Sometimes Foodie: Crushing It? - Crush Soda themed Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids

Crush Soda Candies - Dollar Tree

Since the branding, flavors, and pretty much everything about these two Crush themed candies are the same, I thought it would be fun to compare them and find any differences. (Other than one being sour, obviously.) Will all four flavors be the same, just with a sour-coat of paint? Or will the flavors actually differ in their Fishy or Kid forms? Let's find out!

Both bags have 4 different fruity flavors, each associated with a flavor of Crush Soda. We have: pineapple, orange, strawberry, and grape.

Swedish Fish Grape: Tastes faintly of purple no-brand lollipops you'd get at the drive through at the bank. It's fake grape-y, and probably the boldest flavor in the mix, but it's not good.

Swedish Fish Pineapple: ...am I being Punk'd? These are the weakest pineapple flavoring I have ever experienced. I don't think I would ever guess these were pineapple. There's no sharpness, no tang, no nothing. It's pretty much like cotton candy, which is nice, but not at all what it should be. Is my tongue okay?

Swedish Fish Orange: Wow, another weak flavor. It has a faint orangey flavor, but it's very weak. I think normal orange flavored Swedish Fish pack more of a punch than this.

Swedish Fish Strawberry: Bland-city, Population: These fish. These are very VERY lightly flavored like strawberry. Just the faintest whisper of strawberry jam and then sweet, sugary, nothing. What a disappointment!

The Sour Patch variety are the same colors and flavors, just coated in the classic sour sanding sugar concoction as normal Sour Patch Kids. Will that make any of them better?

Sour Patch Grape: The sourness is the boldest thing about it. After the sourness wears off you get the same, sweet, faint, purple-lollipop flavor. This is better than the Swedish Fish version just because the sourness actually tastes like something. Still, it's not better than any normal Sour Patch flavor.

Sour Patch Pineapple: This was a flavor available in their Tropical mix, and likely repurposed for this blend because it tastes SO MUCH BETTER. It's bright, tangy, with actual pineapple flavoring. Thank goodness, something with actual flavor! It's so far the best flavor in this entire experience.

Sour Patch Orange: I think this is the same as normal Sour Patch orange. As far as I can tell there is no difference. It's bright, juicy, and little zesty, and, of course, sour. Another flavorful flavor, but pineapple is yummier.

Sour Patch Strawberry: Oh thank goodness, another flavor that is slightly different than the Swedish Fish version. I think this is a repurposing of the Sour Patch Strawberries. It's a tart and tangy fake strawberry flavor that is similar to red SweeTarts

Full disclosure, I haven't been feeling well lately, no fever, it's likely a little cold, but I'm taking every precaution and keeping tabs on it. That said, the fact that the Swedish Fish tasted like next-to-nothing gave me a fright. I drank some tea with lemon and honey, which has a taste, and coffee Coke, which definitely has a taste, and the Sour Patch versions tasted differently, so I think it's safe to conclude that they just suck. (I also quickly looked at the reviews for the Swedish Fish version on Amazon and other people seem to agree they're weak-sauce.)

Sour Patch Crush is vastly superior, so if you were to buy one of these, that is the only one I'd recommend. But, even then, there's nothing in this bag you can't get in other Sour Patch variations like Tropical or Original.

I'm not going to be buying either one again, and since neither brings anything new to the table, I don't think these will be on shelves for very long.