Candy Addict
Candy news, views, and reviews. All the candy that's fit to eat, and some that isn't. All candy, all the time.

• Candy Fun: Barbie Goes Chocolate
  I come to you today with a Barbie bonanza. You may notice that our first Barbie is of the non-edible variety. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some Candy Addicts lurking over at Mattel because why else would they come up with a Hershey’s-chocolate-inspired Barbie? The official explanation on Barbie’s box says: “For well over a century, Hershey’s has been the chocolate of choice! Now Barbie doll celebrates the sweet story of Hershey’s excellence.” But I’m sticking to my theory that there are a bunch of chocoholics hanging about at Mattel. Which, by the way, just makes me think that must be a cool place to work even more than I already did. The Hershey’s Barbie Doll is part of the American Favorites collection. I can see the Hershey’s inspiration in the color and shape of the dress as well as the cute Hershey’s sash - they remind me of a Hershey’s Kiss. For a Barbie collector or a candy memorabilia collector, this doll is a treat! Now, over in the edible section, we have Dylan’s Candy Bar’s Then & Now Chocolate Square Pack of Barbie milk chocolate squares. The squares feature pictures of different Barbies throughout the years and I gotta tell you some of these Barbies are a hoot. The 1986 Barbie picture had me howling and wincing at the same time. Not that I’m admitting to wearing eye shadow like that - ahem. Besides being fun to look at, the Dylan’s Barbie chocolates are quite tasty. They’ve got a good chocolate flavor in the same quality ballpark as Cadbury or Dove. However, I found the texture a bit perplexing. It wasn’t bad, it was just a bit weird. The chocolates are kind of chewy and, instead of dissolving quickly in my mouth, they kind of took their time. Since they taste good, it wasn’t a problem for me but I found the slight chewiness a bit disconcerting. If you like Barbie-themed candies, Dylan’s has an array to choose from - the website gave me the giggles and some great ideas for presents for my niece. Overall, it’s a good month for Candy Addicts with a Barbie fetish! Hershey’s Barbie Website Dylan’s Candy Bar Website
• Candy Review: Wiseman House Almond Toffee
  My awesome friend Greg from Houston and his friends are total foodies. What does this mean? That they are willing to drive 3.5 hours from Houston to attend the Austin Hill County Food and Wine Festival, even if it means driving through a hurricane to get there. I am not a big fan of wine - with the exception of amazing New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs - but if there is gourmet food, then count me in! So we arrived at the festival Sunday afternoon, and as I was swishing my glass of overly sweet champagne in desperate need of a little O.J., I spot a chocolate booth. Wiseman House Chocolates, a local Texas chocolatier, stood at the front of the main tent and just dared you not to stop by with their elegant display of product and fully uniformed workers. I sauntered as quickly as one can in 90?F with a glass of champagne in hand, eager to pick at the lovely samples they were doling out. The first was a bowl containing their Mocha Crunch. I didn?t reveal my credentials as a candy reviewer, so when one of the employees asked what I thought, she was taken back a bit by the fact I replied, ?It?s too dry. There needs to be more cocoa butter to balance out the ground coffee beans.? She seemed more impressed than disappointed that I was able to spot this. Note to self, it is perfectly acceptable to be a food snob at such a festival. Feeling let down, she handed me a complimentary truffle. I bit into it, and it was amazing, but I will extol the virtues of it in another review. She saved the best for last. A plain Almond Toffee. Now, I have reviewed my fair share of toffees, including some gourmet products produced by LalaBoodle’s and The Choke Cherry Tree. How do these compare? They are so good that my awesome friend Greg became even awesomer (spelling intended) when he purchased a 13-dollar half-pound of these and a small package of truffles for $9. So when we get home, Greg decides he no longer wants any of the candy and leaves it with me. I don?t do a very good job of feigning ambivalence. Instead, I decide to devour a piece. The half-pound package contains five squarish (more like irregular rhombuses) that are about four square inches. The piece is also quite thick at about a quarter-inch. The squares are coated and dusted in various bit of almond that ranges in size from flake to chunk. I take a whiff and it smells more like fresh almonds than toffee. That is because this piece is unlike regular toffee in several