Candy Blog

As if Ritter Sport doesn’t have a large enough repertoire of bars, they have been introducing seasonally-themed limited editions. I tried the Fruhlingsspezialitaten 2010 that I found at a local import shop earlier this year. They included Haselnuss Krokant, Cashew in Alpenmilch and Bourbon Vanille. The summer versions were not so easy to find in the States but some Ritter Sport folks were happy to help me out with some samples. The summer flavors were: Stracciatella, Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt and Waldbeer Joghurt.

The Stracciatella features 37% cacao milk chocolate and a bourbon vanilla cream filling with chocolate bits.

It’s been many years since I’ve had real Stracciatella, which is a gelato (Italian ice cream) with stripes of chocolate that form little crunchy flakes or chips. In my experience it was usually dark chocolate.

I recall being excited by the spring version of Bourbon Vanille, but then disappointed by the lack of rum-laden vanilla notes. Here too I thought that the kind of fudgy vanilla cream center was a little bland. It’s not fatty and doesn’t quite melt in my mouth. It also isn’t very flavorful ... but also not very sweet or sticky. The little chips in it are small and don’t really add much flavor to it. I think I would have been really happy if this was a dark chocolate bar, I think that’s the kick it needs - some really rich dark chocolate. However, plain vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips has never been a favorite flavor of mine, so this might be the perfect bar for folks who do like that.

This was the only white chocolate bar in the mix. Ritter Sport does do great things with white chocolate, the key being that they use real cocoa butter to begin with.

Ritter Sport is also big on yogurt. I’ve tried their Yogurt, Strawberry Yogurt and Olympia bars before. The only other country that I’ve noticed with such a fanaticism for yogurt flavored candy is Japan.

The Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt is a white chocolate shell with a peach and passion fruit yogurt cream center. There are also little rice flakes thrown in there for texture and crunch.

The bar is simple and plain, a soft and creamy yellow/white chocolate bar.

When I saw the reviews of this bar, I really wasn’t interested. I like real peaches and I find passion fruit okay but not my favorite. So a white chocolate bar flavored with these ... along with yogurt (which is good stuff but not exactly a candy flavoring), well, I just didn’t think they could pull it off.

But they did! It’s utterly surprising. It smells like passion fruit - a tangy and sharp floral and tropical scent that goes well with the dairy yogurt note. The peach is a faint pine and pear whiff in the background. The white chocolate is sweet but rather smooth. The rice flakes give it a little crunch, like there are freeze dried fruit bits in there. It’s milky but mostly fruity.

I wouldn’t buy this often, but I do see its appeal and I’m glad that Ritter Sport is taking a few risks with outside the box flavors in their limited editions.

The Ritter Sport Waldbeer Joghurt seemed positively the tamest and safest flavor of the bunch. Waldbeer is forest fruits, or basically mixed berries. The package shows blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.

The format is similar to the Pfirsich-Maracuja Jogurt in that it’s a yogurt cream center flavored with fruit and studded with little crisped rice flakes. The chocolate on this bar is milk. At first glance it didn’t seem that different from the classic Strawberry Yogurt bar that Ritter Sport is already known for.

It smells nice, exactly like berry yogurt - there’s the floral notes of the berries and the dairy twang of the yogurt.

The flavors are pleasant and the yogurt takes a back seat as the berry flavors come forward. The milk chocolate is smooth and give a slight dairy contribution, but also keeps the whole thing from getting too sweet. The rice flakes have a little crunch, but there are also little bits of freeze dried berry in here too, so sometimes they’re tangy and sometimes they’re more of a light malty cereal flavor.

Overall it’s decent. Munchable and satisfying, but not quite what I’d find myself craving. These may be available online at shops like GermanDeli.com and eBay.com.

Don’t take my opinion as gospel, see: Gigi Reviews Waldbeer Yogurt, Cinabar reviews Waldbeer Yogurt, Candyholic (German) reviews Waldbeer Yogurt  and Stracciatella, ZOMGCandy reviews Stracciatella, It’s All About Limited Edition reviews Stracciatella and Jim’s Chocolate Mission reviews Stracciatella and Summer Limited Editions in Mini form.

