Monday, January 22, 2007

Joyva Joys

imageAh, the joys of jelly. Why is it that we associate jelly candies with old people? (Or maybe that’s just me.)

I’ve seen these bars around, usually in big cities, usually in Kosher delis or Jewish neighborhoods. I’ve had Joyva’s products before, but always the halvah. The Joyva Joys is a long, flat and rather solid jelly bar covered in a thin shell of dark chocolate.

image

The jelly has a very strong floral scent and is raspberry flavored. It’s mostly sweet with a light tart bite to it. The jelly itself is medium pink, which I thought a little odd because the only way you’d know that is if you nibbled off the chocolate. For some reason I figured they colored it, but maybe not.

The chocolate is not terribly interesting, but I rather liked how it took a back seat to the jelly.

I enjoyed the bar for the most part. It wasn’t terribly sweet and it was different. The jelly was firmer and less sticky than something like a Chuckle or a Sunkist Fruit Gem - more like Jell-O. But Raspberry isn’t really my favorite flavor combo with chocolate. I think I’d enjoy an orange bar better, but I have no clue if Joyva makes an orange jelly. I get the sense that jelly candies like this are for old people or maybe I just think that because I’ve never seen anyone eating them. They’re probably a good candy to eat if you’re on a diet and want something chocolate, but not all that fat. They’ve got a pretty low caloric density for a candy with chocolate in it.

But I’m not on a diet, so I think I’ll stick with my Joyva Halvah. WASAW has two different reviews on this ... which average out pretty much to my review - a rave and a pan.

Note: Joyva Joys are thickened with agar-agar (made from seaweed), so they’re appropriate not only for those who keep Kosher, but also vegans (who don’t mind a little sugar), however, they are not Kosher for Passover as they contain corn syrup.

Name: Joys
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Joyva
Place Purchased: gift (thanks Susan!)
Price: retail $.75
Size: 1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 127
Categories: Chocolate, Jelly, United States, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:54 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I’m a huge fan of chocolate covered jelly.  I like everything from the Big Turk bar here in Canada to chocolate covered gummi-bears.  But I also love jujubes and chocolate alone.  Maybe I just love candy…

    Comment by Helen A. Handbasket on 1/22/07 at 6:34 am #
  2. Not Kosher for Passover!  I’ll have to let the synagogue know about that because they have been selling these for Passover since I was a little kid.  Love these bars though, and they’re much better than the Trader Joes chocolate covered rasperry jellies.

    Comment by Jessie on 1/22/07 at 9:07 am #
  3. Not too appealing to me.  I tried Wonka’s Turkish Delite when I was in Ireland.  This looks like that and I didn’t care for that.

    Comment by Susan on 1/22/07 at 9:36 am #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Jessie - they may reformulate for Passover to eliminate the corn syrup ... it may be that those Jelly Rings that they make are the ones that are Passover-safe.

    Susan - I tried the Fry’s Turkish Delight from the UK (there’s a review on the site somewhere) and it was quite good, but covered in a thicker milk chocolate shell.

    Helen - I don’t think I’ve tried the Big Turk but now I’m curious.

    Comment by Cybele on 1/22/07 at 10:08 am #
  5. For your orange fix, Joyva makes chocolate-covered orange jelly rings.

    Chocolate-covered jelly candies were a lot more common in drug stores when I was little (say, 30-35 years ago)—it may be only the old people who know which stores still have them *sigh*.

    Comment by calamari on 1/22/07 at 11:00 am #
  6. This looks like it would be right up my alley, I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for them.
    I never heard of them before, thanks for the heads up.

    Comment by David on 1/25/07 at 4:42 am #
  7. Love the Joyva bars.  I buy them by the box.  Lately, I’ve been put on a GLUTEN FREE diet.Are they gluen free?  Are they made on machinery that has no contact with flour (conveyor belts, mixers,) and away from flour or other gluten products? I must avoid cross-contamination.
    Thank Yo,m
    Uncle Al

    Comment by Alvin on 3/02/07 at 2:07 pm #
  8. I have been eating these since I was a kid…now my kids ask for them. These are the perfect balance, not to sweet, just right!

    Comment by Jody on 12/31/08 at 9:58 am #
  9. A little floral for me… but very good!

    Comment by Elyssa Heller on 3/10/09 at 3:46 pm #
  10. I have eaten the Joys for 50+ years ! We used to have a Jewish Deli across from our High School that had this in BULK. The man at the counter would give you a slice from a slab of about 5 pounds. I haven’t seen the slabs around since 1960.

    Comment by Terry Weddleton on 10/14/10 at 10:53 am #
  11. Joyce does make orange jelly chocolates. The Hayvas come in orange. We have them in Brooklyn

    Comment by Cassie on 2/17/15 at 8:36 pm #
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