Sugar Pressure

Fourth of July Parade Candy

The pile of candy pictured above is our total haul from the Fourth of July Parade we attended yesterday. I'm not sure when candy become such a large part of parades, but I love it. It helps that I have 2 adorable boys that sit on the curb and wave as parade floats, fire trucks, old cars, old tractors, and people on foot pass by and rain candy down on us. This isn't as large a haul as what I received from the 2010 Sweets and Snacks EXPO, but it's pretty close! We picked out some of the best candy to keep (a very small fraction) and I bagged the rest up to take to work with me. I'm sure my co-workers will enjoy 5 lb. of random candy.

In the photos above we've separated the candy into piles to see what exactly people were giving out during the parade. (Other families do this too, right?) The photo on the right above shows that Tootsie Roll Industries does quite well during these events. As does the Spangler Candy Company with their Dum Dum suckers.

The photos above show some of the higher quality candy we received and a very surprising, and large pile of Wonka candy. I've always thought Laffy Taffy is great at parades and Nerds are an all time favorite of mine, however I was still surprised to see so much of it because the overall cost and is higher compared to a large bag of Tootsie Rolls, flavored Tootsie Rolls, or Frooties.

This last photo above is the candy I pulled out for myself. A Cotton Candy Charms sucker! I'm very excited for that as cotton candy is one of my favorite flavors. I've never had or found a Now and Later sucker, so I pulled that out of my SugarKid's bag and I also saved a Lemon Heads and Friends because I like the chewy Lemonheads better than the harder variety.

Overall we had a great time watching a great parade while celebrating our country's independence. The parade also wrapped up our mini-in-state-vacation, so we are back to work reviewing candy. I hope you had a great Fourth of July. If you have parade candy pictures, please leave a link below!

My wife passed along this Family Fun magazine article some time back about a family that created this website: http://www.candyexperiments.com/ The family uses their Halloween to stir, mix, pour and melt in fun experiments. Some of the results are very amazing. I like this experiment where they see all the colors of dye that come off of an M&M or Skittle. They also find out amazing things, like that a marshmallow holds it shape in water for over a week.   While we will likely eat or give away our large candy haul, this is a great option for making good use of free and plentiful candy.   Maybe some of you will will do these experiments, or give your parade stash to a local library for Summer Reading Club or a church for Vacation Bible School...whatever you do with it, there is something wonderful (and full of Americana) about parade candy thrown to you (or at you) from a passing convertible or fire truck...and something even more wonderful about how excited children are to catch it.

Wonka Mini Chewy SweeTarts

Wonka Mini Chewy SweeTarts
Uploaded by www.SugarPressure.com

By looking at the title, you'd think this was going to be a review of Wonka Mini Chewy SweeTarts. Well, it will be about them, but since Mini Chewy SweeTarts seem just Tart 'n' Tinys in a round shape.....I want to talk about those too. See, when I originally saw this bag hanging on the shelf, I thought of Tart 'n' Tinys. Wonka no longer makes them, they killed them off some years ago, (after changing the recipe) and I really like those growing up. They started out like SweeTarts since they were made of what I assume is the same compressed sugar recipe. They were these little cylinders you could stack on top of each other and they came in a little box (link goes to picture of Tart 'n' Tiny box) you could pour them from. I thought they came in pouches at one point too, but I could be wrong. I loved that tiny size and the ability to stack them. I remember trying to make giant columns out of them and saving up packages to try and join the Wonka Kid's Club. I never saved enough though, because I always spent my money on lots of different candy instead of just one particular kind. Now Wonka sponsors concerts and other things that seem to target high school and college students instead of young children. Ah...those were the days when a letter in the mail and a tiny plastic club card were all you needed to make a kid happy.

