Back around Easter I got a hold of some stunning looking 3-Dees gummis from Au’some. Of course those are a seasonal item, so I wanted to try their year round products. What sounded even better was their 3-Dees Natural Fruit Snacks. They’re large, three dimensionally molded gummis made with natural flavors and colors plus a little vitamin C. They come in four different animal shapes. On top of that Au’some donates 3% of their proceeds to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The back of the box has fun facts about each of the animals. Not the ordinary stuff like “elephants are big” instead I found them interesting for all ages, like “An elephant’s ears can be used to cool the body on a hot day.” and “Polar bears paddle with their front feet and steer with their hind feet when swimming.”

The box is pretty big, bigger than it probably needs to be, but formatted more like the fruit snack boxes in the breakfast cereal aisle than the candy packages.

The ingredients are printed in large type on the back, not the micro print down the side of the box. The first ingredient is a mix of fruit juices that includes pear, strawberry, apple, blueberry and orange from concentrate, then sugar, water, rice syrup, gelatin, citric acid, pectin, buffered lactic acid, spirulina and safflower extracts, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid, natural flavors, purple carrot extract and turmeric (both for color). They’re made in a nut free facility but it doesn’t say anything about the gluten status.

They’re called fruit snacks, but from the ingredients (and having eaten them) they’re gummis, just with a little bit nicer list of ingredients than the standard Trolli or Haribo available here.

There are eight little packets that hold about a 1/2 ounce (.56 ounces) portion - which is 50 calories. This portion is two gummis. Sounds kind of stingy, but they’re quite beefy. The flavors are Strawberry, Blueberry, Orange and Apple. They random colors and come in four shapes: Tiger, Polar Bear, Elephant and Chimpazee.

The gummis are amazingly crafted. They’re large, easy to handle and of course nicely detailed on all sides. Most stand up, like little pliable & edible statues.

Orange is quite tangy and juicy. It’s not quite zesty. The texture is soft and more like eating a very firm Jell-O than a German-style gummi. It’s moist and squishy and has a kind of crumbly bite ... not soft enough to liquefy through the teeth though.

Blueberry was red, rather like the strawberry one, but the taste is distinctive. The flavor is immediately a believable blueberry, a little like iced tea and a little like blueberry jam or pie. There’s a boiled sugar note to it, which I enjoyed. It’s a little tangy, but sweeter than the orange. There’s a little bitter note in there, like tea or sometimes the skins of blueberries can be.

The big difference between these and the Easter or Valentines ones, besides the ingredients is that they don’t come in little molds. The naturals ones get a little squished up, so for some of them I had to kind of help the trunk of the elephant or the chimpanzee had bad posture.

Apple was also an amber color, which makes sense because that’s what apple juice looks like. The flavor was a combination of the tangy “green apple” from Jolly Rancher and the more sedate and syrupy flavor of apple juice. There was an almost-fizzy bite to it that I liked. It was one of those candies that didn’t taste like an all natural compromise - completely mainstream in every way.

Strawberry was also reddish like the blueberry. I know the chimp is orange ... so pretend. It’s like a middle of the road strawberry jam. No seeds but a definite berry/floral vibe. It’s not as intense as the others, but just as pleasant.

The packaging didn’t wow me, but I’m guessing since children are the target here. The fact that they’re already in pouches in respectable portions is an attractive option for parents. I liked all of the shapes except for the Chimp. Of course I’d want a dolphin or sea lion or something, but maybe they’ll do a marine mammal version of them.

They’re less like fruit snacks and more of a true gummi, so again, less of a compromise for parents who don’t want artificial colors but still want their kids to feel indulged with a treat. They’re not terribly sticky either ... though everyone knows a six year old has magical powers to make everything sticky. (Don’t let small children play with them though, as they could be a choking hazard.)

While these are natural and sold as fruit snacks, there’s another version that’s not all natural that are sold in move theater style boxes. Inside they were individually wrapped. (I didn’t take a photo of them for review - but I found them at Walgreen’s, so they’re easier to come by.)

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1. Au’some Snerdles Super Mario Power Up Box
2. Au’some Easter 3-Dees Gummy
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5. Surf Sweets Gummi Swirls
6. Albanese Gummi Butterflies
7. Gummi Lightning Bugs

Italy has probably been a confectionery center for thousands of years. Before cane sugar came along candies were made from dates, honey and nuts. But when Italy became a center of trade in the Mediterranean and had access to white sugar they became a hotbed of candy invention.

