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

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

Oooo! Something new and festive for the holidays! I love it! I certainly didn’t see this one coming, and it wasn’t until I noticed them on the shelf at my usual grocery store that I had heard of their existence. I was excited to see them as much as I love the Candy Cane Kisses that Hershey’s makes for this time of year, the lack of real cocoa butter in them has me shunning them. These Dove Peppermint Bark pieces can hopefully fill the void. So I grabbed a bag and hoped for the best.

The wrappers are silver with dots of red and green on them, and therefore very festive. Inside each wrapper is a holiday tip from Martha, reminding me that I can string lights on trees in my year and use pears and chocolate for an easy dessert. You know, the type of things you’d “forget” considering you’ve celebrated the holiday season in some form your whole life. I only read the if I felt I needed a chuckle.

The candy is nicely constructed. It’s white chocolate on top, and the bottom is dark chocolate. It’s split maybe 2/3, but really is almost even. The white chocolate top has shards of peppermint candy cane in it. They’re sticky yet don’t get stuck to your teeth or cut your mouth.

The flavor is awesome. I was worried it’s taste more of dark chocolate than white chocolate, but it doesn’t. The peppermint is the main flavor, it’s light and refreshing, yet not overpowering. It’s delicious and really satisfying to eat with a hot drink.

Also be sure to visit Candyblog.net to see what Cybele thinks!

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Dove Chocolate Website

Like the King Leo Hand Dipped Peppermint Sticks I reviewed earlier, these too were free samples I received from King Leo/Quality Candy. Similar to the peppermint sticks, peppermint bark isn’t something I’m terribly familiar with. I’ve tended to shy away from it, because the stuff always reads to me as “oh, something that’ll taste of toothpaste”. When I do talk myself out of that aspect of it, I turn the package of whatever bark I’m looking at to see the ingredients only to find it made out of mockolate. So I end up passing on it. I felt more comfortable giving the King Leoo version a try as I enjoyed the peppermint sticks and they also use real Belgium chocolate. I have run out of excuses.

The peppermint bark is flawlessly packaged in two large slabs and tightly sealed in plastic, so they’re very fresh. The box protected them beautifully. The slabs of bark and very generous, in size and ingredients. They have a good solid chocolate bottom that’s about 1/4 inch thick, then a layer of white chocolate then an ample sprinkling of crushed peppermint on top. They smell awesome and are beautiful to look at.

The flavor is sweet at first, then the peppermint and chocolate kicks in. The peppermint is fresh, cooling and sweet and the chocolate compliments it with it’s deeper, richer flavors. I don’t taste the white chocolate at all sadly, just get a very slick feeling on my tongue from it. Overall it blends together beautifully and really tastes like a nice holiday treat. I can totally see myself snuggling up to my family’s fireplace with a slice of this with a cup of hot cocoa.

I highly recommend this f or any peppermint bark lovers out there. As I expressed before, I haven’t really tasted around with the other varieties out there, but I can speak for the ingredients and flavors of this one, and I have to say I’m impressed.

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Quality Candy Website

These King Leo Hand Dipped Peppermint Sticks were a free sample given to me by the nice folks over at QualityCandy. At first I was hesitant, because peppermint candy isn’t really my thing. I do know a bit about it though, as one of my good friend was really into peppermint candy so I always was on the lookout for her. I’ve bought King Leo for her before, and she always gushed that they were favorites of hers. Now I can give them a go myself.

I do love the design of the packaging. It’s very classic, and I love the image of the regal lion sitting atop the logo. The stand up carton protects the sticks well, as none of them were broken when I opened the box.

First off, let’s talk about the main part of this candy, the peppermint stick. I’ve always loved King Leo’s peppermint sticks, as they were more old fashioned feeling and they didn’t resemble the Brach’s Starlight Peppermint candies that I associated with cheap candy dishes as a kid. These peppermint sticks are shorter and thicker, with an intense flavor and a wonderful texture. They break easily in the mouth, and are soft and almost powdery as you chew them.

Now, take those peppermint sticks and cover them with real Belgium chocolate, and boy, do you get one really tasty treat here. It’s a classic example of how peppermint and chocolate go over so well together. And thankfully for me, I didn’t get any reminders that “Oh, this tastes like toothpaste” which is a typical reaction I have to minty candies. Just pure enjoyment here.

These would be an excellent holiday treat or gift to anyone who loves peppermint candy. I was really expecting now to enjoy them, but I was proven wrong. Now I an eat one of these instead of a candy cane and not feel like I’m not in the spirit of the season!

