Cadbury Strawberries and Cream

SNACK: Strawberries & Cream.

I've already covered on this blog how much I love a limited edition variety, especially when it's totally different from anything else available.  I found this block at Brookside Woolworths a little while ago, but I believe it has spread to most supermarkets now.

When I bought it the block happened to be on sale for $2.99 which I think is pretty darn good for a block of mid-range filled chocolate.  I think Cadbury are trying to make this part of the Snack range as it's got Snack printed above the name.

The centre is actually flowing, left alone it oozes.

It's a milk chocolate block of shaped squares held together on a flat base.  The squares alternate flavours, one strawberry, one cream, with two of each flavour in a row.  The columns going down are all the same flavour which I imagine would be to keep the manufacturing process simple.

The chocolate is good, it's standard Cadbury Dairy Milk which interestingly I've found to be sweeter than the UK Cadbury which tastes kinda bland to me.  The strawberry filling is great! Exactly the same as the strawberry piece in the regular Snack version, sweet and sugary with a nice strawberry flavour.  The cream square is very vanilla in flavour though oddly lacks a scent which I found disconcerting.  It has the same texture as the strawberry flavour, a sugary grain that is pleasant.

I couldn't eat too much of this in one go as it is quite sweet but I'd definitely buy it again.  Irritatingly it's not featured on the Cadbury Australia webpage, but then neither is the other limited edition flavour available solely at IGA Supermarkets at the moment, Tropical Pineapple.

The Final Verdict: 4 - Absolutely recommend this! Sweet and pleasant with great subtle flavours.

Peanut Butter and Coconut M&M's

Peanut Butter M &M's.

So we talked about the history of M&M's in a previous post while discovering the joys of pretzel filled M&M's which I still pine for by the way, in case anybody reading this has access to them and feels compassionate.

Coconut M&M's

Mars is very fond of messing with their product, sometimes it rings with the pleasant sound of success.  Other times is rumbles with the unhappy sound of failure.  Two products which regrettably fall into the latter category are the Peanut Butter M&M's and Coconut M&M's, the PB ones are a regular line feature in the USA but can be purchased in Australia at specialty candy retailers.  The Coconut ones are a limited edition that first appeared in 2009, from what I gather they had a bit of a break and came back for the northern 2010 summer.

Note the irregular shapes.

But anyway, in all honesty the PB version should have worked.  I like peanut butter, in moderation and in the correct places.  Like a satay sauce.  Or on crackers.  But what I dislike is peanut butter as an overpowering flavour and pastiness in consistency.  In fact while we're on the subject what is with the American peanut butter obsession?  Can someone enlighten me?  These M&M's had both an overwhelming peanut butter taste and a pasty middle that stuck to teeth and mouth in a most unpleasant fashion.

A gooey peanuty centre.

The candies themselves had the usual hard shell and milk chocolate interior, but beneath the chocolate was a oval of peanut butteryness that was very bland.  The end result was the pasty texture and a peanut flavour but none of the enjoyable saltiness that peanut butter normally has.  I think I ate two and gave them to my brother's girlfriend, she downed the packet in one go (bear in mind it was a little single serve packet).

For some reason I got no flowers or anything in this shot.

I got the coconut variety not long after the pretzel ones, I was initially disappointed that it was such a small bag.  Man, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise!  These are the same size as a regular milk chocolate M&M, maybe a little puffier, and feature the M on some candies and little summery images on others, like palm trees and flowers.  Unlike the PB ones which contain actual peanut butter, these contain no coconut at all except for artifical

Insidey bits - it shattered when I cut it.

flavouring.  I was hoping for some coconut embedded in the chocolate much like a coconut rough but with a crunchy sugar shell.  The only thing I got was the sugar shell.  They're pleasant, I ate more than the PB ones but after a few my throat was burning from the flavouring and I felt slightly sick.  I wouldn't buy these again.

The Final Verdict: 2 - Both were more upleasant than enjoyable, the Peanut Butter needed salt, the Coconut needed ACTUAL coconut.  Don't buy either, especially if you can't stand imitation coconut flavouring.

Nik'L'Nips

These are too bizarre for words.  I received two large packets of these in quick succession and as almost at a loss as to what to do with them.  They are definitely a love or hate confection.  I was very confused by these at first, but a quick bit of Googling managed to set me straight.

The offending candy.

The story with these guys is basically a little (inedible, go figure) wax container holding a fruity juice type liquid inside.  Note here that I say 'juice type liquid' and not fruit juice, because to be fair I am unaware of a fruit that will produce neon blue juice.  Most of the juice flavours, red, orange, green, yellow and blue, taste fairly similar a vague tropical-y sort of experience.

