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Happy Belated Easter to all you candy lovers!

I hope you had something sweet and delicious in your Easter basket. Or at the very least, ate some candy. Here’s a treat from me here at The Candy Enthusiast: some LOLz Peeps from…strange Peeps I found in the packages I bought this year. I hope they give you a chuckle.

 

 

 

Yes, I realize I am quite silly.

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Just Born makes a lot of fun Easter candy, most notably the Marshmallow Peeps. They’re also the sweet masterminds behinds many jelly beans that I find around, like the Hot Tamale Spice Beans and ones that are sold as is, like the kind I am reviewing today.

I find that even though these beans aren’t associated with a specific brand, Just Born still makes the packaging appealing and festive. The rabbit tossing back a few beans in utter delight is a nice illustration and touch.

These jelly beans are lovely to look at. They’re the same size as the Hot Tamale beans: about the size of chubby peanuts. They have a beautiful sheen and the overall color scheme of the assortment is beautiful, festive and eye catching.

The texture is nice and chewy, and only slightly sticky. The beans last a good length of time in the mouth too, so they don’t dissolve too quickly, which is something I really appreciate.

 

Green Apple: Immediately tart with bright zesty notes and a rush of fruity flavor. It reads more like lime than apple to me. Very strange.

Cherry: Sweet, fruity and bitterly metallic. It tastes like a cough drop to me.

Pineapple: I’ve looked forward to this one so much! The flavor is very intense with sweet, juicy authentic flavors with that hint of pine.

Lemon: The flavor smacks you right away with a fresh lemon flavor. However, it lacks that zestiness I love in lemons. Instead it’s mild and sweet.

Orange: Like the lemon, this also lacks that zest I love in citrus fruits. It’s a smooth flavor with a mild presence.

Grape: This is very juicy, fake and metallic. It’s also strikingly sour.

Strawberry (pink): Very bright, fruity, and lightly perfumey. It reads as a delicate strawberry flavor, yet it wasn’t as jammy as I hoped.

Licorice (black): I love licorice beans and this one is no exception. It’ sweet with strong herbal and molasses notes to it.

What can I say, as odd as this mix may come off to some, it’s just perfect for me. It contains most of my favorite flavors and the texture is just spot on. This just might become my favorite Easter jelly bean mix.

Rating: Will Buy Again

 

Links Just Born Website

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I was utterly delighted when I received a sample of these in the mail from Just Born. I first remember seeing them in my friend’s Flickr photos, then Cybele gave them a wonderful review. I had reviewed an assortment of spice beans by Just Born for CandyAddict at about the same time, and I realized that they were probably the same set of jelly beans, just different packaging. Still, the candy brat in me wanted to have the ones with the Hot Tamale branding because they seemed so much cooler in my mind.

The beans are a nice size. Not as small as Jelly Belly’s beans, but no where near as large and many of the pectin varieties you see out there. I’d say well, they’re the size of a baked beans or a peanut. The panned shell is glossy and smooth with an even color. The texture is nice and chewy and doesn’t ever get sticky.

 

Peppermint (white): Very intense and fresh. It’s just lick sucking on a candy cane. It’s powerful flavor is refreshing and sweet.

Spearmint (green): More sweet and herbal than the peppermint. It’s grassier and not as intense. It’s a good balance of flavor too, it’s not powerful like a stick of gum.

Cinnamon (red): Very punchy and spicy, true to normal Hot Tamales. It has that signature kick to it, along with a warmth from the spicy burn. Thankfully these at not as fiery a Red Hots, otherwise I wouldn’t have enjoyed them as much.

Clove (yellow): Oh, how I love clove flavored beans! These come across as very earthy and spicy. They have great woodsy accents that really capture the taste of cloves.

Wintergreen (pink): My favorite of the bunch. It’s very bright, sweet and pleasantly herbal in flavor. It has nice spicy notes that remind me of a nice mug of root beer.

These are great, and a nice change from the Brach’s beans I love so much. I wish I could find them year ‘round, heck, even find them in stores near me. Maybe I can plead Just Born to supple me with more of them.

Rating: Hoard

Links Hot Tamale Website

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Peeps are one of those candies that you immediately associate with Easter. Or, at least, I do, even though I never got them in my Easter Basket as a kid. Peeps are the kind of candy that you either love them to pieces or you don’t care much for them, I’ve found little gray area in between. The people who do love Peeps almost have formed a cult following for them. I’m sure a book could be written by fan as to the best way to eat them (fresh, stale, microwaved, toasted, etc) or what to do with them (make s’ mores, decorate cupcakes, make art and crafts, scientific research, etc). There isn’t a more versatile candy around, it seems.

I prefer to take photos of them myself, like these, er, peeps over at Flickr.

The concept of Peeps are pretty simply, they’re marshmallow with a crunchy colored sugar shell. Most are shaped like baby chicks, but as the years have passed new shapes have been introduced. At Easter you can find the chicks along with bunny peeps. New colors also have been introduced, and you can find them in all colors of the rainbow now. I recall red ones that were a Target exclusive last year, and this year I saw orange ones on the shelves in Wal-Mart. True to real chickens and rabbits, the peeps seem to have no problem multiplying to take up more shelf space each year.

 

I do like the little Peeps simply because they’re so cute. The eyes on them are hand painted, and I especially love the ones that I find a little cross-eyed.

The texture of these really depends on how fresh you get them and how fresh you like to eat them. When brand new, they’re very soft and pillow like a marshmallow should be, with their sugar coating a bit crunchy. The staler they get, which is how many prefer to eat them, the peeps get firmer and chewier. It really all depends on the maturity of your peep.

The flavor is lightly sweet and tastes rather bland. They don’t even taste like marshmallow to me, which usually have a hint of vanilla to them. These just taste sweet and starchy, and forgive me for saying so, but I’m reminded of communion wafers.

I’m trying to expand my Peep eating horizon and have let those I’d taken out for my photos to sit outside the package and gradually get stale in my living room. I’m trying them day-by-day to see exactly how stiff and crunchy I like them. I find that I prefer the texture of Peeps over the flavor, which is why once these are gone I probably won’t buy more unless I have the urge for another photo shoot.

Rating: Might Eat Again

 

Links Peep’s Website
Peeps at Wikipedia

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Aren’t these so cute? Just perfect for Valentines Day! Not only are the shapes cute and simple, but they’re nicely colored with an appealing flavor for the season. I am pretty sure these are a new release this year, as I don’t remember seeing them last Valentines Day. Does anyone else recall?

The hearts come in a nicely protected pack of 9, each set of 3 in a tray. The package is very fitting for the holiday too. Pink with little “XOXO” patterns all over it. You can smell the Peep hearts immediately once you open them. The aroma is strawberry with it’s bright berry flavor and “red” essence. There’s a tart edge to these too and I can’t help but compare it to how the red SweetTarts smell.

The inside of these Peeps are pink too! How precious is that! I tried my first row fresh, so the texture was beautifully pillowy soft. The flavor is awesome, as it’s in the sugar coating as well as in the marshmallow. It’s a great strawberry taste for sure. It’s a light flavor, nothing overpowering here, but then again, when were Peeps ever overpowering? There’s a light sweetness and a good berry/perfume flavor that really give it that nice strawberry essence. In a way I’m reminded of that pink goopy medicine I was given as a kid when I had strep throat, but that’s a good thing here. I loved eating that stuff.

I bet these, along with all other flavored marshmallows, will be fun to experiment with. In hot cocoa? In Valentines Day s’mores? Fondue? Such possibilities!

Rating: Will Buy Again

 

Links
Marshmallow Peeps Website