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Thursday, November 8, 2007

Sour Patch Extreme

Sour Patch ExtremeI don’t think I’ve ever thought that Sour Patch Kids needed to be sourer. Perhaps some sour enthusiasts did, but there are lots of super-sour, tongue-burning candies out there.

What I think is interesting about the new Sour Patch Extreme candies is that they didn’t just make them more sour. They mixed the flavors up a bit.

Each candy is a mix of two flavors. The head is one flavor and the shock of hair is a second flavor. I don’t think they looked too much like faces, more like feet with different colored toes to me.

Sour Patch Extreme FlavorsWatermelon Grape (purple hair and pink head) - I was surprised, these went together pretty well. The fake grape has a little concord snap to it and the watermelon, though pretty much a straight high pitched sour also has that slight note of the rind in there.

Orange Blue Raspberry (blue hair and orange head) - I would have preferred my citrus together - maybe a little lemon and orange, but this was okay. The orange seemed to overpower the raspberry in the sour department, but after chewing to the point where it gets sweet, that’s when the raspberry kicked in.

Sour Apple Strawberry (red hair and green head) - This combo was quite as abundant in the mix and that was fine by me. The flavors were so distinct they didn’t seem to go together.

I rather prefer my flavors separate. The good thing is that you can just bite off the half that you feel like eating, but of course you can’t throw the other half back into the bag for later (well, maybe you could, but I wouldn’t).

While they are more sour, they’re also a smidge less flavorful. I think I’ll stick with the regular ones.

I got these as a sample at All Candy Expo, but I spotted them at Target and 7-11.

Unlike gummis, Sour Patch products contain no gelatin (they’re technically a “jelly” product). For that reason they are suitable for vegetarians.

Related Candies

  1. Sour Gummi Bears
  2. Twizzler Sourz
  3. Haribo Fizzy Cola
  4. Warheads Juniors Extreme Sour
  5. Swedish Aqua Life
Name: Sour Patch Extreme
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Cadbury Adams
Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
Price: ~$1.39
Size: 7.2 ounces
Calories per ounce: 106
Categories: Jelly, Sour, Cadbury, Canada

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:39 am    

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Melville Candy Company Honey Spoons

Honey SpoonAh, foggy fall days have returned to Los Angeles. The chill in the air leads me to tea. While I’m a huge fan of honey, I prefer to either eat it straight or with something like plain toast or dip saltines in it. I rarely put it in my tea, but here’s a product that’s both a sweetener for your drinks and a lollipop.

Melville specializes in making lollipops in the classic tradition of the molded barley sugar pops. But they also have a line of Honey Spoons, clever little lollies shaped like a spoonful of honey on a pretty wooden stick.

They make two different varieties of Honey Spoons: Clover and Tupelo. Clover is light and fresh tasting. The spoons themselves are smooth and look like a little piece of light amber glass. The texture is smooth and slick on the tongue, no voids here. The candy is ever so slightly soft and can be bent slowly when it’s warm and thin.

The flavor is light and sweet, a little dollop of honey in mostly a sweet sugar base.

The difference between the Tupelo (which is prized because it doesn’t crystallize like some other honeys) and Clover isn’t really that discernible. They’re both extremely pleasant.

Just as an experiment I put one in a fresh cup of Earl Grey Tea (hot), and after about thirty seconds the spoon had melted enough that it fused to the bottom of my cup. A little wiggling and then stirring with it and I probably reduced its mass by half. I tasted the tea, which at that point was plenty sweet for me (again, not a sweet tea fan) ... so one pop will do just fine for most people. The one drink I can see this being especially good in would be a spiced chai.

image

I was really looking forward to the Lavender Honey Spoon. Earlier this year I ordered some Spanish lavender honey from Artisan Sweets and I love the stuff. It’s murky and musky with a dark oily feel on the tongue that reminds me of Rosemary.

The Lavender Honey Spoons, on the other hand, aren’t quite as deep and complex. Yes, there’s a light floral note there, but no real lavender note. Still, they’re pretty.

They’re expensive for just lollipops ($1.50 each), but really good honey hard candies are hard to find. They don’t quite rival the Juntsuyu I love so much from Japan, but they’d make a lovely hostess gift over the holidays with some fine tea or stocking stuffers. Sometimes I just like pretty candy (okay, I always like pretty candy if it’s tasty). I might pick one up as an impulse item at a coffee house, but I doubt I’d buy a whole package.

Related Candies

  1. Bit-O-Honey
  2. Nutpatch Nougats
  3. See’s Scotchmallow Eggs
  4. Regennas Clear Toys
  5. Nougat de Montelimar
Name: Honey Spoons
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Melville
Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
Price: ~$1.50 each
Size: .5 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Hard Candy, United States, All Natural

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:41 am    

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Cowgirl Chocolates Buckin’ Hot Habanero Caramels

My neighbors went on vacation a while back and brought me something I can’t readily find around here (which is one of the best things for friends to give you when the return from their travels!). They brought back this half-pound tin of Cowgirl Chocolates’ Buckin’ Hot Habanero Caramels.

Cowgirl Chocolates Caramels

It’s a pretty tin packed with golden caramels wrapped in clear cellophane. They look rather ordinary. Those words of warning “SPICY SPICY” across the front of the tin don’t really look like they apply to these caramels.

