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April 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Eat with your Eyes: Pink Pop

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Pink, pink, pink and pink.

I reviewed these Hammond Pops before (this one was cherry).

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:26 am     CandyFeatured NewsFun StuffPhotography

Friday, April 9, 2010

Tic Tac Pink Grapefruit

It’s so frustrating when I know that there’s a candy out there I want to try but I just can’t get a hold of it. The Pink Grapefruit Tic Tac have been around for a couple of years, but as far as I knew they were sold only as a “big pack” and only at WalMart.

Pink Grapefruit TicTacs

I’ve been scouring eBay and the discount dollar stores ever since, hoping they’d turn up. Thankfully last weekend I found them at the 99 Cent Only Store - and for only 59 cents a package. I bought two, because I knew I’d love them.

The box holds exactly one ounce, which sounds like a single portion to me, the way I eat Tic Tacs. (I eat them like they’re candy.)

Pink Grapefruit TicTacs

They’re a beautiful shade of pink (carmine but at least the ingredients are all natural). They don’t smell like much, but they sound great in the package when I shake it.

They’re soft and smooth, a little slick on the tongue at first. Then they give up the flavor. The grapefruit is a good zesty blast, especially after the pink outside coating comes off. It’s tangy but I wouldn’t call it sour. I usually chew mine, so I was getting a big dose of grapefruit. It’s pretty intense if you eat a lot of them in a row since they use real dry pink grapefruit juice. In fact, after about half the package it was making my tongue vibrate a little bit from the citrus oils. There’s also a little bit of a mentholated after taste, it doesn’t really make them minty, but it does make my breath feel fresher when I inhale.

I would definitely buy these on a regular basis if I can find them reliably.

I saw that Ebidebby found them and Candy for Dinner also The Candy Enthusiast had the Citrus Punch Limited Edition version that included Pink Grapefruit.

Ferrero has changed the packaging just slightly. The old polystyrene that made such a satisfying rattling sound is gone and now they’re using polypropylene which cuts energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. Of course it’s also important to reuse and then recycle the packaging when you’re done. The polypropylene is a little softer so the candy boxes don’t crack as easily as they used to. Do you have any tips on what to do with the boxes when you’re done?

Related Candies

  1. Bissinger’s Pink Grapefruit Gummy Pandas
  2. Jelly Belly Sunkist Citrus Mix
  3. Dr. Doolittle’s Pastilles (Lemon, Grapefruit & Wild Berry)
  4. Grapefruit Mentos (Japan)
  5. HiCHEW Grapefruit
  6. Tic Tac Bold!
  7. Pink Grapefruit Mentos


Name: Tic Tac Pink Grapefruit
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrero
Place Purchased: 99 Cent Only Store (Silver Lake)
Price: $.59
Size: 1 ounce
Calories per ounce: 114
Categories: Candy, Ferrero, Mints, 9-Yummy, Canada, 99 Cent Only Store

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:27 pm     CandyReviewFerreroMints9-YummyCanada99 Cent Only Store

Candy Blog Turns 5 Years Old

Five years ago some good friends exchanged their vows. During the reception I was talking with some of the other guests at our table about chocolate. Someone remarked that I seemed really passionate about candy and I should blog about it.

I went home that night and started a blog. Here it is, five years later and I’ve reviewed at least 1,500 individual candies and tasted probably 5,000 during my travels and attendance at trade shows. There’s still lots more to see, taste and review.

Thank You Bananas

So thank you, sweet readers. I probably wouldn’t have continued if the blog did not grow as it has, the fact that you’re here, reading and responding really makes it worthwhile.

As a big thank you I’m doing some redesign work that I think you will enjoy (such as adding a spot where you can give candies your own 1-10 rating, make custom lists in your profile of favorite candies and better search features).

As a small thank you, I have a $50 gift certificate for Think Geek where you can spend way too much for novelty candy.

To enter the drawing just leave a comment here by Monday, April 12, 2010 at 9 AM Pacific PDT telling me what your favorite post on the blog is. A random commenter will be chosen and will receive a digital gift certificate valued at $50. Anyone can win though I don’t know how useful it’d be if you’re outside of North America.

