ABOUT

FEEDS

CONTACT

  • .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
  • Here are some frequently asked questions emailed to me you might want to read first.

EMAIL DIGEST

    For a daily update of Candy Blog reviews, enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

CANDY RATINGS

TYPE

BRAND

COUNTRY

ARCHIVES

Brach's

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Brach’s Triple Fruit Gummies

Brach's Triple Fruity GummiesBrach’s, which calls itself “America’s Candy Maker” has been busy churning out new varieties of their classic candies as well as their original line of goodies. When I saw all the fun new things they were coming out with, I search and searched my local stores. When I couldn’t find them, CandyWarehouse.com was good enough to help me out by providing some samples for me.

The new Brach’s Triple Fruit Gummies are an interesting take on the divisive seasonal icon. They’re traditional gummis in the classic candy corn shape (as the package notes with a picture to remind me how it looks) and come in three layers of flavor: lemon, orange and cherry.

Brach’s did have what they said were gummi candy corn about 5 years ago, they were really little jelly candies in different fruit flavors. That particular bag of Brach’s Gummi Candy Corn I found was available in trick or treat packaging, but I’m not certain if these Triple Fruit Gummies are available that way.

Brach's Triple Fruity Gummies

The size is the same as a standard candy corn kernel. They stand easily, as they don’t have a slight convex base, instead it’s slightly concave and creates a pretty good flat rim. The pieces are layered, just like fondant style candy corn, though these are much more vividly colored. The base is a hot pink (cherry) the middle is orange and the top is yellow (lemon). The layers are pretty diffuse, so it’s a slow mixing of the colors instead of distinct bands. The gummis smell like fruit punch and a little like cherry.

Brach's Triple Fruity Gummies

They’re soft, which is a nice texture for a gummi, but odd for these colors because they’re rather fleshy looking because of the opaque quality. The flavor is overall tart with a light fruity note. The cherry permeates the whole thing, though there is a less cherry note on the top layers, I wasn’t getting the citrus that I thought the description promised.

They’re decent, certainly fun looking, but not the flavor of gummis I actually wanted. It’s a good effort on the edge of the candy corn sphere of confections. Brach’s undeniably makes a nice candy corn, but this isn’t candy corn, except in shape. It’s missing all the other qualities in texture, subtlety and divisiveness.

Related Candies

  1. Albanese Rainforest Gummi Frog
  2. Candy Crush: Mixed Fruit and Sour Gummies
  3. Sugarfina: The Gummis
  4. Life Savers Gummies Spooky Shapes
  5. Trolli Gummi Bear-Rings
  6. Brach’s Gummi Candy Corn
  7. Disney Pixie Perfect Gummies
  8. Brach’s Chocolate Candy Corn & Halloween Mix
  9. Big Bite Gummy Bear


Name: Triple Fruit Gummies
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Samples from CandyWarehouse.com
Price: $5.00
Size: 11 ounces
Calories per ounce: 103
Categories: Candy, Halloween, Brach's, Ferrara Pan, Gummi Candy, 5-Pleasant, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:57 pm     CandyReviewHalloweenBrach'sFerrara PanGummi Candy5-PleasantUnited States

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Brach’s Caramel Macchiato Candy Corn

Brach's Caramel Macchiato Candy CornLabor Day is kind of the marker for the beginning of Candy Season ... which is the ramp up to Halloween. Candy Corn is inextricably tied with this time of year, for its associations with harvest and, of course, North America is known for its corn.

In order to keep people interested in Candy Corn, Brach’s has been introducing new flavored varieties for the past five years or so, in addition to their classic Candy Corn, Indian Corn and Mellocremes. I was rather interested in the Brach’s Caramel Macchiato Candy Corn because it sounded less sweet. Coffee actually sounds like a natural flavor combination for Candy Corn, and a touch of salty caramel should help it fit in nicely with the fondant flavor profile.

