Chocolate Skittles

Long-time readers know I feel about Skittles the way I feel about your wife (I’m up for munching anytime). So, when my sister Jerrica handed me a pack of Chocolate Mix Skittles, I knew for the good of the Barn I needed to investigate. Here is a mini-review.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

On the front of the package Skittles us the five flavor ideas they came up with: S’mores, Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Pudding, and Brownie Batter. (Not for nothing, but in bad lighting the Caramel/Pudding Skittles are hard to tell apart, and even more difficult, the Pudding/Brownie.) Also, I’d like to point out that at least 60% of the package was Brownie. I suppose that could be an anomaly, but I have never seen a Skittles package with such a discrepancy, so I have to believe that’s on purpose. I tried them all individually, several times, and then tried the more usual gluttonous mouthful.

INDIVIDUAL TASTE

S’mores – not bad, although I’d never in a million years guess I was tasting graham cracker and marshmallow.

Vanilla – Fairly bland, and only emits its vanilla essence in the aftertaste.

Chocolate Caramel – Completely generic chocolate. Not a nanogram of caramel taste.

Chocolate Pudding – Arguably the best of the bunch. The pudding affect only shows up in the aftertaste, but a good solid chocolate feel.

Brownie Batter – By far the strongest taste (which may be why they made it most of the bag). Even now, two hours later, I can still taste the Brownie the strongest. The first two bites were great, but after that diminishing returns. (But to be fair: that’s pretty much how I feel about brownies, so that could be me.)

MIX PARTY

Most people eat Skittles in small handfuls, so the true test of any new flavor “theme” is how well they work together. I found the end result to be generally inoffensive and bland, with a sugary an slight cocoa mix. Kind of like if you scarfed some of that Bridgeford mix you saw on a tray at a Christmas buffet. Afte ra few pieces they all taste pretty similar, n’est pas? And maybe it’s just because I’m thirsty now, but I don’t remember previous Skittles being this salty. In fact, I react this way generally to chocolate flavoring—especially cheap chocolate flavoring.

OVERALL

Skittles has come out with several new flavor combos lately. Some work very well. Others not too much. I think the Fruit and Crème and Wildberry have been homeruns, the Sour is perhaps the best “sour” on the market, and the Tropical is solid, while the Circus Skittles were more novel than giant winners. Ultimately I did enjoy the experience of the Chocolate Mix Skittles, and I might try one or two again if a friend had them, but I don’t think I would buy them on my own. I guess you could say that, much like a bathhouse in San Francisco, it wasn’t my kind of rainbow.