I stumbled across Pucker Powder recently in New York City at the annual Toy Fairshow. I’ve seen their powder booths in many large candy stores before, but have never tried them as I’m not really into sour or powder candy. Curious to try something new tho, as I always am, I took some of the free samples they were handing out at the booth and tucked them into my pocket to take home and photograph to review.

One things I have to say is that the graphic design of the packet of the Pucker pieces is really nice. It is vibrant and fun, and really strikes me as something kids would be drawn to. I get a vibe of “fun” from it, and that’s a big part of what people look for in a candy I think, even if it’s subconscious. 

The main way you see Pucker Powder is in bins of colorful powder that you pour and layer into portable the tubes. With these tubes you can mix and match flavors as you’d like. I have to say that I think the top of the tubes is really well designed. It allows you to open and close the tube without much effort, and it doesn’t accidentally open and spill everywhere. So I was able to eat a little, and save the rest for later. I made a small tube of it mixed with flavors I thought I’d like:

Root Beer: It’s sweet, with a nice cola flavor to it, but it lacks the wintergreen spice I associate with the drink.

Orange: Has a nice citrus flavor to it, with a good sourness to it that I really enjoyed. It has a nice hint of cotton candy to it.

Strawberry: Fruity with a nice tart edge to it, like a Sour Patch Kid. It has notes of berries and bubblegum.

Pucker Pieces are the newcomer to the Pucker Powder line. They’re little tablets that are bigger than a round Advil, yet smaller than a dime. They’re fun to roll around and they make a nice sound like dominoes in my hand.

Yellow: A banana flavor, it has a nice starchy flavor and sweet like bananas. It’s not sour, but does a nice job of capturing the flavor.

Blue: This one is tart! It’s a berry flavor, the sourness is nice and it’s really enjoyable.

Purple: This one is also tart, and it’s grape. Despite me not liking sour candies and grape candies, but I really liked this. It’s reminiscent of grape soda, in the best way possible.

Light Pink: This is strawberry lemonade and the flavor is really spot on. So refreshing!

Dark Pink: The flavor is tart and berry like, I’m guessing it’s strawberry again cause there’s a strong note of bubblegum like the powder did.

Orange: Extremely tart and tastes of citrus. Intense, but yummy.

Color me impressed! I was really pleased with the flavors and sour levels of these candies. I’d definitely search these out again if I ever get a sour candy craving, and I highly recommend trying these if you’re a sour candy lover.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Pucker Powder Website

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

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

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

Well, DOTS went and did it again! To follow up with their limited edition Halloween DOTS and their Christmas DOTS, they now have a box of flavors for Valentine’s Day. I’m really pleased to see this holiday edition, as I’m a big fan of DOTS, so it’s fun to give the new ones a try. I really love the packaging design here, as with all of them, as it really captures the feeling of the season.

My delight was dimmed a little when I saw that the cherry vanilla made a return in this box. After tasting it in the Christmas box, it’s a flavor that I can go without. The pairing flavor is Passion fruit Vanilla, which is something I haven’t had in a candy before, so that certainly made up for any anticipation lost on the cherry flavor’s return. 

Cherry Vanilla: Just like the cherry DOT from the Christmas variety. Red with a white bottom. The flavor is the same as before: a bright, fruity, punchy cherry with a medicinal edge, matched with a creamy vanilla flavor. Second time around I liked it a bit better, but I still yearn for a strawberry or raspberry instead.

Passion Fruit Vanilla: Pink with a white bottom, the flavor is more raspberry and floral, with notes of perfume. Tasty! I don’t notice the vanilla as much here, which is fine with me since the flavor on it’s own is so nice.

I thought this mix of flavors was much more successful in terms of flavor, than the Christmas variety. I can see these as some adorable toppers for some Valentine’s Day cupcakes, or just arranged in a pretty bowl for your sweetheart.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links DOTS Website

I’ve heard about Anise Gummi Bears for some time, and it wasn’t until I was in Reading Terminal Market at one of the Amish candy counters. I saw these in a large bag, and immediately scooped them up. 

They’re a good size, much larger than any traditional gummi bears I’ve ever seen. They stand a good inch tall and 1/2 inch wide. These are some hefty black bears indeed!

The texture is awesome. They’re more like gum drops than gummi bears. They have a nice coat of granulated sugar (to keep them warm I guess, like a gummi fut coat?) and secondly, the texture is much thicker, stickier and smoother, and doesn’t have that light bounce that I associate with traditional gummi bears. I like these a lot better.

