Every time I visit my boyfriend’s Boston home, I make ask him to take me to Trader Joe’s, as they always have an assortment of neat packaged foods. The last time I went, I picked up a bunch of new candy loot, and their Citrus Gum Drops are first up to be reviewed.
The gum drops came in a cheerful nature-themed bag that invoked eco-friendly associations. I don’t think the candies are as such, as the first ingredient is corn syrup, but I still appreciated the aesthetic.
I love citrus fruits and citrus-flavored candies, so I had high expectations for these gum drops. They come in tangerine, pink grapefruit, lemon, and key lime.
Each gum drop was about the size of the first joint of my pinky finger. They were all covered in sweet granulated sugar and had sticky-soft chews. That is, they yielded immediately upon being bitten into but still stuck to my teeth, just a tad.
Tangerine was expectedly orange colored. Its actual orange flavor, however, was unexpectedly dark. It tasted deeply of orange oil and lacked the bright citrus flavor that most orange gummi candies have.
Pink grapefruit was a purplish-pink. It tasted sweet at first bite before the grapefruit acid flavor came out. It’s not the best grapefruit gummi I’ve had, but it was a solid effort.
Lemon was yellow and sweet with no tartness. It tasted of lemon zest and had a light edge of bitter pith, which brought a wonderful complexity.
Finally, the white key lime was my favorite (to eat, at least. Its lack of color threw off the color balance of the photo!). But it perfectly encapsulated the flavor of fresh limes. It tasted extremely zesty and limey and had a bitter undertone that set off the whole thing quite nicely.
Trader Joe’s Citrus Gum Drops are a great flavor mix and a cut above “normal” gum drops. Better yet, the price point is awesome – $1.99 for an 8 oz bag. An OM.
Varsha