Meiji Petite Assortment

This set of Meiji mini chocolates came as a cute little 5-pack. Meiji, a Japanese company, always seems to have colorful, graphic packaging and this set is no exception. So what are they all about? I'm not 100% sure because I can't read Japanese, but I have tasted them so let me tell you about that. Here we go....

Starting with the top left, Coffee Beat. The Coffee Beat is a chocolate-coffee flavored candy shaped to resemble a coffee bean. There is even an indention and tiny black line drawn on one side to add  detail. The candy has a smooth, crunchy shell that gives way to an intensely coffee-flavored chocolate inside. It almost tastes like a chocolate covered espresso bean minus the annoying bits of raw coffee bean stuck in your teeth. Even though I'm not a huge fan of coffee-flavored stuff, the Coffee Beat are really tasty. I like 'em. 

Next up, Strawberry Marble Candy (top right) and Chocolate Marble Candy (bottom left). Marble Candy is the Japanese cousin of the M&M. Much like M&Ms, they are small discs of chocolate (or in some cases a pink strawberry-flavored substance) coated with a colorful crunchy candy shell. I like both of these variations. They are slightly larger and flatter than an M&M, and the colors are pretty, especially in the strawberry mixture. These would be great to decorate a cake with, super cute. 

On to Choco Baby (bottom right). If you like Raisinettes, but wish they didn't have raisins, you would love Choco Baby. These tiny little tubular pellets taste just like the coating that surrounds Raisinettes, and I ain't mad. 

And finally, the Apollo (bottom row center). These look like a little chocolate mountain with a strawberry snow cap, or maybe they are supposed to look like a spacecraft, which probably makes more sense. I reviewed these many years ago in the full-size box. I liked them now and like them still.

Meiji seems to stick with the major flavors chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla using them in various forms and combinations. You can often find YanYan sticks or the little Panda cookie things in the $1 section at Target. Both of those products are very tasty as well and I'd recommend giving them a try as an introduction to the Meiji world. Don't be scared. I picked up the Petite Assortment pack at a local Asian market, but I've also seen it available to purchase online through various retailers. 

   

Candy Corn Super Blow Pop

In the past few years it seems like candy corn flavored everything has been hitting the shelves come Halloween.  Last year I remember trying candy corn M&Ms and seeing gummy candy corn.  This year I've heard of candy corn Tootsie Pops, which I have yet to find, but while looking for them I stumbled upon the Candy Corn Super Blow Pop.  Of course, I was thrilled. 

The Blow Pop tastes a lot like butterscotch candies, but I can taste the similarities to honey flavored candy corn. There is bubble gum in the center, but I have not reached it yet. Not sure how well butterscotch and bubble gum flavor are going to go together, I will update later. 

If you like old-lady butterscotch discs, as i do, you will like the Candy Corn Blow Pop. I found it at Walgreens where I also picked up a Caramel Apple Super Blow Pop that I have yet to try. 

Enjoy, candy season is upon us!

Fred Ferkel

My boyfriend brought me these cute pig gummies back from Germany called Fred Ferkel. The gummy is made up of a marshmallowy gummy pink face and highlighted with flavored ears that are traditional gummy material. The ears come in either strawberry, cherry, or raspberry flavors.

They are cute, soft, chewy, and have a nice flavor, although its kinda hard to distinguish between one or the other as far as the ear flavors go. Oh, and "ferkel" translates to "piglet" in English. But I think Fred Ferkel has a better ring to it than Fred Piglet. 

Trolli Evil Twins Gummies

I'm back to candy blogging! So let's get into this thing, Trolli's Evil Twins Gummies. Each adorable gummie features two flavors - a sweet side characterized by a little bespectacled nerd boy, and a sour side characterized by an angry spikey-haired little troublemaker. The flavor combos are Angelic Orange & Mischievous Lime, Sweet Strawberry & Rowdy Blue Raspberry, and Charming Cherry & Wicked Lemon. Get it?

By far my favorite flavor combo is the cherry and lemon. The lemon has a great sourness and goes well with the sweet cherry. The strawberry is tasty, but its blue raspberry counterpart tastes musty. Overall, if you are a fan of sour candy and gummies, give these twins a try.

