Tropical Rainbow Crunchies

Freeze-drying removes water from candy without heat — frozen solid, then held under vacuum until the ice vaporises straight out of the structure. The flavour stays; the moisture and the chew do not.

Tropical benefits from this more than most. Mango, pineapple and passionfruit notes are volatile and easily flattened by heat processing; because freeze-drying never warms the candy, they survive intact and come through as distinct fruits rather than a generic sweet-fruit blur.

You can genuinely pick out individual flavours here, which is not true of every rainbow mix. It is brighter and less sugary-tasting than the original, and a good pick for anyone who finds standard rainbow candy one-note.

The 1.5 oz bag is one generous serving — 42.5 g of candy that looks like far more than that once it is poured out, because freeze-dried candy is mostly air. It is the size to buy if you are trying a flavour for the first time, and the size that fits a lunchbox or a jacket pocket without being crushed.

Store it sealed in a cool, dry place. Moisture is the one thing that undoes freeze-dried candy — an open bag left out will slowly go soft, so press the seal shut properly and it will keep its snap.

• 1.5oz bag of freeze-dried tropical rainbow candy
• Vibrant tropical fruit flavour medley
• Snack Kings LLC, Linden NJ