Seeing Red... Pez That Is

Somehow in my long career of being a Candy Critic, I've managed to miss out on reviewing all of the red coloured flavours of Pez. It's pretty amazing since a few of these flavours were my favourites as a kid. Because I feel so strongly that each and every red flavour should be well represented on candycritic.org, I've decided to get all three reviews up this week. I'm always curious about the classic candies that I've not yet reviewed, so if you know about one, let me know.

Check out the first of 3 red coloured Pez reviews that I'll be posting this week.

Very 80s

I keep remembering things in the 80s differently than many of the younger folks out there. Then I see this commercial and I realize how truly weird it was.

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Amazing Candy/Junk Food Things That You Should Buy - Cherry Starburst

The "best" flavour of Starburst is a very divisive debate in the candy world. I believe this is because even the worst Starburst flavour (at least in their standard package) is still great. Personally I think cherry is just a bit better than the rest, but I'm willing to hear you out if you disagree.

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An In-depth Look at Which Flavour in a Classic Package of Starburst is the Best Flavour

While there are several special editions varieties of Starburst taffy candies, the classic, or original flavours are lemon, strawberry, orange and cherry. The point of this article is not to review Starburst, you can go here to read my review of original Starbursts, the point of this article is to look at each flavour individually and pick out the best one. This is a debate that has been going on in the candy world for generations, and I don’t think that this article is going to solve anything, I’m hoping it’s just another footnote in the great debate.

I’m going to look at the original Starburst candies in several ways, then take this information to attempt to make a rating. Keep in mind that this is the workings of a man that is obsessed with candy, and not any kind of final decision. Most of the opinions expressed in this article are mine, except for the part with the informal pole, where I asked several other candy fanatics to list their favourite in order.

There are only two reasons that the information from the article will be of any use to anybody. It might be useful to a person if they’ve never tried Starburst before, and for some strange reason decided that they will only purchase a bulk package of the candy containing only one flavour. That, or it might be useful to someone who likes candy and is really bored, or wants to find something to disagree with on the internet. Let’s start by taking a look at the colour of the candy.

Colour

The idea of this category is to simply look at the candies colour and see how much it evokes the flavour, as well as how appetizing the candy looks. When I say how much the colour evokes the flavour, I don’t mean how much it looks like fruit (more on that later), but instead how much it reminds me of the fruit.

Lemon – Yellow and lemon are pretty easy to put together. This is a fairly bright yellow and it makes me feel like the flavour of this candy is going to be strong, and maybe a just a little sour. It’s bright and it’s fun.

Orange – The orange is well… orange. It’s kind of a no brainer to make this orange, but I feel like it could have been just a little bit deeper an orange colour. It doesn’t make me think of fruit explosion, just simple orange.

Cherry – My memories of cherry Starburst have them being much deeper in colour than these are. Sure, they seem red in colour, but similar to the orange, the red just doesn’t seem to jump out at me.

Strawberry – This pink seems like it’s kind of muted. It seems like this should be a strawberry and cream flavour, and not just strawberry. I think that there are deeper or brighter pinks available to use in candy colouring. I just feel like this colour of pink reminds me of an un-ripened strawberry, and not a juicy ripe one.



Flavour

Cherry – When I started the idea of writing this article, I kept telling myself to keep an open mind, and look at each flavour with fresh eyes. I kept remembering cherry as being my favourite flavour as a kid, but I wanted to give the other flavours a chance. I tried, I really did, but these cherry Starbursts are really the best of the best in the original Starburst lineup.

Orange – Orange is never my favourite flavour, but it’s also the flavour that I never hate either. I always think of it as middle of the road. It's a fine flavour, but it's not impressive, or that much different than any other orange flavoured candy out there. I’m enjoying this Starburst, but it’s not wowing me.

Strawberry – It’s in my nature to like red candies more than the others, with the exception of watermelon and red apple flavoured candies. This one on the other hand doesn’t really stand up to some of the others. I feel like they’re really watering the flavour down with some kind of creamy flavour. If they called it a strawberry and cream Starburst, I’d probably like it more, but then it wouldn’t fit into this collection of flavours.

Lemon – I’m kind of surprised but I don’t really like the lemon flavoured Starburst. I feel like there’s something missing, something like a zing of flavour. I think if the lemon was just a little more tart it would taste a little bit better. For now, it just tastes like it’s trying to be flavourful, but it just stops short.