Oh, I found them at Target.

Starburst Sweet Fiesta

One of my favorite new candy finds is Starburst Sweet Fiesta.  I picked them up at a 7-Eleven when I was actually searching for the lackluster Skittles Blenders.  Starburst Sweet Fiesta was the better of the two candies I bought that day and here's why - the Strawberry Pineapple chew. One of the four flavors in the Sweet Fiesta pack, the Strawberry Pineapple chew is one of the best candy flavors I have encountered in a long time.  It has a wonderful fresh pineapple tartness coupled with sweet and tangy strawberry.  Really awesome.  I would buy a whole pack of Strawberry Pineapple chews if I could.

The remaining 3 flavors in Sweet Fiesta are also good, just not as good as Strawberry Pineapple.  They are Cherry Mango, Melon Berry, and Peach Guava.

I hope the Starburst Sweet Fiesta stick around for a while.  I'm done with my pack and already want more, however I am noticing that this flavor is hard to find!  I guess I'm headed back to 7-Eleven.

Skittles Blenders

It's been way too long since my last post, but I'm back and there is lots of great candy to get to so let's do this.

Introducing new Skittles Blenders.  Oh Skittles, dear sweet Skittles.  Sometimes all it takes is one bad flavor to spoil the whole batch, yeah I'm talkin' about you Melon Berry Burst, but I'll get to you later, good things first.


The idea behind the Blenders is that they are "blended fruit flavors."  Let's look at the combos offered in a very particular order (best to worst):

Cherry Tropicolada - The red one. Tastes like cherry Lifesavers with a hint of coconut.  Yum.

Strawberry Lime Blast - The pink one.  The lime flavor isn't really strong, but the strawberry is pleasant with a tiny tang of sour.  Good.

Watermelon Green Apple Freeze - The green one.  I don't know where the "freeze" comes into play.  Is it supposed to taste like a slushie?  This one reminds me of a green apple Laffy Taffy.  Nice.

Mango Lemonade Freeze - The orange one.  On first chew, I couldn't really tell what flavor this was supposed to be.  However, the more I ate the more I could taste the lemonade flavor.  The mango is missing.  Eh.

Melon Berry Burst - The blue one.  This was my least favorite flavor and unfortunately the most plentiful color in my bag.  Why do candy companies insist in making melon flavored candy?  They are never good.  This one tastes like cucumbers and parsley.  Don't eat it first or it will ruin your whole palette.  Bleh.

Every Burger

The 85 degree temperatures in my non-air conditioned apartment have wreaked havoc on my candy supply.  Chocolate is melting all over the place and I've been forced to re-purpose my refrigerator's fruit bin into a "chocolate bin."  I'm in survival mode here.  I figured it was time post about the Every Burger before they ceased to exist in their intended form.  Allow me introduce you to the awesome Every Burger.

 A few weeks ago my friend Kurt took me to Chinese supermarket near his home in Ypsilanti with the promise that it had a really cool Asian candy section.  Walking into the market I initially had doubts that I would find anything appetizing.  The overwhelming smell of fish and creepy packages of freeze-dried baby octopi (for real, I have photos) clouded my judgement.  But then, at the front of the store out of fishy smell range was an entire aisle of bizarre, interesting, and beautifully packaged Japanese candy.

If there is one thing the Japanese do right it's cute.  Need proof, think Hello Kitty.  The Every Burger package is cute and the candies themselves are cute.  Each candy "burger" is made to look like a tiny hamburger.  A cookie shell forms the bun, complete with crumbles on top to resemble sesame seeds.  The brown "meat" portion consists of a chocolatey spread that has a smooth, Nutella-like quality to it.  There is even a dab of white spread atop the meat made to look like cheese.  I would compare the flavor to a Twix minus the caramel or a chocolate Yan Yan.  The Every Burger is really a tasty little bite and I appreciate the visual details put into each candy.  If after reading this review you decide that you cannot live another day without trying Every Burger for yourself, they are available for purchase online from various Asian food grocers.

Burger detail with melting chocolate