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All Natural

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Trader Joe’s Scandanavian Swimmers

DSC_0580rbTrader Joe’s Scandanavian Swimmers are billed as soft and chewy gummy candy in sea life shapes.

They’re basically Swedish Fish.

The ingredients feature naturally derived flavorings and colorings. They come in four flavors and shapes.

The red flavor of the classic Swedish Fish is rather unique, though now duplicated by other candies and confections. It’s most like lingonberry, which is similar to a raspberry and pomegranate mix with a sprinkling of fruit punch. 

DSC_0595rb

In the case of the Red Lobster here, the berry flavors are very similar to the Swedish Fish, but has none of the bitter aftertaste of the artificial colors that the North American version have. (The actual Malaco Swedish Fish, if you can find them, use natural colorings.) The flavor here is good, well rounded, floral and lingering with a sort of fresh green note.

The Blue Dolphin is described as huckleberry flavored. I have to say that I’m at a loss to place huckleberry in my memory. In this case, the dolphin is rasbperry, with a light tangy note but much lighter than the lobster, more citrusy.

DSC_0590rb

The Orange Rockfish is orange. It’s very plain. The zest notes are pretty pronounced after the chew is over, but it was not terribly interesting. There were very few of them in my bag.

The Yellow Seahorse is mango-peach. This was a really weak flavor. The peach and mango were less than nuanced and were more like a candle scent than a flavoring. The tart bite was the only thing that kept it from being something I’d stick in a drawer to make my towel smell sweet.

The texture of the pieces varied a bit as well. The lobster and rockfish were very soft and smooth. The dolphin and seahorse had a little bit drier and stiffer chew on the outside, which was more like the classic Swedish Fish.

These are not gummi candies, which usually contain gelatin, these are just jelly candies. (Nothin’ wrong with that, it just seems like so many jelly candies can’t be happy with who they are.)

I’m not sure if anyone needed a Swedish Fish knock-off of a full flavor variety. In this case, I’d say that Trader Joe’s could just stick with the Lobsters, or even make a bunch of different red shapes and throw them in a bag.

May contain traces of peanut, almond, cashew & pecan. Also made with sunflower and corn but are gluten free. Though they don’t have the vegan symbol on them, there are no animal derived ingredients and they are Kosher. It was interesting to see that these were made in the United States, as so many Trader Joe’s candies, especially the naturally flavored sugar candies, are not.

What’s Good at Trader Joe’s also has a review.

Related Candies

  1. Candyology 101 - Podcast Episode 23 - Trader Joe’s
  2. Ts & Js Sour Gummies
  3. Swedish Fish Jelly Beans
  4. Sockerbit Swedish Candy Selections
  5. Trader Joe’s Jelly Beans & Citrus Gum Drops
  6. All Gummies Gourmet Fruity Fish (Swedish Fish knock-off)
  7. Swedish Aqua Life


Name: Scandanavian Swimmers
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (Silver Lake)
Price: $2.99
Size: 14 ounces
Calories per ounce: 107
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Trader Joe's, Jelly Candy, Kosher, 7-Worth It, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:00 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewTrader Joe'sJelly CandyKosher7-Worth ItUnited States

Monday, January 4, 2016

Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Cups

Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter CupsEarly last year at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, I tried a new line of chocolate cups from the confectioners at Vosges. These sets of mini peanut butter cups are from the Wild Ophelia line of chocolates and come in a few varieties. The first one I picked up at the store, when I finally found them last month at Whole Foods are the Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Cups.

The packages look like a regular twin set of chocolate cups (though they’re actually 2.1 ounces) but inside is actually a try that holds a set of six little cups.

Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Cups

I call them cups, but there’s actually no paper fluting on them, just the cups on a tray inside a wrapper.

The cups are made from 41% cacao milk chocolate, which is from fair trade certified beans (the sugar is also fair trade). The bananas are not the typical Cavendish most of us eat, but a varietal grown on Kauai known as Williams. The bananas are actually caramelized with some cream and sugar and sprinkled on top of the cups. The filling is peanut butter, and as far as I can tell, more chocolate.

