These Bavarian Milka Schoko-Drops came in a candy trade from a few months ago. Or has it been longer than that? I can’t remember, but I can assure you I did eat these fresh and didn’t leave them sitting around for so long before eating to review them. Candy can do no such thing in my neck of the woods.

The Schoko-Drops are pastilles; which are like large, flat Smarties or M&Ms and about the size of a nickel. They come in purple and white,which I find are interesting colors for candy as you don’t see them too often. Biting one in half, I find that they have a milk chocolate outside and a white chocolate inside. Interesting!

The taste is awesome. Firstly, they’re very sweet and make my throat burn. It’s very creamy and milky tasting, almost like a strong white chocolate but with more of a dry milk sweetness to it. The texture is very smooth and the overall flavor effect is very chocolatey. I wish I had more than this little box, as I’m immediately addicted. Yum!

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Milka Website

A Cadbury Triple Decker bar, which is a tasty bar if you can find one to try! This one was raspberry and just look at how bright pink that is! Wow. I wish I remembered what it tasted like, but a picture is worth a lot in your imagination, right? It looks very flavorful.

I’ve heard a lot about these caffeinated gummis when they first debuted on the market a few years ago. Cybele from Candyblog.net gave me these samples when I visited her last, as she had many lying around and wanted me to try them. I admit, I was curious to see what the buzz was about about. Ha, ha, get it? Ok, ok, I’ll stop.

The package is adorable first off, I love the color scheme and the image on the front. The illustration of the truck with loud speakers is a nice touch, especially when paired with the tag line of “No crash energy”. Get it? Ok, late pun I promise. They have guarana extract (natural caffeine) and other vitamins such as B12 & C in them, so it seems they’re really pushing an energy factor about these gummis. One one ounce bag of these apparently is the the equivalent of one energy soda (which is 32 mg of the caffeine). 

Opening the package up I saw sad to see that the gummis are bears shaped. For some reason I was expecting trucks. I would have rather had trucks. These bears have really nice details to them, and they reminds me very much of the Albanese gummi bear molds.

So how do they taste? They have a nice orangy-citrus flavor that light and authentic. There’s a tinge of bitterness at the end, probably from all the supplements in it, that leaves an aftertaste in my mouth. The texture is nice, it’s chewy and isn’t too sticky. They were nice, but I found myself having the same issue with these as I do regular gummi candy. Not enough flavor. I like something bold and punchy, and gummi bears always taste watered-down to me. I can see gummi enthusiast really digging these though. 

So even tho they taste like other gummis on the market, and with the added benefit of caffeine, I still wasn’t too revved up about them. (Sorry, I had to fit that last one in).

I find it hard to place these in my normal eating routine, because as candy, I don’t eat gummis much, and for the caffeine, I’m happy with a cup of coffee. Still, I’m sure that many of you out there would really welcome something like these energy gummis, so I’d recommend checking them out if you do.

Rating: Might Eat Again

Links Loud Truck Energy Gummi Website

My love of chocolate and candy is well know throughout my family and friends, so I’m often presented with confections that they kindly pick up on trips for me. This bar is one of those gifts, brought back from a trip to Maine. 

This bar is described as “dark chocolate with Maine sea salt” and has a lovely illustration on the wrapper. It feels very rustic and captures the look of Maine very well.

I flip the bar over to look at the ingredients list, and I see that it’s a 54% chocolate, which is more of a bittersweet than a dark in book. There’s no official number that separates bittersweet from semisweet from dark chocolate, so it’s always interesting for me to see how others identify it.

The chocolate is nicely protected in a layer of foil. it has a lovely sheen to it and a rich, dark color. The aroma is lightly fruity and has nice roasted notes. 

On my first bite, all I can say is “wow” this is very rich chocolate. It’s awesome. The chocolate has nice roasted flavors of coffee, caramel, and wood. It has a nice sweetness and it’s very thick and slippery on the tongue. The chocolate is rich in texture and the overall effect is very chocolatey. The sea salt is there and in a nice way, you get it towards the end of the taste and it’s salty, but not overly so. The chocolate is very much the star, yet the salt heightens the overall flavor.

If you’re ever in Maine, or know someone who will be, see if you can get a hold of some of this chocolate. It’s amazing.

Rating: Hoard

Links Coastline Confections Website

I reviewed these beautiful bonbons made by Sucre back when I was writing for CandyAddict.com. Why not head over and check the review out? I promise they’re as delicious as they look. 

I was extremely excited when Q.bel contacted me asking if I’d like free samples of their newest flavors in their line of all natural candy bars. My response was a very enthusiastic “yes!” as I love the varieties I reviewed for TCE before, and I still find myself picking a few of them up on my trips to Whole Foods. The two newcomers here are a Dark Chocolate Wafer Bar and a Dark Chocolate Mint Wafer Bar, to add to the line of the Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Crisped Rice and Peanut Butter Wafer bars.

