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February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp Chocolate Eggs

Ghirardelli Milk & CrispEaster is the season for foil wrapped chocolate eggs. They can be solid, they can be filled with things. They can be the size of a peanut or a football. The fun part is when they’re actually made with good chocolate.

I was excited to see Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp Chocolate Eggs at Target. Ghirardelli makes very good chocolate for the price, right here in California. I’ve been searching for the ideal crisped rice and milk chocolate combination, so this was the perfect item for me to pick up.

The yellow bag contains about 15 gold foil wrapped eggs. They’re a rich milk chocolate with crisped rice. They also come in a blue foil version that’s solid milk chocolate.

Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp

The bag is on the expensive side. The 3.5 ounces is about the same price as a chocolate bar from Ghirardelli, $3.49 ... one dollar an ounce. It’s a bit steep for chocolate that’s not marked as ethically sourced or organic but it is all natural. (The facility also processes tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and eggs. Contains milk and soy.)

Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp

The eggs smell dark and smoky, less sweet than many milk chocolates but still with a dairy note to it. The melt is soft and has that same sort of smoky note to it with a strong malt flavor from the crisped rice. There’s a hint of bitterness to it, but not much. Overall, it’s far less sweet than something like a Nestle Crunch chocolate and thought thick, not quite as sticky as Cadbury.

Overall, it was a bit more grown up than a Nestle Crunch NestEgg, but should probably be reserved for adults since the price is so much steeper. I would buy these again, and of course I’d prefer a half pound bag so I could put them out in a dish.

Related Candies

  1. Ghirardelli Squares Milk & Hazelnut Crisp
  2. Dove Cookies and Creme + Ghirardelli Cookies Jubilee
  3. Hershey’s Mexican Made Miniatures
  4. Nestle Crunch - Even More Scrumptious
  5. Ghirardelli Luxe Milk
  6. Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Crisp
  7. Nestle Creme Eggs


Name: Milk & Crisp Chocolate Eggs
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Ghiradelli
Place Purchased: Target (West Hollywood)
Price: $3.49
Size: 3.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 146
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Easter, Ghirardelli, Chocolate, Cookie, 8-Tasty, United States, Target

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:34 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewEasterGhirardelliChocolateCookie8-TastyUnited StatesTarget

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Twix Egg

Twix EggMars announced some seasonal candies last year, including Sugar Cookie Twix for Christmas 2012. While they never appeared on shelves, what I did see last week that was a surprise and not included in their Easter announcement was the new Twix Egg.

They’re cute, little Twix bars just for Easter. They had different pastel colors on the the front, though they’re all the classic Twix flavor. (I didn’t see any Coconut or PB Twix versions.)

Twix Egg

It’s a Twix! Instead of sticks, it’s one globby egg. It’s just a smidge over one ounce.

I’m not a huge Twix fan, which has always confused me because on paper it has everything I like. There’s a crispy, almost-shortbread cookie base, a dose of chewy soft caramel and it’s enrobed in milk chocolate. Of all the Twix that have been created, I preferred the limited edition Java Twix, which was coffee flavored. The Triple Chocolate Twix, that have also appeared a few times, which feature a chocolate cookie, chocolate caramel and dark chocolate enrobing were also good.

Twix Egg

The standard Twix, however, usually leaves me disinterested. I do try them occasionally, as I often end up with a sample now and then and they do show up in Halloween miniature assortments. They’re sweet ... the cookie isn’t big enough and the caramel doesn’t have enough caramelized sugar notes.

None of my comments are intended to get Twix to change for me, there are millions of people who like it the way it is, so I’d say don’t mess with it. But like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, which can support many different sizes and shapes that rebalance the ratios of elements, the Twix can stand a few seasonal varieties.

This particular Twix doesn’t look enrobed, instead it looks like it’s molded, as it says, Twix right on the top and has a more glossy, smooth sheen to the consistent ripples.

