I know I don’t do many gum reviews, I don’t consider myself a great connoisseur of the stuff. I’m perfectly happy with good old Peppermint Chiklets. But the All Candy Expo box included about 25 packages of gum, here are three that caught my attention:

Glee Gum Bubblegum Flavor: The natural pink coloring here is from beets and I can’t think of a more lovely way for a beet to be displayed. The little chicklets in this case are made with actual chicle, a natural sap from Manilkara trees native to the Americas. Very few gums are made with this natural base these days. Harvesting the gum from the trees is rather like tapping Maple trees for sap or Rubber trees for latex - it doesn’t harm the trees and helps to preserve forest & their inhabitants. (Though they harvest it by making huge gashes in the bark that allow the gum to ooze out for collection unlike the little metal spiked taps that they use for maple harvests, the trees are essentially unharmed.)

I’ve tried Glee before, it’s sold at the checkout at Trader Joe’s and the infectiously cute box tempts me every time. I didn’t care for orange, which seemed grainier and stuck to my fillings, but have had the peppermint a few times since then.

The crunchy sugar shell is lightly flavored, bubblegum flavor is usually fresh tasting, a little like cotton candy with a little dash of root beer. The sugary sweetness doesn’t last that long, then it’s a very mild flavor and a good soft & smooth chew.

I have had some of my amalgam fillings replaced with composite, so I’m not having the sticking problem I used to. I don’t think the bubblegum flavor is for me, probably because it’s not actually bubble gum. (See more about this all natural gum at the Glee Gum website.)

Rating: 7 out of 10

WOWzers Strawberry from Maxim International describes itself on the package as Explosive and Sour Powder Bubble Gum. I wasn’t really sure what it was. At first I thought it was a tube of something like Pixy Stix that you chew until it becomes gum (like a powdered Razzle).

Instead, it’s a long tube of bubble gum (strawberry flavored, in this case) about as big around as a bubble gum cigar. Inside it’s hollow and filled with a white crumbly, crunchy & grainy sour powder (a la Pixy Stix).

It feels overpackaged. It’s inside a long mylar wrapper, which has a little waxed cardstock tray that wraps around three sides of the product. The version I have is 1.2 ounces but the one I teased yesterday are 3.6 ounces (and probably about three times the length). They also come in Fruit Punch, Apple & Grape.

First, the product looks, well, a little odd out of the package. Kind of like a 9 inch long extremely thin hot dog. It’s not made into individual portions, which I’d figure is about 2 inches.

The bite is soft and easy, immediately tangy and grainy. The candy sand dissolves and dissipates pretty quickly. It’s sour and certainly gets the salivary glands working, much in the way the old Quench Gum did. After that wears away with chewing it’s a rather sweet and plain strawberry bubble gum. It’s a very soft chew which takes a while before it’s appropriate for bubble blowing.

These are made in China. I don’t think they’re for me, but it’s a fun new blend of confections and might please some kids.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Okay, I was kind of liberal with the “pink” part of the title. Hubba Bubba Glop Strawberry Gush is actually red when it comes out of the package. It gets pink when you chew it. It also comes in watermelon flavor.

These are already available on stores, I saw them at CVS in Hollywood earlier this week. They come in a hard plastic tube with a flip top. It seems like a bit too much packaging, though I can see a few ways to reuse the tube, which is coded 05 (polypropylene) for recycling. The outer wrap comes off, so it’d just be a plain red tube good for holding extra batteries, more candy, a very small portion of carrot sticks, condiments or some headphones.

Inside are five huge pieces. They’re shaped like footballs and are the size of a small pecan in the shell.

While most gumballs are hollow, the glop part of this gum fills that void. The gum has a hard crunchy shell, then the soft and sweet gum then a reservoir of sweet strawberry goo in the center. The goo is tangy and sticky, but pretty flavorful.

It’s a good chewing bubble gum. I don’t think I need the gooey center, but it’s interesting and as long as you know it’s going to be there, adds some more flavor. The bubbles were good, large without being too sticky. A single piece was a good portion for chewing.

(I’m really intrigued by this Cola version available in Australia - regular Hubba Bubba is also available in Cola flavor in other parts of the world.)

Rating: 7 out of 10

Related Candies

1. Tiny Size Chiclets
2. Gold Mine Gum
3. Short & Sweet: Gums
4. Sandy Candy
5. Giant Pixy Stix
6. Dubble Bubble Fluff
7. Glee Gum: If You Like Stuff Stuck to Your Teeth

I knew the Roca Buttercrunch Thins were coming out, but I still haven’t seen them in stores. There are four varieties, milk chocolate, 60% dark, dark truffle & caramel truffle. Luckily I got this sample box of the 60% Cacao Roca Buttercrunch Thins from All Candy Expo (the one that I was most interested in!). 

