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Monday, June 19, 2006

Famous in Canada!

Check this out ... a couple of months ago I did an email interview with Craig Courtice of the National Post (Canada) for a possible column, then I told him about my upcoming adventures at the All Candy Expo in Chicago and he expanded the column article to a full one that’s the cover of the Avenue section (in Arts & Life in the physical paper) after we did a long phone interview while I was at the Expo.

Sweet Success
Cybele May, the creator of Candy Blog, lives by the philosophy ‘lower your expectations, broaden your horizons.’ In following this mantra, she’s created a new life for herself
by Craig Courtice, National Post

If you’re able to get a hold of the physical paper, let me know how it looks, they used a bunch of my photos and I haven’t seen it yet!

UPDATE: Here’s a preview of what the physical paper looks like! Shazaam!

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POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:43 am     Fun StuffNews

Pink Grapefruit Mentos

One of the things that I was asked in the FAQ was about the benefits of being the “famous” candy blogger and did I get an all-access, backstage pass. Well, no (not yet, anyway) but there are a couple of small but tasty benefits.

imageWitness this from last week: on Wednesday morning a large box appeared at the front door. It was marked Perfetti Van Melle. I thought, “Cool, they sent me more Airheads!” But when I lifted the package, it felt like there were three books in there.

When I was at the All Candy Expo I asked at the booth if they had any of the Pink Grapefruit (Pamplemousse) Mentos that I’d heard are so good but sold only in Canada and Europe. I saw that you can order them online, but I really didn’t want to commit to a full box of them without having a taste. But they didn’t have any samples at the Mentos booth. They said they’d send me some, and I figured that’d be the last of it, maybe I’d have my husband pick them up on his travels.

As you can already tell from the photo, they sent me not two or three rolls, but two full boxes of 20 rolls each! I scurried back to my little photo studio and quick-snapped some shots before going off on a long weekend trip to my sister’s wedding. I found that a couple of rolls of Pink Grapefruit Mentos make a lovely hostess gift when staying at a family member’s house. They are the perfect traveling candy.

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The color is lovely, like the center of a Ruby Red Grapefruit. The ingredients are pretty intriguing too, with the first three being: sugar, glucose syrup, grapefruit juice (3%). Wow! The front of the package says artificially flavored, but mentions nothing about the natural part!

They don’t smell like anything, which make me a little suspicious at first, but a bite and a chew later and not only is there a wonderful citrusy tartness, but an intense aroma of freshly sliced grapefruit. There’s no hint of that terrible bitterness you can get with grapefruit, but it’s not lacking in complexity at all. There are the sweet and sour notes, but also that oily zesty feel and the fresh scent of grapefruits. There’s a lingering feeling of that grapefruit peel long after the candy is gone - far different from the green apple chemical feeling in the mouth.

It’s actually a fun candy to be around other people when they’re eating it. It’s like someone has lit an aromatherapy candle (the grapefruit scent is supposed to “increase self-esteem and bolster confidence”). Our Canadian neighbors are quite lucky to have these as a regular product. If I were a motivated person, I’d petition Mentos to sell them in the States, but part of me knows that it probably wouldn’t play well here.

I know someone is wondering if the grapefruit ones will work to make an explosive soda fountain, but I’m not gonna be the one to find out, I’m eating all of mine!

UPDATE 5/31/2008: I have word that Pink Grapefruit Mentos are discontinued. They are no longer listed on the Mentos website and I got confirmation from Mentos North America (as if they ever carried them here). However, they are also made in a Kosher version for Israel and still seem to be available at Kosher stores (I found them at Munchies in Los Angeles earlier this week). I took advantage of what may be a temporary loophole and bought a box of 40 of them from Koshermania out of Cleveland, OH a couple of weeks ago.