ways. First, it?s immensely fresh. The bite is firm, but not hard, with a soft crunch containing almonds embedded within the toffee for an enhanced textural contrast. Lovely, just lovely. No pieces stick in your teeth and the flavors permeate well. It has a simplicity to it that I feel most other forms of toffee complicate. You taste the butter, which is rich, but not overwhelming, and it is never burdened with excess sugar. Just spot on for the perfect ratio of ingredients and cooking temperature. The almond coating and the toffee center are separated by a Belgian chocolate layer. This is really where this piece of toffee distinguishes itself from other brands. Most of the time, the chocolate layer is relegated to one portion and is too minimal to be tasted with the bolder toffee component. In this case, chocolate is listed as the main ingredient, and the whole piece is battered in the chocolate coat, which allows you to blend the almonds and toffee mellifluously with the milky and bittersweet tastes. All of this is further highlighted by an insightful adding of sea salt to balance out the various flavors. To say I enjoyed this would be an understatement. It?s subtle and sophisticated, yet I can write about the intricacies of this product for days. The only real qualm about these, aside from their stiff price, is that they use corn syrup in addition to sugar. But hey, it?s a small sacrifice for something this delicious. Wiseman House Website
• Candy Event: Creating With Candy With Beth Kimmerle
  The last time I headed into Dylan’s Candy Bar it was for a fairly hideous Swedish Fish event. So, it was with some trepidation that I ventured back for a media get-together with Beth Kimmerle, author of Chocolate: The Sweet History and Candy: The Sweet History (among others). Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the afternoon turned out. The event basically showcased Beth’s crafty creations using candy. Some of the things were absolutely amazing (I especially liked the pretzel butterflies - see above), and all were great ways to find creative uses for candy as well as being fun to do with the kids. Beth is a big fan of Life Savers Gummies (who isn’t?) and a lot of her creations seem to utilize the tasty treats. One big thing I found out is that the packaging is changing for Life Savers Gummies - instead of that tubular thing that never seemed to hold quite enough, they’re now coming in small bags. They’ll still fit in your purse, but you get more. Woot! When we left we got a gift bag containing the ingredients to make some of the creations. Now, let’s face it: these tasty candies are never going to make it past the “open package insert into mouth” stage of creation, but it was a nice thought. We also got some of the recipes highlighted at the event, and I thought our more ambitious readers might enjoy trying one out. So, without further ado, here’s the recipe for those gorgeous Pretzelfly Pops: Add a little wing to your spring! Use pretzels and Life Savers to make these gorgeous butterfly lollipops that are sure to brighten your afternoon. These beautiful bugs are the perfect sweet treat for an afternoon tea party or baby shower! To create 10 Pretzelfly Pops, you will need 1. (1) 16 oz. bag of thin pretzels 2. 80 pieces 5 Flavor Life Savers 3. 5 pieces colored licorice (for antennae) 4. 10 lollipop sticks 5. Small plastic bags 6. Parchment paper 7. Cookie sheet Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. 2. Place Life Savers into small plastic bags, separating them according to color. Seal bags tightly and using an object with a flat surface, like a small pot, gently crush bagged Life Savers into small pieces. 3. Place thin pretzels on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, arranging together in pairs so the pretzels look like wings. Insert a lollipop stick in between each pair. For best butterfly results, arrange so that your lollipop stick and two pretzel ends are touching. Leave ample room at top for licorice antennae. 4. Take the bagged Life Saver candy bits and carefully sprinkle them into the interior part of the pretzel (open space between the rods). Use larger clear pieces to fuse wings and lollipop stick together by placing directly on stick. Use generous amount of Life Savers pieces so they will gel together when melted to achieve the desired effect. 5. Once all pretzel wings are filled with Life Savers, cut 2? pieces of colored licorice and carefully place in top area. Be sure that enough Life Savers are used for proper effect. 6. Steadily place cookie sheet in the oven, making sure all pieces remain in place. Cook your creation for five to eight minutes (at 175 degrees), checking progress regularly to see that Life Savers are melting evenly. Once Life Savers are melted, take the cookie sheet out of oven and allow to cool completely. Once cool, gently take butterfly pops off of parchment paper. If you make some, let us know how it goes! And keep your eyes peeled for more fun recipes coming soon! Beth Kimmerle’s Candymonium Buy Life Savers Online: at Old Time Candy at Amazon.com
