FRANK – Wine Gums

I believe the Wine Gums started life as a UK confection, and due to colonization of what is now Canada and the United States, made it’s way over to North America. I’m not quite familiar with the history of the gummy, firm and chewy candy, but I have heard urban legend say that the name was derived from the original recipe that included wine in it.

For all I know, this is all just a clever ploy to convince people to try and figure out what the flavours are, and whether they are reminiscent of wine and spirits. As long as I’ve had these candies, they’ve always tasted roughly the same even across brands. The distinguishing feature between brands then becomes the texture and mouth feel of it. Today I’m going to give FRANK a go at this classic candy.

While it’s clear that there are six distinct flavours based on the colours, it seems that the actual flavour representation is a highly contested and debated topic for certain colours. Some are clear and obvious, like yellow being lemon, lime being green and orange being….you guessed it, orange. Black is obvious to me, but apparently most people aren’t familiar with blackcurrant. Again, i chalk this up to regional differences. Red is up for debate, as it’s a vaguely berry-ish flavour, but it’s unclear which one. I believe it’s supposed to be raspberry, but I’m sure some people might think it’s strawberry. The white one…this one is tough. In the past I’ve tried to identify it but I just can’t seem to. I’ll keep the suspense going and tell you what the flavour is ‘supposed’ to be later.

Such a colourful cast of characters just waiting to flourish.

At this point, I’ve tried most varieties available in the frigid North when it comes to wine gums. We have a few bigger brands doing their take on it, and today I try yet another. I’m honestly not expecting too much to be different. I’d be more surprised if it deviates too much from the tried and tested formula.

As a child, I had no idea what hock was. I thought it was the act of spitting phlegm onto the ground.

Texture wise, there’s no difference between the flavours. They all have a slight waxy coating to them so they don’t stick together too much. They’re firm and yet when you bite into them their not that chewy. It’s more of a gummy texture, but the sticky kind that gets between your teeth. It’s because of this that I also find that when they are too fresh, they are super sticky. I like to let them “air out” a bit to get firm and less sticky. I guess you could say I like my wine gums like my wine, aged and aerated. I personally treat these like hard candies, and let them sit in my mouth as the flavour siphons into my mouth as opposed to biting into them from the get go. Let’s go one by one, shall we? The lemon one has a nice mild zest to it, but is tart enough that it will leave a linger after taste in your mouth. The orange one is also tart and zesty, but is sweet enough that at no point is it sour. Lime is very similar to lemon in the mild tart and has more of that zest you expect from sucking a lime. Not that you should be doing that on the regular. Or maybe you should. I’m not your doctor. The red one is hard to distinguish as I mentioned, but it’s got a berry-ish flavour that can be best described as artificial raspberries. The black one is blackcurrant of course. For those who have never had blackcurrant before, it’s kind of like grape but with more of a distinct tart flavour to it, and not as sweet. This candy is definitely sweeter than actual blackcurrants though (not that I’m complaining). The white one is, surprisingly, grapefruit. I would never have guessed it myself, as the flavour is very muted, there’s no citrus burn from it, and it mostly just tastes like sugar. Yet, for some reason, I am down with that. I actually really like the white one. Odd.

In the wrong light, you might confuse the yellow and white ones until it’s too late.

Out of these flavours, each person’s preferences will be different, but my favourite is blackcurrant, followed by the white flavour (supposedly grapefruit) and then “red” coming in third. The other flavours are alright, but after one or two you start to get that mouth burn sensation when you have too many citrus candies, and I’m not a huge fan of that sensation.

All in all, it’s not different enough to go out of your way to get a bag, but if you’re in the area or the price is right, grab a bag! For all I know, all wine gums are made by the same producer. It wouldn’t surprise me at this point.

Obligatory dad jokes, because FRANK.

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zbearviking

From the frigid, majestic North (Canada), hails a creature like no other. Is it a bear that took up viking-ing? Or a viking that turned into a bear? Perhaps it is beyond human comprehension what the creature truly is, much like Bigfoot or Nessie. What we do know, is that much like everything else in the universe, it is made of star stuff.