Candy Blog

Ghirardelli Chocolate is America’s second oldest chocolate company, making cacao products in the Bay Area of California since 1852.

The Ghirardelli family owned and ran the company until the 1960s when the company was sold to the Golden Grain Macaroni Company (makers of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat), then in the 1980s Golden Grain was swallowed up by Quaker Oats (the Pennsylvania treat). About 6 years later Quaker sold Ghiradelli off and it was once again an independent entity, if only for about six years when in 1998 it was bought up by Lindt and Sprüngli of Switzerland (which was making chocolate only seven years longer than Ghiradelli).

I mention all of this because there was something vaguely familiar about this bar called Ghirardelli Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree when I picked it up and it took me a while to figure it out. A couple of years ago I reviewed Lindt Excellence Dark with a Touch of Sea Salt. While I found Lindt’s a good bar, it’s either the quality of the Ghirardelli chocolate or the addition of almonds that really make Ghirardelli’s bar special.

The bar’s mold is nicely designed. Each of the eight sections include the Ghirardelli eagle logo. The molding is overall good, though there are some voids and bubbles on the front of the bar, I didn’t notice anything else amiss when I snapped the bar in half or inspected the bottom of the bar.

I didn’t think it smelled particularly special, like brownies, which in itself is a tantalizing scent, but really didn’t do the rest of the bar justice.

The bar is called Intense Dark but I can’t find anything that says what the percentage of cacao is for the bar. The appearance is dark like coffee with a light reddish hue to it. The bar has a liberal sprinkling of crushed almonds in it and of course large flakes of sea salt.

The flavors of the chocolate are very mild, but a good blend of hot cocoa, coffee and woodsy tobacco. The almonds give a fresh crunch and the light sprinkling of salt doesn’t overwhelm any of the other elements.

It’s an extremely munchable bar, not too dark for a snack but still more sophisticated than a standard Dove or plain Ghirardelli bar. I didn’t expect to like the bar so much since it’s such a simple idea and construction, especially since I had the nut-less Lindt version before. The freshness of the elements and well executed format just come together so well here. I wish that Ghirardelli didn’t feel the need to use dairy (milk fat) in their dark chocolate though, it would make this a much more accessible bar. (It’s also made in a facility that processes peanuts as well.)

Related Candies

1. Trader Joe’s 70% Dark with Caramel and Black Sea Salt
2. Equal Exchange Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt
3. Lindt Excellence Dark with a touch of Sea Salt
4. Marich Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews
5. Ghirardelli Intense Dark

A new flavor of TicTacs called Strawberry Fields. The candies are two different shades of pink but I think they were the same light strawberry flavor.

You can read an excellent full review at Sugar Pressure. They should be on store shelves now, but I haven’t seen them. These were a sample from the Sweets and Snacks Expo.

Back in 2009 Necco revamped their 145 year old Necco wafers by going all-natural with the ingredients. This meant not only dropping artificial colors and flavors, but they also discontinued lime since they could not make it naturally.

Well, a scant two years later, the original (or at least pre-2009) version is coming back to store shelves. This little ad to the right is from June 2011, so your store might have them in stock now. (Of course some stores I visit never stopped stocking them, as they have a very long shelf life.)

So it turns out that some candy companies do listen to their customers, so never forget to let them know when you don’t like something ... or when you do.

(Personally, I preferred the All Natural version.)

When I was a kid Whoppers were made by Leaf who also made Sixlets, Rain-Blo bubble gum and a lot of different novelty type gums (like Hot Dog Gum). Mostly I knew Whoppers as a candy for movies, but like Sixlets, Whoppers came in a little clear cellophane sleeve, there were five of them and they were called Fivesomes.

Leaf had a couple of versions of Malted Milk Balls, their small ones were called Malt-ettes and were barely larger than an M&M if they were spherical and their largest version were called Whoppers. I feel like Whoppers were bigger when I was a kid, but I could be confusing the mockolate coated year-round version with the Robins Egg Easter version.

The Whoppers we know today weren’t always so grand. When they were first introduced in 1939 by the Overland Candy Company and called Giants. Leaf took over the brand in 1949 and changed the name to Whoppers. Hershey’s now markets them and calls them the Original Malted Milk Balls.