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Quality Candy Website

I found this, along with the Lee’s Jaffa Orange bar, in my local Wegman’s international aisle. I love browsing this section of the store, as they’re always bringing in new and different things for me to look at every time I visit. On this specific occasion I found these bars by the Scottish manufacturer Lee’s. I was first drawn to the Jaffa bar, but noticed this sister bar next to it, so I decided to bring both home.

This bar is described as a “A delicious mint creme fondant covered in real dark chocolate”. The packaging design is classic and very reminiscent of UK design with it’s tartan patterned stripes and bold background. The bar itself feels heavy in the hand and has a heft to it. Turning it over, I see the ingredients are so simple and straightforward. No funny business going on here.

As soon as I open the wrapper I immediately get a powerful scent of mint and peppermint. Wowza.

The bar itself is gorgeous. The dark chocolate coating is beautifully dark and rippled like sand when wind blows on it. The break is dense and clean and the mint fondant center is fresh and fragrant. The texture of the fondant is dense, and well, reminds me of hardened frosting, much like the Blue Monday bar I reviewed before.

The flavor is fresh, very minty and sweet. Like an intense, gourmet Andes mint. It’s good, but not quite my cup of tea. Afterward I felt like I ate some chocolate and chased it down with some Scope or toothpaste.

An awesome bar for those of you really into mint flavors. I appreciated it, but I can’t see myself getting it again out of personal preference.

Rating: Might Eat Again

Links Lee’s Website

I admit, there’s lots of Jelly Belly’s line of confections that I’ve never had before. I’ve never tried their candy corn, their bridge mix, and until this review their Dutch Mints. I don’t really know what Dutch Mints are per se, as they look like generic mints you see at most restaurants and such. I went into this purchase not really knowing what I was getting into.

The mints are little round balls, which are about the same size. They’re a little smaller than marbles, more like wasabi peas. The mints come in pastel colors of white, pink, green and purple. They’re quite cute.

They’re light in my hand, and as I popped one in my mouth, I realized I wasn’t sure what to expect from these. Well, except some mintiness of course.

The shell is thin and very crispy crunchy. It breaks easily when I bit down. Underneath is a layer of chocolate, then a mint fondant center. The mint part is fresh and not overpowering. It mixes nicely with the chocolate to form a contrast of fresh mintiness and the deep, sweet chocolate.

Considering I’m pretty lukewarm on minty candies, I found these quite lovely. I really liked them. The bag I bought quickly disappeared and I plan on getting more when I see them again.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Jelly Belly Website

These were a lucky find that I stumbled across another day. Sometimes the other confections that Jelly Belly makes, aside from their trademark jelly beans, are hard to come by. These looked very similar to those Smooth ‘n Melty confections that I’m such a fan of. The rarity of this find and the possibility of finding a new treat that’s a twist of a favorite sold me on the purchase, as so to speak.

These are round, flat little tablets, about the size of a quarter and are really smooth to the touch. They’re attractive to look at with shiny hard shells and pretty colors in pink, yellow, white and light green. 

The textue is firm, like a thick hardened frosting. The outside is hard, but gives into teeth easily when bitten into. The flavor is sweet and strongly of peppermint, extremely so. The texture is kinda grainy, sort of like candy corn but no where as nice. I tried one of each color, and they taste all the same.

I see these working as a more intense after-dinner mint, but not something I’d enjoy as a candy treat or a quick breath-freshener.

Rating: Not Worth It

Links Jelly Belly Mint Cremes Webpage

King Leo is a candy company with a large history. They’ve been manufacturing sweets since 1901, and I can always easily pick out their products in stores. One reason is that prior to these samples I was graciously given, I thought King Leo only made Old Fashioned Peppermint Sticks. They have a very eye-catching style to their packaging; a very vintage circus theme with bold stripes and a handsome lion mascot wearing a crown. I had a friend who was just crazy for their soft peppermint sticks, and I’d always send them along with a birthday present every year.

I’m delighted to know that even after all these years, King Leo is still trying to create original favorites. That’s where these Choco-Crisps come in. This is their newest confection, so new in fact that they haven’t even designed the packaging for the yet. These are a “perfect bit sized treat” that have a chocolate center and a crunchy candy outside.

CORRECTION: I was informed after this post that the center is not real chocolate but a “high quality chocolate compound” because it was a “a question of melting point and consistency” in the final product. Mockolate is mockolate, yes, but I wasn’t able to taste the difference in these.

The square shape fits nicely in the mouth and the crunch of these is so pristine and crisp. I was pleased to find that the shape of these, even those that were cracked or broken, never were sharp enough to cut my mouth as I ate them. It’s a very clever format.