The flavor is great, it’s very intense and I get strong herbal flavors of anise and licorice on my tongue. It comes across very strong, and I feel almost taste overload on my tongue with the herbal sweetness. It’s like when you overdose your drink with stevia, it is almost too much. Still, it’s a wonderful flavor and I kept wanting more as I finished them one by one.

If I see these again I’m going to pick them up for sure. I think any fan of licorice would really enjoy these.

Rating: Will Buy 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

The idea of custom chocolate bars isn’t one that’s particularly new. Ever since I’ve learned that I could melt chocolate as a kid I’ve experimented with such things in the kitchen when my mom wasn’t looking. Nowadays, I see “custom chocolate bars” in candy stores that you find in cheesy tourist areas like boardwalks. Still, just because this concept has been around, that doesn’t mean that it’s been done well. Chocri, a chocolate company from Germany that specializes in custom bars, does exactly that.

I was given a free press release to try these chocolate bars that Chocri makes, or should I say, lets me make based on my flavor whims. They plan to launch an US page come January, so if this is the sort of thing that appeals to you, you don’t have very long to wait. 

Now, first things first, let me mention the prices of these bars right away, because they aren’t exactly cheap. You pay for your creative license here as so to speak. Each bar I made here averaged at about $10, which isn’t really something to sniff at. Still, I feel you do get what you pay for, in quality and size of the product. 

The bars are large and very well packaged. The front of the boxed has an cellophane window so you can clearly see your chocolate work of art. I also forgot to name the bars. I was so excited to try and make them, that I completely overlooked the fact that I could name my chocolate creations. Oops, I will try again next time.

The construction of the bars are really nice, they’re molded on one side so you can see the chocolate sections. The additions are topped on the back side, so it look like the method of the chocolate making is they pour a mold and drop you addition on top. Depending on what you add to the chocolate this could make breaking sections off difficult you ave. had items that are on the large side.

To test the chocolate, I wanted to try one of each base: white, milk and dark. I brought my boyfriend over t the computer where I was building each of these bars, and encouraged hi to help me. As he has really good idea on flavor infusions and I wanted his imput.

White Chocolate with licorice pieces and nougat: This bar was a totally brainchild of mine. I’ve always been curious on what licorice and white chocolate tastes like together. The nougat was a totally shot in the dark, because it was the one item I chose to add that didn’t have a photo depicting exactly what it was. I was expecting Torrone, but instead the nougat is more like the center of a 3 Musketeers bar. No complaining here, I was just expecting something else. I was super excited to try this one. It smells sweet, and my first bite of the white chocolate was just heavenly. This is really ,really excellent white chocolate, and I’m super picky about what I call a good one. It’s super buttery and flavorful of the cocoa butter, and isn’t too sweet.  Te nougat melts really quickly, and add a chocolatey flavor to it. The licorice was a surprise, because it’s salted licorice. I was expecting sweet! The pieces of licorice aren’t too hard, as they soften as you chew the bar. Despite the fact that it’s salted, the licorice works really well with the white chocolate. I have to say, I’m a big fan of this.

Milk Chocolate with blueberries, cinnamon and rice crisps: The bar smells sweet and strongly of cinnamon. the break is extremely clean, and you can see they didn’t rush the cooling of the chocolate. The milk chocolate is really lovely on it’s own, it’s creamy, and sweet, with a nice chocolate flavor and hints of caramel. The cinnamon adds a nice warmth to the chocolate without being too overpowering, and the crisps are a wonderful texture addition. The blueberries add a nice fruitiness, they taste like raisins to me, and a dense chew. I am a big fan of this, and now I’m sad I can’t find a bar like this on the market. The boyfriend was really happy with how this one turned out, and I agree with him.

Dark Chocolate with sour cherries, cinnamon cornflakes (cinnamon toast crunch for us Americans) and mini banana sprinkles: A word of note here, I got the sprinkles to see how a “decorative” element in the chocolate worked. I have to say, pretty darn cute. Again, the break with this is clean, so you know they didn’t rush the molding process. The dark chocolate is smooth and fruity, with nice notes of red berries and a good undertone of coffee and chocolate. I was surprised to find that the banana sprinkles have a subtle banana flavor, and a very crunchy. The cinnamon cornflakes add a softer crunch and a subtle cinnamon flavor, but the dark chocolate still shines as the main event. This one was tasty, but I didn’t feel my choice of additions didn’t enhance the flavor, but were fun texture additions.

To sum things up, we both loved the bars, but if we ad t optic favorites, I’d go with the white chocolate and the boyfriends loves the milk. I was really pleased with how great the chocolate base of these bars tasted, and even if I had to order plain chocolate bars form them, I’d gladly do so.

Also check out what Candy Yum Yum, The Chocolate Review, and Candy Addict had to say.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Chocri Website (German for now)

When I first picked up this HiChew, I thought it was grapefruit. Despite the fact that I can read Japanese, I just looked at the image and thought: “Oooo, ruby red grapefruit!” and snatched it up. It wasn’t until later once I was photographing the packaging did I notice that the flavor is blood orange. No complaints here! As much as I love grapefruit, I am not a hater of an citrus fruits, so it was still something I would have picked up regardless.

This HiChew smells lightly of citrus and grapefruit. Which, is a bit misleading! Well, maybe. It’s been a bit since I’ve had a real blood orange. The chews are light orange in color with a pink center.

The flavor is flat at first, more floral and bitter like the rind than of the juicy interior. As i chew, the flavor does release a little and become stronger, but it never reaches that flavor explosion and intense juicy chew that I normally expect with HiChew. The flavor is very true to blood orange, sweet and tart, good notes of zest. It never becomes too much of one of the components, and it very balanced and authentic. I just with it was stronger in flavor and got that saliva-going chew I love.

I’d recommend giving this one a try if you see it. I’m a bit late on the pickup as I think this flavor was a summer release (so much candy, so little time!) but since it’s imported I’m sure you can find it in Asian supermarkets still. Another yummy flavor from HiChew!

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links HiChew Morinaga Website

When I first heard of Hedonist Artisan Chocolates, it was through Rosa over at ZOMG! Candy. She reviewed a sampling of their truffles, and I recognized the name of where Hedonist is located, as my Aunt lived in Rochester, NY. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Hedonist asking if I’d like some free samples of their work to review on the blog. I recalled Rosa’s glowing review and gladly accepted their offer.

I was sent a box of their Holiday Truffle collection and two packages of bark. Everything arrived safely in colorful tissue paper, with the chocolate works of art as pristine as if I had just carried them out of their store.

Let’s get to the tasting, shall we?

Holiday Truffle Collection

Champagne Pomegranate: Dark with a dusting of sugar crystals on top. The shell is of medium thickness, it took me a moment to sink my teeth into it. Flavor is chocolatey and smooth, with a nice tart fruitiness to it. Pomegranate is a bit of a ethereal flavor to capture, as is champagne, but the overall fruitiness of both elements show and balance with the dark chocolate.

Egg Nog: Topped with a sprinkling of nutmeg. The center of this one is a speckled white chocolate. The texture is very buttery and smooth, and you taste the creaminess of the white chocolate, mixed with gentle notes of the spices. It’s a very authentic eggnog, minus the intense burn of rum. It’s extremely tasty and I really enjoyed it.

Fig: Accented with a dried slice of fig, this one seemed much darker and denser than the others. The texture is very moist, smooth and creamy, You do taste the fig, with this sweet rich flavors and it really complements the chocolate. There’s even bits of the seeds in there which adds to the wonderful texture contrast. While you might seeds in a ganache would detract from the ganache’s smooth center, this actually works well and make it feel more fresh and authentic.

Ginger Molasses: I found the description of this one every enticing. Topped with a slice of candied ginger, the shell is a nice thickness again and the interior ganache is milker colored than the others. The flavor is beautiful, you get the spice of the ginger, which isn’t too strong. the molasses is very prominent, giving this wonderful earthy rich flavor to the chocolate. It’s like a ginger snap in a chocolate truffle. It’s delicious and I really loved it.

Orange Clove: Decorated with a slice of candied orange peel. The orange flavor is present immediately, and it’s a delicate flavor that’s still second place to the chocolate. the clove takes a moment to show, but when it does appear, it’s very pronounced and earthy. it really reminds me of Wassil, very fruity and full of spice. It tastes of the holidays.

Milk Chocolate Sesame Bark: Creamy looking milk chocolate studded with white and black sesame seeds. It smells very nutty and sweet. The milk chocolate is smooth and buttery, with nice notes of caramel, cream and cocoa. The sesame adds a slightly crunchy texture and a wonderful toasted nutty flavor. The seeds are also salty, and that really enhances the flavors of the milk chocolate. It’s lovely.

