"Mystery flavors" are nothing new. How many of us had mothers that made us try something they cooked for us without telling us what it was? Or, depending upon our culture, an uncle who tricked us into eating sheep intestines or fish heads? In fact, if you think about it, mystery flavors are as old as humanity itself. After all, someone had to be the first one to eat a lobster to realize that it was actually tasty.
But "mystery flavors" in junk food are more commonly seen with individually-wrapped candy such as Air Heads or Dum-Dums. Which makes sense: if you like such candy, you won't mind finding one mystery flavor in your bag of 20 pieces. Here, however, Oreo didn't give us one mystery-flavored cookie, but an entire bag full of them. That's asking consumers to take a big leap of faith! Who would want to be stuck with an entire bag of crab-flavored cookies?
So, in the interests of science...and an abundance of spare change and boredom...I took it upon myself to try these so you won't have to (which is the very mantra of this blog). But my motives weren't entirely altruistic--I'm still entering the contest to win $50,000 by identifying the flavor.
If you've read any of my prior Oreo reviews, you know that I am not a fan of the chocolate cookie but prefer the golden or graham cookies instead. In my opinion, the chocolate cookie only works with a handful of flavors--such as mint, vanilla, chocolate. This opinion was immediately put to the test when I opened the box and smelled a strong fruit flavor. Initially, I thought this might be some sort of orange (Fanta?), but after forcing myself to eat a few more cookies I've decided that they taste more like fruit punch. The problem is that Oreo has previously released both a fruit punch Oreo and a fruity crisp Oreo...both of which came in a golden cookie, by the way. Knowing how often companies like to partner with other companies, I'm guessing this cookie was meant to taste like either a Starburst or a Capri Sun.
As a gimmick, it is interesting. As a cookie, not so much. The chocolate doesn't pair well with the fruity creme filling. It would have been better with a golden cookie for sure, and while not nearly as bad as the Swedish Fish Oreos, it's nothing I would ever want to eat again.
(By the way, the contest is open until November 30, 2017, so you have plenty of time to try these for yourself before then. Or, better yet, save yourself the irresponsible calories and take a wild guess at oreomystery.com. Just send me a cut of your prize money if you are the winner!)
RATING: 2/5
UPDATE: Nabisco has since revealed that the mystery flavor was...Fruity Pebbles! Perhaps I'm a sore loser, but I call foul on this one! Oreo previously released a "Fruity Crisp" Oreo, which everyone knew was actually Fruity Pebbles. This one didn't have any cereal pieces in the creme.
UPDATE: Nabisco has since revealed that the mystery flavor was...Fruity Pebbles! Perhaps I'm a sore loser, but I call foul on this one! Oreo previously released a "Fruity Crisp" Oreo, which everyone knew was actually Fruity Pebbles. This one didn't have any cereal pieces in the creme.
