Monday, January 28, 2008
J Morgan CaramelsYears ago when I was in college I went to see Twelfth Night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It’s a cool outdoor venue and in true Elizabethan style they had concessions (candies) available to eat right there at your seat. I bought a roll of licorice toffee, I believe by Callard & Bowser. I thought I was getting a roll of licorice medallions or a hard candy flavored with licorice or something. Instead it was a roll of soft caramels ... licorice caramels. I quite liked them. I ate the whole roll. I bought them whenever I could find them, which wasn’t very often. And then I never saw them again. Turns out that Callard & Bowser, also known for their Altoids, is now owned by Wrigley’s and many of the traditional candies they used to make are gone. There are other licorice taffies out there, and those are nice, but don’t have that mix of true cream and dark licorice that I love. Then at the All Candy Expo I noticed that there were a few places that actually had licorice caramels. I was on a quest for the best. I found J. Morgan, already known in Utah for its excellent caramels. (Utah it seems is a hotbed of confection, owing I believe to the LDS prohibition on alcohol & caffeine.) The glossy caramels wrapped in clear cellophane were quite appealing to behold. (The above tub actually has a mix of all of their products in it, not just the caramels.) The Licorice Caramel is wonderfully creamy with a light anise touch that leaves a kind of cool effect on the tongue. The texture is exceptionally smooth, the chew is a bit stiff, but gives it up after warming in the mouth. (The short-caramel of the Callard & Bowser was grainy and not nearly as satisfying as these.) The plain Butter Caramel is smooth, not a bit of grain to it and a nice well-toasted sugar flavor. The other one I tried was a Pecan Caramel. The pecans weren’t big or plentiful but still added a nice buttery crunch and nutty maple flavor to them soft chew. They make two lines of caramels, the ones profiled here are their Signature Caramels line called Old Fashioned Caramels and come in sealed cello. Their other line which is more affordable in the Heavenly Caramels line called Butter Caramels and are nice but have a slight grain to them, a less chewy chew and come in twisted cello pieces. The ingredients for the Butter Caramels are: Sweetened Condensed Milk, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Cream, High Fructose Corn Sweetener, Palm Kernel Oil, Butter, Vanillin, Salt & Lecithin. So the majority of the sugar is from the sweetened condensed milk & corn syrup, but it looks like there’s a dash of HFCS. But all that condensed milk gives these 4% of your daily RDA of calcium in just 3 caramels! They’re all tasty, but the Licorice Caramels are a standout of smooth creamy chew with that lovely woodsy hit of anise/licorice in it. (I do wish they’d sell a mixed tub though, so folks can sample.) Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:46 am |
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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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I loved Callard and Bowser as a child in the little boxes that were a little bigger than a cigarette pack, if you’ll excuse the analogy. They did lovely hard caramels (in oblongs, wrapped in foil) and nougat that was just like the Italian kind. Lovely.
Those licorice caramels sounds great BTW!
Speaking of Altoids…can anyone explain to me why I can’t find Altoids or Altoids gum anymore? I only ever see the strips, yuck, or the odd flavored ones. I miss my Altoids.
Callard and Bowser…man, I totally forgot about those, and I used to buy them pretty regularly when I was in my late teens/early 20’s). It wasn’t until I read your post that I realized that I have not, in fact, seen them around for years. Interesting.
Being a non-licorice fan, I opted for the straight up toffees, not the licorice variety.
Thanks for the trip down sweet mem’ry lane.
I just got back from my neighborhood grocery (local chain) and the in-house bakery is now making their own peanut brittle and “almond roca”, sold in bulk by the pound. Ted, the “pastry lead”, with whom I have achieved friendly and familar relationship (big surprise), gave me a big hunk of the just-made peanut brittle to sample. Have I mentioned how much I love my grocery store?
I’m switching grocery stores.
I can never bring myself to buy caramels even though I like them so much. It doesn’t seem like something I should spend money on for some reason.
Aw, I haven’t visited for awhile and you mention one of my pet candy peeves, Cybele—decimation of Callard & Bowser! Why did they do that?
THIS J.MORGAN LICORICE CHEWS IS BEYOND BELIEF GOOD ! WE FOUND IT OUT IN THE HILLS OF OREGON AT A TINY STORE AT BRIDGE OREGON . I RIDE OUT THERE A COUPLE TIMES A MONTH TO BUY JUST A FEW PIECES AND THE RIDE . LAST TIME I BOUGHT A BOX OF IT !
You can get licorice caramels at AJ’s Market. They are made in Ogden, Utah by the Heavenly Caramel Company! They are to die for!!
I would like to find a store to buy some “Butter Old Fashioned
Heavenly Caramels” by J Morgan’s Confections in Ogden
Utah. I live in Palm Springs, Ca. I bought a package of them
at T.J.Maxx. Thank You, Judy Wilkey.
THE CARMELS ARE VERY GOOD
Very Very Good!
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