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Monday, April 23, 2007
Starburst Baja California & Tropical
The Starburst Baja California commericals make it seem to be a paradise. It might well be.
I admit that I’m always enchanted with candy that’s named for a place. Limon - this was strange. It started with the distinct flavor of bubble gum. I can’t explain it. Then it got very tart with a pleasant lemon-lime flavor and a slight hint of key lime. Strawberry Watermelon - yes, this tasted just like you’d think a strawberry and watermelon Starburst should. Baja Dragon Fruit - as a blue flavor, I was a little put off, I can’t quite put my finger on the flavor. It reminded me of mango and a little bit of plum. Aztec Punch - the first time I tried this I thought I got my mixes mixed and it was a cherry one. So I dug out another one and the same thing happened. It tastes like cherry. Maybe that’s what the Aztecs put in their punch.
But this array in Starburst Tropical of flavors sounded pretty good.
Mango Melon - I don’t know. It was kind of melon, kind of mango, but not the best aspects of either of those flavors. Not tangy enough, not zesty enough. Strawberry Banana - I don’t consider strawberries a tropical fruit. If something is indigenous to England, it’s not tropical. This was bad. I wanted to like it, as I love real strawberry and banana things, but the banana was just ooky, a little too fake and a little too much like a scented candle. Royal Berry Punch - another punch flavor. It’s like they thought that there weren’t enough specific tropical fruit flavors so they had to do these punchy things. This is nice though, a little note of coconut with some melon and citrus and maybe kiwi. Pina Colada - very coconutty and with a good tingly blast of pineapple. It doesn’t have that buttery flavor that coconut stuff often does, but the fully-rounded notes of the pineapple are great. If I were to create a Tropical Fruit mix, I’d keep it simple and pick from these: Pineapple, Mango, Lychee, Passion Fruit & Banana. The ultimate mix from these two packs would consist of: Limon, Pina Colada and Royal Berry Punch. No, I can’t even manage to pick a fourth. They’re all okay, but I prefer the original mix best (because of its high citrus content).
POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:16 am 
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2008 by Cybele MayPlease do not use my photos on your own site without permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes. Design by Hop StudiosPowered by ExpressionEngine
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VOTE IN THE POLLWhich do you prefer as a holiday treat?
Total Votes: 251
Chocolate Candy 
31% (78)Holiday Themed Candy
18% (45)Cake
7% (18)Pie
12% (31)Cookies
31% (79)
 
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SUPERB 
YUMMY 
TASTY 
WORTH IT 
TEMPTING 
PLEASANT 
BENIGN 
UNAPPEALING 
APPALLING 
INEDIBLE 
SUPERB
YUMMY 
TASTY 
WORTH IT 
PLEASANT 
BENIGN 
UNAPPEALING 
APPALLING 
INEDIBLE 
I love the California ones. They used to be just plain California fruits--plum passionfruit, red raspberry, an alternative cherry one, and the same strawberry watermelon. I was very sad when they got rid of that lineup (the raspberry was awesome), but these are pretty good too. I’m a big cherry fan (I believe I like every cherry candy ever, except for Cherry Kitkats, which were truly disgusting), so I really like the Aztec Punch, and I also like the dragonfruit ones. The limon is a nice departure from the normal citrus starbursts--a little more tart. I’m not a big melon fan, so it figures the one they’d keep is the one I liked least. Sigh.
Starburst needs to start selling flavours individually. I buy Tropical Starburst JUST for the pina colada ones. So yummy.
Baja Cali Starburst is delicious, and the blue flavour tastes exactly like the 5 cent Tropical Fish sugar coated gummies I used to buy from the corner store as a kid.
As good as single flavour packs would be, I think an entire roll (tube? elongated rectangle?) of one flavour would be just too much.
I agree with Dashrashi! I fondly remember the California flavors from when I was a kid (80s) when they were just referred as “California” and had the different flavor lineup. So tasty! I tried the tropical the other day just for kicks and was pretty impressed. I HATED the smoothie ones and don’t want to go near the sour ones.
I’d be sadder about the unavailabity of the different versions of the fruit chews if the alternative flavours didn’t all sound so awful.
Semi-related… does anyone else want to throw their TV off the balcony when that “berries and cream” commercial comes on?
Dashrashi & Sera - I don’t recall the California mix (or Smoothies), but I’ve loved Starburst so much I never thought to try a different flavor set until I got the blog.
Lisa - I’ve heard raiding the bulk bins is a good way to get just what you want. (I’ve never seen anything but the traditional flavors in bulk though.)
Vanessa - you may be right. I wonder if the additional appeal of Skittles is that there are five flavors instead of four.
Leigh - maybe we’ll win your envy when I get a hold of the Retro Flavors (I really doubt it though).
Carly - I think TiVo has rescued many TVs from that fate in the past ten years! (My pet peeve has always been that local mattress commercial that keeps saying “I’ll match anyone’s price or your matress is free!” Of course he’d rather match the price than give it to you ... stupid commercial.)
Dragon fruit is an actual fruit. Funny thing- it’s not blue. Which is why, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Starburst decided to make a dragon fruit flavored candy blue. The candy does taste a lot like dragon fruit anyway. I always though the Aztec punch one tastes exactly like fruit punch (as in Hawaiian punch).
The outside (peel) of a dragon fruit is hot pink (yes, I mean HOT pink) and there are “lobes” tipped with green (the fruit resembles a round flame like if a dragon was breathing fire-hence the name). The inside of the fruit, once peeled or cut is a slightly translucent white with lots (LOTS) of little black seeds studded in it. Here’s a pic: sweetcucumber.com/photos/Fruits/Fruits-Images/0.jpg
There is another variety of dragonfruit that has dark red/purply flesh rather than white. Also referred to as pithaya, the fruit is juicy and soft when ripe- it’s like eating kiwi with all of the crunchy little seeds only a but firmer. It has a tart flavor. It is obviously a tropical fruit (you can find it in Asia and South America).
omg...lychee that’s a great Idea...I like the pineapple part of the pina colada one too...they should make plain pineapple. I remember those cali starbursts as well.
I picked up a bag of these tropical fruit starburst candies today and tried to figure out if you and I share in the same flavour preferences.
Okay, so here goes:
1)Mango Melon was my favourite.
2)Royal Berry Punch was my least favourite.
3)Strawberry Banana was okay initially and then tasted awful in the end.
4)Pina Colada was good but not great. I wanted more coconut intensity. I found the flavour too subtle for pina colada.
So, I guess we differ in our candy preferences
WERE CAN I GET BIG BOXES OF CANDY FOR A LOW PRICE
I just want to know if you sell the red-strawberry ones by themselves?
I love the strawberry banana and pina colada ones. I’m not a big fan of Starburst otherwise but I buy the Tropical ones in big bags!
I buy the baja california packs JUST for the blue dragon fruit - the aztec punch is good, but the dragon fruit flavor of those blue starbursts is amazing. I LOVE it!!! I wish I could buy a whole pack of just the blue ones - its the best flavor starburst has. I wish tons of different candy could be made with the exact same flavor. It’s delicious!!!!
I remember the original 1920s and 1930s pack of Baja fruit chews with four standard flavors:
Mango Watermelon (pink)
Blueberry Lime (blue)
Fruit Punch (red)
Lemon Lime (green)
The original 1920s to late 1960s pack of Tropical fruit chews was unbelievable!
There was:
Apricot (orange)
Pineapple (yellow)
Purple Passion Fruit (purple)
Banana (pink)
HEY I LOVE FAIRFAX! I USED TO LIVE THERE! OH YEAH! I LOVE BAJA CALIFORNIA STARBUST, TOO!
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