Brach's Caramel Macchiato Candy Corn

The pieces do a good job of replicating the look of a coffee drink: dark base, caramel orange middle and white top. (Though the picture shows the caramel on the top of the foamed milk.)

The ingredients list real coffee as a flavoring, as well as honey. The ingredients also list sesame oil, which I don’t think I’ve seen on the list before and note that the candy was made on equipment with milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy are present. Brach’s also uses gelatin in their Candy Corn.

Brach's Caramel Macchiato Candy Corn

The base is a bit salty and a wonderfully sweet, woodsy coffee flavor. It’s a bit of a stale flavor, like coffee powder, but this is Candy Corn, not a high end truffle. The middle section is lightly salty with a note of honey plus a little hint of butter and the continuing coffee flavor. The white top is less flavorful and also a bit on the crunchy side.

I’m finding that I like these. I was surprised, but I also enjoyed the Carrot Cake Candy Corn earlier this year. If you like Candy Corn, you may enjoy these as a little change of pace. If you don’t, these will not change your mind.

Related Candies

  1. Brach’s Carrot Cake Candy Corn
  2. Brach’s S’mores Candy Corn
  3. Starburst Original Fruit Flavored Candy Corn
  4. Jelly Belly Candy Corn Jelly Beans
  5. Halloween Dots: Bat, Candy Corn & Ghost
  6. Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn
  7. Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn
  8. Brach’s Autumn Mix


Name: Caramel Macchiato Candy Corn
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: KMart (Park LaBrea)
Price: $2.50
Size: 9 ounces
Calories per ounce: 101
Categories: Candy, Halloween, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Ferrara Pan, Coffee, Fondant, 7-Worth It, Mexico, Kmart

POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:31 am     CandyReviewHalloweenBrach'sFarley's & SathersFerrara PanCoffeeFondant7-Worth ItMexicoKmart

Monday, March 24, 2014

Brach’s Dark Chocolate Blueberry Acai

Brookside and Brach's Dark Chocolate Blueberry AcaiI picked up this package of Brach’s Dark Chocolate Blueberry Acai at Target. There are several new Brach’s products that look like they’re highlighting natural ingredients and more trendy flavors.

The resealable pouch and product depiction reminded me in no small way of the Brookside “chocolate-covered fruit juice pieces” which are really just jellies. Brookside Chocolate, a Canadian company, innovated this product, which first showed up on American shelves around 2010. Later there were other versions, such as Trader Joe’s Powerberries, which were also made in Canada, but now seem to have switched suppliers and are now made in the US with slightly different ingredients.

Though Brach’s is usually a sort of low end brand, these are priced a bit higher, I picked this up for $3.49 for the 8 ounce package. This is very similar in price to the Brookside (pictured here) which was $3.50 on sale.

Brach's Dark Chocolate Acai

The Brach’s spheres are pretty consistent in size. They’re not completely spherical, but very nicely coated with a shiny glaze. They’re the size of a garbanzo bean or perhaps a fresh blueberry as pictured on the package. Inside is a little, firm piece of berry juice flavored jelly. It’s about the size of a jujube and rather soft and flavorful.

The blueberry and acai flavors are jammy and deep, though it is coated in dark chocolate coating is it’s really not very dark or complex in the ingredients. The consistency of the jelly center is good - it’s not grainy at all and quite flavorful.

Brach's Dark Chocolate Acai

As a knockoff item, the Brach’s do very well (seen on the left here, with the Brookside on the right). There’s an extra ounce in the package, even if they were the same price. The Brookside centers are inconsistent. They’re little disks, and most morsels have two at the center, like halves of a peanut. But other pieces have only one piece at the center and others are a stack of three. They have a slight grain to them, but also a bit more of a tangy bite ...for the most part. They’re not completely the same, sometimes it’s as if they’re sanded with a little sour coating, and other times they’re rather bland. The chocolate is smooth and creamy, far better than the Brach’s.

