Thursday, June 22, 2006

Mike and Ike Tangy Twister

imageSo, I’m walking around the All Candy Expo, minding my own sweet business, and I walk past the Just Born booth (which is pretty close to the entrance) and there are some free samples for eating right there on both sides of the aisle. One side has the new Hot Tamales Fire and the other has the Mike and Ike Tangy Twisters. The first couple of days I made sure that I grabbed a couple of Hotter Tamales when I walked by because I love them so. But at some point I found myself on the other side and I picked up a Tangy Twister ... not being terribly fond of Mike and Ike, but you know, it’s free and it’s my job and all.

Well, zowie if that wasn’t good. Turns out it was a pineapple one and it was zazzy.

So I picked up two packages to bring home for a full review.

image

All of the colors, except for the raspberry red ones look like highlighters.

The Tangy Twister flavor set goes like this:

Dark Red/Raspberry - nicely floral with a good sour kick before it turns sweet and bland.

Yellow/Pineapple - shazaam, I want to buy a whole bag of these. The flavor is tart and sweet and very much like pineapple with some nice floral notes and a smidge of and herbal bitterness.

Red/Cherry - what can I say, it’s cherry? It’s got a nice tart bite and a full rounded flavor of woodsy notes.

Orange/Citrus Punch - I’m a big citrus fan, but this one just doesn’t float my boat. It’s too much punch and not enough orange or lemon or whatever it’s supposed to be. It reminds me of those “juice drinks” that I had at other kids’ houses when I was a child.

Green/Apple - intense green apple flavor and very tart at first, a little on the chemical side.

The Mike and Ikes live up to their name. They are tangy. Unfortunately the flavor set doesn’t wow me. I loved the pineapple and the raspberry runs a close second but the rest of them are just ones I’ll eat, not ones that I’d pick out of a mix to consume. I usually like to have over 40% of a mixed flavor set to be ones that I’m ga-ga for. However, if you’re the kind of person who loves green apple, punch flavors and of course cherry in addition to the fantastic pineapple, this might be a good fruity mix for you. They certainly get higher marks from me than a standard mix of Jelly Belly candies. With Jelly Belly I can’t just buy a mix, I have to do my own from the bulk bins because I find so many flavors unappealing a box of the mix is pretty much worthless to me.

The back of the package exhorts “Bursting with Fruit Juice Flavor!” and sure enough on the ingredient label the fourth ingredient is Pear Juice from Concentrate. What is it with pears and tangy fruit candy?

Name: Mike and Ike Tangy Twister
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Just Born
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo samples
Price: MSRP ~$.75 at convenience/drug stores
Size: 2.12 ounces
Calories per ounce: 104
Categories: Jelly, United States, Just Born

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:24 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Man, those sound good.

    Comment by eliza on 6/22/06 at 8:22 am #
  2. Wow, I thought I was the only one with a Jelly Belly complex. Honestly, I like maybe… two or three of their flavors and I can never bring myself to buy a mixed box for myself. The rest of my family is insane for all the flavors, so I thought I was the only one with this problem.

    Nice to know I’m not the only one who buys a box so they can pawn off the unwanted flavors on their crazy family… or not. You probably just do like sane people and buy from the bins. smile

    Comment by N.B. on 6/22/06 at 2:40 pm #
  3. the funny thing about mixed jelly bellies are the ones you can buy at the movies. they must be crazy if they think i’m going to eat those in the dark!

    Comment by Pam on 6/23/06 at 8:15 am #
  4. I used to like these so much when I was a kid, I named my two turtles Mike & Ike after them! Sweet….

    Comment by David L on 6/28/06 at 7:58 pm #
  5. When did Mike and Ike candies hit the market? Wasn’t their another hard capsule candy that tasted like licorice by the name of Nike?  Thanks

    Comment by ROGER GLUBKA on 9/27/06 at 10:32 am #
  6. Cybele's avatar

    Roger - Mike and Ikes started in the 1940s and had a licorice version called Jack and Jill (not to be confused with Good & Plenty which were also licorice). I don’t know of a Nike named candy, but I’ll keep my eye out!

    Comment by Cybele on 9/27/06 at 11:34 am #
  7. These are my new favorite kind of Mike & Ikes.

    Soft bags > Boxes

    Prove me wrong.

    Comment by Dan on 3/30/08 at 8:30 am #
  8. Great Candy, sweet and sour taste and would prefer in a paper box.

    Comment by Mike Bloomberg and Hurricane IKE on 9/12/08 at 12:45 pm #
  9. i love twisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by carolyn on 11/01/08 at 1:25 pm #
  10. I completely agree, I LOVE the pineapple ones. It is getting harder to find any good pineapple candy after they stopped making the pineapple lifesavers, but I love these!

    Comment by Kat on 1/16/09 at 12:45 pm #
  11. These are still available but only in 25 cent pouches.

    Comment by Anonymous on 4/21/16 at 8:47 pm #
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