Related Candies

  1. Mentos - Pine Fresh (Pineapple)
  2. Mentos Plus Citrus Mix
  3. Mentos Fuji Apple
  4. HiCHEW Yuzu & Valencia
  5. Dalandan & Juicy Ponkan Mentos
Name: Pink Grapefruit (Pamplemousse) Mentos
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Mentos (Perfetti Van Melle)
Place Purchased: samples from Perfetti Van Melle
Price: $17.00/box of 20 online
Size: 1.32 ounces per roll
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Chew, Netherlands, Perfetti Van Melle

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:30 am    

Friday, June 16, 2006

Florida’s Natural Sour Fruit Juice String

Okay, this product has a freakishly long name ... almost as long as the product itself. The Florida’s Natural Au’some Fruit Juice Sour String (henceforth called Sour Strings) is a long string about the same diameter as a thick clothesline and made from all natural ingredients and fortified with good stuff.

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What I loved about this product is that they’re true to what they say. The first ingredient is fruit puree 64% is fruit ... then sugar. The puree comes from pears and oranges and the real fruitiness is quite evident. It tastes like a zazzed up fruit roll up, but in a little bit friendlier shape.

The roll of string is coiled up and allows you to unravel a little and then clamp the package shut to cut it off. It’s covered in a little granulated sugar to keep it from getting sticky.

It’s super sour. I mean, the outside really is sassy, back of the mouth tingling sour. Once that dissipates it’s a nice mellow orange flavor with both the sour and zest notes to it. As you eat it there’s a slight grain to it, which I suspect is the pear puree - you know those little crunchy bits you get in pears?

Overall, it’s a really nice fruit and candy product that I would buy again. It’s more wholesome than some other gummis/fruit chews and has no gelatin for vegetarians (and it’s Kosher, too). However, my husband, who usually likes gummis and sours was not wild about it at all, so go figure.

The whole pack has 100% of your vitamin C and 30% of your vitamins A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin and Iron & Zinc. There’s even 10% of your Calcium. However, I can’t see eating this in one sitting. It’s a nice little pick me up because of the super-sourness, but the texture doesn’t quite engage me the way that a gummi bear does.

The pack is kinda cool, easy to share and easy to throw in a bag or stuff in a pocket. From their website it looks like they also come in bags instead of the hard pack coil and in other flavors (strawberry, apple and blueberry). I also picked up some of their Fruit Juice Nuggets, which I’ll also review shortly. The price is a little steep for so little candy, though the easy to share pack is nice. I recommend looking for them on sale, but you know, fruit is far more expensive than sugar.

Name: Florida's Natural Au'some Fruit Juice Sour String
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Au'some Snack Naturally, Inc.
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo sample
Price: $.99 retail
Size: 1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 87
Categories: Chew, United States, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:21 am    

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Lindt: 60% Extra Dark Truffles

It’s hard to believe that I’ve never really had the Lindt Lindor truffles before this. I’ve always looked at them like they’re some sort of compromise ... they’re not a candy bar and they’re not a product of a fine chocolatier. So they never really fit the bill at any given moment.

But let’s just start with me saying that I’m surprised at how good they are, and how glad I am to find their newest one that was sampled at the All Candy Expo was the 60% Extra Dark Truffle.

I’ve enjoyed the Lindt bars for quite a while, as they were always easy to find and a rather upscale pure chocolate indulgence at a time when it was pretty hard to find such things ten years ago.

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In order to see how dark this new truffle was, I decided to try the array from white to extra dark.

White Chocolate (yellow wrapper) - sweet and milky smelling with a strong vanilla note. Buttery and light in the middle. No real flavor to it, just sweet and creamy.

Dark Chocolate (blue wrapper) - nice chocolatey aroma, with some fruity notes. The shell is creamy and smooth and of course the filling is buttery light, but perhaps a little greasy feeling. It could use more cocoa solids in it to give it more flavor. A really good, solid performer. I didn’t know what flavors I had, so I checked at the grocery store and these were 44 cents each there (and I’ve seen them cheaper). For a quick, single pick-me-up, they’re quite the bargain.

