Wonka's Oompas

Name: Oompas
Brand: Wonka (Nestle)
Acquired from: CandyWarehouse.com
Price: $.80 each
Size: 1.85 oz
Calories per ounce: 108
Type: Fruit Chew



Now, when I was a kid there was a candy called Oompa-Loompas and they were nothing like this. Well, they were something like this - they came in a bag and were about the same size as these but they were like a mash-up of M&Ms and Reese's Pieces (this is all a vague recollection, correct me if I'm wrong). When you bit into the little disks (like fat, large, plain M&Ms) the top layer was peanut butter cream and the bottom was milk chocolate and it was all covered in a bright candy shell.

Wonka discontinued those pretty quickly.

Now we've got the new Oompas which are pretty much jumbo Skittles.

Oompas are brightly colored and about the size of garbanzo beans (about two or three times the size of Skittles). Where most of us eat two or three Skittles at a time, I'd probably only eat one of these at a time. Thus losing out on one of the great things of Skittles which is flavor combos - you put a lemon and lime in your mouth at the same time. Generally with Skittles consumption I spill the bag out on my desk and separate them and eat pairs of comparable flavors - citrus with citrus, although lemon can be combined with grape or strawberry, etc.

Okay, enough with the Skittles comparisons. Oompas come in six flavors: Green Apple, Cherry, Lemon, Orange, Grape and Strawberry. What's especially interesting about eating these is that they're very sweet when you start to chew and they get more sour and zesty as you go (which is the opposite in most chews). Though I don't care for the intense sweet start, these have a nice finish and are less grainy that some other chews. Think of them more like Starbursts than Skittles.

My thing about these assorted flavor packages of stuff is that I invariably only like a few of the flavors. I don't care for the cherry at all, though it does have a strong flavor. I didn't like the strawberry or green apple either, and again, that's personal preference, I'm not saying they were bad. What I did like was the orange and lemon and the grape was just okay. If I liked the majority of the flavors, I think I'd be able to give this a higher rating. As it is, they're pretty good and I wouldn't turn them down if you put a big bowl in front of me and I could discreetly pick out the flavors I like.

Interesting fact from the wrapper: made in New Zealand.

Rating: 7 out of 10