I reviewed the Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate Macadamias last week, this week I have one of their more unique items, the Hawaiian Host Caramacs. They also come in a similar single serve package, which contains two pieces. This one has a bit more candy in it, .94 ounces which is more of a preferred portion size than the .74 ounce dark chocolate covered whole nuts.

The package is fun, it reminds me of so many touristy items in Hawaii. But then again, that’s what the sunsets look like there, so why not capitalize on something familiar? The golds and amber of the setting sun do theme well with the caramel theme of the candy.

The little pieces are about an inch and a half across and nearly an inch high in spots.

The milk chocolate smells sweet and has a good dairy component to it. The bite is soft and the chocolate is thick enough that it adheres well to the caramel/nut center. The caramel has an excellent chewy pull to it. It’s a medium sweetness that kind of gets more mellow and malty as the chew goes on. It’s not terribly salty and doesn’t have that butter note to it, just a chewy sugar sort of vibe. The bits of macadamia give it some good texture. It’s kind of like flavorless coconut.

They’re basically macadamia turtles, though turtles usually have whole or large nut pieces. I liked them quite a bit, though I wanted them to have more nuts and maybe be a little less sweet. But if a friend returned from Hawaii and plopped these down next to me while they showed me their photos on a laptop, it’d probably be the perfect accompaniment.

Related Candies

1. Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate Macadamias
2. Demet’s Hazelnut Turtles
3. DeMet’s Turtles: Pecan & Cashew
4. Reese’s Select Clusters
5. 100 Grand Coconut

Hawaiian Host is one of the better known macadamia nut companies in Hawaii (the other would be Mauna Loa, which is now owned by Hershey’s). They make a variety of macadamia products, including the best iteration possible, the Hawaiian Host Dark Chocolate Whole Macadamias. Hawaiian Host even says that they invented the chocolate covered macadamia nut, though I’d say it was an inevitable thing like radio, skateboards and hot cocoa mix.

Macadamias were known as the premium nut when I was a kid. The most expensive, the most exotic and the most decadent. (And probably the most fattening.) I have to say that I never really cared that much for them. I’d treasure them when I’d have them, but I never went out of my way to request them or acquire them.

They come in a little, single serve package that holds two chocolate covered macadamias. It weighs only .74 ounces and at about a buck a package, that’s a bit on the expensive side, but it also keeps you from eating too many and there’s only 110 calories in the package.

The nuts are big and generously coated with dark chocolate. They’re about 1.25 inches around at the base. It smells like dark, rich hot chocolate.

The macadamias are fresh. They’re crunchy, crispy and have a light coconut and pine nut flavor to them. The chocolate is rich but a little chalky in flavor but not texture, it’s hard to describe, but it had a powdery note to it, like the difference between cocoa and chocolate. It’s not particular dark but also not overly sweet or sticky. It strikes the right note and ratio with the nuts.

They’re little bites of Hawaii. A fun little treat and a lovely gift to bring back to your dog sitter or coworkers.

Related Candies

1. William diCarlo Perle di dolcezza
2. DeMet’s Turtles: Pecan & Cashew
3. Teuscher
4. Malie Kai: Waialua Estate Chocolate
5. Big Island Chocolates
6. Mauna Loa Macadamia Kona Coffee Bar

Yes, I’m the type of person who eats sugar straight. Mostly brown sugar, but sometimes raw sugar and of course honey. Then there’s maple sugar. That’s a kind of sugar that’s actually marketed in little molded shapes to be eaten straight by non-sugar-obsessed folks.

Big Sky Brands of Canada is known for their little compressed sugar candies like Jones Soda Carbonated Candies and Yogen Fruz Smoothies. Their new Maple Ice Mints Original are far more subtle and dare I say, elegant.

The tin is rather ordinary but does the job. It has all the convincing faux wood grain of a early 1980s station wagon. It’s about 3.25 inches long and 1.75 inches wide.