Oh, and happy 5th anniversary to Robin & Amy!

UPDATE April 12, 2010 5:32 PM PDT: Congratulations to Jeny! She was chosen at random from all unique comments received. I’ve already sent her the digital gift certificate for Think Geek.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:50 am     Behind the ScenesCandyCANDY BLOGFun Stuff

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Wonka Fruit Marvels

Wonka Fruit Marvels TinsNestle is going full-tilt to reinvigorate their stagnant Wonka candy brand. Last year it was gummis (Sluggles, Puckerooms & Sploshberries), this year they revised their chocolate bar line under the new Wonka Exceptionals and now they’re introducing some new sugar candy items to the Exceptionals line. The first is called Fruit Marvels which are vaguely described on the packaging as hard candies with soft centers, delicately sugar dusted. They come in three flavors: White Grape, Pomegranate and Clementine Orange.

There are two formats for the packages. The first is the tins, which hold 1.9 ounces (14 pieces) and retail for $1.99. Though that’s a little expensive, there’s a second more cost effective option which is the 5 ounce box which retails for $2.99 (and you can refill the tin).

Wonka Fruit Marvels - White Grape Packaging

The box is imaginative and quite different from the holographic mylar/plastic of the chocolates. These stand up boxes come in two parts. There’s a tall tab top box with a dizzying purple/lavender design, over that is a sleeve. The sleeve is taped to the box and features little circular cut outs that reveal the patterned box underneath. Like the Wonka Exceptionals Chocolate Pieces, even the UPC code gets Wonka-fied.

Wonka Fruit Marvels - White Grape PackagingInside the box is another package, a long mylar pouch with the candy in it. They’re not marked for the individual flavor, as I discovered later on when I ditched the boxes and carried all three pouches around in a ziploc bag while I was tasting.

The front of the package states Made with Natural Ingredients* and then directs folks to read the list of ingredients to explain the asterisk. Flipping over the box the ingredients are really easy to understand. For the White Grape they were: Dextrose*, Sugar*, Corn Syrup*, Pear Juice Concentrate*, and less than 2% of Modified Corn Starch, Tapioca Dextrin, Natural Flavor*, Tumeric Color, Citric Acid*.

I find this a little confusing ... they’re saying it’s made with natural ingredients, but not saying that all of the ingredients are natural. (So just about all food products would qualify under this “Made with Natural Ingredients” thing.) I appreciate that they’re not saying that highly processed ingredients like modified food starch is natural, but I’d prefer if they just said “made with real fruit juice but no artificial flavors or colors” and left it at that. Both Clementine & Pomegranate have Carmine coloring, which is a natural coloring derived from insects but of course not considered vegetarian/vegan, may be an allergen for some sensitive folks and is not kosher/halal.

Wonka Fruit Marvels Pomegranate Tin

The Pomegranate Fruit Marvels tin is simple. Inside are tucked over a dozen little candies. The tin is about 3.5 inches in diameter and just shy of an inch thick - a little big to tuck in a pocket. There’s a piece of waxed paper cushion on the bottom and on the top. The tin is easy to open and close, but stays closed so I wouldn’t worry so much about this coming open in the bottom of your bag.

They’re about .75 inches in diameter with a sugar sanded coating and soft coloring. The candies are really a puzzle at first. I didn’t understand what they were by the description, but I guess that’s why they called them Marvels.

Wonka Fruit Marvels - Pomegranate

The outside is a hard candy shell, it’s made of dextrose like SweeTarts, but it’s not compressed like other powder candies, instead it’s panned (added as a liquid layer that forms a hardened glaze after many coats). Inside is a firm and flavorful jelly. It’s like a super jelly bean in a way but remember that the shell is very thick.

When I first popped it into my mouth I thought it would be like a Gobstopper, many flavored layers and then a jelly ball in the middle, but it is actually faithful to the scale on the package. I tried sucking on them first. The sugar sanding is rough at first but that dissolves away quickly to the shell. The shell is dextrose (glucose) so it has a slightly cooling effect and it has a kind of thinness to the sweet note instead of the round syrup sweetness of sucrose (sugar). Eventually there’s a little hint of the floral berry flavors of pomegranate. There’s a layer just between the jelly center and the shell that has a little burst of sour.

