Thursday, July 17, 2008

Dots Elements: Earth, Air, Fire & Water

Earlier this year I teased a new line of Dots from Tootsie. The single flavor boxes of the [Aristotelian] Elements line are based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Each of these elements is assigned a flavor and a not-found-in-nature color. (There’s actually a fifth element in Aristotle’s list, Ether, which makes up the stars and celestial bodies.)

Dots Elements

The idea behind these elements was that they were combinations of heat and moisture, or lack thereof. So Water is wet and cold, Fire is hot and dry, etc. We now have an exceptionally complex table of the elements which takes a completely different approach to what makes up the physical world.

The packages for Dots Elements are quite striking. Black and neon, they’re hard to miss at the store as they stand out from other theater-sized boxed candies. (This is the only size I know that these come in so far.)

I didn’t buy these, instead Sera who was visiting Los Angeles last week shared her bounty of huge boxes with me (so look for her perspective soon).

Green Tea DotsWater = Green Tea

The color is hard to describe, it’s translucent and reminds me of the color that results when you mix water with absinthe. Milky green.

The scent is, well, like walking into a Bed, Bath & Beyond. A strange floral smell that I can’t quite put my finger on.

The nice thing was that these were exceptionally fresh. The smooth bite gives way to a rather delicate sweet flavor.

I tastes very little like green tea to me, which usually has a rather grassy flavor to it. They’re fresh but a little cloying. They remind me a lot of Turkish Delight.

Cinnamon DotsFire = Cinnamon

This was the most predictable flavor of the new line. What’s more, there used to be Hot Dots (made from 2004-06, I stumbled across some very old boxes at the 99 Cent Store in Hollywood late last year).

The color is a bit light, but that’s okay with me, as I don’t need the bitter food coloring especially when there’s only one flavor in the box.

These don’t smell like much at all, but have a pleasant cinnamon bite to the. Not too sweet either, there are little pockets of sizzle now and then, they remind me of Spearmint Leaves.

I’d be pretty happy if these stuck around.

Wintergreen DotsAir = Wintergreen

This color was freaky ocean blue ... unless you put them under florescent lights and then they were more green.

Like the cinnamon they don’t smell like much.

These seemed a bit firmer than the rest but still had a smooth chew to them.

The wintergreen flavor is pretty strong and brings to mind things like root beer (pleasant), teaberry gum (yum) and ben gay (ewww).

They feel fresh. But I’m always hesitant to eat wintergreen things because so many people have a visceral reaction to them. The good thing is that until you chew them up, no one knows what they are.

Pomegranate DotsEarth = Pomegranate

This is the only fruit flavor among the group and it makes sense that it represents the earth. The pomegranate was actually cultivated in Aristotle’s time and had great cultural significance.

As daring as I thought the green tea flavor was, I think pomegranate is pretty high up there. I love pomegranates though I don’t eat them as much as I used to. Real pomegranates are intense with a combination of tart berry flavors, a dark drying quality in the mouth and of course a deep syrupy sweetness. Oh, and they’re very pretty both on the tree (they look like huge rose hips) and taken apart in a bowl.

Instead of being a garnet-colored drop these are purple, which I guess is what color pomegranate juice is. This is the only Dot in this group that has a touch of tanginess to it. The flavor doesn’t really feel like pomegranate. If someone gave these to me I’d just say that they’re cherry-berry.

On the whole, I actually think they’re a good effort. They’re different, the hook of the elements had me more than interested and of course they’re dirt cheap. It’s a bit different for Dots to have just one flavor in a box, so you’d really better like it. I finished the cinnamon first, then the green tea, then the wintergreen and I still have some pomegranate left.

Dots are a starch-thickened candy, so there’s no gelatin in there. These are suitable for vegetarians and even vegans.

Related Candies

  1. Canada Wintergreen
  2. Cinnamon Fire Twizzlers
  3. Jujyfruits & Jujubes
  4. Dots
  5. Jelly Belly Pomegranate
Name: Dots Elements: Earth, Air, Fire & Water
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Tootsie
Place Purchased: Von's (Purchased & shared by Sera - thanks!)
Price: $1.29
Size: 7 ounces
Calories per ounce: 92
Categories: Jelly, Mint, Cinnamon, United States, Tootsie

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:59 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. can’t wait to taste it…yummy

    Comment by NizalJamal on 7/17/08 at 6:37 am #
  2. Great minds. But I totally didn’t see any earth and had commented on yesterday’s post how they needed a sort of Earth, Wind, and Fire theme.

