Quick – name the most American berries you can think of! If you said “the Chinese yumberry,” you must have worked for the Wrigley Company and held a significant position of power when designing the new Skittles American Mix.

Skittles America Mix

Yes, the white in our beloved “Red, White, & Blue” is represented by the yumberry in the Skittles America Mix. Up until this very moment, I was positive the yumberry was an American creation – an arbitrary term for anything that tastes yummy and vaguely berry. Wrong! 

The yumberry (scientific name “myrica rubra”) is a subtropical fruit loaded with antioxidants and looks similar to raspberries. Their taste is both sweet & sour, and has drawn comparisons to cranberry and pomegranate (plagiarized from this article). Enjoyed in southeast Asia forever, fresh yumberries are so un-American that they cannot even be imported to the U.S. due to pest concerns. But apparently America has started to grow its own Skittles trees that yield Yumberry Skittles, so here we are.

Most of the other berries in the Skittles American Mix are more appropriate choices: Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry fit the bill. Blueberries, the easy one, is mysteriously absent. The last one is the Wild Berry. I don’t even know what that is.

We shall save Yumberry for last because WTF?

Raspberry Skittle: The darkest red Skittle in Skittles America Mix is raspberry. Raspberries might be the Junk Banter berry of choice, and these Raspberry Skittles do a damn good job of translating that flavor into a candy. They lead tart before transitioning to something more artificial but still delicious. In some ways, these reminded me of Twizzlers but far more genuine and a lot more juicy. Chewy.

Strawberry Skittle: The bright red Strawberry Skittle is far sweeter than the Raspberry Skittle; appropriate if you’ve been following the real fruits they’re flavored after. This is the exact same Red Skittle in the classic Skittles Mix, so I don’t think I need to spend a whole lot of time on it. I still ate about 20 though. The Red Skittle is always enjoyable, but I preferred the Raspberry because I’m a weirdo. Chewy.

Wild Berry Skittle: How can there be one Wild Berry Skittle when we have an entire Wild Berry Mix? I don’t much care for the bright blue Skittle in the Skittles America Mix. Maybe because I don’t understand it? The closest fruit comparison I can draw is sour cherry, but I thought there was something funky about this one. At times I picked up on a strange spice note that clashed with the tart present in this Skittle. Weird. Gorgeous cerulean color, though… Chewy.

Blackberry Skittle: The dark blue Skittle is blackberry, which is not blue. I wasn’t crazy about this one either. I thought it tasted similar to the Raspberry Skittle but with like, half the dosage of flavor. It wasn’t tart enough nor sweet enough to make these snackable. It’s not as strange as the Wild Berry Skittle, but it’s mighty boring and I don’t want it. Chewy.

Yumberry Skittle: Last and definitely least is the Yumberry. This was the main attraction because of its name, but not because of its taste. The white yumberry Skittle tastes like a generic berry fruit candy first, and then kind of like bubble gum. Gross. Not once did I say or think “yum” while eating this one. More like Dumb-berry, am I right, guys? Chewy.

If it’s not blatantly obvious from my descriptions above, I wasn’t really impressed with Skittles America Mix. The patriotic color theme is great, but all the flavors were kind of similar and most were lackluster. My favorite two were a plain old raspberry and the classic Red Skittle, and that’s not a good sign.

In summary, America is the greatest nation in the world. We can do better than this.

America Rating: 10 out of 10
Yumberry Rating: China Can Keep It out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10

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