I don’t know about you, but when I think Altoids, I don’t think fruit. They’ve done a good job promoting themselves as a mint company. When I saw these I thought, aren’t they just making trouble for themselves by branching out? You do one thing well – why not stick to it?

On the other hand, as I am sure I have mentioned a million times, I’m a sucker for mango. The idea of Curiously Strong Mango was something I couldn’t resist.

These are little bumpy round things, kind of like little sugar flowers, in a pale orange color. They don’t look like mangoes, and I am not absolutely sure they taste like mangoes. It’s clearly an artificial flavor, at most one that tastes more like mango than it tastes like another fruit. They’re not like the mango Hi-Chew I reviewed recently, for instance, where you taste them and aren’t surprised to read in the ingredients that there’s real mango in there somehow. They are more “Curiously Fruity,” like it says on the tin, than they are in-your-face MANGO.

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I previously reviewed all of the products from Surf Sweets, the gummi candy company that produces an assortment of organic, “healthier” candies that are also vegetarian and vegan friendly. At least, I thought I had reviewed everything they produce.

At the All Candy Expo, I approached the Surf Sweets booth and began chatting with the people there. It wasn’t long before they spotted my expo badge, clearly stating who I was and the publication I worked for. Being a writer for Candy Addict is like being a character on Saved By The Bell… some people will recognize Dustin Diamond and be amazed, but there are also a lot of people who will ask you to repeat exactly what’s the big deal.

Thankfully, the Surf Sweets people viewed me as the former. They put two and two together and realized I was the Robby who had reviewed all their products. Though it can be awkward interacting with people when you’ve written a negative review, I actually really enjoyed their products, and so it was a friendly chat.

Somewhere in our conversation, the mention of a new product came up. “A new what?” I asked to confirm I heard correctly. Yes, apparently between the time I had reviewed them and the ACE, they had released Sour Berry Bears. Because I could no longer claim I had eaten and reviewed everything they manufactured, I felt it essential to get my hands on some, which in reality was fairly easy since they gave me a complementary bag.

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Courtesy of the All Candy Expo, I was able to try two of the Nuclear Sludge Chew Bars from Toxic Waste: the blue raspberry and the sour apple.

Blue Raspberry: I’m a Candy Addict who loves sour things and I’m telling you woohoo is this sour! The blue raspberry flavor started out really sour and just got more sour as I chewed. By the time I’d chewed enough to swallow, my eyes were watering. The flavor reminds me of a sour version of those blue Popsicles. Unfortunately, the first chew ended with a bit of a bitter taste and subsequent bites got progressively more bitter. I’d have liked it more if it just stuck with the sour. The texture was moderately chewy, taking a long time to chew any given bite.

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I was pretty excited to snag a sample pack of these new Sour Patch Chillerz at the All Candy Expo. Excited – yet conflicted.

You see, while Sour Patch Kids are one of my most favorite candies ever, and the thought of a new flavor variety fills me with joy, these ones promise a “cooling effect.” That usually means the presence of menthol, which is definitely one of my least favorite flavors. It never fails to make me think of cough drops, especially when combined with any kind of fruit flavor. “Burning throat pain” is just not a sense association I want attached to my candy, thankyouverymuch (unless that candy is an Atomic Fireball, of course).

But nothing ventured, nothing gained – I tore open my pouch of Chillerz (is that “z” really still cool?) and was greeted with a nice fruity scent – with only a very faint whiff of menthol. In this low of a concentration, it was actually – pleasant.

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For our third entry in our Spring Jelly Bean Hunt, today we bring you original and sour flavor Starburst jelly beans!

Original Flavor
These jelly beans are a bit on the sweet side, but they’ve got enough flavor that you know what you’re eating. Both the original and sour flavors have a bit of a sugary shell – not as thick as the Necco Jelly Beans, but thicker than the Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans. Both have a good texture but be forewarned that for some reason they stick to your teeth a bit.

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