Inside the tin are 30 little mints, each is about the size of an extra strength aspirin. They have a small maple leaf on one side. They smooth but leave a little powdery residue. They smell woodsy and sweet, like maple. The ingredients list both cane sugar and maple sugar, the color of them is a light sandy white and since there are no artificial colors in there, I’m guessing that’s the maple sugar that does that.

They’re sweet and have a light fresh mint hint far in the back, but mostly they’re a soft maple flavor. The great thing about the maple flavor is that it’s not sticky like the syrup and other sugar candies.

The problem with them is the price, I suppose. They were about $2 for less than an ounce. It’s tough in a Tic Tac and Altoids world to sink twice as much money into these. They’re not minty enough for me to consider them a mint, in that mints are consumed one or two at a time and then set aside for another day. Nope, I wanted to eat the whole box of them at once. I succeeded in eating them in three separate sittings. They still leave my mouth fresh and were wonderful with tea or just as a little delight in the middle of computer frustrations.

The package doesn’t say anything about the gluten status or nuts but they do appear to be all natural and probably vegan. (There’s calcium stearate in there, but I’ve never seen a candy that uses an animal source for the ingredient since the vegetable version is so cheap.)

Related Candies

1. Rogers’ Chocolates Victoria Creams
2. Yogen Fruz Smoothies
3. Russell Stover Eggs (2009 edition)
4. Caramilk Maple
5. VerMints
6. Jones Soda Grape Carbonated Candy

Here in the United States we have an iconic candy bar called Milky Way. There are a few different versions of it, it comes in dark chocolate (Milky Way Midnight) and an all caramel version called Milky Way Caramel.

In the United Kingdom and much of Europe the bar is called Mars and comes in a dark version as well as some other more fanciful varieties such as this Mars Delight bar that I picked up at Mel & Rose Wine & Liquors. I liked the design of the package and I was wondering if it was like the Milky Way Crispy Rolls (which are not based on the American Milky Way, but the UK Milky Way, which is like our 3 Musketeers).

The package says that it’s Surprisingly Crispy, Deliciously Smooth. The ingredients listing also helpfully breaks down each element of the bar into percentages and separate ingredients, which I love. The bar is 10% crispy rippled wafers (they’re very airy), caramel cream (21%), cocoa cream (24%) covered in milk chocolate (44%).

The bars were lovely. It’s hard to believe that this bar, which was only weeks away from its expiry date and half a world way in a flimsy wrapper looked so good. Each is about 2.5 inches long and pretty wide. Each one has about 99 calories in it, so maybe it’s for dieters who want a little treat. (Still, I think 200 calories for a whole package is a bit steep, I don’t think many folks will be able to control themselves and eat only one.)

The milk chocolate is soft but smooth and creamy. It has a pleasant fresh dairy flavor to it and an overall sweetness that’s deep and malty. The advertised caramel and cocoa cream wasn’t as evident to me, there was a bit of something in there between the chocolate and the wafers but nothing notable - not much texture and the caramel notes just came across as more malty sweetness. The wafers were light and crunchy with a toffee note to them, more like corn flakes than wheat flour wafers.

I enjoyed them enough that I ate both, but there was a full week between the two sessions. It didn’t leave me wanting more and the fact that I paid a ridiculous $1.75 for this because it was an import left me wanting it to be far superior to something I can get at any drug store. I think I’ll stick with the Q.bel bars, just because they’re easier to find not just because they’re cheaper but also use better ingredients. However, if Mars wanted to make these for the American market, I think I’d be more inclined to buy them, especially if they came in a dark version.

The bars were introduced in 2007 and had some pretty radical advertisements.

Other reviews: Jim’s Chocolate Mission and Chocablog.

Related Candies

1. Tunnock’s Caramel Milk Chocolate Wafer
2. Eat with your Eyes: The Most Awesome Chocolate Bar Ever
3. Ritter Sport Neapolitan Wafers
4. Milky Way Crispy Rolls

I get advance tastes of new candies, but I often post about them months before they hit the stores. Here’s a little review of reviews of new candies:

Snickers Peanut Butter Squared from Mars is a new introduction to the Snickers family of candy bars. It’s not a limited edition and is available in single serve size and fun size bags.

