Entries for 'Michael'

Terry's Chocolate Orange has three main selling points for those seeking novelty:

First, it's spherical.  That is, it's shaped like a ball-- or an orange, if you insist. 

Second, it is (naturally) flavored with orange oil (and unnaturally flavored with vanillin). 

Third, it is the only candy I know of that invites you to give it a good, strong whack before partaking of the chocolatey goodness. 

I'm given to understand that (by the standards of some) this once unique chocolate is now nothing special.  (Now that it's been available outside of the UK for quite some time.)  Personally, I think it's still unusual enough to be a bit of a novelty-- but more importantly, it's tasty.  But now I'm getting ahead of myself. . .

The chocolate orange is packaged in a box with tempting peep-holes on three sides.  Once you've worked your way through that barrier, you find an orange and yellow foil-wrapped ball bearing a blue sticker.  "Whack and unwrap", the sticker instructs you. 

Go ahead.  Do it.  A solid whack against a flat surface ought to do the job.  (Don't you just love it when chocolate gives you a way to work out any feelings of aggression you may be suffering?)

If you've whacked sufficiently, you'll open the foil to discover a neat arrangement of separate chocolate orange slices.  (If you didn't whack firmly enough, you can always break the slices off individually.)

Each slice is stamped quite prettily-- but looks only take you so far. Let's get on to the important things-- aroma, texture, and flavor.

Aroma:   It's very sweet, with a light touch of the citrus.

Texture:  Melt-in-your mouth creaminess.  Very smooth.

Flavor:  Above all, the flavor is sweet and creamy.  It's not a bold chocolate flavor, but this is milk chocolate, so that's not surprising.  The orange flavor has also been added with a light touch-- just a hint of it.  Overall, it's a pleasant, mild, quite sweet flavor. 

This may not sound like a glowing review, but I'm actually very fond of them.  This is the kind of chocolate that can disappear very quickly, if you aren't careful.  Orange-flavored chocolate is addictive!

If you like creamy chocolate and haven't ever tried an orange-flavored chocolate, do give this a try. 

Christmas just isn't complete without these soft, chewy bits of pepperminty heaven!

This is another of those candies I remember fondly from my childhood, though back then I never knew them as "Peppermint Christmas Nougats".  (If I had, I might not have liked them so well.  The word "nougat" isn't quite appealing to most children, and honestly, I'm still not crazy about it, though nougat itself is a delightful thing.)  Instead, they were "chewy peppermints", which is at least as fitting as "Christmas Nougat". 

This candy has an even stronger glow of nostalgia than most candies from my childhood, because they are a seasonal treat.  (Ask any child.  Rabbit-shaped chocolate is more fun than a plain candy bar.)

So, by now you've probably figured out that this will be a glowing review, but we won't let that stop us from going through the entire process. 

The Packaging:

The bag is bright and cheerful in the appropriately seasonal red and green, with nice punches of lime green, purple, and violet.  The candy is advertised as "Quality HANDMADE Nougats", which is surprising (not the "quality" part, but the bit about "handmade", I mean).  A good two-thirds of the bag front is clear, so you can see exactly what you're getting (in case yours was a sad childhood devoid of Christmas nougats, leaving you ignorant of their appearance). 

Because these are fairly sticky, soft candies, they are individually wrapped in cellophane with red and green trim.  Removed from the bright outer bag, they look a little old-fashioned-- or maybe "timeless" is a better word. 

The Nougats:

 Each nougat is roughly a 1" x 1.25" oval. 
(I think they're meant to be circles, but they tend to get a bit squoosed.)  A maroon striped edging and a simple Christmas tree shape in dark green and brown go all the way through the candy, which is otherwise white.  

I don't remember the first time I had Runts.  That's not to say that they are not memorable-- simply that they were a part of my earliest childhood training as a lover of candy. As such, I have a certain attachment to them.