There are no little flecks of peppers, just a buttery smelling caramel. They’re very soft and have a good pull to them. Easy to chew they have an immediate low burn of habanero chili. Then a warmer burn. Then a throat blistering sensation that dulls all other flavors. Are they Buckin’ hot? Buck yeah!

They qualify as SPICY SPICY. I took to eating them with other things, like pieces of dark chocolate and pretzels. But I don’t care much for candy that requires assembly, especially when the other products aren’t included.

Too spicy for me.

I’m sure I’d like some of their other more sedate treats like truffles or these Truffle Bars. So I’ll keep that in mind. (As a general rule though, I don’t care for products that have logos with guns aimed at me.)

Related Candies

  1. Das French Salted Caramels
  2. Dolfin: Anise and Red Pepper
  3. Vosges Haut-Chocolate
  4. Hot Tamales and Hotter Tamales
  5. Cha-Cha-Cha Choxie
Name: Buckin' Hot Habanero Caramels
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Cowgirl Chocolates
Place Purchased: gift (thanks Robin & Amy!)
Price: $19.50
Size: 8 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Caramel, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:39 am    

Monday, November 5, 2007

Boston Baked Beans

Boston Baked BeansI love peanuts, though I rarely eat them plain. Peanuts are one of the most perfect nuts for candy. Moderate fat content, mild flavor that combines well with other flavors (especially chocolate) and spices. They’re also inexpensive, so can be found in a wide variety of candies from cheap to upscale.

Ferrara Pan Boston Baked Beans are one of those classic candies that capitalizes on simplicity. Candy covered peanuts. They’re sold in these little boxes, pretty cheap too, 25 cents for .95 ounces.

They’re named for a dish, a mix of beans in a brown sugar or molasses and spice sauce. These don’t taste anything like that, though they do have legumes at their center!

Boston Baked BeansSugar shells like the panned coating of Boston Baked Beans are great because they seal in freshness (in fact, when first developed as a process, panning was used to preserve herbs and seeds).

The sugar coating isn’t quite crisp, but has a slight grain. There’s really no flavor to it, just sugar. The peanut inside is a little soft, and tastes a little raw. No dark roasted flavors, just the fresh taste of peanuts. A little earthy, not at all salty and even a little on the sweet side. The nuts are well chosen. Even though all of them are not large, I didn’t run across any rancid or bitter ones.

When I was a kid Boston Baked Beans confused me. I don’t think I ate them until I was a teenager. I think I was afraid they actually were candied beans (and that’s not really that outlandish, as there’s an Indian confection which is candy coated garbanzos). The appeal of candied nuts just wasn’t apparent as a kid ... I don’t think I cared much for Jordan Almonds back then either.

But as an adult, I think these are fun and a nice snack. Not that easy to find though. These are suitable for vegetarians and vegans who eat beeswax, however the package states that the product is processed in a facility that also uses milk, egg and soy products (and wheat for those who are gluten-sensitive).

Just for giggles, I decided to list my favorite nuts for eating plain, in descending order of affection (though I have great affection for all):

1. Almonds
2. Cashews
3. Peanuts
4. Pecans
5. Hazelnuts

Here’s what my favorites lists looks like for my favorite nuts that are included in candy:

1. Pecans
2. Cashews
3. Hazelnuts
4. Peanuts
5. Almonds

So, what are you top nuts, and do you have a different preference when they’re included in candy?

Related Candies

  1. Romanego Dragees, Cordials & Fondants
  2. Sno-Caps, Goobers & Raisinets
  3. P-Nuttles
  4. The Lemonhead & Fruit Heads
Name: Boston Baked Beans
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrara Pan
Place Purchased: Ralph's (Glendale)
Price: $.25
Size: .95 ounces
Calories per ounce: 123
Categories: Peanuts, Canada, Ferrera Pan

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:52 am    

Sunday, November 4, 2007

This Week in Candy - Novelties

imageI’m hard at work these days on a novel that you’ll never, ever read. (I do this every year as November is National Novel Writing Month.)

Last year’s novel was about candy, this year’s is about whale watching, or at least so far. So that’s how I’m spending my spare time these days (not that I have a lot of that ... it’s Candy Season!).

I’m also participating in National Blog Posting Month, which is a challenge to post to your blog at least once a day. Most readers know I pretty much post six times a week. So in November you’ll get 7 for the price of 6!

Let’s see what happened this week besides Halloween and the wonderful Post-Halloween Sales!

Monday: Big Mo’ Bars: Peanut Butter & Creamy Caramel (4 out of 10)

Tuesday: Andes Mints & Dessert Indulgence (6 out of 10 & 4 out of 10)

Wednesday: Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint (6 out of 10)

Thursday: Bratz Candy Cosmetics (5 out of 10, 3 out of 10 & 4 out of 10)

Friday: Kenny’s Licorice Pastels & Root Beer Twists (4 out of 10 & 7 out of 10)

Weekly average: 4.7 with a total chocolate content of 18% ... hmm, the lower the chocolate content, the lower my weekly average. I may be onto something here.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:50 pm     CandyFeatured News

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