Gummi Rabbit: the other white meat

My previous run-in with gummies–the dreaded Wolfgang’s Gummy Bears–was slightly less than palatable, so I was eager to get my teef’ on some real and tasty gummy treats. I cracked open another bag from the same era (April 2006–a very good vintage). Will they be as terrifying?

The product of the day is a bulk candy product. They are Gummy Bunnies, and they were procured at Weaver Nut Co., an Amish-run company in Ephrata, Pennsylvania (which also happens to be home to a fabulous bakery–try their whoopie pies)..

FAST FOOD FACTS! Serving size: 7 bunnies. Calories: 130. Fat: 0g. The ingredients are not listed on my package, but I would imagine there is gelatin in these, making them a poor option for the smart vegan shopper.

I’m not certain how accurate this nutritional label is. The similarly sized Wolfgang Gummy Bears were a whole lot less in the calorie department. Then again, the Wolfgang Gummy Bears sucked balls.

These gummies come in what seems to be two different shapes–a floppy-eared bunny and a straight-eared bunny. They are soft and aesthetically pleasing (take THAT, Wolfgang!). But are they tasty?

There are six different colors. Green, orange, blue, white, yellow, and purple. There seemed to me to be some differences in flavor, but not enough to actually tell which flavor is which. If I had to guess, I would say the following: Green is apple, orange is orange, blue is blueberry, white is pineapple, yellow is lemon, and purple is grape. The only flavor distinctive enough to know for sure was the pineapple, which was a bit stronger.

That’s not to say they’re bad. Just hard to differentiate. The general flavor seems to be “fruity” and I can deal with that. They’re not so tough that you can’t comfortably chew them. They’re not the greatest gummies I’ve ever tasted (what was I expecting with bulk candy?) but they certainly were tasty.

LINKS: Weaver Nut Co.

“The taste is completely different from a gummy bear, yet somehow familiar”

In my increasing efforts to branch out from my ever-multimedia-saturated posting, I’ve decided to also review things that take shorter to digest (er…ingest). Food. And what better way to start than sweet, delicious candy? And what better candy than…

Gummy bears! Specifically, Wolfgang Gummy Bears! I got these puppies (not really puppies) on Easter 2006. They came from a fundraiser catalog. The only candy I eat nowadays is of the fat-free variety, so gummy treats and marshmallow-based substances make up the bulk of my snack-food empire. Bears are, of course, the classic gummy shape, but probably the least fun. Nowadays you can get gummies in all different sorts of shapes, from the also-classic worms to human organs.

Pertinent facts: Serving size: 18 bears. Calories: 130. Fat: 0g. This is not a vegan product, as it contains gelatin and beeswax in its ingredients.

The colors of these bears were red, clear, green, orange, and yellow. The flavors were difficult to distinguish, but a quick scan of Wikipedia would indicate that the flavors are raspberry, pineapple, strawberry, orange, and lemon respectively.

I can’t say I was particularly pleased with these gummies. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I left my bears unopened from the day I received them in April until a point in mid-December, but the bears were coated in some sort of white, crusty dust. Additionally, they were stiff and chewy. The flavors were difficult to distinguish. All in all, these bears were bupkus.

I think, though, that it was not age that made these candies poor. I have a separate bag of gummies I received on the exact same day (made by a different company, natch), and there is no evidence of white dust through the clear package. Additionally, light squeezing proves that the alternate gummies remain squishy and chewy, as opposed to tough. Instead, my guess is that Wolfgang has a recipe for their gummies that provides for longer shelf/shipping/storage life at the expense of the product’s quality.

There are certainly better gummy bears out there, so avoid Wolfgang’s at all costs if you’re in the mood.

Link: Wolfgang Candy