Candy Blog

Name: Hershey’s Rolo Minis
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Rolo Minis are bite-sized and unwrapped versions of Hershey’s chocolate-covered caramels. They are available in 2.5-ounce king size packs and in eight-ounce reclosable bags.
Introduction Date: March 2012
Notes: These look like a great idea for movie theater snacking or baking projects. I wonder if they’ll be sold in large bags or theater boxes as well. (A king size bag is actually ideal for a movie.)

Name:
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Milk Chocolate With Almonds Pieces are whole almonds covered in milk chocolate and coated in a candy shell. They pack in eight-ounce pouches that ship in 12- and 20-ct cases.
Introduction Date: March 2012
Notes: These look suspiciously like Almond M&Ms, but I’m not going to complain if I can actually find these reliably. I’m curious what the quality of the chocolate will be. I was fond of the Almond Joy Pieces (which had coconut bits and crushed almonds in milk chocolate). The brown and cream colors feel like they’re more natural, but it’s not like it doesn’t take just as much artificial coloring to make brown as red or blue.

Name: Hershey’s Bliss Dark Chocolate with Caramel
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Individually wrapped Hershey’s Bliss Dark Chocolate With Caramel is also new, packing in 8.6-ounce bags.
Introduction Date: March 2012
Notes: The Bliss line just keeps looking more and more like Dove Promises. I’m not saying that it’s bad to have a little competition, but I’d like to see some differentiation, Hershey’s should do the kinds of flavor combinations that Dove isn’t doing.

Name: Lindt Holiday Friends
Brand: Lindt Chocolate
Description: Escape to Lindt’s winter wonderland with the help of our lovely enchanting characters: Bear, Snowman & Santa.  Lindt Swiss Maitres Chocolatiers have passionately created the most traditional characters in the finest Lindt chocolate.
Introduction Date: currently available
Notes: Lindt also offers miniature foil wrapped versions of these characters, plus some reindeer for Santa. The bears are on par with the reindeer and iconic bunny they do for Easter. It stands to reason that the bear could be a year round item now.

Name: Warheads Sour Twists
Brand: Impact Confections
Description: The latest Warheads product is pretty twisted. Sour Twists feature a twisted extruded chewy candy with a fruity center and just-right sour coating. Three delicious flavors of lemon, green apple, and watermelon are twirled in every twist, which can be eaten as one, or pulled apart and enjoyed one flavor at a time.
Introduction Date: available now
Notes: Super sour fruity licorice. I like that the twists can be untwisted. It looks like they have a good corner on this part of the market with a truly sour product.

Name: Jelly Belly Snapple Mix
Brand: Jelly Belly
Description: Jelly Belly Candy Co. has teamed up with Snapple to create a new line of Jelly Belly beans with Snapple Juice Drinks. The candymakers began at the source, Snapple Juice Drink concentrates in five tangy and sweet Snapple flavors: Fruit Punch, Mango Madness, Cranberry Raspberry, Pink Lemonade and Kiwi Strawberry. The gourmet jelly beans burst with Snapple goodness. Jelly Belly Snapple Mix flavors are made from real fruit juice and purees. These jelly beans have no artificial coloring; the colors come from natural fruit and vegetables.
Introduction Date: available now
Notes: I like that Jelly Belly is expanding their all natural line of jelly beans. I’ll be on the lookout for these in stores.

Name: Tropical Cotton Candy Swirlz
Brand: Taste Of Nature
Description: Watermelon, banana and pineapple/coconut cotton candy comes in 3.1-ounce bags and join the company’s five existing flavors.
Introduction Date: unknown
Notes: I’ve never been fond of pre-packaged cotton candy, it’s completely lost its fluff by the time it gets to the stores. But I can say, from personal experience, that pineapple and pina colada cotton candy is a great combination.

Images courtesy of the respective manufacturer.

