind me of a throat lozenge, but I still enjoyed these. They went over well at work, too.

B+

Tic Tac website