Raspberry: pink with red stripes: The flavor is very tart and fruity with a hint of sweetness. Once you hit the chocolate center it mixes well with the tart outside. The chocolate is tastes bittersweet and really rounds out the flavor.

Orange: white with orange stripes: Very intense orange flavor, like an orange Tootsie Pop. Since this is a real chocolate center the inside tastes even more heavenly mixed with the orange outside. This one is awesome.

Peppermint: white with red stripes: Tastes like any hard peppermint candy; minty, but not too strong. Like all good peppermint it blends beautifully with the chocolate.

I really loved these. I can’t find a single reason to complain or critique them. I can’t wait to see what the packaging for them will look like, and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for them to appear on store shelves.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Quality Candy Website

It was a cold and rainy January day when my and my boyfriend ducked into a grocery store in New York City. We wanted to take a peek since we love exploring and looking at all the different products, and as we neared the checkout we saw these beautiful tins. Intrigued, we looked closer to find that they were Chimes ginger chews. One thing that always screamed to my boy’s tastes is ginger and peanut butter, and we say a chew there with those two elements. We snatched one up and took our first tasted as we headed out back into the city street.

We where immediately hooked and the tin didn’t last us very long.

Since then we’ve given the other flavors a try as we found them in stores. We were excited to visit the Chimes booth at the Fancy Food Show and got to try their two newest flavors, Mango and Orange.

Original: Starts of lightly sweet and the ginger is delicate and fresh. The flavor then grows and intensifies into a lovely medium hot burn of the ginger and the sweetness. The texture is thick and chewy without being annoying. It’s very refreshing and very tasty.

Peppermint: The first impression is this is an odd combination. The favor starts out with the note of peppermint, it’s very intense and herbal. It strengthens as you chew, with the hot notes of the ginger warming under it like a fire. It’s a very interesting cool/hot sensation in the mouth, with both flavors competing with one another. It’s strange. The ginger is the last flavor in regard to the finish, as the peppermint peters out slowly to leave that warm bun of the ginger behind.

Peanut Butter: It starts off tasting a little of the ginger, then the warm, nutty, wonderfully roasted flavor of peanut butter kicks in. It blends beautifully with the ginger, giving a warm and nutty flavor that’s really addicting.

Mango: This immediately tastes of mango. Sweet and juicy of that tropical mango flavor. The ginger shows as you being to shew, starting off with a swarming flavor that grows into a full-blown ginger kick. The heat is never too much and the mango flavor is never lost or overpowered.

Orange: This has such an authentic orange flavor. It’s juicy and fresh and also has a bit of zest to it which is wonderful. Again the ginger flavor grows and becomes a wonderful full flavor of the heat and spice of ginger. Yet, it’s not overpowering or drowns out the orange at all. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Needless to say, if you’re a fan of ginger, you need to get your hands on these. I can’t praise them enough.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Chimes Website

Altoids Mints, the ones we all know as “Curiously Strong” have a line of “Smalls” mints. They keep to the same format at the regular mints, as you still get that cute tin and the promise of a powerful flavor experience. The idea is that they’re made for situations when space is an issue, which I appreciate because I’m a sucker for convenience. 

These particular Altoids Smalls are the two new Sugar Free varieties, which come in both Wintergreen and Cinnamon. Lucky for me, these are my two favorite “breath freshener” flavors. Peppermint and Spearmint tent to be too strong and herbal for my tastes. Each tin hold 50 mints, so they should last me a long time. Especially since I use mints more to make my mouth taste better than to eat them because I enjoy the flavor. Some may argue that doesn’t make them candy, but like gum, I feel they’re a food item that crosses into many genres. 

Wintergreen: Opening the tin I see it full of little blue square tablets, each have a capital letter A on them. The mints have no aroma to them, which I find surprising since I’m used to Altoids being very pungent. The flavor is very fresh and full of wintergreen. It does freshen my breath and feels nice in my mouth. it ‘s a very cooling feeling, and I do get that nice minty burn. The tablet isn’t too hard, I can easily crush it in my teeth if I feel like it. Which I often do.

Cinnamon: These tablets are the same format as the wintergreen, expect these are pink and smell very strong and spicy. These immediately have that strong, fiery burn of hot cinnamon, but it has a sweetness to it which makes it a little more bearable than say, red hots. It gives a nice warm feeling on my tongue, and thankfully never gets too intense for me. They’re tasty and also leave my mouth feeling fresh. The texture is the same, and you get a very strong burn when you chew them.