The wax container itself is a totally different experience, it's shaped like a bottle and honestly has the same texture as candle wax or maybe dental wax.  It is completely non-toxic and I'm sure it wouldn't kill you if you swallowed some but I'm also not convinced that it would become lodged in your lower colon requiring medical intervention.

Eating these was tricky, you have to bite the top off enough to get the juice out without squirting yourself or swallowing the wax top you've just bitten off.  It's not a candy for polite company.

What fruit makes that colour juice?

The name apparently originates from the price that they were original sold for (a nickel) and the method by which you access the juice by removing the top (nip).

The Final Verdict: ? - They're just too weird!  I mean seriously, an inedible container holding fake fruit juice?  What were you smoking?  The taste is okay, except for the wax and there's a lot of wax.

Rainbow Candies

Who doesn't like a rainbow?  They're pretty, entertaining and have leprechauns with gold at the end of them (or so I have been led to believe).  And when it comes in candy form it a bonus as it's also edible and sweetly tasty!

Both of these candies today were sent to me from overseas, I don't think either are available in Australia but eBay is your friend as they clearly got through customs unscathed.

Melty sweet clouds of colour.

The first is a small bag of Rainbow Drops from Scotland, the name is confusing.  A drop in the candy sense that I grew up with is usually a hard candy, like a boiled sugar sweet.  Eucalyptus drops were very popular at school when I was a kid.  These however are nothing like that, they're nothing like anything I've ever seen or consumed.  They are in fact little puffed grains of rice coated in a gently crunchy sugar shell all coloured like the rainbow.

You little geeks.

If you're currently having flashbacks to bad multi-coloured sweet popcorn then you're not alone I wrote these poor little guys off before opening the package.  But man, was I wrong!  And pleasantly surprised to be wrong.  They're nothing like nasty showbag popcorn but are instead delicate little puffs with a sweet exterior that almost melt in your mouth.  I couldn't say there were any specific flavours other than sugar and the lovely meltiness of it all.

The other morsel of rainbow candy is a very large package of Rainbow Nerds from the United States.  These came in a parcel with a few other items and by far survived the journey the best.  Other tasty things didn't make it so good like the VALOMILK and the Skybar (it was given a burial befitting it's status, it clearly died in transit).

An extremely pretty candy.

My exposure to Nerds goes back to my primary school days so I knew what I was in for with this one, and they were everything I'd hoped for.  The rainbow of flavours included the usual strawberry and grape, with I think green apple, orange and something yellow (maybe lemon) thrown in as well.  These were good, the drawback being with most Nerd candy that the extreme sour coating and big suagr crystal innards equal do equal a fairly sickening treat fairly quickly.  Where the Rainbow Drops disappeared before my eyes, these things seem to multiply and I still have them kicking around my house (to be fair the box was a very large 170g).  On a sidenote, does anyone else remember Dweebs?

The Final Verdict (Rainbow Drops): 4 - Fantastic yummy little treats the even in a larger bag would not evoke any sort of sugar hangover.  Totally recommend if you can find them.

The Final Verdict (Rainbow Nerds): 3 - Really good, however nothing on the box indicates what the flavours are supposed to be.  The size of the box was also a drawback for the Nerds, a smaller box would have equalled less Nerd induced comatose state.

Whatchmacallit

I don't know, what do we call it?

So my delicious friend Annie gave me this tasty treat the other week.  I'd never seen nor heard of this bar before and I was certainly dubious when I saw it contained 'peanut flavoured' crispy things.  But in my solemnly sworn duty to try any and all candy that crosses my path I decided I would give it the benefit of the doubt.

The packaging describes it as 'made with chocolate, peanut flavoured crisps and caramel' though looking at the ingredients it technically isn't chocolate but I'm not going to quibble.  The bar is a long flat slab, nicely shaped and with a creamy latte coloured wrapper.  The bar travelled from the Gold Coast to my handbag which it then lived in for three days before being consumed and it was in surprisingly (or scarily) good condition.

Inside-y bits.

The main scent present upon unwrapping is sweet and cocoa-y, the bar snapped nicely and I didn't detect any overwhelming peanutiness so things were going well.  On a sidenote what is with the American obsession with peanuts and peanut butter in particular?  Can anyone shed some light on this for me?  I mean I get the peanuts and the releated butter is tasty but really?  You want it in that many things? Ahem, back to the candy.

First bite I was hit with mainly sweet, the textures are really nice and the peanut flavour is subtle.  I couldn't say the caramel added much but it was a nice contrast to the base.  I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this bar, I ate the whole thing quite easily.  It reminded me a great deal of a Smores Bar that was available some time ago but I think has been discontinued.

The Final Verdict: 3.5 - It was good, unexpectedly so.  But I'd also say it was a little forgettable.  Nothing really stood out and the flavours couldn't really be determined from one another.  Satisfying textures within though, good for people who like feeling in their food.

Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits

I remember when I was a kid and Skittles first hit Australia.  It was a revelation to me, these tiny chewy candies bursting with flavour!  Up until then the closest thing that we had were Kool Fruits and they were both bigger and not as juicy.

My love affair with Skittles continued until my last year of highschool when the bastards took away the grape flavour, my favourite, and replaced it with blackcurrant (though it might also be blackberry, I haven't checked in awhile) then to add injury to insult they took away lime and replaced it with green apple!  WTF Mars Inc!  WTF!

Ahem, so upsets aside I still love Skittles, I refuse to eat the nasty Australian variety so instead I shop at Candy Time in Brisbane and buy a large box of American Skittles for $3.99 and thus balance is restored to the universe.

However on occasion Mars Inc decides to play freaky God-like games and brings out limited editions.  Which I love!!  I've tried many a freaky Skittles version over the years, most would get a rating of 1.  Seriously.  Fun times but let's not do that again.

Fizzl'd Fruits though!  Man!  They got something right with these ones.  They've got different flavours to the regular packs, featuring berry punch, melon berry, raspberry, strawberry, and wild cherry, all covered with a fizzy dusted coating.

Oooh, the fizzy coating!

They were all pretty much even covered with the fizzy powder and had a nice crunch to the exterior.  The interior had the usual expected Skittles chew and juicy flavour.  I liked most of the flavours, except the wild cherry and berry punch, nothing cherry flavoured tastes good to me and the berry punch was just... off.

Of the three I enjoyed, raspberry was the best, tangy and sweet and the fizzy coating paired perfectly!  Strawberry and melon berry were a tie after the raspberry, and honestly I did eat the other flavours just to get the fizzy coating.

The Final Verdict: 3 - I really debated whether to bump this up to a 4 because I did really enjoy them, it's just with two flavours I didn't like there's really only 3/5 of the packet I'm going to eat.  But seriously try these, especially if you like fizzoes.

Whittaker's Dark Caramel and Dark Ghana Peppermint

So, it's been a little bit since the last review.  Turns out unexpected and slightly major dental work will drastically reduce one's ability to consume candy, who would have guessed!  It didn't help that for two days my mouth would only open a few centimetres.  But that's behind me now, on to better things.... like rich dark chocolate!

These two blocks were purchased for me by my brother E on a recent visit to New Zealand.  Okay, I'll admit it, I specifically requested he see if he could find them, I've been able to source some of Whittaker's chocolates in Australia but not these two and they were the ones I was most interested in.

But first, a little history!  Whittaker's Chocolate has been produced since 1896 according to their website.  The original founder, James Henry Whittaker sold handmade chocolate and confections from a horse and cart to the locals in Christchurch, by 1913 a base of operations had been created in Wellington and plans to expand across New Zealand had been formed.

During 1931 Woolworths Australia expanded into New Zealand and were selected to carry some of Whittaker's products, on a side note Woolworths and Big W were the two locations I was able to find some in Australia, a very limited range based on what I can see on their website.

Today Whittaker's roast their own cocoa beans for their chocolate and produce chocolate, toffee chews and fruit bars in their range.  The website lists the Peanut Slab as the most popular product, I haven't tried it though my friend Annie had a spasm last time we were in a chocolate store and she saw them.  I'm guessing she likes them.

Gooey caramel filling

However back to the chocolate at hand, I'm a softie for a good bit of dark chocolate.  I'll often pick it over milk, especially when I want a good hit of chocolatey endorphines.  Whittaker's Dark Caramel really delivers on the dark chocolate flavour, it's a sweet smelling bar that actually smells sweeter than it tastes.  Rich cocoa notes and a fruity note come through if you allow it to melt on the tongue.

The caramel filling was intriguing, it's not like any caramel I've tried before.  Light, and syrupy it was a really pleasanty contrast the the strong chocolate flavours, it toned down the coffee notes in the chocolate and was a really nice balance.  Think a strong cheese and and sweet fruit, the create harmony on the palate.  This bar was largely the favourite in my family, only ER wouldn't try them, she doesn't eat dark chocolate.

The Dark Ghana Peppermint was a real treat and the one I was most looking forward to.  It's a single origin chocolate, meaning all the beans are sourced from Ghana, like coffee this creates a particular flavour that is specific to the region due to different growing conditions, plants, soil quality and so on.

I've tasted single origin before and I really can assure you there is a difference. I've heard of single plantation chocolate which I'm dying to try, particularly as cacao plants are notoriously temperamental so making a chocolate bar from a single plantation shows commitment.

Single origin chocolate is not something that I would recommend as everyday eating, it has greater complexities than a regular bar of chocolate and really if you're going single origin the point is to taste the region within the chocolate.  In this case I'd say Ghana tastes smoky with a sharp and surprising berry quality.  Based on the Dark caramel I wasn't expecting anything quite so zinging, it was nice and the peppermint fondat that was smoothly flowing and delicately flavoured cut the fruity notes in the chocolate extremely well.

