Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Hershey’s Take 5

Name: Take Five
Brand: Hershey’s
Place Purchased: 99 Cent Only Store
Price: 33 cents
Size: 1.5 oz
Calories per ounce: 147
Type: Chocolate/Caramel/Peanut butter

If I were to create the perfect candy bar, a great snack bar that would give me energy and taste good, it would contain the following: chocolate, pretzels, caramel and nuts. It’d be a great mix of simple carbs, fat and protein so as not to overwhelm the bloodstream with too much sugar. In my world it’d be a super turtle with a pretzel base, chewy caramel then pecans all covered in semi-sweet chocolate.

On a visit to the Chocolate Homeworld, er, sorry, Chocolate World in Hershey on New Year’s Day, this was the sample they gave us at the end of the ride. I quickly bargained with the other people in our party for theirs.

Hershey’s is dang close with the Take 5 bar. It’s got a pretzel center covered with peanut butter then a layer of caramel, a few chopped peanuts and then it’s all enrobed in milk chocolate. (Maybe I got that order wrong, it’s hard to tell.) The proportions are solid and the pretzel has got a great salty kick. If anything, the milk chocolate is a little sweet, but the salt on the pretzels and the slight saltiness of the peanut butter (which tastes like the center of a Reese’s ... maybe sweeter) balances well. If it only came in dark chocolate I might be in heaven.

The packaging is good, there are two little pieces in a tray and sealed in a the plastic packaging so they stay intact and are easy to slide out. I really wish they could figure out how to make this without hydrogenated oils, though it’s pretty far down on the list of ingredients and doesn’t show up on the nutrition part. For now I’ll keep buying it when I need a little boost during the day. It’s especially good with a morning cup of coffee, as I’m having the second piece right now.

As far as I’m concerned this bar could have lots of versions. A pecan/maple version, a pecan/dark chocolate turtle one, maybe white chocolate and walnuts or macadamias (not really for me, but a solid combo - I know that a white version of this same bar exists but I haven’t seen it yet) then another version with mint cookies and almonds.

Rating - 9 out of 10 (just make a dark version or a pecan one!)

See also: The Message Whore’s review (both milk chocolate & white)

Take 5UPDATE 9/2/2008: Sometime when I wasn’t looking (I photographed it last summer again) the Hershey’s Take 5 left the list of chocolate candy bars and joined the growing list of Hershey’s Real Mockolate

The package now says: made with chocolate & pretzels & caramel & peanuts & peanut butter. That “made with chocolate” part means that the coating may contain chocolate, but it has other additives such as vegetable oils that mean that it’s not pure chocolate. The actual chocolate as an ingredient comes far down on the list as the number 6 item, after vegetable oils and high fructose corn sweetener and before nonfat milk (you can imagine there’s not that much milk in there).

Take 5

The bars actually still look quite fetching. Little rather rectangular lumps with a pleasant sweet & peanutty scent.

Mine were exceptionally fresh, the pretzel was good and crunchy, a nice salty complement to the sweet coating. The coating didn’t have much flavor but did add a creamy texture.

This one was passably good, but I’ve had others in the past few months (I picked them out of a mix of snack size in a bowl at the office a couple of times) and I didn’t realize why they were kind of empty tasting for what I remembered. I just thought they were stale ... turns out that they’re just not designed to be good any longer.

Hershey’s still has an opportunity to reverse this and make it real chocolate again.

Product: Hershey’s Take 5
Previous Review: 7/13/2005
Change: milk chocolate coating is replaced with a fake chocolate coating (which contains chocolate but also other vegetable oils).
Result: For now they’re off my list but still get a passing rating of 5 out of 10.

Related Candies

  1. Revisit: Take 5, Sunkist Fruit Gems & Snickers Almond
  2. Head to Head: Twisted vs Take 5
  3. Take 5 Chocolate Cookie
  4. Take 5 Peanut Butter
  5. White Chocolate Take 5

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:04 am Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewHershey'sCaramelChocolateCookiePeanuts9-YummyUnited States99 Cent Only Store

Comments
  1. When I saw this candy bar on the shelf at the store I grabbed five.  I had no doubt I would love it.  And I do.  Oh, how I do!

    Comment by Michelle on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  2. There goes my diet! I’m on my way to the grocery store for one RIGHT NOW! =)

    Comment by Linda on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  3. I love your site, it has a prominent position in my bookmarks.

    I did not think I would like the Take Five. I thought it was a stupid idea as a matter of fact.

    I got one free though…


    WHOA! This might be one the best candy bars available. Not too sweet, not messy or gooey. It is wonderful.

    Comment by Kevin on 7/12/06 at 4:28 am #
  4. When this candy bar came out, i thought the commercials were annoying and the idea of pretzles, nuts, carmel and peanut butter just sounded gross.  Then one of my friends offered me part of his, and I LOVED IT! I used to be a die hard twix fan, but after one bite of this delicious delicacy, i just knew a new favorite had just entered my life.

    Comment by Smileychic_91 on 2/19/07 at 11:25 am #
  5. Yeah, Take5s are pretty much the best candy bar ever. The combination of sweet and salty is perfect.  After reading your review I have a very important errand to run… *drools*

    Comment by Lauren on 7/10/07 at 11:22 pm #
  6. the Take 5 candy bar is soooo GOOD!!! i love it.

    Comment by rebecca on 6/10/08 at 4:29 pm #
  7. l am a 72 year old grandma (mama, I am called) have 3 little grandboys that I live with.  Their favorite candy is Take five.  At Halloween, I buy about 5 bags thinking it will last til next year.  we like the little size.  where may I get or order?  We are out!  Mama likes them too.  Thanks. Kathleen

    Comment by Kathleen von Hagel on 6/15/08 at 8:17 am #
  8. I didn’t think these were anything to special. I mean, if you combine enough stuff and cover the whole thing in chocolate, sure it’ll taste good, but not “stellar.”

    Comment by Jeni on 3/01/09 at 10:28 am #
  9. Cybele's avatar

    Jeni - I don’t know if you ever tried the original when Hershey’s first introduced it, it really was a great bar. It just lacks so much without some quality chocolate on it.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/01/09 at 10:43 am #
  10. i had one today and it was good !!!!!!!!!!! i love the candy bars take 5’s i could it one every
    day iam married and had 10 chilren .husband jim

    Comment by erin on 3/31/10 at 1:39 pm #
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