I am a big fan of Tootsie Pops. I’ve always enjoyed them ever since I was a kid. There has been many flavor variations of Tootsie Pops in the past few years, with the Tropical Tootsie Pops, Wild Berry, Peppermint, and banana. There might be more but those are the ones that come to mind immediately. So I was obviously excited to see this Holiday Tootsie Bunch Pops in Target when I was doing my candy hunting. It’s a bunch of Tootise Pops in a bouquet of sorts, fitted with red and green pops. So very cute!

The two flavors in this bouquet, a red which is cherry and a green which is sour apple. I like how there’s one classic and one new flavor in this set. It makes it familiar and adventurous at the same time.

As you can see in the photo, the wrapper are beautiful. They even have little snowflakes on them!

Cherry is the same, familiar flavor we know and love from the traditional Tootsie Pops. It’s bright an very “red” tasting, with notes of cherry that are sweetened with accents of strawberry and raspberry. The flavor is more sweet than metallic thankfully, which always worried me with candies that have red food coloring in them. There’s a slight zest toward the end of the flavor that really enlivens the lollipop. The tootsie center with it’s cocoa flavor blends well with the cherry candy outside, and it’s a classic combination.

Sour Apple is gorgeous to look at. I’ve never seen a dark green Tootsie Pop before. The flavor is immediately sour and zesty, and the flavor reminds me of something I’ve had before yet I can’t put my finger on it. The taste starts off sweet, like watermelon, with juicy notes and a sour end to it. Then there’s a bright flavor of perfume at the end of it. The perfumey taste is kinda off putting, since tasting flowers isn’t my favorite thing. Still, it’s a decent flavor and I’m sure big fans of sour flavor will enjoy it.

This is a really cute festive candy for the season. I bought it for $1, so it’s certainly very affordable. I can’t help but imagine what a wreath or center piece made out of these candies would look like. I guess I think up weird things like that. Tootise Pops are always fun, and these are no exception.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Tootsie Website

Candy Corn is a Halloween candy that everyone seems to have a very strong opinion about. You either love it or hate it, and often are loyal to a specific band. Speaking personally, I love candy corn, and Brach’s is the kind I grew up with. I’ve tried other varieties, but Brach’s are always what I return to as my favorite. I figured it was time to give perspective on another very popular brand, Zachary.

I was lucky enough to find a bag of Zachery Candy Corn to review. Immediately I see differences between the candy corn kernels that Zachary makes from the Brach’s ones. The colors of the Zachary corn is much paler, the kernels are flatter and wider. I pour some out into a bowl to get a better look, and I’m surprised to find that many kernels are misshapen and broken. The white tips of the kernels have a high tendency of breaking off, so the bag had a lot of loose white tips floating around.

The flavor of the candy corn is nice. I was surprised because I compared the ingredients list to Brach’s candy corn, and there were many differences as well as similarities. What caught my eye the most was how much lower Honey was on the Zachary Candy Corn’s list than Brachs’. I really expected a more dramatic different in the flavor because of this. The flavor starts of sweet, very sweet, with a slight note of marshmallow. The flavor then mellows with a slight hint or honey and vanilla, and ends with a strong sweetness and a heavy throat burn from the sugar. It tastes like typical candy corn, but with a slightly less honey notes than the Brach’s variety.

I liked this candy corn more than I expected. It’s a tasty variety, but I miss the slight complexity of flavor, bright colors and sturdy structure of the Brach’s candy corn. So if you’re a Zachery fan, I can understand your preferences. Candy Corn is a strange candy, and our preferences reflect that.

Rating: Will Eat Again

Links Zachary Candy Corn Webpage

These Switzer’s Chewy Licorice Bites with my other find along with the Switzer’s Cherry Twists that I reviewed earlier this week. I admit that I had higher hopes for these, as I’m must more of a black licorice person than a red one. So I was excited and curious to see how I’d like them. Would they prove me wrong that these American licorice chews were not all flavorless and unremarkable? Only one way to find out…

The bites are really little nubbins of licorice. They’re nicely black and have a pretty sheen to them. They do have some holes in them, but you can tell that some sealed off when the bits were cut in the production line. They pattern reminds me of lotus root.

