Starburst Candy Canes

Day Two: Starburst Candy Canes

Starburst sets the highest of candy cane expectations because of one word spelled out across the top of the box: strawberry. Anyone with even a small appetite for fruity candy can tell you that Starburst strawberry, the pink color in the classic four-color Starburst spectrum, is one of the most iconic flavors in candy history. With this in mind, I may have secretly looked forward to these canes the most.

The coloring of these canes is striking and I appreciate the dichromatic choice, with there being only two color canes (red and green) and each cane featuring a swirled version of lighter and darker versions of each color. The red is light and could be considered pink, but overall the canes fit a green and red holiday color decor and mesh well with the season's theme. I guess that adequately covers appearance so let's move on to taste.

Rating: H

Looking at the ratings, are these a Starburst candy cane? A resounding NO. First and foremost, the strawberry is not even close to its chewy counterpart. The strawberry here is typical of other, sweeter strawberry flavors that actually bear more resemblance to the fruit than Starburst, but it just doesn't work here. Add to that the choice of green apple, which is good for a green apple flavor, but not for Starburst. Give me another classic flavor, like orange or lemon or cherry, not some random flavor that just fits the color scheme.

So are they tasty? Sort of. I prefer the classic cherry flavor of cheaper fruity candy canes over these by far. I would not buy these again. I would not even suggest them to the die hard Starburst fan. Lowest rating I think possible for a cane that is still edible. An H. Not even a HO.