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: October 2011
2. Candy Tease: Mars 2011 Announcements
3. Candy Tease: Sweets & Snacks Expo 2011 Part 2
4. Candy Tease: Sweets & Snacks Expo 2011 Part 1
5. Hershey’s Almond Joy Pieces
6. Hershey’s Bliss
7. Lindt Chocolate Bunnies (Dark & Milk)

When I saw a tweet from The Impulsive Buy that there was a new kind of M&Ms, I was on the case. Marvo tracked them down, they’re called Cinnamon M&Ms and they’re an exclusive to Target stores right now (though some folks have them on eBay as well).

The bags are slight, with only 9.9 ounces compared to the standard 12 ounce bag of Milk Chocolate M&MS for the same price.

The package features the Green M&M in a white knit cap & scarf holding some cinnamon sticks. The illustration shows that the candies come in three deep red colors.

The pieces vary in size and slightly in color. The deep red and maroon are almost indistinguishable in lower light situations.

Ciinnamon on the left, Milk Chocolate on the right

The pieces are larger than the regular Milk Chocolate M&Ms. The color is not quite as dense or shiny as the regular M&Ms. They’re a little dusty colored, like the color coating isn’t as thick or they aren’t as polished. It appears that the shade of brown and red are identical to the standard Milk Chocolate red and brown, but the maroon is new.

The flavor, as Marvo pointed out in his review, tastes like it’s concentrated in the shell of the candy, not in the milk chocolate. Some shells taste more cinnamony than others, but the red tastes the most like cinnamon. It’s not a “red hot” sort of flavor, it’s more of the ground spice flavor. It’s woodsy and rich with a slight heat to it, but nothing that’s too warm. 

The largest pieces feel like they’re layered; as if they start out as a regular sized M&M, then get another layer of chocolate to supersize them. (They used to make Mega M&Ms, maybe this is just the same equipment being put to use.)

The flavor is different but not radical. It’s subtle and pleasant, but masks the also mild chocolate flavors from Mars very sweet milk chocolate. The candy shell is fun to crack and the textures work exceptionally well in this instance because of the ratios with the larger chocolate pieces.

I can’t say that I’ve been longing for these all of my life; and I can’t say, especially at this price, that I’d buy them again. Like the Coconut M&Ms, they’re only vaguely different but the cinnamon, like coconut, is a polarizing flavor. Either you like it or you don’t. So there will be folks out there that won’t.

I can say that these go very nicely with coffee, the cinnamon adds that fall, harvest essence to the whole event. So settle down with the morning paper and toss a few Cinnamon M&Ms onto your saucer for a little extra bump.

For traditionalist, the Milk Chocolate Mint M&Ms are also returning for Christmas.

Related Candies

1. Crispy M&Ms
2. Pretzel M&Ms
3. Wonka Exceptionals Domed Dark Chocolate
4. Limited Edition M&Ms Coconut
5. Limited Edition Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms
6. Mint Chocolate M&Ms
7. SweetRiot: flavor 70 cinn
8. M&Ms Line

When I heard that Jelly Belly was making chocolate covered jelly beans, I simply assumed that mint would be in the initial mix. But when I tried my first box of them, it was all fruity. It makes sense that mint would be sold separately, as they can overpower other flavors.

I found the new Jelly Belly Mint Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips on sale at TJ Maxx. They were a much better deal than I usually see for the Dips, only $1.69 for the bag. They look like an ideal candy for snacking at the movies. The fact that they’re a chocolate covered jelly candy means that they’re a bit lower in calories than a regular chocolate bar. It’s only 106 calories per ounce, instead of the typical 140-160 calories per ounce for straight chocolate products.

The Dips are rather interesting because they’re just the center of a jelly bean covered in chocolate, there’s no candy shell. This creates a smoother experience, but there is a more subtle experience. Gourmet jelly beans are usually constructed of two parts - the lightly flavored center and the intensely flavored shell.

