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. 

 

 

It takes a certain kind of daring to even pick up a bag of candy that sports a blatant error in the very name-- if they can’t even spell check the name of their product, how much care did they put into the product itself?
But that’s just the certain kind of daring person that I am—nothing shall ever come between me and my candies. Maybe I was also swayed by the assurance that these are in fact the world’s best “12 flavor gummi’s”.

Despite the lack of command of the English language, these gummies are actually made in the US. The are made by the Albanese Confectionary Group in Indiana, to be more precise.

Eat my gummies. Or else!

The packaging is ok, but somewhat uninspired. The golden color is an obvious rip off of Haribo Gold-Bears. The ring of bears pictured at the top looks dull and waxy, and the purple one in the middle look like he might be possessed by something evil. The bottom half of the bag is transparent, which we always like as it lets us see the bears inside. It is interesting to note that nowhere on the bag does it say that these are actually gummy bears we are dealing with here. I suppose that’s just understood.

The aroma that hits you as the bag is opened is rather chemical, but not too unpleasant. Kind of what you would expect from any bag of gummy candy. These bears are made with “NATURAL and artificial FLAVORS”

These bears’ biggest claim to fame is that there are, in fact, 12 flavors. Never before has so many flavors of gummies been stuffed in one bag. And these are not just any old flavors—that just won’t do. That will not make you the “World’s Best”. Here we have tempting creations such as Bodacious Banana, Rockin’ Raspberry and Groovy Grapefruit.

The bears themselves are slightly larger than your average gummy bear. They are unusually detailed with easily distinguishable eyes, mouth, paws and claws. They also sport a large A on their chest. There are some odd coloring, with a pale teal bear that looks unusually unappetizing, but I imagine it is not so easy to produce 12 different colors of gummies. The bag boasts “Softer, bursting with flavor!” and these bears do feel softer than many other gummy bears. They are much softer than your Haribo and Black Forest bears, for sure.

Ok, time for the tasting. I pop a random sample of a few bears in my mouth not expecting too much, only to be pleasantly surprised. These are actually quite tasty! They have the right softness to give you some chewing resistance, but yet yield when you bite down a bit harder. They are in fact ‘bursting with flavors!’ just like the bag promised.

With so many different flavors, there are bound to be some that you have probably never encountered in a gummy candy before. Or at least I never had much grapefruit, banana or pineapple gummies. Let’s go through the flavors:

 

Ornery Orange Ornery? I understand that they wanted an alliterative word, but ornery? Why not just call it Obstinate Orange or Offensive Orange while you’re at it? Name aside, the orange bears is a definite hit. It has plenty of flavors and the bright orange color is inviting. 5/5
Poppin’ Pineapple These do tastes like pineapple, and like real pineapple it has a bit of a sour and tart element to it. I think I would tire of these if I ate several in a row, but mixed in with the other flavors, they are good. 4/5
Granny Smith Apple Lots of flavor in these, and an inviting green color as well. I can see why the manufacturer is selling these separately 5/5
RRRipe Watermelon These poor bears are stuck with a very unappetizing color. The pale teal color makes them look like something that is (shudder) good for you masquerading as a candy. Of course that’s not the case, as these are just as bad for you as all the others. But not only are they an assault on your physique, but also your taste buds. In all fairness, I have never been a big fan of watermelons or watermelon candies, but these are bad even as far as watermelon flavors go. 2/5
Lickin’ Lemon Surprisingly, the lemon bears are not all that flavorful. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as lemon candies can often be a bit overpowering. The bright yellow color is appetizing as well. 4/5
Wild Cherry Very good. Cherry candies can sometime have a bit of bitterness to them. These are just tasty and sweet, and the bright red color is inviting too. 4/5
Bodacious Banana Bodacious? Ok, if you say so. I had my doubts about this one, I must admit, and rightly so. They are rather harmless, I suppose, and the taste is mostly sweet with just a hint of banana flavor. 3/5
Luscious Lime Just as the lemon, these are not all that flavorful. Nothing bad, but nothing that makes them stand out either. The light green color is unusual for gummies, but pretty inviting. 3/5
Freshhh Strawberry I usually like strawberry flavors, and these are no exception. But they did not quite meet my high expectations. 4/5
Rockin’ Raspberry Raspberry is another of those flavors that can have a tendency to be overpowering. But these are pretty good. The bright blue color makes them look a bit poisonous, but that seems to be par for the course for most blue raspberry candy. 3/5
Groovy Grapefruit Grapefruit? In a gummy? Actually, they are not bad. It’s a generic citrusy flavor that I would not have been able to identify as grapefruit if it hadn’t been printed on the bag. 3/5
Concord Grape Not a whole lot of flavor in these and what flavor is there taste rather chemical. The purple bears are fun, but I really could have done without these. 2/5

So, the verdict? I give these a solid 4 of 5. Their weakest point is really the 12 flavors—with so many different flavors, there are bound to be some that are not quite up to par. Sure, a banana flavored gummy might sound like fun, but after a few of them you are really ready to go back to your classic strawberry, orange and apple flavors.

I picked up this bag in a local Freds for only one buck! Sure, it’s only a 5 oz bag, but that’s still a great deal in my book.