CandyFavorites

The Cool Kidz tackle Dubble Bubble Gum. Painterz and other funky chewable creations from Concord Confections

 Today we tried Dubble Bubble Gum, Crybaby, and Painterz.

Dubble Bubble Cry Babies come in a package of 5 pieces of gum, and they are sour at first, but you then get used to the flavor. However, once you think the sour flavor is about to go away it comes back. All the flavors consisted in the package are delicious, but they do in fact loose their flavor quickly, so make sure you have another to put in your mouth.

Dubble Bubble Painterz on the other hand, are also 5 different flavors of gum, however they are not sour. If you do not love sour candy, definitely give these a try, because they are classic gum and the flavors are not overwhelming. Just like the Cry Baby gum, they lost their flavor relatively quickly.

Overall, these 2 different types of gum, were decent, partly because they lost their flavor quickly, however we would love to hear your opinion.

 “I wont hesitate no more, no more, this is our fate, I’m sure” – Jason Mraz;

Peace & Love,
The Cool Kidz.

If you are looking for a candy mix, perfect for pocket or purse, we hope this guide will shed light on our many offerings

Sharability: 10

Denture Danger: 1-10

Convenience: 10

Novelty: 7-9

Overall: 10 (everyone can find something they like)

Candy mixes are great because you can try new candies and eat familiar ones and not get sick of the same repetitive taste. Here are a few mixes for you to choose from.

The All American Fun Size Mix

This mix has most of the brand names and candies that you’ve surely eaten before and probably includes one or two candies that you have called your favorite candy at some point. This mix is filled with fun size pieces of Jolly Ranchers, Starburst, Sweetarts, Skittles, Twizzlers, Tootsie Pops, Laffy Taffy, and Nerds. The All American Fun Size Mix will make the kids happy because we know how reluctant kids can be to try candies they haven’t eaten before, let alone never heard of.

Penny Candy Americana Mix

This candy mix includes a more eclectic selection of candies. The candies in this mix might not have the popularity level of the candies in the All American Fun Mix, but the mix does include a greater variety of candies that have a higher ranking in the novelty factor. This crazy classic mix can include Bazooka Bubble Gum, Chick O Sticks, Goetze’s Caramel Creams, Lemon Heads, Necco Wafers, Root Beer Barrels, Black Taffy, Sixlets, Tootsie Rolls, Bit-O-Honey, Jaw Busters, Laffy Taffy, Atomic Fireballs, Flavored Tootsie Rolls, Smarties and more.

The candies in this mix vary based on product availability, which creates for a surprise, and we all love surprises! With approximately 35-40 pieces per pound this retro mix is perfect to fill the candy bowl on the table.

You can also get a one-pound Candy Americana Mix Bonus Bag and you can even have a personalized message printed on a sticker on the front of the bag.

The NEW and IMPROVED Brach’s Party Mix
 
This party mix is back by popular demand after being discontinued in late 2008.

This classis mix has a more generic selection of candies all with the same shape yet all holding a different world of flavor. The Brach’s candy mix includes Butterscotch Discs, Cinnamon Discs, Starbrite Peppermints, Starbrite Spearmints, Sour Fruit Buttons, and Chocolate Starbrite Mints (which can be found exclusively in this mix).

Whether you want to make the kids happy or the grandparents happy, I’m sure you can find a mix that will tingle taste buds of every age.

Brach's Neopolitan Sundaes are a hard to find candy that are one of the original Brach's candies...

Sharability: 8

Denture Danger: 7

Convenience: 9

Novelty: 5

Overall: 7

 This one is for those who are coco for coconut. This sticky brick of candy incorporates the three colors and an attempt at the three classic sundae flavors, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Striped brown, white, and pink this Sundae, though clever with the name, is not more than a colorful coconut block.

I’m not complaining about it by any means, but I don’t want you to be misled into thinking that this was some sort of triflavored candy when really it is quite monoflavored.

 This is a conveniently individually wrapped candy that can be unwrapped and eaten during movies or business meetings, during classes or lying on the beach next to palm trees. Feel the tropical groove with the coconut move.

Neapolitan ice cream is the three flavors (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) all lined up, aesthetically similar to this Brach’s candy. Neapolitans originated in Italy, which is why it puzzles me how this originally Italian idea seems so tropical with this coconut twist. Either way, it’s a prize possession for the coconut fanatics.