Wild Ophelia Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Cups

They’re almost savory. The milk chocolate has a good dairy flavor without tasting like powdered milk. The melt is smooth and buttery with a little toffee note. Once I bit into the cups the peanut butter is pretty evident as a scent, but the texture of the peanut butter is barely there, it’s quite smooth and mixed in. The banana notes were hard to tease out sometimes, it wasn’t a lot of banana and often just a little fresh caramelized and honey note.

Some cups had more banana bits, and some of the banana bits were a little toothsticky.

I liked the cups better than the bar version that I tired a few years ago. Part of is that I like the format of cups, and the ability to have a teensy but full-featured portion. They’re expensive, but the package holds more than a Justin’s or Theo PB cup, though it’s still more per ounce. I liked the inventive combinations and I welcome more products that play with these formats.

Related Candies

  1. Chocolate Covered Banana Gummi Bears
  2. Bonomo Taffy Nibbles: Vanilla and Banana
  3. Wild Ophelia Milk Chocolate Bar Peanut Butter & Banana
  4. Ice Cream Flavored Dippin’ Candy - Banana Split
  5. Dove Desserts Bananas Foster
  6. Circus Peanuts
  7. Elvis Reese’s Peanut Butter and Banana Cup


Name: Caramelized Bananas Peanut Butter Cups
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Place Purchased: Whole Foods (Park LaBrea)
Price: $2.99
Size: 2.1 ounces
Calories per ounce: 149
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Vosges, Chocolate, Ethically Sourced, Peanuts, 8-Tasty, United States, Whole Foods

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:29 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewVosgesChocolateEthically SourcedPeanuts8-TastyUnited StatesWhole Foods

Monday, December 14, 2015

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Marbles

DSC_0125rbTrader Joe’s often has the most wonderful seasonal confections. They’re often reasonably priced and unique items that are hard to find anywhere else. Many of the items at Trader Joe’s for 2015 are returning from previous years, including their cordials, passport chocolate stacks and Belgian chocolates. The newest item that caught my eye are the Trader Joe’s Chocolate Marbles.

There’s nothing particularly wintery or holiday about them. They’re just chocolate spheres filled with different pralines. There are six varieties, each sphere is then given a mottled color coating to distinguish it from the others. There are ten marbles in the package. It’s just shy of 5 ounces, so each piece is about 4/10 of an ounce. The flavors are: caramel, coconut, praline & almond, and chocolate mousse. The description on the Trader Joe’s website goes like this:

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Marbles begin as two half-circle shells of chocolate. Each half is filled with a chocolate ganache or hazelnut praline, and then the two halves are molded together to form a circle. From here, the coating process begins, first covering the filled chocolate balls with a layer of chocolate to make them super spherical, then adding very thin layers of sugar crust, and finally, a fine layer of color, which is handled delicately and deliberately to create the marbled effect your eyes will behold. The shiny finish you see is the final result of a coating process that takes more than three hours to complete.

DSC_0146rb

Almond Praline (Green), Hazelnut Praline (Orange), Chocolate Mousse (Blue), Coconut (White), Caramel (Brown), Crispy Cookie (Yellow)

They’re about the same size as a Lindt Lindor Truffle, but really the similarities end there.

DSC_0169rb

The tray is wonderful for protecting the candies, but makes it devilishly hard to get them out, they’re tucked in there and I couldn’t quite grab a single. All I would end up doing is spinning it around in its little cup. However, once out, the slightly bumpy outside means that they’re not as rolly as some spherical chocolates. (Sixlets probably max out the scale at a 10 and these are probably about a 4 - they can sit on a flat surface but anything raked and they will go with gravity.)

BlueThe lovely medium blue marble is filled with Chocolate Mousse. The shell is dark chocolate with a milk chocolate filling. The filling is soft and creamy and definitely sweet. It’s light but I wouldn’t call it a mousse. The dark shell was different enough from the filling, but if I wasn’t told what this flavor was, I’m not sure I’d guess it. However, it’s quite different from the Lindor, it’s much more dense in flavor with less of that thin oily feel on the tongue.