• Candy Review: Spring Jelly Bean Hunt, Part III
  photos in this post by Anthemic Tangle For our third entry in our Spring Jelly Bean Hunt, today we bring you original and sour flavor Starburst jelly beans! Original Flavor These jelly beans are a bit on the sweet side, but they’ve got enough flavor that you know what you’re eating. Both the original and sour flavors have a bit of a sugary shell - not as thick as the Necco Jelly Beans, but thicker than the Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans. Both have a good texture but be forewarned that for some reason they stick to your teeth a bit. Color: Purple, Flavor: Grape - Ok, I know these say “original” flavor, but I think they must mean original as opposed to sour, because there is no grape original-flavored Starburst. Regardless, I did enjoy this grape flavor, particularly the balance between sweet and tart. Color: Red, Flavor: Cherry - I know these are Starbursts, but this cherry flavor reminds me of wild cherry LifeSavers for some reason, particularly on the finish. And, like a cherry LifeSaver, the flavor really lingers after you eat the Starburst jelly bean. Color: Yellow, Flavor: Lemon - The lemon jelly beans have a really strong lemon flavor but I found it a little too artificial and too sweet for my tastes. Plus, it left a funky aftertaste. I liked the sour version of these way better (see below). Color: Pink, Flavor: Strawberry - I really love the strawberry Starburst chews. So I was really disappointed when this jelly bean totally failed to live up to its cousin. The jelly bean starts off with a light strawberry flavor then quickly loses it. By the end, all I could taste was a kind of bland sweet flavor. Bummer. Color: Green, Flavor: Apple - The apple flavor was my favorite in the bag. These jelly beans have a great, strong apple flavor. The flavor faded out a bit on the finish, but enough apple remained to make it tasty. These are on the sweet side, so if you like your apple flavor tart, check out the sour review below. I liked these best when I ate more than one at a time. Color: Orange, Flavor: Orange - Well, the orange flavor is really strong but it’s also tastes really fake. I found these off-putting because they left a really weird aftertaste that was really hard to get rid of. This was my least favorite original flavor. Overall, the original flavor jelly beans are pretty good as individual flavors. However, for me, I found that mixing the flavors vastly improved them and made them much more fun to eat. Sour Flavor While I liked these jelly beans, I think calling them “sour” is a bit of an overstatement. “Tart” would be closer to the truth. Still, they are definitely more sour than the original flavor. Color: Blue, Flavor: Blue Raspberry - While these do have a typical blue raspberry flavor, it isn’t very strong. Plus, they aren’t very sour. They do start out sort of tart, but then the flavor turns sweet. I recommend eating at least two of these at a time. Color: Yellow, Flavor: Lemon - Yeah! Now this is what I’m talking about when I want a good lemon-flavored candy. Like the blue raspberry, the lemon flavor is more tart than sour and finishes sweet. But unlike the blue raspberry, I found the balance of tart and sweet here was just right - like a good glass of lemonade. Color: Orange, Flavor: Tangerine - Out of all the Starburst jelly beans I ate - both original and sour - the tangerine was my favorite, hands down. First of all, hats off to Starburst for having an orange-colored candy that doesn’t have an orange flavor. The tangerine is a delightful surprise! And it’s really good - the flavor is a strong, tart-then-sweet, full-bodied tangerine. Again, this flavor inexplicably reminded me of a LifeSaver. Color: Red, Flavor: Cherry - This was the one jelly bean that actually reminded me of a Starburst fruit chew. The cherry flavor is reminiscent of the Starburst cherry fruit chew, but it’s more sugary and, since it’s a jelly bean and not a chew, the texture is very different. Still, it was nice to eat a jelly bean that reminded me how much I like the regular Starbursts. Color: Green, Flavor: Green Apple - I’m not sure why in the original flavor the green jelly beans are called “apple” but in the sour they’re “green apple.” They both have the apple flavor I expected. However, the sour version is way more tart. It manages to stay tart all the way through the finish, even though the tartness loses some of its intensity. I found I needed to eat at least two to get the full tartness. Color: Pink, Flavor: Watermelon - The watermelon flavor in these jelly beans reminded me of the watermelon Jolly Ranchers jelly beans, particularly if I ate two or more at a time. Eating just one of these for some reason made them taste kind of plastic-y, but eating two made them tasty and fun. Go figure. Overall, I really prefer the sour to the original flavor, but I admittedly like my candy on the tart side. Both flavors were fun to eat and I’d have them again. Starburst Website
