Candy Blog

Name: Starburst Sours
Brand: Starburst (Mars)
Place Purchased: 99 Cent Only Store
Price: 33 cents
Size: 2.07 oz
Calories per ounce: 120
Type: Chew (Sour)

I love sour stuff, though I must admit that as I get older, I’m not really into the tortuous super-sours that I pursued as a kid. So, basically what I look for in a sour is something that gets my salivary glands to tingle, but also delivers flavor and hopefully doesn’t trash my tongue too bad.

The issue I run into with many of the more modern sours is that they’ve gone off and created rather chemical tasting candies. I’m kind of a fan of citrus sours, but the new sour flavors like green apple just taste like something I’d clean my windows with. The Starburst Sours are green apple, blue raspberry, cherry and watermelon. Now, I don’t think I’ve ever had a sour watermelon in my life, so that one was especially puzzling. But perhaps I should drop logic and reality from this review.

First flavor was watermelon. It’s got a nice sour bit to it without overwhelming the watermelon flavor. Green apple is chemical through and through. Very sour and creates (sorry to be gross) some pretty unpleasant burps for me. Blue Raspberry reminded me of blue highlighter pens (and a bit like those scented markers we also had as kids) - the flavor is just like what I’d expect for a red raspberry, but I think that’d be too many pink things in the package, so they made it blue. I think the most successful flavor in the package is the cherry one - though I’m not a big fan on the flavor cherry (mostly because I associate it with poison because the red dye #2 thing back in the 70s) but this has a lot of flavors within it. It’s got a good sour bite to it that goes on through the whole chew, a nice woodsy cherry flavor and then a sweet maraschino topnote.

On the whole, I think Starbursts are great. They were a great addition to the market when they first came out because they filled that hole - they’re chewy like taffy but not likely to pull out your fillings (or as a kid it seemed like I was always losing a tooth or a new one was growing in so taffy was pretty hard to eat). Starbursts have that great chew but are forgiving and not so rubbery as to pull on anything. Don’t get me wrong, they can get plenty stuck in your teeth, they’re just not taking your teeth out.

These are not a flavor pack that I’m likely to buy again (I really love the originals though and will continue to buy them or Skittles) but I appreciate the addition to the line for those that like artificial sours.

Rating - 7 out of 10

Related Candies

1. Starburst Sours (New)
2. Starburst Retro
3. Starburst Baja California & Tropical
4. Starburst Berries & Creme and Fruit & Creme
5. Starburst
6. Starburst Icy Bursts

I’m as big a fan of novelty items as the next person, but what always disappoints me is that the actual product rarely matches the packaging. Here’s an exception. CandyWarehouse gifted me with these incredibly cute poker themed chocolates. There are playing card mint truffles and milk chocolate poker chips. Poker, as we know, is all the rage, with tourneys going on all over the country and of course those crazy celebrities getting in on it. If you’re like me, you’ve probably played for pretzel sticks at some point in your life. While playing with real food is dangerous (because you’re likely to eat your winnings), it’s also a bit more fun (at least to me) than playing for money.

Name: Chocolate Poker Chips (Milk Chocolate)
Brand: Madelaine
Place Purchased: CandyWarehouse Sample
Price: $14.40
Size: 36 pieces
Type: Milk Chocolate

These chocolate poker chips come in a clear plastic tray that you could actually use for racking real chips. Like chocolate coins, the disk of milk chocolate is held inside a foil top and bottom. The chocolates themselves have no embossing, so their value is lost once you unwrap them (or is it?). The milk chocolate is creamy and smooth, very sweet and would be a great complement for other card playing snacks like pretzels.

For folks who are seriously interested in using these as real chips, you’d better pick up the 5 lb version. The high-stakes chips are like the mint chocolate cards below.

Name: Chocolate Poker Playing Cards (Mint Truffle)
Brand: Madelaine
Place Purchased: CandyWarehouse Sample
Price: $9.60
Size: 16 pieces
Type: Chocolate (Mint)

These were seriously good and I’ve had to restrain myself. Think of a giant Andes Mints. Because of the dastardly heat wave here in SoCal, I’ve been keeping these in the fridge and they’re wonderful served that way (I don’t usually like chilled chocolate). The mint is very strong and the chocolate combo (two layers of semi-sweet chocolate with a minted white chocolate in the middle) is just right. It melts easily on the tongue and refreshes.

The face card theme is fun (but entirely unnecessary in my opinion). Forget poker with these, I’d prefer to play blackjack with them and keep having the dealer hit me.

If I were going with a Vegas themed party, I’d absolutely order some of these up because the chocolate was of good quality and the packaging was very well done.