I liked these a lot. They deliver that fun Altoids flavor while not becoming overpowering like I sometimes find the regular mints. The small tin is cute and convenient and are easily stashed in my purse. I plan to keep these on hand as I find popping a few of these more suited to my liking than chewing a piece of gum when I need nice breath in a pinch.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Altoids Website

I’ve never noticed these bright pink candies on shelves in many of my grocery stores until recently. I think part of the reason I’ve never given them a second look is the very antique packaging (which, oddly, usually catches my eye right away) and the other is the fact that I saw Necco’s name on them. I just assumed they were a big bag of plain Sweethearts. It wasn’t until I read on Candybog.net that these sugar lozenge candies were in fact wintergreen flavored and were pretty tasty. I immediately turned my thinking around and secured myself a bag the next chance I got. Isn’t it great how we candy bloggers can learn from one another?

I’m not quite sure how Canada fits into the concept of bright green candy tablets, but I suspect it has something to do with the “coolness” of the wintergreen flavor. There’s another variety I’ve seen around, it’s peppermint and the package has a nice blue color scheme to it. I won’t try that though, at least not right away, as peppermint and I have some issues that we need to work out first.

The candy pieces are bright pepto-bismal pink and are about the circumference a nickel and 1/4 inch thick. “Canada” is pressed into once side of them. They smell intensely of sweet wintergreen.

In my mouth they feel quite hard. I couldn’t chomp down on them right away. Reminds me of the texture of Sweetheart conversation hearts: dry, and slightly chalky. I found I could break them a little with my molars, but the best way to eat them is just to suck on them. The flavor is fresh wintergreen with nice minty and herbal flavors that are reminiscent of sassafras and root beer. The flavor is mild, not too minty and not too bland. A perfect in between. Once the tablet is soft enough to break, it gives a nice brief chew as the pieces dissolve and the wintergreen flavor intensifies a little. Tasty.  I found I kept reaching for more of these, they’re very addictive.

I can’t help but smile to myself whenever I see these in the stores now. I like knowing that I gave them a try and found them enjoyable. I bet I’ll be reaching for a bag next time my wintergreen craving hits.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Necco Website

I have to admit that I don’t experiment as much with gum that I feel I should. It’s one of my candy Achilles’ Heels, as so to speak. I’ve never been a big gum chewer, but I have found myself reaching for it more often as of late. I don’t necessarily chew it for the pure enjoyment of it, but rather as a distraction when I’m battling a craving or I just need to have something to move around in my mouth. There’s a few people out there who’d argue that gum is not even candy, as the lines of the definition are often blurred. I don’t eat gum or seek it out like I would a good candy bar, true, but I do chew it because it tastes good. Which is really whole point when you get to the core of it, right? 

There’s a few concrete things I feel make up a good pack of gum. Firstly, it needs to taste good and have a strong flavor. Secondly, it needs to have that flavor that lasts a long time. A stick that will peter out in 5-30 minutes is not good enough for me. Because of this, I have been working my way through all the different varieties in the store trying the find the one that will work for me. I do realize that my requirements are little in the grand scheme of things as gums now tote many cool advantages like more unique flavors, teeth and gum protection, and vitamins. Still, I had only a handful of varieties I’d return to, and I’ve gotten bored with my choices.

Then I noticed Orbit Mist.

This is the newest members of the Orbits line. What’s different with this variety is the addition of “micro-bursts (tm)” that are described on the front of the packages. I read that as fancy terms for extra pockets of flavor and deliciousness. But that’s just me. The flavors range from the classic Peppermint Spray to the fruity favorite of Watermelon Spring, and finally to the new kid on the block: Mango Surf.

The package design is very attractive. The blue color is cool and refreshing feeling, which is enhanced by a slightly metallic sheen. The packages open to reveal a the sticks wrapped in colorful paper, all lines up in neat little rows. I feel oddly stylish opening these packets to take out a piece to chew.

The texture with all of these is pretty standard and a big draw for me. the gum doesn’t start soft like most brands do. Instead, these are a little hard, almost like a Chiclet but without the candy shell, and they gradually get softer as you chew on them.

Peppermint Spray: A cool, light blue color with intense specks of cerulean. The flavor is immediately a burst of sweet peppermint in my mouth. Usually I dislike it when flavors are too punchy in gum, but this works beautifully as the flavor doesn’t hit you all at once right away. Instead it slowly stays in your mouth and seeps onto your taste buds as you chew. I chewed a piece of this for a good to hours and was still getting flavor from it. I’m impressed to say the least.

