Mentos Roll Mystery

Mentos is a worldwide brand, available in places like the US to Japan and just about everywhere in between. The Mentos chew was introduced to the world in the plain mint flavour in 1948 in the Netherlands. Like with Kit Kat, Mentos rolls often end up with cultural version; flavours that are available overseas often aren't marketed here. (A recent exception to this is the Mocktails (Pina Colada and Mojito) roll, which is also available in the US).

Mentos are distributed in Australia by Stuart Alexander, the same brand that brings us Chupa Chups and Wether's Original, plus lots of other products. Last month, they brought us a market first by producing a Mentos roll (and the Mentos 3D sugarfree gum) with mystery flavours. As I speculated earlier at the Accredited Trade Show in July, there are two different flavours - one for the gum and one for the roll. (I do know what flavour the gum is, but have been sworn to secrecy. Sorry guys!)

The common theme in packaging between the gum and the roll is royal blue, with a rainbow highlight and question mark. The foil at the ends of the roll is royal blue too. Inside, we have the Mentos pieces. Each piece is consistent in size, and is just shy of 2cm wide and 1cm tall. These pieces are a light cream in colour, with a semi-gloss, hard outer shell surrounding a cream interior. They have no scent that I can tell.

As soon as the piece is in my mouth, I get a mild citrus taste - there's no definite flavour, but it's in the citrus family. Chewing the piece brings out a strong but not sour lemon note. There's a little bit of sweetness there too, but the whole piece is refreshing and interesting. I do believe the mystery flavour is lemonade!

It's quite a nice chew. One or two would be enough refresh your mouth after a meal. The chew is stiff at first but softens as the shell dissolves, and the entire piece, depending on how fast you chew is gone in a couple of minutes. I'm not a big Mentos person in general, but these are pleasant, and I'll have no trouble finishing the roll.