Mentos Raspberry, and Limited Edition Strawberry

(I'm putting both of these in the same post because I'm lazy. Also, similar.)

Mentos needs no introduction (but I wrote one anyway when I reviewed the Mystery flavour). Recently, I've spotted two new flavours of Mentos dragees in supermarkets (mostly Woolworths), Raspberry, and the Limited Edition Strawberry.

For those not in the know, the limited edition Mentos are basically a test product. That's usually while you'll only see them in one store/chain - the distributors, Stuart Alexander, are testing the market. If it sells well, the flavour is usually rolled out to other chains and stores. If it flops, well, you won't ever see it again. (Recent examples include Watermelon (spotted at Woolworths a few years ago) and Cola.)

Only the Strawberry roll here is Limited Edition; it's possible that the Raspberry went through as LE and I missed it on the shelves. I've been informed by my Stuart Alexander rep that the Strawberry flavour is the same as that found in the Fruit and Rainbow rolls. It's just a solid roll of one flavour, as is the Raspberry (also a flavour from the Rainbow roll, and probably Berry Blast as well).

Despite the bold red packaging, the strawberry dragees are a soft baby pink colour, very lightly speckled with white. The interior is also white. The pack and the lollies are scentless, and the flavour is sweet and mild. It's quite a soft, artificial flavour, and pleasant to the taste. It doesn't taste anywhere near real strawberries, though - it's more of a strawberry ice cream kind of flavour. There is 2.5% reconstriuted strawberry juice in here.

The raspberry Mentos are packaged in a bright, dark pink packaging, complete with pictures of (pink) raspberries. Unlike the strawberry flavour, these dragees are also bright pink, enough that they clearly match the packaging. There's a faint white speckle to the hard outer shell, and they have no scent. The centre is also white. Surprisingly, the flavour on these is quite strong. I don't know that I would peg it as specifically raspberry over generic berry flavour, but there are some warm, jammy notes in there that are tasty and fresh. There's none of the tang that I would have expected from something that was more natural tasting, despite this roll also containing 2.5% raspberry juice. As it's more stronger, I enjoy this one more as a lolly than the strawberry roll, which felt more like a mint with his gentle flavour.

For the curious, the raspberry roll contains colour 120 while the strawberry roll does not (it contains colour 162). I only mention this as colour 120 has been in the news lately, with regards to the Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappe.