Candy Blog

Here’s another set of links to tasty (and maybe not so tasty) items in the archives from this week in history. Overall, it looks like my trend in June is to visit classics, with a few twists.

2011

Last summer I got to try a new line of lower calorie treats. In reality what Nestle created were just small treats for the same price as a larger portion treat for the same price. Good job. (Still, they would be truly delicious with actual chocolate.)

Name: Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp
Brand: Nestle
Place Purchased: Gelson’s (Silver Lake) & Sample from Nestle
Price: $4.29 for package of 6 or .99 each
Size: .77 ounces
Calories per ounce: 143
Type: Mockolate/Cookie/Peanuts
Rating: 6 out of 10

Read the full review of Nestle’s Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp from the archives.

2010

Some candies are just too pretty to eat. Some of Haribos fit right in there. Since my trips to Germany, I’m actually pretty happy with the selections that we do get in the United States. Most of it is good and fits the flavor profiles Americans prefer.

Name: Raspberries Gummi Candy
Brand: Haribo
Place Purchased: Target (Irvine, CA)
Price: $1.49
Size: 8 ounces
Calories per ounce: 102
Type: Gummi
Rating: 6 out of 10

Read the review of Haribo Raspberries from the archives.

2009

Some classic candies just can’t be improved upon. These don’t need to be covered in chocolate, they don’t need to be made by hand. (Though a little less artificial coloring wouldn’t hurt.)

Name: Spearmint Leaves
Brand: Walgreen Co.
Place Purchased: Walgreen’s (Echo Park)
Price: $.99
Size: 9.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 104
Type: Jelly/Mint
Rating: 8 out of 10

Read the review of Spearmint Leaves from the archives.

2008

This is one of those candies I hadn’t tried before starting the blog. Since posting this I’ve actually bought a couple of full boxes of Coconut Longboys and enjoy them quite a bit, especially in the summer since they’re creamy but have no chocolate and stand up well to the heat.

Name: Long Boys: Coconut & Chocolate
Brand: Atkinson’s Candy
Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
Price: unknown
Size: unknown
Calories per ounce: unknown
Type: Chew/Coconut
Rating: 7 out of 10

Read the Coconut Longboys review from the archives.

2007

When I wrote this review I fully intended to try other versions of Circus Peanuts and compare them, perhaps do a full photo array. But I can’t bring myself to buy them again, let alone open the package and possibly eat them.

Name: Circus Peanuts
Brand: Melster
Place Purchased: Dollar Tree
Price: $1.00
Size: 11 ounces
Calories per ounce: 110
Type: Marshmallow
Rating: 3 out of 10

Read the Circus Peanuts review from the archives.

2006

This is one of the best Limited Edition Snickers that came along, I believe it’s been re-issued twice. It seems odd that they made the 3X Snickers (chocolate caramel, chocolate nougat and chocolate coating) a regular item but not this one.

Name: Snickers Xtreme
Brand: Mars
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo Sample
Price: approximately $.75
Size: 2.07 ounces
Calories per ounce: 145
Type: Chocolate/Peanuts/Caramel
Rating: 7 out of 10

Read the review of Snickers Xtreme from the archives.

2005

Name: Aero
Brand: Nestle Rowntree (UK)
Place Purchased: Cost Plus
Price: $1.29
Size: 1.62 oz
Calories per ounce: 142
Type: Chocolate (Milk)
Rating: 6 out of 10

Read the review of Nestle Aero from the archives.

Chocolate covered nuts are one of the simplest candies. They’re a hybrid of wholesome snack and decadence.

They’re also usually expensive for anything other than plain old peanuts. So the decadence comes with a pricetag that helps to moderate any overindulgence. But I saw this box of Superior Nut & Candy Chocolate Covered Cashews not in the candy aisle at RiteAid, but their “bargain” aisle. It was only a buck and looked to be of good quality.

The bargain price can be explained by the miniscule portion. I knew when I bought it that the box was only 2.75 ounces. The box is 6.5 inches long, 1 inch thick and 3.5 inches wide.

The large volume of the box is wasted. There is no “product may have settled during shipping” notice. The little packet inside is little, was always little, was made little. It rolls around in the box, can stand up, turn around and perhaps even invite two friends over.

But amounts aside, they look good. The packet protected them well, they’re sealed and smell fresh and look glossy when opened.

The cashews are good, they’re large and well chosen. Some are over one inch long, though most are slightly less. Some are whole, some are halves and a few are pieces.

The chocolate is sweet and has only the thinnest veneer of confectioners glaze to keep them from sticking together. It’s rather fudgy and though not grainy, I wouldn’t say it’s a silky smooth melt either. The nuts are good quality, fresh and only lightly toasted.

Overall, they’re good and it’s uncommon to find chocolate covered cashews at the drug store. The price is actually pretty good if you ignore the expectation of more candy because of the size of the box.

Related Candies

1. Hershey’s Whoppers
2. Cupcake Bites
3. Vosges Bombalinas - Black Pearl Cashews
4. DeMet’s Turtles: Pecan & Cashew
5. Marich Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews
6. Meiji Gummy Choco
7. Sanders Caramels & Titans

American marshmallows are not as interesting as those that are found in Europe and Japan. It’s sad, because I would think that the United States has the capacity and the desire to eat really good marshmallows.

So I was surprised and pleased to find this bag of Mallo-Licious: Strawberry filled with Chocolate on display at the end of the candy aisle at Walgreen’s. They come in other flavors as well. I saw Green Apple (filled with green jelly) there and the package says they also come in Sour Peach.

I’ve had quite a few Frankford candies over the years, which is not a very well known brand. They make licensed candy and have another sub-brand called Kandy Kastle. Much of their candy is made in China, though Frankford has a small chocolate factory in Pennsylvania (where they started) that makes mostly novelty foil wrapped molded pieces. For the most part, their stuff is sub-par, some of it actually horrible. But I saw that this candy was made in Italy, so I thought it might be different.

They are shaped like real strawberries, and are actually sized like an average strawberry as well. They’re over two inches tall from the tip of the berry to the top of the green “stem”. It’s a standard marshmallow but instead of the campfire style, these are covered with fine granulated sugar. It gives them a little sparkle and in the case of the strawberry flavor here for review, it gives it a slight grainy crunch that vaguely mimics strawberry seeds.

The marshmallow berry is filled with a little dollop of what is called chocolate on the front of the package, but the ingredients are probably more on the order of sugar, palm oil, milk powder and fat reduced cocoa.

The ingredients as a whole are pretty substandard (though what I’d expect from Frankford). It starts with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. See, here’s what so surprising about that. There are a lot of people who assume that candy has a lot of HFCS in it, but in reality there are very few candies that do. This is, though, the second candy I’ve had in the past month that does, and marks only the fifth since I’ve been keeping the database that I’ve noticed it.

The marshmallow is soft and has a pleasant strawberry scent, a combination of toasted sugar like cotton candy and a light floral note of pineapple. The bite has the slight grain and the marshmallow is bouncy and melts quite easily, more like a meringue than some latexy gelatin-rich marshmallows. The chocolate inside is more like a soft paste that has a cake batter flavor to it and very little actual chocolate flavor.

It’s not horrible, but much better to look at than actually eat. Honestly, I think they’re charming and wouldn’t be afraid to use them to decorate a cake or put amongst some home baked cookies on a tray for dessert without ever telling people they’re edible. (Lest the eat them.) I’m sure children will enjoy them. I’m thinking about trying to toast them.

Related Candies

1. SpongeBob Squarepants Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Snacks
2. Peter Rabbit Gummy Candy
3. Chewbies Liquid Taffy - Orange
4. CVS Marshmallow Pop
5. Choco-Fudge Mallow Sundae
6. Frankford Marshmallow Pals
7. SpongeBob SquarePants Heart
8. Gummi Lightning Bugs

There’s pretty long list of candy that does well in the summer’s heat. Panned candies, those with a sugar shell, do particularly well. So for those who want a little licorice treat, I still like Good & Plenty. It’s not chocolate, but it has plenty of hearty and deep flavors because of the molasses base. One of my other favorite all-weather candies is Chick-o-Sticks.

What’s your favorite summertime candy?

Lately I’ve been feeling the need for novelty in candy. I want to try new fruits, new combinations of flavors. So when I was browsing around on eBay and saw Mentos Lemon Squash I thought that fit the bill.

Of course when ordering candy to be shipped from another country, it’s good to order a lot. So I got plenty of HiCHEW flavors and all the Mentos I could find in the webstore that I hadn’t tried before. It was expensive and took a while to arrive, but anticipation is part of the fun with foreign novelty flavors.

As far as the exotic flavors, by far the Mentos Ume wins, mostly because it’s so ubiquitous in Japan but nearly unheard of in North America outside of population centers with a lot of Asians.

Plum as a flavor is rare in American candies. It’s hard to explain why. We have plenty of peach, nectarine and other stone fruits like apricots. But Plum is, well, plums become prunes. And prune are just not appealing to the Mentos demographic, no matter how much Worf extolled their virtues as a warrior drink.

In this case the Ume is a sour plum, a different variety than the American type like Santa Rosa or Blackamber, the Ume is more closely related to the Apricot. I’ve had salted dried plums before but found them, well, salty, tangy and bitter. The Ume Mentos are rather like that, though not salty, they’re intense and distilled. There’s a tartness that taste more fresh than prunes or raisins. There’s also a peppery hint of spice, like the peel of a plum and maybe a hint of spice like clove. Then there’s an overriding floral quality, like roses.

They’re quite different, though I didn’t find it appealing. It could be the complexity of it, it could by the sort of grassy note that’s also there that I found unpleasant. But it’s definitely unique and I’m glad I spent the bucks to get it.

The Mentos Honeyed Apple was a flavor I hadn’t heard of before, but did notice a trend of honey flavored candies becoming more popular in Japanese candy I saw available in the United States and online. As with this flavor, it’s often combined with other fruits.

The general flavor profile is soft, the apple notes are more like applesauce than tangy green apples. The honey isn’t very apparent, except that the sweetness is much more subdued and syrupy than regular apple Mentos. Japanese candy, and even Mentos, have always taken pains to create authentic fruit flavors. This tastes like real apples, not that chemical invention called “green apple” that seems to have spread around the world. (That’s a good flavor too, but not the same.)

The Mentos Lemon Squash really made no sense to me at all. At first I thought it was about the game squash (like racquetball), that it was a particular sports drink. But then I looked it up and found out that squash is really just a spritzer or fruit soda. There were no gourds associated with this. The flavor, with that in perspective, is exactly what I’d expect for a citrus soda. It’s tangy and has a lemony flavor, but not a lot of herbal or zesty notes. There’s a strange calcium sort of note to it, like key lime juice can have. It was pleasant but nothing I’d pay oodles of money for in the future.

Related Candies

1. Airheads Pink Lemonade
2. Mentos Rainbow
3. Mentos Jam Filled
4. Gimbal’s Honey Lovers
5. Grapefruit Mentos (Japan)
6. Banana n Cream & Red Orange Mentos
7. Mentos - Pine Fresh (Pineapple)
8. Pink Grapefruit Mentos