While they may have the same name as the original, I highly doubt that this is the original recipe: Sugar; Whey (Milk); Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil; Corn Syrup; Malted Milk (Barley Malt; Wheat Flour; Milk; Salt; Sodium Bicarbonate); Cocoa; Contains 2% Or Less Of: Soy Lecithin; Resinous Glaze; Sorbitan Tristearate; Natural And Artificial Flavor ; Calcium Carbonate; Tapioca Dextrin; Salt.

They’re nicely spherical, about the size of a Peanut M&M. The shell of mockolate is mercifully thin, more of a protective wax sealant for the crunchy malted center. The coating is always a little rancid tasting to me, not terribly sweet but grainy and only the lightest touch of cocoa to it. The center is what redeems Whoppers. They’re very consistent - a dense crunch with a sweet and milky flavor with a good dollop of malt in there. They’re salty, but not too much to make me thirsty.

I can’t say that Hershey’s ruined Whoppers, but they’re certainly never done anything to make them better.

Whoppers are sold in a lot of packaging different formats, little single serving packets, small boxes and the big theater box shown and a fun size usually available around Halloween. But really the only kind of Whopper I think is worth eating is the Easter or Christmas version, which has a hard candy shell ... and even that isn’t as good as some other brands that use real chocolate.

Related Candies

1. Target’s Market Pantry Malted Milk Balls
2. Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs (Plus a Bonus)
3. Whoppers Reese’s Peanut Butter Flavored Candy
4. Whoppers Milkshake Strawberry
5. Brach’s Fiesta Eggs
6. Whoppers Twosomes
7. Bulk Balls

Trader Joe’s has been stepping up their introduction of classic candies lately. They have their gourmet versions of Milk Duds and Dutch Mints. I was quite shocked and delighted to see these Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Licorice a couple of weeks ago.

The box has a great, comforting design on it that conveyed everything I needed to know about the product. It’s licorice, it comes in pastel colors and it’s candy coated. But the really appealing part of this product for many people will be that it’s made without artificial colors or preservatives and contains no animal products. (It is missing the Trader Joe’s vegan symbol though I can’t find anything on the list of ingredients that would be considered non-vegan, except perhaps titanium dioxide, which is neither animal or vegetable, it’s mineral.)

If you were afraid that natural colors would be muted and bland, let me allay that fear. These are bright - a deep purple, bright yellow, brilliant orange and a clean white.

The candies are short little pieces, squat and with all the candy coating, rather rounded. They reminded me a bit of the Wiley Wallaby Outback Beans, made by Kenny’s Licorice. However, these have a few key differences. First, they’re made in Mexico and Kenny’s is made in the USA. Second, the Kenny’s had a rather soft shell to it. The Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Licorice is quite crisp.

The shell is thick and very crunchy. As with many natural or artificial colors, some taste different from others. The purple and orange candies have a light violet floral note to them. Otherwise the candy is all about sweetness, licorice and molasses. The candy shell provides a long, sustained sugar zap while the center is quite soft and has a slightly doughy chew. The molasses is a little bitter, smoky and woodsy. The licorice is light and sweet with a hit of anise as well as a grassy note of fresh fennel.

They’re a lot more affordable than the new Panda Candy Coated Licorice, which is also slightly different as the shells are flavored.

As much as these have going for them, first they’re dirt cheap at 99 cents for a 6 ounce box, I can’t say that they’re my absolute favorite candy coated licorice of all time. For me there’s too much shell and not enough intense licorice flavor. But the texture mixes are balanced very well. I’ve eaten three boxes so far, so these are definitely my go-to munching licorice. But I’d like an Extra Licorice version, maybe that has a little hint of anise in the shell itself.

Related Candies

1. Panda Candy Coated Licorice
2. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Mints
3. Goetze’s Licorice and Double Chocolate Caramel Creams
4. Trader Joe’s Jelly Beans & Citrus Gum Drops
5. Wiley Wallaby Outback Beans
6. Sugar Coated Fennel
7. Boston Baked Beans
8. Good & Plenty (Fresh from the Factory)