Friday, December 11, 2009

Battle of the dishes: Christmas Dots versus Mike and Ike Holiday Medley

Posted by Jonathan Bender on Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 11:15 AM

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This time of year, our intake of green and red foods increases dramatically. Candy makers understand this and continue to roll out new possibilities. Tootsie has created Christmas Dots -- cherry, lime and vanilla-flavored gumdrops. Mike and Ike -- made by Just Born -- has unveiled its new holiday medley -- chewy cherry, lime and holiday punch fruit candy.

These movie theater classics are attempting to think outside their boxes and in this battle of the dishes, we see if it works. 

 

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Christmas Dots

On appearance alone, these seem promising. They look like tiny hills or ornaments covered in a topping of snow, and a faint aroma of vanilla comes up from the bowl. Then you bite into them.

The cherry and lime flavors are exactly the same as regular dots, muted like in taffy or gum drops. This works better for the cherry than the lime. The problem begins when you get into the vanilla top portion, which takes a second or two because the candy requires some mouth power to break down.

The vanilla is disgusting. It dominates the weaker fruit like some sort of candy dictator. And the finish is what really bothers me -- the two halves somehow combine to give you the exact flavor of cheap-o yogurt-covered raisins, the kind that taint a trail mix even after you attempt to eat around them.

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Mike and Ike Holiday Medley

The pill-shaped candies are a pleasant mix of red and green -- they at least look festive when poured into the bowl. The smell is that of cherry cough medicine -- the cherry overwhelms the other flavors.

The lime is neon green, really chewy and very strong. The intensity and flavor of green is a good thing, as opposed to the cherry, which has the explosive taste of an Icee or Bomb Pop. It stings your mouth a bit. The "holiday punch" flavor is the wildcard. It's dark green and the taste definitely finishes closer to watermelon -- although the packaging shows pictures of raspberry and blackberry. It's as if the folks in the marketing department were sitting around saying "We've got a watermelon flavor -- let's call it holiday punch and see what happens!" Eating all three together? "That was a mistake," my wife said after trying out the combo.

The Verdict?

Neither of these deserve a place alongside candy canes and gingerbread houses. If you have to have one chewy candy, it should probably be the Mike and Ike's Holiday Medley. Although it's not particularly relevant (outside of the colors), it is the one that will inflict the least amount of damage to your Christmas cheer.   

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