I’d buy either again, though I find I prefer the chocolate a bit better on the Brookside. Brookside is now owned by Hershey’s. Brach’s is now owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. Folks who are looking to avoid dairy will appreciate the Brach’s.

These are positioned to be some sort of antioxidant-boosted, better-for-you, superfood candy thing. They’re not. They’re just chocolate covered jelly beans. The fact that it’s a jelly center means they’re not quite as calorically dense as a straight chocolate nugget and the Brach’s have 100% of your RDA of vitamin C. But they also contain silicone dioxide and modified food starch ... fine items but not necessarily the nutritional boosters I’ve waited for my whole life.

These contain soy. They’re made in a facility that processed nuts, wheat, dairy and peanuts. The only other ingredient of issue would be the confectioners glaze, which is usually made with shellac, so wouldn’t be vegan.

Related Candies

  1. Brookside Dark Chocolate Pomegranate
  2. Panda Blueberry Liquorice
  3. Jelly Belly Chocolate Dips
  4. Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Jellies: Grapefruit, Goji Berry & Red Apple
  5. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Powerberries
  6. Nestle Cranberry Raisinets
  7. Brach’s Gummi+Plus & Tropical Gummis
  8. Jelly Belly Pomegranate


Name: Dark Chocolate Blueberry Acai
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Target (Eagle Rock)
Price: $3.49
Size: 8 ounces
Calories per ounce: 120
Categories: Candy, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Ferrara Pan, Chocolate, Jelly Candy, 7-Worth It, United States, Target

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:49 pm     CandyReviewBrach'sFarley's & SathersFerrara PanChocolateJelly Candy7-Worth ItUnited StatesTarget

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Brach’s Carrot Cake Candy Corn

Brach's Carrot Cake Candy CornCandy Corn gets a lot of different flavor treatments for Halloween, but for the most part the Easter versions are all about little spring shapes in the form of mellocreams in light fruity flavors. Brach’s has introduced something new to go with their Pastel Candy Corn, it’s called Brach’s Carrot Cake Candy Corn.

The packaging is simple, just a thick plastic bag. The image on the front depicts a cake with white frosting and a green and orange carrot on it. Down in the other corner is a small basket of the candy corns.

As a side note, Brach’s, the 110 year old candy company, has been going through a lot of changes lately; this seems to have led to an identity crisis. I picked up this bag of candy last month which is also a new product but features a different logo which I thought they stopped using around 2011 (but also appears on their twitter). Brach’s is now owned by the Ferrara Candy Company, which merged with Farley’s & Sathers last year. This is a huge company now that makes mostly sugar candy like Trolli, Lemonheads, Atomic Fireballs, Black Forest Gummies, Now & Later, Rainblo Gum, Jujyfruits, Chuckles, Bob’s and Fruit Stripe Gum. It seems like this constant change and shift of directions is keeping Brach’s from regaining their place in the world of classic American comfort candies.

Brach's Carrot Cake Candy Corn

My first instinct on these, without even eating them, is that the colors are all wrong. A slice of layered cake would be a sort of light brown color with flecks of orange and then the off white cream cheese frosting. There is no green in a carrot cake, unless you make some of the frosting green. If they wanted the candy corn to just look like carrots, then make them all orange with the wide base getting just a touch of green to simulate the carrot top. To simulate a slice of cake, I’d make the top and bottom white and the center orange. Why it’s candy corn is an entirely other matter ... why not make little slide of cake shapes? Brach’s already makes cute little shapes for their Halloween and Easter Mellocreme mixes ... why not a slice of cake or little carrots or a block of Philly Cream Cheese?

Brach's Carrot Cake Candy Corn

While I had some misgivings about the coloration, everything else about these is extremely well done. Unlike my problems with the Brach’s S’mores Candy Corn last fall, which were quite broken and brittle, these looked great right out of the bag. I saw very few malformed or incomplete kernels and they stayed in one piece for the most part.

