Friday, September 5, 2008

Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses

Pumpkin Spice KissesEven though the 100th Anniversary of the Hershey’s Kiss has passed, this hasn’t stopped them from coming out with new Limited Edition versions.

This fall marks the return of the Candy Corn Kiss as well as two new harvest-themed versions: Pumpkin Spice Kisses and Caramel Apple Kisses.

I tracked down the Pumpkin Spice ones at Target. (They weren’t in with the regular candy, just at the check out aisle candy display.)

The package is Halloween-themed, with brown and orange webby pattern (which kind of reminds me of cantaloupes) and a taunting Jack-O-Lantern.

Pumpkin Spice Kisses

The package offers no description of the product and neither does the Hershey’s website. All I could figure out from looking at the wrapper was that these were some sort of orange-colored white-chocolate-like-confection (there might be cocoa butter in there, there might not, the ingredients are rather coy about it) filled with a cream that’s probably flavored like pumpkin pie.

The little foil wrappings are bronzy orange with wavy little brown stripes. The flags are brown and say pumpkin spice though many are greasy and look a bit more translucent.

The bag smells appealing, like ginger snaps or snickerdoodles. Sugary and spicy and everything nice-y.

It was warm for a few days so I tucked these away in one of my coolers. When I took the photos they were very soft, but even at temps in the high sixties or low seventies, they’re still mushy.

The orange confection outside has a bit of a greasy sheen to it, but otherwise is a nice pumpkin custard color. I bit a few in half (ended up cutting them for the photo) just to see what was inside, it’s a soft cream not unlike the New York Cheesecake flavored ones back around Valentine’s Day.

The taste, though sweet, has a great harvest spice flavor - it’s mostly nutmeg with a little cinnamon and perhaps ginger or allspice and maybe a hint of clove.

I really thought these were going to be terrible, especially since I didn’t like the fake butter flavor of the Candy Corn Kisses, but they’re pleasant. Not too sweet, a little bit of a custardy tang and though kind of grainy they remind me of a decadent flavored fudge. Or a very sweet cheesecake.

I don’t think they’re something I’d buy again, even if they were seasonal, but I certainly enjoy a little spice in my life now and then. Sera at The Candy Enthusiast found them at the same time as I did and has a review today as well. She’s a bit more fond of them than I am, but I’ll chalk that up to her obsession with all things pumpkin. Other early reviews are also positive: Franklin Avenue, Megan’s Munchies and keep an eye on the Kiss Candy Spotting thread in the Candy Forums.

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  4. Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Kisses
  5. Candy Corn Kisses
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  7. Kisses Chocolate Truffles
  8. The Mint Kisses: Chocolate Mint & Candy Cane
  9. Peanut Butter Kisses
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Name: Pumpkin Spice Kisses
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Hershey's
Place Purchased: Target (Santa Monica & LaBrea)
Price: $2.99
Size: 10 ounces
Calories per ounce: 152
Categories: White Chocolate*, United States, Hershey's, Kosher, Limited Edition

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:00 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I thought these were fantastic! So different from how I was expecting them to be. And most friends of mine who tried them had positive reactions as well. Glad to see Hershey still has some good ideas (though not many).

    Comment by Debby on 9/05/08 at 7:16 am #
  2. These sound AWESOME! Pumpkin and maple are my two favorite flavors for candy (or ice cream or anything else for that matter). I’m going to look for these this weekend and stock up!

    Comment by Chip on 9/05/08 at 7:23 am #
  3. ruffy's avatar

    i liked them quite a bit, too (especially chilled.)  wow, who would’ve thought that a hershey’s ltd edition would garner such acclaim?

    Comment by ruffy on 9/05/08 at 10:31 am #
  4. arenee's avatar

    See, I was disappointed.  I foolishly expected pumpkin AND spice.  But if you’re only expecting pumpkin pie spices - they aren’t bad.

    Comment by arenee on 9/05/08 at 3:10 pm #
  5. Mmmm…. I bet these would be tasty pressed down into the middle of a pumpkin cookie.

    Comment by Kris on 9/05/08 at 4:20 pm #
  6. They really need to consider amping up their web site a bit.  They never seem to mention what the current limited editions are, which seems strange!  For that matter, they have a whole bunch of Halloween products for sale on the site, but none of the Halloween themed kisses!  Weird!  I’d like to try the caramel apple kisses, but who knows if I’ll run into them; I don’t see many of the limited editions in the Target I frequent.

