Monday, September 10, 2012

Werther’s Original Hard Candies

Werther's Original Hard CandiesWerther’s Original Hard Candies are truly a classic around the world, a kind of standard for hard candy butterscotch. They’re made by August Storck and named for the town where the candy company was formed, Werther in the Westphalia region of Germany. The company was founded in 1903 and may have come up with a version of the Original Hard Candy around 1909 through the efforts of one of the company’s confectioners, Gustav Nebel.

The first branded name of the candy emerged in 1969 when they began selling them as Werthers Echte in Germany, and then in the 1980s they became a world-wide brand under the English name of Werther’s Original.

Werther's Original Hard Candies

The ingredients are simple: sugar, glucose syrup (from wheat or corn), cream, butter, whey, salt, soy lecithin and vanillin. There are no partially hydrogenated oils in there, no filler oils. For the most part it’s sugars and dairy ingredients with a splash of salt (about 15 mg per piece). The calorie count is higher than other hard candies, because of the fat content that’s usually absent from pure sugar candy. So these have about a half a gram of fat per candy and less than 25 calories each.

Each is wrapped in a mylar and clear cellophane wrapper. The gold sparkle is hard to miss in a candy dish. For a hard candy, they do a good job of straddling the world of durability and decadence.

Werther's Original

The pieces are about 1.2 inches long and .8 inches wide. They’re smooth and nicely domed with a small depression in the top. They fit the mouth nicely and dissolve smoothly and slowly. The flavor is very well rounded, a hint of salt, a creamy burn sugar note and little hint of vanilla. The texture is exceptionally smooth and dense, there are no voids at all. But in addition to the creamy melt, they are quite crunchy if you’re a chewer. (And I am.)

They’re easy to savor, and provide a little more substance than a straight sugar item like a Butterscotch Disk, which is really only flavored like scorched sugar. There are other candies like the Werther’s and companies like Life Savers and Hershey’s have tried to enter the same market. But there’s really no need to try others. The Werther’s are superb. They’re easy to find at drug stores and discounters. The ingredients are decent enough and the price is pretty reasonable. The only issue I have with them is that they can get sticky in humid or hot environments. It doesn’t ruin the taste, but does mar the lovely appearance of the pieces when unwrapped.

It would be nice if they’d make them gluten free, though. Contains milk, soy and wheat.

Related Candies

  1. Meiji Chelsea Kokutou Black Sugar
  2. Werther’s Original Caramel Apple Filled
  3. Mandy’s Old Fashioned Confections: Butterscotch & Caramel
  4. Storck Toffifay
  5. See’s Lollypops
  6. Werther’s Caramel Coffee Hard Candies
  7. Storck Chocolate Riesen
  8. Goodbye Reed’s


Name: Original Hard Candies
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Storck
Place Purchased: Target (Eagle Rock)
Price: $2.29
Size: 5.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 124
Categories: Candy, Storck, Hard Candy & Lollipops, Toffee, 9-Yummy, Germany, Target

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:56 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewStorckHard Candy & LollipopsToffee9-YummyGermanyTarget

Comments
  1. I’m so happy to see a review of one of my favourite candies of all time! Thanks so much for this!

    The gluten issue has been of concern to me, but based on my research and experience I don’t feel worried about having a roll of these every now and again because the protein (gluten) part of wheat is unlikely to be present in a dangerous amount, but certainly it’s something that anyone who is concerned about gluten should look into because my experience may not be everyone’s.

    Comment by Lillea on 9/10/12 at 7:15 pm #
  2. I rediscovered my love for them a few months ago and have been eating at least one or two every day since.

    Comment by Dahlia on 9/11/12 at 6:46 am #
  3. They are delightful.  But, unfortunately, they do contain enough milk to punish the severely lactose-intolerant, if a whole bag is eaten at once.  I found out the hard way!

    Comment by Dokken Protrusion on 9/19/12 at 9:58 pm #
  4. Do werthers original contain vanillin or vanilla.
    vanillin makes a lot of kids hyperactive and I think this is what’s happening to my children and a lot of my friends children can this be looked into please.

