Sweet Stash Jams hit new gummy high notes

I’ve been on a big gummy candy kick lately. I think those Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers triggered something in my brain, and I’ve found myself gravitating to bags of Trolli or Sour Patch Kids when I’ve been at the airport or on the road the past few months.

But while those sour gummies have been getting my attention, there’s nothing like a classic gummy that isn’t covered in citric or tartaric acid. I love opening a fresh bag of gummy bears and plotting over which colors will meet their demise first.

So when Sweet Stash, a new brand of gummies from Adeev Potash, Ezra Potash and Martin Starr — yes, the same Martin Starr who you’ve definitely seen in projects like Freaks and Geeks, the MCU Spider-Man movies and Silicon Valley — came across my radar, I was definitely interested. It’s a crowded marketplace, but I love to see what new innovations people are bringing to the world of candy.

“We started Sweet Stash because we love candy — and wanted it to be better,” the Potash twins and Starr write of the venture. “Real ingredients. Bold flavors. No junk.”

I’m impressed that this trio has found the time to turn their attention to launching a candy company. While Starr has been on your TV and movie screens for decades now, the Potash twins have kept busy too, earning acclaim as musicians from a young age, with a recent New Yorker profile highlighting a career that already mixes in folks like Warren Buffett, Wynton Marsalis and RuPaul.

Earlier this year, the identical twins Adeev and Ezra Potash, who are from Omaha, Nebraska, were named that state’s first-ever Composer Laureates. As adolescents, Adeev (trumpet) and Ezra (trombone) caught the attention of Warren Buffett, who hired them to play at Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings; in high school, they were encouraged to apply to conservatories by Wynton Marsalis, with whom they have since performed. As adults, they’ve recorded and released three albums and written scores for RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The Potash twins’ musical background is where the company’s first release, Sweet Stash Jams, gets its name and musical note shape.

OK, so these incredibly accomplished brothers teamed up with an actor to launch a candy company — but how does the candy actually taste? you’re probably asking. Hold on, let me set down the second bag of Jams that I’m currently eating ...

Love reading Snackology? Become a subscriber to receive every edition in your inbox.

Subscribe

What they cost

You can get a 5-pack of Sweet Stash Jams from the company’s website for $19.95. Sweet Stash is slowly expanding its distribution footprint, so there’s also a chance that you might be able to find these gummies in a store depending on where you live. (Samuel’s Sweet Shop, the candy store in Rhinebeck, N.Y., partially owned by Paul Rudd, just started carrying them.)

My thoughts

Sweet Stash Jams is currently the only product from the company, but the trio behind the brand put a ton of work into really perfecting the six flavors in the flagship release: Strawbarb, Green Grape, Blue Jazzberry, Orange, Prickly Pear and White Peach.

“We’ve put an absurd amount of love into these gummies — a full year of dialing in the texture, layering the flavors and chasing that feeling that great candy gives you,” the Potash brothers and Star told me.

I opened up my first bag of Jams and immediately took a deep breath from the bag. Right off the bat, Sweet Stash nailed how a bag of gummies should smell when you open them, with a bunch of fruit flavors competing for your attention.

Not wanting to miss a single flavor, I picked out representatives of the six varieties the Potash brothers and Starr had chosen for their gummies. My original pass through the flavors confirmed that Jams make good on the promise of “layered, evolving flavor profiles.” The flavors are subtle at first, but as I went back for additional gummies, the flavors began to pop.

Going into this review, my sights were set on the White Peach flavor after The New Yorker noted that this flavor was of special importance to the Sweet Stash team. “We sent it out to flavor houses,” Starr told The New Yorker. “Some of them returned multiple versions, because we would go back and say we want more fuzz.” “Fuzz was our Moby Dick,” Ezra added.

Strawbarb might be my favorite flavor, though? I honestly lost track of the flavors as I found myself finishing off my first bag of Jams. These are top-notch gummies, with one of my favorite traits being that they don’t leave that “oh no, I ate too many gummies” mouthfeel that you get from other brands. (Don’t shame me for eating too many, you other brands.)

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

Sweet Stash Jams are a fun new addition to the world of gummy candy. Their flavors go beyond the ones you’re used to finding in the classic brands, and I’m hoping to see them not only expand their footprint but also roll out new products.

Sweet Stash Jams were provided to Snackology for this independent review.