Chewy Sprees can do no wrong in my book, but I am a little suspicious of this new Mix’d Berry flavor. None of the flavors are identified on the package, so who knows what could be, you know, mix’d (yeah, the cutesy spelling kind of gets me). The package says, “It’s a kick in the mouth!” What does that mean? Are they going to be sour? Overpowering? What? I guess there is only one way to find out.

I open up the package, and I must say the colors are stunning. Bright and cheerful, these little candies are calling out to me, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from shoving them all into my mouth. There are four flavors in the Mix’d Berry Chewy Spree package: purple, pink, red, and turquoise. Wikipedia claims that the turquoise (okay, so they call it aqua) is blueberry. I am still confused as to whether Mix’d Berry means there is more than one berry flavor per color (you know, like cranberry-raspberry flavor) or if it just means there are four berry flavors in a package. I am not confident I will be able to determine this by tasting them, but I’ll give it a try!

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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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Another month, another delicious delivery from Licorice International’s Licorice of the Month Club. Truly, who could ask for more from life? This time around, I got to try Finnska Strawberry Bites, which are a red cousin to the black Sweet Finnish Licorice I tried last year.

Like the black, this red licorice from Finland is short and tubular, but there the similarities end. Unlike the black, the red is extremely moist and sticky to the touch. It’s a pleasant red color, but you have to lick your fingers after each piece or risk getting sticky muck all over the keys on your keyboard. That in and of itself would usually gross me out to no end, but here the surprise comes in – the flavor. They’re good! Really really good. Sweet and fruity (no natural flavors here, unfortunately), there’s really nothing to complain about. They definitely beat Twizzlers – even when Twizzlers are having a really good day – so if that’s your kind of thing, go get some… now! You won’t be disappointed.

• Finnska Strawberry Bites at Licorice International

Sometimes the package that candy comes in is just as important as the candy itself. In the here-today, gone-tomorrow world of novelty candy, the packaging can be make or break. For example, why is it that something like Pixie Stix has become a candy classic, while so many other fun candy products fail, destined to become Retro Candy Flashbacks?

The people at Wonka have decided to try their luck in the novelty candy world with their latest fun product, the new Shockers Squeez Sour Candy. Packaged in a 1.5 oz. tube, Shockers Squeez comes in two flavors: Mouth Blastin’ Berry and Tongue Trippin’ Lemon. Essentially, these tubes of gel-like candy are a new incarnation of Wonka favorites Shock Tarts.

I am always a little wary of candy that comes in any sort of liquid or gel, especially when the vessel of choice is a tube the likes of which I might find in my bathroom to help me banish plaque and cavities. Still, I like to take a walk on the wild side every now and then, so I gave this Wonka product a squeeze.

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I’ve gotten a little tired of candy companies fiddling with their basic products and calling them by a hybrid name, so I let a pack of Airheads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Belts rest on my kitchen counter for two weeks. It’s not that I don’t love trying new candy—I definitely do—but sometimes I get overwhelmed by all the choices under one label, like Airheads. I expected the Xtremes to taste like most other sour belts out there, but they weren’t at all what I expected.

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