Review & Release History of Brach’s Graveyard Candy, Pumpkin Spice Twinkies, & More

Review

First, I just love the texture of these. They remind me of those thick and chunky candy corn pumpkins – my favorite! They have a lightly chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, soft texture that is simply irresistible. Moreover, like candy corn, these are all sugary sweet!

Caramel Corn
Reminds me of a mix of butter and popcorn jelly beans in addition to caramel corn. It’s mostly sugar-tasting with a sugary, caramel-corn-like flavor. I love how the flavor itself doesn’t taste too artificial or weird; it’s very smooth and offensive – assuming you like sugar.

Cotton Candy
These are exactly like a piece of candy corn mixed with vanilla. What you get is a very sweet-tasting sugary vanilla. Cotton candy? In a way, yes, and actually, perhaps even more flavorful because the vanilla in these is surprisingly both strong, flavorful, and sugary sweet.

Marshmallow
These are the closest to an actual candy corn. Honestly, if you blindfolded me, I would likely have guessed that these and regular candy corn were the same. If anything, these have a smidge of a marshmallow taste, but really, it’s more or less your regular candy corn.

Green Apple
I love how you’re immediately hit with a sugary sweet caramel, it’s so good! The overall flavor profile of these is a mix of candy corn and smooth, sweet caramel, with a mild apple note. If anything, I do wish the Apple flavor were a little more pronounced, but even as it stands, it’s both very sweet and sufficiently tasty, especially with that addition of caramel. My favorite of the bunch!

Release Date

Released around August 2026. Found at Target mid-September 2026.

Review

When you open the bag, you’re met with a moderately sweet, semi-artificial, donut-like pumpkin smell. They’re covered with a dark, semi-thick, tan-colored cream.

The taste is just like the smell: a fairly sweet, sugary flavor with a pumpkin donut-like note. It’s definitely not an authentic pumpkin; it’s more like a donut you would buy from Dunkin’—a bit artificial and on the sugary side. I also appreciate the subtle salty note from the pretzel. To note, there is no coffee flavor!

In terms of texture, it’s smooth on the outside and has a light, soft crunch inside. Don’t expect the crunch of a regular, uncovered pretzel — this is softer, as if the coating itself softened it up a bit. 

Pretzel fans will enjoy this, especially for its uniqueness. Even as someone who isn’t a big fan of these types of treats, the flavor is definitely good enough to consider buying this again.

Release Date

Released August 11, 2026. Found at Stop & Shop in mid-August 2026.

Review

I love the smell! It’s an exceptionally creamy, light, fall-like smell. Basically, vanilla cake with a smooth dousing of pumpkin, essentially making it smell like a milky pumpkin pie.

The center contains a very, very light brown cream. Taste-wise, it’s 75% regular Twinkie and 25% a creamy and smooth pumpkin spice. It’s not at all punchy or spicy by any means. This is a very inoffensive, creamy combination of pumpkin and vanilla cake.

I might even like these more than regular Twinkies!

You can view my previous review here.

Release Date

Released September 2015. They’ve come back in years after, returning again in August 2026. Found at Cumberland Farms in early September 2026.

Review

This primarily has a very light, smooth, pineapple-like flavor. I don’t think it has enough punch or sourness to really bring out the passionfruit side, but there’s at least a hint of it. Combined with the pineapple, it’s a nice combination, though I’d like it sweeter or at least a little more punchy; as it stands, it is just a bit too boring for my taste buds. It kind of tastes like a lightly fruity drink with a lot of ice.

Release Date

Released April 2025 alongside Blue Raspberry Limeade Elevate. Found at Cumberland Farms in early September 2026.

Review

It tastes like a watered-down lemonade. It’s not at all punchy or all that sweet; instead, it comes across as smoother and more inoffensive. It also doesn’t taste precisely like lemonade per se —more like an off-brand of sorts — basically, some variation. Overall, I wish it were sweeter and had more of a classic lemon-sour flavor.

Release Date

Released February 2010. Found at Cumberland Farms in early September 2026.

Review

It smells like a mix of sour and sweet, candy-like berry, and has a white-looking appearance. The taste is almost entirely sweet, berry-like. It’s not overly bold or sugary; instead, it feels like a smooth, generic berry flavor. Interestingly, after a few minutes of chewing, the berry flavor remains but becomes more “warm.” It’s hard to explain — it’s almost like it becomes a little sweeter. Even more so, after chewing longer, the flavor doesn’t seem to fade, giving you a long-lasting, sweet berry gum.

Unfortunately, I didn’t perceive any sourness from this gum.

Release Date

Released April 2026. Found at Cumberland Farms in early September 2026.

Review

Interestingly, has the same gunmetal-blue foil packaging around each piece of gum as the Cool Mint flavor — shouldn’t it have been dark red? And even more weirdly, the gum looks the same too–a dark purple with a white coating.

Anyway… The flavor is definitely different. It’s an almost tropically sweet combination with a smooth watermelon and something else. I wouldn’t say it’s punchy or sour enough to resemble pomegranate, and frankly, I don’t think it’s exactly that flavor either. Either way, it’s a unique-tasting gum–definitely worth a try if you want something sweet and long-lasting.

Release Date

5 Gum released three flavors in this lineup: Pomegranate, Cool Mint, and Tropical Punch. Found early September at Cumberland Farms.

Review

Dark, gunmetal-blue foil with RESPAWN written several times across the wraps of each piece of gum — it’s kind of cool and different from the usual 7 Gum packaging. Appearance-wise, it’s a white-dusted, dark bluish-purple piece of gum.

Then, in terms of taste, it’s a reasonably bold, slightly punchy, cool mint flavor. Not the punchiest I’ve had, nor is it sharp, but it’s refreshing, offers a decent amount of sweetness, and cools your breath a bit. Essentially, this tastes like a variation of a typical mint-flavored gum. Lastly, the flavor lingers for a while, even after many minutes of chewing.

Release Date

5 Gum released three flavors in this lineup: Pomegranate, Cool Mint, and Tropical Punch. Found early September at Cumberland Farms.

Review

Fairly large, roundish red squares with a light, gritty coating. They have a super sweet, sugary, fruit- or berry-like smell.

Biting in, you’re hit with a surprisingly sour red fruit/berry candy taste. It definitely comes across as more sour than sweet and more sour than regular Sour Patch Kids. Over time, the sourness and flavor do die down a bit, especially the sourness, letting a little more sweetness come through and creating a more balanced, “regular gum” flavor profile.

Release Date

Redberry and Blueraspberry were released in September 2022. Found on the Target website in early September 2026.

Review

Needless to say, this is a punchy peachy flavor. It’s also fairly sweet. The peach flavoring isn’t too artificial, and to me, tastes similiar to peach-based flavors I’ve found in other products. Essentially, it’s nothing new, though, worth a purchase if you’re into sweet and punchy peach treats. Personally, this isn’t my favorite flavor.

Release Date

Nutricost released two Shaq related flavors in early September 2026: Peach Punch and Lemon Lime. Found on the TikTok ship mid-September 2026.