New Blog

I'm not updating this blog regularly anymore, but I now have a new blog! Check out The Sustainable Single a blog about living sustainably on a student budget and while living alone.

Not...back!

Apologies, dear readers. I did have every intention of getting back to burning out my tastebuds with sours. With my life and school, I haven't had the time. That, and I honestly see very few new and interesting sour products out there. I've covered the major ones and I seem to have run out of material! The site will remain and feel free to have a look around and enjoy the reviews I've already posted. New ones may go up again occasionally if I happen to come across something particularly interesting or unusual.

Happy puckering!

I'm Back!

You may have noticed it's been quite awhile since I updated. The reason for that is because I recently moved across the country and was then busy with my undergrad. But school is almost over for the year and I'm ready to get my sour on again. A new city means new sources for sour treats.

I'm open to any suggestions for weird and wonderful candies I should try. I may not be able to find that particular sour treat in my area, but I'll do my best to hunt it out.

Review - Efruiti Sour Fruit Juice Berries

I've been eating the Efruiti berries for years. You'd probably recognize them from the bulk bins first at health food stores and now, more frequently at supermarkets. I believe you can even buy them pre-packaged now. I tried to look this candy up, but I can't find any sites except for a few distributors who sell Efruiti stuff. If you've never heard of them, well, maybe it's a local thing!

These berries are covered in a tasty layer of sour sugar. What makes these a cut above your typical gummies is the fact that they're flavoured with real fruit juice and that makes them darned tasty. Sure, the Toxic Waste candies are good if you want an extreme sour hit, but these are great for hitting the sour craving without destroying your tastebuds for three days. They come in two flavours, one pinkish, the other purplish, though there isn't a real great difference between them. I have no ingredients to go by since these are from the bulk bin. The darker berries seem to be flavoured with grape juice or blackcurrant, or perhaps both. The gummi itself is tart, which makes them yummier than regular sweet candies with a sour dusting. The pinkish one isn't as tart (in the gummi) nor is it as flavourful, but it makes a nice contrast between the two.


THE SOUR LINE

Are Efruiti berries super sour? No. Are they tasty and easy to snack on? Yes! I'm also partial to the gummi varieties and when I buy them in bulk, I tend to mix the two. Any candy that manages to be at least somewhat natural has my vote.

News Article: The Sour Trend

"Kids want Razzles and Chiclets and Airheads and bubble gum. They want the old stuff, too, says Beth Miller, owner of Suckers Candy (3256 N. Damen Ave.; 773-549-1706). Ring Pops and Pop Rocks. Gummies. All the old Wonka stuff like Laffy Taffy, Nerds and that sugary juice mix with the candy stick, a.k.a. Fun Dip. The stuff they learned about from their parents.

"I sell a ton of Pop Rocks," Miller says. "I can't keep them in. [Kids] love any kind of bulk."

But the current king of confection is sour candy, from Sour Patch Kids to sour watermelon slices to sour gummies. Kids want anything that causes their mouths to pucker."

Pucker up: Sour candy is sweet. - The Chicago Tribune


My apologies for slow updates lately! My tastebuds had a burnout after the five Toxic Waste candies in a row and I'm coming up on the end of the semester. I hope to be back to my regular schedule soon!

First Taste - Toxic Waste

Finally, after a month's worth of reviews I've found a candy that not only justifies the sour label, it hits the high end of the scale. Toxic Waste is sour, extreme and hazardous.

A few hours after eating these, the roof of my mouth was still quite sore. I do recommend these as a sour fan, but what I wouldn't recommend is eating more than one in a row. Powerful stuff!

Way to go, Toxic Waste! Erm. Feels weird to say that!

Review - Croc Tears

If nothing else, I have to give this candy kudos for the name. Sour candy that makes you cry big crocodile tears? Get it?! Ha ha ha.

These are yet another candy dubbed 'extra sour.' After my experiences lately, I remain dubious.



First up is lemon! It's tart and quite tasty. The texture is quite SweeTart-like, except a bit denser. The lemon taste isn't readily apparent, but what lemon-yness there is tastes quite natural.

Blue. I'm guessing that this is actually blueberry rather than blue raspberry. The flavour's actually quite nice, but it's not particularly sour. If I had to compare it to another flavour, it'd be blueberry-dominated fruit punch.

Purple. I couldn't tell you what this is actually supposed to be. If it's grape, the flavour is very subtle. I put a lemon in my mouth at the same time as the purple and aside from undertones, these taste the same.

Orange. This one actually tastes quite citrusy. It's almost identical to sour Fun Dip powder.

Red! It could be strawberry, it could be cherry. I can't really tell! It tastes nice, but not any more or less sour than the others.

And last but not least, green! It's lime. Ish. It's not bad, but it's not particularly good either. EDIT: On further consumption, it appears the green is watermelon, not lime.




THE SOUR LINE

While they're not 'extra sour' they are pleasantly tart. For eighty cents? Each of the 'tears' are dense enough that you could suck on it for several minutes. There's quite a bit to a box, so they're a good value. They're tart and tasty! Still, yet another candy that labels itself 'extra' or 'super' sour for no reason!