Related Candies

1. Ritter Sport Olympia
2. Ritter Sport Fruhlingsspezialitaten 2010
3. Yogen Fruz Smoothies
4. Topps Wild Berriez Wazoo
5. Strawberry Yoghurt Mentos
6. Ritter Sport White Chocolate with Hazelnuts
7. Katjes Tropical Gummis & Yogurt Gums

Name: Organic Licorice Twists
Brand: Newman’s Own Organics
Description: The first licorice twist made with organic ingredients comes from Newman’s Own Organics. It’s available in today’s favorite flavors, black and strawberry, as well as two new fruit flavors, pomegranate and tangerine. The candy is low in fat and sodium, and is free from trans fat and cholesterol. $2.99 per 5-oz. package
Introduction Date: 6/1/2010
Notes: I’ve had organic licorice before ... never in a twist form, but I have my doubts that it’s that different. It sounds good but very pricey.

Name: Bubble Paste
Brand: Ludo LLC
Description: Unlike regular bubblegum, the Bubble Paste user gets to squeeze it out! So if you want a lot squeeze, squeeze, squeeze! The gum will retail between $0.59 to $.79/unit Comes in Strawberry and soon Sour Apple and Grape.
Introduction Date: 9/2010
Notes: You may want to read the entire press release here. There are too many inaccuracies (and insulting things) in there for me to cover comprehensively. The short: Dylan Lauren deserves to just be referred to as her own entity, not as the daughter of Ralph Lauren at this point. Two: bubble gum in a tube has been done before, several times. I remember Bazooka back in the 80s. The gum is for kids but contains artificial sweeteners. Finally, the press release closes with this I would have loved being an automobile manufacturer. However, I knew that was so unrealistic due to the capital requirements. Seriously, I’m supposed to want to buy from a guy who doesn’t really want to be doing this for a living? It’s a press release!

Name: Cinnamon Bun Bites
Brand: Taste of Nature
Description: Delicious bite size cinnamon bun pieces in a creamy white chocolatey coating. Both egg free and Kosher.
Introduction Date: June 2010
Notes: Made by the same folks that brought you Cookie Dough Bites. They sound absolutely dreadful. They sound so bad I’m really looking forward to them. (But that egg-free thing is probably a big selling point right now.)

Name: Gummi Bear-Rings
Brand: E-Frutti
Description: Gummi Bear Rings made with real fruit juice with great play appeal in an array of fruit flavors that every kid loves. 
Introduction Date: unknown
Notes: Dang these are cute. The pun possibilities abound! You could be traveling with someone and get turned around and then say, “Lost? Can I help you get your Bear-Rings?” Oh, I’m a stitch!

My biggest concern is that they won’t fit on my big fingers. I have no idea where to get them, but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled.

Name: Starburst GummiBurst Flavor Duos
Brand: Wrigley (Mars)
Description: New Starburst GummiBursts Flavor Duos brings together two juicy fruit flavors in each piece! Flavor Duos delivers a gummy outside with a different fruit-flavored liquid center for a double burst of delicious fruit flavor! Strawberry Watermelon, Cherry Fruit Punch, Green Apple Strawberry & Lemon Cherry.
Introduction Date: 08/30/10
Notes: I’m not big on these new oozy gummis, but I think that Starburst is going in the right direction making them flavor combinations instead of single flavors (like the Skittles Crazy Cores). Now they just need to start making them in citrus flavors.

Name: sweetriot yumBar
Brand: Sweetriot, Inc.
Description: The yumBar is sourced and produced directly in Latin America. The bar is available in two flavors. yumBar 65-65% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao ‘peaces’, and yumBar 70- 70% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao ‘peaces’ and plump golden raisins. This delectable bar is all natural, doesn’t contain gluten or dairy ingredients and is only 45-50 calories per ‘mega peace’. 
Introduction Date: March 10, 2010
Notes: I haven’t tried these. I’ve seen them, but they just don’t speak to me for some reason. It might be the funky capitalization/lower case thing going on, it could be that pieces are always spelled ‘peaces’ or it could be that I’m just too grouchy for something with yum in the name.

All photos/images courtesy of the respective manufacturer

For something that’s described as “Chew Mints”, Mentos fail on diversity of mint flavors. In the United States there is exactly one mint flavor available: Mint. In other countries there are Spearmint, Xtra (double strong Peppermint or Spearmint), Lime Mint, Ice Mint, Cool Chews Orange Mint, Pomelo Mint, Strong Mint, Barley Mint and Lakritz Mint.

