Tic Tac Fruit Adventure

(I heard about this new release through another Aussie food blogger, Junk Food Journal - go and say hello!)

Tic Tacs (according to the brands website, the name is both singular and plural, but I will add an 's' anyway!) were launched in Australia in 1974, and are manufactured in NSW. The brand is known worldwide, but is distributed in Australia by Ferrero (yes, the Ferrero Rocher brand, as well as Kinder products and others).

The last new flavour we saw from Tic Tac here in Australia was the Green Apple variety that launched in August last year. I never got around to reviewing that flavour, unfortunately, but luckily for us, the new Fruit Adventure medley contains green apple flavour, alongside orange, cherry and passionfruit. Orange is a favourite of many (although it is usually white here in Australia), but I don't believe we've seen the passionfruit or cherry flavours before. Cherry does exist in a single-flavour pack in the US. They also have a Fruit Adventure pack with the same flavours, but it's curious to note that the packet I have in hand has been made in Australia - so it's not imported stock.

Along with our four flavours we have some super bright colouring that takes the Tic Tacs away from the original 'mint' idea and more into lolly territory. A pack is 24g, and my four flavours were not inserted evenly. I have a huge number of passionfruit, but only a few cherry.

Orange tastes exactly the same as the orange found in the single-flavour packs; it hasn't been modified except for the addition of a coloured shell. The flavour is refreshing, bright and bold, tangy and undeniably citrus, but it does have a bit of that faux flavour behind it. Unfortunately the flavour is only really noticeable upon biting into the Tic Tac, and dissipates quickly. These are still my favourite (and now I want to go out and buy a pack of Orange and relive my childhood.)

I only had a few bright-green Apples in my pack. I love the shade of green. It reminds me of Granny Smith apples. Unlike the orange, I got a surprising amount of flavour just from sucking the shell. It's like a brighter, juicy version of apple juice. It's also slightly tart as well, and quite realistic for a product that likely contains only artificial flavours. I didn't think I would like this at all, but I was surprised and pleased to find that I did. They were also more satisfying.

Cherry was rather disappointing. Like the orange, I got little flavour from the shell, and on biting in, I found the flavour very artificial. Thankfully it didn't stray into medicinal territory, but instead headed towards Cherry Coke. There was some depth to it, but this would never fool anyone into thinking it tasted like a real cherry.

Passionfruit is bright yellow, and has quite a strong flavour behind it. I've never eaten a real passionfruit so can't tell you how real the flavour is, but it is very bold and bright. It's a lot like having a mouthful of Passiona (passionfruit flavoured soft drink for our non-Aussie visitors). Like the Orange, it doesn't last long, but is surprisingly refreshing and sweet with a bit of a kick behind it. This would actually make an excellent energy drink flavour. (Drink manufacturers, are you listening?)

This flavour isn't yet on the Tic Tac website, but the FAQ notes that they "contain corn gluten but not gliadin gluten from wheat, barley or rye grains. The source of the maltodextrin is corn."