Candyrageous - Page 29 of 35 - A Blog about Candy

November 28, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Duncans Original Ginger – An Unforgiving Assault of Ginger

Chocolate

Oh, the humanity.

First off, in the spirit of full disclosure I’m going to come right out and admit that ginger isn’t my favourite thing ever, even in savoury dishes. However, I have had the ginger/chocolate combination before, and I have liked it, so I’m not completely biased against anything with ginger. Ginger and chocolate is certainly a strange combination, however in the right proportions the ginger can give the chocolate an interesting and unique taste. In the wrong proportions… well, you have this bar.

Unwrapping the chocolate, I was hit with a rather overwhelming aroma. I don’t know how to describe the smell other than to say it is like ginger put under a magnifying glass. That seemed like a bad sign to me, but I had hoped that this would be one of those things that smells stronger than it tastes. Nope! If anything the smell was subtle, comparatively speaking.

Eating this is like a ginger assault on your tastebuds. It is like being punched in the face by ginger – not just any ginger; the Evander Holyfield of ginger. You may as well just buy a ginger root and take a bite, though I’m not sure even that would be as overwhelmingly gingery. As for the chocolate, it has an unappealingly grainy consistency, and has to be one of the least creamy chocolates I’ve ever had. It’s sweet, without much of a cocoa taste at all (though that may just be the super-strong ginger obliterating any other flavours in the bar).

I bought this at an import store for two or three bucks, and I’ve gotta say: I want my money back. This is literally the worst chocolate that I’ve ever eaten, and I say that as someone who has eaten a ridiculous amount of chocolate in his lifetime. I don’t think I can possibly overstate how gross this was. It actually nauseated me – I was only able to eat three pieces before my gag reflex started kicking in (actually that’s not true: I was on the verge of gagging right after the first mouthful. It was only after three pieces that I realized that life was too short to eat something so disgusting). It’s that bad.

Blech.

Manufactured by: Duncans of Scotland
Calories (58 g bar): Unknown, not that it matters – this is unfit for human consumption

November 27, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Dark Chocolate Moose Munch Chocolate Bar – So, So Good

Candy Bars

Moose Munch is definitely unique – popcorn isn’t generally an ingredient you’ll find in all that many candy bars (in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a candy bar with popcorn in it). But this bar certainly makes a persuasive argument for the inclusion of popcorn in chocolate.

The Dark Chocolate Moose Munch Chocolate Bar features a creamy, truffle-like centre with chunks of almonds, crunchy toffee and popcorn, all enrobed in dark chocolate. The centre alone – a smooth, richly intense dark chocolate fudge – is enough for me to give this bar a hearty recommendation. It’s really good. The crunchy bits elevate this from “delicious” to “why can’t I buy this in Canada??” (I purchased this bar at a Target in the States, and have lamentably never seen it anywhere in Canada).

The combination of Almonds and dark chocolate is an old standby, and works quite well here. The bits of crunchy toffee have a fairly distinct flavour and definitely add more than just crunchiness to the mix. As for the popcorn, it’s not present in every mouthful, but when it is there it gives this bar a nicely unique flavour. It all adds up to something that is surprisingly awesome. It’s probably a good thing that this isn’t readily available where I live – if it were, I’d be eating it all the time, and would inevitably wind up like the gluttony guy from Seven.

Manufactured by: Harry and David
Calories (56 g bar): 290

November 26, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

5th Avenue – Like a Butterfinger, but Worse

Candy Bars

I still can’t see a 5^th Avenue bar without thinking about that jingle from a few years back (“It will make you go crunch! 5th Avenue!”). The commercial is over a decade old, and yet that crazy song still pops into my head from time to time. So there’s no doubt that their advertising is effective (at least in my case… stupid catchy jingle), but is the bar any good?

5^th Avenue is fairly similar to a Butterfinger; it contains crispy, crunchy peanut butter, coated in a layer of mockolate (yep, this is yet another bar infected by that recent scourge of Hershey lovers everywhere, mockolate). I’m normally fairly easy-going when it comes to mockolate, however the greasy “chocolatey coating” on this bar seems far worse than average. It probably doesn’t help that there’s a pretty thick layer of the stuff.