Extra Dark Chocolate (black wrapper) - rather fruity smelling with a slight note of coconut. The shell was buttery smooth with a rather noticeable bitter and dry bite that really offset the creamy center. Now that I’ve tried them side by side, I much prefer the Extra Dark because the complex flavors of the shell offset the light, creamy, almost-liquid truffle center.

Hazelnut (bronze wrapper - not pictured) - this one got smashed on the way home and I didn’t think it was fair to take its picture in that state. The center was light and buttery and studded with little hazelnut pieces. It was very sweet and light tasting, but missed some of the darker caramelized notes that I enjoy with many hazelnut products.

Overall, I don’t think I’d turn down these truffles as a gift, but the only one I’m likely to buy for myself is the 60% Dark, as the complexity of it balances the rather heavy fat. They’re a good deal as a small indulgence you get at a grocery store since you can buy them as singles. I’m pretty sure if I had a half a pound of them they’d disappear pretty quickly, whether they were my favorite flavor or not.

UPDATE 10/5/2009: I’ve had more opportunities to try these over the past few years. Lately I’ve been finding the flavor to be a bit “empty”. There’s a wonderful texture, but the slick & oily center seems to dilute the rich chocolate flavor I expect. I’m downgrading them to a 7 out of 10, as I’m finding I’m more likely to give them away than eat them myself.

Related Candies

  1. Guylian Twists
  2. Trader Joe’s French Truffles
  3. Lindt Chocolate Carrots
  4. Lindt Lindor Truffle Eggs
  5. Caffarel Chocolate Truffle Mushrooms
  6. Caffarel Gianduia 1865
Name: Lindor Truffles: Dark, White, 60% Dark & Hazelnut
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Lindt
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo samples & Bristol Farms Market
Price: $.44 each
Size: 12 grams each
Calories per ounce: 165
Categories: Chocolate, White Chocolate, Nuts, Lindt

POSTED BY Cybele AT 5:59 am    

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Smarties Bubble Gum

Smarties had a huge booth at the All Candy Expo, which kind of surprised me because they’re pretty much a one product company. Don’t get me wrong, I love the product, but there’s only so much you can do with it (as far as I knew). They do make some other related products out of their compressed dextrose mix, like the lollies and candy necklaces.

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Bubble Gum Smarties are a huge departure then, from the chalky little bites in rolls they’ve built their empire on.

They look pretty much like regular Smarties, but the colors are a little more vivid and they’re not chalky or crumbly.

On the tongue they feel different. They’re heavier and of course they don’t dissolve. You have to chew them. Instead of an intermediary step like Razzles have, these turn to gum immediately.

There’s a little flavor to them, and the colors do have slightly different flavors (maybe ... I’m not sure).

It seems to take a whole roll to make a decent piece of gum. I started with four little tablets and then added others to it in pairs as the flavor dissipated. The chew is satisfyingly soft but the flavor is of course all over the map. There’s also a strong sweet aftertaste but it’s all sugar an in there.

As for the bubbles, well, they were pretty good! The gum lost its flavor quickly, and with the combination of colors it turned out to be a slate blue when I tossed it out.

Overall, I didn’t need a Smarties version of bubble gum. I like Smarties just fine the way they are and these aren’t really very Smartie-like except for the look and packaging. They’re a fun giveaway item, for Halloween or keeping in a candy jar. The novelty is great, but the flavor just doesn’t pop enough for me to pick this over a bubble tape or Chicklets. For the record, the original Smarties are a 9 out of 10 ... I love them, but as a pure sugar they’re horribly dangerous to my blood sugar levels, so I try not to eat them on an empty stomach.

James of Chicago Conventions Blog also tried them and wasn’t impressed.

Name: Smarties Bubble Gum
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Smarties
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo sample
Price: unknown
Size: .23 ounces per roll
Calories per ounce: 100 (4 rolls)
Categories: Gum, Ce De Candies, China

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:32 am    

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