Friday, November 6, 2020

Moving Dum-Dums out of the foodie-friend-zone & Limited Edition Hawaiian Punch Review

Limited Edition Hawaiian Punch Dum-Dums 
- Dollar Tree

We take Dum-Dums for granted. They are affordable, offer tons of variety, and they don't just play it safe, they have seasonal/limited edition flavors, like pizza, gingerbread, funnel cake, bacon, and banana split. Plus their long standing "mystery" flavor  is a master class in marketing and preventing food waste. (Turn those lemons into lemonade-lollipops.) Overall, a really solid candy, but no one talks about them. 
Reliable brands like these are easily overshadowed by other candies, like m&m and Oreo who are constantly saturating supermarkets with new flavors and getting write ups online. Now, it may sound like I'm sitting on a cloud of judgement handing out life lessons here, but I know I actively participate in the limited edition food cycle. And while it's fun to keep track of all this stuff, we have to agree, the quality of most limited edition novelty products is...not great. For every Reese's Oreo, there is a Swedish Fish, and a Fruit Punch. For every Banana m&m, there's a white chocolate pumpkin pie and hazelnut spread. I hit new-flavor-fatigue years ago. It's exhausting and unsatisfying to be spending money on fun "gimmie"-gimmick products, getting wrapped up in the hype, and then finding myself disappointed and not wanting to actually eat these products I spent money on. (And I don't want you guys to run out and waste your money either.)  

Other than the obvious gimmicky flavors like pizza, I have never had a dud Dum-Dum. Nothing was ever gross to the point of me not wanting to eat it (other than pizza), and I never felt like I had wasted my money. 

 

(This is an old video from 2015, but it's my sister and I trying Pizza, Buttered Popcorn, and Bacon flavored Dum-Dums pops. Just including this oldie for fun. Gaze upon my babyface and old bedroom.) 

So, all of that ranting aside, I love Dum-Dums and think they deserve more appreciation in the candy world. Plus, their commercial from the 90's still takes up space in my brain, and I'm actually a little excited to give this new, brand-partnership, flavor a try because I know they're going to get the job done right. 


Inside the bag we have two iconic Hawaiian Punch flavors, classic Fruit Juicy Red and Polar Punch. A classic Red vs. Blue scenario... HOW TIMELY AND APPROPRIATE. 

Polar Punch (Blue): It's been a really long time since I have had Polar Punch, so I can't speak for the authenticity, but this tastes great. Tangy, a little tropical, and the thing I liken it to most is the Tropical Tie Dye Fruit Roll-Ups. According to Hawaiian Punch's website, polar punch is a mixture of orange and raspberry. I could definitely see the orange, as there is a tangy citrus quality to it, but it could easily have a hint of pineapple in there somewhere, and if there is raspberry, it's a bit generic and artificial, but still good. Again, it's a lot like Tie Dye Fruit Roll-Ups, and it's pretty darn tasty. 

 


Fruit Juicy Red (Red): A brighter fruit punch flavor, more pineapple heavy, which is what I remember actual Hawaiian Punch tasting like. Now, I think Dum-Dum's does have a punch flavor year-round that is red, and I think that also tastes similar to Hawaiian punch, so I'm not sure if this is an entirely new flavor, or just a re-brand of an existing one, but either way, it's yummy. According to Hawaiian Punch's website, Fruit Juicy Red is flavored with apple (forever a filler fruit), pineapple, orange, passionfruit, guava, apricot and papaya. Which is honestly a lot more fruit than I expected a product with only 3% juice to have. With that in mind, do I actually taste any of these fruits in this candy? Possibly orange, pineapple, apricot, and apple but that might more-so be the power of suggestion now that I know what to look for. Even so, this is a tangy, tropical, fruity flavor that I actually like quite a bit and I think it's a fairly authentic take on it's red namesake.  

Dum-Dums the perfect size. I ate four for this review (two of each flavor) and I don't feel like I over indulged! Pro-Tip: If you get tired of eating it as a lollipop, you can pop it off  and suddenly it's a delightful hard-candy (that is more mask-friendly for public consumption), and as it shrinks, you can just crunch it away. Plus, two little lollipops are only 50 calories, and I got this bag for only a dollar? It's a pretty great value for something with such decent flavor payoff. 

I think this is the perfect sized bag for a mix like this that only offers two flavors, if this were a huge bag I would be craving some variety, but as-is, it's perfect. Seriously, one of the best dollar store candy buys I have had in a while and I highly recommend it to fans of fruit punch and hard candy.  


Fans of these would also like: Dum-Dums Summertime Favorites, Dum-Dums Heart-Pops, or Holiday Dum-Dums
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