Candy Blog

Brach’s Ice Cream Conversation Hearts provide a conceptually different choice in the area of conversation candies. They’re flavored like ice cream, which is to say that they’re more mainstream than the original spice inspired flavors that Necco used to produce.

When I go to the store and browse ice cream flavors, the tops on my list of consideration go something like this (not necessarily in order): chocolate, coffee, mint chocolate chip, butter pecan, peanut butter cup and then maybe vanilla. I can’t remember the last time I bought strawberry ice cream (though I buy strawberry sorbet rather often) and orange sherbet is so far off my list of viable flavors, I can’t even recall seeing it in stores.

Strawberry (pink) was bitter and only a vague floral hint of berry. Mostly bitter from the food coloring.

Cherry (same shade of pink) was bitter and sweet with only a faint cherry flavoring note. Not tartness, just sweet. I’m still not convinced that there was any difference, except strawberry seemed even more bitter.

I had to take a break at this point because of the bitterness. A bit of water. Some crackers. I don’t know why I started with pink.

Vanilla (white) was expected to be flavorless, but actually does have a pleasant vanilla note to it. It’s like a marshmallow flavor. Really the only one I picked through assortment to eat. But it was really that I was actively avoiding nearly every other piece.

Chocolate was just horrible. Worse than the pink candies, because it was so lacking in chocolate and ended up tasting like a musty basement. You can tell just by looking at it that it can’t taste like chocolate, it’s not brown.

Orange was mild and did remind me of orange sherbet, except for the fact that it was missing that juice tartness. So it was more like an orange chapstick.

Now that I’ve tried their take on the classic ice cream flavors, I have no interest in their take on something more complex like butter pecan or mint chocolate chip. It’s best they failed at the easy stuff so I don’t get my hopes up.

Brach’s also has Heartlines Classic Conversation Hearts (I reviewed them when they were called small conversation hearts) on the shelves again this year. They’re better than the classic Necco (which are achingly hard to find) but still, not quite right.

Taken as a non-toxic and cheap decoration, there’s little better than conversation hearts. I paid only $2.50 for a full pound. Even if no one eats them from this cute jar on my desk, it was an inexpensive way to look like I’m observing the holiday. If you’re not eating them, it doesn’t matter which version you pick up. Choose based on the color combos, the sayings on them, or where they’re made. (These are made in Argentina.) There’s little point in choosing based on flavor.

Related Candies

1. Brach’s Conversation Hearts
2. Marich Black Heart Licorice
3. Necco Conversation Hearts (Sweethearts) 2010
4. Jelly Belly for Valentine’s Day
5. See’s Cinnamon (Hearts & Lollypops)
6. Gobstopper Heart Breakers
7. SweeTart Hearts

A few weeks ago I got a note from a Starbucks rep who let me know that they had some newish chocolate items by the register at the coffee shops. (Launched last Fall.)

I picked out their Starbucks Salted Almond Chocolate Bites since some of the other varieties looked like they were a bit melted. They also have Salted Caramel and Almond, Caramel Brûlé, Creamy Peanut Pretzel, and Berry Medley.

The package describes them as, “Triple chocolate covered almonds with gray sea salt.” They’re made with milk chocolate, though it’s a very dark milk chocolate both in appearance and flavor. The tube is about 3.75 inches tall and 1.5 inches around. So it fit easily in my purse but still holds a hefty 2 ounce single portion.

The thing I noticed is that these are small. In a way, that’s a good thing. They fit well in the tube and they are consistent in size. But they’re barely the size of a Peanut M&M. So I knew that either the chocolate was very thin or the almonds were very small ... or a bit of both.

The chocolate is good quality and has a soft and smooth melt. The salt is in the chocolate, and also may be clinging to the almond. The salt is integrated, not in little flakes or crystals. So the whole thing had a salty note. Honestly, too salty for me. There’s more than 200 mg per package, which is far too much for something that’s supposed to be sweet. Often the salted caramel items that I get have 60 mg or so ... this is just too much.

The almonds are perfectly roasted so they’re crunch and have a toasty flavor (I usually eat my almonds raw) and balance well with the ratio of chocolate. But I can’t buy these again because of the over-salted flavor. I’m still up for giving the other varieties a try. It’s a pretty good value for a premium-styled product sold at a store where this is an average price for a good. The portion is more than fair, especially if you’re in the mood to share.

They’re made on shared equipment with peanuts, other tree nuts, wheat and eggs. There’s no statement about the sourcing of the chocolate, which is disappointing because Starbucks makes such a bit deal about their sourcing of their coffee.

Related Candies

1. Gardini Bitter Chocolate and Gianduia with Sea Salt
2. Toblerone Crunchy Salted Almond
3. Dove Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Promises
4. Ghirardelli Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree
5. Lindt Excellence Dark with a touch of Sea Salt
6. Marich Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews
7. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

A little sampling of Licorice from Myzel’s in New York City that I picked up. Most are items I’ve had before, so it was nice to have the comfort of something tried and true. The one on the right end is the only one I’d never had before, it’s thyme and rosemary from Italy. It’s a soft, glycerine style licorice. Not very sweet at all with the balsam notes of the herbs.

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Since I’m traveling I thought I’d feature a photo today of another chocolate I tried because a friend brought it back from a trip. I don’t know much about these little Rivoire Chocolate pieces from the Rivoire Caffe in Florence, Italy.

They’re rich and smooth and just the right size to eat with a cup of coffee.

Rivoire Firenze
Piazza della Signoria angolo Via Vacchereccia, 4R - Firenze
website

I mentioned a while back that Mars was going to convert all of their Dove Chocolate over to Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa this year. I saw the first bars in the store sometime around New Years and picked up this Dove 71% Cacao Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate.

The bar was on sale for $2.49, so it’s a pretty good deal for a 71% bar that’s 3.3 ounces. The nutritional panel lists that half the bar is a single serving. The 42 gram portion is 20 grams of fat. Good fat, of course… it’s made with cocoa butter which is supposed to be pretty good for your heart or at least not bad for it.

The bar looks like all the other Dove items these days. It’s seductively smooth with easy to break off domed pieces. The snap isn’t quite stiff, but not soft either. It’s, well, I can’t describe it any other way except fatty. See the above fat content for confirmation.

The Dove flavor profile is always a bit thin for my tastes, it’s like the chocolate is parallel to the cocoa butter instead of integrated. That may have something to do with Mars’ proprietary Cocoapro flavanol enhancement. Perhaps there’s some sort of process that it goes through that sanitizes it in this manner. The good news is that in this bar, that’s less of an issue. The melt is wonderful, buoyant and soft without a hint of grit. The cocoa flavors are lightly bitter, woodsy with a floral note that I don’t get from their regular dark. The melt is like a pudding, soft and creamy but still quite thick.

I had a few Dove Promises in the regular dark to compare. The regular dark is quite sweet and again, a little thin on intensity though a well rounded brownie batter chocolate flavor. I much preferred the 71% and didn’t feel like the lack of sweetness was a compromise. The deepness of the flavors was much more concentrated. I’ll be curious to see if these show up in the foil-wrapped Dove Promises line.

I know that in many stores this will be one of the few certified sustainably sourced bars, so it’s nice to finally have a choice when you’re at the drug store or a big box retailer.

Related Candies

1. Dove Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Promises
2. Six Kilos of Felchlin Arriba 72% Chocolate
3. Rain Republic 70% Cacao from Guatemala
4. Amano Dos Rios 70% Chocolate
5. Dove Beautiful vs Bloomsberry Beauty-Bar