How the Flavour Compares to the Real Fruit

Orange – The problem with orange candies, and that includes these Starbursts, is that there’s a reference as old as time that we can relate to the flavour, Tang. Orange has been one of the fruit flavours that they’ve been manufacturing the longest, and rather than improve it, there seems to be an acceptance of this fairly fake flavour as being orange. If you think about it, there is something kind of orange about it, but I don’t think I could call it one hundred percent orange.

Lemon – This lemon Starburst tastes almost nothing like a lemon. This is probably a good thing since lemons are so sour that it’s hard for most people to enjoy the flavour. This tastes more like a candy with a slight essence of fake lemon flavour.

Cherry – These fall into a very unique category, they don’t really taste like any kind of real cherry, but I associate the flavour that they are with cherries. It’s a strong fruity flavour that for some reason I would call cherry, but compared to real cherries, it’s not that close. It’s more like a fruit punch than anything else.

Strawberry – This taste nothing like strawberries at all. It tastes like some kind of creamy, but slightly sour fruit punch. I would have a hard time picking this flavour out as Strawberry unless I’m given the context that I’m eating Starbursts (because this flavour is so connected to strawberry Starburst).

Other People’s Opinions

In order to find out which Starburst people liked the most, I informally asked people on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit, which one they liked most. I eliminated all those who just picked one or two flavours, as that would skew the results. I will say that most people who only voted on one flavour voted for Cherry, so I guess that says something about people who like Cherry Starbursts the most. Had they actually answered the question in full, it might have changed the results of this as well. Either way, here’s the list of favourite Starburst flavours as voted by you… or at the very least people.

Strawberry – 56 points – Only one person voted strawberry as their least favourite.

Cherry – 51 points

Lemon – 39 points

Orange – 34 points - No one voted orange as their favourite.

Conclusion

I think I’m most surprised by how much I didn’t like the strawberry Starbursts, I really thought they would rank second for me in most cases. This is truly a case where they don’t taste like what I remember. I find this even more amazing considering how much people in my pole liked the strawberry Starburst. I really thought cherry was going to win that pole, but it turns out people have very different tastes than I thought.

I think the one thing we can all agree on is that Starburst do not taste like any kind of real fruit, however they do taste like something special. Even the worst flavour of Starburst still tastes great, even if it doesn’t taste like lemons at all.

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Amazing Candy/Junk Food Things That You Should Buy - Cherry Jolly Ranchers

If I can only eat one more flavour of Jolly Rancher for the rest of my life, it will be cherry. If you argue with this and tell me that it should be watermelon then we will have to agree to disagree.

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Canadian Candy That I Love - Part 5 - Cherry Blossom

I once wrote a piece for a newspaper claiming that this is the most Canadian snack ever made. While it's not my favourite Canadian candy, I still stand by that piece I wrote. This candy is weird, and it combines some classic ingredients to make a better whole. That's pretty much the best way to describe the country that I call home.

Click here to read my review.



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Quick Review Before We Left - Kazoozles "Cherry Punch"

Lately we've been trying to do a few reviews on the weekends, and try to keep a theme. This weekend however we only managed one, and that's really happened for two reasons. First of all we have to leave for an adventure, but most importantly this candy doesn't really go with anything else. It's not the kind of candy one can compare to other candies, nor does it really go with any other candy.

Click here to read about this very strange Wonka candy.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our adventures.

Also, be sure to follow us on Patreon for video previews and exclusive content.

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This Week In Candy

This week I came across an interesting candy related thing, it's an M&Ms candle.  I'm not really sure how M&Ms and candles are related at all, but it interested me enough that I picked one up.  Then I decided that I should buy myself a pack of M&Ms and see how they compare to the candle.  So later this week I'm going to be posting an article where I compare the M&Ms candle to actual M&Ms.  I'll try and do this without getting a mouthful of wax, but I make no promises.

This week it's back to the grind stone... sort of. I'm waiting for word about my latest chapter samples of my book, so I get to take a little time off that project.  Instead of working on the book, I'm going to test out a few baking ideas that people have sent me over the last little while.  In particular I'm interested in trying out upside banana bread cake (recipe here), mostly because I have some bananas I have to use up.   I'll post any results I have good or bad.

