![\"trolli1_web\"](\"https:\/\/haribro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/trolli1_web.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSmack in the middle of a giant swath of empty wall sat two full racks of the stuff. The aisle seemed to be\u00a0reaching out to me, pleading, “Please find a safe home for these candies. PLEASE!!” And while I should have been happy that the masses left me some form of gummy candy,\u00a0skepticism couldn’t help but creep in. Why did so many people pass on it? Was there a recall that only I and CVS\u00a0didn’t know about?\u00a0 It was strange and sad to see an entire brand be neglected. Once the last few notes of Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” stopped playing in my head, I decided to give those bears a home.<\/p>\n
Back in\u00a0my apartment, I quickly hurricane-proofed my apartment (i.e. moving my video game consoles and guitars away from the windows), opened the bag of Trolli bears, and settled in for the night. At first bite, I realized that I should have listened to all the signs.\u00a0 The first few bears I grabbed had a sickly, leathery feel- an instant indicator of stale or expired gummies (even though the expiration date was still several months away). I was desperate though and since they were still somewhat soft, I plodded ahead with the bears. And all things considered, they weren’t the worst things I’d ever tasted. I mean, I wouldn’t have served them at a formal event or anything, but they were perfectly suitable for post-apocalyptic consumption.<\/p>\n
A year or so after the storm, I stopped by the same pharmacy. This time the snack shelves were full and freshly stocked. Even the bags of Trolli bears and worms looked markedly different. I crooked my neck to the lowest row and saw a shiny mix of colors mushed up against the cellophane window. It looked nothing like the batch I had during the hurricane. I picked up a bag and decided to give it another shot. I figured it wasn’t fair making final judgement on what could have been just a bad batch. And to my surprise they\u00a0were really, really good. The texture was solid and so where the flavors- even though some were borderline medicinal (I’m looking at you cherry). Before I knew it I had scarfed down the entire thing. They were surprisingly addicting.\u00a0 A few weeks after that, emboldened by the previous experience, I grabbed another bag. And once again it was a completely different experience. Everything tasted sickly sweet and the texture was much too gooey to enjoy. I very much\u00a0wanted to rate this classic (they were innovators after all- creators of the first gummy worm) brand higher. I did. But the glaring inconsistencies from bag to bag keep Trolli relegated to a\u00a0“purchase only in the face of impending natural disaster” level of mediocrity.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n