Pistachio Ginger Bark: Beautiful dark colored semi-sweet chocolate with whole pistachios and chunks of crystallized gingers with a touch of salt. Yum! The chocolate is about 1/4 inch thick, so it’s a perfect size for biting into; it’s not too thick and not too thin. The melt of the chocolate is smooth and buttery and rich with flavors that aren’t too acidic, but carry nice notes of coffee and cocoa. The pistachios are wonderfully fresh and salty and really add depth and substance to the chocolate base. The ginger gives it a nice chew, with it’s thick and slightly sticky texture. It adds a nice warmth to the chocolate and all three ingredients go together beautifully.

The well designed and beautifully executed flavors of these chocolates really wow-ed me. Usually most artisan chocolates make something “ho-hum”, something ordinary but extremely tasty, something overly unique to shock you, and I find myself unimpressed afterward. These fall into all the right niches of creating a tasty and indulgent experience. Despite all the additions to the bark and the flavors of the chocolate, Hedonist still lets the chocolate shine over all the other ingredients. Which, is what a good chocolatier does in my opinion.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Hedonist Artisan Chocolates Website

This is the Lee’s Jaffa bar, the second bar of my purchase from a recent trip to Wegman’s grocery store. I tried the sister bar, the Lee’s Mint bar, the other day and while I liked the texture and construction, I couldn’t get past the bold flavor. I looked forward to trying this bar so much more. This bar is a spin off of a popular cookie in the UK called Jaffa Cakes, and they’re an cookie with an orange jam filling. I imagined that this bar took that popular Jaffa orange flavor and made it into a candy bar. Yum!

Like the Minty bar, this bar feels heavy and thick in my hand. Unwrapped, it has the same beautiful dark chocolate coating. Again, the ingredients are simple and they even list “jaffa orange oil” there. Ha ha.

The bar immediately smells intensely of orange. It’s really enticing. 

The fondant is very, very dense. The bar broke easily with no crumbling. The center reminds me, texture wise, of a thick, hardened frosting and the inside of a Cadbury Creme Egg. It’s dense, creamy and sweet. It really coats the tongue with a layer of sugar. The flavor is mainly of the fondant which is extremely sweet with a strong flavor of fresh, zesty, juicy orange oil. The chocolate is deep and takes an edge of the sweetness but is not the star of the show by any means. Everything about this bar is thick, smooth, sweet and very, very bold. It’s not for the faint of heart.

I found the best way to eat this bar is nice and slowly, one nibble at a time. That way it decreases the intense sugar burn you may get at the back of your throat.

I liked this bar much better than it’s minty relative, and next time I see them I’m getting more.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Lee’s Website

This is a good example of a random candy find in a foreign market that turn out to be a total gem. I stumbled across this packaged of strawberry hard candies in a recent trip to Mitsuwa Japanese market up in Edgewater, New Jersey. Sadly, since my kanji comprehension is very poor, I can only read “strawberry” in the Japanese on the package and nothing else. Sadly the poorly translated sticker on the back doesn’t give me any help either. I suppose it will have to remain a delicious candy mystery.

The candies are flat and thick, about an inch long and 1/3 inch wide. The mold is so cute with raised bumps for seeds and a leaf design on the top. The candy strawberries sound like dominoes when I drop them on a surface and roll them around in my mouth. It’s such a nice sound.

I excitedly pop one in my mouth to find that the flavor is awesome. It’s sweet, juicy and very fruity without being overly aggressive. It’s really nice how subtle and sweet the strawberry flavor is, with lice accents of bubble gum and roses. The shape feels great in my mouth too and takes a good amount of time to dissolve. Oddly, I have no urge to chew these. For once it’s too much fun to just roll around in my mouth.

I don’t make it up to Mitsuwa very often, but you bet on my next trip I am going to purchase more of these.

Rating: Will Buy Again

I first tried a Topic bar on a whim. I was visiting my sister in New York City and we stopped in one of the plethora of corner markets that you can find there. I was lucky enough to step in one that specialized in foods from the UK, and I stood in awe eying their candy eye for a good chunk of time. There were so many things I’ve never seen before. I was drawn to the Topic bar by its small size and brightly colored wrapper. Not really looking at what it was, I tossed it into the pile of swag I was amassing and it came home with me.