The white marble is filled with a chocolate cream with Coconut. This was rather mainstream tasting, very pleasing for my American palette. This was the only one I was able to pick out by scent. The chocolate was sweet and the little crispy coconut bits did make it all pop a lot more than the more delicate praline pieces.

 

DSC_0180rbThe brown marble is filled with two half domes of Caramel. It tastes like a lot more chocolate on this one, but the caramel holds its own. The caramel is a bit more of the saucy side than chew. The flavor is quite deep, with scorched and burnt sugar notes particularly strong. There were also a lot of milk flavors, more than the other pieces, so that may have been part of the caramel.

I think this was my favorite of the assortment, because it was so different from most American and British caramels. The only drawback I noticed after the third or fourth piece was that the colorful coating was a little waxy and though it seals in the flavors and keeps them from melting if you hold them in your hand for a few minutes ... it’s a shellac and rather tastes like it.

DSC_0175rbThe yellow marble is filled with a Crispy Cookie praline. I was expecting this to be like a Speculoos, but it’s not a spiced cookie.

It’s a milk shell with a milk chocolate paste in the center and little cereal or cookie bits. It was a little malty and a little corny… when I say corny, I actually mean it tasted like corn nuts or polenta or something. It was not as sweet as some of the other milk chocolate pieces and definitely different.

DSC_0172rbGreen - Almond Praline has a darker chocolate shell, though I’m not sure if it’s full dark chocolate. It balanced the almond praline pretty well. It’s not marzipan, it’s more of an almond butter mixed with a touch of cocoa and sugar. It’s sticky and satisfying, but doesn’t have a strong jolt of almond flavor.

The orange marble is filled with Hazelnut Praline. This is quite sweet but has a very good roasted hazelnut flavor. The filling is more paste with a definite crystallized sugar grain to it. It doesn’t have the smooth melt of the mousse, so it’s a bit sticky. I thought the milk chocolate shell made it all too sweet, but the lingering toasted nut flavors really kept it from being cloying afterwards.

I think these are a great hostess gift, excellent for using as an accent to a dessert plate of holiday cookies, or tossing in a little dish with some snacks. The price, for the quality and unique appearance, is quite good.

These are made in France, is suspect by the same confectioner that made the Magic Beans. The ingredients look good, all natural things, even natural colorings They contain milk, wheat, hazelnut, almond, soy, coconut. May also contain traces of chestnut, pistachio, walnut and/or eggs.

Related Candies

  1. Ritter Sport Nut Crescent Cookie
  2. Trader Joe’s Magic Beans
  3. Godiva Chef Inspirations Flavors of the World
  4. Divine Milk Chocolate Praline Mini Eggs
  5. Pralines Leonidas


Name: Chocolate Marbles
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (3rd & Fairfax)
Price: $4.99
Size: 4.95 ounces
Calories per ounce: 154
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Christmas, Trader Joe's, Caramel, Chocolate, Cookie, Nuts, 8-Tasty, France

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:00 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewChristmasTrader Joe'sCaramelChocolateCookieNuts8-TastyFrance

Friday, November 13, 2015

Theo Coconut Salted Almond Bites

Theo Coconut Salted Almond BitesI have often desired a better version of the Almond Joy. I love the combination of chocolate and almonds and coconut, but the classic Almond Joy is just a little too sweet and well, has a lot of unnecessary ingredients.

Theo Chocolate of Seattle has been making organic and ethically sourced chocolate for quite a while, and even make one of my favorite bars, their Salted Almond Dark Chocolate. Their newest product expansion has been in the arena of traditional candy bars made with better ingredients (liked their peanut butter cups). The newest is Theo Coconut Salted Almond Bites. They’re part of a full line of coconut bites that come in milk or dark chocolate as well, but the twist here that combined an already well-loved bar was too enticing to resist, even at $2.39 for a scant 1.3 ounce package.

Theo Coconut Salted Almond Bites

The ingredients are non-GMO, fair trade, palm oil free, soy free and organic. It’s also vegan (but made on shared equipment, so not necessarily for folks with dairy or egg allergies.)

The little squares do not look like Almond Joy. The almonds are actually little slivers and chips within the coconut filling, not a couple of whole almonds on top with the chocolate coating.