• Candy Book Review: Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage
  Not long ago, I reviewed a piece of American Heritage chocolate made by a subsidiary of Mars. American Heritage specializes in manufacturing chocolate akin to colonial recipes. But there is more to them and Mars than just making chocolate? much more. You see, since 1998, Mars has funded an academic team at the University of California, Davis whose objective was to study - you guessed it - chocolate. You might be asking yourself if there really is that much to write about chocolate. Well, Sallie Boorman, one of the nicest people on Earth, mentioned this upcoming book when she sent me the original chocolate sample to review. As a fan of all things candy and trivia-related, I was immensely interested in the work and requested a copy, which she so awesomely sent. Now, I have read my fair share of candy-related books. How many pages could this thing be? 100? 200? 300 tops, right? Try almost 1,000! I was awed when I discovered my behemoth copy of Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage in my mailbox, which was heavy enough for me to perform bicep curls with. And get this, this is a limited view of chocolate. The work consists of fifty-six chapters that were each written by specialists in their field, focusing primarily on chocolate?s origins, its evolution in colonial America, how it was served and prepared, and its nuanced role in medicine and history. Rather than read like chapters in a book, each chapter is actually an academic essay pinpointing and expanding on one specific niche of chocolate. Some chapters discuss how the food earned its name, others reflect on the development of crafted utensils for serving chocolate, and there is even an essay exploring its role in various smallpox epidemics. I had never imagined chocolate played such a ubiquitous role in society. I found it fascinating learning how this candy evolved from an arcane drink in Central/South American to its popular form today. The history of such a spectacular food is deeply entrenched in countless cultures, art, and economies over a span of centuries. Now, it took me over two months to get through this work, and I don?t necessarily recommend it for everyone. To call it a textbook would be an accurate statement, and I don?t think many people enjoy picking up such things for light reading; however, I do strongly suggest that you at least check out a copy from your local library and read the sections that are most interesting to you, as with fifty-six chapters, at least one will sound appealing. This book is a product of years of labor and intensive research and will undoubtedly be a pillar in food history. After reading it, I can?t think there is a more knowledgeable body about chocolate than Mars, which bodes will for explaining their dedication and excellence in what they produce. American Heritage Chocolate Website Buy Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage Online: at Amazon.com
• Candy Review: Yogen Fr?othies
  When it comes to candy packaging, I am a shallow, shallow person ? particularly around mint-type candies. If it comes in an awesome tin, I am all over it, to the point where I have a pretty impressive collection of mint tins accumulating in my desk drawer at work. I am never in my entire life going to have enough tiny widgets and gewgaws to fill all those tins ? and yet, again and again I find myself buying candy of questionable quality because it came in awesome and potentially reusable packaging. Like the other day, when I was skimming the shelves at London Drugs looking for discounted Easter candy… and something else caught my eye: a rack of Yogen Fr?othies tins. The clean, modern design of the tin, its colors just evoking the blue and pink of the Yogen Fr?o… its use of the ?ch doubles as a happy face, as a design element… its paltry price of $1.79. Half-price chocolate bunnies aside, I knew I had to have one… quite possibly in every flavor they came in. I managed to settle for just Strawberry Banana. Once I got home, the doubts started to set in. I enjoy a good frozen yogurt, but yogurt-flavored hard