The regular package is two squares of candy. It features nougat, peanut butter and caramel covered in chocolate. It’s a bit less of a textural marvel than the standard Snickers. Folks who like a softer chew may prefer it, but it left me wanting a real Snickers bar.

I saw these first at the checkout at Target.

See full review for Snickers Peanut Butter Squared. (7 out of 10)

The new Hershey’s Drops come in two varieties: Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Drops and Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Drops. They’re large chocolate beans with no candy shell, easy to pop in your mouth or share. The milk chocolate variety isn’t different enough from a typical Hershey’s Kiss for me, even if there’s less unwrapping. But the Cookies ‘n’ Creme is interesting because there are so few candies that use the white confection like this. (Though there is a Kiss version, too.)

I saw these first at Von’s (photo) in stand up bags.

See full review of Hershey’s Drops (7 out of 10)

Like the Hershey’s Drops, the new Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis are here to making snacking easier. They little cups are easy to pop into your mouth and don’t require layers of wrapping like the foil-wrapped, fluted-cupped miniatures. They’re going to be great for baking.

See full review of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis (7 out of 10)

I teased these last summer and I’m doing it again. New PEEPS Chocolate Covered Raspberry Flavored Marshmallow Hearts in single-serve packages. This year, PEEPS Brand Marshmallow Candies are melting hearts with their new PEEPS Chocolate Covered Raspberry Flavored Marshmallow Hearts. Delicious milk or dark chocolate cover raspberry flavored PEEPS to create a scrumptious chocolate and marshmallow experience.

I tried the Peeps Peppermint Trees for Christmas and found them to be poorly made. I bought six of them and all were oozing, cracked and sticky inside. (Even the ones that weren’t cracked still had deflated centers.) I’m hoping the quality control for the Raspberry version will be better, because I think it’s a great idea.

I don’t think they need the colored marshmallow centers though, it just adds more ingredients that do nothing for the flavor (in fact, I’m prepared that the pink will taste bitter to me).

Finally, another tease. Mars is introducing a new Limited Edition Twix Coconut this spring. Look for it to hit shelves in April 2011.

Like the Coconut M&Ms, these have no coconut in them. Instead it’s a traditional Twix with a cookie base, caramel stripe and chocolate coating plus a light touch of coconut flavor.

Related Candies

1. Peeps Dark Chocolate Covered Mint Marshmallow
2. Eat with your Eyes: Twix Coconut
3. Snickers Peanut Butter Squared
4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis
5. Hershey’s Drops: Milk Chocolate & Cookies n Creme
6. Chocolate Covered Peeps
7. M&Ms Premiums

For folks who shop at Trader Joe’s, you know that the holiday confections go quickly, and when they’re gone they may never come back.

One of the new introductions that I saw on the shelves isn’t seasonal. It’s called Trader Joe’s Soft Peanut Brittle. At first I didn’t even know what that meant. Soft peanut brittle? Is it more like toffee, which means more butter than the traditionally less fatty brittle? The package simply says covered in milk chocolate, a flaky, crispy peanutty treat. The image looks like little mini bars of peanut brittle, but it looks like the peanuts are crushed instead of whole. So maybe that’s what makes it soft.

After opening the package and biting into one, I know what this is, and it isn’t “soft peanut brittle.”

They’re like Butterfinger or Clark Bars. Flaky layers of peanut butter crunch. It’s all covered in chocolate and striped with some darker chocolate.

I have nothing against Clark Bars (I love the new ones) but that’s not what I was expecting here.

The milk chocolate coating is a bit scuffed on all of them. The stand up pouch is economical, it holds a half a pound, but the bars aren’t well protected. Each little bar is about an inch and a quarter long and three quarters of an inch wide. It’s one big bite or two small ones.

The crispy layers are soft and have an kind of melt that’s like halva and a bit like cotton candy, with spindly & spiky shards of hard candy infused with the flavor of peanut butter. It’s a little sweet, a little salty and a lot nutty. There’s no molasses in there, which often helps to support the deep roasted flavors of the nuts and the woodsy notes of the chocolate. They’re quite munchable, definitely something I’d like to have while watching a movie.