The smell is comforting, a clean coconut scent, but not quite as sweet and perfumey as suntan oil. The bite is soft, the filling is chewy but not at all sticky. The coconut is moist and distinct. The best part of the whole thing though is the dark touch of the chocolate shell. It’s deep and has a light sweetness that really isn’t found in the coconut. The salt really isn’t evident as a discrete element, but the whole thing isn’t sweet or cloying. The almond provide a different crunch over the chewy coconut.

It’s a very light treat, with really strong flavors and textures. This could become a regular habit ... actually, it has, this is the third bar I’ve purchased since they came out. It took me a while to control myself long enough to take photos.

Related Candies

  1. Russell Stover Coconut Minis
  2. Ritter Sport Winter Edition Caramelised Almonds
  3. Toblerone Crunchy Salted Almond
  4. Adams & Brooks P-Nuttles plus Coconut
  5. Limited Edition M&Ms Coconut
  6. Hershey’s Almond Joy Pieces
  7. Sunspire Coconut Bars
  8. Almond Joy


Name: Salted Almond Chocolate Bites
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Starbucks
Place Purchased: Starbucks (Beverly Center)
Price: $2.50
Size: 2 ounces
Calories per ounce: 150
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Starbucks, Chocolate, Nuts, 7-Worth It, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:38 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewTheoChocolateCoconutEthically SourcedKosherNutsOrganic10-SuperbUnited StatesWhole Foods

Monday, October 19, 2015

Trader Joe’s Toffee Chips

DSC_9773rbTrader Joe’s Toffee Chips come in a pretty simple little box packed with a half a pound of toffee planks covered in either milk or dark chocolate.

It’s a pretty good deal for a half a pound of candy made with all natural ingredients, though Trader Joe’s doesn’t say where the chocolate comes from.

The product popped up at my local Trader Joe’s about a week before it was listed on the website, so I bought a box. Then I ate it all, so this is my second box. (You’d think it would get a better rating than a 6 out of 10 if I’ve eaten a full pound.) After the first box I figured I’d pick up another, but it disappeared from the three Trader Joe’s I frequent for nearly a moth.

Trader Joe's Toffee Chips

I think this is intended as a hostess gift item, or perhaps something you’d buy to put out for guests at a party or after dinner.

The tray holds 8 pieces of each variety, so I’ll go ahead and calculate that each is a half an ounce (and about 75 calories). The tray is rather flimsy, and the box doesn’t reseal after you open it. The whole thing, oddly enough, felt a little like a See’s item (they also use a lot of black and white in their packaging, but this has some brown elements and the full product image).

Trader Joe's Toffee Chips

They’re very attractive. The first box was unphotographable because the heat got to it, though it was still edible. The little planks have a squiggle of chocolate across them, making for a lot of chocolate heaped on the top.

Trader Joe's Toffee Chips

The milk chocolate variety is very sweet. The milk chocolate is milky and creamy, the toffee inside has a salty note and an excellent crunch but it falls apart into a bit of a grainy mess, like eating brown sugar towards the end. (I love eating a pile of brown sugar, but not when I think it’s supposed to be toffee.)

Trader Joe's Toffee Chips

The dark chocolate version had the same crunchy then grainy texture and excellent butter flavor, but the dark chocolate really meant nothing. The flavor of the dark chocolate was so non-descript I really kept wondering what it tasted like. If I shaved it off with my teeth, it was like a creamy dark chocolate baking chip, but eating with the toffee it just became a texture.

I don’t think these are bad, mostly I ate the whole box because I was trying to figure them out, but I never really liked them much. They’re better with something else, like crushing them up on ice cream or with some strong coffee. As a hostess gift, they’re probably acceptable, especially for the price point. I don’t see myself buying them again though.

They’re made with milk and soy and may also contain traces of wheat, eggs, peanuts and/or tree nuts.