While I love the toffee center of Almond Roca (and the Mocha Roca), I’m not fond of the greasy mockolate coating and messy crushed almonds. (Yes, I sometimes scrape them off and just eat the center.) Isn’t it nice that Brown & Haley finally recognized that they can use better ingredients.

The 2.8 ounce box holds 8 pieces, each in their own little slot in a divided tray. It’s about the size of a VHS box (maybe a little thinner), but it seems like a lot of packaging and protection for what are probably pretty durable little candies.

The initial description of them as Thins was intriguing, I was picturing little toffee tiles like Valerie Confections sells. Instead I saw a post on Chocolate Traveler that showed that these are little sticks, which is fine with me.

The smell like toasted nuts, burnt sugar and dark chocolate. The dark chocolate coating, in my case, was slightly bloomed (and I blame myself for that, as it started to get absurdly hot in Los Angeles and didn’t follow my own precautions). The texture was just fine though. (And the last two got really bloomed, so I know what bloomed chocolate is in this case.)

I love the Roca toffee, it’s crispy and buttery at the same time. It has wonderfully complex burnt sugar flavors and the added nutty bits of almonds. The dark chocolate was also a smooth and creamy, adding a little more dimension with its own dark palate of flavors.

While I consider this a very successful confection, I find the packaging a little overdone. Does it really need to have both the fold over flap (hand purse style) box, plus the tray? The whole thing is then overwrapped in cellophane.

The price point, as far as I can tell from the Brown & Haley website is $3.95 a box, which puts it at over $22 per pound. For that price I’d either go up a notch and have some Carey’s of Oregon, Poco Dolce or Valerie Confections, or go down a notch and have a Heath Bar (why oh, why won’t they make them in dark chocolate?).

Related Candies

1. Sconza 70% Dark Chocolate Toffee Almonds
2. Shaymee’s Toffee
3. Valerie Toffees & Nougats
4. Enstrom’s Toffee
5. The Rocas

Jelly Belly is always coming up with new flavors and themes. This spring it’s their new Ice Cream Parlor Mix inspired by Cold Stone Creamery. Cold Stone is known for their freezing plank of granite where they scoop & mix your custom mix of ingredients (or you can pick from their standard menu). An appropriate tie in with Jelly Belly that already produces an extensive list of “recipes” for combing beans.

As a mix, the list of flavors here is pretty short:

Dave Simmer’s excited about the new Star Trek Pez (and the chocolate candy tablets ... we’re going to have to disagree there).

Chicago Sun Times has an excellent set of tasting notes (I have to disagree with a couple of items) including Crackheads, Crown Tequila Nuggets, the new M&Ms Premiums, Giant Chewy Wonka Nerds and more. Don’t miss the photo gallery and the separate story about customizable M&Ms that you can put your own face on! (photo by Keith Hale/Sun-Times)

Medill Reports adds a few comments on trends, and further info & a glimpse of the new M&Ms Premiums packaging.

Fellow candy writer Elizabeth LaBau who edits the candy section for About.com has some stellar coverage so far. Here’s her rundown from the first day but don’t miss her great photos, especially of Joseph Schmidt’s chocolate creations.

A big tip of the hat to Candy Addict and their notes from the floor:

And finally, just for fun, relive Cameron Gray’s Tuesday with photos as they were posted from the floor.

As a child (and young adult) I was known for being indecisive. So when presented with too many choices, I usually froze up and often opted for nothing at all, or worse, panicked and made a bad choice. I never had this problem at Baskin-Robbins, probably because even my less successful choices were still treats. (I think the worst flavor I ever had there was bubble gum, probably because frozen gum isn’t much fun ... and I ended up swallowing some.)

My favorite flavor was always Mint Chocolate Chip. The cool mint goes well with the smooth & chilly dairy fat and the little wafer bits of dark chocolate gave it an air of elegance. (My second favorite was Peanut Butter & Chocolate.)

While Baskin-Robbins has had a line of Smooth & Creamy Hard Candy made by Best Sweet for a while, I wasn’t terribly interested in some hard candies that approximated ice cream flavors, after all, there were very good candies that actually were many of those flavors. (A little too self-referential.) Enter their Soft Candy line.

The first thing that struck me when I opened the candy was how, well, packaged it was. Each end of the box has a “tamper evident” plastic seal.

Inside is a pink mylar pouch that holds the candy.

Inside that are the pieces, which are individually wrapped in folk.

I’m pretty sure one or more of those layers could be eliminated and still have a safe & fresh product.

The ingredients are pretty understandable: Sucrose, Corn Syrup, Coconut Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Non-Dairy Dried Milk Powder, Glycerine, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Gum Arabic, Soy Lecithin, Flour, Salt, Blue #1 & Yellow #5.