They’re beautifully panned, the chocolate coating is consistent and shiny. They smell like dark chocolate: deep and slightly smoky. The chocolate turns creamy very quickly when I chewed the beans. The center is firm and chewy, but has not hint of the grainy coating that typical sugar shelled jelly beans have. The mint comes out quickly, it tastes like a peppermint and spearmint mix. But the longer I chewed, I started getting another flavor - the sweetness of the chocolate dissipated and suddenly it was tangy. The jelly center has citric acid in it, so instead of being like the a chocolate covered Spearmint Leaf, there’s this weird tartness. It’s like there’s a mojito note to it, without the citrus zest. Or a cough drop.

I just didn’t like it. If I kept eating them, the aftertaste didn’t get a hold of me until the last one was left ... but that’s no way to enjoy candy. I’ll stick to Junior Mints or for this candy, the fruity flavors.

Related Candies

1. Jelly Belly Candy Corn Jelly Beans
2. Jelly Belly Chocolate Dips
3. Spearmint Leaves
4. Mint Cremes from the Makers of Jelly Belly
5. Dots Elements: Earth, Air, Fire & Water
6. Jelly Belly Ice Cream Parlor Mix
7. Hot Tamales Ice

Aldi sells absurdly inexpensive Germany chocolate. Here’s a tease of an upcoming review for their mini chocolate bars. They’re called Choceur Fine Chocolate and are 1.4 ounces each in packages of 5. The perfect single serving of chocolate.

Seth Ellis Chocolatier of Boulder, CO makes an interesting line of candy cups called Sun Cups. They’re nut free, gluten free, use all organic ingredients plus ethically source chocolate, no soy, no peanuts and is Kosher. They do contain dairy.

The first set of products they introduced were sunflower butter cups (hence the name Sun Cups) in milk chocolate and dark chocolate. This cup is accurately described by the name, they’re chocolate cups with a peppermint cream filling. They package is the same size and weight as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups - 1.5 ounces (so 3/4 of an ounce per cup).

Their most recent addition to the line is their Sun Cups Dark Chocolate Mint Cups.

The packaging is dark and honestly looks a little more foreboding than most mint and chocolate candies I sample. The package is also compostable.

The cups are nicely made, perfectly level and with no cracks, scuffs, blemishes or oozing. The proportions inside the chocolate cups are very nicely done. Unlike some other cups I’ve had where there’s a strange chocolate hump on the bottom of the cup or too much top crust, these are consistent throughout.

The chocolate is crisp and nicely tempered. It’s deep and rich and only barely sweet, in fact, it’s downright bitter compared to the sweet center. The fondant filling is kind of strange. It’s not a smooth gooey sauce like the center of a Junior Mint or the crumbly slightly airy center of a York Peppermint Pattie. It’s soft, though stiff enough that it doesn’t flow. It’s grainy, but in a smooth and consistent way that frosting can be. The color is like turbinado sugar, natural but still clean looking. The filling is made from cream, sugar, peppermint oil and white chocolate. So there’s a light, creamy butter flavor to it along with a clean flavor of peppermint.

The mint doesn’t overpower the dark chocolate. Nothing can overpower the darkness of this chocolate, it has a slight dry bite to it that’s hard to overcome even with what feels like a pure sugar center.

I want to love these and I had no trouble eating both for the review, but I don’t feel like I’ll find myself in the right mood for something so intense again. I’m sure that there are some folks out there who have been longing for a really bitter peppermint pattie experience, so hopefully they’ll find these and keep the product line in business.

Related Candies

1. Sweet Earth Bittersweet Chocolate Drops & Coffee Caramels
2. Dark Angell Organic Candy Bar
3. Tony’s Chocolonely Chocolate Easter Eggs
4. Justin’s Organic Peanut Butter Cups
5. Sun Cups
6. Sweet Earth Chocolate Cups
7. 3400 Phinney: Fig, Fennel & Almond and Hazelnut Crunch
8. Theo 3400 Phinney Bars