Let’s get to the tasting!

70% Dark Wafer Bars: The bars are a nice rich dark color and have a nice sheen to them. They smell chocolaty with a hint of coconut and cream. The flavor is very nice as the dark chocolate is rich and very fruity, yet still sweet and creamy like good dark chocolates are. The wafers have that nice “starchy” vanilla flavor to them. The texture is delightfully crisp and breaks beautifully when you chew it. Even though a good hunk of the bar is made up of the wafers, the chocolate between them and the coating really delivers a good chocolate punch and takes the main taste on your tongue. It’s really excellent, I can’t wait to try this with some coffee.

Dark Mint Wafer Bars: These smell minty and sweet as soon as I open the package. I’m reminded of an Andes mint. The flavor is really wonderful. It’s the perfect amount of mint, it’s not too strong, but it’s strong enough to be the main flavor of the bars. The minty flavor comes from the cream that sandwiched between the wafers, and the coolness of the mint really blends well with the nice starchy flavor of the wafers. The dark chocolate is mild and sweet and provides a nice undertone to the mint. I really enjoyed it, despite not being a big mint candy fan. I really recommend them as an after dinner treat or with a nice cup of tea.

These were delicious and met my expectations along with the other Q.bel candy bars. These make a great snack as they are flavorful enough to satisfy a craving, but light enough to not fill me up or give me a sugar rush. These are a delightful sweet if you want something more “natural” or less “guilty” feeling than most candy bars. The whole line of Q.bel’s offerings are great, and these two new bars are no exception. 

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Q.bel Website

Chocolate is, in my opinion, a powerful creative medium. It’s a food that can be molded, shaped, flavored and textured in any way you like. We leave this job to skilled chocolatiers to work their magic on it for us, creating chocolate bars of all shapes, sizes and flavors, along with bonbons, truffles, and desserts that make our imaginations and taste buds soar. More and more people are aware of their eating habits nowadays, and there’s a desire for chocolate bars to fit this market. These Organic Nectars’ Raw Cacao Bars are just that. I was contacted by them asking if I’d like some free samples to try, and I gladly accepted their offer as I have yet to try some chocolate bars that fit into such a specific niche. 

These chocolate bars are not only organic, but they’re also Kosher, Vegan, Raw and are dairy, soy, allergen, gluten, refined sugar free. Talk about a clean chocolate bar! The ingredients are simple, and the main difference I see is that no refined sugar. Which, changes how chocolate solidifies.

54% Cacao: The aroma is very fruity and sweet, with nice notes of blackberries, cream, caramel and a strong chocolatey note. The break is clean and the snap is crisp. The flavor is very mild and I taste coffee, cream, berries, forest, musk, mushrooms, caramel, vanilla and cocoa. The flavors mix and mingle as you chew, with a fruity crescendo at the end. The texture is gritty, probably because of the raw sugars, which has a different structural makeup than regular sugar does, so the chocolate forms differently. It’s a very tasty, rich, full chocolate for those of you who want another option.

Coconut Milk Chocolate: The chocolate smells creamy and earthy. The flavor is very caramel, creamy and earthy....I don’t get much chocolate or coconut flavor really. I was expecting flecks of coconut in here, but there isn’t. Very interesting. The texture is even more gritty than the 54%, and it gets dry and chalky at the finish. It stuck to my teeth and felt kinda icky, which is strange since milk chocolate is usually creamy and smooth. Which, made me curious and I looked at the ingredients of the bar, which read; ”organic raw cacao butter, organic raw cacao butter, organic palm nectar, organic coconut powder, organic Tahitian Mexican and Madagascar vanilla, non GMO sunflower lecithin”. Where’s the milk? Not even coconut milk? So how is this milk chocolate? So..confused.

Also note, I was informed that the batch of Coconut Milk Chocolate and Golden White Chocolate that I received used a less ground palm nectar sweetener, and the newer batches mimic the smoother texture that the 54% has.

Golden White Chocolate: Upon opening this one up I was very surprised: this is not quite golden, but more of caramel/tan color. Like natural deodorized white chocolate. I was told the color is due to the sweetener, as it’s a golden color. It smells sweet and lightly of cocoa. The flavor is sweet, just sweet, not really any notes of cacao powder. The texture is also strange like the coconut milk chocolate: it gets gritty and feels like I’m swallowing sand. Not a fan. I miss the creaminess of regular white chocolate.