 (My favorite Neapolitan type dessert is the freeze dried Neapolitan ice cream)

 Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_ice_cream

The Cool Kids turn up the heat with Hot Tamales

Today we reviewed Hot Tamales.  These are definitely a favorite of Brookes, as they are red-hot firing, chewy cinnamon-flavored candies. These are definitely a wake up call when you first put them in your mouth, but as you get used to the flavor, they settle down and become even more delicious.

 They are easy to eat, as you can get them in big boxes to share with your friends and family, or individual boxes for yourself. 

What do you think? Can you handle the heat?

 “Hot stuff, hot stuff” – Hot stuff; Rolling Stones

Peace & Love,

 The Cool Kids

Although we tend to favor retro candy advertisements or wrappers, we couldn't resist this cute Sixlets candy logo from Sweetworks

Sharability: 5

Denture Danger: 3

Convenience: 8

Novelty: 6

Overall: 8

 Sixlets are, without a doubt, one of those childhood favorites. I used to love getting a tube and eating the little balls by putting the wrapper in my mouth and sliding the ball out with my teeth.

These crunchy, colorful, candy coated, milk chocolate pieces are not only fun to eat but they offer something different than similar candies such as M&Ms. The different colored candy shells actually have slightly different flavors making these even more irresistible. Also, the chocolate is made of a carob and cocoa mixture, which adds for a touch more diversity. Nine little balls come in a traditional cellophane package of Sixlet candy, but if you’re feeling wild you can get the twelve-ball tube or even the twenty-ball tube.

 Leaf Confections, which is a SweetWorks Company, is the one responsible for the manufacturing of this wonderful candy. From the SweetWorks website, “The goal of SweetWorks is to give customers rich quality products and great customer service, while striving to make the best even better. SweetWorks takes great pride in celebrating over a half-century of providing pleasure, quality and unique products for our consumers worldwide.”

 They are working with some pretty bold statements here, but I’ve got to say, Sixlets are pretty good and they do provide pleasure, quality, and uniqueness.

 Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixlets

http://www.sweetworks.net/Sixlet.html

It would be hard to imagine Easter or an Easter Basket without Brach's Fiesta Malt Eggs

Sharability: 8

Denture Danger:  5

Convenience: 7

Novelty: 8

Overall: 8

Sweet, almost too sweet, cruncharific, colorful, malty, chocolatey, candy covered, (but mostly malty); these Brach’s Pastel Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs are perfect for the Easter Fiesta.

These eggs are a malted mouthful and they are made with “Real Milk Chocolate.” (I sure hope it’s real! I didn’t realize candy companies had to inform the consumer that we were purchasing real chocolate; I would only assume that a chocolate candy being made from real chocolate be an implicit rule).

 Though a few at a time make this candy seem utterly delectable, after you pass the threshold of the Pastel Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs it’s time to pass the bag on and come back later. Make sure to mix these pastel speckled eggs into the Easter basket this March to spice up the holiday with a little variety and lot of color.

Becca Droz shares with us the logic nd the ratings system on our Candy Blog

So I have been using this self-created rating system for every candy I have blogged about and I realized I never really explained what each category really means. I apologize. Please, let me clear things up for you.

 Sharability refers to how easy the candy is to share. A low sharability is earned either by an extremely tasty candy that you wouldn’t want to share or a candy that is just difficult to share such as a lollypop.

 Denture Danger rates a candy on how much the candy gets stuck in your teeth or by how hard the candy is to bite into (hence gum and jawbreakers have high denture danger ratings).

 Convenience suggests how convenient a candy is to carry around in order to eat. Individually wrapped candies and candies that don’t get stale are much more convenient than candies that can be melty, bulky, or stale. (I tend to rate all full size candy bars as a 5, average convenience)

 Novelty ratings refer to either how early in history a candy was first created or to the marketing popularity of a certain candy. For example: gummy army men are a recent creation, but they received a high novelty rating because they are a candy created more for the aesthetic aspect than for the taste aspect—which is what most would expect the main aim of a candy to be—(not to say I don’t know people who founds the gummy army men as a taste treat).

Overall is of course just the overall rating, no average necessary, just my personal rating of the overall candy. Gross candies with high novelty ratings will have a high overall rating as well as delicious candies that have low novelty ratings (but taste has a greater influence than novelty).

 Well, I hope this helps to clear up the blogs and maybe even assist you in deciding what candy you are going to try next.