At some point Wonka changed Tart 'n' Tinys to look exactly like these Mini Chewy SweeTarts. They added a candy coating to them and it changed Tart 'n' Tinys into a product that too closely resembled something they already sold. So it was killed off. Which leads us to this review (wow, that was a lot of back story). These come in 5 flavors: grape, cherry, orange, lemon and green apple. They do not have a lot of flavor, just a tiny little taste in each small candy. These are not as tart as I remember Tart 'n' Tinys being after they changed them to this same type of candy from the compressed sugar cylinder. These have a nice soft chew and they are a little grainy. If you like the Giant Chewy Sweetarts, you will probably like these. With the giant ones I would break them into little pieces by smacking them on the ground anyway, so this size is way more convenient. We put these in the car for snacking on a road trip and they are a good candy for that (no stickiness, no melting, no mess, no problem if one rolls onto the floor). Giant Chewy Sweetarts are not as easy to travel with in my opinion. In the end, I don't think I'd buy these again. They weren't bad, but they aren't Tart 'n' Tinys and that was a candy I really liked.

Taste: 3/5 Liked It
Calorie Counter: 23 pieces = 1 serving= 50 calories, .5g fat
Price: $1.19 at Target
Wonka Web Site

Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Jellies

This will be one of the easier reviews I've written and I'll tell you why. Take my review of the Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Marvels, get rid of the hard exterior and instead of a round ball, make a square with the delicious jelly from inside the Fruit Marvels, dip it them in sugar and BAM! you have Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Jellies. See how easy that was?

The packaging on this candy is just as fantastic as the Fruit Marvels (although a bit wasteful because of how much there is). I really like how beautiful and premium Wonka has made this candy look. I like the flavors too. These are flavors that only Wonka could do, but in the process the flavors seem premium to me. Grapefruit, Goji Berry and Red Apple? When is the last time you saw a red apple flavored candy?

Red Apple - this tastes exactly like a ripe red apple we'd pick from our grove or you'd buy at the farmer's market, this is so much different than green apple, it has a nice sweet flavor that reminds you of applesauce or cider with only a slightly tart taste to it. This one surprised me the most, because I wasn't really sure what to expect, but loved I it.

Grapefruit - this is a flavor that's hard to do. I don't think grapefruit is very appealing to a lot of people but let me tell you, this is a wonderful flavor. I'm not sure why these are yellow, since grapefruit is pink but it works for me (I guess it is the exterior color). The yellow color adds to the light and refreshing flavor of this candy. The taste is subtle and these were not as sweet as the red apple flavor for me, but also fantastic.

Goji Berry - I had to look this flavor up, but these berries are from China and a few surrounding countries. They are usually found dried on the ground and look like a raisin. They have many antioxidants in them so they are a health food craze type food. The flavor seemed a little orange-like to me mixed with raspberries. These weren't bad for a different flavor.

The lightly coated soft jelly texture of this candy is great. They are easy to chew and are a very very pleasant candy to eat. I like jelly in any candy, especially chocolate covered, but this candy was close to a perfect jelly for me. The grapefruit and red apple were our favorites. The goji berry isn't bad but we weren't as familiar with it and the taste was good, but not great. I can't recommend this candy enough, even at a premium price. They really are very good.

You can find other reviews of this candy here, here, here, here and here.

Taste: 5/5 Loved It
Calorie Counter: 14 pieces = 1 serving= 130 calories, 0g fat
Price: $2.99 purchased at Wal Mart
Wonka Web Site

Love of Wonka Candy

This weekend Wal-Mart stores across the United States were handing out free samples of the new Wonka Exceptionals Chocolate Bars, Fruit Marvels and Fruit Jellies.  Even thought I'd already tasted the candies, I knew I couldn't resist showing up to get Oompa Loompa photos taken (see photos above of my 8 month old and 6 year old). While standing around the samples cart, I started thinking about just how much I like Wonka candy. I can't think of a Wonka candy I do not like and in my opinion, Wonka candy is just plain fun. I know it's odd describing candy as fun when I normally describe taste, texture, and packaging. However, I think one thing we tend to miss as we get older is the fun factor for candy. (That is one of the reasons I enjoy guest candy reviews from my 6 year old so much. He tends to point out those things adults overlook in candy.)   In addition to the Oompa Loompa photo cutout, the sampler was wearing a tall purple top hat and purple apron.  Really, what other candy company has Wal-Mart employees dress up with big top hats and take photos of customers standing behind a cardboard cutout?  And not just at a few Wal-Marts, most Super Wal-Marts in the country.  I can't think of any other company that has done something like that. I can think of large events in big cities, Mars has done several of those, but Wonka has them all beat in my opinion. I even love the Wonka web site, which is fun to look at, although somewhat hard to navigate.

