Mentos – Spice It Up
Spice or heat is not something we are typically used to seeing here in the Frigid North, so I can’t really speak to if this is a relatively new phenomenon, but it’s certainly caught my eye. I figured I haven’t had Mentos in a hot minute, so why not?
The three flavours in this roll are orange ginger, mango chili and apple cinnamon. Out of these three, probably the most normal is the apple cinnamon, as it’s something that is a common oatmeal flavour, and even a popular flavour of breakfast cereal. That’s not to say the other two are extraordinary by any means, just not nearly as typical from what I can see.
Mango chili hits with a really flavourful mango that reminds me of a good sorbet or a nice, thick mango smoothie. The chili takes a backseat the entire time, and while it feels like it’s throwing a tantrum, it never really gets out of hand where you have to stop the car and threaten it with no chicken nuggets for dinner. It’s got a noticeable heat, but nothing that takes away from the mango flavour. Tasty stuff.
The orange ginger flavour was not one I was looking forward to, because orange flavours are real easy to mess up. This one is actually quite pleasing to the palate – it doesn’t lean in too hard on the zest or tart, and is like a nice orange juice. Maybe the ginger is helping to cut the rind or peel flavour, but this one is quite mild in terms of heat, and I kind of wanted a bit more ginger. The one downside is that the orange ginger has a weird, almost alcoholic aftertaste to it, which is slightly off putting, but maybe I’m the only one that notices it. Overall though, the flavour is actually quite solid as an orange flavour.
Apple cinnamon is exactly how I imagined it would be – it’s got a really nice apple flavour, but is complimented very well by the cinnamon which is ever present throughout. While it isn’t creating any spice or heat, it adds a nice flavour to the otherwise overpowering apple flavour and is a reminder of why apple cinnamon is such a commonplace combination.
As far as the assortment goes, each of these flavours is a winner in my eyes, and none of them clash much so you could eat these back to back without much issue. I don’t typically enjoy apple flavours because they’re usually very one note and overpowering, but this apple cinnamon flavour is a real winner, and is my favourite in the bunch. Mango chili comes in a close second, and probably what I would consider when thinking of spicy candies. The other two, while tasty, just don’t generate any real heat to speak of in comparison. The orange ginger is great, but the ginger is very muted and quiet to the point of forgetting it’s even in the room. As an orange flavour though, it’s great.
The texture is pretty standard for Mentos, if you’ve ever had them. For those who haven’t, Mentos are known for having a firm, hard outer candy shell, but once you get past that initial, hard chew it takes to get into it, the inside is a very chewy, soft, almost sticky taffy like texture. Something I like to do when I do feel like chewing, is to leave the in my mouth like a hard candy and wait for the other shell to dissolve or disappear. Once it’s gone, I’m left with a softer taffy candy. There’s no wrong way to eat a Mentos really, unless you decide to waste it by sticking it in a diet coke.
