Candy Blog

While on vacation last month I picked up some candies from the bulk bin at a candy shop. They were individually wrapped compressed dextrose Candy Rings. There was no label on the bin and nothing on the wrapper, so I can’t be sure of the brand.

I found three flavors: Cherry, Lemon and Lime.

They’re 1.33 inches wide and 1.6 inches tall. They’re flat, about a quarter of an inch thick. There’s a little gem design on the crest of the ring, two circles with a diamond shape in the center. It’s a clever bit of design, they’re stamped out like giant pills instead of being molded like most hard candies.

As adornment they’re not very comfortable. The rings are sized for small fingers, so they fit on my pinky and barely on my ring finger. The bands are chunky. With a file I suppose I could have made the ring hole bigger for my middle finger, as I think that would work best given the size of the ring. The design is cute, and the pieces are sizable.

I know that there have been a few makers of a few different kinds of compressed dextrose candy rings over the years. The version I got as a kid, I recall, was much chalkier and easier to bite than this version. They’re quite dense, like eating a piece of fired porcelain instead of some school chalk.

The flavors are mild, more sweet than tart, more perfume in most cases than flavor. The compressed dextrose they’re made from is less sweet than sucrose, but also lacks the full buoyant mouthfeel of sugar. Cherry is lightly tangy with an awful lot of jammy florals and a hint of cough syrup. Lemon was quite bland with even less tang than the cherry.

I prefer my SweeTart type candies a bit more chalky. I like less density, a little more air in them so that they can be crunched. I also prefer more flavor ... and maybe some other flavors. But for a cheap little wearable treat, these were passable. I’m glad they’re still around.

Related Candies

1. Trolli Gummi Bear-Rings
2. Bratz Candy Cosmetics
3. Peeps Lollipop Rings
4. Ausome Jewelry Kit
5. Oriental Trading Company Candies

After experiencing the lackluster Super Caramel Apple Blow Pop last week, it’s a wonder that I was still looking for the Candy Corn Super Blow Pop. An astute reader said that Walgreen’s was carrying them (which is where I found the Caramel Apple version) so I tried what I call the Super Walgreen’s in Hollywood. It’s near the Arclight Cinema/Cinerama Dome and Amoeba Music, so it was easy to find a reason to be over there this weekend. The store is like a movie set of what a Walgreen’s should be (and maybe it is used as a set for their commercials). The cosmetics have LED lights on each shelf, the aisles are wide and they have a snack bar and prepared sushi in a refrigerated section. And of course there’s a huge candy aisle that’s both clean and has a wide selection. It bears virtually no resemblance to the Walgreen’s where I usually shop in Echo Park, which isn’t even 5 miles down the same road. (Though the staff at both is quite good, no complaints.)

Their seasonal aisle had a good selection of the specialty Halloween items (though not as much bagged candy as other places like Target or KMart). I found the Super Blow Pops there on sale at 50 cents each, so I bought two. Instead of an opaque printed wrapper, this version of the Blow Pop uses a clear wrapper to show off the candy inside, something I’ve not seen them use on the Blow Pop line before. There are only two colors on this, orange and yellow ... there’s no white top on the layers.

The candy part of the Blow Pop is just like the flavor of the Charms Candy Corn Lollipops. It’s a mellow, salty sort of butterscotch without the creamy texture. I found these far brighter and more fun to eat, as the colors were sparkly, unlike the Caramel Apple version which was downright depressing with its brown and dark green. However, the sparkle in this case was created by adding some air to the hard candy, this can create sharp areas as it dissolves. Because the pop is so large, this meant I had a couple of sore spots on my tongue by the time I finished.

The gum at the center smelled terrible, just like the Caramel Apple version. There’s some sort of caustic chemical scent to it and the chew is stiff at first. Biting it sounds like tearing a phone book, a multitude of ripping layers all at once. It softens up and in this case, the flavor is pretty bland. It does become a bubble gum eventually, for a few minutes there’s a right balance between flavor and sugar before it all gives up and becomes like a wad of chewed paper. I’m not sure what flavor the gum is supposed to be, it’s not green apple, it’s not colorful ... it might have been butterscotch.

The initial experience was probably better than any other I’ve had with a Blow Pop this year, but that’s not saying much. But I’ll go ahead and give this a positive review, if you want a jumbo butterscotch Blow Pop, this would be the lollipop for you. It’s pretty, it’s pretty cheap.

Charms pops are made in a nut free and gluten free facility, but always check the labels or call the manufacturer if you’re in doubt.