There's so much to like about Wonka candy. It's sugary sweet. It's often an activity and a candy, think about Fun Dip. Wonka candy usually has funny names like Tinglerz, Bottle Caps, Kazoozles and Gobstoppers. I was also thinking about Nerds, look at all the variations Wonka has. Nerds Rope, Nerds Bubble Gum, Nerds Sour, Nerds Double-Dipped, and Giant Nerds. I was also thinking about past candy I remember, things like Dinosaur Eggs, Donutz, Oompas, Super Skrunch, and Wacky Wafers.  So, in honor of this great candy company, I am kicking off a Wondiferous Week of Wonka Reviews.

The picture above is my laptop. I wanted to personalize it and I couldn't think of a better way than to put a Wonka logo on there. The Nerds packages were something I picked up while at the gas station. I can't resist the Nerds. Don't get me wrong, I don't dress like an Oompa Loompa around the house or pretend I'm Willy Wonka, but this vinyl decal goes nicely with my Wonka t-shirts and my notebook that says "I have the Golden Ticket".  By the way,I tried to get the Oompa Loompa cut out...but to no avail.  Wal-Mart had to destroy them after the sampling.  I don't think my wife would have wanted it in the living room anyway.

 

So, you know Wonka is my favorite company.  Is there a candy or a candy company you love?  What is it that makes them your favorite?

Berry Chewy Lemonhead & Friends

Ferrara Pan has released a new product in their wonderful Lemonhead line of candy. At the 2010 Sweets and Snacks EXPO they were handing out these .9 oz boxes that you can normally find for $.25 per box. I love this size (and price).  Our University Book Store carries them and I love to grab a little box whenever I am in there (and if you know anything about the price of college textbooks, you know that is the only affordable thing in the store!).

 

I love all the many flavors Ferrara Pan offers in the Lemonhead line and these new flavors are a great addition. I especially like the chewy variety of Lemonheads. Don't get me wrong, I like the classic Lemonhead which is like a soft jawbreaker.  The nice thing with the chewy candy is that the flavor is instantaneous when you bite into it. It's also much easier on your teeth.

 

If you are not familiar with the many flavors of Ferrara Pan's Lemonhead and Lemonhead and Friends lines, you should try to pick some up. I reviewed the Orangeheads as one of my very early reviews and gave them a nice 5/5 because they really are that good. This line of candy is a "panned" candy which means they start with a chewy center and then they are "panned" (tumbled in flavoring and sugar which creates a shell). You keep "panning" until the candy is the size you want. This is the same process used to make the sugary outer coating of a jelly bean.

Cherry Lemon = this flavor tastes like a Cherry Icee and classic Lemonhead melted together then reformed into a chewy-cherry-lemon-panned-candy-of-amazing-flavor, I loved this one

Wild Berry = this is a generic wild berry flavor, it was pleasant, but the smell and taste reminded me of some soap we had from Bath and Body Works, that's not a bad thing, I just found it amusing

Blue Raspberry = why is raspberry always blue in candies? it isn't blue in nature...It is unnatural and unpleasant, but my 6 yr. old LOVED this one, go figure

Strawberry = this was one of the better strawberry flavors I've had in some time. strawberry is such a hard flavor to do and this one tasted good

Red Raspberry = tasted like a fresh jam, had a very nice deep flavor for such a small candy. I could eat an entire theatre sized box of just this flavor, WOW and YUM

Taste: 4/5 Really Liked It
Calorie Counter: 1 box = .9oz = 1 serving= 90 calories, 0g fat
Price: Free Sample Provided by the Company (normally around $.25)
Ferrara Pan Web Site

Chocolate Flavored MEGA Smarties

Here is a product that has been available for some time, but I've never been able to find it locally to review. I picked these up at the 2010 Sweets and Snacks EXPO in Chicago after a really nice chat with the Smarties staff. They were not handing these out to everyone, but after I told them what I did, they gladly handed me a few rolls. I have to admit I was very impressed with how nicely they treated me and took time to answer my questions. Not every company was that nice or spent that much time with me at the show. So, thank you very much Smarties staff!

