This candy find was exciting to me for three reasons: the first, was it’s currant flavored. Second, it’s made by Katjes. Third, they’re gummis. Three things I really, really like. So it was a no brainer that I nabbed them up. Since I was at a Cost Plus World Market, a store not in my area, it was either buy them now or risk never seeing them again.

The bag is a nice size, and very eye-catching with it’s brilliant green and red color scheme. The colors are extremely saturated and it’s almost blinding to look at, yet attracts the eye at the same time.

The gummis themselves are really cute. They’re little nubbins, with the base maybe the diameter of a dime. They’re brilliantly red with a nice coating of granulated sugar.

The flavor right away is very fruity. It has a rich jammy flavor that’s a little like raspberries, a little like cherries, and a little like cranberries. It’s very nice. They’re not so much sour, as they are tart, which is the sour level I tend to prefer anyways. The have a nice chew that reminds me of gum drops, slightly soft but still very chewy. They’re not as hard as DOTS or as soft as gummi bears.

Overall, I liked these, but I’m not sure I’d buy them again. I think my flavor preference sits more with black currants, but that’s just me. These are still and awesome candy and I’d recommend them to you if any of my flavor descriptions appealed to you.

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Katjes Website

I barely noticed this version of the MilkyWay bar when it first came out. I didn’t see any in store displays for it, nor did the packaging catch my eye. Which is odd really, since it looks very different from the dark brown wrapper of the original bar. It’s called the “Simply Caramel” bar, which confused me at first because I didn’t know what it meant. It was so straightforward that I didn’t know what to make of it.

So what is exactly the “Simply Caramel” bar? Well, there’s a giant band of caramel in the middle, enrobed in chocolate. It’s that simple.

One thing’s for sure. I had a blast photographing this bar. The caramel is not liquidy like a Caramello. Instead, it’s wonderfully stringy and smooth.

It smells sweet and of caramel and cream with notes of chocolate, exactly what I was expecting once I had this bar out of the wrapper.

The caramel is smooth and sweet, with nice notes of cream and burnt caramel. It’s a nice thick texture and isn’t too sticky. The chocolate is nice and sweet with good milk notes and a good chocolatey overtone. What can I say, I’m impressed!

If what I’ve said hasn’t convinced you to try one yet, consider this: my Mom hates limited edition candy bars with a passion. She thinks that the original candy bars are fine the way they are and all these variations are unnecessary and a shame to the originals. Yet, when I got her to try this one, she adored it. Just goes to show you don’t know until you try it!

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links MilkyWay Website

I find candies that are “store originals”, as so to speak, are quite interesting. We all recognize candies that are knock-offs of their mainstream counterparts. But ones that are ideas and styles all their own? I like the unpredictability of them. These Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Powerberries are just that. I saw them on the shelf, knew they were candy, but didn’t know exactly what they were. So I had to find out.

The package shows them to be little round chocolate covered nuggets. They reminded me right away of Raisinets, so in a way, that’s what I was expecting. The bag has a resealable top, which I really appreciate, since the package is way too much to eat in one sitting. The bag smells sweet and very much like blueberries.

Pouring some of these Powerberries into my hand, I find that the size varies. Some are small others much larger. They’re irregular, but that’s part of what makes them fun.

I take a bite and am surprised to not find an actual berry in the center. Instead, there’s a thick, jelly like texture. Almost like those fruit pate candies I adore so much. After a few experiments to see what made these up, I find that the center is two of these semi domed jelly discs smooshed together, and then covered in chocolate.

The flavor is very complex, as you really taste the rich dark chocolate at first. Soon follows the intense flavor of the berries, which is very blackberry/blueberry/strawberry. The two flavors compliment each other beautifully: the sweetness of the chocolate balances out the tartness of the berries, and the fruitiness of the berries calms the earthiness of the chocolate. It’s really excellent.

The bag got finished off pretty quickly, as they were really yummy. Funny thing is, these aren’t something I’d crave, for reasons I can’t explain. Still, they’re something I appreciate since there’s nothing else like it that I know of, and they’re fun to try and eat when I do have some around. 

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Trader Joe’s Website

We return to the Tappsy licorice! Like the original Tappsy that I reviewed earlier, these are licorice candy pieces that are shaped like panda faces. The difference is that these are the milk chocolate version.

In terms of the candy’s appearance itself, there really isn’t anything different from the original Tappsy except the white foam but are not colored like hot chocolate; a milky brown hue. They have the same alternating panda face variations, both of which looks a little less cool because last I checked, panda’s aren’t brown. Ok, maybe these are muddy pandas. I can live with that.

The flavor is of a mild black licorice, and of hot cocoa for the foam bits. The flavor combination of licorice and chocolate can be strange if not done well, but these do it excellently. It’s really good. I can elaborate more on the foam’s texture since I didn’t last week; it’s light and chewy and dissolves nicely in the mouth. Yum!

Just like the original Tappsy, I’d recommend any licorice fans to give this one a try. It’s very original, tasty, and fun!

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Katjes Website

I am always amazed on how many different varieties of licorice that exist out there. Living in the United States, you really don’t see that many, as it’s not a popular candy here, for reasons I don’t quite understand. Walk into any store that imports candy from Europe and you start to get an idea of how extremely popular and diverse a candy it really is. These Tappsy licorice candies are not only different from other varieties I’ve had before, they’re also more creative. I’ve seen licorice in animal shapes before, fish and cats come right to mind. But panda faces? Really? This is certainly new territory.

So what are these Panda faces made of? Well, aside from the accents of black licorice to define the features, the white part is a soft, gummi “foam”. It’s chewy, yet not very dense. It reminds me of the “cream” part in many gummies you find here in the USA, like the white part of those blue gummi sharks you see everywhere.

The flavor is really nice, and not as delicate as I imagined. Depending on the piece you got, as there were pieces that had the base of black licorice accented with the white foam, and others visa versa. The white foam is lightly sweet and is a little marshmallow-y in flavor, a light vanilla flavor accented by a starchiness. The licorice is lovely with delicate herbal notes and a wonderful rich molasses base to it. They two parts blend beautifully and I found myself very tempted to keep eating these one after another.

I definitely recommend these if you love black licorice and you are looking for something new. I was wonderfully surprised with these! Yay, pandas are yummy!

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Katjes Website