Related Candies

  1. Trader Joe’s Magic Beans
  2. Lindt Hello Toffee Bites
  3. Trader Joe’s Almondictive Bits
  4. Poco Dolce Popcorn Toffee
  5. See’s Double Caramel
  6. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee
  7. See’s Lollypops
  8. Valerie Toffees & Nougats


Name: Toffee Chips
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (3rd & Fairfax)
Price: $3.49
Size: 8 ounces
Calories per ounce: 149
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Christmas, Trader Joe's, Chocolate, Kosher, Toffee, 6-Tempting, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:16 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewChristmasTrader Joe'sChocolateKosherToffee6-TemptingUnited States

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Il Morso Coffee Bars

Il Morso AssortmentIl Morso, which means the bite in Italian, is a new, solid form of coffee. Though the concept of coffee being treated like chocolate is hardly new, it’s very rarely implemented. Il Morso not only attempts to make a solid coffee/chocolate hybrid, by using cocoa butter with coffee beans, but they’re doing it with all natural ingredients and far less sugar than others who have come before them.

There are three different little bites in their current line: Americano, Coffee & Cream and Mocha. They also make a Matcha version with green tea instead of coffee. They use organic ingredients, no emulsifiers and pure cane sugar.

I tried Il Morso at the Fancy Food Show, before they were selling at retail. Now they’re available in limited stores and on the web. The company sent me this sampler box so that I could try all the flavors.

Il Morso - Americano

An Americano is espresso with a little water in it, to create the same consistency as a standard drip coffee. The Americano Coffee Bar is actually quite simple when it comes to ingredients, just three of them: Espresso Beans, Cocoa Butter and Cane Sugar.

Each little bite of the Americano Coffee Bar, the most intense coffee bar they make, has about 18 mg of caffeine. They’re also only 20 calories, partly because they’re so small (4 grams) but don’t be fooled because there’s no milk in there, there’s still plenty of fat from the cocoa butter (not a bad thing).

The bar smells like coffee, like coffee grounds, not quite like brewed coffee or espresso. It’s woodsy and deep with toffee and charcoal notes. The bite is easy, this is very similar in texture to a chocolate bar. The melt is easy and fast, but not too slick. There’s a slight chalky texture, like that sludge at the bottom of a cup of coffee, but this is by far the smoothest coffee item I’ve had. The sweetness is there from the sugar, but it’s very clean and just enough to moderate the more intense bitterness from the coffee.

Though it’s a small square, it’s quite intense and I don’t feel like I would ever want a full bar of this.

Il Morso - Coffee & Cream

The Coffee & Cream Bar comes in at 16 mg of caffeine and 25 calories. This one contains milk powder in addition to the coffee, cocoa butter and sugar. You can see from the picture though, this is not milk chocolate, it is still very intensely coffee, but the milk is there to bring a more mild note to the bar without adding more sugar.

It’s funny that it does not smell as strongly of coffee as the Americano. It tastes, though, really much the same. The bitterness, the sort of acidic note of strong coffee, that’s all there, but it’s just slightly milder. It’s also smoother and has a lighter finish to it.

Il Morso - Mocha

The Mocha Bar is the same as Coffee & Cream with the addition of some 70% chocolate. Sometimes I feel like chocolate bars with coffee in them are just that, chocolate bars first. Here, this is fully a coffee bar with chocolate in there. This one comes in with only 15 calories and 14 mg of caffeine.

This bar is absolutely the smoothest. It’s also the least sweet, if that’s possible. The coffee notes are most forward and the least bitter of the three bars, but no less rounded with the toffee and roasted notes. The chocolate is a smooth background with a hint of brownies and bananas.

Il Morso - Matcha

The final bar is not coffee but all, it’s their only Tea Bar, the Matcha Tea Bar. This one has four ingredients: matcha, cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar. It’s also 20 calories but has only 7 mg of caffeine.

It’s quite green and smells like grass clippings, pistachios, jasmine and tea. The texture is smooth, but the whole effect of the tea is a little perfumey and soapy. There’s bit of bitterness that comes out after the cocoa butter and milk has dissipated. The floral notes linger long after the bar is gone, so it’s much fresher feeling than the coffee bars.

Overall, I think these are fantastic. I love the intensity of the bites, though they feel less like candy and more like a snack because there’s so little sugar in them. I’m also glad they’re so satisfying, I never feel the need to eat more than two at a time, because I wouldn’t want to over consume caffeine, especially late in the day. It’s a great option for travelers as well, if you need a little boost. They don’t seem to have the same problems with cocoa butter bloom as chocolate does, or at least the few that I traveled with melted and reformed pretty well. 