    Comment by Lesley on 9/05/08 at 5:39 pm #
  7. Ooh, I love pumpkin spice. . .I can’t wait to try these—I am SO sorry I read about these today. . .because now I know I’ll end up buying and eating the whole damn package.  Sigh.

    Comment by Karen S. on 9/06/08 at 4:46 am #
  8. These were pretty bad I thought. All I really tasted was cinnamon and I’m not a fan.

    Comment by Jenn on 9/06/08 at 6:19 am #
  9. Pumpkin is one of my all time favorite flavors in anything: ice cream, donuts, coffee etc..  I will definitely try these but I would have liked to have seen these as dark or milk chocolate.  Maybe they experimented with that and it didn’t work but I somehow think it would have been great since pumpkin spices like cinnamon, clove and allspice go pretty well with coffee, and cocoa and coffee beans are like cousins.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to trying these.

    Comment by Snackgirl on 9/06/08 at 10:25 am #
  10. Cybele I must tell you the funniest thing that happened this evening on my search to find the new kisses. I went to Walmart looking for the caramel apple or the pumpkin spice. I walked up and down the seasonal aisle and could not find them anywhere. Finally I looked up and saw four boxes of candy corn and two of the caramel apple that had not been unwrapped or displayed. I already have the candy corn and was desparate to get my hands on the caramel apple. So my mother was with me and she found an associate, who happened to be extremely elderly. He had to heave this big box off the shelf just to get me two bags. I felt so terrible…but it was worth it just to try them.
    Now on to my pumpkin spice search!!!

    Comment by Jennifer on 9/06/08 at 6:40 pm #
  11. Ah these treats remind me of choking on pumpkin pie at thanksgiving when I was a child and the pumpkin pie coming out my nose I tasted pumpkin pie all that night

    Comment by Neil on 9/07/08 at 2:55 pm #
  12. I think they might be recycling some of the foil for these. I looked in the usually empty candy jar at work and there was a layer of orange and brown wrapped kisses. I thought they were these pumpkin ones, but after unwrapping and reading the flag, they are normal caramel. There might be some difference in wrapper that I can’t see, but they look exactly the same in a candy jar/bowl. I’m a little put off by this, as I like to identify candy before I unwrap it. :(

    Comment by Aimee on 9/08/08 at 8:19 am #
  13. Being from a place where we actually have a proper fall. This time of the year, my sweet tooth gets positively magnetized on pumpkin everything. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake. I want it all. Thanks for the suggestion. Always looking for new things to feed the craving.

    Comment by Fierce and Nerdy on 9/08/08 at 10:19 am #
  14. I tried these and love them! I thought they got the nutmeg/pumpkin pie flavor down.

    But even right out of the fridge, they are a little soft ...

    Comment by HA on 9/09/08 at 3:43 am #
  15. These are something I have to try at least once, being they have my favorite flavors in them, YUM! Must have some, today!!!

    Comment by Reeni on 9/09/08 at 5:35 am #
  16. I had a friend buy me a bag of these for my birthday this year.  Oh my god, they’re crack.  I wish they’d have this year round.  I’m going to have to stock up.

    Comment by Amy on 9/11/08 at 7:37 am #
  17. OOOHHHHHH YYYYYEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! Finally got my hands on these. I guess they must be a Target exclusive because I couldn’t find them anywhere else… and believe me, I looked everywhere except Target (which is way out of my way in my usual travels around town.) But there they were and they were worth the search! These are SOOOOOO GGGOOOOOOODDD!!!!

    Comment by Chip on 9/22/08 at 8:36 am #
  18. I had to call 4 Target stores before I found one that had them. After seeing what they were going for on EBay I bought 5 bags. It was a gamble but I LOVE THEM!!

    I love Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice especially around the holidays. Hershey’s hit a grand slam with these kisses.

    Anyone know anything about the Caramel Apple Kisses?

    Comment by Carrie on 9/23/08 at 4:52 pm #
  19. I purchased both the Pumpkin Spice and the Candy Corn Kisses over the weekend.  Friends sampled them at a party ... reactions were mixed.  I really liked the Pumpkin Spice Kisses - they reminded me of Spice Cake.

    Comment by Tomi on 9/29/08 at 8:23 am #
  20. Tricia's avatar

    Similar idea to Kris, except I thought they might be good on an oatmeal cookie (sort of like those peanut butter cookies with regular hershey’s kisses on top).

    Comment by Tricia on 10/05/08 at 6:34 am #
  21. they need to make a hershey kiss covered payday

    Comment by sharon on 12/30/08 at 10:25 am #
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