candy? It?s not like there isn?t decent yogurt-flavored candy in the world, but in my experience, all of it is soft. This product appears to be YF?s attempt to join Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery in the frozen-treats-with-spin-off-candies department. (Can I call them YF? Those umlauts are a bear to insert.) But while those other candies mimic the decadence of a full-fat ice cream cone, YF is going for the same market as its healthy, yet indulgent frozen treats with fruit and yogurt flavors, and even a healthy-sounding title of ?Smoothies.? The clean, spare packaging, while attractive, does somewhat resemble a diet product rather than a candy, and the tin is even sprinkled with buzz words like ?all-natural? and ?probiotic.? (Those bacteria are some hardy little guys if they can survive in the dry, acidic environment inside a SweeTART-like candy.) And with no fat and only three calories a candy, these were starting to look less and less like they were aimed at the day-after-Easter-candy crowd, and more and more like they were aimed at the yoga-antioxidant-goji-berry crowd. But hey, if they actually tasted good, they?d be as close to a guilt-free candy as you can get. (I should probably mention that these are made in Canada, and so are possibly Canada-only ? it?s not always easy to tell.) The candies do indeed resemble SweeTARTS ? they?re little round compressed-dextrose discs, in this case a very pale pinky-purple, embedded with the signature ??xture-wise, they?re not actually very much like SweeTARTS or other mints I?ve had ? the texture is a lot softer, almost crumbly, quickly disintegrating into little gritty bits with a texture I?m really not crazy about. Flavor-wise, they?ve definitely got a yogurty tang to them. They?re pretty sour, but not really in the good way. The strawberry banana flavor actually kind of unpleasant ? it?s got that same so-sweet-it?s-sour aftertaste as some artificially sweetened things do, even though there?s only real sugar in them. Combined with the sour taste of the yogurt, it brings to mind underripe strawberries and that bitter white stuff inside a banana peel rather than the sweet, mellow interior. In all, they don?t remind me of candy so much as they do some fruit-flavored chewable multivitamins I had as a kid ? it?s like the fruit flavor?s only there to cover up the bad taste of the stuff that?s good for you, but the fruit taste only combines with the medicine taste for a new level of badness. So I got my cute tin this time ? but a whole lot of not-so-good candy to go along with it. Did I learn my lesson? Definitely… at least until the next shiny new thing comes along. Yogen Fr?site
• Candy Review: Necco Mighty Malts
  When you think about it, the malted milk ball is an unlikely candy. There are so many flavors in the world which simply cry out to be made into chews or suckers, or to be dipped in chocolate for the happiness of sweet-tooths everywhere. Fruit, vanilla, coffee, caramel… even unmalted, sweetened milk and its richer cousin, cream are obvious contenders. The powdered mixture of milk, wheat and malted barley, originally marketed as late-nineteenth-century baby food, would seem less so. Yet when I first tried malted milk balls so many years ago at a nearby bulk candy shop, I didn’t find anything strange about them, or think too much about what “malted milk” actually was. I just knew they were darned tasty. That’s probably why the chocolate-coated nuggets have remained popular, despite their unusual basis, for the better part of century. The most popular name brands of malt balls are Hershey’s Whoppers in the U.S., and Mars, Inc.’s Maltesers in the U.K. I’d always assumed these to be the only brand name representatives of Maltball-kind. On a recent expedition which took me deep into the heart of the CVS candy aisle, though, I discovered a third competitor. An extra-large milk carton of a container bearing the name “Mighty Malts” stared me down from the very top shelf, where - as we know - all the best candies still waiting for their moments in the spotlight are kept. Further investigation revealed these “Mighty Malts” to be a much nicer bargain than chief competitor Whoppers. For $0.99, Whoppers offers a small milk carton container, similar to what you might have gotten along with your school lunch as a kid. The cutesy carton contains three and a half servings chocolate-coated malty yumminess. For the same price, Mighty Malts provides a three-fourths pound container worthy of its name. I also noticed that Mighty Malts are a product of the Necco company - purveyors of those notoriously polarizing Conversation Hearts. As a fan of the fruity, cheesy-romantic-saying-imprinted sugar tablets, I saw this as a positive. I’d had