This week on Snack Facts we're going to look at one of my favorite flavours, cherry. All this week we'll look at how cherry things have made our world awesome. To follow Snack Facts, all you have to do is follow us on Instagram.  If you don't use Instagram, you can also follow Snack Facts on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as well.

Since I'm working on an M&Ms article this week, I figured I'd might as well post an M&Ms review as well.  This marks the 11th M&Ms review on candycritic.org.  Click here to read this latest review, and see how the Almond M&Ms stack up.

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A Sweet Cherry Review

I'm always getting e-mails from readers, and candy companies, who are surprised that I haven't tasted a particular treat.  In some cases I may not have even heard of this particular treat.  In other cases I may have actually missed it.  Today's review is one of those classic candy treats that I've been eating my entire life, but only now have I actually realized that it was missing on Candy Critic. I really appreciate when people tell me about treats that I may have missed.  In some cases you might be introducing me to something I've never tasted, in other cases you may be reminding me of a treat I once loved.

Click here to read today's classic candy review.

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Candy News

What would you pay to have a one on one conversation with Warren Buffett?  What if I threw in a tour of a candy factory?

Next Thanks Giving, look for a giant floating chocolatier in the Macy's Day parade.

Guess which country eats the most chocolate?  I'll give you a hint, they make some of the best.

Planning a trip to China anytime soon?  You might want to check out "Shanghai Chocolate Happy Land".

Wrigley's is looking to break into the vitamin gummy field, maybe they should focus on making their gum's flavour last for more than 10 seconds instead.

Have you ever tasted a Cherry Ripe in Australia, I don't really get why they're so popular, but they are.

So you think that S'mores are simple, well they don't have to be.

The new owners of Hostess are really bragging about how awesome Twinkies are, they're even comparing them to Elvis.

The dangers of hard candy... Remember, it's for the children.

Apparently if you eat food accompanied with a particular ritual it actually improves the taste, that's why I always do a little dance before I eat a chocolate bar.

Here's a shocking story about a kid that got kicked out of camp for eating chocolate, I never went to camp for these very reasons.

If you like sitting down with a tub of ice cream and your favorite book, here's some perfect combinations to make your day.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Mike and Ike Names (A New Review Too)

One of the interesting things I learned while writing this review is the crazy naming convention that some Mike and Ike candies have.  I could be wrong about this, but I believe that "Mike" is represented by either the green or red candy, "Ike" by which ever one Mike is not.  So the candies from today's review are represented by "Cherri" the dark red candy, and "Bubb" the pink candy.  Is this a common trend with the Mike and Ike's family?  I've had a few other Mike and Ike treats, and I don't remember this naming format, is this new?  If it is new, then keep it up Just Born, it's a really good idea.  If it's an old idea, then I need some back story here, because this is really great.

Click here to read the review about Cherri and Bubb.

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Retro Mike and Ikes

I just got 4 boxes of Retro Mike and Ikes in the mail today.  Two of the packages have watermelon and lemon, and the other two have cherry and bubble gum.  My favorite thing about these packages has to be the characters.  In particularly I love the fact that the artwork isn't 3D or overly rendered.  To me, a simple cheesy drawing is the perfect thing to adorn your candy package.  My favorite character has to be the drunk looking bubble gum guy.

Now before I taste test these, I want to pick which flavour I'm going to review this weekend.  Should I make my choice based on the coolest characters, the flavour I think I'll most like, or should I just let the first person who sends me a message on Twitter or Facebook decide.
  

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Stuff I Want To Try

Chocolate-covered Cherry Peeps - Just Born - The fancier Peeps get, the more I think I'll like them. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Australia/New Zealand Review-A-Thon - The Cherry Ripe

After such an epic trip across two amazing countries, you better believe I have many a treat to talk about. I came across many a fine treat on this adventure, and I hope to show you every single one of them throughout this week.  I've decided to start this review-a-thon with a bar that is a truly Australian creation, first made by MacRobertson's until Cadbury bought it up in 1967, it's really an Australian staple.  You can pretty much find it on every single store shelf, I guess the question is, is it worth picking up?

Click here to read the Cherry Ripe review.

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Spreads - Cherry Jam

I just finished an art piece for bewarethecheese.com's fine art gallery "Senses". For this piece I had to photograph, and eventually eat more than 40 different spreads.  I've decided to post a little something about each spread that I sampled.

