Monday, October 22, 2007

Sixlets & Limited Edition Dark Chocolate Flavored Sixlets

Chocolate Flavored SixletsHere’s one of those candies that I only saw in my Trick-or-Treat haul: Sixlets. Oh sure, they were probably in stores that I frequented. They come in a variety of packets, including the “changemaker” size that holds eight little candy spheres and used to sell for a two cents.

The big reason I shunned Sixlets was I was never quite sure what they were. Are they like M&Ms? Are they candy coated peanuts? Are they a jawbreaker?

Eating them never really answered those questions. They definitely don’t have nuts in them, but taste a little nutty. They’re not like M&Ms, though there is a chocolate-like center. They’re not jawbreakers, in fact the shell is pretty thin.

Chocolate Flavored SixletsSixlets are currently made by Oak Leaf, who makes bubble gum and other confections in Canada that are usually sold in bulk and dispensed in gumball machines that are sold by the handful. Before that they were made by Hershey’s, which purchased the Ovation brand that made Sixlets under management of Leaf (they also made Whoppers, which Hershey’s kept).

Sixlets are certainly cute. They come in vivid colors: Yellow, Green, Red, Orange and Brown. They’re spherical and consistent looking, with a shiny candy shell. The center is a malty-flavored mockolate. Made from partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, sugar and milk protein, they’re not really that appealing as a confectionery item to eat on their own. Cocoa powder is way down at the fifth position on the list of ingredients. The candy shells are pretty ordinary, except for the orange one, which has a light orange flavor to it (just as Smarties from the UK do). The mockolate barely has a chocolate taste, and the whole thing is a little grainy and a bit greasy.

What they lack in taste they more than make up for with economy and portion control. What other candy comes in little tubes of 8 pieces? Not to mention the fact that each little tube has only 35 calories!

Limited Edition Dark Chocolate Flavored SixletsWhy Oak Leaf came out with the Limited Edition Dark Chocolate Flavored Sixlets is beyond me. The regular ones barely taste like chocolate and any health benefits of “dark chocolate” will be ruined by the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

The package is attractive, the Sixlets mascot is some sort of an insect ... well, maybe he’s an insect, he only has four legs. And he wears glasses ... and wants us to eat one of his segments.

These little packets were unmarked. Just generic clear cellophane tubes with little unbranded spheres inside.

Dark Chocolate Flavored SixletsThey are similarly attractive to their original counterparts, with a light brown shell in the mix instead of a yellow one. The orange is also orange flavored here as well.

The taste of the “dark chocolate” isn’t really noticeably different from the regular Sixlets. They’re just as disappointing as the regular Sixlets ... except that I paid for this whole bag (I picked the other little guys up at the All Candy Expo).

There are differing stories about why they’re called Sixlets. The current packaging has them in tubes with 8 pieces or 20. Some folks say that they used to come in tubes that had six for a penny. Others say that they came in boxes that had six individual boxes in each package and that’s how they were written up in the wholesale catalogs. It could be that someone just thought it sounded like a good name ... maybe they were into numerology. The number six represents “Reaction/flux. Responsibility” according to Wikipedia. If anyone else has any theories, I’m happy to entertain them.

Caitlin at Candy Addict has a great fondness for them and Bad-Candy.com, well, thinks they’re bad.

Like them if you will ... just don’t call them chocolate. They might be good for decorating ... the rest of these are going in the Trick-or-Treat bowl (don’t worry, I’ll give the kids something good and just slip these in while they’re not looking).

Related Candies

  1. Peeps Monster Mash Ups
  2. Vertigo Pops
  3. M&Ms Line
  4. Idaho Spud
  5. Head-to-Head: Smarties vs. M&Ms
Name: Sixlets & Dark Chocolate Flavored Sixlets
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Oak Leaf
Place Purchased: samples + RiteAid
Price: $1.19
Size: 5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 142
Categories: Mockolate, Canada, Limited Edition, Halloween, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:06 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Back in the day, they definitely came in a tube of six—the name made perfect sense. I bought too many of these and divided them up with friends—there were definitely six in a tube.  I also remember that at one time you could buy a bigger bag/box of them, which obviously had more than six, but kept the name.  This was a popular penny candy in my hometown for years, until there really wasn’t penny candy anymore.