Whoppers, as well as some of the Sweet Factory’s malt balls, within a relatively recent time period, so I felt decently equipped to review this latest discovery. Driving home gave me plenty of time to contemplate the making of a perfect malt ball. I recalled that those from the bulk bins had always been my favorite. Whoppers had always struck me as cheaper and a tad overly sweet, but still pretty satisfying - especially the Reese’s peanut butter variety. A great malted milk ball, I determined, has to have either a real chocolate shell or one that tastes and feels extremely close. The shell should be thick enough to have its own character, melting and giving away slowly before the malted, milky innards are revealed. The malted milk itself should be sweet, with flavors of both dairy and grain. If sucked after the chocolate has gone, the malt should bubble and fizz as it transmutes into a goopy mass atop your tongue. A great malt ball should always come with its own happy afterglow (though you’ll probably want to eat more for maximum effect). Necco’s Entry started out on a positive note. There’s a nice, thick shell which tastes chocolaty, though the packaging reveals that it contains no cocoa solids. Its texture is off… the shell doesn’t melt, so much as scrape off in your mouth. The mix is viscous and granular, and in that respect it reminds me more of peanut butter than chocolate. That being said, it’s not a bad shell. I like the flavor and thickness. Mighty Malts’ insides are mighty all right… regrettably far mightier than I prefer. The malted milk in these balls takes far too long to dissolve. As you hold a Mighty Malt on your tongue, it doesn’t bubble or pop. It takes nearly a minute just to crumble! When the ball is all gone, the leftover goo isn’t like thickened syrup, as it is with Whoppers. Instead, it’s gritty and hard to remove from your teeth. Yet the taste is pretty decent. Nothing extraordinary, but for the cost, I didn’t expect anything too spectacular. So, where do Mighty Malts fall on the malt ball spectrum? In all honesty, I’d place them below any other sort of Malt Ball I’ve sampled. These balls are thoroughly “okay.” Mighty Malts are serviceable cheap candy, especially when you consider their origin with a company whose specialty is conversation hearts. I suppose $0.99 for three-quarters of a pound is a good deal on anything barring yogurt-coated shreds of woolen blanket, but next time I want a malt ball I’m investing in Whoppers. As loathe as I am to admit it, sometimes higher quality comes with those few extra cents. Necco Website Buy Mighty Malts Online: at Candy Crate at Amazon.com
• Candy Review: Mallow Fries
  One of my favorite meals is a plain old hamburger and fries. So when I saw that the Giant Size Mallow Burger was reviewed, I had to go out and try the Mallow Fries. Because what’s a marshmallow burger without any marshmallow fries, right? At first look, I like the way they are packaged in a typical fry container. Surprisingly, they even look like fast food french fries - wrinkly ones that have been sitting out for a while that we all seem to have the misfortune of getting in our drive-thru bag. The fry container holds about ten nice-sized marshmallow fries. It also comes with a packet of sour strawberry candy gel that’s supposed to look like - yep, you guessed it - a packet of ketchup. As for the Mallow Fries, they have a chewy texture as well as a faint marshmallow taste. They don’t really have that much flavor, which is probably why they included sour strawberry gel. The strawberry gel smelled like sweet candy and was certainly sour. When dipping the Mallow Fries in the gel, it got kind of messy because the gel is sticky and gooey. However, the fries tasted better when eaten with the gel. The Mallow Fries are fat free, so I guess they are healthier than the real thing. Overall, the Mallow Fries were not that bad. I wasn’t expecting to like them, but I would probably eat them again - if McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Arbys all went out of business. Buy Mallow Fries Online: at Candy Direct at Amazon.com
• Gum Review: Orbit Mist