Related Candies

1. Charms Super Blow Pop Caramel Apple
2. Charms Candy Corn Pops
3. Werther’s Original Hard Candies
4. 6 Candy Corn Candies That Aren’t Candy Corn
5. Whitman’s Candy Corn Marshmallow
6. Puffy Candy Corn
7. Charms Blow Pops & Zip-a-Dee

Name: Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups
Brand: Nestle
Description: The cup just got crunchy!
Introduction Date: January 2014
Notes: I have no doubt that Butterfinger can make a good peanut butter filling, but I have to wonder if the chocolate cups will be any good. Their actual Butterfinger Bar is pretty waxy and tasteless. But the package says something about being part of Nestle’s Cocoa Plan for certified sustainable cocoa, that would certainly set them apart from Hershey’s which is still not using cocoa that is certified to come from slave-free sources. The product launch will get a commercial during the Superbowl, which is pretty wild since Mars has the official sponsor spot with their Snickers & M&Ms spots.

Name: Lancaster Caramels
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: The surprisingly soft, rich and creamy Lancaster Soft Cremes provide a modern caramel taste experience to meet a growing consumer demand. The soft cremes were inspired by similar candies that company founder, Milton Hershey, made more than 120 years ago in his original candy company located in Lancaster, Pa. Three flavors at launch: Caramel, Vanilla and Caramel and Vanilla and Raspberry.
Introduction Date: January 2014
Notes: This brand was launched in parts of China earlier this year that went well enough that they’re going to bring them out here. (No word if they’re making them in China, but I have my doubts they would.)

Name: Werther’s Original Caramel Popcorn
Brand: Werther’s Original (Storck)
Description: Perfectly popped corn wrapped with rich and creamy Werther’s Original Caramel. The Caramel Popcorn for Caramel Lovers!
Introduction Date: 7/1/2013
Notes: I’m really curious if these are made in Germany like the other Storck products. Which might mean that this uses non-GMO corn, which would be an intriguing prospect for some folks who eschew many candies because of the GMO corn products used in them (mostly corn syrup). Ultimately, I’m never sure if caramel coated popcorn is a snack or a candy.

Name: Werther’s Original Baking Caramel
Brand: Werther’s Original (Storck)
Description: Rich and Creamy Caramels great for baking making delicious caramel apples! Easy to unwrap!
Introduction Date: 7/1/2013
Notes: I like that they feature the statement that they’re easy to unwrap, it looks like they’re twisted like the regular Werther’s caramels. I can attest that those Kraft caramels in their clear plastic are a devil to unwrap.

Name: Jelly Belly Camo Beans
Brand: Jelly Belly Candy Co
Description: The new Jelly Belly Camo Beans were inspired by the art of camouflage. Sportsmen, military and outdoor enthusiasts will discover seven Jelly Belly bean flavors in a camo-colored mix: Chocolate Pudding, Green Apple, Licorice, Juicy Pear, Orange Sherbet, Toasted Marshmallow and Watermelon. With Jelly Belly Camo Beans, the company continues its initiative of supporting U.S. troops. For every bag of Camo Beans sold, Jelly Belly Charities will donate $0.25 to support U.S. veterans and their families.
Introduction Date: 10/1/2013
Notes: It’s a strange assortment of flavors, with watermelon and orange sherbet right next to chocolate pudding and licorice ... so many things could go wrong.

Name: Fruit Vines Bites
Brand: American Licorice
Description: Building off decades of loyal followers of the Red Vines brand, American Licorice Company is helping candy lovers “live on the sweet side” with the launch of Fruit Vines Bites – soft, chewy bite size candy packed with fruit flavors designed to give everyone a new candy experience.
Introduction Date: Early 2014
Notes: I’m not sure what the difference between Fruit Vines will be and the Grape Vines that have already come out ... unless these are more like the Natural Vines.

Name: Ovation Mint Filled Break-A-Part
Brand: SweetWorks
Description: SweetWorks is introducing a new flavor to the Ovation Break-A-Part family: Mint Filled! It’s an all-natural dark chocolate sphere that breaks into 20 individual slices and each segment is filled with a cool mint center. The 6.17 ounce sphere will retail for $3.99
Introduction Date: November 2013
Notes: This sounds like an After Eight mint formed into a break-apart orange. It’s a great idea, though I wonder how messy it might end up if the center is flowing like a Junior Mint.

Name: Ovation Milk Pumpkin Spice Break-A-Part
Brand: SweetWorks
Description: Milk Chocolate Sphere infused with all-natural pumpkin flavoring. “Breaks apart” into 20 slices The 6.17 ounce sphere will retail for $3.99
Introduction Date: September 2013
Notes: I was surprised to see the ingredients listed not only spices like ginger and nutmeg but also natural pumpkin flavoring. Pumpkin Spice is all the rage, and this one sounds like it’s actually made with good ingredients, so I hoping to find one soon for review.

Images courtesy of the respective candy company

Update 10/31/2013 - An earlier version of this post listed Welch’s PB&J Snacks, but I was just informed that the information is not accurate, so I have removed it.