The only other flavor in the current American repertoire that I think features Freshmaking abilities is the Cinnamon Mentos. They’re not easy to find, I rarely see them in stores but grabbed this roll when I saw them at Walgreen’s last week. 

The package is hard to spot though, because it’s red and looks a lot like Strawberry at first glance.

The pieces don’t smell cinnamon-like. It’s not like having a package of cinnamon gum and having the scent of it waft through your purse or desk drawer. These are quiet and self-contained.

They’re smooth and have a good crunch to the outside. The inside is like a candy version of Big Red gum. They’re woodsy and a little warm from the cinnamon flavoring, but not overly hot. The flavor last through the whole chew and is in general satisfying. There’s a little hint of mint to it, but that may just be me imagining it.

Some of the fruit flavors of Mentos can have a weird aftertaste, but the Cinnamon ones have a fresh note at the end. They cut mid-morning coffee mouth without making me feel like I’ve eaten a wad of toothpaste.

Related Candies

1. See’s Cinnamon (Hearts & Lollypops)
2. Fresh Cola Mentos
3. Cinnamon Fire Twizzlers
4. Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint
5. Gimbal’s Lavaballs
6. Licorice Mentos

While in Illinois last month I visited Caputo’s Market, which boasts a huge selection of candies from all over the world. I tried some Polish candies and also picked up a few mixes of Italian candies from Cedrinca. I’m familiar with the brand as I’ve tasted a few of their mints and fruit candies at Italian restraurants when a handful is usually presented with the bill at the end of the meal. (Usually an Eastern US thing, on the West Coast they just have a bowl by the door.)

Caputo’s had a great selection of Cedrinca but I opted for a mix so I could get to know more of their items. This version is called Gran Mix and says Caramelle ripiene assortite which I took to mean assorted filled candies. And that turned out to be exactly what these are!

Cedrinca boasts that these are all natural candies, no artificial colors, flavors, additives or preservatives. Each candy was also individually wrapped and most were labeled to show what was inside.

The majority of the mix was a mix of little rod shaped candies. Most were marked on the wrapper what they were.

The first notable one was Menta Ripeno Al Cacao which were a light mint hard candy filled with a chocolate paste. I’ve had a lot of experience with those disappointing starlight mints with the chocolate (why would you finish an excellent meal with a piece of candy like that?) and this was nothing like that. The chocolate filling was a like a fantastic chocolate buttercream. It tasted fresh and creamy and like real cocoa.

Mandorlatte looked the same but was crunchy delight with almonds and milk. It was fascinating, like vanilla pudding distilled into a hard candy. The crunch was almost like the center of a Butterfinger bar, the flavor was sweet and milky but with a hint of lemon and almond. Some had a slightly soft creamy reservoir, others were just the crispy stuff. Either way, I loved them. Fascinating and like nothing else, so of course I pulled those out of the mix to save for later.

The colorful metallic wrappers with the gold swirls on them were fruity, Bonbon Fourre. The outside was softer than the other candies, it was a hard candy but still a little bit on the mushy side. Crunchy into them to get to the jam center was easy. Savored in layers, it was okay, but I preferred to chew the whole thing up to mix the stiff chew of the candy outside with the tart fruity goo inside. They were supposed to be different flavors, but I never really noticed much of a difference. They were all perfectly pleasant but not intense or distinct.

I don’t know what fruit they were supposed to be. These weren’t labeled, just color coded.

Caramella (peach wrapper) - a light, rather white large filled hard candy. It looked like the one above, but completely uncolored. The hard candy shell was lightly tart and vaguely fruity. The gooey jam filling was nondescript. It wasn’t citrus, perhaps it was peach. Tangy, very sweet but not very flavorful. I got another one that was in a purple wrapper that was also simply marked Caramella. It looked just the same (no artificial colors here, in fact, I don’t think they used any colorings on the candies themselves). The filling was a light yellow color and reminded me of red currant.

Espresso this was the variety of this format that I got the most of. The candy shell was the darkest of the three though it didn’t smell like anything at all.