Sincerely,

Becca Droz

The Cool Kidz try Peach Rings and Sour Brite Crawlers

This week we tried peach rings and sour-bright crawlers. The peach rings had a peachy vibe, as they were artificially flavored, and the sour-bright crawlers consisted of a mixture of different colors and flavors. As they appeared to be chewy candies, which they were, they also appeared to be some-what sweet and a little sour, as they were covered in sugar.

The peach rings our definitely one of our all time favorite candies when we were younger, however we have not had them for a long time, and our taste buds seem to have changed. Our opinion was that these were a little too chewy, and they definitely could have had more of a sour appeal. The after taste was not all that delicious, however they become addictive, as you keep going back for more. We completely recommend trying them and if you do, we would love to hear your opinions!

Next, we tried the sour-bright crawlers. These had a flavor that we were not expecting, and as well as the peach rings, the texture was too chewy for our taste. Our opinion was that we would not necessarily go out to buy these, and the proportion of the bright crawlers was too large to fit in your mouth. Something that we noticed was that the packaging persuades you that these candies are sour, yet after eating them, we were not left with that opinion.

Like we said for the peach rings, definitely give them a try because this is just our opinion, and we would love to hear yours!

Overall, these candies our definitely bright and intriguing, however not very sour; they are more on the sweet side. This occurred to be a factor in our opinion, but it shouldn’t stop you from trying the candies.

“You say yes, I say no, you say stop and I say go” – Hello, Goodbye; The Beatles

Peace & Love,

The Cool Kids

Chocolate Covered Peeps are available in Dark or Milk Chocolate and add a new twist to an old classic...

Sharability: 1

Denture Danger: 5

Convenience: 8

Novelty: 8

Overall: 9

 This is quite an interesting new twist on the classic Easter candy, Peeps. This individually wrapped peep is crunchy, this peep is gooey, this peep is a taste treat. Maybe it is just because of the contrasting crunchy chocolate, but the marshmallow inside the milk chocolate casing seems gooyer than that of a normal peep making it taste like a coconutless mallowcup.

Ehem, allow me clarify, this is not a chocolate covered Peep. This is a chocolate covered Peep shaped marshmallow, at least it attempts to be Peep shaped. Peeps are most known for the delicious and colorful sugar that surrounds them, unfortunately this chocolate covered yellow marshmallow lacks that sweet, crunchy sugar.

This difference also explains the different consistency of the marshmallow itself. Chocolate covered peeps are something you can find recipes for through the internet, Peeps’ Milk Chocolate Covered Marshmallows can be found on candyfavorites.com. Despite the fact that this really isn’t a traditional peep, this is a delicious candy… and I bet it would be even better melted between two halves of a graham cracker.

Brach's Jelly Nougats are an all time classic from one of America's most beloved candy companies...

Sharability: 6

Denture Danger: 8

Convenience: 8

Novelty: 4

Overall: 7

Jelly Nougats.  They don’t have the most appealing name, but this white nougat with multicolored jelly pieces within it might surprise you in what’s most important, it’s taste. Each color of jelly candy adds a unique flavor and texture to the sweet base nougat flavor.

I don’t understand how this chewy gummy candy can be called the same thing as the fluffy chocolate inside of a Milky Way, but I guess a nougat can be made more than one way. And indeed it can. Nougat is a French treat and there are two kinds. White nougat is made with whipped egg whites and sugar or honey.

Often nuts such as almonds, pistachios, or walnuts are added. Brown nougat is usually crunchier than white and is made with caramelized sugar. My guess is that both the chocolate nougat in the Milky Way and this chewy nougat are white nougat, but are made with different ingredients to establish different textures and tastes.

These candies remind me of playing dreidel on Hannukah. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to play this awesome game, it is basically a game where you spin a top and depending on what letter it lands on you either have to put candy into the pile or take candy out.

You don’t have to play with candy, but the candy is what really creates the motivation to play. I don’t know why these jelly nougats were in the mixture of candies we played with, they definitely aren’t the most popular candy, but they did help to create a memory. When we would have to put one of our candies into the pile it would usually be one of the jelly nougats. I think we were a little intimidated by the strange colors mixed into this candy that we had never seen or eaten before.

All it took was one brave soul to take the first bite of this unfamiliar candy to reassure us that it wasn’t poison and that, in fact, it was pretty good. So, if you are going to play dreidel or just want to try out a new candy, give these jelly nougats a try. Their sweet, soft, chewiness won’t disappoint an open mind.

EDITORS NOTE: So popular are these candies that Brach’s introduced an Easter classic called Brach’s Jelly Bean Nougats. An interesting candy and definately worth trying