This week it'll be another gummy candy. I located this one in a small town in Eastern Pennsylvania, near Jim Thorpe. (Yes, this town is named after perhaps the U.S.'s best athlete ever (see February 19, 2012 post for more info).
The most interesting thing about this rather common type of candy is the first part of its name. I was reading several articles online detailing how shopkeepers had refused to sell this candy to children. The punchline to this is there isn't any alcohol in them, any more than the common soft drinks ginger beer, or root beer. (I realize some companies have put out alcoholic versions of these, but you get what I mean.) No, the wine in wine gums isn't literal, even though it's often sold with wine types (claret, Chablis, etc.) printed on the candies. Even though the actual flavors of said candies aren't like the wine, but are normal fruit flavors like orange, lime, black currant, etc. Wine gums were developed by Charles Gordon Maynard, for his family Maynard confectionery company, back in 1909. Reportedly he had to convince his own teetotaling father that they weren't alcoholic, too, before they were made available for sale. I heard two different theories about why Maynard decided to include the "wine" part in the name. First, it was because the firm texture of this product enabled the fruit flavor to linger on, like a fine wine. Second, it was a substitute, to encourage drinkers to cut back on their libations and eat some candy instead. Whatever the reason, wine gums soared in popularity. Aside from Maynard, other leading manufacturers are Lion and Bassett's. This candy is enthusiastically consumed in the U.K., Ireland, and Canada, among others.
Normally I would get into some background about the company that made the product I tried, but I wasn't able to do so. I couldn't locate a website for Norfolk Manor, also out of the U.K. All I could learn was they also make a malted milk ball candy, a chocolate covered honeycomb one, and a type of clotted cream biscuit (cookie) thin. And that they were established in 1987. Also, they are distributed by BWI, Inc., an American company devoted to importing British consumables.
Anyway, here's what I thought about Norfolk Manor wine gums:
1) Lemon flavor. Pedestrian.
2) Orange flavor. Not great.
3) Green (lime?) flavor. Uninteresting.
4) Red (cherry, I think) flavor. Dull.
5) Black currant flavor. Disappointing.
Sorry to be so terse, but there wasn't much to say about them. Their texture was typical for gummy candy. All of them had the appropriate fruit flavor to them, but in a bland, weak way. They came in various shapes, too--some round, some diamond-shaped, and some rectangular. They had wine and other alcohol titles printed on them, too, such as claret, Chablis, port, and gin.
So, I came away especially unmoved by this candy. Usually gummy-type candies are pretty safe bets for me--even the worst ones are still typically okay. But these weren't. I did read that wine gums are considered to be more for adults, since they're less sweet, and more tough and chewy than most gummy candies. Therefore, I apparently have an immature taste for these confections. (Which doesn't really surprise me--I suspect my taste in many other foods and drinks is also immature.)
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