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: Mars 2014
2. Candy Tease: Sweets & Snacks Expo - Part 2
3. Candy Tease: Sweets & Snacks Expo - Part 1
4. Candy Tease: Bar None, Reed’s and Regal Crown Sours
5. Candy Tease: October 2012

Tootsie is always a go-to brand for Halloween candy, as they make the popular Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops and Charms Blow Pops. Though some adults like to rank them on the Worst Halloween Candy lists every year, they wouldn’t keep making them if someone wasn’t buying them and eating them enthusiastically.

Tootsie has two new Super Blow Pops out for Halloween this year: Charms Super Blow Pop Caramel Apple and Charms Super Blow Pop Candy Corn. I couldn’t find the candy corn version (though I did find the flat Charms Candy Corn Pops), so I wanted to go ahead with this review of the Caramel Apple version.

The Super Blow Pop line is a beefy version of the standard Blow Pop. The regular Blow Pop is .65 ounces, the Super Blow Pop is 1.125 ounces. As a point of reference, a single Starlight Mint is about 5 grams, so this pop is like eating 6 or 7 mints in one sitting.

The pop is structured in layers, the center is bubble gum, the middle layer is green apple hard candy and the outer layer is caramel flavored hard candy. It’s an odd combination and I’d say my initial impression was not good. The caramel flavoring was just that, flavoring with a heavy dose of artificial butter. There was a little hint of salt, so that was interesting. After getting to the apple layer (which was very dark green) I did start noticing a good combination of the two, the falseness of the butter combined with the reassuringly fake green apple flavors.

The texture was a little more ... sandy than I like in my hard candy. It wasn’t completely smooth, though the bubbles were minimal. The size of the pop means that there’s a lot of lollipop before you can crunch to the center.

The most surprising part is the center. It’s not pink bubble gum. It’s green. The texture was horrible, biting into it, it was like packaging material. When I bit off a piece, it sounded like I was pulling apart the paper stick. The smell was bizarre and I can only say that it reminded me of the Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnels. (Maybe it’s a mix of the smell of asphalt, gasoline, diesel and apple juice.)

I wanted to like this, mostly because I found the Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops to be quite fun. It just kept getting worse as I got closer to the center. I can only hope that the Candy Corn version was better.

Charms Pops are made in a facility that’s gluten free and peanut free.

Related Candies

1. Charms Candy Corn Pops
2. Jolly Rancher Caramel Apple Lollipops
3. Russell Stover Big Bite Caramel Apple
4. Limited Edition Milky Way Caramel Apple Minis
5. Werther’s Original Caramel Apple Filled
6. Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops
7. Caramel Apple Sugar Babies
8. Charms Blow Pops & Zip-a-Dee

If you like Charms Blow Pops and thought to yourself that you’d be happier with just the candy and not the gum, they make that. They come in rectangular foil packs called Assorted Charms.

There are five flavors: Cherry, Strawberry, Lemon, Lime, Green Apple, Orange, and Raspberry and 10 pieces in the package.  They’re not necessarily distributed evenly among the flavors. I got three cherry and three lime while I only got one lemon, one green apple and one orange.

The fun things about Charms are that they’re square but have a little dimple in the center, and that they’re individually wrapped. So they’re less likely to end up as a sticky single piece like Life Savers. (Of course there’s no pineapple or tangerine in their flavor assortment.)

I’ve seen old candy ads that show that they used to come in single flavor packages, but the only way they sell them now is in the mixed flavors.

The pieces are just shy of 3/4 of an inch square.

I like the individual wrappers, as I’m the kind of person who likes to eat the flavor I want, not the one dispensed to me. It’s actually pretty easy to dump them out of the packet without tearing it, and then put them back.

Orange is nice, well rounded, a little tart but not very complex. Raspberry was good, it’s very floral with an overall soft flavor and a hint of tartness. The Cherry is like time traveling to the 70s for me. It’s not quite as “black cherry” as Life Savers, but of course has the same taste as the Cherry Blow Pop. Strawberry is interesting, as it’s pretty uncommon flavor for hard candy. I didn’t care much for it, it was more like a watery popsicle than jam. Lime is quite citrusy, though not very sour. There’s a lot of zest to it, and even a note of bitterness. Green Apple was nice, it was extremely mild at first, but then warmed up with a lot of juice notes. Lemon was a little too tepid for me, I was hoping for something like a sour ball but it had more sweetness than tart/zest notes.

There’s a lot to like here about the simplicity of the candy. The flavor assortment is different from Life Savers, though I can’t say that they’re better or worse. The packaging is truly charming and simple. The package holds only 1 ounce, so you can’t really feel too bad for chomping through all 10 pieces. There’s no nutrition label but hard candy is usually 95 to 100 calories per ounce ...so these are unlikely to be more than 100 calories per package.

There’s no info on the package about allergens, though other Charms products are gluten and peanut free (but please check before consuming).

Related Candies

1. Honees Honey Filled Drops
2. Tootsie Pop Drops
3. Charms Blow Pops & Zip-a-Dee
4. Tootsie Pops - Regular & Super Sized
5. LifeSavers
6. Blow Pop Minis
7. Goodbye Reed’s