As for the crunchy peanut butter centre, it’s not bad, though it’s almost ridiculously sweet (it’s a throat-burner). The peanut flavour is more subtle than it needs to be (thanks, no doubt, to being drowned out by the extreme sweetness). The filling also tends to lodge itself on your teeth, though I suppose that is part of the experience of eating a bar like this or Butterfinger.

5^th Avenue really isn’t a bad candy bar, but thanks to the greasy mockolate and less-than-peanutty taste, it’s definitely inferior to the very similar Butterfinger.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (56 g bar): 280

November 25, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Riesen – Ultra-Chewy Caramel

Candy Bars

As far as caramel goes, if Caramilk (or Caramello in the States) is the softest that you’ll find, Riesen is the chewiest. It really is about as chewy as caramel gets; biting into one of the dense pieces of caramel unprepared can easily result in some sore teeth.

Riesen consists of five individual pieces of “chocolate caramel,” each with a liberal coating of dark chocolate. The chocolate gives each piece an initial creaminess and flavour, though the caramel is so thick that the chocolate is gone long before you’re done chewing the caramel. As for the super-chewy, sticks-to-your-teeth caramel – it’s not very sweet at all, and has a really rich, almost molassesy flavour. It’s definitely pretty different from the typical caramel, and will give your mouth a workout – after eating only a couple of these, my jaw was already getting pretty sore.

The nice thing about Riesen is that it offers something a bit different from the usual candy bar; it’s subtly sweet (which is certainly not something you can say for almost any American candy bar) and for the frugally-minded, its chewiness ensures that it’ll last a lot longer than the norm.

Manufactured by: Storck
Calories (40.5 g package): 190

November 24, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Necco Wafers – A Surprisingly Unpleasant Classic Candy

Sugary Candy

I think with a lot of the foods we like – candy in particular – nostalgia can be a pretty powerful force. We all have a handful of foods that we enjoy despite the fact that, deep down, we know aren’t very good. Perhaps they’re associated with pleasant childhood memories, or maybe years of eating them with our undiscerning and still-developing palates have blinded us to how they really taste. Either way, there’s no denying that nostalgia can have a pretty strong effect on our tastebuds.

That’s really the only explanation I can think of for the ongoing success of Necco Wafers, which have been around for almost a hundred years. People eat them as kids, like them (because kids will like pretty much any candy) and then pass them on to their own kids. It’s a vicious circle, really.

Necco Wafers are very chalk-like, complete with a powdery residue left on your fingers. They’re quite crunchy – they’re kind of like a crunchier Pez, at least texturally.

The flavours, which aren’t mentioned anywhere on the packaging (thanks Wikipedia!), break down as follows:

Lemon: This is probably the best flavour in the roll. It’s sweet, with a mild lemony taste. It’s also the most Pez-like of the flavours, which is a good thing.

Orange: This is also pretty decent. This and lemon were the first two flavours I tried, so I was initially thinking “Hey, this isn’t nearly as bad as I remember!” That’s when I tried…

Lime: This has a much stronger citrus flavour than Lemon or Orange. It tastes almost exactly like a lot of bathroom cleaning sprays smell, which is off-putting to say the least.

Clove: Yeah, that’s right – clove. I’m really not sure what to say about this other than that it’s not entirely disgusting, but also not something I’d ever want to eat again.

Cinnamon: This one was decent; it’s mildly spicy with a strong cinnamon flavour, kind of like cinnamon gum or a milder version of those spicy cinnamon hearts you find around Valentine’s Day.

Wintergreen: Odd. Hot, with a somewhat toothpastey flavour.

Licorice: This one isn’t bad, assuming you like black licorice. It’s not the best licorice ever, but considering the calibre of the rest of these, I’ll take anything that isn’t completely gross as a win.

Chocolate: Very sweet, with a strongly sugary / fake-chocolatey taste.

It’s pretty clear that despite Necco Wafers’ stature as a classic American candy, they’re just not very good. After eating about half of the pack, I felt nauseous, and my tongue had an oddly tingly, numb feeling, which persisted even hours later. This is my second time trying Necco Wafers, and I can pretty much guarantee that it’ll be my last.

Manufactured by: Necco
Calories (57 g roll): 220