Watermelon Mist: The stick is lightly green with pretty flecks of pink in it. The flavor is very melon, thankfully not horribly fake like all the variations on the Jolly Rancher watermelon flavor out there. This is much smoother, sweeter and more mellow. I taste hints of cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew with a dash of peach in there.

Mango Surf: Pale yellow colored with red spots. Immediately it tastes tropical and ever so juicy. Strong notes of mango, peach and passion fruit flood my mouth. It’s sweet, but like a real mango has a tart edge to it that makes the gum so much more dramatic to taste. As hesitant I am around mango flavored candy, this one totally won me over.

These new flavors leave me wanting to be a more avid gum chewer. The flavors are interesting and tasty, but the staying power they have in my mouth is just incredible and what really wins me over. I haven’t gotten a stick of gum to stay so fresh in my mouth for so long, so I can’t but recommend you try them based on that trait alone.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Orbit Webpage

I’m not really big on mints or minty candies, but I couldn’t help pass up this beautiful box of the new Tic Tac Citrus Punch assortment. I’m a sucker for fruity, especially citrus flavors, so I knew these would be worth giving a try.

Tic Tacs are an interesting item in my mind, as most mints really try to make themselves look like candy. But Tic Tacs look like candy and are actually mints! There’s three flavors in the mix: grapefruit, orange and lime.

Grapefruit is the flavor I looked forward to trying the most. The flavor is wonderfully captured, it’s fresh and zesty with that nice sweet/sour note the grapefruits have. The minty aspect doesn’t kick in until the fruit flavor fades, which I really like.It leaves a nice light citrusy/minty flavor in my mouth and it’s refreshing. I found myself picking these out of the assortment and finishing them off first.

Orange is sweet and flavorful with a good orange flavor that is more “real” than other orange mints I’ve had. It gets a little tart at the end which is a nice touch.

With the Lime flavor I immediately notice that it is different in texture. Strange! It breaks much easier in my mouth than the others. It’s tart, sweet and very citrusy and like the others I feel the flavor is very authentic and I immediately think of limeade.

I liked this assortment a lot. The three different flavors kept things fresh and interesting, and they both fulfilled my need for something candy-like and to freshen my breath a little. A plus for any mint in my book. My only complaint that, even though the box of these was on the larger side, I did manage to finish them in record time. Oops.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links:
Tic Tac Website

Sometimes the strangest holiday candies are released. Most make sense like the mint flavors I’m seeing everywhere; Mint Truffle Kisses, Hershey’s Bliss Creme de Menthe, Hershey’s Mint Miniatures, and the Mint M&Ms, just to name a few.  Then I spot these two oddities: Holiday Edition Sugar Babies and Inside Out Junior Mints. I was perplexed right away, but since I hadn’t tried them, and are a fan of the originals, I picked them up.

From the outside of the box, the Holiday Sugar Babies don’t seem to be very different. The selling point is that they’re covered in a “candy shell” in holiday colors: white, red and green.

They look terrible. They’re matte and flat looking. Nothing about them feels inviting or attractive. Which leads me to ask, why color them to begin with? If you were going to put the in a bowl for guests or anything, so you can “see” them in there festive colors, why not make them look...nice.

The candy shell is indeed a shell as opposed to a soft, colored coating as I suspected. It actually cracks when I bite down and it softens from there, turning into a regular Sugar Baby. The taste is the same: intensely creamy, burnt caramel flavors with a sticky, grainy chewy texture. I don’t see a point to getting these over the regular ones...unless you have a thing for food coloring.

The Inside Out Junior Mints I was excited about. They’ve been a limited edition candy for years, yet I haven’t seen them until now. I did see the new edition of Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch that were released last year and I reviewed for CandyAddict.

These have white outside and a chocolate interior, just the opposite from the originals. Reading the description on the back where it calls the outside a “white topping”, I knew something was amiss. Uh oh. Mockolate.

The exterior is slightly hard and it “cracks” a little when you bite into it. The intense minty flavor we associate with Junior Mints is there, but it’s hard to say exactly where it’s coming from. I just sucked on one for a bit and I got no mint from the exterior. So my guess is the center is doing double duty here. Other than the appearance, I don’t really see the draw of these. Nothing says to me that these are any improvement or especially unique, so I don’t get the point.

Both these candies don’t do anything to improve or tweak the original enough for me to justify buying them. I just had to satisfy my curiosity. Learn from me and stick with the originals.

Rating: Not Worth It

Links
Junior Mints Webpage
Sugar Babies Webpage