They didn’t smell like much, and honestly I didn’t think much of them the first few I tried. I noticed, though, that the base had a mild spice cake flavor to it, it’s subtle but there’s a note of cinnamon and nutmeg. The overall piece had a slightly creamier note, with what I can only guess is supposed to be a cream cheese flavor. Again, it’s very subtle.

Brach's Pastel Candy Corn

I had to compare the mild flavor to regular candy corn, naturally, so I picked up the Brach’s Pastel Candy Corn, since they were on sale 2 for $5. These are much more subtly colored, with only the corn base getting a pastel note of green, pink, purple, green, or yellow. I enjoyed these, particularly because there was less artificial coloring in them, so the clean flavor of sugar and a touch of honey came through a bit brighter than in the fall version which has more orange (and Red #40) in it. I did notice that some of the flavors, like the cream cheese twang was missing, so it wasn’t something I dreamed up. I also noticed on the nutrition panel that the Pastel Corn has more salt in it, 100 mg per serving compared to 70 mg for the Carrot Cake.

I liked the Pastel Candy Corn, but I liked the Carrot Cake Candy Corn better, perhaps because there was a vague flavor to it. Is it a successful simulation of cake? Not by a long shot, but taken as a candy on its own without its bakery reference, it’s quite pleasant.

Like other Brach’s candy corn, this is made in Mexico. It does have honey as an ingredients, as well as gelatin, so this is unsuitable for vegetarians. It’s made in a facility that also processes milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat and soy.

Related Candies

  1. Brach’s S’mores Candy Corn
  2. Starburst Original Fruit Flavored Candy Corn
  3. Brach’s Ice Cream Conversation Hearts
  4. Jelly Belly Peas & Carrots Mellocreme Candy
  5. Brach’s Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs (2012)
  6. Pumpkin Pie Gourmet Candy Corn
  7. Brach’s Robin Eggs (Solid Milk Chocolate)
  8. Brach’s Chocolate Candy Corn & Halloween Mix


Name: Carrot Cake Candy Corn
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Ralph's (Studio City)
Price: $2.50
Size: 14 ounces
Calories per ounce: 101
Categories: Candy, Easter, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Ferrara Pan, Fondant, 7-Worth It, Mexico, Ralph's

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:16 pm     CandyReviewEasterBrach'sFarley's & SathersFerrara PanFondant7-Worth ItMexicoRalph's

Monday, December 23, 2013

Brach’s Christmas Nougats Mix

Brach's Christmas Nougats MixA few years back I reviewed one of the classic candies that Brach’s has been making for years, their Peppermint Holiday Nougat. The Brach’s style of nougat is made with egg whites, just like the European recipes have been for hundreds of years. This version is more of a chew, kind of a hybrid between a taffy and a fluffy honey-sweetened nougat from France, Italy or Spain.

The fun part about the Brach’s Christmas Nougats Mix is that they come in three flavors: Cinnamon, Peppermint & Wintergreen.

Enjoy Brach’s uniquely soft, handmade nougats mad with delicious peppermint, cinnamon and wintergreen flavors. Perfect for snacking or sharing with friends and family throughout the holiday season.

These kinds of nougats are assembled, truly, by hand. Large logs of nougat are colored and flavored, then stacked together to form the image inside which creates a much larger log. That is then placed on a machine that pulls it into a smaller cord and then cuts the pieces.

DSC_4563rb

I’ve reviewed the Peppermint version before, and find the same opinion to hold true today. It’s a soft chew, very smooth with a nice pop of peppermint. The nougat makes it a short chew, meaning it’s not gummy and dissolves pretty quickly without much grain. It has a bit of salt, which mellows out the bulk of the sugar.

Brach's Cinnamon Holiday Nougat

The Cinnamon version has a pink background. The cinnamon scent is quite strong and this chew was very soft. It’s a sizzling cinnamon, I was surprised at its strength, there was a bit of heat. It’s a unique sort of candy, so I appreciate that it’s attractive and well made.