When I munched Runts as a child, they came in five flavors:  orange, strawberry, banana, cherry, and lime.   Over time, the mysterious powers-that-be decided to play around with the flavor line-up.  At some point, watermelon and blue raspberry replaced lime.  Though I generally like watermelon-flavored candy, I personally find blue raspberry to be a disgusting crime against humanity-- so to say that I did not approve of its inclusion would be putting it mildly.  Also, I soon realized that, though never my favorite flavor in the box, the powerfully sour lime was an integral part of the Runts experience. 

Unfortunately, that was only the beginning. . .  The next little game the Man decided to play involved taking away not only the watermelon and blue raspberry, but also the cherry-flavored Runts.  (Cherry had been my favorite, as a child.)  In exchange, we got pineapple and mango.  Pineapple- and mango-flavored candy (particularly these versions) could not hope to compare to cherry-- or even the less-beloved watermelon.  The hurt went deep.  (I'm still grieving, actually.)

That was a dark period in the history of Runt.  Most of us prefer not to talk about it. . .

Perhaps Wonka (or Nestle, the brand's owner) took a hit in the pocketbook (or an earful from angry Runts fans), because they soon changed the flavors yet again.  (Any bets on when they'll decide they need to spice things up a little and give us kiwi or grapefruit?)

In their current incarnation, Runts are available in strawberry, orange, banana, green apple, and grape flavors.  While I still feel the absence of cherry and lime, I must admit that the grape and green apple flavors (particularly the latter) are a vast improvement over pineapple and mango (never may they return). 

The Packaging:

The bright orange box stands out and is easily spotted by those of us scouring the candy aisle for an old favorite. 

Cartoon versions of the fruit flavors seem to lead active, energetic lives.  Banana and Strawberry share a surfboard, and orange does a little in-line skating, while the new fruits on the block, grape and green apple, skateboard and kick around a soccer ball.  (I find myself slightly jealous of them.  I do none of those things.  Instead, I spend my spare time blogging about candy. . . Ah well, such is life!) 

One possible complaint about the packaging is that there's no way to see what the actual candy looks like before purchasing and opening the box.  There's also no description of the candy.  Is it sweet or sour?  Is it soft or hard?  True, there is an invitation on the back of the box to try another product called "Chewy Runts", which might be a clue that original Runts are not chewy.  In any case, this is not likely a big problem for a candy that's so well established. 

On the plus side, these resealable boxes are very handy for keeping the candy where it belongs. 

The Runts Themselves:

Presumably they were named  "Runts" because of their diminutive size.  The banana, at nearly 3 cm long, looks the biggest, while the largest dimensions of the others all measure less than 1.5 cm. 

The candies are attractive, with their shiny, brightly colored coatings.  They are hard enough to last a while in the mouth, if you resist the urge to crunch them-- yet they're not so hard that you can't crunch them, if you wish.  If you do bite into them, you'll find that the texture is powdery, but not unpleasantly so. 

Strawberry, orange, and banana are all sweet, while green apple and grape are slightly sour.  Each flavor is distinct-- meaning that the banana doesn't taste like the strawberry, and the orange doesn't taste like the green apple.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that a first-time taster could identify every flavor with no visual clues, but that's not necessary to make this a very pleasant (some might add "addictive") candy. 

The flavors are more powerful when the candy is crunched than if it's allowed to slowly dissolve.  Even so, this is a fairly mild candy.  Perhaps that helps explain its popularity.  There's very little to offend, here, and quite a lot to please-- especially if you grew up loving these sweet little Runts.

Those who brave the stores the day or two after Christmas are often rewarded with half-price (or-- dare I type it?-- quarter-price)  tree trimmings, wrapping paper, and gift baskets.  Then there's the holiday candy aisle. 

By the time I did my post-Christmas shopping this year, the candy aisle was already picked over.  Either they'd sold a lot of candy or they'd packaged some of it up and sent it elsewhere.   (How dare they, really?  I'd hoped to snag some of my favorite Christmasy candies at 50% off retail, but those goodies were nowhere to be found.  Meanies!)

Putting aside my bitter disappointment (one must find a way to go on, somehow), I did manage to find a promising bag labeled "Hershey's Mininiatures" and "Mint".   

