Friday, February 24, 2012

Jolly Rancher Crunch n Chew

Jolly Rancher Crunch n ChewWhen Jolly Ranchers hard candies were introduced in 1949 their original name was Famous for Flavor; that certainly describes what has set Jolly Ranchers apart from other candies for all these years.

Jolly Ranchers probably single-highhandedly made hard candies cool for kids. The flavors are bold and fresh and more intense than most others available back in the seventies when they went national and really still to this day. The brand has obviously branched out with chews, gummies and jelly beans. But their core product remains their individually wrapped hard candies in flavors like green apple, cherry, blue raspberry and watermelon. (One of my favorites has always been the Fire Sticks, though they’re not made any longer.)

Jolly Rancher Crunch n Chew

The candies come packaged in a variety of formats. They should be available as little packages in vending and convenience stores as well as this peg bag that holds 6.5 ounces. Each piece is individually wrapped. Instead of the twist clear wrappers, these have sealed ends. The new logo design is bold and appealing, but the color difference between the watermelon pink and the cherry pink is quite faint. (Though the names are also printed on there.)

Jolly Rancher Crunch n Chew

They’re about 7/8ths of an inch. The construction is interesting, it reminds me of the Jolly Rancher chewy center lollipops. There’s a chewy center, kind of like a Starburst and a hard candy shell. The shell is different from the texture of a regular Jolly Rancher. It’s not transparent, it’s milky and doesn’t have that same smooth melt and light pliability.

Cherry (Dark Pink) is the flavor I wanted to get out of the way, as it’s usually my least favorite but a good time to concentrate on the qualities of the candy. The candy rod is pretty thick, though it’s called crunch and chew, I don’t recommend biting into it right away, I suggest dissolving it a bit. The cherry flavor is strong with both tartness and a sweet woodsy but artificial flavor. Crunching brings an interesting set of textures. The chew in the middle was quite sour but worked well with the crunchy bits of hard candy. I suppose you could be patient and let the hard candy dissolve completely ... but the product is called Crunch ‘n Chew.

Jolly Rancher Crunch n ChewGreen Apple (Green) is the flavor that I most associate with Jolly Rancher. It’s good, it’s nicely rounded with both that artificial green apple plus a helping of apple juice and a little bit of dried apple. The center is chewy and much more mild, almost milky.

Watermelon (Pink) is quite artificial and reminds me of scented lip gloss. It’s tangy with a good dose of that fake watermelon. The chew inside is also tart and has a weird sort of plastic flavor to it, kind of like Play Doh smells.

Blue Raspberry (Blue) is rather berry flavor. It’s not quite as intense as the standard Jolly Rancher clear hard candy, but has a well rounded flavor that pulls in flavors of seeds and boiled jam all with a tangy backdrop.

They’re just not my style. The part I like most about Jolly Ranchers is their incredibly smooth dissolve, no voids and with a sort of syrupy thickness to the flavor. This was just another hard candy with a weird plasticy chew at the center. If I were 11 and someone gave this to me, I might like it. But as a grown up, I think I’ll probably just stick with the Cinnamon Fire or Wild Berry flavors.

Contains gelatin, so not suitable for vegetarians. Made in Brazil, no statement about gluten or peanuts/tree nuts but does contain corn starch, sulfur dioxide and soy.

Related Candies

  1. Jolly Rancher Tropical Fruit Chews
  2. Jolly Rancher Awesome Twosome Chews
  3. Mentos: Juicy Orange, Lemon Lime & Watermelon
  4. Chewy Sour Extinguisher
  5. Starburst Sours (New)
  6. Jolly Rancher Double Blasts
  7. Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews


Name: Crunch n Chew
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Hershey’s
Place Purchased: samples from Hershey's
Price: $1.80
Size: 6.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 113
Categories: Candy, Hershey's, Chews, Hard Candy & Lollipops, 6-Tempting, Brazil

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:16 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewHershey'sChewsHard Candy & Lollipops6-TemptingBrazil

Comments
  1. I can’t find Jolly Rancher chewy lollipops anymore. I don’t know if it’s a regional thing or what, but when I lived on the east coast I always saw them; now in the midwest, not so much hmmm

    Anyway, this sounds like it might be a reasonable fascimile (minus the stick). I’ll keep on the lookout.

    Comment by Nyssa on 2/24/12 at 10:54 pm #
  2. “The part I like most about Jolly Ranchers is their incredibly smooth dissolve, no voids”

    Weird. I like regular jolly ranchers too, but I encounter sharp voids all the time.

    Comment by bitguru on 2/26/12 at 7:45 pm #
  3. I’m going to have to look for these the next time I go shopping, they look great!

    Comment by Mina on 3/01/12 at 6:41 pm #
  4. I thought these were really pretty bad.  While they have the familiar JR flavor, both textures are unappealing.  The crunchy part is way too thick, the chewy part isn’t that chewy.  Overall, a letdown. 

    Love the blog though!

    Comment by louislou on 6/11/12 at 12:27 pm #
  5. Hi does anyone know what the geletin is made of?

    Comment by Hi does anyone know what the geletin is made of? on 6/17/12 at 3:40 pm #
  6. Cybele's avatar

    gelatin person - when not specified on an ingredient label, nearly all gelatin is made from pigs. It’s the cheapest kind available.

    Comment by Cybele on 6/18/12 at 11:22 am #
  7. These Jolly Rancher crunch & chews are just unpleasant in my opinion. The reviewer makes mention of the artificial flavor which is pronounced, and I described it to my husband as tasting like wet cardboard. (Although the “taste the way play doh smells” comment was pretty accurate as well.) They should have used the regular JR formulation for the “crunch” part. After tasting a couple of them, I just didn’t want any more. It’s disappointing that the artificiality is becoming so pronounced in so many new candies.

    They just don’t make them like they used to.

    Comment by Divinity on 6/18/12 at 5:06 pm #
  8. Hmmmm… Bought these and the cherry is the most sour. Green Apple and Watermelon were the best I liked the thick chewiness and the flavor was really artificial, something I just love. I luv ‘em!

    Comment by Jolly Rancher on 8/10/13 at 10:10 am #
  9. The chew is much more similar to a now and later than a starburst, imo.

    Comment by ben on 11/03/13 at 7:44 pm #
  10. I LOVE these candies !  Perfect combination. But out of the 4 bags I recently bought, I got a total of 2 cherry and ONE watermelon in each bag ! What gives? It’s the cherry & watermelon that most bring me back to childhood. Have they become unpopular? I have a whole candy jar full of apple ! :(

    Comment by Barbara on 7/22/14 at 8:18 pm #
  11. I bought 13 ounce bag and I swear it’s

    Comment by Another1ofyou on 8/01/15 at 7:32 pm #
  12. First of all. The Cherry wrapper is not Dark Pink. The wrapper is plain to see that it’s Red. Red like Cherry Red. Watermelon is Pink, that’s all, Pink like one color pink is. And its the color of what a watermelon sometimes looks like on the inside.
    Secondly, Jolly Ranchers only came available as single pieces of candy at a candy store in the 70’s.And guess what…!..The only flavor that was available to us kids at the local candy store was Watermelon. That’s right, no Green Apple, Cherry, Raspberry or Grape. If someone offered you a Jolly Rancher, you automatically knew you were getting a Watermelon flavored candy.
    I do not know off the top of my head what year the flavored candies became available but I know for sure that they weren’t in New Jersey in the 1970’s or early 1980’s
    Thank you

    Comment by David Loebel on 12/24/15 at 7:31 pm #
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