2016 has been a pretty big year of change for us at candycritic.org. Actually it's been a return to lack of change, if you look at it technically. This is the year we returned home after 6 years away. The goal, to get back in touch with my Canadian roots, with a few stops in the US to make sure I haven't missed any other North American things. Because of this change, our reviews have been pretty eclectic as well. We've had candies from all over the world, but over the last few months, a focus on North America.
I feel like my palette has evolved with living abroad and I look at North American candy a little differently. Sometimes I think I see it as more nostalgic (particularly during the holidays) and sometimes I see it as so advanced and confusing. It really depends on my mood, and the candy.
This post is all about looking back at old reviews. I've picked 5 that are not the best or worst, but some of the most memorable reviews of 2016. They're each memorable for different reasons, some good, and some bad but all made me happy that I was a Candy Critic.
Worst Candy - Remember in that paragraph above where I said that this list does not contain the "best or worst" candies, well I kind of lied. This durian candy might be the worst tasting candy I'd eaten all year. It was so bad that it was memorable, and that's why it's on this list. If you're not familiar with durian, it's a fruit found in Asia. This fruit smells so bad, that many airlines will not let you bring them aboard. I can only describe the smell as being similar to sweaty gym socks, rotten onions, and burning tires. The connoisseur of this fruit claims that although it smells really bad, the flavour is smooth and creamy. The problem is that the smell is so pungent that it's really hard to taste anything but the gross smell. Needless to say, these candies while being very gross, pretty much match the fruit perfectly.
Click here to read the Durian Cream Filled Chocolate review.
Craziest Chip That Worked -There seems to be a trend these days of making sweet flavoured potato
chips. Sweet and savory in the potato chip world is nothing new. When I
was a kid I remember tasting my first chocolate covered potato chip,
and although it was a delicacy, it was around. Today we see chocolate
covered pretzels and sweet flavoured potato chips at our local corner
store. The chocolate covered snacks work most of the time, the sweet
flavoured chips aren't always as successful. These chips not only
worked, but they worked in a very unique way. They combined two
flavours that worked together, butter and honey, then mixed them with
potato chips. The butter works with potatoes as well, but this is the
first time I've seen it matched with chips, and it works. These chips
not only tasted great, but they made me think about new possibilities in
potato chip flavours.
Click here to read the Lay's "Honey Butter" review.
Strange And Memorable Candy - I don't know how much I liked, or disliked this candy, but I seem to remember about the adventure of trying to find it. This candy was bought as a result of me trying to find candy in India. It was one of our last adventures when we were living abroad, and I wanted to find something that represented our trip to India. These stick out to me because they remind me of our secondary mission in India, to eat as many different varieties of mango as possible. That mission was a great success, even thought this candy wasn't.
Click here to read the Mango Papdams review.
Candy Most Likely To Make Me Enjoy Licorice - This candy represents two things for me. First of all it's a step towards me trying to gain a taste for licorice. In the last few years, living abroad, I decided to try and change my palette in two ways, one to gain a taste for licorice, and secondly to try and tolerate hotter foods. Both of these have been fairly successful so far, and I felt that the fact that I kind of liked these chocolate covered licorice candies was proof. The second thing these candies represented to me was those chance meetings where things go really well. Allison was in New York at some meetings (I tagged along), and there was a small reception. I talked to a few people at this reception, often about candy. I met one man who was from Iceland, and I mentioned to him that I'd never eaten candy from Iceland before. He mentioned that he happened to have a giant bag of Icelandic candy with him to share with anybody who might be interested. I ended up leaving with a big bag of puffin eggs and a great story.
Click here to read the Freyju Djupur Sukkuladihjupadur Lakkris (Also known as Puffin Eggs) review.
Most Surprising Variety - It's very rare that a "normal" candy makes my list of most memorable, but these Skittles really worked well. First of all I first tried them in the fall, actually I first tried them while walking through Gatineau park in Quebec while walking a trail during the fall. Gatineau park is world famous for the beautiful fall colours, and this day did not fail. I was walking along eating these Skittles and the flavour just worked so perfectly. Even though a few of them aren't orchard fruit from where I live. The fruit choice was perfect, and the timing was perfect. This doesn't always happen when I'm eating candy, but when it does it's truly magical.
Click here to read the Skittles "Orchards" review.
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