The heart of this tradition is the panned sweet. A nut or seed is the starter and then layers of sugar or chocolate are added as they tumble in a bin (rather like a cement mixer). The bonus in this kind of candy making was that a thick sugar coating actually preserved the nut or seed at the center. So a candied almond or pistachio could be easily carried around without worry that they’d get rancid and of course they were ideal for gifting.

In 1833 William diCarlo was founded in Sulmona, Italy, an area known for confetti (panned nuts and seeds). Their traditional methods and care in selecting their ingredients is evident from the packaging, list of ingredients and the product itself. I was given this box of Perle di dolcezza by their distributor Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods in the United States after I saw them at the Fancy Food Show in January.

The box is a fascinating construction. It’s like a flower (see this page at Amazon). Pop the top off and the sides fold out, like origami. Inside that is a little clear cellophane bag nestled inside the foil lined box.

Let’s face it, they’re drop dead gorgeous candies from the outside. But the construction is just as tantalizing: they’re a hazelnut covered in rich chocolate and then a candy coating. The whole thing is finished with a bronzy sparkling layer.

They smell sweet and a little like roasted nuts, but not much like chocolate.

The shell is thick and very crispy. The nuts are well roasted, so they’re also crunchy with no hint of raw chewiness. The dark chocolate layer is thick, but not overpowering. So the whole thing munched together has an excellent balance between the nut and the chocolate. The shell is kind of odd, the pearly coating not only looks metallic, it tastes slightly metallic, kind of like pennies. Maybe that was my mind playing tricks on me, but it had a mineral salt flavor to it, like a strong mineral water with a little zinc or copper note.

I loved the look and the crunch with the fresh nut plus the good quality chocolate was definitely different - this is the M&M I’ve always wished existed. But the metallic taste to it was a little off-putting - like my mouth was saying “danger” so I was careful not to eat too many in one day. The price is something that would keep most mortals from chowing down on lethal levels anyway, I saw them on Amazon for $13.50 a package (that’s $49 a pound). So they’re definitely a “sometimes food” not an everyday indulgence. They’d be ideal for a small wedding/shower/party - and I’d probably mix them in with other not-so-expensive items as part of a favor or candy display.

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Seattle Chocolates is probably known best for their line of affordable truffles, but they also have a line of Truffle Bars with inventive and unique combinations that make gourmet easy to take along.

I’ve been sampling their entire line so here’s the first and probably most approachable of the bunch: Perfect Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar with Roasted Peanuts.

The packaging is bold. I’ve had their bars before in the old look and honestly they didn’t impress me much. While some may not like the graphics, color combos and geometric patterns, I love them. They remind me of silk ties and scarves.

While the packaging has changed and the line has expanded, the format is the same.

The bars are a simple molding with four distinct segments. This makes portioning easy and for me half of the bar (two segments) was about 1.25 ounces and a satisfying amount. The dark chocolate is shiny and though I scuffed my bars a bit when bringing them back from the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, they were pristine in the flavor department.

A grown up version of a childhood favorite, this new truffle bar boasts all-natural ingredients, a smooth meltaway center and a dark chocolate shell. Roasted peanuts and creamy peanut butter in rich dark chocolate. Kosher. 2.5 oz.

The dark chocolate is rich and buttery with a quick and slick melt on the tongue. The roasted notes of the peanuts bleed through and add to the dark and slightly burnt flavors of the cocoa. It’s mostly a woodsy and earthy bar. The center has a snap to it, but it melts pretty readily. It’s studded with peanut chunks but the base is a peanut butter meltaway. It’s salty and crunchy and basically peanutty.

I enjoyed it thoroughly. It doesn’t satisfy me the same way that a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup does, but the crunches and the far superior chocolate experience makes it something else. Now, if all this sounds a little familiar, you might recognize the bar format as something that Target has in the Choxie line. So if you’re having trouble finding Seattle Chocolates, you can always try some Choxie Truffle Bars, which are about the same price.

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1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis
2. Fannie May Mint Meltaway
3. Dove Peanut Butter Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate
4. Koeze Cream-Nut Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cluster
5. Frangos Dark (62%)

Rain Republic makes small batch chocolate with locally sourced ingredients right in Guatemala. Naturally this means that the cocoa beans are Guatemalan, specifically they’re from Suchitepequez. In addition the other two major ingredients are also Guatemalan, the sugar (evaporated cane juice) is from Retalhuleu and the vanilla beans are from Coban. The only thing that’s not local is the soy lecithin.

I first discovered them at the Fancy Food Show in January 2010, but was intrigued when I saw their first American offering was via wine.woot.com in April.

The idea of single origin is nothing new, but the notion that the product is actually produced in the country of origin is quite appealing. (In many cases cacao farmers in very isolated areas never taste the products made from their beans.)