Brach's Wintergreen Holiday Nougat

The Wintergreen version has a light green background. As much as I’m a fan of the flavor, I can’t say that this is the best use of it. Like the cinnamon, this is very strong. And like cinnamon, a lot of wintergreen at once can give a sort of warming “sports rub” sort of feeling. Wintergreen doesn’t go well with many other flavors, it’s not like this combines well with chocolate or wine, if you were snacking.

These make an attractive bowl of candy, though I think in the future I’d stick with either the Peppermint or the Cinnamon. Wintergreen is just to strange for a candy assortment for Christmas, but certainly something to keep in mind for that person on your list that does have a predilection for the stuff.

Note: the packaging on this predates the Ferrara and Farley’s & Sathers merger (the copyright said 2012) and Brach’s is planning on changing their packaging design and branding again next year. This bag was made in Mexico.

Related Candies

  1. Brach’s Cherry Cordial Nougats
  2. Eat with Your Eyes: Pinwheel Nougats
  3. Fard’s Persian Pistachio Nougat
  4. Canada Wintergreen
  5. Massam’s Nougat
  6. Brachs Bunny Basket Eggs


Name: Christmas Nougats Mix
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrara Pan
Place Purchased: CVS (Park LaBrea)
Price: $2.49
Size: 9.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 116
Categories: Candy, Christmas, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Ferrara Pan, Cinnamon, Mints, Nougat, 6-Tempting, Mexico, Sav-On/CVS

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:15 pm     CandyReviewChristmasBrach'sFarley's & SathersFerrara PanCinnamonMintsNougat6-TemptingMexicoSav-On/CVS

Friday, September 27, 2013

Brach’s S’mores Candy Corn

Brach's S'mores Candy CornCandy Corn broke out of its traditional flavor set at least 10 years ago. It’s only natural, since the fondant candies known as mellocremes were capable of so much more than just being different colors for different holidays: reindeer corn and bunny corn.

But Halloween has always paid host to the more interesting varieties. Lately we’ve seen caramel apple flavors, fruits like tangerine and green apple or toffee. Some candy companies have even taken to covering them in chocolate. Brach’s has a large variety these days, my favorite from their assortment is still the Brach’s Halloween Mix, which is not candy corn but little Halloween shapes like bats, pumpkins and maple syrup jugs. They’re lightly flavored and come in cocoa, maple, banana and whatever that honey flavor candy corn is.

The Brach’s S’mores Candy Corn straddles the summer and fall line, as S’mores are often a summer camp favorite but can easily be made in the fall around a crackling fall bonfire.

DSC_3314rb

If I understand the point of these correctly, it should be a chocolate base, marshmallow middle and graham cracker flavored top. I have to say that they’re pretty ugly. The base is a dusty purple and bleeds into the white center.

They smell like a cross between the reliably over-sweet Candy Corn and graham crackers. The base is vaguely cocoa, but in the most watered down and flavored fashion. The middle layer is wonderfully vacant of flavors, kind of like a marshmallow. The orange tip has a distinct cereal and cracker note to it, like a graham.

The effect is something that’s very candy corn-like in flavor, but not very convincing as a S’more. I don’t see the point, really, especially since they’re not very attractive.

DSC_3319rb

S’mores Candy Corn contains gelatin, no surprise as most candy corn does and certainly marshmallows do. It’s also made in a facility that processes everything else:peanuts, tree nuts, milk and eggs plus it contains soy and sesame.

As a side note, Brach’s has changed hands quite a few times in the last decade, and this has made some of their products a bit inconsistent. The company was owned by Farley’s & Sathers most recently and they have merged with Ferrara Pan and the whole company is now called Ferrara Candy. The Candy Corn manufacturing for Brach’s was moved off to Mexico at least two years ago and I’ve heard many reports from die hard fans that it’s not the same any longer (even though the ingredients list appears the same). I agree, it doesn’t seem as smooth and consistent as it used to be and I have switched to recommending the Jelly Belly Candy Corn if you’re actually going to eat it. Brach’s is still fine for decorative purposes.

