Does the New Twinkie from 7-Eleven Really Taste Like a Slurpee?

Most chains would be happy with just a single Slurpee-flavored non-Slurpee item, but not 7-Eleven! Yes, to celebrate this year’s “Slurpee Day” (held on the parent company’s namesake date of 7/11), we received a second Slurpee snack collaboration: Twinkies. I first heard about this frozen-flavored fancy a few months ago on LinkedIn of all places, and it’s been on my radar ever since. The good folks at 7-Eleven were nice enough to send over some samples so I could deliver my review to the people in advance of their uncrowned national holiday.

While this is the first collaboration between Hostess and Slurpee, it can’t claim to be the first cherry Twinkie ever released. Back in 2014, Hostess released Cherry Chocodile Twinkies, which had both a cherry creme filling and a chocolate coating to boot. But is this new Twinkie flavor really cherry Slurpee flavored? Or just cherry? The way the flavor is written on the packaging leaves it ambiguous as to whether the creme is specifically Slurpee-associated. Luckily, the press release accompanying this product answered this crucial question for me: yes, this Twinkie does in fact feature “Cherry Slurpee-flavored crème filling.” 

If you want to try these for yourself, they’ll be available at 7-Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes stores from now through August 2024. As for whether I thought this snack cake truly embodied the summer majesty of a Cherry Slurpee, you’ll just have to read on.

Hostess Twinkies with Cherry Slurpee Flavored Filling

New Twinkie!

Hostess Twinkies with Cherry Slurpee Flavored Filling

Pros: I’ve never had a bad Twinkie. Despite making dozens of flavors to date, I don’t think they’ve ever made a bad Twinkie. Did you know the first Twinkies were filled with banana cream? They switched to vanilla when bananas were being rationed back in World War II. Yes, Twinkie innovation has been happening for nearly 100 years. While the creme filling in this new Twinkie wasn’t everything I hoped it to be (as you’ll read soon enough), this was still a good time. 

Cons: In Art of War, Sun Tzu said, “Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness.” I think the flavor scientists at Hostess took this to heart when deciding how much cherry flavoring to use in these Twinkies. When I think of a Slurpee, I think of a tart, sweet flavor. While this was definitely sweet, I really wanted to see more of that real cherry tartness. Perhaps I am the problem. Perhaps I am too powerful for these consumer goods. No, it’s the children who are wrong.

Credit: Liv Averett / Hostess

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks


About the Author

Griffin Parker

Griffin Parker is a writer, award-winning charity auctioneer, and "influencer in the beverage space" according to a few PR agencies. Please do not ask him about the cotton candy business he started right out of high school. When he's not contributing to Sporked or running the @SodaSeekers news pages, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix.