22 May 2012

Mentos Cinnamon (USA) [By @Cinabar]


I recently found this tube of Mentos at the back of the Foodstuff Finds cupboard. I have to confess to not knowing where they came from, but suspect someone sent me them as a gift knowing my feelings on the spice. So thank you and apologises for not remembering the source.
I like cinnamon; in fact I like it far more than the average person. I lap up all the Christmas flavoured goodies when they are in season as everyone knows ‘Christmas flavoured’ is code for cinnamon. It’s a warming spice and sadly seems to disappear the minute sunshine appears, (well when the more summery months start at least).
I was keen then to try these Cinnamon Mentos from America, as we don’t really get any of the warming spice in sweet form over here. They look just like regular Mentos, but have a slightly reddish shell. I bit in, and the texture was identical to other Mentos but the heat from the cinnamon became immediately apparent. The texture starts as a hard sweet, but very quickly becomes chewy, without ever becoming sticky, but the flavour is quite something. They aren’t hot like joke sweets, but they are far more intense than I had expected. They even tickle the back of the throat in slightly bizarre way.
One of the things I love about cinnamon is the warmth of the seasoning, I mean like hot cross buns, Danish pastries etc. I love cinnamon pretzels and they are absolutely caped in brown sugar and cinnamon but still don’t taste like this. They taste spicy, fragranced and sweet. These Mentos were more akin to a sharp but hot taste. It wasn’t horrid, just different, and not like I was expecting, if anything a bit bitter and a bit too hot. I guess they were like a mild version of Cinnamon Fireball Jawbreakers, they certainly were cinnamony, but somehow managed to miss the mark for me. I guess I’m just going to have to pour myself another bowl of Curiously Cinnamon Cereal to fend off my cinnamon craving.
By Cinabar


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