Related Candies

  1. M&Ms White Chocolate Candy Corn
  2. Pumpkin Pie Gourmet Candy Corn
  3. Toffee Flavored Chocolate Covered Candy Corn
  4. Brach’s Chocolate Candy Corn & Halloween Mix
  5. Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn
  6. Zachary Candy Corn & Jelly Pumpkins
  7. Brach’s Autumn Mix


Name: S’mores Candy Corn
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Target (West Hollywood)
Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Size: 19 ounces
Calories per ounce: 101
Categories: Candy, Halloween, Brach's, Ferrara Pan, Fondant, 5-Pleasant, Mexico, Target

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:00 am     CandyReviewHalloweenBrach'sFerrara PanFondant5-PleasantMexicoTarget

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Brach’s Ice Cream Conversation Hearts

Brach's Ice Cream Conversation HeartsBrach’s Ice Cream Conversation Hearts provide a conceptually different choice in the area of conversation candies. They’re flavored like ice cream, which is to say that they’re more mainstream than the original spice inspired flavors that Necco used to produce.

When I go to the store and browse ice cream flavors, the tops on my list of consideration go something like this (not necessarily in order): chocolate, coffee, mint chocolate chip, butter pecan, peanut butter cup and then maybe vanilla. I can’t remember the last time I bought strawberry ice cream (though I buy strawberry sorbet rather often) and orange sherbet is so far off my list of viable flavors, I can’t even recall seeing it in stores.

Brach's Ice Cream Conversation Hearts

Strawberry (pink) was bitter and only a vague floral hint of berry. Mostly bitter from the food coloring.

Cherry (same shade of pink) was bitter and sweet with only a faint cherry flavoring note. Not tartness, just sweet. I’m still not convinced that there was any difference, except strawberry seemed even more bitter.

I had to take a break at this point because of the bitterness. A bit of water. Some crackers. I don’t know why I started with pink.

Brach's Ice Cream Conversation Hearts

Vanilla (white) was expected to be flavorless, but actually does have a pleasant vanilla note to it. It’s like a marshmallow flavor. Really the only one I picked through assortment to eat. But it was really that I was actively avoiding nearly every other piece.

Chocolate was just horrible. Worse than the pink candies, because it was so lacking in chocolate and ended up tasting like a musty basement. You can tell just by looking at it that it can’t taste like chocolate, it’s not brown.

Orange was mild and did remind me of orange sherbet, except for the fact that it was missing that juice tartness. So it was more like an orange chapstick.

Now that I’ve tried their take on the classic ice cream flavors, I have no interest in their take on something more complex like butter pecan or mint chocolate chip. It’s best they failed at the easy stuff so I don’t get my hopes up.

Brach's Heartlines Classic Conversation HeartsBrach’s also has Heartlines Classic Conversation Hearts (I reviewed them when they were called small conversation hearts) on the shelves again this year. They’re better than the classic Necco (which are achingly hard to find) but still, not quite right.

Taken as a non-toxic and cheap decoration, there’s little better than conversation hearts. I paid only $2.50 for a full pound. Even if no one eats them from this cute jar on my desk, it was an inexpensive way to look like I’m observing the holiday. If you’re not eating them, it doesn’t matter which version you pick up. Choose based on the color combos, the sayings on them, or where they’re made. (These are made in Argentina.) There’s little point in choosing based on flavor.