Twix Egg

The ratios are definitely different here. It feels like the cookie is more prominent. There’s more crunch, I taste the cookie now, instead of just knowing of its crispness. The caramel is also a distinctive part, instead of being mushed into the chocolate. Though the caramel isn’t as flavorful as I would have liked, it was salty and smooth and had a nice chew when combined with the sandy crunch of the cookie. The sweet milk chocolate is, well, far too sweet overall. The chocolate is much more dense on the ends, and it was on the last bite that I was overcome with the throat-searing sweetness. I’m sure if I balanced it with a strong drink like coffee or black tea, I’d be a little more in love with it.

The size is great, I find a one ounce bar to be just the right amount for a little break. It’s more than an individual stick (which are about .89 ounces) so it’s more substantial. The broad, flat shape also makes it feel like it’s more massive than it actually is. I bought three of them and fully intend to eat the final one that’s still in its package. But not today.

Mars did a great thing making a seasonal version. It’s not just a pastel wrapper on the every day item, it’s a special version just for Easter. (I expect there may be Halloween pumpkin ones, like the Snickers and Milky Way Simply Caramel get.)

Related Candies

  1. Nestle Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bars: Peanut Butter & Caramel and Coconut
  2. Nestle Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters
  3. Twix Coconut (Limited Edition)
  4. Triple Chocolate Twixels
  5. Java Twix
  6. Twix PB
  7. Twix Triple Chocolate


Name: Twix Egg
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Mars
Place Purchased: CVS (Studio City)
Price: $.59
Size: 1.06 ounces
Calories per ounce: 142
Categories: Candy, Mars, Caramel, Chocolate, Cookie, Kosher, 7-Worth It, United States, Sav-On/CVS

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:42 pm     CandyReviewEasterMarsCaramelChocolateCookieKosher7-Worth ItUnited StatesSav-On/CVS

Monday, February 25, 2013

Skittles replace Lime with Green Apple

Skittles Now With Green AppleBREAKING NEWS: The Original Fruits Skittles are no longer original.

The green Skittle, which has always been Lime in the United States (except for a brief replacement in 2001), has been replaced with Green Apple.

I noticed the new packages on shelves last week here in Southern California (but they’re probably rolling out all over the country on different timetables). Haley, a reader, mentioned in the comments on the Darkside Skittles review that Midnight Lime in the Darkside mix is now the new home of the much-maligned citrus.

Skittles - Now with Green Apple

The Green Apple Skittle is a fine tasting Skittle. It’s a mix of actual apple juice flavor, with that sort of peel note to it and the artificial Jolly Rancher. It has a good mix of tartness and sweetness, but it’s actually less tangy than I would have hoped.

The perfection that was the Original Fruits Skittles is now gone. The best feature of Skittles is their combine-ability. Every flavor went with every other flavor in a surprisingly versatile way.

Strawberry & Lime was a daiquiri. Lemon & Lime was a soda. Grape & Lime was a great fruit punch. Orange & Lime was a citrus cooler.

As nice as Green Apple is, it doesn’t play well with others. It’s too head strong. Green Apple and Grape is a wreck. Green Apple and Lemon is passable, but only because Lemon is making up for Apple’s failings. Green Apple and Strawberry is a battle in my mouth, the floral notes of the berry are quite strong, but the plastic note of the Green Apple just steamrolls it. Green Apple and Orange is, well, just fine.

Skittles Facebook Page

Reaction on Facebook, since I’ve been glancing at the page, isn’t generally positive. More than half of the new messages posted there are negative about the Green Apple (the other posts are general comments with only one I saw that was positive about the flavor).

I’m not sure if this is a publicity stunt and Wrigley’s is planning for a backlash and then will, with much fanfare, return Lime ... or if it’s really a sign of the times, that Lime has had its day, that it’s a 20th century fruit living in a 21st century candy bag. This was mostly an American phenomenon, anyway, Australia went Green Apple more than 10 years ago.

For me, this ruins Skittles perfection. I liked every single flavor in the package. I would eat them all, sure I would rank them but I didn’t pick around a certain flavor. (I give the cherry Starburst away instead of eating them myself.) I still like Skittles ... but I’m far less likely to buy them with the new flavor swap.

