Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Smarties Bubble Gum

Smarties had a huge booth at the All Candy Expo, which kind of surprised me because they’re pretty much a one product company. Don’t get me wrong, I love the product, but there’s only so much you can do with it (as far as I knew). They do make some other related products out of their compressed dextrose mix, like the lollies and candy necklaces.

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Bubble Gum Smarties are a huge departure then, from the chalky little bites in rolls they’ve built their empire on.

They look pretty much like regular Smarties, but the colors are a little more vivid and they’re not chalky or crumbly.

On the tongue they feel different. They’re heavier and of course they don’t dissolve. You have to chew them. Instead of an intermediary step like Razzles have, these turn to gum immediately.

There’s a little flavor to them, and the colors do have slightly different flavors (maybe ... I’m not sure).

It seems to take a whole roll to make a decent piece of gum. I started with four little tablets and then added others to it in pairs as the flavor dissipated. The chew is satisfyingly soft but the flavor is of course all over the map. There’s also a strong sweet aftertaste but it’s all sugar an in there.

As for the bubbles, well, they were pretty good! The gum lost its flavor quickly, and with the combination of colors it turned out to be a slate blue when I tossed it out.

Overall, I didn’t need a Smarties version of bubble gum. I like Smarties just fine the way they are and these aren’t really very Smartie-like except for the look and packaging. They’re a fun giveaway item, for Halloween or keeping in a candy jar. The novelty is great, but the flavor just doesn’t pop enough for me to pick this over a bubble tape or Chicklets. For the record, the original Smarties are a 9 out of 10 ... I love them, but as a pure sugar they’re horribly dangerous to my blood sugar levels, so I try not to eat them on an empty stomach.

James of Chicago Conventions Blog also tried them and wasn’t impressed.

Name: Smarties Bubble Gum
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Smarties
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo sample
Price: unknown
Size: .23 ounces per roll
Calories per ounce: 100 (4 rolls)
Categories: Gum, Ce De Candies, China

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:32 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. These look fun!  I will have to put it on my list of things to try!

    Comment by :: jozjozjoz :: on 6/14/06 at 8:34 am #
  2. i love smarties. love, love, love. top three favorite (non-chocolate) candy, for sure. but this, blech. now giant smarties…those are awesome!

    Comment by Pam on 6/14/06 at 8:57 am #
  3. And here I thought you were talking about these “Smarties”

    http://www.nestle.com/Our_Brands/Chocolate_Confectionery/Smarties/

    Comment by Nicole on 6/14/06 at 9:26 am #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Nicole - ewwww - crunchy chocolate gum!

    (I did a comparison between M&Ms; and UK/Canadian Smarties here and CandyAddict did a comparison between UK and American Smarties here.)

    Joz - they should be in stores soon - they’re probably a great summer candy because they’re so weather-proof.

    Pam - I haven’t tried Giant Smarties and I stupidly (hah! pun!) didn’t pick any up at the expo. But I do have some of the Smarties branded candy necklaces at home. Which I’ll probably give to my niece.

    Comment by Cybele on 6/14/06 at 9:40 am #
  5. i don’t like the necklaces. wrong texture. and texture with smarties is everything! the giant smarties have the same texture, just bigger. heaven! mmmm. my dentist definitely thinks so.

    Comment by Pam on 6/14/06 at 10:45 am #
  6. Ohhh! I saw a blurb in the NY times Dining section today that I thought I should mention to you! It’s about this special chocolatier by a company called Don Puglisi (from Modica, near Sicily) that makes chocolate “the old fashioned way” (aka not with the conching machine invented by chocolatier Rudolph Lindt). It’s apparently “worked without heating, on a machine that is similar to a metate, a Mexican-style mortar, so that the sugar crystals retain their integrity”.

    They come in 3.5 ounce bars in plain dark or vanilla, chili, ginver, cinnamon, bergamot and coffee flavors. They liste them as being sold at the Fairway…but maybe it’s worth a shot trying to track them down online? They sound like something you’d like to try to me! smile

    Any chance when you might peg a time for your wagashi review, as well? I’ve so curious as to what you thought!

    Comment by Sera on 6/14/06 at 4:01 pm #
  7. They sound just as good as those small pieces of gum that come out of those 5 cent machines in the supermarket.

    Comment by Marvo on 6/14/06 at 7:18 pm #
  8. When I was pregnant Smarties was one of my stranger cravings. I couldn’t find any locally and had to order a few pounds of them online.

    Comment by Shauna on 6/15/06 at 5:39 am #
  9. I tried Smarties gum a while back and was going to do a Razzles vs Smarties Gum post. I think I still have some tropical Smarties Gum. Someday maybe smile

    brian

    Comment by Brian on 6/15/06 at 9:24 am #
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