There’s not too much flavor variation going on during Valentine’s Day. Usually it’s all Cherry or the occasional Strrawberry since everything candy-wise is red colored this time of year. For some variation, I am giving the Brach’s Cinnamon Jelly Hearts a try.
The bag smells intensly of cinnamon and the candies are really cute. They’re hear shaped, about the circumference of a nickel and about half an inch high. They are firm to the touch and aren’t very spongy like some gummis are. These remind me much more of gumdrops.
The flavor is sweet and has a hint of heat to it on my first bite. The two kinda play in my mouth, neither gaining dominance until the end where it gets slightly hotter, but never into the “too spicy” zone. These aren’t as powerful as Red Hots thankfully, so folks like myself who can’t take “hot” candies too terribly well. Instead these are a nice mix of the intense cinnamon flavor with some sweetness to make it more friendly. The texture is nice too, as it’s a ick heavy chew wihtout being sticky. You barely notice the granulated sugar coating.
I was prepared to really not like these, as hot cinnamon candies aren’t my thing. I was surprised that I did like them. I can easily see these as cupcake toppers, as they’re gorgeous to look at. If you like cinnamon candies, I’d seek these out. It’s a great option for Valentine Day candy if you aren’t a fan of cherry.
Rating: Will Eat Again
Links Brach’s Website
Nothing is more iconic to Valentine’s Day than a heart shaped box of chocolates. This one, made by See’s Candies, is a pretty sight indeed. The chocolates inside are enough to make one weak in the knees!
Gimbal’s Fine Candies makes a bunch of really fantastic looking sweets. They are a company I’ve meant to try products from, but sadly they’re somewhat difficult for me to locate. Because of this, I’ve been waiting for the day where I have the luck to find some somewhere. Well, I was struck with candy luck the other day, as I found this bag of Cherry Lover’s jelly beans in my local Rite Aid. I immediately snatched it up and squealed at my good candy fortune.
These is an assortment of cherry flavored jelly beans. What impressed me right away is that “cherry juice concentrate” is one of the top items on the ingredients list. Yum! This made me very hopeful of having a more authentic taste as opposed to the medicinal one I encounter so much.
The beans are very pretty, and they’re even heart shaped! So cute!
Wild Cherry: Bright red. The flavor is classic red cherry, bright, fruity sweet. Thankfully there’s no hint of bitterness for the food coloring. Just a tasty, classic red cherry flavor.
Cherry Vanilla: White with red flecks. The flavor stars out like cherry, then this sweet, creamy flavor kicks in. I wouldn’t say it’s terribly vanilla, but when the two mix together ti does give off a cherry vanilla essence.
Black Cherry: Dark red. This one is very juicy, with strong, rich, notes of cherry that remind me of jam or a think juice. So yummy.
Chocolate Cherry: Dark brown. Immediately has notes of cocoa that are accented with bright cherry flavors. tasty.
Cherry Cheesecake: Pink with red flecks. Starts off sweet with creamy, rick, tangy flavors similar to cream cheese. The cherry flavor here is better and metallic tasting in comparison to the “cheese” flavor.
Bing Cherry: Bright red, hard to tell apart from the wild cherry. This flavor is more sweet than the wild cherry. The flavors are more metallic and deep than the wild cherry. Has more bitterness to it.
Cherry Daiquiri: Purple with red flecks. This starts off bright and fruity, more like a standard “berry flavor” than anything else. It tastes like there’s hints of lime.
Cherry Cola: Bright pink: Stars off sweet, then you get the intense, earthy flavor of cola. They’re sharp with an accent of herbs and lemon. Combined with the cherry it was very intense and it tickled my throat.
Kiwi Cherry: Pink with green flecks. The flavor is immediately very fruity with accents of pineapple and passion fruit. I wouldn’t call it “kiwi” per say, but mixed with the cherry it comes across as a very peachy flavor.
Overall, I really enjoyed these. My fiance too, was pleasantly surprised, and it’s the first thing he now grabs to munch on out of my candy stash. I plan to put these is a pretty candy dish when I have friends over, as they are terribly attractive to look at. If you are looking for a delicious, unique jelly bean, along with loving good cherry flavors. These are worth seeking out.
Rating: Will Eat Again
Links Gimbal’s Website
Hershey’s Kisses Cherry Cordial Creme are probably the first candy that I became aware of the existence of “limited edition” candies. It was back a few years ago, in 2007 I’d say, when I heard of Candyaddict.com making a petition to bring the flavor back since it had so many fans. Well, needless to say, they were successful! I’ve been seeing around this time of year since then. and I know it’ll sound odd, but this is the first time I actually bought a bag. Part of it is because cherry isn’t a favorite flavor of mine, plus there are so many other cool flavors candies have been coming in so I just didn’t have the time.
I picked this bag up on sale with the holiday candies, but imagine my surprise when I saw it among the Valentines Day candies when the store bought the new stock in. Needless to say, I got a deal! I wanted to explain why my package had snowflakes on it.
Opening the bag you get a very distinct smell. It’s very bright, fruity and red. It does have a “cherry” hint to it, but the kind of cherry medicine reminds you of. The wrapper is a pretty red raspberry color, accented with black stripes. The little paper sticking out the top read “cherry” and it easily identifies the type of kiss you’re looking at. You know, in case the color didn’t already suggest it.
The center of these Kisses are very fluid. hey immediately gush into my mouth as I bite down onto them. The flavor is, sweet at first, very syrupy. Then you start tasting hints of the milk chocolate, then the flavor of the cherry creme even more. It’s terribly sweet, and the flavor is a mix between real cherries and the flavor of red cough medicine. The chocolate takes an edge of the artificial flavor of the cherry, but I still manage to taste to bitter metallic tones of it. Not the worst cherry flavor I’ve ever had, but not the best either.
If you’re a fan of cherry cordials, I’d give these a try. Many friends who I shared these with enjoyed them, especially those who were fans of cordials to begin with. So i feel better about this, since it’s me having the problem, not the candy. It still amazes me how differently we all feel about certain candies. These Cherry Cordial Creme Kisses certainly have their fans, so if you’re curious at all, see why so many petitioned to being them back so long ago.
Rating: Will Eat Again
Links Hershey’s Kisses Webpage
There’s some candies that I look back on in photos and wish that I remembered them better. This Kit Kat from Australia is one of them. Cookie dough? In a Kit Kat? Yes please!
