Review: Skittles Riddles

While I’m not a fan of any of the “alternate” Skittles flavours I’ve tried, this pack of “Skittles Riddles” combined newness and mystery in a way that made me want to take a chance.

Could these be as good as original Skittles? Of course not. That’s just crazy talk. All I wanted was to try a little something different, with the slight hope/possibility of being dazzled by at least a couple of the flavours.

The Pitch: This product is ALL about the pitch. Take a bag of Skittles, then break the link between the colour of the Skittle and the flavour inside. Now, I could get all Saussurean sign systems up in here, but I swore off that stuff when I finished my English degree. Just know that when Green Apple flavour is no longer associated with Green Apple colouring, things get kind of wacky. If you’re the kind of person who looks at the colour of a Skittle before eating it (guilty as charged), you’re going to be in for some mind games.

The Look: Like ordinary Skittles. But that’s the point, innit? The look doesn’t match the flavour.

The Taste: All mixed up. The flavours are consistent, meaning once you’ve identified a flavour/colour pairing, you know what to expect when you bite into the next one of a similar shade. The five flavours – watermelon, cherry, fruit punch, green apple and blue raspberry – are all present and accounted for. I truly despise artificial watermelon flavour – in my books, it’s roughly as reprehensible as artificial banana flavour – so that one was a non-starter for me. The others are OK. Blue raspberry (SPOILER ALERT: actually light blue in colour) is my favourite, and has an almost lemonade-like twang to it. I couldn’t nail down which Skittle was supposed to be cherry and which was supposed to be fruit punch, mostly because I’ve tasted both flavours in other candies described as cherry.

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RATINGS AND DETAILS

Cost: About $1.10 (I think) for a 56 gram package at Toys R Us in Calgary.

Value for cash money: Not bad.

Availability: Not as common as other Skittles varieties. Bought it at first sighting.

Nutrition?: Per package (56 grams): 230 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1 mg of sodium, 0 grams of fibre, 0 grams of protein.

Gelatin-Free: Yup. No gelatin in there, veggie friends.

The verdict: Curious. While I was fine with three of the flavours and quite keen on one, the chance of getting a watermelon Skittle will keep me from picking up another pack of Skittles Riddles.