Cotton candy is cotton candy unless it’s Dr. Pepper Cotton Candy
Cotton candy tastes like fluffy sugar. I mean, fluffy sugar is basically all it is, right? So when my friend Emily bought me a package of Dr. Pepper Cotton Candy I was extremely skeptical that it would taste like anything other than fluffy sugar. Boy was I wrong.
This bag of Dr. Pepper Cotton Candy was picked up at an actual Five & Dime store (in Salida, Colorado). There were all kinds of souvenirs and knick-knacks and toys, but most importantly there was so much candy. And not just candy you could find in the grocery store today, but candy from overseas, “nostalgia” candy that looks like it was shipped in the ‘50s, gummies shaped like hamburgers and sushi, and so much more. And, of course, Dr. Pepper Cotton Candy.
You’d think this stuff is actually made by Dr. Pepper, but you’d be wrong. It’s licensed to Taste of Nature, Inc, (candyasap.com, what a cool URL) who seem to license a lot of stuff and specialize in interesting candies like Cookie Dough Bites cereal, 3’ long gummy snakes, and boxes of movie theater candy that are over 1lb! They also have Hawaiian Punch cotton candy and (coming soon) Starburst and Skittles cotton candy. But all of that is just a distraction because we are here to try the Dr. Pepper variety.
How Does It Taste?
Just squeezing the bag, the cotton candy inside felt extremely dense. Again, I’m used to fluffy sugar on a paper cone that disappears if you just look at it. But this came out of the bag looking like a small pillow of insulation. And you could rip off big hunks, throw them into your mouth and actually chew! The flavor was definitely different than your typical cotton candy. Was it identical to Dr. Pepper? Hard to say. I probably should have had a bottle of Dr. Pepper next to me so I could compare. But it definitely had a soda vibe to the flavor, and with Dr. Pepper already on the brain, the flavor was close enough.
Appearance and Expectations
Wow, what a boring package. “Let’s just put Dr. Pepper on the package a few times and be done with it.” Then on the back, in the spot you’d expect a fun description, is an explanation that “Dr. Pepper” is a trademark. I guess they aren’t setting high expectations, but a little bit of fun would be appreciated before ripping into soda-flavored sugar. Maybe that’s good because when you open the bag, this thing comes out, as noted above, like a thick piece of insulation you’d put in your wall or roof. Just a round pillow of thick cotton candy. And sticking with the theme of the package, the color is red like the Dr. Pepper can, rather than the brown of a cola. Maybe that’s a wise decision; perhaps no one wants to eat brown cotton candy, but it definitely lends itself to looking even more insulation-like as a result.
Overall Opinion
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. Despite the boring package and insulation qualities, it tasted great. Obviously extremely sweet, but very soda, Dr. Pepper-like as well. I was also shocked at how much cotton candy was in this little bag! I ate half of what was in there and felt full when I was done, leaving some to enjoy the next day. I will definitely be buying this again if I see it, and I’m excited to try the Skittles and Starburst versions when they come out! (though curious how they manage the different flavors of each)
Rating
4.5/5 Adam Heart Eyes. Couldn’t quite bring myself to a full 5 but this was very good and I can’t wait to have some more.