Inside the candy was a thick coffee tar. It was a lightly grainy paste that tasted just like the sludge at the bottom of a coffee pot left on the warmer over the weekend. Yes, it was bitter and a little sweet, but also a bit burnt like charcoal. It was a curious candy, because it didn’t really please me, yet I kept eating them.

Cappuccino - the candy shell was crisper and had an excellent crunch. The candy shells was lightly coffee flavored, but mostly sweet. The filling was very interesting, it was a frothy sweet, slightly salty cream with little shards of bitter coffee hard candy. The combination of textures is fun and the light coffee flavor did give me the impression of a cappuccino with lots of sugar in it.

I’m a huge fan of assortments like this. It’s a great way to sample the whole line of products and narrow in on what you like before taking the leap of a full bag. The price is a little steep for sugar candy, but the fact that they’re all natural and that many were unique help to offset that. It’s a low-risk/medium-reward purchase. I think if I were to buy them again, I’d focus in on the Mandorlatte and Cappuccino. (Both were available at Caputo’s as single flavor packages.) I picked up a chocolate variety too, called Puccini that I’m still working my way through.

Related Candies

1. Krowki: Polish Cream Fudge
2. William diCarlo Perle di dolcezza
3. Marich All Natural Holland Mints & Chocolate Jordan Almonds
4. Pralus Creme de Noisette
5. Puntini Jujubes - Frutti Tropicali

The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality. Back in the early days of commercial cultivation in the eighteenth century they were extremely expensive, so when a host provided pineapple as part of a meal, guests were honored. Eventually the images of pineapples were also used in decorating, probably because of the tastiness of the fruit as well as the fun shape and symmetry. I mention this because of the charming image on the Hello Kitty Tropical Pineapple Marshmallow is of the white cat holding a pineapple, dressed in a sharp polka dotted blue dress and sporting a blue hibiscus flower at her ear.

Japan does marvelous things with marshmallow, I feel like they’re an extension of their gummi culture (after all, most of the ingredients are the same). Part of it, I think, is that marshmallows are formulated & marketed for people of all ages. Hello Kitty is obviously aimed at tweens and folks who are young at heart. But other varieties of marshmallows go for anime fans and there are even “beauty marshmallows” in Japan that purport to have rejuvenating collagen in them.

The marshmallows are light and about 1.25 inches around. They have little pinch points on the ends so they remind me of little sausages of balloons. The outside is soft and lightly powdery (corn starch).

The smell sweet and lightly floral, like a ripe pineapple in the store. The marshmallow texture is soft and latexy with a light bounce.

Biting into them I know that the center was going to have a little jelly reservoir. It was still surprising and ultimately nice. The marshmallow itself is sweet and has that pineapple floral thing going on, but the jam center definitely gave it some pop. The goo was a bit like the pineapple sauce on an ice cream sundae. It was sweet and tangy and had little bits of real pineapple in it.

After popping a few of them, I wondered what they were like toasted.

The aroma was amazing, I like toasted marshmallows, but this had an added flowery note that really smelled delicious. The outside toasted well, though the jam center didn’t get quite as molten gooey as I hoped. The toasting seemed to make it all a bit sweeter than it was at room temperature. They might make an excellent addition to a S’more - though the Strawberry version is probably a bit better flavor-wise.

As far as marshmallows go, I prefer them either covered in chocolate and used as an element in a larger candy (Scotchmallows) but my second choice is flavored. The jam center gives some texture variation and reminds me of a Westernized mochi. For someone who’s watching their weight or wants to give a small treat to a kid, marshmallows fit the bill - they’re low in calories plus there’s a lot of air in there. So you could eat the whole bag and it’s only 300 calories. (The other plus is there are no artificial colors in this version - though they do use artificial flavors but mostly real pineapple.) The whole Hello Kitty thing is really just about the packaging, but in this case I think the choice of licensing was at least with a quality product. I picked these up at a market in Little Tokyo, but I’ve seen the Strawberry ones at Cost Plus World Market.

Related Candies

1. Kasugai Pineapple Gummy
2. Katjes Saure Ananas (Sour Pineapple)
3. Mentos - Pine Fresh (Pineapple)
4. GudFud Stuffed Marshmallows
5. Candy Source: Aji Ichiban
6. See’s Scotchmallow