Flowing pepperminty filling.

Both bars came to me in excellent condition, bear in mind they were purchased in New Zealand, then endured however long in my brother's luggage, a plane trip back to Australia and a trip through customs before arriving in my hands.  Both were shiny and had zero damage, both had a nice snap and good bite to them, which are all things I want in a bar of chocolate.

The Final Verdict: 4 - Whittaker's makes some delicious products, both of these were worth the effort and time.  The Dark Caramel probably won out as the favourite, given the unexpectedly good caramel that was hidden inside.  However the Dark Ghana Peppermint definitely had the better tasting chocolate.  If I could get these in Australia both would be purchased again in a heartbeat.

Mentos Rainbow and Cola

Rainbow Mentos

Mentos have been around for a while now, originally developed in the 1950's in the Netherlands they were originally available in only the minty flavour.  They were originally intended as a breath mint but the hard coating and soft chew proved popular so additional flavours have since been added.

Until recently only three were available in Australia, mint, spearmint, and fruit (strawberry, lemon and orange).  This changed rapidly about 12 months ago when limited edition rolls started cropping up and new permanent flavour rolls appeared.

Cola Mentos

Two of the new flavours recently added are Rainbow, available at all Woolworths service stations and starting to show up in other locations such as confectionery stores, and Cola which is available in all major supermarkets and service stations.

I saw the Rainbow roll at a service station as I was leaving and I was in a hurry so I didn't stop to get one.  I then spent the next two weeks searching every supermarket and candy store to try and find them.  I must have seen them early in the roll out phase because I finally caved and went back to the specific service station to get them, but now see the damn things everywhere!

Fruit images on the roll.

I like this roll because it's pretty!  The rainbow print along the packaging has some nice colours and graphics.  It also displays the flavours well, grape, strawberry, orange, watermelon, pineapple, raspberry and apple.  There's two of each in the package, which is a standard Mentos thing, 14 pieces to a roll.

The candies inside are just as pretty, pastel colours in a complete rainbow spectrum.  The flavours are reasonable as well, strawberry was as expected, as was the orange, due to having tasted them in the regular fruit roll.

Pastel candies.

Of the new flavours raspberry and watermelon were my favourites, both fresh realistic flavours.  Pineapple was good too, but acidic and sharp like real pineapple, green apple was a bit sickly but I'm not really a green apple fan.  The grape was puzzling, I expected it to taste like grape bubble gum that fakey sort of flavour (which I enjoy) but it was far more true to the fruit which threw me.

The Final Verdict: 3 - They were enjoyable and fun but there weren't enough really good flavours to grab me and make me want to buy it again.

Pastel brown candies.

The cola ones were interesting, the packet was as attractive but the candies inside were pleasantly pastel brown, sort of a tan colour, which doesn't normally attract me but for some reason I liked the look of these.

The taste was very true to cola, sweet with a slight bite to it.  Unlike the Hi-Chew there was no fizz sensation.  Like the packet of rainbow there were 14 candies in the roll in total.  While the cola roll was not as good looking as the rainbow I'd almost pick it as the favourite because of the consistency that I would eat all the candies in this roll.

The Final Verdict: 3 - These are tasty, I think I like them more than rainbow but probably not enough to choose it as my go to Mentos flavour, I'd still pick mint if I'm wanting Mentos.

Interesting Japanese Candies

Weird Japanese Candy!

Honestly I know nothing about either of these candies, I can tell you that one is hard and the other chewy and they're both fruity but that's about it.

I was given them through Swap-bot and they are mega cute!  Both Hello Kitty branded, which I do love!

Bad sticky candies! Bad!

This one tasted of pineapple a bit, kinda of like tropical juice with extra pineapple in it.  There is a pineapple and I think a banana on the side of the tin, and lots of Japanese writing!  There is also the words 'lips candy' maybe that's the name?  Possibly?  Who knows, they were tasty but very sharp in flavour and they made my mouth hurt after eating a few.

What really bugged me was how a few days after opening we had a lot of rain and the sheer humidity made all the candies stick together in one big clump even though they had been dusted with sugar AND the container was closed.

Awww, Kitty has a friend.

The second one is a little cardboard box, again Hello Kitty themed with silver wrapped chewy candies inside.  There's also a Hello Kitty sticker, I think the idea is you collect the stickers.  Anyway the sweets are a mild yellowy colour and smell sweet.  They also taste fruity but they're much milder, it's not orange, it might be mango but I don't think so.  I think it's probably a fruit mix, it tastes like it has pineapple notes with a bit of lemon and a creamy taste, good though.

