I dunno why I bought these, but I’ve seen then online a few times and when I was at Munchies a few weeks ago, I just had to give them a try.

They’re a compressed dextrose candy (what I call chalk candy) shaped like Lego building blocks. They’re about the same size and work the same, only without the firm snap to keep things together. Some of my little candies were actually missing their nubs, but they had enough to build little walls and stuff.

They were actually different flavors:

White - Pineapple - tart and a little bitter, but really tasty.
Blue - Raspberry - not much to recommend it. More like the flavor blue.
Orange - Orange - kind of like Tang, tart and less than zesty.
Yellow - Banana - yum. I have a soft spot for banana flavored candies.
Red - Cherry - yeah, you know I’m not gonna like this one.
Purple - Grape - the color was strange but the taste as okay.
Green - Lime - nice and vibrant but not really that tasty.

They were very hard and very dense, so crunching on them wasn’t really that easy. They were more for sucking, but of course they’re kind of pointy.

I know I don’t sound excited by them, but I actually liked them quite a bit. I would buy them again, but probably only for a project. Or maybe just because I want something to play with on my desk. If I got them from a bulk bin I’d probably pull out just the yellow, white and orange ones. I think by the pound they’re cheaper than Lego.

How cool would it be if they made candy Lego-ish mini-figures?

Name:	Candy Blox	RATING: SUPERB YUMMY TASTY WORTH IT TEMPTING PLEASANT BENIGN UNAPPEALING APPALLING INEDIBLE
Brand:	Concord Confections (I think)
Place Purchased:	Munchies (Los Angeles)
Price:	$8.00 a pound (I think)
Size:	approx 5 ounces
Calories per ounce:	unknown
Categories:	Compressed Dextrose, Kosher

Yup, no real organization here, just a data dump as I go through my samples and notes from the day:

- I spent most of the morning with Dawn & Irene from Artisan Sweets (yes, Dawn’s the one who gave me those awesome Apothecary’s Garden hard candies). I followed them around as they visited some of their current suppliers and looked at new products and opportunities. I also introduced them to Mashti Malones (I had some of their new Lavender ice cream), which is a Persian-style ice cream shop based in Los Angeles.

- Dagoba (now owned by Hershey’s “Artisan Chocolates” division) has a bunch of new products including four bars for their Classic line:
Seeds (Hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds ... I’m not sure why there’s no flax in there)
Superfruit (acai, goji berries and currants)
Nibs (yeah, nibs)
Lemon Ginger (crystallized ginger and lemon essence ... crunchier than you’d think)

- Veritas who makes Thins for Trader Joe’s & Choxie is coming out with a line of single origin chocolates later this spring.

- I tasted a bunch of “comfort candies” at Allie’s Edibles and really liked the Chocolate Pretzel & Toffee Bark, which is a fun mix of pretzels and toffee bits in chocolate. Both the pretzels and the toffee provide a salty hit and a distinct crunch. It’s all Kosher too (she has Marshmallows as well).

- I sampled a few candies from B.T. McElrath of Minneapolis. They specialize in local ingredients and of course lovely-looking candies. The Salted Caramel Butterfly I tried was really nice, the caramel was dark and flowing with a strong and distinct smoky deep caramelized bite to it but also a smooth buttery mouthfeel.

- Since I enjoy Chuao Chocolates so much I visited their source chocolate supplier, El Rey. Their beans are all Venezuelan but a mix of all three varieties (Criollo, Forestero & Trinitario). I tried their nibs and a few of the single origin but I really enjoyed the Icao White Chocolate. What sets this white chocolate apart from all others is obvious when you taste it ... it tastes like chocolate even though it doesn’t look like it. They don’t “deodorize” the cocoa butter, so it retains some other woodsy scents and it’s not freakishly white, more like a pale yellow. I’m definitely going to be checking out more of El Rey in the future.

- I dropped by a booth called Mrs. May’s Naturals ... how could I pass them up, they’re named after me? They have dry roasted nut brittles that are so jam packed with nuts, there’s barely any room for the candy. The sweet toffee/candy is just there to hold it all together. Some are a mix of fruits and nuts but I liked the pure crunchiness of the Sunflower, Pecan and Cashew.