This triple single origin is packaged quite cleverly. The bar is sealed in a light mylar sleeve. That’s tucked into a paperboard box made of recycled content. the construction of the box makes it easy to put the uneaten chocolate back in and tuck in the tabs to protect the bar. The graphic design is bold and original, focusing on the story of the bar as well as the ingredients - a little line drawing of each item is the main focus and provide the only color.

The bar is 2 ounces and what I’ve found with a lot of these single origin bar is that’s plenty for me. Though most candy portions are about 2 ounces, 1 ounce of very dark chocolate is plenty satisfying for me. That’s probably good because one bar contains 360 calories and 76% of my saturated fat for the day.

That fat is what attracts me to the bar. While it’s 70% cacao, it’s obvious that much of that cacao content isn’t the solids, it’s the silky cocoa butter.

The bar smells smoky and dusty. There are woodsy notes, but mostly it’s like cocoa instead of chocolate. The rather dark and chalky looking exterior fooled me. I was concerned that it would be dry. It has a distinct snap and great tempering. There’s a quick melt on the tongue and it was apparent to me right away that this was smooth stuff. It’s quite silky and rather light on the sugar. There are dark burnt sugar notes (evaporated cane juice often contributes those flavors as it has more molasses in it). It’s woodsy and slightly acidic, so there’s a dry and bitter middle portion in the tasting. The silky cocoa butter covers that very well. A little hint of coffee, licorice and rosemary. But a good, robust flavor profile.

The big question now is where to get more of this! If you’re curious keep an eye on their facebook page. They also have some great photos there of the farmers and cacao trees. The price was $3 per bar on Woot, but I don’t know what the retail will be. $5 would be reasonable.

(More on the product design from the designers.)

Related Candies

1. Pierre Herme Chocolat Noir Sao Tome
2. Amano Dos Rios 70% Chocolate
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5. Domori Cru
6. Dagoba Single Origin

Barratt makes fanciful and light confections with names like Sherbet Fountains, Frosties, Refreshers, Dip Dabs and Flumps. It’s all happiness and light ... or is it? They they also make Bruisers, Candy Sticks and Black Jacks - names that could be taken as harsh. They’re nothing compared to the Liquorice Catherine Wheels. Sure, Catherine Wheel is an outdated term for a cartwheel but it’s also a torture device named for the method of execution of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

Okay, maybe we’ll consider the name to be taken from the cartwheel.

Like the American confectionery landscape, European candy makers have been consolidating for years, with smaller companies being bought up and integrated into multinational concerns. Barratt was most recently owned by Monkhill Confectionery which was in turn owned by Cadbury. They sold it off to Tangerine Confectionery in 2008, making Tangerine the #4 sweets maker in the United Kingdom.

This particular candy is an interesting hybrid construction. Licorice strips are wound up around a nonpareil licorice button. The buttons came in a variety of colors - I saw pink, light blue and orange ones. This package had a tray of six wheels and clocked in at almost four ounces. (At first I was a little miffed that it was three bucks, but then I realized it wasn’t a single portion, it was at least three.) They’re made with natural flavorings and colorings, though a word of caution that they use carmine coloring ... but there’s also gelatin in there, so they’re not even close to vegetarian.

Each wheel is pretty big. They’re about two thirds of an ounce each and the package says 60 calories. They’re two inches in diameter and the licorice belts are about a quarter of an inch. Unwound, there’s at least 34 inches of chewy black licorice strip. The strips are made of a wheat and molasses base and strongly flavored with licorice. They’re woodsy and dark, with a deep tangy note. The chew is stiff and kind of tough, but lasts a really long time. There’s no weird aftertaste from artificial colors.

The center button is aromatic and reminded me more of anise and other balsamic compounds like lavender and rosemary than licorice itself. The nonpareils aren’t as crunchy as I would have thought, they’re actually smaller than something found on a SnoCap, so maybe that’s part of it. The jelly/gummi center is smooth and has a good chew to it. They’re a good bite and a light contrast to the molasses and charcoal notes of the black straps.

I was surprised and pleased by these. They’re fun to eat, since there are so many ways to approach the pieces. I like that there’s a variation in the textures and flavor profiles. I wish I could buy a smaller package though, maybe two or three at a time. The tray seemed silly, but maybe they need that to keep them from getting really stuck together. They’d probably make great decorations, like in the center of a cake (but far too much for a single cupcake).

So my European friends, is this the only brand of these or are there other variations on this? I’d like to try them all.