    Comment by Jeanna on 7/17/08 at 6:40 am #
  3. The local Hy-vee had the Green Tea and Wintergreen available, so I tried them, too.  I really, really liked the Green Tea. It was a very fresh flavor - and american candy doesn’t really do floral flavors much, so that’s appreciated.  The Wintergreen were too light for me—I wanted more of a Wintergreen altoids style flavor, but Dots don’t go for intense flavors.

    unfortunately, they didn’t have the other two flavors, and they haven’t even had these the last few times I was in. Even Walgreens (due to the Chicago connection, they’re a good source for Tootsie products usually) hasn’t had these yet.

    Comment by Jim Kosmicki on 7/17/08 at 9:02 am #
  4. I’m usually rather ambivalent about Dots, but the packaging and concept of these have me hooked. Of course, your beautiful photos make most things extremely appealing. Thanks for the review.

    Comment by KateC on 7/17/08 at 11:18 am #
  5. Tricia's avatar

    Freaky ocean blue for wintergreen? Don’t they realize they’re supposed to use pink like those wafers? Someone ought to tell them. :^)

    Glad to see these reviewed - the packaging looks like an energy drink to me, so I probably wouldn’t have tried them…

    Comment by Tricia on 7/17/08 at 4:25 pm #
  6. I’m wary but intrigued - I think I’ll keep an eye out for them!

    Comment by Heather on 7/17/08 at 4:47 pm #
  7. I don’t see these on the companies web site. Are they only being test marketed on the west coast?

    Comment by mike on 7/17/08 at 5:23 pm #
  8. I have tried the cinnamon and pomegranate flavors.  I don’t really like wintergreen and I only really like flavored green teas.  I didn’t think either were true to their flavor.  The cinnamon tasted a bit like spicy cherry to me.  The Pomegranate wasjust a not too sweet mixed berry flavor.  I have been craving cinnamon bears and havn’t found them yet so the dots were ok as a stop gap candy.

    Comment by Rebecca McKinney on 7/17/08 at 6:47 pm #
  9. Pomegranite is a really trendy flavour right now, though.  I don’t think it’s too daring these days.  The pomegranite are also the only flavour out of all of these that appeal to me… I really like dots even though my whole family views it as cheap crappy candy.

    Comment by Sara on 7/17/08 at 9:04 pm #
  10. No Captain Planet jokes? I’m almost disappointed.

    Comment by Terry on 7/18/08 at 6:54 am #
  11. “The color is hard to describe, it?s translucent and reminds me of the color that results when you mix water with absinthe. Milky green.”

    I believe the word you’re looking for is opaline.

    Comment by Samuel Erikson on 7/21/08 at 6:51 pm #
  12. For some odd reason Dots is my weakness. I hate that I now know about these and have to try them. grrrr.

    Comment by Tanya on 7/22/08 at 5:09 am #
  13. I tried these new dots and the earth ones are fantastic. I picked tyhem up in June while traveling and I haven’t been able to find them since. Live in southern NV any ideas for me on where to get them or order them?

    Comment by Kat on 7/25/08 at 1:39 pm #
  14. Any idea where I can find these in the North Carolina area?  I’d love to buy them online as well.  Any help would be appreciated.

    Comment by Michael on 8/12/08 at 8:32 am #
  15. My boyfriend and I tried the water element dots. I loved them and so did my boyfriend but the strange smell was almost like smelling a citronella candle. But don’t let the smell fool you they are awesome!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by nem and cherry on 9/28/08 at 11:59 am #
  16. Where can you find these?  Anywhere online?

    Comment by Michael on 9/28/08 at 3:03 pm #
  17. Where can one find Dots earth???

    Comment by Ann on 4/10/09 at 5:08 am #
  18. Does anyone knoiw where I can buy earth, air, fire and water Dots. Let me know.

    Comment by Randy Moeller on 5/24/09 at 11:35 am #
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