The Final Verdict: 2 - The flavours are vague, nothing stands out in a definite way and the tin of hard candies sticking together is a big boo-boo in my books when it comes to candy, it generally means the container doesn't seal correctly or firmly enough.

Hi Chew Purin

Mmmmmm..... Hi-Chewy goodness

More Hi Chew!  So in my previous post I discussed how much I enjoy Hi Chew, the tasty chewiness, the weirdness over whether it's a gum or a candy, it's crazy!

This packet was given to me by a friend, the lucky girl lives near a Japanese supermarket so has more readily accesible Hi Chew than I do.  It comes in a nice package, yellow and brown coloured but completely in Japanese!  I don't speak or read Japanese at all, so I'm guessing the flavour here.  I did find the flavour on the Morinaga website, but as it's embbed flash heavy I was unable to use my translation program to understand the website.  It was pretty though.

So based on some research and looking at the graphics on the packet I'm saying this is purin flavour!  Purin is a Japanese custard caramel dessert I imagine, and by Wikipedia's reports, that it's something like Creme Caramel or Flan.  Therefore before even trying a piece I was expecting a sweet caramelly chew which was fine by me.

Does anybody else gt really happy when they get exactly what they were expecting?  I sure do, which made this Hi Chew really nice.  It was sweet and it was caramelly without being sickly or overpowering.  What was a nice addition is little caramelised pieces of sugar, similar to the Toffee Apple and Cotton Candy I tried.  The flavour all round is very pleasant, it doesn't burst out and shout about itself but it also lacked the subtle tastiness of the Cotton Candy.  I was left perplexed, yet not disappointed.

The Final Verdict: 3 - I think it tasted to me like an element was missing, it was very similar to the Cotton Candy but just didn't hit that same mark and I can't even really say why.  If it had maybe a deeper caramel flavour or some richer buttery notes similar to toffee I think I'd be more satisfied.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pearls

Edible ball bearings!

Dark chocolate is a fickle thing.  Unlike milk chocolate where there are extra things thrown in like vanilla and milk (duh) to lighten the taste, dark chocolate's flavour is largely carried by the type of cacao bean with different growning regions resulting in different tastes and the fillings or items enrobed in the chocolate.

What's great about dark chocolate is that to fulfill that really strong chocolate craving it take far less than with sweeter milk chocolate.  I love a piece of really good dark chocolate over a whole block of sugary inspid milk any day.  Lindt Excellence Orange Intense is a particular favourite.

These little gems were a welcome surprise,  I was given them by my brother W.  He actually raided some of my Haigh's Dark Peppermint Frogs so bought these as a peace offering.  If this is what I'm gonna get everytime he eats some of my chocolate then I beg him to do it everyday.

I was presented with a clear cellophane package with nothing on it other than a label that reads "Bittersweet The Chocolate Boutique" there is no ingredient list or other information, not even a weight or package size.  It doesn't even tell me what it is!  Fortunately brother was able to relay information about what the product was.

Inside there were little balls of dark chocolate, really small like little ball bearings or those irritatingly hard silver balls than people put on cakes.  They're all fairly uniform in size, with a very shiny surface indicative of well tempered chocolate and rarely do you get two stuck together.

Inside the little balls of mystery is a crunchy middle, it tastes and feels like a cereal, maybe puffed rice.  It's hard and the distinctive crunch and relative bland taste of the cereal is delicious against the really dark chocolate.

I snipped the top off the bag I was given and stored them in a screw top jar, they've kep very well for almost three weeks, they still taste and look exceedingly fresh.  In fact a small thing that pleases me infinitely about the Chocolate Pearls is that unlike other chocolate balls these do not rub against each other in a way that damages the surface, they all remain shiny and perfect.  Nothing ruins a good bag of chocolates like dull surfaces from being bashed together.

Bad new is these little delights are only available from one place, Bittersweet at the Barracks in Brisbane, so if you live in Brisbane then lucky you!  If you don't then check out their website as they will deliver. 

The Final Verdict: 4 - These were gorgeous, tasty and satisfying without needing to eat a whole pile.  The downside was the lack of information on the packet, not even ingredients, nor could I get any info about this product from the website.  I would buy them again, and better packaging would life my rating.

Valomilk

As many know I will try anything once.  Candy related that is.  I'll also often go on a bit of a hunt, an epic journey if you will.  Almost Lord of the Rings style, to find a certain candy I may have heard about.  One such candy is VALOMILK (which is how the company writes it), I stumbled upon these a few years ago after watching an episode of Martha Stewart where they were discussing retro and nostalgic candy.

According to the company website for Sifers, the makers of Valomilk, the candy was invented by accident around 1931 by essentially a drunk employee.  The employee in question was making marshmallow but as he drank the vanilla essence in the process (which has an extremely high alcohol content) he stuffed something up and the marshmallow didn't firm up.  So instead of firing the alcoholic worker they decided to make a profit instead and scooped the runny marshamllow into chocolate cups.  The candy has been made ever since by the same family and now remains as the only product they make.

