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CANDY RATINGS

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Saturday, April 23, 2005

Meiji Chelsea Yogurt Scotch

Name: Chelsea Yogurt Scotch
Brand: Meiji
Place Purchased: Mitsuwa Marketplace (Little Tokyo, LA)
Price: $.99
Size: 1.58 oz
Calories per ounce: 120
Type: Toffee/Hard Candy

The Taste of Old Scotland! the candy heralds down the side of the tray inside the calico printed box. What Chelsea has to do with Scotland is beyond me. This is a candy blog, after all, not a geography one.

I’m not sure I know what old Scotland tastes like. But these hard toffees are unlike any other toffee I’ve ever had. First, they’re opaque white and glossy when I unwrapped the piece, unlike the toasty cream color I’m used to.

Putting it in my mouth I found it initially tart. Not in a citrus way, but in the way that yogurt is tart. It’s smooth and creamy, but with a little bite to it.

I found them pleasant, but a little bland. I plan to finish the box, but it’s unlikely I’ll buy yogurt scotch again. However, there is another flavor that I saw at the market, regular butterscotch ... that sounds more my speed.

Rating: 7 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:48 pm     CandyReviewMeijiHard Candy & LollipopsToffee7-Worth ItJapan

Friday, April 22, 2005

Noir au Grue de Cacao

Name: Noir au Grue de Cacao
Brand: Michel Cluizel
Place Purchased: Garden of Eden (Manhattan)
Price: $5.45 (yow!)
Size: 3.5 oz
Calories per ounce: 180
Type: Chocolate

Michel Cluizel has been mentioned to me a few times as the epitome of fine, dense chocolate. I’ve looked at it quite a few times in the shops but have always been hesitant because of the price. Really, at $1.55 per ounce, this stuff better be pretty good.

It’s nicely packaged, I like things in boxes instead of flimsy paper, especially for something that I’m not going to finish in one sitting. The scent of the chocolate is positively gorgeous. Chocolately, rich and with a hint of coffee.

The bar I chose is a standard dark chocolate with bits of cocoa nibs in it. I’ve had this sort of bar before (I’ll try to find that bar again, because I really liked it) and was looking forward to the mix of textures and taste density.

My first two squares were disappointing. I think I hit a bad patch of nibs, because they tasted very musty. But, upon revisiting it the next day, I found that the chocolate was very smooth with an excellent contrast of the crunchy nibs. Overall I think that the addition of the nibs if more of a novelty than an actual enhancement. I like nuts in my chocolate, or raisins or, jeeze, just about anything. But I don’t like things in my chocolate that don’t add to the experience.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:08 am     CandyReviewMichel CluizelChocolateNibs6-TemptingFrance

Thursday, April 21, 2005

So Wonderful Sour

Name: Super Lemon Candy
Brand: Santa Trading Co.
Place Purchased: Mitsuwa Marketplace (Little Tokyo, LA)
Price: $1.49
Size: 2.64 oz
Type: Hard Candy (Sour)

Of course I’m a sucker for packaging. How could you resist this sassy lady with her cherry lips and surprised expression heralding “It’s So Wonderful Candy!”

What’s even better are the pictographic description on the back:

And is it ever sour. Taking them out of the individual packet, you’ll find a little round ball, about the size of a marble, distinctly yellow with a powdery dusting on it. Pop it in your mouth and you’re gonna definitely feel that “Oh! Super Candy” feeling. It’s sour. I’m serious. It’s painfully, numbingly sour.

After the salty, toxic waste sourness dissolves away, you’ve got a lemon drop. It’s a good lemon drop, smooth and without too many airgaps. It’s got good essense flavor to it, too. If you like the megasours that have been on the market for years without the novelty that goes with them, this is a solidly good sour lemon ball.

I’m unable to find much about the company that makes it, though it’s a common import and obviously packaged for the overseas market as much of the package is in English.

Other reviews: Super Lemon has Awesome Power & Candy Critic.

 

Rating: 8 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:56 pm     CandyReviewHard Candy & LollipopsSour8-TastyJapan

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Coffee Crisp

Name: Coffee Crisp
Brand: Nestle (Canada)
Place Purchased: Bristol Farms (Pasadena)
Price: $.79
Size: 1.76 oz
Calories per ounce: 148
Type: Chocolate Candy

Nestle’s known for the Nestle Crunch bar. This one is a bit of a twist. This huge, light block of a bar has layers of crisped cookie alternating with creamy coffee coated crisp. It’s all covered in a light layer of milk chocolate or more likely a waxy chocolate-like product.

It’s very sweet, but though the bar is large, it’s very light and crunchy. The ingredients list such artery-clogging items like palm and shea oils and hydrogenated soy oil. But I’m doing this for the good of science so I tossed aside my usual embargo on trans fats and wolfed this down.

The scent of coffee as you bring the bar to the mouth is quite evident, but the taste really isn’t there. The bar has lots of good textures, the crunch was crunchy without being dangerous like Cap’n Crunch or anything. But the whole thing was just too sweet and oily feeling. It’s a satisfying bar in that you don’t even feel you need to eat the whole, but it’s not one I’d probably buy again.

Rating: 5 out of 10

(Note, since this review the Coffee Crisp is now distributed widely in the United States by Nestle and was reformulated to contain only a trace of trans fats.)

