With all the flair of a Latin dance, a Mamba bar is an often-overlooked candy. You may have seen it in the grocery store aisle, and passed it up every time for a pack of Starburst fruit chews. Mamba is a product of Storck candy company, that makers of Riesen and Werther’s Original. Storck introduced the Mamba bar in Germany in 1953 to complement their product line and offer an affordable, fruity candy that is individually wrapped and meant to be shared.
I opened the fruit-covered wrapper to discover three separate wrapped packets: one each of orange, strawberry, and raspberry. Each of these packets has six fruit chews of the same flavor inside. To do the math, that’s 18 individually wrapped fruit chews in all—and loads of excess wrapping paper. Ladies, clean out your purses because you’ll need room for all these wrappers. I anxiously unwrapped the raspberry chew first, and popped it in to discover a slightly waxy taste that is missing that special fruity “oomph.?? It’s about the same size as a Starburst fruit chew, but rectangular rather than square. Honestly, I would never pick a Mamba over a Starburst based on this taste test. But I was pleasantly surprised to try the orange fruit chew. The consistency is a bit tougher than a Starburst, but wow—the flavor tastes like fresh orange juice, and there isn’t a hint of the waxy flavor I tasted in the raspberry. Strawberry wasn’t as refreshing. It tastes a bit fake, like the powder you would use to mix up a strawberry protein shake. But wait. Isn’t there also a lemon on the outer wrapper. Indeed there is, but I didn’t score a pack. With a Mamba bar, you get a selection of three flavors from raspberry, orange, strawberry, and lemon. If you want to be sure to get all four flavors, you’re better off buying an assorted bag.
Although Storck seems to market Mamba to kids, adults will also enjoy these fruit chews. They may not all be as tasty as the competitors fruit candies, but they are not a bad substitute.
Tags: fruit chews, fruity candy, Mamba, sweet candy, chewy candy