Given my penchant for all things sour and tongue-burning, I was really excited to see the word “sour” written all over the Pucker Powder dispenser. I first encountered it at the Sweet Expo here in Melbourne, and then Brian mentioned seeing it at the All Candy Expo.
Pucker Powder is basically edible sand art. Sand art is one of those creative crafts which really requires no actual skill, meaning even the most uncoordinated and uncreative types can make a sand art project look good. A brilliant idea, considering that, once made and brought home, nobody ever knows what to do with those twisty neck bottles with the googly eyes stuck on.
Pucker Powder dispensers have anywhere from six to fourteen powder flavors, from an overall range of thirteen sour and five sweet varieties. I got to see a fourteen powder dispenser in action and actually use one. You pick your size of clear tubing, and then move around the dispenser picking your flavors. You push the clear tube up and the sand falls into it. The sand “art” part of it comes when you try to get creative and put as many flavors as you can in there, creating a cool striped effect in the tube. You cap it off, and away you go. The eating of Pucker Powder is pretty much like eating Pixy Stix. Either tilt your head back and throw it down, or pour it into your hand and lick it up.
Making up my tube of Pucker Powder was a lot of fun, and eating it was, too. The only real drawback here is that the flavors meld together when you pour it all out (a bit like what happens when you drop your jar of sand art on the floor). It’s quite hard to separate the flavors from one another, and the “sourness” factor isn’t really there. Mostly the powder just tasted sweet with a hint of tangy. This interactive candy was fun, and I’d eat it again. Just don’t ask me to sweep the floor up afterwards!
I’ve seen similar kiosks at amusement parks in the NE Ohio area for probably the last 10 years.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:05 amYeah, they have them at Canada’s wonderland too. I personally wouldn’t spend about 6 dollars on a glorified Pixy Stick.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:40 pmI’ve also seen one of these dispensers (same company, and the same size as the one pictured I believe) in a candy store in Claremont, California about a week or two ago.
I can kind of see the appeal of having so many options, but yeah, it seems like a bit of a rip-off for the price.
November 5th, 2007 at 3:25 amI have eaten this many times…my friends and I love it. It is not a rip off…you pay almost that same price for stuff at the store and you dont even get to make that…you guys are crazy. Being you on candy desginer is fun.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:18 pmI love that stuff, bein looking in local shops for it to see if it is any products and had no luck, does anyone know where you can get it from?
September 12th, 2008 at 9:49 amWOW ! i’d really be on a sugar high !! eating that stuff !
September 20th, 2008 at 2:28 pm