Valomilk as a chocolate has a bit of a cult status, produced in the United States in the state of Kansas, it is not available nationwide.  Every batch is still made by hand and the company website actually features a section that links fans to location where the product can be purchased.

So, you can imagine that with such an elusive nature surrounding it, Valomilk was definitely a candy I wanted to get my hands on!  And thankfully I did.  They were shipped to me in a parcel from the U.S.  And survived surprisingly well.

One of the key features of a Valomilk chocolate cup is the runny and often leaky middle.  The packet I received had two cups in it, given I was expecting a sticky leaky chocolate treat I wasn't disappointed.  One cup had haemorrhaged it's filling everywhere, but the cardboard tray the pair sat on held the marshmallow in a sort of resevoir that was easily eaten with a spoon.

The second cup was intact, a little dry in the middle which I suspect was due to heat and time spent in mailing transit.  It was delicious though, cocoay chocolate and the sticky vanilla middle is satisfying.  I have seen recently a competitor called "Mallow Cups" but I don't really know all that much about them so couldn't really say whether they are a superior product or not.

I'd really like to try these when they haven't travelled through the U.S. Postal service and then through Australia Post to reach me, however realistically I think I'll have to travel to the Valomilk next rather than the other way around.

The Final Verdict: 3 - I was really excited to receive these and sample them, what let them down was the condition they were in and how messy they were to eat.  They tasted great!  And I think that if I got the chance to sample them fresher and in better condition then I'd probably rate higher.

Pretzel M & M's

I always like products that faced with their success decide to become mad with power and start pumping out different variations in order to maximise both their dominance and their profit.  Most of the time it doesn't work, I direct the jury to view exhibit A 'New Coke' of the 1980's.  It's nice to see when a company brings out new flavours and variations I'm interested to try.

M & M's are produced by Mars, you know the people with the planet named after their bar?  Anyway back in the 1940's Forrest Mars Sr was trying to figure out how to stop soldier's chocolate from melting, seemed that a colourful and tasty candy shell was the order of the day, so he teamed up with fellow chocolate entrepreneur William F. R. Murrie, President at the time of Hershey's Chocolates.  Figured out why they're called M & M's yet?

Anyway, fast forward 60 odd years and the original candy is still a hit.  But now with fun new flavours!  Regionally speaking there are over a dozen flavours available dependent on where you live.  Australia has things like mint, orange and crispy.  America has options like wild cherry, coconut and the topic of today's post, pretzel.

I got these in another swap, a private swap this time so the person knew to specifically get me things.  I got a very big bag (even though the bag says 'medium') of pretzel M & M's and even after travelling for two weeks in the post they were in perfect condition (Forrest can rest assured his plan worked).

Upon opening the bag they have a very distinct scent, different to the Aussie M & M's, much more cocoa sort of smell.  Pleasant though.  Pretzel M & M's are also HUGE.  About the size of a malteaser, but heavier.  They're incredibly easy to eat, the shell is slightly thicker than I'm used to but whether that's an American thing or specific to the pretzel variety I don't know.  There's a good layer of chocolate underneath, could be thicker but I'm not complaining.  Then comes the best bit, a solid ball of very crisp salty pretzel.

Now in my experience either you love salty/sweet candy or you don't.  I was introduced to the concept late in life, but it turns out I LOVE IT.  These pretzels are so morish, I had to put the packet away!  They also got the thumbs up from family members, M, E and B, which is encouraging as none of them have nearly the adventurous candy palate that I possess.

The Final Verdict: 4 - Tasty!  Mr Mars should be pleased with his legacy, I would love to receive these again.  Sadly I doubt they'll become available in Australia as the sweet/salty thing never really took off here.  Hence why I have to put my own chocolate into my popcorn at the movies.

Werther's Chocolate Eclair

Mmmmm, who likes caramel?  Who likes chocolate?  Together?  Yes, tasty!  These were all the thoughts running through my brain as I picked out the Werther's Chocolate Eclairs off the shelf at the supermarket.  Honestly I picked them up for a few reasons, the delicious chocolately caramelly experience I was being promised, the fact that it was a new product and it was on sale.  Yes that's right, my candy consumption is often dictated by what's on sale.  These only cost me $1.99 which I consider quite good given the price of chocolate and candy over here.

The packet was a good size for the price and felt reasonably full which was nice, the packet was annoyingly difficult to get into without my trusty kitchen scissors but maybe that's a positive as it stops certain family members getting into my candy.  Maybe.

Inside the toffees were invidiually wrapped, a big plus in my books.  Nothing like getting a hard or semi hard candy only to find that a teensy bit of moisture has gotten in and stuck the whole bunch together because they aren't wrapped individually.