The flavor is a little bitter at first, then grows into a lovely anise/licorice flavor. It’s very herbal and lightly sweet, and the chew is very plasticity. It falls apart easily into chunks as I chew and gradually softens before dissolving away.

Overall, I’m sad to say I’m not very impressed. The flavor a nice, yet still too mild for my tastes. The texture was also not as chewy as I hoped, and the strange slickness of it felt like it was robbing me of some of the flavor. So the style of these aren’t my thing, but like the Cherry Twists from last week, if you’re a fan of this style of candy, you might have a new favorite of these!

Rating: Not Worth It

Links Switzer’s Website

I found these Switzer’s Chewy Cherry Twists on a trip to Cracker Barrel. I went there specifically to candy hunt, as it’s been years since I’d gone to one, and I had completely forgotten they have a “country store” attached to the restaurant. They had lots of classic candies I am familiar with, like GooGoo Clusters, Skybars and MoonPies (although not a candy in my book, yes I see them often grouped as such). But when I laid my eyes on these Switzers Twists, I stopped dead in my tracks. As long as I’ve been doing these candy reviews (going on 5 years now) it’s uncommon I find something that I hadn’t seen before, much less never heard of. These Switzers Twists were news to me, and therefore I scooped some up faster than you could blink.

Looking at the website to find more about these Twists I found they make other flavors too (the Lemonade ones look interesting). I nabbed the only two varieties I saw at the store, the Cherry and the Licorice. Taking the cherry ones out of the bag, I got a nice aroma of sweetness and a vague fruity smell. The pieces are gorgeous to look at and play with. They have a soft feel and are extremely glossy and smooth, with those sweeping ridges that curl their way up the pieces.

The flavor is elusive at first, you really have to start chewing in order for it to show up. It’s sweet with a light cherry “red” flavor that isn’t too strong. It has some metallic notes to it, and it gets stronger as you chew. The texture is very chewy, much more so than a Twizzler. I think it’s a nice texture, as it doesn’t dissolve too quickly nor does it tire my jaw.

I liked these better than Twizzlers, as I felt they were a tad more flavorful and the texture was much nicer. But they’re still not my thing. If you’re into this type of candy, I’d say they’re worth a try.

Rating: Not Worth It

Links Switzer’s Website

Mason Crows are a classic/retro candy which, unlike most of genre, are actually pretty easy to find. You’d think I’d had tried them sooner because of this. Especially since I love black licorice. Sadly, you’re mistaken. I don’t know what took me so long to finally try these. They’ve been on my “to buy” list for such a long time, and I blame the fact that I mainly saw them in the large movie boxes in the 3-$3 bin in Walgreens. I didn’t have anything else I’d want to buy in the bunch though. I finally took the opportunity when the new Mike & Ike Alex’s Lemonade Stand mix appeared in the bunch.

Crows have quite the history. They’ve been around since the late 19th century and were originally called “Black Rose”. A typo at the manufacturers change the name to “Crows” and has remained that way ever since. They appear black at first, but upon closer examination and the right lighting, they’re actually a very dark green. These licorice gumdrops are very similar to Dots, dome shaped and squishy.

Since Crows look so much like Dots, I was expecting them to be the same texture: so hard and chewy that I’d be picking them out of my teeth for the next couple of day (yes, I exaggerate…a little). So imagine my surprise when I bit into one and having it be terribly soft and supple. I must have gotten a really fresh box and lucked out. Chewing them is so luxurious: they deliver and chew that’s substantial yet so silky smooth. It’s heavenly. The flavor is sweet of molasses at first, then a subtle licorice and anise flavors comes through. But it’s never strong, as it’s a mild flavor and it’s really wonderful. The aftertaste is nice and herbal, like good licorice should be.

I honestly didn’t expect these to be so good. The theater sized box I had went really fast and I expect to be stocking up on them again really really soon.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links Mason Crows Webpage