The packaging is lovely and has a lot of information packed on to the little squares, which I appreciate. I don’t see myself buying these often by the box, but they would make great favors or gifts for those who truly love coffee. If I could find a candy shop that has them by the piece, I’d be willing to pay $1.75 each for them ... based on how big they taste, not how big they are.

There’s no statement about nuts or other allergens on the packaging. These are very pricey, though premium coffee drinks are also pricey and these are just more portable.

Related Candies

  1. Ritter Sport Coffee and Hazelnuts (Winter Edition)
  2. Good and DeLISH Morning Rush Coffee Bites
  3. Mast Brothers Stumptown Coffee
  4. Meiji Corot & CoffeeBeat
  5. Espresso Filled Dark Chocolate
  6. Javaz - Milk & Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
  7. Hanahiyori - Green Tea White Chocolates


Name: Americano Coffee Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Il Morso
Place Purchased: Samples from Il Morso
Price: 59.99
Size: 5.64 ounces
Calories per ounce: 142
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Caffeinated, Coffee, Organic, White Chocolate, 9-Yummy, United States


Name: Coffee & Cream Coffee Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Il Morso
Place Purchased: Samples from Il Morso
Price: $59.99
Size: 5.64 ounces
Calories per ounce: 177
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Caffeinated, Coffee, Organic, White Chocolate, 9-Yummy, United States


Name: Mocha Coffee Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Il Morso
Place Purchased: Samples from Il Morso
Price: $59.99
Size: 5.64 ounces
Calories per ounce: 106
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Caffeinated, Chocolate, Coffee, Organic, 9-Yummy, United States


Name: Matcha Tea Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Il Morso
Place Purchased: Samples from Il Morso
Price: $59.99
Size: 5.64 ounces
Calories per ounce: 142
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Caffeinated, Organic, White Chocolate, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:33 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewCaffeinatedChocolateCoffeeOrganicWhite Chocolate9-YummyUnited States

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Ice Chips: Spearmint

DSC_9617rbIce Chips Candy is a line of sweets made almost entirely of xylitol. They come in 20 different varieties. Since this was a new product to me, I figured I’d start with Ice Chips: Spearmint.

The candy comes in a tin that’s pretty much the same as the one Altoids come in. The selling point, I’m guessing, of this mint is the fact that it’s made with xylitol, a natural sugar alcohol that is not only “sugarless” but also has been shown in clinical tests that it does not promote tooth decay. Though it does have some calories (about 1/3 fewer than other mints made with sugar), it’s not quickly digested by the body so has a very low glycemic index. The xylitol comes from birch trees, not corn like some xylitol products, so the makers say that it’s GMO free. It’s also vegan, gluten free, soy free and vegan.

Though I picked one of the most pedestrian flavors they offer, the candies also come in cherry, licorice, margarita, pumpkin spice and root beer float flavors.

DSC_9620rb

The chips are, well, chip-like. Think of it like peanut brittle, it’s a thin sheet of a sort of hard candy-like mint that’s been shattered into variously sized bits. Some are as big as a dime but most are more like a small tablet about 1/3 of an inch across.

They’re hard to photograph, which is why I left them in the tin for this shoot. They’re not colored, not opaque, not quite translucent. Not quite milky, so they don’t qualify as white.

If you’ve had xylitol candies before you know that like most sugar alcohols it’s a little cool on the tongue. This works very well with a flavor like spearmint or peppermint, which already has the cooling effect of the mint oils. The dissolve is interesting, but even more interesting is the fact that it’s crunchy, like a toffee only without the buttery notes.

Overall, the unique texture and excellent flavor profile makes these quite appealing. Personally, I find eating too much xylitol a problem (it can make some people gassy), so it’s not something I would eat as a candy, only reserve it as a breath freshener.

I’m curious about the other flavors, especially Root Beer Float and Cinnamon.

