Mars Archives - Page 3 of 6

December 9, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Minis & Crisp Rice – Needs More Crispiness

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Why does the M&M on the packaging of this bar look so worried? Is it because he knows he’s about to be entombed in milk chocolate and then eaten? I’ve always found it odd that anthropomorphized M&M’s are the face of the candy. Why would an M&M want you to eat M&M’s?? Are those not his brothers and sisters? At least the look of terror on the M&M on the wrapper is honest about what the experience of being an M&M must be like.

But I digress. Outside of the ethical implications of eating a sentient being who has the capacity to feel fear for his own mortality, this was fine, I guess?

The bar consists of mini M&M’s and crispy puffed rice surrounded by milk chocolate. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I’m particularly keen to rush out and buy again.

The milk chocolate is typical M&M’s chocolate — it’s a bit too sweet and it’s not exactly the best chocolate you’ll ever eat, but mostly, it’s creamy and tasty. It’s chocolate. It’s fine.

The biggest issue is that there aren’t nearly enough M&M’s and puffed rice to bring the bar all that much crispiness. It’s neither here nor there; the level of crispiness is too mild to be satisfying. It makes the bar feel pointless. I’d much rather eat something way crispier, or not crispy at all. This particular bar teases crispiness but doesn’t deliver. It’s frustrating.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 bar, 36 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 30 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, lactose, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, artificial flavour), M&M’s Minis Milk Chocolate candies (milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavour, flavour), sugar, colour (with tartrazine), corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, cornstarch, carnauba wax, modified coconut oil and/or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), crisp rice (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt).

December 2, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

English Toffee Peanut M&M’s – An Intense Kick of Toffee Flavour

Candy Bars

I’ve mentioned before that Peanut M&M’s are the king of M&M’s. This is a stone cold fact and if you think otherwise, as far as I’m concerned you may as well be a flat-Earther. That’s how ridiculous your “opinions” are to me.

Peanut M&M’s are delicious. And of course, English toffee is also delicious. So I was wondering if plain old Peanut M&M’s time on the throne might be coming to an end.

Spoiler alert: it is not. Regular Peanut M&M’s are still the king.

Still, these are tasty. As soon as you rip open the pack, the English toffee aroma hits you in the face. It’s strong. And the flavour is pretty strong, too; it’s almost overwhelming at first, but after you eat a couple, you get used to it.

I should note that, as far as I can tell, there’s no actual English toffee here, just a flavour in the chocolate itself. They might have gone overboard with that flavour, but mostly, it works. The combo of chocolate and English toffee is satisfying, and the peanut does a nice job of adding some nuttiness and balancing out the sweetness of the chocolate.

If the English toffee flavouring were a bit more subtle this might have been something special, but even still, it’s quite good.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 pack, 31 grams): 160 calories, 8 grams of fat (3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 15 mg of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 16 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, skim milk, cocoa butter, lactose, milkfat, peanuts, soy lecithin, salt, artificial and natural flavors), sugar, peanuts, cornstarch, less than 1% – palm oil, corn syrup, dextrin, coloring (includes yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake, blue 1 lake, blue 2 lake, blue 2), carnauba wax, artificial and natural flavors, gum acacia.

November 1, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Fudge Brownie – Chewy, Crispy, and Tasty

Candy Bars

I remember when M&M’s were pretty much only available in regular and peanut (which, as I’ve mentioned before, is and shall always be the king of M&M’s), so I still find wacky flavours like fudge brownie to be thoroughly delightful, even if they are old hat at this point.

And this is one of those combos that’s so M&M-friendly that I’m surprised it took this long to happen. With a lot of gimmicky M&M’s varieties, they attempt to infuse the chocolate with flavouring, to questionable results (some of these, like Carrot Cake, are actually pretty good, while others, like Red Velvet… are not).

This flavour, on the other hand, features an actual piece of brownie (or something resembling a brownie) crammed into the middle of an M&M. They’re exactly what you’re hoping they’re going to be — they taste like a combo of M&M’s and fudgy, store-bought brownies. The brownie interior has a nice chewiness and a distinctive brownie flavour.

It’s nothing too mind-blowing, and it’s definitely sweeter than it needs to be, but the contrast between the crunchy shell, creamy chocolate, and chewy brownie works quite well.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 40 grams): 190 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 40 mg of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, skim milk, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, chocolate processed with alkali, skim milk, cornstarch, less than 1% – milk fat, lactose, dextrin, salt, coloring (includes blue 1 lake, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1) carnauba wax, artificial flavor, chocolate, gum acacia.

October 28, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

3 Musketeers – Chewy, Sweet, and Tasty

Candy Bars

3 Musketeers is basically a Mars Bar without the caramel. It’s extremely simple — it’s just chewy, cocoa-infused whipped nougat covered in a fairly generous layer of milk chocolate.

The way that Mars has named both this and Mars Bar is a bit confusing; this one is known as 3 Musketeers in North America, but Milky Way in the UK. That’s not to be confused with the American version of Milky Way, which is actually called Mars Bar everywhere else. Simple, right?

Whatever it’s called, 3 Musketeers is a classic — the nougat is nice and fluffy, with a decent amount of chewiness and a satisfying chocolatey flavour. It’s very sweet, but not overwhelming, with a nice hit of creaminess and flavour from the milk chocolate exterior.

Clearly, there’s a reason why it’s endured since the ’30s.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 54.4 grams): 240 calories, 7 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 95 mg of sodium, 42 grams of carbohydrates, <1 gram of fibre, 35 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, vegetable oil (hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil), cocoa powder processed with alkali, less than 1.5% – salt, egg whites, artificial and natural flavors.

October 4, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Maltesers Teasers – A Chocolatey Twist on a Classic

Candy Bars

Maltesers Teasers was a lot more Maltesersy than I was expecting. That’s a bit of a weird thing to say — Maltesers is right there in the name, after all — but sometimes these spin-off bars only have a very tenuous connection to the original. That’s definitely not the case here.

Teasers is basically a plain chocolate bar, but with bits of the classic Maltesers malty crispiness interspersed throughout. I think the chocolate itself might also be infused with a malty flavour, because that taste is quite pronounced.

It’s really good. If you like classic Maltesers (and what’s not to like??) then I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll like this. It’s basically reverse Maltesers — Maltesers is crispy with a bit of a creamy chocolaty hit, and Teasers is creamy with a bit of a crispy malty hit. But the flavour is basically identical; the only real difference is the creamy-to-crispy ratio.

It’s very, very sweet, but the thoroughly malty flavour does a great job of balancing it out and ensuring that it never feels one-note cloying. It’s delicious.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 35 grams): 186 calories, 10.4 grams of fat (6.3 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), unknown mg of cholesterol, 130 mg of sodium, 20.3 grams of carbohydrates, unknown grams of fibre, 18.5 grams of sugar, 2.6 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, glucose syrup, palm fat, lactose and protein from whey (from milk), whey powder (from milk), barley malt extract, milk fat, emulsifier (soya lecithin), wheat flour raising agents (E341, E500, E501), salt, natural vanilla extract.