- It wasn’t all happiness and smiles, there were a couple of odd experiences where the booth-cops didn’t want me looking or tasting things. I can’t quite figure that out, but hey, there were literally thousands of things to look at. If they don’t want me trying their tea infused chocolate disks or gourmet lollipops, me and my blog can go elsewhere ... and we did!

- Harry London Chocolates is once again under new ownership (now 1-800-FLOWERS) and they’re taking a turn towards the dark side now. I was impressed by their new packaging and their dark tasting squares in 70% cocoa content (all natural) with flavors of Raspberry, Orange, Espresso and of course plain Chocolate. The proof will be in the pudding ... well, the chocolate tasting anyway. If the Raspberry is any indication, it’s some tasty stuff, but perhaps a little odd. More on that later.

- I had more fun at Jelly Belly today as they let me preview some new items that aren’t quite ready yet for the public. What I can tell you about is their new Pomegranate bean ... tasty and complex. I tried it when I was there in ‘05 and they were still working on it, the tinkering resulted in a tasty bean with some nice dry finish much more like a real pomegranate. It also has some Vitamin C and antioxidants in there! In other new product news they’re also putting some focus on Black Licorice and have a new Licorice Bear that will be presented soon.

- Brown Paper Chocolates has to take the cake as the most novel presentation of chocolate for the week so far. Think of it as a solid ganache that you treat like a fine parmesan and shave off pieces. It looked kind of strange, like a hunk of fudge, but the flavor was anything but grainy. Smooth and infused with herbs and spices, it was really impressive. The white chocolate went like this, “Fragrant with Lavender, Pimm’s(r) No.1 and Chervil with a cracked pepper and lavender fleur de sel afterthought.” Check out the whole line here.

I’m sitting in on another panel discussion (the other two I did were kind of “State of the Industry” ones that weren’t sweets oriented) but the one on Tuesday morning is about Chocolate. So I may post some session notes about that on Wednesday.

Ah, the joys of jelly. Why is it that we associate jelly candies with old people? (Or maybe that’s just me.)

I’ve seen these bars around, usually in big cities, usually in Kosher delis or Jewish neighborhoods. I’ve had Joyva’s products before, but always the halvah. The Joyva Joys is a long, flat and rather solid jelly bar covered in a thin shell of dark chocolate.

The jelly has a very strong floral scent and is raspberry flavored. It’s mostly sweet with a light tart bite to it. The jelly itself is medium pink, which I thought a little odd because the only way you’d know that is if you nibbled off the chocolate. For some reason I figured they colored it, but maybe not.

The chocolate is not terribly interesting, but I rather liked how it took a back seat to the jelly.

I enjoyed the bar for the most part. It wasn’t terribly sweet and it was different. The jelly was firmer and less sticky than something like a Chuckle or a Sunkist Fruit Gem - more like Jell-O. But Raspberry isn’t really my favorite flavor combo with chocolate. I think I’d enjoy an orange bar better, but I have no clue if Joyva makes an orange jelly. I get the sense that jelly candies like this are for old people or maybe I just think that because I’ve never seen anyone eating them. They’re probably a good candy to eat if you’re on a diet and want something chocolate, but not all that fat. They’ve got a pretty low caloric density for a candy with chocolate in it.

But I’m not on a diet, so I think I’ll stick with my Joyva Halvah. WASAW has two different reviews on this ... which average out pretty much to my review - a rave and a pan.

Note: Joyva Joys are thickened with agar-agar (made from seaweed), so they’re appropriate not only for those who keep Kosher, but also vegans (who don’t mind a little sugar), however, they are not Kosher for Passover as they contain corn syrup.

Name:	Joys	RATING: SUPERB YUMMY TASTY WORTH IT TEMPTING PLEASANT BENIGN UNAPPEALING APPALLING INEDIBLE
Brand:	Joyva
Place Purchased:	gift (thanks Susan!)
Price:	retail $.75
Size:	1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce:	127
Categories:	Chocolate, Jelly, United States, Kosher

I made it about 3/4 of the way through the show floor today. It’s a huge show with 22 million square miles of booths (okay, I have no clue how big it is, but it covers the north and south hall of the Moscone Center if that means anything to anyone). Though some of the booths were grouped by region of origin, there wasn’t much else to help navigate through the show. Lots of sampling and I have to say that I was pleased that the reception I got at every booth, including the ones where it was obvious I was there as a consumer, not a member of the press. Here are my notes, in no particular order.

