Friday, June 29, 2007

Hot Tamales Ice

Sometimes I wonder why candy availability is so screwy. Take the Elvis Reese’s Cups, you can get them in some stores now even though they’re not supposed to be out until Monday

Saturday, July 7 ... but why do some have them now and why not all of them?

A few months ago Wisconsin Candy Dish reviewed the new Hot Tamales Ice, and even mentioned that they’d been around since January. Well, I’ve been lookin’, and lookin’. Finally at the strange RiteAid trip this week I found them (along with the Elvis Reese’s Cups and the Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms).

image

They were only available in the theater sized box and the ticket on the shelf said $1.29, but it rung up at 99 cents (another reason to think that this RiteAid is screwy).

The candies are rather pretty. They’re kind of translucent, light blue with some white speckles. They’re shaped just like Hot Tamales or Mike and Ike, which is a little rod shape that for some reason is a little bigger on one end than the other.

The little rods are like jelly beans, if you’ve never had Hot Tamales. These are spearmint flavored ... quite strong spearmint. They’re pleasant and refreshing, and rather unlike jelly beans. They remind me a lot of Spearmint Leaves, which are one of those odd candies that I’ve had cravings for all my life. There’s something about hitting a mint spot (a concentration of the mint flavor) that must release endorphins in my brain or something.

Of course I also associate the smell of spearmint with toothpaste, so while they’re tasty to eat, the smell in the car after leaving them there in the sun is rather like a cleaning the bathroom sink of that crust of toothpaste dribbles and beard whiskers when I was in college and shared that one bathroom apartment with four guys for a summer. This might explain why I chose a cinnamon-flavored toothpaste when I bought a new tube.

Have I digressed enough? Well, it’s a big box. I could talk about how silly the name is ... why not just call them Cool Tamales, or Ice Tamales or maybe even Mike and Ice? I like the packaging otherwise, the blue box is certainly easy to spot. I don’t know if they’re an ideal movie candy though, not like Hot Tamales. But certainly less messy than those sugar-sanded jelly Spearmint Leaves.

One Hot Tamale Ice has 7 calories. There’s no statement on the box about gluten or nuts. Previous Hot Tamales review here.

UPDATE 8/1/2007: No wonder I wanted to call them Cool Tamales! There was a product made by Just Born back in the day that was a spearmint jelly rod. They were called Cool Kids (but green instead of blue).

Name: Hot Tamales Ice
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Just Born
Place Purchased: RiteAid (Vermonica)
Price: $.99 (on sale!)
Size: 6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 93
Categories: Jelly, Mint, United States, Just Born

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:55 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. The 7th is a Saturday

    Comment by Bonney on 6/29/07 at 11:15 am #
  2. Cybele's avatar

    Thanks Bonney ... that was me looking at May instead of July (you know those little back and ahead boxes on the regular calendar?).

    Comment by Cybele on 6/29/07 at 11:21 am #
  3. Hi Cybele -
    I live in Hollywood and want to find the Elvis Resses. You mentioned Rite Aid…but what is Vermonica? Is that a street? Please help!
    Thanks smile

    Comment by Jaimi on 6/29/07 at 11:36 am #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Hey Jaimi - Vermonica is the plaza at the corner of Vermont and Santa Monica. Los Angeles has a habit of naming things for intersections. (Wiltern Theater is a good example - Wilshire + Western.) I think that neighborhood near LACC is called Vermonica.

    Another blogger I met up with last night said he went and bought a WHOLE BOX ... they’re on sale for 50 cents a piece right now. (Hopefully he didn’t buy them all.) There’s another RiteAid on Vermont at Hollywood Blvd., but I can’t be sure that they have it (but at least it’s not a far drive).

    Comment by Cybele on 6/29/07 at 11:45 am #
  5. Thanks! I’ll check them both out.

    Comment by Jaimi on 6/29/07 at 11:51 am #
  6. I think about those Spearmint Leaves jelly candies all the time, they were one of my childhood favorites! I’ll have to check these Hot Tamales out and see what I think.

    Comment by Carol on 6/29/07 at 12:04 pm #
  7. those sound so good. i will defiantly look out for those.

    Comment by Alyssa on 6/29/07 at 1:42 pm #
  8. Cybele, I’ve noticed how diligent you are about noting if something is kosher or vegitarian and I was wondering if you thought of making a section for candies that meet those dietary needs. I’ve always loved how well set up your site is, what with the sorting by rating, country etc. I have a few friends who are always looking for kosher candies and such, and vegan friends too. Keep up teh awesome!

    Comment by MaliceAlice on 6/29/07 at 2:24 pm #
  9. These are so exciting!!! I also love those spearmint leaves (and the orange slices) but I almost never see the spearmint leaves, only the orange slices.  I hope they have them in Santa Barbara…

    Comment by Jess on 6/29/07 at 9:44 pm #
  10. I LOVED spearmint leaves, and I wanted to try the Tamales Ice…
    until I read that bit about toothpaste crust and beard whiskers.
    Now I have to wait for that mental image to dissolve…
    otherwise, thanks(:

    Comment by Emily on 7/01/07 at 9:26 am #
  11. oh no…hot tamales, the world’s perfect candy (besides smarties) should never be tampered with! an abomination! (okay, i don’t like spearmint. :D)

    Comment by Pam on 7/09/07 at 6:53 am #
  12. Cybele's avatar

    MaliceAlice - I do tag all reviews of candies that are Kosher but I don’t think I’m going to do anything like that for vegetarians or vegans (or gluten/nut status) as the info can change without warning. But I’ll keep mentioning them as I have the info when I do the new reviews.

    Jess - definitely check the dollar stores, they always seem to have these “movie boxes”.

    Emily - it’s been over a week, has the image faded yet?

    Pam - well, at least they didn’t mix them in the same package!

    Comment by Cybele on 7/11/07 at 2:53 pm #
  13. There?s something about hitting a mint spot (a concentration of the mint flavor) that must release endorphins in my brain or something.

    I heard an NPR piece not too long ago, about some researchers who figured out how mint signals “cool” to our brains. Here’s a link to the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10672127

    Comment by Tricia on 7/14/07 at 4:25 pm #
  14. Hi.  I purchased these after reading your review.  I love love love spearmint leaves, so you can imagine how excited i was to get these.  Well…...these are not spearmint.  They’re peppermint.  They taste just like those starlite mints.  Which is not to say that they’re bad, they’re just not spearmint at all.  I had my husband and 2 friends try them too.  Without leading them on, I asked what they taste like and they all replied, “peppermint”.  If you’ve got some that are spearmint I would love to try them.  Please let me know.

    Comment by Amy Elliott on 9/02/07 at 7:54 am #
  15. I’m sorry but that’s majorly dumb! They might be good but ice tamales?! Seriously?!

    Comment by Taylor on 4/05/11 at 9:27 pm #
  16. Where can i buy this candy? My son wants this for his 60th bithday and I am old man. Any help is greatly appreciated. Help make my sons 60th birthday his best ever.

    Comment by Wang Pan on 2/13/13 at 7:34 am #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Next entry: Twix PB

Previous entry: Altoids Chocolate Dipped Ginger Mints




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

-2537 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