Related Candies

  1. Nestle Crunch Cappuccino Stixx
  2. Cafe Select Chocolate Coffee Trios
  3. Pocket Coffee
  4. Coffee Beat

POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:37 pm     CandyReviewNestleCoffeeCookieMockolate5-PleasantCanada

Jelly Belly JBz

Name: JBz
Brand: Jelly Belly
Place Purchased: Linens & Things (Costa Mesa)
Price: $.99
Size: 1.4 oz
Calories per ounce: 129
Type: Chocolate Candy

In some ways I think that the Jelly Belly candies created after the flavors in the Harry Potter Books are more easily recommended than these candies. Those are meant to have an alarming taste. These, I think are supposed to be delectable.

For the record I like Jelly Bellies. Though not all the flavors. I like that I can buy just the flavors I like and that the flavor goes through and through, not just in the outside.

The candies, when tipped out of their little box, are a riot of dingy colors. I’m not a flavored chocolate snob. I like combinations of chocolate with such things as mint, fruit flavors, nuts, liquors - really just about anything can be combined with chocolate. The color coding is not terribly clear. The colors depicted on the box are not true to life, so the yellow they show for banana on the box is more like a caramel color in real life. Sometimes they’re supposed to have speckles on them, but I didn’t always get them on mine. They vary widely in size, too. I’m not saying that’s a good or bad thing, but I’m used to my plain M&Ms being the same size.

The flavors are not alarming in and of themselves - blueberry, apricot, grape, *raspberry, *cappuccino, *honey graham cracker, strawberry cheesecake, *orange juice, tutti-frutti, green apple, buttered popcorn, sizzling cinnamon, *coconut, cotton candy, toasted marshmallow, ice blue mint, juicy pear, licorice, very cherry and top banana. I’ve marked those that I thought were tasty with a star.

Mostly they’re too sweet, grainy and the flavorings are overtly plastic. There’s no essence to them, just a hint of artificiality to them in the candy shell and some ordinary cheap milk chocolate in the center. The snackability is lost because I really wouldn’t want to inadvertently combine a juicy pear with a licorice.

Thank you, I’ll stick to my M&Ms.

Rating: 3 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:15 am     CandyReviewJelly BellyChocolate3-UnappealingUnited States

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Asahi Drops

Name: Asahi Kinu Kokuto
Brand: Asahi
Place Purchased: Mitsuwa Marketplace (Little Tokyo, Los Angeles)
Price: $2.49
Size: 3.59 oz
Calories per ounce: 100
Type: Hard Candy

I wasn’t quite sure what these were when I purchased them. I knew they were hard candy and I read over the ingredients, which are: Corn Syrup, Sugar, Brown Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Flavoring, Caramel Coloring.

As far as I could figure, they were brown sugar drops. They’re better than that, I think they’re black coffee drops. Instead of those creamy drops (Coffee Rio) that are a bit like taffy, these are a smooth if sweet hard candy. Instead of being crackly with little air gaps like regular hard candy, these are dense.

They do have a tangy bit of molasses to them, I’m guessing because of the brown sugar. I have no idea what the flavoring is beyond that. I’ve searched the web for any info on them and I can’t seem to figure out what they’re even supposed to be called in English. The name up there is from the receipt.

If I can find these reliably, I will continue to buy them. They’re in little sealed packets and they last on the tongue for a quite a while without any of those sharp edges you sometimes get when there’s an air bubble in regular hard candies. The real drawback is that they’re rather expensive.

Rating: 8 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:15 pm     CandyReviewHard Candy & Lollipops8-TastyJapan

Monday, April 18, 2005

My Favorite Chocolate

Name: Wilbur Semisweet Chocolate
Brand: Wilbur
Place Purchased: Factory Store in Lititz, PA
Price: $1.49
Size: 2.25 oz
Calories per ounce: 160
Type: Chocolate

Not only is this one of the best domestic chocolates I’ve ever had, it’s really well priced. Of course it’s ridiculously hard to find so I usually go to the factory when I’m in Central Pennsylvania or order from them over the phone (nope, they don’t even have a web store).

Their dark chocolate is exceptionally buttery, not too bitter. It has no dry finish like most of the denser gourmet chocolates. I consider Wilbur more “eating” chocolate than “savoring” chocolate. The mouth feel is really wonderful and not at all grainy. It’s just tad sweet, maybe a little too sweet for my taste, but is great for melting and dipping things like strawberries or pretzels.

You can find the chocolate bars sometimes in east coast and midwest department stores in their gift departments but still the best way to get a hold of the freshest chocolate is to order from the factory.

Rating: 9 of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:02 pm     CandyReviewWilburChocolate9-YummyUnited States

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Fondente Nero

Name: Fondente Nero
Place Purchased: Novi
Price: unknown (gift)
Size: 4.5 oz
Type: chocolate

The Man brought this back from Italy on his last visit. It was a stack of three of these generous bars - one was given to his parents and we kept the other two.

It’s a wonderfully dense and rich chocolate, smooth but with a dry finish. It has a very good mouth feel, a good snap and then melts suddenly but there’s something oddly plastic about it. I don’t know if it’s the cocoa butter or we got a bad batch or the vanilla, but it’s just a little off, maybe tastes like its wrapping. However, this is a mass produced bar and readily available in Italy and a good value for a low end gourmet chocolate. Rating: 6 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:48 pm     CandyReviewChocolate6-TemptingItaly

Page 336 of 337 pages ‹ First  < 334 335 336 337 > 

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

 

 

 

 

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