The CE DE Candy company is still owned and operated by the Dee family. They have 2 factories located in Canada and New Jersey. You can read a little of their history here. In recent years it seems like they have really branched out the Smarties line to include a lot of other products. Take a look at their products page.  It has a large assortment of items, not just the small wrapped smarties packages you are most familiar with. Sour Smarties, MEGA Smarties, Theatre Box Smarties, Tropical Smarties, and Smarties Gum are just a few of the items it seems are new to me that expand the Smarties lineup.

 

I'm not sure how they thought up chocolate flavored Smarties but it is a nice addition to their product line. It is just like the regular MEGA Smarties but in a chocolate flavor that will not melt in the heat and sun! I wasn't blown away with this product, but I enjoyed it. When you open the MEGA roll package, you are greeted with a nice cocoa-y smell. The flavor of the Smarties is very similar to this smell. The chocolate taste is more of a cocoa flavor in my opinion. It reminds me of Ovaltine or another chocolate powder you add to milk.  That makes sense because cocoa is the 2nd ingredient in this candy. This is a compressed dextrose product, just like the regular Smarties. If you are not familiar with the MEGA size, see the picture below for a comparison.

 

My wife is excited about this product, she kind of has a thing for Smarties.  She buys a large bag of Smarties about every three weeks to stock a bowl in her office.  As a college professor, her theory is that it is better to give students Smarties than other candies (especially Dum-Dum suckers)...it is a subliminal message, but one she hopes they internalize when they stop by her office to talk and inevitably eat a roll of Smarties.

 

Taste: 3/5 Liked It
Calorie Counter: 4 pieces = 1 serving= 50 calories, 0g fat
Price: Free Sample Provided by the Company
Ce De Candy Web Site

Bonomo Turkish Taffy in Chocolate, Vanilla, Banana & Strawberry

 

Bonomo Turkish Taffy (pronounced BAH-no-moh) is a retro/classic candy that has returned from the dead. No, no, it's not a zombie candy...it's one of those candies that died off in the 1980s and candy fans mourned its death. Well, OH HAPPY DAY! Classic Caramel, the company that makes Slo Poke, BB Bats, Kits and Flipsticks, has revived the equipment and the recipe. Unfortunately, it won't still cost $.05 like the 1960s Bonomo Turkish Taffy, but it will taste exactly like the original and come in all 4 original flavors. These go on sale starting in July 2010. You will be able to buy the bar size or smaller "change maker" sized individually wrapped pieces. I'm going for the bar myself, because doing "Smack it Crack it!" to the bar is part of the fun.

For those of you completely unfamiliar with Turkish Taffy, I'll fill you in. It's not really taffy. You can technically describe this as a short nougat. It is made from corn syrup and egg whites that are cooked, then baked. It is a hard taffy-like bar that you smack on a hard surface and then eat the small broken pieces. It is less pliable than real taffy candy (like saltwater taffy or even Laffy Taffy from Wonka). Once it warms up in your mouth, it softens and that's why they call it "taffy". Because it is not pliable until warmed in your mouth, you cannot bite it.  So, you have to smack it on the table to crack it into small pieces.  This process is shown in their old commercials.  They had one playing at their booth at the Sweets and Snacks Expo 2010.  I found a few of them on YouTube.

 

I was lucky enough to receive a sample of each flavor of Bonomo Turkish Taffy to review.  Here are our thoughts on the flavors:

Chocolate: This was our absolute favorite. We thought it tasted like chocolate ice cream and we all loved it. You could taste chocolate right away and it is very good and very smooth. The chocolate taste is right on the surface.

 

Banana: Our 2nd favorite flavor. If you like Laffy Taffy banana flavor, you'll love this one. It has a much, much better texture than Laffy Taffy though. (This was a very close second.  A few people liked it best.)

Vanilla: This was our 3rd favorite flavor. A few of our tasters thought it tasted like Cool Whip, a few people thought marshmallows.  Overall, it is very good. The vanilla is a bit slow to taste, but after you start chewing it a bit, the flavor starts to come out.  (Technically, the vanilla and chocolate combined came in 3rd, but we will only rank the individual flavors.)

Strawberry: Our least favor flavor of the four, but still good. I always think strawberry is such a hard flavor to do. It has a pleasant strawberry flavor, but the other flavors beat it according to every tester.