The price is decent, especially because this version uses no artificial colors or flavors and has a real chocolate coating (unlike Butterfinger or Fifth Avenue). But Clark Bars are now all natural and come in milk or dark chocolate ... so I’m kind of torn. The back of the package suggests using it in desserts, like chopping it up and crumbling it on top of a cake or ice cream. No wrappers makes that infinitely simpler. But no wrappers also encourages endless munching. So just remember, you’ll have to control yourself once you open the bag (which has a zipper top).

The package says that they’re gluten free and Kosher.

Related Candies

1. Head to Head: Clark, Butterfinger & 5th Avenue
2. Clark Bar (Get Real - Milk & Dark)
3. Green & Black’s Peanut Milk Chocolate
4. Atkinson’s Peanut Butter Bar
5. See’s Peanut Brittle Bar
6. Chick-o-Stick

Last week I reviewed the new Haviland Signature Dark Chocolate Thin Mints. As I mentioned then, Haviland makes several other varieties, the Orange and Raspberry. While shopping I also found these Maxfield’s All American Raspberry and Orange Cream Sticks. Since they’re similar prices and similar candies, I thought I’d compare them.

The Haviland are patties and come in a long rectangular box of 21 that weighs 5 ounces. I paid $1.59 for one box and got the second half off. I’m going to hazard that the normal price for Haviland’s is going to be about $1.35. The Maxfield’s are sticks that come in a flat box with 13 sticks and weigh in at 3.15 ounces. I got both boxes for $1 on sale with a coupon. But let’s just say that these are normally about $1.00. So the price per ounce at my “regular” price estimates are 37 cents per ounce for Haviland and 32 cents per ounce for Maxfield’s.

Maxifield’s little book shaped box is just a sleeve. It’s covered in a clear shinkwrapped plastic that seals out moisture. Once that’s off though, the sleeve does a good job of protecting the little tray inside that holds the sticks (because it meets up with the box very well and has wide edges.

The tray holds 13 perfect looking sticks. I wouldn’t say that the flimsy brown tray is great for serving from, except in the most casual company.

I don’t know much about the Maxfield’s All American chocolates. This is the first year I can recall seeing them in stores at Christmas. I saw a lot of boxed chocolates on the shelves most a lower prices than the standard Russell Stover which was in the same aisle. Maxfield’s is based in Utah and is part of Dynamic Confections (which also makes Kencraft candy which creates those fanciful panoramic sugar eggs at Easter).

The Maxfield’s Raspberry Cream Sticks look great. I honestly didn’t expect much for the price and the fact that I hadn’t heard of the company before.

Each is nicely molded, fresh and looked like it just came off of the factory line. Each stick is about 2.75 inches long. They smell lightly of raspberry, like the seedy part of jam or perfume, not so much like the fresh berries.

The chocolate is smoky and pretty mellow, it’s not overly creamy or even sweet. The fondant center is moist and not quite crumbly, it’s softer than a York Peppermint Pattie but on the grainy side like the York. The raspberry flavor is all scent, there’s a light dash of pink food coloring in there.

The flavor was okay, not something I would just sit around eating. They’d be good, I suppose, to add to a plate of cookies or other desserts, but I wouldn’t just eat these without an accompaniment. They’re far too sweet for me without enough of a bonus of texture - the chocolate isn’t good enough and the fondant just lacks an authentic punch.

The Maxfield Orange Cream Sticks were a bit more promising, mostly because I think it’s easier to do a cheap but good orange flavor than it is to pull off rasbperry.

The orange sticks were just as lovely as the raspberry. The orange scent from them was an excellent citrus zest. The fondant was moist and had a gentle chew to it, or I could let it dissolve. The zest wasn’t too strong, not harsh bitter note to it. It overpowered the chocolate completely though, the only thing the chocolate did was give me a break from the throat searing sweetness.

Again, with some very bold coffee or tea, I don’t think I’d mind the sweetness quite as much. Each stick has about 28 calories.