"A little something for everyone," the bag tempted.  Well, I'm certainly "one".  (One of what, I'll leave others to decide, but that's beside the point.)  I consider myself a passable fan of mint chocolate, and I'm not a chocolate snob, either, so the "Hershey's" part didn't scare me off.  I picked up a bag.  Half-priced mint chocolates?  That's worth a try!

These miniatures are the same size as your typical Hershey's mini-- a great size for snacking, and you get a good number in this 10-ounce bag.  The individual bars' wrapping is foiled paper in emerald green (dark chocolate), pale mint green (milk chocolate), and white-and-silver (white crème).  They would make an attractive display in a glass candy dish.  

One thing about the packaging does catch my eye.  There's a phone number on each individual bar.  "Nutritional Information 1-800-XXX-XXXX."  I suppose it's there so you can call and make sure the candy doesn't contain whatever common food ingredient you happen to be highly allergic to (in case you get it as a gift and don't have access to the bag with the ingredients and nutritional facts), but it's just a little too reminiscent of the Poison Control Center phone number you find on household cleaning agents and the like.  "In case of mint overdose, call this number." 

Well, let's get down to the taste-testing!

Hershey's Mint White Crème with Candy Bits:

I began with the white crème because I expected to like it least.  I believe that once upon a time I loved white chocolate, but I must've eaten too much of it, because it's now one of those things I have to talk myself into eating.  The thought of it isn't especially appetizing.  (So in other words, take my review with a grain of salt.)

I wasn't sure what to expect from the "with Candy Bits" portion of the name, but I suppose I must have envisioned tiny, broken bits of peppermint.  In any case, I was surprised when I opened that first wrapper.  There are red and green ball-shaped candy sprinkles suspended in the semi-translucent white crème!  Lots of them! 

The aroma is very minty-sweet, and it has a taste to match-- sweet (a bit too much so), minty, but a little boring.  (Again, I'm admittedly not very fond of "white crème".)  Unless the candy bits are what give the bar its minty flavor (which I seriously doubt), they seem fairly pointless.  All they add is a little color and a crunchiness that I didn't really like (very different from a nutty or crisp rice crunch).  Children may find them fun, though. 

Apart from its appearance, this mini is not very exciting, but it's not exactly bad, either.

2.5/5

Hershey's Mint Milk Chocolate:

There are no surprises when you unwrap this chocoalte.  If not for the ever-present minty aroma, this could be plain Hershey's milk chocolate. 

Yep.  Chocolate and mint flavors-- only the mint rather overpowers whatever chocolate flavor there is. 

There's not much more to say about this candy.  It reminds me a little of Andes mints, but I remember Andes being better than this.  There's a very slightly bitter undertone that I could do without.  I think I prefer regular Hershey's milk chocolate to this, but maybe that's just a sign that I'm not as much of a mint afficionado as I thought.  Still, despite my complaints, it's not bad. 

3/5

Hershey's Special Dark Mint Sweet Chocolate:

Again, the chocolate mini looks like a regular Hershey's Special Dark mini-- a deeper shade of brown than the milk chocolate.  It smells minty, but "darker" (yeah, I know; how imaginative of me!) than the milk chocolate does. 

There is a very slightly... almost burnt taste to this chocolate-- but contrary to how that may sound, it's not necessarily a negative.  It has a more chocolatey flavor than the mint milk chocolate does.  The mint isn't nearly so overpowering in the dark chocolate. 

If you like dark chocolate with a hint of mint, give this one a try.  I think it may be my favorite of the three. 

3.5/5

Overall, I'm a little disappointed.  Maybe I had too high expectations for these chocolates.  While none of them were exactly bad, I am not terribly impressed, either, and I probably wouldn't buy them again.  I'll stick to Andes mints when I get a craving for mint-flavored chocolate and York Peppermint Patties or Junior Mints when I want a more powerful shot of minty sweetness.

They were pretty cheap (especially considering that I got them half-price), but I think I prefer regular Hershey's chocolate (both their milk chocolate and Special Dark) to these holiday novelty candies.