Farley and Sathers Gummy Sharks

I've never been a big fan of Blue Raspberry flavoring, but the coloring of these Gummy Sharks was very attractive so I thought I would give them a shot.  Additionally, recently I've had some positive experiences with Blue Raspberry gummies, including the flavors from Trolli Big Bold Bears and Albanese Krunch Bears.  These are vibrant and fun in appearance, but I think the positives stop there.  Unfortunately, the flavoring of these was terrible, a generic sickening sweet flavor.  Maybe the fun shape and color is enough for a child, but I suggest you look elsewhere for your sugar high.

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Texture: These have an ok texture, chewy with a marshmallow foam bottom, similar to the Haribo Frogs, but slightly less chewy.

Flavors: These are supposed to be Blue Raspberry, but they just had an unpleasant generic sweet taste.

Cost: $2.49 for 12oz bag at Pearl's Candy and Nuts.

Availability: These are not easy to find in convenience stores, but I have seen these in bulk candy bins and tourist locations many times, I don't think they are very hard to find.

Black Forest Gummy Worms

I've had gummy worms several times over the years and there is something really satisfying about pulling and biting the worms in half.  I'm not quite sure which brand I usually buy, since I they always seem to come from the bulk bins at candy stores, but I saw these on the shelf at Wawa the other day and decided to pick them up.  I definitely have not tried these before, the worm actually had a head and face, which was surprising and for some reason disturbing.   These also only came in three flavor combinations: lemon-lime, cherry-pineapple, and cherry-orange.  I remembered having other flavor combinations in the past, but it's been a while so I could be mistaken.  These were very soft and don't require a lot of chewing.  If you suck on these for a few seconds, the gummy starts to break down an disintegrate, they kind of melt in your mouth.  These had a slightly artificial taste, but it was still pleasant.  It kind of reminded me of the flavors of the Trolli Big Bears.  There was a waxy/greasy texture to these, but it wasn't bothersome.  I wouldn't mind having these again, but they are far from a favorite.

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Texture: These are very soft and melt in your mouth, definitely not as chewy as Haribo gummies.

Flavors: There are three flavor combinations: cherry-orange, lemon-lime, and cherry-pineapple.  All three were pleasant and sweet.

Cost: $0.99 for 4.5oz bag at Wawa.

Availability: These are readily available in any convenience store, at least in the Northeastern US.

Jelly Belly Champagne Bubbles

I was intrigued by the flavor "Champagne" when I saw these and I figured it was time to try another of the non-pariel gummies.  I wasn't a huge fan of the Haribo Berries, but I LOVE the Albanese Krunch Bears so I figured there was a good shot these would be halfway decent.  I was surprised when these arrived, they were much smaller then I expected, about the size of a Haribo bear, much smaller then the Berries I previously sampled.  These were tart and did remind me of the flavor of champagne, it was vey much like sparkly white grape juice, very authentically flavored.  The non-pareil coating was similar to the coating of the Krunch Bears, they were a sweet addition and did not dilute the flavor of the gummy itself.  Overall, I thought these were pleasant and unique, but I wouldn't necessarily purchase them again.  These were tasty enough to make me interested in trying the Jelly Belly version of the Berries though, which come in four flavors: Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry.

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Texture: These are chewy with a nice crunch.

Flavors: Champagne flavored, tart and sweet.

Cost: $3.99 for 7oz bag at Pearl's Candy and Nuts.

Availability: I haven't seen these in any retail locations but they are available at several online retailers.

Trolli Big Bold Bears

I haven't had Trolli gummys in at least 15 years.  I never cared for them, I always thought they had an aftertaste, bad texture, and a greasy oily coating you sometimes find on lower quality gummys to keep them from sticking together.  That being said, I saw the Big Bold Bears at Walmart last night and decided to give Trolli another try.  I've been counting calories and I find that the larger sized items are a better choice.  It's easy to portion the serving size, 4 big bears, instead of counting out 30+ of the traditional sized gummys.   I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this product.  It definitely doesn't hold a candle to any of my favorites, but the flavors are quite nice, they were not overly intense.  There are six flavors: Apple, Lemon Lime, Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Orange, and Grape.  The Lemon Lime tasted more like a very sugary Lime, but unlike many Lime flavored gummys, they don't taste like cleaner.  The Blue Raspberry has a tropical undertone which I like, I usually pass on Blue Raspberry flavors since they are generally overly sweet.  The Orange has a nice zest to it also.  On the other side, I felt that the Cherry was a bit weak and the Grape was my least favorite, tasting like flat and warm grape soda.  These were very chewy and much softer then the Haribo gummys I am used to.  The package indicates they are 4x larger then the regular Trolli gummys, they measure about 1 inch wide, 1.5 inches tall, and .5 inches thick.  I didn't notice a greasy coating on these either.  Overall, I think this are a nice option, but I wouldn't necessarily seek them out.

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Texture: These are very chewy and soft.