The only curiosity on the list was Non-Dairy Dried Milk Powder and had to look it up ... it’s actually not milk, it’s some sort of other product, perhaps potato, perhaps rice, maybe soy. I’m guessing soy.

The little rectangles are wrapped in heavy foil. They’re about half the size of a Starburst fruit chew.

They smell like, well, creme de menthe soaked cardboard. It’s not that it’s an unappealing smell, though maybe I make it sound that way, it’s just that sometimes cocoa can smell a little musty.

The chew is soft, not terribly grainy but not as smooth as some others. It reminds me of Rolaids Soft Chews. The mint flavor is pretty strong, though lacking the creamy promise of ice cream. The cocoa comes in a bit later, and there are little bits in there, but it’s not quite the chocolate chips as promised. It starts to taste like stale cookies (Hydrox, not Oreos).

They’re not stellar. I don’t expect to finish the package. I’m still curious about the other flavor available - Strawberry, so I might pick those up when I see them in stores. I don’t know the retail price, but I’m guessing it won’t be more than $1.50. (The hard candies are often sold at dollar stores so these may end up there as well.)

Related Candies

1. Mint Crisp M&Ms (Indiana Jones)
2. Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint
3. 3 Musketeers Mint with Dark Chocolate
4. Skittles Fresh Mint
5. Necco Mint Julep
6. Chimes Ginger Chews

Name: Altoids Cr?me de Menthe
Brand: Wrigley’s (Mars)
Description: New Altoids Cr?me de Menthe delivers the quick hit of strong flavor you expect, but with a “sweet kick.” This new flavor is available in both the Curiously Strong Mint and Chocolate Dipped Mint varieties. Altoids - The only mint that freshens your mouth and your mind.
Release Date: 6/1/2008
Notes: I’m not sure what the difference between peppermint, spearmint and creme de menthe is, but I’m strongly curious.

Name: LifeSavers Gummies Tangy Fruits
Brand: Wrigley’s (Mars)
Description: Includes six great-tasting bold flavors and the perfect chewy texture that consumers love. The new Tangy Fruits roll pack include the following flavors: Tangerine, Watermelon, Lemon, Sour Apple, Tangy Cherry and Wild Berry Punch.
Release Date: 6/1/2008
Notes: I love tangerine. I will follow any LifeSavers tangerine product to the ends of the earth. Consider me a customer. (I’m wondering if these are like the sours, but without the tart sugar sand coating.)

Name: Loud Truck Energy Gummi
Brand: Loud Truck Energy Gummi
Description: Loud Truck Energy Fueled Gummies.Taste great. Contains Guarana Extract. Natural energy.Vitamins B12 and C. No crash Energy.
Whether your playing sports, stayin up late for school,at work or just need that extra boost of energy. 1 oz bags. 12 bags per case.
Release Date: 3/1/2008
Notes: I think this is the best name ever for a candy. I don’t know why, but it’s so crazily evocative (and I don’t care much for loud trucks) that I’ll probably end up buying a package just because.

Name: WOWzers
Brand: Maxim Manufacturing and Marketing
Description: Sour Powder filled tube bubble gum
Release Date: 5/1/2008
Notes: It’s like a gum cigar, only with a hollow center with a strawberry Pixy Stix inside.

Name: Gummi Butterflies
Brand: Albanese Confectionery
Description: Bold colors and delicious flavors. Flutter away with the newest version of the World’s Best Gummi!
Release Date: 5/20/2008
Notes: I’ve already seen these and I have to say, they’re so cute I wish they made them when I was a kid. They’re also coming out with Theater sized boxes of their 12 Flavored Bears and Super Sour Neon Gummi Worms. (It would be cool to find their stuff more easily, it’s usually reall well priced.)

(images courtesy of the manufacturers’ press kits)

Related Candies

1. Brach’s Gummi+Plus & Tropical Gummis
2. Lifesavers Gummies Sour
3. Mentos Plus Citrus Mix
4. Chocolate Dipped Altoids
5. Lifesaver Gummies

Name: Ice Cream Parlor Mix
Brand: Jelly Belly
Description: Ice Cream Parlor Mix 3.1 oz and 6.5 oz bags - Featuring Cold Stone Creamery’s top signature creations: Chocolate Devotion, Our Strawberry Blonde, Birthday Cake Remix, Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Apple Pie a la Cold Stone.
Release: 3/1/2008
Notes: Jelly Belly was promoting these at the Fancy Food Show, but I didn’t get a sample of them (but I did get a $5 Cold Stone gift card!). Finally I have a bag and will have some notes on those soon. I haven’t tried them all, but I have very little faith in this mix, mostly because I wouldn’t want to combine my apple pie with my mint chocolate chip & strawberry.

Name: Holiday Sugar Babies
Brand: Charms
Description: Same great tasting Sugar Babies presented in red, white & green.
Release: 1/1/2008
Notes: While I wasn’t blown away by the Caramel Apple Sugar Babies, if these are just a candy shell over the Sugar Babies caramel, I might like them. Look for them later this year.