Each little candy is about the size of a large pellet and the same sort of shape.  The wrapper was easy to remove, a little twist off style.  And then the deliciousness began, smooth soft yet chewy caramel with a chocolatey centre.  It's easy to eat these candies several ways, either sucking until part gave way to access the chocolate or biting straight through were my two favourites.

This type of candy will travel well and store well which is plus and each one is as uniformly the same as the others.

The Final Verdict: 4 -  I really like these, in fact I was in the same store a few days after first buying them and almost picked up another packet even though they weren't on sale.  Only thing that stopped me was Cadbury had new products out.  I know I will buy these again, and porbably soon.                       

Sweetcorn KitKat

I love KitKats! In Australia we have the regular four fingered ones and the KitKat chunky, the latter comes in a few different flavours like caramel, cookies and cream, and cookie dough. Nestle who produce the local KitKats often bring out limited edition flavours there used to be a dark chocolate mint flavour which was awesome!

As many candy lovers know the Japanese have some fabulous candy options, and their KitKats are no exception featuring rotational flavours they come as delicious as Blueberry Cheesecake to as weird as Wasabi or Soy Sauce.

My first introduction the the funky world of Japanese KitKats was a four fingered variety brought back for me on a whim by a friend. I had asked for Lindt 99% Cocoa which I had heard about for someone else. Not only did I get two blocks of the Lindt (which by the way is not for the faint hearted!) but I was also given a carrot and apple juice KitKat. It was odd. But spurred me on to try more!

Fastforward another 12 months and another friend was travelling to Japan, I mentioned the KitKats as more of a recommendation that he should try some over there but to my delight he also brought back a packet for me!

This packet is the style often sold to students to give to one another to wish good luck on exams, it's something to do with what KitKat translates to in Japanese, something like 'surely you will win' maybe someone who knows more Japanese than me could help?

Anyway I'm burbling again. The KitKat! It was Sweetcorn flavour, and like the one I had previously it's totally.... odd. It's a white chocolate KitKat with vanilla wafers and a sweetcorn creme sandwiched between. It tastes very distinctly of sweetcorn with a strong buttery aftertaste of the white chocolate.

It was very fresh and this was even after travelling from Japan to Australia and then hanging out in my brother's apartment for a few weeks as the friend passed it to him to pass to me.

The Final Verdict: 3 - It was actually tasty, but just weird. Tastes just like sweetcorn but the texture was wrong. Having said that I'm not sorry I tried it and it seriously encourages me to try others.

Garoto Chocolate

I got a parcel today, well two actually. Through the Swap-Bot website, which I totes recommend if you're into receiving parcels in the mail and are willing to put in a bit of effort to send some yourself.

This was a international baking swap, send something local like a packet mix or spice mix to someone else in the world. Now the thing is my profile lists my candy obsession quite blatantly and I think the lovely young lady who sent me this parcel picked up on that (she'd have to be blind not to). So included in my parcel along with the Pao de Quejio mix and sprinkles she sent me were a variety of local Brazilian candies. The packet that most interested me? The chocolate!

I recieved five mini 'fun size' blocks, with different flavours. Now my Brazilian is a little shaky, or non-existant whichever, so I had to sort of guess the flavours based on the photos. I believe I received, a fruit and nut, a milk chocolate almond, a milk chocolate hazelnut, a white chocolate cashew and a dark chocolate cashew and honey.

Now, I am a bit of a chocolate snob, I feel with the effort that goes into making it you shouldn't settle for crap. In Australia we have the usual eating chocolate which does usually have some additives aside from the normal chocolate ingredients. Having said that I really like Australian chocolate, we also have upmarket brands that I am particularly fond of. I also like candies like Hershey and consider it chocolate.

These unfortunately were more like compound chocolate, you know the type, mainly used in baking unlikely to contain any real chocolate and heavily laden with vegetable fat. Most of the flavours lacked any real cocoa flavour and sort to stuck with the vaguely sweet feel. I also disliked that the nuts had all been diced very small, I prefer nuts in chocolate and candy to retain it's shape and be distinctively different to the chocolate as a whole.

The Final Verdict: 2 - Fun to try but I wouldn't buy it.

Razzles

Sometimes you come across something that must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Inevitably there are people who continue to think it's a good idea, however I simply think they must be delusional.

This thought process applies to Razzles. Now admittedly a candy that's been around since 1966 probably has a fair number of fans floating about who will denounce my position as gumist or something.....

Anyway, why did I think this candy was a bad idea? I think the original jingle answers that question:

"First it's a candy, then it's a gum. Little round Razzles are so much fun."*

That's right, it's the whole 'I can be two things!' that's bugging me. Usually when something tries to be two things at once it does neither well. Razzles for example is a nasty chalky pressed candy to start with, then a horrible rigid gum that has no flavour.

