Mike and Ike Shredders - Dollar Tree

Mike and Ike Shredders - Dollar Tree

For the record, this product has been sitting in my to-be-reviewed pile for half a year, but I swear it ALWAYS looked like this! (It did, I promise!)

I saw these "Shredders" at the Dollar Tree when they were first introduced and I thought they looked interesting, sort of like mini Sour Straws. Each bag had a little plastic window so your could see the product inside and they all looked kinda...icky. There were two flavors available, this Sour Wildberry one and some pink colored bag with another flavor variety. This flavor looked like it had less sour sugar coating and it also looked kind of oily, while the other had a sour-sugar overload! I grabbed the best looking one of each and tossed them into my cart because I'm a food and candy blogger and I can't resist trying new stuff. Then they sat in the giant back-logged food-valanche pile of products I've been meaning to review for over half a year! (So much for being "New.") I'm slowly but surely working my way through the backlog and since we just recorded a Mike and Ike themed episode of Candyology 101, what better time to tear into these bags? First up, the less sugary-looking of the two, Sour Wildberry!

The name, "Shredders" instantly made me think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies! You know, the ones from the 1990's where Donatello was voiced by the 80's love of my life, Corey Feldman. (I had a HUGE crush on Mouth from Goonies growing up.) Sadly, these bags have nothing to do with the Ninja Turtles franchise, but after watching the recent reboot, that might be a good thing. (Sorry Megan Fox, but the new Michelangelo crushing/stalking you came off super creepy. No thank you.)

Back to the design and graphics! Looking at this plastic peg-bag, everything is bright, colorful, and appealing. Other than the lackluster looking product inside, the Mike and Ike's design team did a really awesome job! This stood out from the other products on the shelves and, from a design perspective, the graphics are dynamic and appealing bringing new life to this older brand.

Inside the bag you get a really hefty portion of candy, and it only cost a dollar! Look at all this colorful stringy stuff! You get a lot for your money, but that's only a good thing if the product itself actually tastes good, and these smell...waxy, Chapstick-like, and artificial, so I'm a little skeptical...

Red Berry? (red)- Very waxy texture and a very dense red-shoelace-licorice chew. It took a while for any fruity flavoring to come through but towards the end it tasted like typical red licorice with a hint of tanginess. Not bad, but the flavoring took a decent amount of chewing before it really shined. Before that it was like I was chewing midly sour wax.

Blue Raspberry? (blue)- We have the same waxy texture, but this one seems less flavorful to me. Towards the end you get a tangy berry flavoring, but it's really artificial and it seems less bold than the red shreds.

??? (green) - This is a berry mix, but this is green, what berries are green? I honestly have no idea what this flavoring is. It's sweet and generically fruity, but not very distinct. It's pleasant enough, but if I had to guess what it was supposed to taste like I'd say... Strawberry? I'm honestly not sure, but I didn't hate it.

??? (yellow) - What berries are yellow? This one is another mystery to me, I feel like it tastes just like the green one. Am I crazy? Are these all the same flavoring and just different colors?

I...don't know how I feel about this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. These shreds are less sour than Sour Punch Straws, and they have a waxy-stiff licorice texture with an overall generic berry flavoring. Even after consuming several handfuls I can't tell if the colors taste different or not, but my overall opinion is that these taste the same way that my novelty Twizzlers Chapstick smells. Waxy, sweet, and generically berry-like. They're not bad for a dollar, but they're not that great either. Even though their packaging and smaller size make them more purse friendly for smuggled-in movie sweets, I think I'll stick to the more flavorful Sour Punch Straws. (Not that I sneak candy into movies in my purse or anything. Nope. Not at all.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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