Flavors: There are six flavors: Apple, Lemon Lime, Blue Raspberry, Cherry, Orange, and Grape.  The flavors are decent, but I didn't care for the Grape and the Cherry was kind of weak and bland.  I thought the flavors were less then bold, much lighter in flavor then I remember from Trolli product, but I preferred it that way.

Cost: $1.97 for a 8oz bag at Walmart.

Availability: Trolli products can usually be found in most convenience stores in this area.

Jolly Ranchers Awesome Twosome Chews

I love Jolly Ranchers, they have great tangy flavors, so when I saw these at Walmart, I decided to give them a try.  Surprisingly, there are only two flavors Watermelon/Green Apple and Cherry/Orange, but I think that was a great decision, you don't really need anything else.  These little nuggets are full of tang and zip, I just couldn't get enough.  The flavor combinations worked very well together.  The outer shell is the primary flavor, the inside paste adds a subtle layer to the overall taste.  The entire nugget is also coated with sour sugar, but it is not an overpowering coating.  The dust on these reminds me more of the dust on the Haribo Sour Mango then the strong dust on Sour Patch Kids.  I think a lot of the sour flavor comes more from the candy itself, allowing the sour sugar to be less intense.  I am a bit ashamed to admit that I ate the entire 6oz bag of these over the course of the night.  However, this did allow me to discover that unlike many sour candies, eating large quantities of the Awesome Twosomes does not burn your mouth, a problem I have experienced with Sour Patch Kids in the past.  I definitely think these are worth a try if you are a sour gummy fan.

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Texture: These are very chewy and soft with a sour sugar coating.  The inside paste is pretty squishy but the overall texture was very nice to me.

Flavors: There are two flavors: Watermelon/Green Apple and Cherry/Orange.  I prefer the Cherry/Orange, but only slightly more, both flavor combinations are delicious.

Cost: $1.97 for a 6oz bag at Walmart.

Availability: I haven't noticed these before, but I assume they are readily available since most Hershey's candies can be found in any convienence store.

Au'some Nintendo Super Mario 3-Dees

As a long time gamer and fan of the Mario series, I had to try these when I saw them at CVS.  The packaging was so attractive to me, featuring Mario, Yoshi, Diddy Kong, and Donkey Kong.  When I opened the wrapping and pulled out the plastic tray of my five new friends, I was pleased to see that I got all four characters and at least one of each of the four flavors: Strawberry, Watermelon, Mixed Berry, and Orange.  The detail to the gummies was amazing and these were pretty big, about 1.5-2 inches.  Unlike most gummies, these had detailing all around, even on the back which is usually flat on a traditional gummy bear.  The flavors were pretty good as well, except the Mixed Berry had a strange after-taste, almost garlicky? The texture was slightly hard, it had a good chew to it.  Overall, these were very fun and I would definitely purchase them again, especially if I had kids with me.  Check out the Au'some website (www.3-dees.com) for their other 3-Dees lines.  They have super cute animals in their Wildlife series, holiday themes, and other licensed lines like Kung Fu Panda.

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Texture: These were slightly hard and chewy, I liked the texture overall.

Flavors: There are four flavors: Strawberry, Orange, Mixed Berry, and Watermelon.  The Mixed Berry has an unpleasant after-taste for me, but the other three were pretty good.

Cost: $1.95 for a pack of 5 gummies at CVS.

Availability: I haven't seen the Au'some gummies around before, but these seem readily available online.  I noticed that there is a theater box of 10 gummies so these are probably sold at some movie theaters and retail locations like Target where theater sized boxes of candy are sold.  Amazon also has good deals on different lines of 3-Dees, including a sour version of the Nintendo gummies.

Haribo Goldbaren

As I previously reported, I have heard that German Gold Bears are much better then the bags sold in the US, which are produced in factories in Turkey.  A few months ago I tried the Saft Goldbaren, or Juice Bears, which are my new favorite.  I had to try the regular Goldbaren to compare to the others. This package contained six flavors: orange, lemon, pineapple, strawberry, raspberry, and apple.  The texture is very similar to the Gold Bears found in the US, though they are slightly less chewy. Something interesting was since apple is included in this pack, as green, the strawberry is pink in this package instead of green like the US version.  I felt that in general, these tasted very similar to the Gold Bears, maybe a bit more intense, but overall mostly the same.  The red raspberry did taste a bit more like an authentic raspberry.  Overall, I don't think it is worth the extra effort to track down the Goldbaren over the Gold Bears, unless you are an apple fan, since that flavor is only available in this pack.  Otherwise, try the Saft Goldbaren if you want something different.

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Texture: These are very similar to Gold Bears, slightly less hard and chewy.

Flavors: There are six flavors in this pack: orange (orange), raspberry (red), strawberry (pinkish red), lemon (yellow), pineapple (clear), apple (green).  These are very similar to the Gold Bear flavors, the red tastes a bit different, slightly more authentically like raspberry fruit.

Cost: about $.71/oz, $4.79 for a 200g bag on Amazon

Availability: I've heard that these can be tracked down in German delis in the city, but I just ordered mine online.