I'm always disappointed with cherry jams (or preserves as some call it) because it's never that nice blend of sour and sweet.  It's always way too sweet, and to me a cherry is a slightly sour fruit.  I've also always wondered if a cherry is a berry or not, in my head it is, but I have no science to back that up.

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Sugar Free VS Sugar Filled - Cherry Luden's

"Sugar free" is probably the longest trending health fad in the candy business.  Don't get me wrong, I understand that some people have medical conditions and they have to be very careful about how much sugar they eat.  Since I don't presently have a medical condition that requires me to worry that much, and since I eat sweets in moderation anyways, I tend to seek out the sugar filled versions of treats.

The question is, can there be a time when the Sugar Free version is as good or better than the sugar filled version?  I've decided to start searching for this answer.  I know that many treats make a sugar free version of their candies, so I think it's going to take a bit of experimentation.  I also realize that no candy company, as far as I know, has ever claimed that their sugar free version is as good or better than the original.  For my first taste test, I'm going to try out Luden's Wild Cherry Cough Drops.  Since people that don't eat sugar get coughs too, it's nice that they make a sugar free version as well.

Sugar Included:  I actually like cherry cough drops, I enjoy the taste.  I also think that the flavour reminds me of being sick and getting a candy to suck on to make me feel better.  The cherry flavour of these Luden's cough drops is pretty good.  It's not super authentic, like real cherrie, but it's got that classic cherry flavour.  The thing that actually makes it taste less like real cherries is the fact that it's overly sweet, so I wonder if the sugar free version will taste more like real cherries?

Sugar Free:  While these is a distinct difference in the flavour at first, after a little while it really settles into a very similar taste.  If I had to describe the difference, I'd say that the sugar free cough drops don't have as deep a flavour.  It's as if they taste a little lighter than the sugar included cough drops with maybe a little more tang.  On a flavour level they're pretty much on par.  Good job Luden's, you made two treats, a little different, but still tasty.

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Spooooooooooooonnnn!!! Sweets - Cherry

Every day this week I'm going to sample a different spoon sweet and let you know what I think.  For those unfamiliar with spoon sweets, they're pretty much fruit preserved in a syrup.  It's kind of like jam, only it's much juicier and the fruit is most often whole, or only sliced in half.

I decided to start this exercise with something fairly simple and straight forward, cherries.  I'm finding that most spoon sweets seem to come in more exotic and strange flavours, such as kumquat or fig. You don't really find apple, or peach spoon sweets as often.  It could be because these fruits are more common and not worth preserving, or it could be the places I happen to buy my spoon sweets.  These cherry spoon sweets are pretty good.  They're not as juicy as cherries, but the flavour is really surprising.  You would expect these to be uber sweet, since they've been soaking in syrup for a while, but they're not.  In fact they have a great tart taste that balances the sweet really well.  The best food to compare these is to a really good Chinese sweet and sour sauce.

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Quick Little Upate

I love cherries, in fact one of the things I miss most about Canada right now is cherry season.  Fortunately I'm distracted by the fun and exotic fruits available in Greece, but after this review I felt a little home sick.  Well I gotta go eat some fresh pomegranates right off the tree.

Click here to read the latest cherry filled review.

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Candy Art - Candy Art That Will Hurt Your Teeth

Dirk Staschke makes some great looking ceramic art that is so mouth wateringly real, you almost want to take a bite.  Unfortunately ceramic is both too hard to bite, and it tastes horrible... I've had experiences.

Click here to check out more of Dirk Staschke's art.

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Why Do The People At Coca-Cola Hate Me?

In my entire life, I have only lived in one city with a regular suply of Cherry Coke, for about one year.  That year was just long enough to become completely addicted to the stuff.  Then, for no reason they discontinued it.  I thought that maybe it was gone everywhere, forever.  But as I traveled around a bit I would occasionally come across it again and again.  It had the same can, same flavour, and the addiction returned quickly.

So, to the people of the Coca-Cola bottling company, why do you insist on torturing me.  Why can't you allow Cherry Coke to exist in the same country that I am currently living, or that I plan on moving to.  Do you pay attention to my movements.  If so, what did I ever do to you?  Please, for the love of all things good, please release Cherry Coke in the following countries: Canada, Greece, England, Japan, or any other place I have either lived or might live.

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