Name: Maltesers
Brand: Maltesers
Place Purchased: London Drugs (Vancouver, BC)
Price: unknown
Size: 37 grams
Calories per package: 180
Type: Chocolate Malt

I know, you’re probably getting sick of me reviewing malt candies! But I’m not, as I’m on the search for the perfect malt candy in all markets. The description of Maltesers on the package is this, “Crisp, light honeycombed centres with chocolately coating.” In the States when a package says “chocolately” it means that the coating is not chocolate (it’s usually made with some other fat than cocoa butter). However, the ingredients list says Milk Chocolate in the first position, so it’s real chocolate (one of my pet peeves with Whoppers is that they use some sort of chocolatey wax).

What I noticed about these right away is that they’re small. About the size of a peanut M&M. The chocolate coating is rather thin, more like a shell than a dip. When you pop it in your mouth it’s rather easy to chip off 1/3 of the chocolate by chiseling it with the eye-teeth. At first I found the candy salty ... really salty for a malt ball. But then I came to really like the taste. The extra salt brings out the malt as a separate flavor from the chocolate. After chipping away most of the chocolate on many of them I let the malt honeycomb dissolve on my tongue. It’s a rather complex flavor, almost like a cereal flavor with good solid malty overtones along with some other notes that you’d find in a good hearty loaf of bread or kashi breakfast cereal.

At first I wasn’t wild about them, this exercise was more of an intellectual one, but as I ate more and more of them, I was trying to perfect removing the chocolate so that I could enjoy just the malted centers and found this to be a great activity while working tackling a rather complex project here at the office.

Next time in the UK or Canada, I’m definitely going to pick up more of these.

Rating - 8 out of 10

Name: Malted Milk
Brand: Cadbury
Place Purchased: London Drugs (Vancouver, BC)
Price: unknown
Size: 48 grams
Calories per ounce: no info on wrapper
Type: Chocolate/Nougat

On the outside the package promises malt. On the inside of the chocolate bar delivers sweet and bland, fluffy nougat. If you’re someone who likes Milky Ways or 3 Musketeers, this’ll be a good bar for you.

The bar is built like this: a foamy nougat that’s slightly malty with a strip of caramel on top and then the whole thing is covered in sticky sweet milk chocolate. I know, you’re thinking Milky Way. So am I. The nougat is actually more malty, a little more flavorful than an American Milky Way, but not enough that I’d go branding it with the word MALT on the package.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all that bad. The best part about this bar was the caramel. It’s slightly salty and was a good balance to the sweetness of the center and the chocolate coating.

If you’re looking for another version of a Milky Way bar, you’ll probably feel very at home with this bar. If you’re looking for a bar like a malted milk ball, this ain’t it.

Rating - 6 out of 10

Name: Twosomes - Whoppers
Brand: Hershey’s
Place Purchased: 7-11
Price: $.85
Size: 1.4 oz
Calories per ounce: 150
Type: Malt/Milk Chocolate

CANDY MAKERS, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?

Ahhh, my pursuit of the ideal malted chocolate candy may have come to an end. Hershey has introduced a series of limited edition candy bars under the heading of TwoSomes - basically Hershey’s extra creamy milk chocolate (read: dairy milk judging by the 6 grams of cholesterol in this bar that must come from milkfat) combined with another flavor from another popular Hershey product.

The line at the moment consists of Twosomes Heath Bar which is bits of toffee in milk chocolate (which sound suspiciously like the pre-existing Symphony bar), Twosomes Reese’s Pieces and this phenomenal Twosomes Whoppers.

What makes this a good bar? First, the chocolate is not the same as you’re used to. Those people who have problems with Hershey’s slightly yogurt taste to their milk chocolate will not find that here. This is their “extra creamy” milk chocolate which is the perfect tabula rasa for the strong flavor of the rice crispies that are imbued with malty goodness. The rice crispies give us some crunch (which was missing in that Maltimus Maximus bar I reviewed at the start of Candy Blog) and a little air which is needed for a good malt taste.

This bar is far superior to Hershey’s Whoppers, which are coated with a chocolate-like wax product (or at least it seems that way). There’s a great chocolate/malt aroma upon opening the package, the chocolate melts easily on the tongue where the sweetness and malt play well together.

Please, please Hershey’s give this bar a new name and add it to your repertoire. While you’re at it, create a Nuggets version of it. I’ll buy this by the pound. I had quite a bit of trouble finding this bar, having first seen it on The Impulsive Buy and then searching liquor stores, drug stores, grocers and convenience stores all over Los Angeles to find it (only some 7-11s seem to stock it).

Rating - 10 out of 10 (I will weep if this is not added to their regular production)

Name: Malted Milk Balls
Brand: Wilbur
Place Purchased: Phone Order
Price: $6.99
Size: 16 oz (one pound)
Calories per ounce: 138
Type: Malted/Chocolate

As I’ve stated before, I love malt. I will eat spoonfuls of Ovaltine malted milk powder straight from the jar. Good malt balls are not easy to find. First, they have to be covered with real chocolate. Those egg-shaped ones available around Easter are usually some fake chocolate compound and too sweet. The best bet is usually in the bulk candy aisle at the grocer if they carry Harmony Foods bulk chocolate covered malted milk balls.

Earlier this week I placed a bulk order from Wilbur and one of the items was their Malted Milk Balls. These are not simply malted milk balls covered with a thin layer of chocolate, they’re super thick with high-quality milk chocolate. The malt inside is crisp, large and very malty with a touch of salt.

They are by far the best malted milk balls I’ve had in my life. My big question is if anyone knows if naked malt balls exist, you know, just the malt balls without the chocolate coating.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Name: Maltimus Maximus
Place Purchased: Garden of Eden (Manhattan)
Price: $2.95
Size: 2.3 oz
Calories per ounce: ~150
Type: Chocolate (candy bar)

I love malt. I love really good malted milk balls. I will buy Ovaltine and eat it by the spoonful.

I saw this candy bar while walking around on a rainy night in New York and thought, “this is the candy bar for me!”

Oh, it isn’t. It’s clever. It’s cute, but lacks the real malt punch that I desire. It’s made by Cocoa Pete’s Chocolate Bars, they guy who says that he brought us Pete’s Wicked Ale. This is a guy who should know malt!

Opening the package it is a bar divided into four domes that can easily be broken off for easy consumage. Two domes equals one serving. It is a nice, if a little sweet milk chocolate with malt crunchies throughout. No matter which way I ate it (sucking on it until the chocolate melted away and left me with the malty bits) or crunching it down I never got that malty taste.

This is not the malt bar for me (I’m not even sure malt bars exist), but I’m willing to give his other bars a try. They’re a little pricey.

Rating: 4 out of 10