Candy Review: Skittles Crazy Cores

Friday, January 2, 2009 - by Robby

This past week I had the pleasure of having my father visit for the holidays. It was a great time. We explored the city, dined at my favorite eateries, and enjoyed the sweet tooth I genetically inherited from him by popping into various confection stores and leaving very, very full.

When it was time to bid adieu to him, we pulled into a gas station near my house so he could fill the rental car up and avoid the surcharge. Despite this gas station being located down the street from me, I hadn’t set foot in it a long time, but remember finding a slew of great candy during earlier visits.

As he paid the clerk, I browsed the candy aisle and scanned it for something out of the ordinary. Maybe because it was Christmas Day (I can’t really figure it out otherwise), but there amongst all the different flavors of Skittles sat the newest spin-off, Skittles Crazy Cores.

I first learned about the upcoming release of this candy back in the fall, but I hadn’t seen these in any major supermarkets or drugstores, which made my spotting them in an independently owned gas station particularly Christmas miracle-esque.

Crazy Cores are based on the premise that two flavors are better if combined into one; the first flavor is the outer shell, while the second flavor in the inner portion. There are tenish flavors here to combine for five pieces. The first flavor listed is the outer shell and the second one the inner portion.

Mango Peach: Instead of mango, I get a blast of nectarine. It’s a juicy rush, which then transitions into a peach flavor very reminiscent of the Jelly Belly flavor. Despite it not being mango, it had a very tropical taste.

Cherry Lemonade: So I like to fuse the flavors into one word. Sometimes it’s not too successful (hence no mention of Meach), but cherry and lemonade combine for an easy pronunciation that shall hereby be known as cherade (sounds like the game). Cherade begins its flavor journey with cherry, which tastes artificial, but not as bad as the Wild Berry variety. This could be a direct result of the lemonade flavor transforming the piece to distract your tongue from the cough syrup association.

Strawberry Watermelon: The watermelon and strawberry share equal flavor time, blending harmoniously. I don’t like strawberry and watermelon a great deal to begin with, and with the strawberry tasting identical to the original variety I didn’t fall in love with this flavor, but it will appease fans of those tastes.

Melon Berry: I am confused by this flavor simply because Wild Berry Skittles already contain a Melon Berry flavor. Either way, this piece refuses to seek classification. The generic terms of melon and berry offer no actual suggestion as to which melons or berries are being utilized, and upon tasting, I still had no answer. I suppose it seemed like kiwi fruit more than anything else.

Blue Raspberry Lemon: You’ve all read my rants on blue raspberry enough to know my stance on it; here, however, is an instance where it works well. The piece is a little tart, but the acidity of the lemon balances the tang of the blue raspberry. The end result is a scrumptious blend.

To me, there is nothing novel about Crazy Cores. Both the Tropical and Smoothie Mix varieties are comprised of two different flavors in one piece. I didn’t mind these, but that may be because I enjoy tropical and berry flavors a great deal, and most of these flavors fall under that umbrella.

I do foresee many people not having similar reactions if they vastly prefer the unadulterated, original mix. Still, there is nothing egregious about them, and I wouldn’t turn them down if someone offered me a bag, but I would probably buy a different flavor if it were my own money I were spending.

• Skittles Website

Buy Skittles Crazy Cores Online:

• at Amazon.com