    Many thanks

    Comment by Teresa Sennett on 6/28/13 at 7:29 am #
  5.   Werthers Original Hard Candy is the best Hard Candy currently available. The taste is wonderful and they do not contain hemicals or other allergens. Keep making this Great Cant would be great in Ice Cream.

    Comment by Isabel Etkind on 7/15/13 at 6:35 am #
  6. I wanted some hard candy butterscotch, sent my husband to the store for some Werthers, but he came back empty handed because he said that Werthers are made with wheat or corn.  Corn would not be a problem, but for a Celiac sufferer,  WHEAT is.  I wish that they could leave out the wheat and just use corn, so I could eat them… I am not able to take the chance they might have wheat in them.

    Comment by Neoma on 8/24/13 at 2:02 pm #
  7. Hi Werthers do make a gluten free candy in a little pack. Not sure if they do them in bags. I actually came across them last night in the shop and it states Gluten Free on them…

    Comment by Shirley on 9/05/13 at 12:22 am #
  8. To Bad you use vanillin instead of All Natural Vanilla. I can no longer have my favorite candy.

    Comment by Belinda on 9/10/13 at 8:56 am #
  9. i purchase the original brand and some of them have not tasted like butterscotch but just plain sugar candy…very disappointed.

    Comment by p on 10/07/13 at 9:00 pm #
  10. I am glad that some of the hard candy does not have corn glucose it it as many people, like me, have corn allergies.

    Comment by Ros on 11/16/13 at 8:54 pm #
  11. Please do not put corn syrup in your candies Processed Corn products gives me bad headaches

    Comment by Daniel on 12/19/13 at 8:44 pm #
  12. I have read all the comments and all I am asking for is what are the calories in 1 piece of candy.  I am on a strick diet and I have to count everything.

    I see per ounce or per bag but nothing for one Werthers Original.

    Can you help me with that.  I love that candy.  Please just answer me through my e-mail so I get an answer and not n a blog.

    Thank you,
    Victoria

    Comment by Victoria on 1/10/14 at 9:24 am #
  13. Direct from the review (you read the comments; you should’ve read the review): “So these have about a half a gram of fat per candy and less than 25 calories each.”

    Comment by Paul on 1/10/14 at 9:32 am #
  14. Cybele's avatar

    Paul - you’re a wonderfully patient soul. I actually did reply to her with the answer (the package says 3 pieces are 70 calories - so it’s 23.3 each).

    The email I sent bounced back as a nonexistent address.

    Comment by Cybele on 1/10/14 at 9:36 am #
  15. I am disappointed that I can no long able to buy Werther’s original hard candies at the Bulk barn store in Peterborough.
    Are you supplying these candies in any other stores in Peterborough Ontario

    Comment by Bruce Campbell on 6/12/14 at 9:02 am #
  16. Hi I’m a vegetarian so I was wondering what the whey is produced from? Is it made from milk or meat.

    Comment by Lillan on 12/02/14 at 12:29 pm #
  17. I so love Werther’s Original Hard Candy…. It is amazing. I’m so glad to finally see a review on this candy

    Comment by Aria on 12/10/14 at 4:36 am #
  18. Can you please tell me where I can find Werther’s original sugar free butterscotch candy?  I can’t find it anywhere.

    Please reply to my email above.

    Marla

    Comment by marla on 12/17/14 at 2:00 pm #
  19. While holidaying in Europe I tasted the werthers butter melts candy, which are dekightful and thentexturemof fudge,but I have not been able to find them since then
    Any clues??

    Comment by Kate on 4/20/15 at 2:03 am #
  20. pleasetell me where i can get the 1 kg bag of werthers hard candy in peterborough ontario

    Comment by wayne on 5/25/15 at 4:45 pm #
  21. can someone tell me if it is good for braces the hard candies because i got a big bag of them please help….. they were from my mother… Thank you… Katelyn

    Comment by Katelyn on 1/02/16 at 1:49 pm #
  22. The gluten thing is a misnomer. Werthers are being disingenuous in order to avoid being sued. They have tested them, they are gluten free to legal standards and they will not harm a Coeliac. The decision on the US website to say “No” to gluten free is silly and wrong. You will see that their product contains wheat-based glucose syrup which is gluten free, on their UK website (same recipe).

    Comment by Gavin Ayling on 7/02/16 at 1:02 am #
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