Fountain Sodas in Gummy Form

Published on Wednesday, August 10, 2011, by James Norton / Edit Post

Trolli Soda Poppers

Trolli Soda Poppers

I Paid: $1 for a 5-ounce bag (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 3 stars

Marketing: 3 stars

It's hard not to admire the ambition of Trolli's new Soda Poppers candy. A single package contains gummy-style candies claiming to taste of cola, cherry cola, root beer, orange soda, and lemon lime—a taster's rainbow of corn syrup–based beverages, magically reinvented as a taster's rainbow of corn syrup–based candies.

Each candy is shaped like a can and helpfully labeled with the faux soda variety in question. Ah, the reckless joy of pretending to drink soda while eating soda-flavored candy! Yee-haw!

There's a certain aftertaste to these candies that effectively suggests carbonation. Beyond that, results vary. The cherry cola flavor is weak on the cola but brightly if artificially cherry-flavored. Orange soda, one of the most insipid and simple of all carbonated beverages, is re-created with eerie accuracy. The bite of root beer is underplayed, the sweetness overstated. The lemon lime is a forgettable cross between a SweeTart and a gummy bear. And the cola candy is pleasantly evocative of the real deal.

Setting aside the overriding "what the hell" factor at play with Soda Poppers, kudos to Trolli for setting a weird, modest goal and totally achieving it.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.

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POST A COMMENT |5 Comments

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  • Yeah I remember buying Haribo gummy coke bottles at the neighborhood candy store when I lived in Belgium as a kid, and that'd be eek like 35 years ago -- and they weren't being touted as something "new" either, so I think they'd been around awhile even then. BTW they also had SOUR coated gummy candies too -- many years before the super-sour candy craze hit the US.

  • so.. a gummi version of an old candy called Bottle Caps.

  • nobletsunami87, yep, I know the Haribo cola gummies have been around for at least 20 years.

  • These Remind me of Soda-Licious fruit Snacks. But Soda-Licious I believe we're covered in Sugar..

  • Ummm....didn't Haribo already make a cola-flavored gummy in the shape of a Coke bottle? I don't see how this is innovative.