Ratings - Poker Chips - 7 out of 10 (I think the mint chocolate chips would be 8s)
Playing Cards - 7 out of 10

Name: Finger Lites
Brand: Malibu Toys, Inc.
Place Purchased: sample from CandyWarehouse.com
Price: $28.80 a case or $.80 each
Size:  .5 oz
Calories per ounce: dunno
Type: Lolly (with battery)

Here it is, the neatest thing to hit candy since citric acid. That’s right, the ultra-cheap LED technology is now being applied to candy. Malibu Toys has created a whole line of light up candies, with the Finger Lites as the center of the line. They have other products, like clip ons and necklaces, but they’re based around the same center of a battery hooked up to an LED. Personally, of all the formats I prefer the ring, since I really don’t want a slobbery piece of hard candy hanging around my neck and getting lint stuck to it.

The ring comes sealed in a little plastic pouch. To activate the light, you pull out a little paper tab that allows the battery to make contact with the wiring for the LED. Then it starts flashing. And flashing. The package says it will stay lit for at least two hours. Mine is still flashing and it’s been a week since I pulled the tab and ate the lolly.

I picked an orange one, though they come in a large variety of colors/flavors and have themed shapes for different holidays (Easter means bunnies and duckies, Halloween means vampires and pumpkins). The orange one was a little bland, not terribly tart or flavorful, but then again, it’s a novelty.

Would I buy this again? Hell yes, I’m planning my next party around them. I think the cool thing to do is probably figure a way to hang up the eaten ones on a string or something (maybe I’ll do it for a Christmas party and hang them on the tree). Some convenience stores are refusing to carry Finger Lites because they think that kids will chew up the LED/Battery. I’m one of those people who can’t help but chew up my hard candy and had no trouble telling the difference between the candy and the hard plastic housing for the light. In fact, I don’t think I could break it with my teeth if I tried. I’m wondering if those convenience store people tried them.

I know, I know, it’s not a terribly eco-friendly product either. Forgive me, I usually make good choices when it comes to that stuff, but I couldn’t help myself.

This candy gets points mostly for novelty, not taste, but it’s still a winner in my book.

Rating - 8 out of 10

Name: Ginger Bear
Brand: Buderim
Place Purchased: Trader Joe’s
Price: $3.29
Size: 12 oz
Calories per ounce: 90
Type: Gummi/Ginger

It’s a like a dream come true. Someone’s combined one of my favorite candies with one of my favorite flavors.

Well, it’s the thought that counts.

Ginger Bears are gummi bears with real ginger in them. That’s why they’re kind of cloudy looking. I’m not sure if that expains why they smell like photoprocessing chemicals. Not the bears themselves, just when you smell them in the bag. I know that ginger in and of itself doesn’t have a great scent, kind of like wet earth. But this was more of a chemical smell and might be from the bag itself. I took a few out and let them air out on the desk, they seemed fine after that.

These bears are a bit larger than the ones we’re used to from Trolli or Haribo. They’re also not quite a gummi, think Swedish fish, really. But, they’re very spicy, not too sweet and are decently priced.

What I like about them is that they’re not sticky. While I like the Ginger People’s and Chimes’ Ginger Chews, they are very sticky and might one day yet pull out some of my fillings. These are soft, chewy but with a good consistency and not the slightest bit sticky. They could use a little work on the appearance but other than that, they’re a solid recommend as long as you keep your nose out of the bag.

Rating - 7 out of 10

Name: Mike and Ike Orange ‘n Cream
Brand: Mike and Ike (Just Born)
Place Purchased: 99 Cent Only Store
Price: 33 cents
Size: 2.0 oz
Calories per ounce: 110
Type: Jelly

Mike and Ikes are made by the Just Born candy company. They make such love-‘em-or-hate-‘em products as Marshmallow Peeps, Hot Tamales and now Goldenberg Peanut Chews.

Now, this review probably comes a little late as I’ve found no mention of these on their website (that’s what I get for shopping at the 99 Cent Only Store). They’re a special edition of Mike and Ikes in Orange ‘n Cream.

Think of a chilly orange creamsicle.

Then think of orange aspergum.

It’s somewhere in between.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Mike and Ikes are great. Well, I’ve loved Hot Tamales for years. They were like the original Jelly Bellys because they actually put lots of flavor into the candies instead of those bland jelly beans that were on the market before. In fact, Just Born makes a line of Teenee Beanees.

Mike and Ike also put out a limited flavor last year called Root Beer which I liked in principle but not in practice. However, Just Born did the right thing by making the hotter version of Hot Tamales.

So, to sum up, don’t buy really old candy that’s been discontinued. They probably stopped making it for a reason.

Rating - 4 out of 10