Call it retro, call it a flashback, call it “tried and true,” or simply call it Swedish Fish with Snapple Fruit Flavor Mix. However you approach these (new to me) soft chew gummy-like candies, you will like them if the fishies are your thing. But, if you are like me, you’ll be left wanting a bit more sass in flavor town.

It’s possible my phone camera is weak (it is a few years old) but I can’t get past the muted colors. Swedish Fish in general is known for the sorta foggy colors — these aren’t bright and shiny Haribo Gold Bears – I know that going in — but these still don’t cry out, “Eat me!”

I can get past mid colors when the taste is spot on. And I felt optimistic about Snapple flavors. I started drinking Snapple iced teas in the 90’s, watching Seinfeld (I bring this up because there was a semi-running gag about Snapple on the show).

The teas, IMHO, were Snapple’s best drinks (and Mint Tea the top of the leaderboard). The company pivoted pretty quickly though to take on the general fruit drink market. And if I’m not mistaken, they introduced the Kiwi Strawberry flavor way back when. (So says my AI helper…who likes to lie.. so…) These Snapple flavored Swedish Fish include the Kiwi Snapple flavor so I felt like there’s a lotta good potentially going on. Had to be something here.

And yet…. eh.

These are fine. They have the Swedish Fish look (we covered that above), the Swedish Fish feel (jelly-soft-like-chewy-stick-to-your-teeth type of gummy), and the overall Swedish Fish flavor profile (a tad sweeter than other gummies and an aftertaste that’s hard to describe, but we all know it when we have it). Add in the Snapple flavor and you get? A general tasting new type of Swedish Fish.

I couldn’t really tell they were Snapple flavors. Nor which was which. There are three — Mango Madness and Fruit Punch along with Kiwi Strawberry. And they’re all Ok. Missed opportunity to bring more ‘buzz’ to the flavors, a tinge of something that would make me go “AWwww yeah – now THIS is Snapple.”

If you like Swedish Fish, and we all tend to a little, give these Snapple versions a go. But know going in these are more novel than a must-have treat.

Now if they made a Mint Tea version, I’d be singing a different song.