- Figs are great. I enjoyed many figgy things such as Orchard Choice dried figs, several different fig pastes and a fig jam.

- Caffarel (represented in the States by Daprano.com) has some new products, including a chili pepper gianduia.

- Lara Bar has reformulated their chocolate bars, now called Jocolat. I didn’t like them the first time around (they were called Maya the nibs were intensely bitter and acrid for some reason) but the new ones are fantabulous and sure to be one of my new faves for snacking.

- Terra Nostra has come out with a new Robust Dark & Roasted Almonds (60% cacao) bar - all organic and with a new package design.

- Jelly Belly has come out with a bunch of new stuff, but the thing that interested me most was their new lollipop which reminds me of Linda’s Lollies. They’re big, very sold and in true Jelly Belly fashion come in oodles of flavors. I picked up Tangerine, Root Beer. Cotton Candy and Lemon. (I might go back for seconds & thirds this week.)

- Jelly Belly was also really pushing their new acquisition of Sunkist Fruit Gems from Ben Meyerson. The best part? I picked out a handful of just the grapefruit from the samples bin. You think I’m alone? I watched two other people pick through the sampling tub and choose the grapefruit and other citrus over the cherry.

- Choco-luxe had an amazing white chocolate/matcha truffle. I’ll have to swing by there again and try some of their other truffles.

- Honey is great. Honey from the Leatherwood Tree in Tasmania is awesome.

- My prediliction for nougats precedes me. Larry from Tassie Naturals actually had a huge handful of the stuff for me (both hazelnut and chocolate covered hazelnut) with some exciting news about a pepper and hazelnut version to come soon. I can’t wait!

- Peanut Butter and Curry is an awesome combo. I could definitely eat that slathered on a piece of bread.

- Awesome chocolates I need to learn more about:
Art Bars from Ithaca Fine Chocolates
Santander single origins from Colombia
Valrhona - I really need to explore their whole line
Alter Eco - fair trade chocolate bars from Bolivia and Ghana - no emulsifiers and made in Switzerland

- The Ginger People have come out with a super-charged Gin-Gin (their ginger hard candy) with TWICE the amount of ginger in it (just in time for Whale-Watching season).

- Carica is a fruit from Chile that I hope gets wider distribution - it’s like a mango, apricot and honeydew melon all in one. Right now it’s being distributed in jars of lightly sweetened syrup.

- Lillie Belle Farms was one of those cool finds on the floor. I had no idea they existed, but now I know that they’re toiling away in Oregon growing their own berries and making organic chocolates by hand in inventive flavor combinations. Though the Black Pepper Ganache didn’t do anything for me, I really enjoyed the Lavender Caramel and the simplicity of the caramlized Nibs (Lillie Rocks).

- BruCo has some awesome new “Salt Tasting Chocolate”, Mole Chocolate and something else that’s slipped my mind but was also spicy.

- Chocolove has a Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate they’re pushing for Valentines Day as a limited edition item. 55% cocoa content, it’s dark and fruity with a pretty good, long burn. Not really my thing (with the cherries) but a good bar overall.

- Hawaii has some pretty good honey with light yet complex flavors. My favorite from Big Island Bees was the Wilelaiki Blossom.

- Sensible Foods has something called “Crunch Dried Snacks” which I could really see myself getting into. They’re completely dried fruits and vegetables yet instead of being leathery and chewy, they’re rather crunchy and retain all the flavors. The bananas in their Tropical Blend are insanely crisp and tasty. (Some are even organic.)

I didn’t take any photos. Trade shows are exhausting but it’s nice to know that food is never far away. I’ll have lots more to report tomorrow!

Guess what? I snuck out of town to San Francisco for a few days to attend the Fancy Food Show.

Unlike the All Candy Expo, this trade show is devoted to all things tasty from olive oils, honey, flavored waters, cheeses, sauces, and dressing but includes a fair amount of sweet treats. In fact, candy and chocolate is well represented on the show floor ... from high end chocolatiers like Charles Chocolates & Chuao to the fun and mass-manufactured fare from Jelly Belly & Gimbals.

So, I'll be bringing you my notes and impressions from the show floor through Tuesday when the show ends - click that logo to keep up with just the show notes. Regular reviews will continue below as usual.