Wonka Fruit Marvels - PomegranateI pulled quite a few of the candies apart. I found I preferred biting them to letting them dissolve. It’s not advisable to just crunch them up at first until you gain some experience at it, I think letting them warm and dissolve a little helps.

You can see the thickness of the shell here and how it’s dense but kind of crumbly.

The jelly center is complex. It’s smooth and thick, it’s also nicely flavored without being too sweet or tangy. Though I don’t think any candies really capture pomegranate flavor well, these are still an excellent flavor no matter what it’s called. It’s more raspberry to me - floral and jammy.

The sanding isn’t messy, no sticky fingers, but there is a bit of sugar dust in the bottom of the tins or the bags which can get everywhere.

Wonka Fruit Marvels - Clementine Orange

The Clementine Orange Fruit Marvels sounded really good. I love citrus and the less-common oranges often have wonderful notes that make things so much more interesting than just eating spoonfuls of Tang drink mix. Clementines are a tasty little citrus, they’re easy to peel and are usually seedless - they have the tangy profile and juicy taste of a tangerine.

The outside sanded shell doesn’t give much indication of the flavor inside, just a soft orange color.

Wonka Fruit Marvels - Clementine Orange

The flavor is truly like a tangerine. There are bold juice and citric acid notes but there’s also a really good zest component that sets it apart from straight-laced orange. There’s no bitter or lingering orange peel aftertaste though.

The White Grape Fruit Marvels are nearly colorless on the outside but a little on the yellow side after cracked open. (They were devilish to photograph, but I think you get the idea with the other two.) White grape was always one of my favorite fruit juices as a kid, so I’m very familiar with the flavor. This is extremely faithful. There’s a concord grape note to it, but also a brighter and lighter feeling to it, a little like champagne.

All three flavors are distinct and faithful to their profiles. The candy itself is unique, I’ve never had anything quite like it before so I give Wonka high marks for not just regurgitating the ordinary with a frivolous name and funny packaging. I like the concept of the boxes and that they’re more cost effective than the tins but still $3 for 5 ounces of sugar candy is on the high side, even for something that doesn’t have artificial flavors/colors. Also, the amount of packaging is silly, the outer sleeve could easily disappear without losing the feeling of upscale decadence.

I’m a little unclear about the target market for these, I’m guessing they’re not for little children like many other Wonka products lately like Kazoozles. Perhaps they’re targeting young adults, especially since the tins are great for sharing. They might also appeal to folks who want an intense flavorful indulgence without too many calories. Since they’re all sugar there’s no fat and each piece is about 12 calories. The tin makes each piece feel rather special. (Honestly, it seems like the target market is for grown ups for never quite grew up, which would be me.)

I like where Wonka is going lately.

These are in limited release right now, they’re available exclusively at WalMart stores until June 2010 when they’ll start appearing at Target. The candies are made in Mexico.

Related Candies

  1. Wonka Exceptionals Scrumdiddlyumptious
  2. Big Tex Giant Jelly Beans
  3. Wonka Kazoozles: Cherry Punch & Pink Lemonade
  4. Jelly Belly Sunkist Citrus Mix
  5. Wonka Tinglerz & Nestle Buncha Crunch
  6. Gimbal’s Lavaballs
  7. Wonka Sour Nerds


Name: Wonka Fruit Marvels
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Nestle
Place Purchased: samples from Wonka
Price: $2.99 retail
Size: 5 ounces for box & 1.9 ounces for tins
Calories per ounce: 99
Categories: Nestle, Hard Candy & Lollipops, Jelly Candy, 8-Tasty, Mexico

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:16 pm     CandyReviewNestleHard Candy & LollipopsJelly Candy8-TastyMexico

Eat with Your Eyes: William Dean Chocolates

William Dean Chocolatier - Peanut Butter & Jelly

Creamy peanut butter base with shards of toffee topped with fresh jam then encased in a beautifully airbrushed milk chocolate shell. I would like a whole box of these now. The photoset of the whole box is here.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:09 am     CandyFeatured NewsFun StuffPhotography

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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.

 

 

 

 

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COUNTDOWN.

Candy Season Ends

-2537 days

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