    Comment by Jim Kosmicki on 10/22/07 at 7:57 am #
  2. I am ashamed to admit these were one of my absolute favorites growing up. I remember them being much smaller in size and coming in a tube shaped clear bag. I loved the thin shell, perfect roundness, and how many of them were in a bag. This was late 70’s, early 80’s.

    I would get them at the student store on the Univ of Minnesota campus when visiting my Dad at work. That memory is so connected in my mind, that I think they must not have been available at my local candy shop. The local shop was all about Zotzs!

    Perhaps I liked them because, even being mockolate, they were better than the carob my Mom tried to get us to eat. But, now I recognize them as awful. Awful, with happy memories….

    Comment by KateC on 10/22/07 at 8:24 am #
  3. I am a big fan of Sixlets, or used to be a big fan anyway.  When I eat them now, they don’t taste as good as they did when I was younger (back in the early 70’s).  I remember them in tubes of 6 candies at the penny candy counter.  I would get those along with candy cigarettes, the wax bottles with colored “juice”, candy dots, candy necklaces and more.

    Comment by Lisa on 10/22/07 at 8:31 am #
  4. When I was a kid I would get these occasionally in the big bag/tube.  I recognized that they weren’t as good as M&Ms;, but the orange one always intrigued me.

    Comment by Alicia on 10/22/07 at 9:33 am #
  5. These are one of my guilty pleasures, I have to say, I just loved them as a kid. They seemed to have a more “fruity” chocolate flavor than M&Ms;, and their size and shape felt a little different (and better) in my mouth.

    Nowadays, though, it’s M&Ms; all the way, especially dark!

    Comment by Carol on 10/22/07 at 10:08 am #
  6. they are gross, and yet… well, i haven’t eaten sixlets in years, but i guess i still have a soft spot for them because they remind me of being a kid and buying lots of cheap, gross candy with my meager allowance

    Comment by ruffy on 10/22/07 at 10:58 am #
  7. Aww, I like sixlets, or at least I did when I was a kid (80s-90s).  Although the hydrogenated oil is kind of offputting, so I’ll just be content with nostalgia.

    Comment by Porgy on 10/22/07 at 12:55 pm #
  8. I agree with KateC.  Sixlets are better only than carob.  Not a chance of me trying the dark kind or the regular kind again.  Cheap and gross, like Mary Janes or Neccos, and likely to get your house rolled for giving them out.

    Comment by Dave on 10/23/07 at 1:56 am #
  9. Bad Candy’s review says they’re made w/ carob. Are they cocoa in some locations, carob in others?

    Comment by The Velvet Blog on 10/23/07 at 9:43 am #
  10. Sixlettsss!! I forgot all about sixlets! The dark chocolate sounds appealing to me but I trust your opinion. Guess they needed something to comeback with!

    Comment by Hillary on 10/23/07 at 9:47 am #
  11. Cybele's avatar

    The Velvet Blog - I can’t be sure that the classic ones have carob, there’s no ingredients label on the little tubes and the website “sixlets.com” doesn’t actually work. I did find this page that does mention carob but it definitely wasn’t on the list for the Dark Chocolate Flavored ones.

    Jim - thanks for the confirmation on the packaging!

    KateC - hmmm, I’m not sure if they’re better than carob ... certainly better than some of those weird yogurt things in the late seventies.

    Lisa - I’m wondering if they were better back in the day. I used to love those big chunky candy rings. Those were usually 10 cents!

    Alicia - I was wondering if the other ones had any “flavor” but I couldn’t detect it.