Here is the banana bar before it is cracked.  It's just a square blob.  BTW...I would highly recommend putting the bars in the fridge for a minute or two before smashing the package on a hard surface to crack it up. 

 

Here is the strawberry bar after it is cracked. Notice the lines forming. Those pieces snap right out. A few of the flavors powdered a bit and fractured into very small sizes.  If you don't plan on eating it in one sitting, that's okay.  It will fuse back together after a few minutes in a Ziploc bag.

 

Overall, we loved the fluffy, bouncy, meringue-like texture of this candy. I guess it makes sense that a candy with an egg white ingredient would remind us of meringue. All of the flavors are good and I think people will enjoy all of them. We happened to like the chocolate best, but that is our opinion. I hope everyone will try all 4 flavors! Remember though, this is definitely not a candy to eat in the car. It is a fun candy...a candy and activity at the same time!! I mean, who doesn't like to smack and crack candy?

One final note, I liked the non-sticky mylar type packaging, but I'm not sure how to store these bars now that they are open. I decided to put them in Ziploc bags and store them in the refrigerator.  It's not like they are going to last long anyway!!!  I agree with the old commercials, there is nothing out there that tastes like this, it's TAFFY-RIFFIC!

 

Taste: 5/5 Loved It
Calorie Counter: 1.5oz bar = 1 serving= 160 calories, 0.5g fat
Sample provided by the company
Bonomo Turkish Taffy web site

King Leo Soft Lemon Sticks

The very kind people at Quality Candy sent me a giant box of samples to review. When we unpacked this candy sample we knew it would be the first thing we would try. If you haven't read some of my other reviews, I'll let you know....I'm a big fan of citrus type fruits in candy. Lemon is one of my favorites.

I didn't know much about Quality Candy before they sent me this box of candy, so I thought the least I could do was to educate myself about this company. One thing I noticed right away from visiting their website is the Gilliam brand that they sell. I've seen these old fashioned hard stick candies in lots of stores and I've probably eaten a few hundred in my lifetime. I hadn't heard of or seen their King Leo brand before, so I'm wondering if it's a regional candy, I'm not quite sure. I am sure though that everything they sent from the King Leo line looks fantastic and I'm looking forward to reviewing more of this candy.

The first thing I always notice is packaging. This gable box is simple, elegant and has a slightly retro or old fashioned look to it. I love the King Leo mascot perched on top of a peppermint stick, which is their signature candy. The quote on the bottom of the box is that these candies are "Soft Right Out of the Box". I will wholeheartedly agree with that statement. This is a condensed or compressed sugar stick with lines of lemon flavoring wrapped around it. These are definitely nice and soft as they fall apart when your teeth crunch down on them. The lemon flavor isn't sour or something that will make you pucker. Its a really nice mild lemon flavor that reminds me of a slightly tart melted lemon drop if it were wrapped around a sugar stick. The nice thing about this candy is that it isn't lemon all the time. There's just enough flavoring for you to taste lemon but it is balanced by lots of sugar. As my wife said to me, "Who wouldn't want to eat a dozen of these?"  I'm not not sure who would want fewer than a dozen.  They are just really pleasant and different from other candies.

What does someone do with free candy besides eat it? Well, you play with it, of course. The round sugar sticks reminded me of Lincoln Logs, so I spent waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy too much time putting a tower together. I'm not very happy with my pictures, but I don't have the photography setup I need to make this candy look as good as it tastes. There are some very nice professional photos on their website, I recommend you check them out.

Taste: 4/5 Really Liked It
Calorie Counter: 1 stick = 1 serving= 45 calories, 0g fat
Price: Sample from the Company
Quality Candy Web Site

Chocomize: Customize your Chocolate!

Have you ever wished you could devise your own candy bar combinations?  Well, you can!!!  At Chocomize.com, you can pick the chocolate you want and then pick the ingredients you want added to the candy bar. When I read the Chocomize reviews on GIGI-Reviews the other day, I decided that I should channel my inner Willie Wonka (the 10% discount was what put me over the edge, thanks GIGI and Chocomize!).

