Bat Dots

I've seen these pictured before, but I've never seen them in stores.  But finally, while looking through Michael's Craft Store, I saw these, along with a few other Halloween-themed candy, on my way out.  As soon as I did, I knew I had to have them.  The box art was perfectly designed for Halloween and apparently, somehow, these black Bat Dots were going to taste like something other than licorice.  Hm..

This packaging screams "Halloween."  The bats and colors just drew me right in and I'm sure they've done the same to many others.  But as I said, the most interesting component to this product is the fact that these black Bat Dots are being advertised as something other than licorice.  I absolutely hate licorice and everything that tastes like it.  I even hate the smell of it and I don't know how anything remotely related to licorice sells at all.  But, I was going to take a chance on these black Bat Dots anyway.  Tootise has led me to believe that they're "Blood Orange Flavored Gumdrops" and I just had to see what that meant.

Despite what the box says, I would have bet my Frankenberry that these gumdrops would have tasted, at least somewhat, like licorice.  Have you ever eaten anything black that didn't?  I haven't.  Black jellybeans, black Twizzlers and black Dots have all tasted like licorice.  So, I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  At the very least, I'd have an adorably happy bat to look at as I spit his brothers out into the trash.

Well, to my surprise, these things actually taste nothing like licorice.  They taste like orange.  I don't know what "blood orange" is supposed to taste like or if that is just a clever pun, but they're orange and their delicious. 

However, they're not black, at least not entirely.  For the most part, these Dots are blue.  They're a dark, deep, navy blue and the dye has a tendency to run.  But, who cares?  We get to eat something bluer than Boo Berry and have it taste like orange.  That's the magic of Halloween, baby!  However, it still holds true -- I've never tasted anything black that didn't taste like licorice...and I never will.