Out of the wrapper, Topis is a very pretty, petite sized bar with a good weight to it. It’s described as milk chocolate, hazelnut, soft nougat and smooth caramel center. No wonder it’s so heavy! There’s a lot going on here!

The taste is wow!. So complex and satisfying, I don’t know where to begin. It’s so creamy with the chocolate, the caramel, the nougat, even the hazelnuts have that wonderful smoothness to them. The flavor is rich and full without any one element being too overpowering. You definitely notice the hazelnuts and the caramel more that the chocolate while the nougat is there just as a soft filler. It really reminds me of a Snickers bar with hazelnuts instead of peanuts. Which, for me, is a much more pleasing combination.

So very good, makes me wish I had bought more! It has such a wonderful richness to it, and it’s very satisfying and indulgent. Think of it as an upper-scale Snickers. I am smitten.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Mars International Website

I was recommended these candies from a good friend of mine. She’s the sister to one of my best friends, who, I actually attribute my fascination with beautiful food photography which got me into candy blogging in the first place. Wonderful how things come full circle like that, right? She was so kind to write me a letter asking if I’d do a review of these, as they are a favorite candy of hers. The problem is the source for her Bali’s Best Tea Candy was a Cost Plus World Market, and sadly there are none of those in my neck of the woods. Fail.

Lucky for me, they both graciously sent me some in a care package. So here I am with a review for you!

Classic Iced Tea: The candy is round in shape with a semi opaque color. It really looks like hardened tea or honey with a nice brown color with golden tones to it. It really tastes like someone took an Arizona iced tea and hardened it. It’s flavored of classic English breakfast tea with a hint of sweetness and lemon. Really awesome authentic flavor.

Green Tea Latte: This version is olive green in color but also milky and opaque. The flavor is very sweet and creamy. It tastes more milky and coconutty than green tea, which I associate with strong grassy flavors. This is much sweeter and more like a milkshake than a cup of green tea. It’s still good and really tasty, but I don’t get much of the tea flavors here. But then again, it is called “latte”. I wonder why companies think we need to drown green tea in milk and sugar in order for us to enjoy it.

There’s also a citrus green tea flavor, but I didn’t get any of those. It sounds lovely though. 

I man, I am even sadder now there’s no Cost Plus World Market’s near me. I find so much good candy there, and I just added these to my “awesome” list. I’m going to have to keep my eyes peeled for these in stores near me, as they are a really delightful hard candy.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Fusion Gourmet Bali’s Best Website

Clark bar, made by NECCO, is a classic/retro candy bar that has a pretty wide distribution that I feel is very overlooked. I see it in many places and it makes me happy to see such a bar still on the shelves. Many of you I am sure are not even aware of what a Clark bar is, am I right? Well, don’t feel bad, I’ll rectify that by the end of this review. It’s a pretty easy bar to spot, with it’s bright, attractive red wrapper. I stumbled across this Halloween “Wicked Mix” meant for trick or treaters in my local Wegmans and promptly snatched it up.

Clark Bar: classic red wrapper: Clark bar is like a Butterfinger, except it uses real chocolate. Butterfinger uses that nasty mockolate stuff. The bar smells chocolatey and peanut buttery. The center is very crispy and you feel it flake apart, but it’s not messy at all. The center is a nice peanut butter brown color, and crumbles nicely and cleanly. The flavor is mainly the peanut butter, but the chocolate adds a nice sweetness to it.

Clark Bar Dark: dark brown wrapper: Smells darker and more of chocolate and a hit of coconut. The center here is much harder, it didn’t crisp like the classic one did. It was more difficult to eat because of it. The chocolate is more bittersweet and adds a nice richness to the peanut butter that I liked a lot.

Clark Bar Coconut: (brown wrapper): I was very surprised to find this one is not chocolate covered at all! Instead it’s covered in flakes of toasted coconut, like a Zagnut bar. Smells coconutty and sweet. The flavor, oh, it is awesome! It’s rich in the sweet, toasty flavors of the coconut, then the nutty, salty flavors of the peanut butter. The center here is crisp like the classic, so it’s easy to eat. Love it.

This is a delightful (er, should I go Boston on everyone and call it “wicked”, ha ha) mix. It’s nice to see such a classic bar in the Halloween aisle and I’m sure any trick or treaters would love to get something unique like this in their swag. Who knows, you might even influence a new generation of Clark bar lovers.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Clark Bar Website