Taste Test: "New" Candy

partysugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:00:08 -0700

Updating an image or spinning off of a product is nothing new, but lately it seems like this concept has taken over the candy industry. I recently received a box full of new products that were featured at the National Candy Expo a month ago in Chicago. The majority of items weren't exactly new, but rather re-creations of old products. I selected four - Pop Rocks Chocolate bars, Nerds Giant Chews, Chocolate Pez, and Baskin Robbins Soft Candy - and decided to perform a taste test. Sadly none of the new variations lived up to their established counterparts. To see what I thought of each product, read more.

Pop Rocks Chocolate bars: This oversized bar is described as "real milk chocolate with a kick." At first the chocolate bar tastes like any normal krispy-style chocolate bar. However, the krispies explode in your mouth like pop rocks. The chocolate is mediocore and the sensation interesting, but I wasn't hungry for more.

Nerds Giant Chews: These giant nerds (they're the size of peanut M&Ms) have a bumpy, crunchy shell and soft chewy center. They taste exactly like the miniature version. Eating one is the equivalent of tossing an entire handful of Nerds into your mouth.

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Chocolate Pez: Why Pez felt they needed to expand into artificial chocolate-flavored candies is beyond me. These are chalky and leave a sour aftertaste in the mouth.

Baskin Robbins Soft Candy: With their sweet-minty scent, I was certain these chewy candies were going to be the best of the bunch. However they were disappointing and tasted fake. The best thing about them was the smell.

So has anyone else tasted any of these new candy formulas? What did you think of them?

Suck It Up! Get Instant Chocolate Milk From a Straw

YumSugar — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:28:50 -0700

A few months ago, I told you guys about straws that help flavor milk. We finally got our hands on some and wanted to let you know what we thought. The straws come in packs of six and are available in three flavors: banana, strawberry and chocolate. However, because today is National Chocolate Milk Day, we're going to focus on the chocolate.

I started off by taking a pint of milk and dividing into three cups. Then I put one straw into each cup. The straws are rather unique, they're a bit larger than normal straws and have three small openings on each end. The openings are big enough to allow milk to pass through, but small enough that the chocolate "beads" don't escape.

To be honest, I was expecting it to taste overly sweet and weird, but it was surprisingly good and rather interesting. There was no clumping powder or syrupy mess, instead all the chocolate remained in the straw. In fact, you might even say it was like a chocolate filter. As the milk passed through, it slowly dissolved the beads and created a flavor infusion. After several minutes of the straw in my glass, my milk had a very light brown hue, and eventually the beads dissolved completely.

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If you've got kids, or are one at heart, this will make a great afternoon surprise. The product, which is produced by Felfodi, was just announced at the Candy Expo and will hit the shelves soon.