Related Candies

  1. Brach’s Conversation Hearts
  2. Marich Black Heart Licorice
  3. Necco Conversation Hearts (Sweethearts) 2010
  4. Jelly Belly for Valentine’s Day
  5. See’s Cinnamon (Hearts & Lollypops)
  6. Gobstopper Heart Breakers
  7. SweeTart Hearts


Name: Ice Cream Conversation Hearts
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Target (Glendale)
Price: $2.49
Size: 16 ounces
Calories per ounce: 113
Categories: Candy, Valentines, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Ferrara Pan, Compressed Dextrose, 4-Benign, Argentina, Target

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:28 pm     CandyReviewValentinesBrach'sFarley's & SathersFerrara PanCompressed Dextrose4-BenignArgentinaTarget

Friday, September 21, 2012

Brach’s Peanut Clusters

Brach's Peanut ClustersThe classic combination of chocolate and peanuts meet in this new version of Brach’s Peanut Clusters. The package promises that this is their “Best Chocolate Ever!”

Brach’s has been around since 1904 and has been through a lot, especially in the past 20 years. The company, founded by Emil Brach, was bought by American Home Products in 1966. In 1987, Jacobs Suchard, a coffee & confectionery giant, bought Brach’s. By 1990, as Suchard was being swallowed up by the tobacco company of Phillip Morris, the Jacobs part of the company, Klaus Jacobs, retained Brach’s. Then in 2003 it was sold to Callebaut and only a few years later, in 2008, Brach’s was bought by Farley’s and Sathers. Just this year, Farley’s and Sathers agreed to merge with Ferrara Pan to become the Ferrera Candy Company.

Through all of that, the candy brand remained intact and the favorite confections in their repertoire continued. However, manufacturing changes happened, and the formulas, manufacturing techniques and quality was uneven. Farley’s & Sathers has been trying hard to resurrect the comforting and inexpensive brand by improving the quality for the past two years.

The clusters are made with simple ingredients, plain old milk chocolate and some peanuts.

Ingredients:Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk, Chocolate Liquor, Lactose, Soy Lecithin, Butter Oil, Salt, Vanillin), Peanuts with TBHQ, Sugar, Modified Food Starch

Brach's Peanut Clusters

The clusters vary in size, from little lines of three or four nuts to a full clump of a dozen peanuts. The overall flavor is fake vanilla. A soft and comforting sort of sweetness, like an angora sweater.

The chocolate isn’t particularly smooth, nor even noteworthy. As far as it being their best chocolate ever, well, it’s not the worst. It tasted fresh though not creamy. The cocoa notes are bland and the dairy is clean but not particularly buttery. What works here is the touch of salt and the peanuts. They’re fresh, small and crunchy. The ratios are heavier on the chocolate than the nuts, but once it’s chewed, it works well.

I don’t think I’d buy these again. In fact, I’ve had them sitting around for review for quite a while but felt no desire to eat them even though I love chocolate and nuts.They’re friendly candy and certainly well priced, but I’ll stick to the sugar confections Brach’s makes.

Related Candies

  1. M&Ms Sweet & Salty Snack Mix
  2. Brach’s Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs (2012)
  3. Brach’s Milk Chocolate Stars
  4. Brach’s Peanut Butter Poppins
  5. Dove Peanut Butter Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate
  6. Brach’s Chocolate Candy Corn & Halloween Mix
  7. Sno-Caps, Goobers & Raisinets
  8. M&Ms Line


Name: Peanut Clusters
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Brach’s
Place Purchased: Walgreen's (Echo Park)
Price: $2.49
Size: 6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 149
Categories: Candy, Brach's, Farley's & Sathers, Chocolate, Peanuts, 6-Tempting, United States, Walgreen's

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:17 am     CandyReviewBrach'sFarley's & SathersChocolatePeanuts6-TemptingUnited StatesWalgreen's

Page 3 of 6 pages  < 1 2 3 4 5 >  Last ›

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

 

 

 

 

Facebook IconTwitter IconTumblr IconRSS Feed IconEmail Icon

COUNTDOWN.

Candy Season Ends

-2547 days

Read previous coverage

 

 

Which seasonal candy selection do you prefer?

Choose one or more:

  •   Halloween
  •   Christmas
  •   Valentine's Day
  •   Easter

 

image

ON DECK

These candies will be reviewed shortly:

 

 

image