The Haviland patties really do no better in the realm of packaging. The box is nicely designed and the tray certainly does its job of protecting the candy, but I wouldn’t serve from them. It’s also sealed in cellophane.

The patties in my fruity versions were in a little bit better shape than the Peppermint ones I mentioned last week. These had no sign of bloom and even fewer scuffs on the tops from shuffling around in the box. The box boasts that they’re 63% cacao and are all natural.

The Haviland Raspberry Creme Dark Chocolate Thin Mints box shows that the center is pink, but in actuality they were uncolored. That’s fine with me, I could tell them apart by smell alone. The raspberry scent is similar to the Maxfield’s sticks, like a puree that includes the woodsy notes of the seeds.

The patties are beautifully rippled and are about 1.33 inches around. The break is crisp but the filling is slightly flowing and has a little pull to it. The fondant is smooth with a light confectioners sugar sized grain to it The darker chocolate balances out the sweetness. The raspberry flavor is all scent and no tartness or true berry bits. It was a clean flavor and would go best with tea or perhaps some strong hot chocolate. The ingredients mention a touch of peppermint oil, and at first I thought that was a typo, but it’s true, there is a subtle minty finish.

The Haviland Orange Creme Dark Chocolate Thin Mints are strong. Even with my seasonal allergies, I could tell that these were orange. Biting into them it’s even more apparent that they’re too orange. Orange oil can be caustic at high concentrations and I think that may be pretty close here. The zest was overpowering, I got a hint of the chocolate texture and at the very least the change in the sweetness, but the orange oil too over everything else.

Each pattie has about 27 calories.

I like the change up of the standard thin mints or mint stick with these. Fondant is certainly a flexible element for a candy and I certainly support different flavors being combined with dark chocolate. In this case the sticks didn’t have the quality of chocolate that they should have and the fruity thin mints didn’t quite have the same balance of elements that the peppermint version had.

All were good values and in a situation where you just want to have something for folks who aren’t that discerning (perhaps drunk on your spiked wassail or have frostbitten tongues from screaming at a northern bowl game).

Related Candies

1. Marich Halloween Mellocremes
2. Choceur After Dinner Mints: Orange & Peppermint
3. House Brand Creme Eggs
4. Cream Drops versus Creme Drops
5. Romanego Dragees, Cordials & Fondants

I found the Divine Milk Chocolate with Spiced Cookies while in San Francisco last month. It seemed like the perfect place to pick up a limited edition bar for the winter season, as San Francisco always seems to be cold when I’m there.

I usually like the Divine packages; I like the simplicity and flexibility of the icons on the solid color field. The designs are color coded so it’s easy to pick out your favorite on a crowded shelf at the store. This breaks with that tradition and the wrapper sports a shiny red ribbon and bow. Not a pretty hand tied bow, but one of those cheap stick on bows. The design is done with a bit of tromp l’oiel that just ruins it because of the violation of scale.

The bar is made of mostly fair trade ingredients (the chocolate and the sugar) and is all natural though not organic.

The bar is soft, both because the cookies are crumbly and the milk chocolate isn’t quite as crisp as some. The chocolate has a very strong yogurty-dairy flavor to it, a little on the side of cheese even. I’m not keep on this more earthy and grassy flavor of milk chocolate. The chocolate melt is also a bit thick and sticky but very smooth. The cookies are quite good and have a well rounded flavor profile with a hint of ginger, black pepper, a graham cracker base and a hint of salt.

I liked it and eventually finished the bar (with a little help) but I don’t think this is quite for me. It’s a good candy bar that uses fair trade chocolate, but it’s not what I’d consider a good chocolate bar. The spiced cookies are a nice change from crisped rice and plain ginger, but not quite enough for me to wish that they’d make this bar all year round.

Related Candies

1. Brach’s Indulge Cookie Nibbles
2. Ferrara Dark Chocolate Covered Biscotti
3. Trader Joe’s Chocolate Covered Gingersnaps
4. See’s Pumpkin Spice & Root Beer Lollypops
5. Divine Fair Trade Chocolate