Note: The Easter Pastel Skittles still have Lime for 2013.

Related Candies

  1. Skittles Darkside
  2. Skittles Crazy Sours (Europe)
  3. New Flavors: Skittles Sour & Wonka Runts
  4. Skittles from the UK
  5. Skittles (Fruits, Wild Berry, Tropical, Smoothies & Sour)
  6. What Made Hershey’s Want to Change Chocolate?

POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:31 am     CandySkittlesMarsWrigley'sChewsUnited StatesHighlightFeatured News

Friday, February 22, 2013

Trader Joe’s PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar

Trader Joe's PB&J Milk Chocolate BarTrader Joe’s rarely takes a breather in their new product introductions. If I don’t go in for a few weeks, I might miss its appearance on the New at Trader Joe’s shelves only to stumble on it in the regular rotation. This was the case with the new Trader Joe’s PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar . The bar is found at the check out stands, in my case, mixed in with the Speculoos Bars.

The bar is simply a milk chocolate bar with creamy peanut butter and tart raspberry jelly.

The bar is about 5 inches long and 1.25 inches wide. It’s a nicely sized portion, at 1.75 ounces though the calorie count is a bit high since it’s so fatty - 230 calories for the bar or if you’d like to compare it to others I’ve reviewed, it’s 160 calories per ounce.

DSC_1496rb

There’s no statement about the origin or sourcing of the chocolate, but some of the ingredients are organic like the palm oil in the peanut butter filling and some of the sugar.

Trader Joe's PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar

The bar looks very simple. There are six segments, each filled with a base of peanut butter and topped with a syrupy raspberry jelly.

The milk chocolate is quite dark and has a smoky flavor to it. It’s smooth and has an excellent silky melt and strong flavor of its own, however, the overriding scent of the bar is peanut butter. Once I bit into a segment, though, the raspberry flavors were far more evident. The whole thing really was like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The peanut butter is smooth, it has a dark roasted flavor with a hint of bitterness to it. There’s also a fair bit of salt, 60 mg for the whole bar, considering how much actual peanut butter is in there, I feel like it’s a lot but not over-salted.The jelly itself is a little runny. The best effect for the bar is to bite the segments, to get the smell of the berries, but that just makes the goo run. The raspberry is smooth, not at all grainy, it’s sweet but has a tartness to it. There are no seeds, but the flavor of the seeds, that woodsy green note is there.

For a buck, it’s a great bar. It’s different from anything else you can get in this price range and the ingredients are top of the line. The profile is less sweet than most other candy bars, which is refreshing.

There are no preservatives or artificial colors/flavors. It contains milk, soy and peanuts and may contain traces of wheat, eggs and/or tree nuts. It’s Kosher and made in Canada.

Related Candies

  1. Annabelle’s Abba-Zaba Strawberry Peanut Butter
  2. Baron Milk Chocolate PB&Js
  3. Trader Joe’s Les Chocolats Belgique (Belgian Bars): Caramel, Chocolate Buttercream & Speculoos
  4. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
  5. Madelaine Duets
  6. Trader Joe’s Classic Chocolate Bars
  7. Trader Joe’s PB & J Bar


Name: PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (Silver Lake0
Price: $.99
Size: 1.75 ounces
Calories per ounce: 160
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Trader Joe's, Chocolate, Jelly Candy, Kosher, Peanuts, 8-Tasty, Canada

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:41 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewTrader Joe'sChocolateJelly CandyKosherPeanuts8-TastyCanada

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Eat with your Eyes: Ethel M Chocolates

Ethel Beer Chocolates & Chocolate Caramels

Pictured are Beer Chocolates & Caramels from Ethel M. The company is the boxed chocolate division of Mars, they’re made in Henderson, Nevada and sold at their stores in Las Veagas. (You can also order on the internet.)

I visited their factory store years ago when I was in Las Vegas, which also features an amazing cactus garden adjacent. I recommend getting a hot chocolate and walking around (weather permitting ... otherwise some sort of cold drink).

Ethel M in Henderson, Nevada

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:31 pm     CandyHighlightPhotography

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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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