These bars were interesting. I really enjoyed the 54%, as it had a “wild” vibe to it and the flavor and texture most resembled what I consider to be mainstream chocolate. The milk and the white chocolate? Not so much, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad, just not my thing. I’m sure if I was Vegan or a Celiac, these chocolate bars would be just the thing I’d want to satisfy a craving. Because, isn’t that the point of chocolate? It should exist so everyone can enjoy it, and I’m sure the Organic Nectars bars will bring delight to many.

Rating: 54%: Will Eat Again

Milk Chocolate Coconut and Golden White: Not Worth It

Links Organic Nectars Website

An assortment of Pocky flavors available in winter season of 2007. Man that seems like ages ago…

The Snickers bar, made by Mars, is one of the more quintessential candy bars found here in the US. It was created back in 1930, when many of our well known candy bars were born, and named after the family race horse. Snickers is a classic candy bar in that sense, it’s really survived over the years. No, correction, it has thrived since it’s creation and is one of the most popular candy bars sold today.

It wasn’t until I was contacted by Mars to see if I’d like some free samples that I realized that I never have done a traditional Snickers bar review. I guess I’ve overlooked it while chasing after all the limited editions that are being released.

Aside from the candy itself, I have to say that Snickers is also pretty keen on having some of the funniest commercials as of late. Who could say no to the likes of Mr. T? Or King Henry the VII? Take a gander if you haven’t seen these gems:

So for those of you who may not know what exactly a Snickers bar is, here’s a breakdown of the construction: it starts with a layer of peanut nougat at the bottom, then a stripe of caramel studded with fresh peanuts, then all is enrobed with milk chocolate. Simple, elegant, and very yummy.

Once the bar is unwrapped, you get the aroma which smells sweet and very peanutty. The texture has a nice chew to it, but it’s not too much as it’s soft and giving, so it doesn’t tire your jaw out like taffy would. The caramel is soft and not too dense.

The flavor is awesome; it’s a great mix of salty and sweet. You get the sweetness from the chocolate which has nice milky notes to it, then the caramel with the nice nutty/salty hit from the peanuts. Snickers is a masterpiece of contrast, and it’s a candy bar that satisfies.

From now until March 31, 2010 Snickers is holding a large contest called “SNACKONOMICS” which. You collect letters to spell out a specific word on the website (kinda like McDonald’s Monopoly) to win prizes. Now, normally I sniff at most contests, because really, what do I need with a new car when already have a nice one of my own? The prizes here are much more alluring to me, and they mainly consist of heft chunk of money that go toward things like your housing mortgage, car payments, and a yearly salary. Pretty nice rewards for eating a candy bar!

So many of my friends and family are people who go crazy for Snickers bars. They would all easily claim, hands down, that Snickers is their favorite candy bar of them all. It’s a great candy bar, as it has wonderful flavor and a great combination of ingredients. What keeps me from wanting to hoard them is the fact they suffer from my pet peeve: they have nuts in them. I still enjoy them though, because a great candy bar is a great candy bar. If you haven’t had a Snickers, you’re missing out.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Snickers Website

One of the gifts I received over the holidays were some treats from a chocolatier who had just opened up shop where my parents live in Upstate New York. My Mom discovered them at a Christmas open house and chatted with the chocolatier. Of course the fact that her daughter writes a candy blog (you know how Moms are!) was brought up, and I was immediately called to see which of the chocolates I’d like to try. I was more excited by the idea of trying anything that was offered, as it’s not often I get to try the work of a new chocolate business, but eventually settles on two things to try. 

Cashew Honey Discs: Dark chocolate discs with a topping of caramelized honey cashews. The chocolate has bloomed a little, which I’m not surprised by, as didn’t get these samples fresh and they contain no preservatives. Thankfully bloom doesn’t affect flavor! The chocolate has a nice snap to it when bitten into, and the flavor is very fruity and rich. The texture of the chocolate is more gritty than smooth. The nuts are wonderfully fresh and have a great sweet/salty/roasted flavor combination going which I felt went well with the dark chocolate base.

Peppermint Bark: The base pf the bark is an even slab of a white and dark chocolate mix. The pieces are 1/2 inch think, with the white on top and the dark on the bottom. Nice, large chunks of Starbrights peppermint candy is crushed and sprinkled on top. It’s pretty to look at, for sure. The dark chocolate suffers from the same as the cashew honey slabs, there texture at the snap is very gritty and uneven, a sign it might have not been properly tempered. The flavor is balanced between the peppermint and the chocolate and one ingredient doesn’t overpower the other. This chocolate is creamier on the tongue and is a real delight to eat, as it just tastes of pure Christmas with the wonderful balance of flavors. Yummy!

Despite my nit-pickiness, these chocolates were tasty and a good start for a beginning business. The uneven texture is easily corrected with practice and experimentation, and I look forward to picking up some more of Glimmerglass Chocolates’ work when I next visit my parents.

Rating: Will Eat Again