    Ruffy & Carol - nothin’ wrong with guilty indulgences and nostalgia. (That’s probably why they’re still around.)

    Porgy - I suspect the reason that they don’t register on the “trans fat” content on the label is that a serving is only eight pieces (7 grams).

    Dave - I hope it’s not too much of a transgression for me to give these out to the kids next week ... along with good stuff too, of course.

    Hilary - noooo! Don’t let them fool you with their pretty shells and “dark chocolate” words!

    Comment by Cybele on 10/23/07 at 9:57 am #
  12. looking at your picture of the tube with 8 in there, I wonder if they went to 8 to fit the UPC code on the individual package?

    Comment by Jim Kosmicki on 10/24/07 at 4:17 am #
  13. Sixlets have always been my favorite candy store candy. I once bought a carton of them and after that I was pretty sick!
    They are great to use in place of mini M&M’s for popcorn balls (marshmallow) or popcorn cake. Try it sometime.

    Comment by Suzanne Zigrang on 10/25/07 at 4:20 pm #
  14. Ok, if they’re called “sixlets”, then how come there are 8 in a package??!!

    makes ya think!

    Comment by Amy Worek on 10/14/08 at 8:57 am #
  15. I was at the mall today with my boyfriend and like always, I went in the candy store. I only had five dollars so I bought chocolate-covered Oreos and a pack of Sixlets. I hated Sixlets ever since I first tried them and I haven’t eaten them in about 8 years. I think if they didn’t taste so much like a darn malt ball I would eat them… I hate malt balls!

    Comment by Asia on 8/30/09 at 4:05 pm #
  16. wow, I have read this and that about the SIXLETS, to each his or her own as far as the taste or whatever, I have children who really love the candy, their quick to eat and not messy. My main Question is WHEN DID THEY FRIST MAKE THEM? and I do remember 6 being in the package. I read that Hershey’s did not make them even tho their name was on the package. I have gotten totally curious about this candy and I will keep looking into the origin of those little treats.

    Comment by Aquilla on 10/18/09 at 8:46 pm #
  17. Long time since this posted, but I love Sixlets. I actually like them more than M&M’s. I never found them in the stores till today, go figure. Bought a bag and I have eaten about half of it.

    Comment by Callie on 1/20/11 at 6:15 pm #
  18. I love sixlets. You shouldn’t try to compare them to m&ms;. They are their own kind of candy so of coarse you would be disappointed if you bought these expecting them to taste like chocolate m&ms;. I’m only 24 and didn’t eat these when I was little but my whole family loves them and I even got my husband liking them too. I love chocolate and when I want chocolate m&ms; that’s what I buy and when I want sixlets I buy sixlets.

    Comment by Amy on 2/10/11 at 12:57 pm #
  19. I agree, I love Sixlets and have since I was a kid. If you love chocolate and malt you will love Sixlets.  I prefer them to M&Ms;, they are creamy and delicious!

    Comment by Elliots_mom on 2/10/11 at 1:44 pm #
  20. I’m only 20, but I used to get the 8-pack for 5 cents each back in the day. They also had a long tube of 15 for 10 cents, maybe? Prices are a bit fuzzy…
    But anyway, I love Sixlets! I get them whenever I can find them, and like them better than M&Ms; (normal ones, anyway)! In fact, until I read this, I wasn’t aware that anyone actually considered Sixlets poor quality. Beats me… I love everything about them.

    Comment by Kelp on 5/12/11 at 2:07 pm #
  21. Can you tell me where I can buy Sixlets in Vancouver B.C. Canada?  Or Bellingham Washington is next door.

    Thank you

    Comment by Kirsten Worden on 2/06/12 at 10:52 am #
  22. Sixlets are much, much better than M & Ms (in my opinion) .... much creamier with a hint of malt.

    Comment by Tara Lidell on 9/24/12 at 10:15 am #
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