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4. Walkers’ Nonsuch Liquorice Toffee
5. Kookaburra Choc Coated Liquorice
6. Bassett’s Licorice Allsorts

This bright yellow box holds a bar of Pierre Herme Chocolat Noir Pure Origine Sao Tome a la Fleur de Sel. I got it from my friend Ernessa, who was traveling in France and never forgets to pick me up something special. This is a special bar.

The bar is slightly smaller than the usual 100 gram (3.5 ounce) tablet. It’s 80 grams and 2.82 ounces, which in my book is two perfectly proportioned servings. Inside the box the bar is presented in a simple cellophane sleeve that’s a little oversized so putting the bar back in it is easy.

The chocolate ingredients are simple. It’s a 75% cacao bar made from single origin beans, sugar, cocoa butter, hand-harvested French sea salt, non-genetically modified soy lecithin and natural vanilla extract. The beans of Sao Tome are known for their bold and rich taste, which has echoes of charcoal, roasted nuts and coffee.

The bar has a good bit of cocoa butter in it so it has a nice melt on the tongue. The flavor is intense and just barely sweet, even before the little bits of sea salt come out to play.

The flavor is deep and woodsy with a light coffee note and scent of baked brownies. The salt give it a little pop and actually makes it seem sweeter at times. The buttery texture is a little bouncy but keeps the dry finish from going bitter.

I’ve tried a few other Sao Tome bars before and found them rather intense but lacking nuance and buttery texture. This bar is nothing like that - it’s soft and approachable and incredibly munchable for a 75% bar. If I’m ever in Paris or Tokyo, I’ll definitely sample more of the Pierre Herme chocolates (and of course the macarons they’re known for).

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1. Amano Dos Rios 70% Chocolate
2. Amadei
3. Domori Cru
4. Amano Single Origin Bars: Madagascar & Ocumare
5. Michel Cluizel Les 1ers Crus de Plantation
6. Dagoba Single Origin

Bubble Chocolate was introduced back in 2006 (original review) as the only American brand aerated chocolate. I reviewed it at that time but never saw it widely distributed.

Fast forward four years and Bubble Chocolate has a new look and a new formula. They went all natural (basically went to real vanilla instead of vanillin) and pared down the flavor offerings to just Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate.

The bars are large but not hefty. They come in a box with slanted sides (a severely truncated pyramid) and a nicely texture foil wrapping inside. The bars weigh 2.82 ounces but look far more substantial than that, because, well, there are a lot of bubbles in there.

The Bubble Chocolate Dark Chocolate Bar is 60% cocoa. It’s not terribly dark in color or content. The recommended serving is half of the bar, about 200 calories. I admit, it does feel pretty decadent to eat half of the bar and realize that it’s no more than a regular weight serving of chocolate.

The smell is kind of odd. It’s almost alcoholic, the vanilla notes are that strong. There’s also a hint of coconut.

The bite is easy and just slightly crumbly. It’s chalky in a way and cool on the tongue, but once it melts it doesn’t taste cheap or old. It’s just weird. The deep cocoa flavors never quite develop, it’s like the chocolate intensity of an unfrosted chocolate cake - soft and pillowy and sure, there’s cocoa in there. But the powerful fatty experience of the chocolate is rather lost on me, no rich puddles on the tongue of cocoa butter and cocoa solids.

The Milk Chocolate Bubble Chocolate Bar is much lighter looking but has a lovely gloss and good snap. There are 220 calories per serving in this version, I’m guessing because there’s less fiber in there ... its place is taken by sugar.

The bar doesn’t smell like much at all, a little like Cocoa Krispies. The texture is similarly light on the tongue and cool as it melts. The flavor is quite milky though not in the European or Swiss style, it’s more American. The cocoa flavors are muted and rather bland. There’s a little hint of caramel and malt but not much else from the chocolate.

Overall, I don’t know how different these are from the initial versions that I tried years ago but I’m just can’t get into this stuff. It’s smooth and nicely tempered but just not enough of a flavor punch for me. For the price I’d probably go for something else on the same shelf like Green & Black’s Peanut Bar or if I’m feeling particular decadent and want to pay a little more, an Amano. For pure fun, the bubbles just don’t do anything for me. However, the price on these is comparable to a similar imported Aero or Dairy Milk but with the all natural ingredients it’s just a step above.

They’re made in Belarus.

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5. Dairy Milk Bubbly
6. Aero

Trader Joe’s is getting its “summer candy” on the shelves. Summer candy is usually sugar candy, or candy that bears the heat well. The great thing about summer candy is that it often reflects the taste of summer fruits.

One product is Trader Joe’s Gourmet Jelly Beans in 18 natural flavors. The jelly beans are even naturally colored with vegetable and fruit sources. (They’re not quite vegan though, since they use beeswax for the final polish.)