Related Candies

  1. Lily’s Dark Chocolate sweetened with Stevia
  2. Tea Forte Minteas Lemongrass Yuzu
  3. PUR Gum: Xylitol Sweetened
  4. Choward’s Spearmint & Lemon
  5. Spearmint Leaves
  6. SparX
  7. Hershey’s Favorites - Sugar Free


Name: Ice Chips: Spearmint
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Ice Chips Candy
Place Purchased: Sprouts (La Canada-Flintridge)
Price: $1.99
Size: 1.76 ounces
Calories per ounce: 71
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Mints, 7-Worth It, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:26 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewMints7-Worth ItUnited States

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Ts & Js Sour Gummies

DSC_9263rbTrader Joe’s makes little fanfare with their new products, they just quietly appear on the shelf and perhaps get a mention in the Fearless Flyer. There are rarely announcements of upcoming products, they just show up. However, the same day that the email announced the new Trader Joe’s Ts & Js Sour Gummies, I wanted some for myself. (Sadly, the first location I tried didn’t have them yet, just a blank space.)

The new sour candy pieces are shaped like the letter T or J and come in four flavors: Key Lime, Tangerine, Meyer Lemon and Grapefruit.

As I mentioned last month in a long profile about the difference between gummis and jellies, this is another case of jelly candies called gummies. It’s kind of sad that Trader Joe’s did that, because their ingredients are quite clean and vegetarians would probably be more likely to pick them up if they weren’t called gummies.

So, if there’s an analogue to this candy in the big brand world, these are all natural, citrus-flavored Sour Patch Letters. Sorry, I think Trader Joe’s buried the lede ... because this is an incredible concept. It’s everything I already like in Sour Patch Kids, with flavors I prefer and ingredients that shouldn’t interfere with the intensity of the flavors.

Ingredients: Cane Sugar, Tapioca Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Dextrose (Corn), Malic Acid, Natural Flavors (Key Lime, Meyer Lemon, Tangerine and Grapefruit), Citric Acid, Colored with Fruit and Vegetable Extracts (Pumpkin, Carrot, Black Currant), Sodium Citrate, Spirulina Extract (Color), Palm Oil. MANUFACTURED IN A FACILITY THAT PROCESSES PEANUTS AND TREE NUTS.

Trader Joe's Sour Gummies

The colors are muted, with the lime and grapefruit a little hard to tell apart ... except for the fact that I liked both and didn’t care after a while. All are similar to the structure of Sour Patch candies, a sweet jelly center with a mild flavor and an intense sour sanded exterior. Each piece is a mere bite, not too big and pretty clean to eat with minimal mess.

The red ones are Tangerine: the sour coating is tangy and textured, but melts away easily or provides a bit of crunch if you can’t wait. The center is less flavorful, more zesty. The orange notes definitely veer off into authentic tangerine with quite a bit of orange peel flavor.

The light orange are Lemon: the combination of the sour sanding and lemon peel notes of the center give a good approximation of Meyer lemon, which is more mild than the common Eureka lemons.

Clear is Grapefruit: such a great tangy coating with a very strong bitter zest component. Definitely a winner.

Light green is Key Lime: These have a bright lime flavor that’s pretty generic but really refreshing in a too green apple world. It’s pretty good Key lime notes, which have a little creamy component to them instead of the straight acid of Persian limes.

They’re vegan, there are no artificial colors or flavors ... Kosher and priced pretty well. Really, my only complaint is the fact that they call them gummis.

Related Candies

  1. Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Licorice
  2. Sour Patch Kids Berries
  3. Glico Pocky Cookie Crush
  4. Gimbal’s Sour Lovers
  5. Trader Joe’s Jelly Beans & Citrus Gum Drops
  6. Tootsie Sour Dots
  7. Trader Joe’s Gummy Tummies
  8. Sour Patch Kids
  9. Pink Grapefruit Mentos


Name: Ts & Js Sour Gummies
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (Glendale)
Price: $1.99
Size: 7 ounces
Calories per ounce: 104
Categories: All Natural, Candy, Trader Joe's, Jelly Candy, Kosher, Sour, 9-Yummy, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:03 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewTrader Joe'sJelly CandyKosherSour9-YummyUnited States

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