Haribo – Grapefruit Slices

As a kid, I had certain experiences that have formed my opinion on certain foods. Sometimes even if I can logically reason why I have a bias against said foods, I can’t mentally bring myself to put aside the disdain. I’m not a picky eater in the sense that I will eat anything if you present it to me, and turning it down would result in waste. I know many people who dislike things like peas, tomatoes and onions, and would rather throw it out than consume it. While I’m not that severe, I do think it’s something I could work on.

For example, I was convinced for the longest time that I was allergic to banana. All because I had banana once as a kid and it just so happened that my throat got itchy shortly after. I know that’s not the case because I’ve had banana on a few occasions and nothing happened, but the thought of that one experience causes me discomfort just thinking about, hence I avoid bananas. I’ve had a similar experience with eggplant and so I avoid that as well, though eggplant is easy to get away from. Oddly enough, I think I have an actual allergy to shrimp, but I keep consuming it in the hopes that my body will adapt. It hasn’t worked out too well, but it’s mild enough that the worst case scenario is I need a new roll of toilet paper.

I bring this all up because grapefruit is a little different. I never had a reaction to it, or had any adverse side effects. In fact, thinking back on it, my dislike for grapefruit may not entirely be the fault of the fruit itself. Well, not entirely. You see, as a child I loved grapes and grape flavoured anything. Hell, purple was my favourite colour because grapes were typically purple. So imagine my surprise when I hear about something called a grapefruit. GRAPE-FRUIT. It has to be magic, because in the mind of a five year old, anything grape was awesome to me. This was at a time when Del-Monte juice boxes were really popular and cheap, and I consumed that stuff like a fiend. I heard about grapefruit and wanted to try the juice equivalent of it.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a five year old’s excitement or delight melt away, but that is something that can evaporate quicker than 99% proof alcohol. When I was given the grapefruit juice box, I was flabbergasted. Floored. Astonished. Speechless. But most of all, disappointed. The fruit I saw on the box looked like an orange with paler skin and scary red flesh. I think at this point my parents could tell I wasn’t too enthused about this, but I grew up in a poor household so we didn’t waste anything. I poked my straw into the intimidating box and sipped slowly, for fear too much would squirt into my mouth and drown me in even more disappointment. I got about a cheek full of the strange pinkish liquid before I had to stop and make a puckered face. It was a weird flavour to me at the time, one part sour and one part bitter. I was confused and sad; how could something that taste like this be allowed to exist?? I wasn’t a fan of sour or tart things like orange flavoured candies or OJ, but this was next level. It was at this very moment I developed my bias against grapefruit, and all that it stands for.

Sadly, to this day I just can’t seem to like grapefruit. But it’s not for lack of trying. I’ve tried grapefruits themselves, and all sorts of crazy grapefruit flavoured things that people tell me are tasty. Not even you can redeem it grapefruit soju. Alas, this is to say, I don’t have particularly high expectations for this. Haribo is one of those brands that I have a fierce loyalty to. After the first time I had their gummy bears, I knew it was going to be a lifelong love. Some people like soft gummies, but I liked Haribo for going for the firm, stiff, chewy route. Sometimes I would even leave gummy bears out overnight to let them get stale and stiff. I’m weird that way. Well, maybe not that weird, given how popular Haribo is even over here in the Northern Reaches.

In typical Haribo packaging, we have the mascot and the clear window to give us insight into the product. Haribo packaging is typically relatively no frills, which I can appreciate. Their product speaks for itself, and doesn’t need any fancy marketing.

Well, these certainly smell like grapefruit. Kind of. It could be due to the visual aspect of these things, but I mostly smell sugar. These things have a generous coating of sugar on them, which makes me wonder if these are supposed to be tart or sour or maybe even bitter?? Squeezing a piece between my fingers, they don’t seem that soft, but aren’t firm enough to put up much resistance either. They certainly don’t seem as firm as the gold bears or the standard gummies. I also notice that there seems to be two different colours. At this point I can’t tell if that means there are two different flavours. What I can tell you is that they are very subtle in the difference.

In terms of shape they are uniform enough that you can try and piece each “slice” together and form a nice little circle. Maybe not too uniform though, since I imagine most oranges have at least 8 to 10 segments, while this only pieced together about 7. Size wise they’re about the size of a quarter. I’m perhaps realizing at this point that maybe a quarter isn’t the best way to provide scale, since it seems like everything is the size of a quarter. Or maybe that’s what makes it a good item to use as scale comparison? I don’t know.

The cross section of these is nothing out of the ordinary. Cutting them in half I do notice that the centre seems to be softer than the outer layer. I wonder if this has to do with all the sugar coating. Biting into it, my impression has not changed. The outside is a little firm, but once you get into the middle, its relatively soft and gives easily. I have to say that I don’t hate it. I know that’s not a glowing endorsement, but coming from someone with a checkered grapefruit past, it’s a big deal. Actually, on second bite, I kind of like these. I feel like that’s mostly from all the sugar. The grapefruit flavour is definitely there, but the sour, tart flavour from real grapefruit takes a back seat. The bitterness that I associate with grapefruit is definitely not there though.

I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I ended up eating 4 or 5 pieces in a sitting within 30 seconds. I can definitely tell there is a citrus flavour in there, since my tongue starts to get that slight sensation when you have too many orange/lemon flavoured candies in a sitting. Also, slight colouring aside I STILL can’t figure out the difference between the two colours. If there is a difference, I can barely tell them apart.

So what’s the verdict? If I saw this in a store, would I grab it unashamedly? Absolutely. It has just enough grapefruit to pass as not just sugar flavoured sugar, but it doesn’t have enough to remind me how grapefruits and I are nigh mortal enemies. I enjoyed the experience and I would do it again. I’d probably try and pace myself better next time, since that sour burn you get from too many sour candies becomes evident if you do too many at once.