I liked my candy review from the other day, so I'm going to keep doing it, I think. So, here's the next batch of candy discoveries.
First up, we're back to Trident. I was recently looking for some sugarless gum and Trident's Strawberry Fusion (with Xylitol!) caught my eye. I'd had a good experience with the Strawberry-Lime Trident Splash, so I thought I had a good chance of liking this.
The idea behind this "fusion" gum is that half the pieces are "sweet" and half are "sour". According to the copy on the back of the package, the correct way to eat is gum is to "Chew the sweet pieces with the sour pieces and you've created a FUSION of FLAVOR that's all your own!" (emphasis theirs). So, despite the fact that you have twelve pieces of gum in the package, you really only have six chews. Not the most cost-effective gum ever made, but I'll try anything once, especially if it involves a FUSION of FLAVOR that's all my own.
Anyway, the FUSION of FLAVOR tasted remarkably like the Strawberry part of Trident Splash and the texture of the gum is much tougher and less chewable than the softer Splash. The flavors weren't distinct in any way--after ten seconds of chewing, the flavors had pretty much fused into a strawberry flavor and that was that. Nothing terribly exciting. I got tired of chewing this in about half the time it took me to get tired of a single piece of Splash.
So, the two-piece method was a bust, but how about the more penny-pinching method of eating each piece individually? First off, each piece by itself is even tougher than two pieces at once and even less pleasant to chew for any amount of time. Flavor-wise, the "sour" piece tasted just like the "fusion" and the "sweet" had a lot less flavor and had a bitter aftertaste that I really disliked. Essentially, to get any joy out of this gum, you've got to chew two pieces at once.
My final take on this gum can be summed up in four words: buy Trident Splash instead.
This "Limited Edition" Kit Kat flavor caught my eye mostly because I am a fan of the malted milk and I thought it might be interesting to try it in Kit Kat form.
The first thing that grabbed my attention upon opening the wrapper was the smell. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was strong. It dissipated after a minute, but the "prepackaged chocolate" olfactory assault made me wary that this was going to taste like all sorts of nasty chemicals. My worries were unfounded, however. It was a little sweeter than your average Kit Kat bar and the crisp wafers seemed a little softer and flakier. In fact, it was not unlike eating a Manner Wafer Cookie. But if I wanted a Manner Wafer cookie, I'd eat one of those. Overall, the Milkshake Kit Kat gets a big "meh".
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel
The copy on the Reese's web site describes this variant on the beloved Peanut Butter Cup as "3 Great Tastes That Taste Great Together", to which I say "LIKE HELL THEY DO". Of all the Peanut Butter Cup variants I've tasted, the caramel variant is by far the worst.
The classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is quite sweet in and of itself. I'd never realized how sweet, however, until they added a thin layer of caramel which upped the sweetness even more to the point where even I, with my amazing sweet tooth and sugar tolerance, couldn't stand it. I only ate the second cup because I didn't want to be wasteful and I thought maybe a second one would be less obnoxiously sweet and I'd think better of the whole thing. I didn't.
On a side note, I wonder when they stopped making Peanut Butter Cups with Peanuts. I kinda liked those every once in a while. Note to Reese's (or Hershey's, or whoever): drop the gimmicks and bring back the peanuts. Everyone will be happier in the long run.
Garfield's Chocobites
New to my company's vending machine is Garfield's Chocobites, which, as it turns out, are "Garfield Approved". Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't chocolate bad for cats? Anyway.
After getting some of these, it turned out that Chocobites are actually just Argentinian knockoffs of Peanut M&M's. Presumably, they're cheaper than M&M's, so our vending machine company has probably increased their bottom line by stocking Chocobites and charging the same price they used to charge for M&M's. Bully for them, I guess.
Anyway, Chocobites are 99% similar to Peanut M&M's, and you can't really go wrong with that.
There's an impressive (and somewhat unsettling) paucity of information on Garfield's Chocobites on the Web, so I'm forced to supply my own picture of the wrapper, for those who are interested. Because I'm sure you are.
OK, time for everyone's favorite part: the aribitrary ratings! Once again, all ratings are on a scale of one to five HARIBO gummy bears:
| Trident Strawberry Fusion: |  |
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| Kit Kat Milkshake: | |
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| Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel: | |
| Garfield's Chocobites: | |
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