Storck – Mamba Magic Sticks

I mentioned not too long ago that I wanted to try the Mamba Magic Sticks. Saying that out loud or typing it out loud sounds different out of context, and especially weird as an adult, but that’s the world we live in now. That isn’t enough to stop me from going head first into this one, going on faith that they can’t be that bad given how much I liked Mambas.

A bag has about 15 sticks, and each one is quite a long boy. The four flavours here are cherry > apple, pineapple > orange, mango > strawberry, and watermelon > raspberry. I guess technically 8 flavours in total but I’m counting each stick as it’s own.

Watermelon raspberry reminds me of Laffy Taffy – the bulk of the candy is rather mild in flavour and some sort of mix between watermelon and raspberry, not being quite either and sort of wavering between the two. The little bits of what I can only assume are sugar crystals are probably trying to help add some flavour, but I just don’t see it. While not unpleasant, if you’re hoping for punchy flavour, this doesn’t have it. It does have a nice creamy quality to it, and the flavour crystals do come into play a bit, but they are rather muted.

The pineapple orange really brings me back to my childhood, and is sort of like a tropical fruit juice. The pineapple is the more predominant flavour but the orange is providing a bit of citrus tang that comes in the tail end as I chew through the stick. Pineapple and orange are very complimentary in this stick, and this one is an easy win. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I feel like this one is an easy contender for my favourite flavour.

I had mentioned before that cherry Mambas are actually quite tart and borderline sour and very distinct and unlike typical cherry flavour candies. This is the same situation, except the combination of cherry and apple works quite well given that the apple flavour is also very tart and enhances the cherry flavour rather than overpower it. Apple is usually a very overpowering flavour, so it’s good that found a flavour that works with it rather than compete with it. Colour me impressed.

Last up is mango strawberry – I’ve had mixed results with mango chewy candy, but this one works well. The mango flavour is pretty spot on, and somehow works well with the strawberry here. It’s like the strawberry fills in very specific answers on a pop quiz, but it has a lot of gaps it doesn’t know and lets the mango fill it in. The strawberry flavour on it’s own is floral and a slight tart sharpness to it, and the mango has a relatively straightforward sweetness that has a rounded quality to it, and the combination of the two is really pleasing to the palate.

I’ll admit that going into this the concept of mixing two flavours seemed a little too novel and niche, but it has overall worked surprisingly well and it seems like they did their research in doing these combinations. Perhaps something that helps here is they don’t just go all in on the sweetness but add a lot of tartness and acidity to the flavours that helps the interplay between the duality of flavours.