  Orbit Mist is a new line of gum from The Wrigley Company. It’s touted as a premium gum and contains little crystals - called Micro-Bursts - that the Orbit website says will “deliver a hydrating sensation to consumers.” Now I can only assume that it means “to consumers who purchase and chew Orbit Mist.” When I first read the description, I had a vision of Orbit Mist boxes shooting “hydrating sensation beams” at random consumers in the grocery store. “Hello, ma’am, welcome to Food Land. How are you?” “I’m good, tha-” (*Hydrating sensation beam fires.*) “Ohhh, I suddenly feel so… moistly healthy…” Oh, ah-hem, I’m supposed to be writing a review. Sorry… Wrigley has graciously sent me the three new flavors of the Orbit Mist line to try. Two fruity flavors - Watermelon Spring and Mango Surf - and one mint flavor - Peppermint Spray. Watermelon Spring - With the first chew, this lime green gum gives a very strong watermelon flavor - followed by a flood of sourness so strong that I was squinting my eye like Popeye the Sailor Man. I’m no fan of sour candies so I was happy when the sour flavor faded in less than a minute. Tiny crystals in the gum must be tiny sour factories, though, because every time I crunched one, a little more sourness came out. Besides that, the main flavor is a sweet, mild watermelon. It’s a nice, pleasant flavor - not overly strong. Reminiscent of kids’ watermelon-flavored gums (like Hubba Bubba) but nowhere near as overpowering. Lasting factor is good - I chewed for over an hour. Mango Surf - I was a bit hesitant to try this flavor since I don’t particularly care for mango (natural or artificial). As a dedicated Candy Addict, I pressed through my fears and popped a piece in my mouth. I was expecting a rush of sour flavor similar to what I’d experienced with Watermelon Spring. While the Mango Surf crystals did release sour bursts for the first minute or two, the pucker-factor of this orangish-yellow gum wasn’t nearly so intense. The sweet flavor that lasted for about an hour was typically mango and happily mild. I never felt assaulted by the mango-ness of it. A pretty good flavor. Peppermint Spray - Mint gums are my forte… what can be better than a quick, tasty way to freshen breath after a meal loaded with garlic, onions, and oregano? Okay, so I don’t eat onions. I do prefer spearmint, but this Peppermint Spray from Orbit Mist was quite enjoyable. It had less heat than the new Wrigley’s Spearmint while retaining a strong peppermint flavor. It’s actually inspired me to want to chew more peppermint gum. (Please don’t tell my package of Stride Spearmint.) Like the other Orbit Mist gums, the flavor lasted a long time before I was ready to spit it out. Orbit Website Buy Orbit Mist Online: at Amazon.com at Candy Direct
• Easter Candy Review: Reese?s Mini Reester Bunnies
  This Easter, a new chocolate rabbit has hit the scene. Packed with milk chocolate and peanut butter goodness, he is no ordinary Easter Bunny. He is, in fact… the Reester Bunny. And though the market is already well-saturated with rabbit-shaped treats, he?s ready to kick butt and take names ? all three of him. That?s right ? Reese’s new Easter treat comes in not one, but three sizes: a big heavyweight bruiser, a middleweight sold in packages of four, and these little guys, only a couple of inches long. The design of all three is basically the same ? a flat milk chocolate rabbit filled with ? you guessed it ? peanut butter. Each bunny is individually wrapped in silver foil stamped with the image of the bright orange, overall-wearing Reester Bunny. The Bunny himself is a little generic, like the Easter Bunny from a random low-budget Easter special. Actually, his orange color and yellow cheeks make him look like a rabbit version of Garfield. He?s smiling, but there?s something vaguely startled or worried-looking about his eyes, as if he?s just realized it?s Monday or he?s out of lasagna. As unremarkable as his design is, Hershey’s certainly has done an excellent job of capturing it in chocolate form ? under the foil, the molding on these is excellent. Rather than being a generic chocolate rabbit shape or even a nondescript chocolate blob, they?re definitely recognizable as the Reester Bunny. Taste-wise, these are definitely a Reese?s product ? their peanut-butter centers are that same grainy, slightly salty PB we all know and love from Reese?s peanut butter cups. There?s definitely a higher ratio of chocolate to peanut butter than in other favorites like the Reese?s peanut butter cup and the Reese?s Easter egg ? it seems like they need a thicker layer of chocolate for the detailed molding job. They?re certainly not skimpy on the peanut butter, but seeing as Reese?s products are usually all about the peanuts, I think this is the least amount of peanut content I?ve ever seen in a Reese?s product. The chocolate is quite firm and a little snappy, unlike the soft, thin layer of chocolate around the original peanut butter cups. Overall, I can?t find too much to complain about here ? once again, Reese?s has demonstrated the variety of completely different-tasting candies that can result from simply adjusting the ratio of two different ingredients. So squeeze over, boring plain chocolate rabbits ? the Reester Bunny?s coming to town. Reese?s Website Buy Reese?s Products Online: at Candy Crate at Candy Direct at Amazon.com