At first I thought that they might be actual Jelly Belly, but without the Jelly Belly stamp. But then I thought maybe they were Marich, who makes Green Beans for Whole Foods. Then flipping over the box I saw that they’re made in Ireland ... which really doesn’t make much sense to me because there are so many great jelly bean makers here in California.

The flavor mix is almost all fruits, except for liquorice, which is really essential for any mix. The box is a nice size at 5 ounces and $1.99 they’re cheaper than Jelly Belly ($6.40 a pound versus about $9 a pound for most Jelly Belly).

(The photos don’t match up with the flavor review ... they’re just illustrative.)

The citrus flavors included: Lemon, Lemon & Lime, Tangerine and Pink Grapefruit. All were sunny and zesty, though sweeter and not as intense as Jelly Belly. The zest was a little uneven as well, some were rather bitter from the peel oils but the same flavor another time wasn’t at all.

The berry flavors included: Strawberry Smoothie, Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry and Blackberry. These flavors had good combinations of both tartness, sweetness and the fragrant floral notes that accompany berries. I liked the raspberry quite a bit, it wasn’t quite jammy but still the best rounded (and possibly the most ubiquitous flavor in my box) but on the other end blueberry was completely lacking in any flavor at all.

Traditional fruits were Cherry, Apple and Grape.

Cherry was weird, in fact, I wasn’t sure for a while that it was the cherry, but process of elimination meant that it couldn’t be anything other.

Apple was dark green, not the light green shown on the package. It’s mild but convincing.

I can’t say that I remember eating the grape.

(The photos don’t match up with the flavor review ... they’re just illustrative.)

Exotics were Banana Split, Coconut, Mango, Passion Fruit, Liquorice and Pomegranate.

Coconut was watery and sweet but still had a “coconut flavor” to it. I didn’t care much for it on its own but combined with other flavors like pomegranate or banana split it was a nice pop.

Pomegranate was sweet and a bit like cotton candy and raspberry.

I was quite fond of Liquorice, mostly because it was the first all natural licorice jelly bean that I think I’ve had. It had all the anise and licorice flavor - very sweet but a balanced woodsy and spicy character - but didn’t have any of the food coloring bitterness.

Mango was like peach for me, a little too much like the peel (or fuzz in the case of peaches) and not enough of the luscious tangy and custardy flesh.

Passion Fruit was similar to mango in that it didn’t quite get the fresh fruit for me, but it was a good mix of sweetness and toasted sugar flavors.

I loved Banana Split. It was sweet but still a good rounded banana flavor that made it taste creamy.

The texture overall is firmer than Jelly Belly and other gourmet beans. They’re smooth and very well made but chewy. Some folks may prefer that texture but I thought they were lacking punch and many didn’t taste different enough to warrant 18 flavors over 12 or 8.

The more exciting product for me was the new Citrus Gum Drops which feature my favorite flavor genre. Tangerine, Key Lime, Pink Grapefruit and Lemon.

Like the Jelly Beans, these are all natural and vegan. They’re also Kosher.

They’re also a better value, at 8 ounces for the same $1.99 price tag. I was hoping they’d be as good as the Starbucks teensy gum drops or the comparably priced but huge Whole Foods Gourmet Gum Drops.

The gum drops fit right in as gum drop sized. Like a thimble of firm jelly candy. The sugar sanding is fine grained and stuck well, so there’s not a lot of dust.

Lemon - spectacularly well rounded, more like a marmalade than lemonade. Very zesty and only lightly tangy. The citrus oils are very pronounced and have a bitter aftertaste that I love until I’m done eating them and I have a bit of a burning tongue.

Pink Grapefruit - I had high hopes for these but they were a bit blander than I’d hoped. They’re more about the juice flavors than the peel. So they’re not bitter but just lacking a well rounded citrus punch but did have a bit of a caramelized sugar/honey smoothness.

Key Lime is subtle and quietly peppery. A little tangy and zesty but much deeper than the usual lime.

Tangerine - it says tangerine but it tastes simply like orange, perhaps even like Tang. Sweet and juicy, but not zesty or tart.

The gum drops were so well suited to my preferences, it’s like Trader Joe’s has been reading the blog. I liked the size and of course the price was great for a premium item. They’re not pate de fruits but they’re more vibrant than Dots.

Related Candies

1. Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Jellies: Grapefruit, Goji Berry & Red Apple
2. Tootsie Sour Dots
3. Gourmet Gumdrops
4. Harry & David Fall Leaves Fruit Gels
5. Organic Zootons