The purist in me always tended to shy away from fruit-flavored gums, preferring the breath-freshening qualities of mint and cinnamon. But with my previously-held flavorism so completely obliterated by Orbit Citrusmint and then Stride Mandarin, I have found myself in a much more open place regarding gum selection. And it is with this spirit that I agreed to sample and review Trident’s new Passionberry Twist (with Xylitol).

Passion fruit is not one of those flavors I’m all that familiar with: kids didn’t just whip passion fruits out of their lunch boxes when I was growing up (at least not at my grade school) and, if memory serves, it’s one of those heavily seeded, hard-skinned beasts in the produce section that doesn’t exactly seduce neophytes. I have, however, sampled it on a few occasions (in the rain forests of Brazil, or Costa Rica, or Vietnam – I can’t quite remember) and in none of those places have I vomited, so I figured it must have been benign enough. Plus, I love berries, so it seemed like a winning – if mysterious – combo worthy of nothing less than a minute-by-minute review.

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Rocky road is one of those candies whose parts I love individually. Marshmallows, chocolate, a jelly of some kind, nuts… these elements on their own are delicious. Put them together and voila! instant candy (or ice cream) hit. Rocky road, to me, is a bit like pizza… even when it’s bad, it’s good!

Holding this candy in such high esteem really only means that one day, I was bound to fall off my candy high horse, wasn’t I? Well, dear readers, that day has come. I initially picked up this box of David Medlow Rocky Road because it not only had all the right elements, it also had a bit of innovation. The whole delicious sounding combination of passion fruit, white chocolate and roasted almonds had me drooling just by thinking about it. There was also a dark chocolate and orange version, but this one’s flavor combinations seemed more purchase-worthy.

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Random new candy purchases can be dangerous. On one hand you could have found a new favorite, on the other you may have wasted money on some sub-par, run-of-the-mill candy that you wouldn’t mind never seeing again. The former was the case when I found these Lindt Fun Eggs.

I was prowling around shopping the other weekend and thought I’d check in my local Lindt retail store for some eye candy. I didn’t expect to buy anything, seriously, because Lindt is pretty reliable in regard to releasing the same old classic confections for the holidays from year to year. So you can expect my surprise when I saw these two new filled eggs on display. One with a passion fruit vanilla creme and the other strawberry. What struck me as so new and exotic about these was not only that these were new Easter items, but as far as I know I’ve never even seen these flavors attempted by Lindt before. Luck was surely shining on me.

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For all of you Candy Addicts out there who are feeling all bummed out ’cause winter’s coming – take heart. There is hope. And it’s only 1 1/2 little calories. I speak, of course, of the genius new Cherry Passion Tic Tacs.

The color combination is distinctly reminiscent of my favorite popsicle, the Big Stick. The flavors aren’t too far off from a Big Stick, either; although, to me, they are a little more modern and exotic. They’re refreshingly fruity and not very artificial-tasting, and, I think, pleasing to kid and adult palates alike.

If you’re not entirely familiar with the passion fruit, it’s kind of “tropical punch-y.” Let me tell you, those Tic Tac people got the color and taste spot on. The cherry candies are also very nice, kind of a black cherry with just a hint of bitterness. Unlike, say Ice Breakers Fruit Sours, the flavors combine quite nicely, so you can eat them in the dark. That’s a distinct advantage in my book. Of course, it’s also nice to separate out a mouthful of just one flavor.

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