Short recap, I don't like Razzles, they can stay away from my mouth thank you very much. They had weird flavours as well, nothing was really distinguishable between the colours and I really only ate about three.

The Final Verdict: 1 - I've seen them in enough films and such to want to try them and I'm really sorry I did, somehow I feel the mystery has been lost.

Hi-Chew 6 Flavours

I am a recent Hi-Chew convert. Until about a month ago I did not even understand the joy that is Hi-Chew, since this moment of enlightenment I have discovered something essential to the eating of Hi-Chew. Either you like Hi-Chew or you don't. Upon giving a piece to a male friend I was rewarded with a screwed up face and spitting motion as he tried to get it out of his mouth.

Admittedly for the uninitiated Hi-Chew can be odd, it has the texture and consistency of a gum crossed with a chew. Sometimes it can be difficult to know whether to swallow the damn thing or not.

So desperate was I to try the Cotton Candy Hi-Chew variety that I ordered a packet from Japan through eBay, I have since oh joy of joys, found a small stash available at the Lucky 7 store at South Bank and am waiting to see if the one at Lutwyche has them too. I know that Go Go Mart on the Gold Coast has a huge range but being an hour from my house makes shopping there somewhat prohibitive.

Anyway I burble, the flavours I got were Cotton Candy, Lemon Soda, White Soda, Juicy Pineapple, Sweet Peach, and Candy Apple. As there's a bunch I've written a little blurb about each one.

Cotton Candy: This was the whole reason I got into Hi-Chew, I read an amazing review about it at CandyBlog.net and I was determined as a Cotton Candy (or Fairy Floss for Aussies)fan to get my hands on it. And oh boy, I was not disappointed!

It's creamy and sugary at the same time with gorgeous burnt sugar flavour, and the little sugar crystals add interest and texture. I really like the bounce the chew has and the simple flavour behind it, not at all flashy like say Starburst fruit chews.

The Final Verdict: 5 - Completely amazing, I've gone through two more packets since and plan to buy up next time I'm down the coast.

Lemon Soda: Interesting to say the least, it's quite a sunny yellow colour with the same bouncy feel and nice chew. No extra texture in this one and it has a very lemon flavour, but the thing that ruins this one is the strange bitter aftertaste. It almost tastes like carbonation, like the effervesence you get in a fizzy drink but at the same time it isn't fizzy.... perplexing.

The Final Verdict: 3 - These were borderline on the ratings, almost a 2 but I did enjoy trying them, just probably won't buy them again.

White Soda: I assume this to be Lemonade, kinda like Sprite I guess just not as sweet. It has a very true lemonade flavour but the same bittery aftertase as the lemon soda and that's about all I could really say, this one was kinda non.

The Final Verdict: 2 - more because it was just boring, I mean a Lemon Soda AND a Lemonade? The Lemon Soda tasted better.

Juicy Pineapple: This is one of the Hi-Chew Jr range, supposedly geared towards children's tastes. I don't really know what this means, because isn't ALL candy aimed at children? Anyway, I liked this one quite a bit, it had a pretty colour and lovely flavour pineappley but not sharp or acidic very much tasted like pineapple juice, for some reason Golden Circle brand....

The Final Verdict: 4 - very enjoyable and I'm sure I will buy it again.

Sweet Peach: I'm not a person who is into peach flavoured things, I dislike peaches so why would I like something flavoured like a thing I hate? Well I was surprised, I really liked this one, it was floral and fruity and nicely sweet. It is again from the Jr range so perhaps that's why I liked it so much, it's flavour overall was softer than most peach flavoured things.

The Final Verdict: 4 - again this was really nice, I'll buy it again if I can find it.

Candy Apple: I was intrigued to see this one as it's a partner flavour for the Cotton Candy, both festival themed. When I was little we used to get these lollipops called Rosy Apples and they were red and green and supposedly toffee apple flavoured. My senses always thought they were tasty. My senses were wrong. This candy gives a whole new meaning to 'toffee apple flavour' it's mild on the apple but definitive, has tasty little sugar morsels throughout and a subtle burnt sugar flavour, heaven!

The Final Verdict: 5 - or maybe 4.5, almost as good as Cotton Candy but not quite, definitely up there.

Rating System

So below you'll find my scientifically devised rating system. Which may change, when I get picky or bored. Just to keep things interesting.

1 - WTF did I just put in my mouth!? Get it out! Bad bad bad!

2 - Well, that was a fun and interesting candy experience. Not one I'll repeat but fun nonetheless.

3 - Tasty candy, tasty enough that I'll probably buy it again and eat it.

4 - Scrummy good candy! Will definitely find and purchase again!

5 - Candy Heaven! So good I must stockpile immediately!

? - Weird candy, so weird in fact I have no idea how to rate this and suspect the candy industry is making fun of me.