The ordering is very, very easy. Pick a chocolate (dark, milk or white) then start creating your own chocolate bar like a mad scientist chocolatier. I picked milk chocolate since that is my favorite chocolate type.  (I don't mind dark or white chocolate, but I'll pick milk chocolate every time if given the opportunity.)  Each bar starts with a base price of $3.85 with the added ingredients varying in price from the lowest priced at $.40 (sea salt) to the highest priced at $3.90 (23 Karat gold leaf flakes). Estimated ship time is 4 days, shipping was $4.95 for me. Each bar that I built with milk chocolate and 2 ingredients cost right around $5. I picked dried blueberries and lemon zest for one of my bars and M&M's with sprinkles for the other. Can you guess which one was for SugarKid?

My custom bars arrived in 4 days exactly from Chocomize. They were shipped via U.S. mail in a cardboard box with lots of paper inside and 2 frozen ice packet things. You can see in my pictures, the bars weren't melty at all. When I opened the box, I saw the cardboard sleeves and the first thought that popped into my head was one of Hot Pockets and Cherry or Apple Pies from McDonalds. I think only good things come in sleeves like this!

The milk chocolate in both bars was nice and milky, like a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, with only a slightly sweet flavor. I thought it was really good tasting chocolate. I assumed the "candy pieces" I picked would be some generic M&M type of candy, but was happily surprised to find real M&M's as the ingredient. The sprinkles were good and added some very nice color to this bar.

Hmm...what happened to the blueberry and lemon zest bar? Oh, that corner that's missing, yeah I couldn't wait to try it before I photographed it, so I had a bite. I tried to convince my wife that it came that way and she didn't believe me. The ingredients on this bar were very good quality too. I thought the blueberry and lemon zest made a really good combination.

Overall, my impression is that this was a really fun thing to do. Who wouldn't like creating their own type of candy bar? I think this is a very thoughtful and fun gift. It's so unique, you know no one else would think of giving this as a gift. I would definitely buy this again as a special occasion purchase. There's no other way to create a marshmallow-gummy bear-gold leaf-sea salt-chile spice bar and have it to your house in 4 days, is there? My only complaint is that I would have liked to see the ingredients down inside the bar. They sit on the top and make the bar look pretty, but there's a lot of chocolate to melt through to get to the ingredients. Head on over and treat yourself to one, I think all candy lovers should try Chocomize at least once and probably twice.

Taste: 4/5 Really Liked It
Calorie Counter: 1.5 bar = 1 serving= 124 calories, 7g fat (will vary by bar)
Price: Around $5.00 per bar + $4.95 shipping & handling purchased at Chocomize.com
Chocomize Website
From the GIGI-Reviews web site: If you use the coupon code "Gigi" at checkout, it will save you 10% off of your order

Stride Shift Citrus > Mint Flavor Changing Gum

Here is the newest gum from Cadbury.  It is a gum that changes from citrus to mint as you chew it. I love the packaging of this gum. Bright colors, the big S on the front. The inside is fantastic too, with a fold open double deck package (see picture below).

Each piece is wrapped in a green wax paper with designs that look like what is on the box. The gum is an orange color and all you can smell is citrus, no hint of mint anywhere on this gum. I was surprised at how large the pieces were (see picture below). I was thinking the gum would be the size of Trident, but this gum was fairly large.

I found this gum to be a very tough chewing gum. My favorite gum is Wrigley's Doublmint gum. It's a nice soft chew which is what I was expecting from this gum.  I was really surprised at how dense and chewy it was. This gum starts with a citrus flavor that lasts about 60 seconds. It tastes like Tropical Twist Trident. It then switches to a spearmint flavor that has an okay taste. Overall, I wasn't very impressed with this gum.  I think it's mostly a marketing ploy. It's fun to try something different and it's a very interesting concept, but I think the taste needs more work.  I'm sure there are people that will love this gum, but I'd rather chew a gum with one great flavor than two I wasn't crazy about.

Taste: 2/5 Did Not Like It
Calorie Counter: 1 piece = 1 serving= <5 calories, 0g fat
Price: $1.38 purchased at WalMart
Stride Flavor Changing Gum Web Site

Update: Thanks to the Candy Professor, for the comment below linking this NY Times article on Stride gum. Long story short, it's marketed to teens and twenty-somethings who are bored with regular gum.