Name: Brach’s Theater Boxes
Brand: Brach’s (Farley’s & Sathers)
Description: The rich, decadent taste of Brach’s(r) chocolate make their debut in theater boxes. Double Dipped and California Raisins, are joined by new Toffee Crunch, Mint Pearls, and Chocolate Covered Milk-Maid(r) Caramels for today’s grab and go lifestyles.
Release: 5/20/2008
Notes: I might go to the movies more often if I could get some sort of chocolate covered almond toffee crunch at the concession stand.

Name: Sunkist Fruit and Sour Fruit Gummies
Brand: Healthy Food Brands
Description: They are a great-tasting, “better-for-you” fruit gummy candy that has 35% less sugar than the average leading gummy brands and contain 100% RDA of Vitamin C with only 70 calories per serving.
Release: 04/15/08
Notes: These are not to be confused with the current Sunkist Fruit Gems made by Jelly Belly (which are essentially vegan). They have less sugar not just because they’re made with fruit juice, but they’re also made with sorbitol (not as the sole sweetener though).

(images courtesy of the respective manufacturers)

Related Candies

1. Brach’s Gummi+Plus & Tropical Gummis
2. Jelly Belly - All Natural
3. Sunkist Fruit Gems
4. Jelly Belly Soda Pop Shoppe
5. Chocolate Covered Sugar Babies

One of the more timely items I got from the All Candy Expo folks is this box of Crackheads candy. It’s been around for at least a year, but I haven’t seen it in stores.

I first saw them on ThinkGeek and reviewed on CandyAddict. I wasn’t terribly interested in them, after all, they’re just chocolate covered coffee beans, not exactly an innovative new product. The unique selling proposition in this case is that they’re in “single serve” boxes and come as a mix of both white chocolate and dark chocolate coatings.

The boxes look similar to Lemonheads or Boston Baked Beans. Easily portable and resealable.

They’re really nicely panned coffee beans. Though they’re not all consistent in size, the panning is excellent with shiny coats and well-tempered chocolate. The white chocolate is real white chocolate made with cocoa butter. The mellow malty milky flavors go really well with the coffee bean. This was the first time I’d had a white chocolate coated one, and it’s a natural match - the fatty sweetness with the dairy flavors are pretty much a dense version of a latte.

The dark verison are not nearly as sweet, but still provides a nice counterpoint to the dark and lightly bitter beans. The beans are crunchy without being fiberous or too burnt tasting. My box had a bit more white chocolate to it, but I was okay with that.

The “creator” of Crackheads, John Osmanski, was on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch last night on CNBC. The segment was One Minute to Millions where they featured a panel of three experts: Kevin Nealon (who was there promoting his book and probably provided the consumer point of view), Pam Macharola of Blair Candy and Brian Pipa of Candy Addict!

The product was introduced with a little pretaped segment. It made no mention of the fact that chocolate covered espresso beans have been around for at least 30 years. They’re pretty widely available, at least in specialty stores or at coffee locations like Starbucks (and of course the new Hershey’s Starbucks chocolates). While the back of the box has a breakdown of caffeine content of other beverages (cocoa, cola, tea, coffee & espresso), it doesn’t exactly spell out the caffeine content of the actual product. However, the Crackheads website pegs it at about 120 mgs (about half of a cup of coffee).

Osmanski introduced the product as a solution to those low caffeine moments, especially for students and academics.

The new tagline “because everyone’s addicted to something” works well with the name. The product packaging has been redesigned since my sample (you can see the new one here). But the general consensus from the panel was that the name would never have the wide appeal that would guarantee it placement on the shelves of stores like Walmart (which might be necessary to make millions off a single $2 product). Instead it would probably stay in places like Think Geek and coffee houses (where it’s currently found).

While I think it’s a good quality product, the packaging feels a bit downscale, not rising to the $2 per package price tag - which translates to over $24 per pound (the Starbucks version is about $12 a pound). The name, which tries to co-opt drug culture fails ... there may be other names that might fit the addiction tag better (but I’m not going to come up with it here, Osmanski has a blog if you want to give him feedback directly). Perhaps coming up with two lines, one under this name and another more mainstream version would be a success story worthy of follow up on Donny Deutsch.

(I suspect that Osmanium doesn’t actually manufacturer these, just repacks them, as they package says that they are made in a facility that processes peanuts & tree nuts. The website also says that they’re Kosher. My prime candidate as the maker of these is Koppers Chocolates.)

Related Candies

1. Starbucks Chocolate
2. Snickers Charged
3. Caffe Acapella - Coffee Confections
4. Java Twix
5. Green & Black’s Espresso Chocolate
6. Pocket Coffee