Mentos – Drop

Mentos isn’t what I’d consider big in the Frigid North. I mean, it’s established and cemented itself as a staple of candy aisles all over, but it’s really limited to the standard fruit assortment and mint flavours. They don’t get too creative or crazy as they do in Europe where they originally hail from. They certainly don’t see enough success here that they would have a wide North American release of this flavour.

This is a mint licorice flavour. I feel like a lot of people will hear mint and be dubious on if it makes a great chewing candy, but not nearly as dubious as they hear its combined with licorice. I’ve definitely come a long way from my licorice avoidant childhood days, but I still wouldn’t say I’m the enthusiast level of salty licorice lover. I don’t know if I ever will, but I like my little licorice limbo where I have my foot in both camps. I however, love mint in most of it’s forms so I figured this would be worth a try.

The outside is the classic minty Mentos, it has a distinct, refreshing mint flavour profile to it, but after you get past that first initial minty coating, the licorice flavour starts to kick in. The licorice is reminiscent of the typical stuff you find in mass market, but it’s a bit more herbal and medicinal like. While not for everyone, I quite enjoy that herbal, medicinal quality that you find in licorice products. The mint helps to leave a nice refreshing cooling sensation in the mouth as well.

The texture is quite firm at first, but if you let it sit on your tongue for a while to dissolve, or chew straight to the centre, you are met with a much softer, borderline sticky taffy texture on the inside. While I like the combination of hard shell and soft chew on the inside, be careful not to hurt yourself. These are quite hard at first, and I typically give it a while to soften up before going to town on it with my chompers.

I enjoyed these for what they were. I would probably use these in a similar way I would use a mint – chew it for a quick rush of sugar and to feel the minty freshness. I wouldn’t consider this a snack snack where I consume just for sheer enjoyment. There’s more utility to this than that. There’s a really easy Mentos joke here but I will spare you all. Good day.