Candy In The Media - Sushi Fun Candy

I love the idea of making sushi candy. It's amazing the similarities between these two foods, as well as the amount of skill it takes to make them both.

CC

It's Santy Cane!!!

Hey Everybody It's Santy Cane!
by candycritic

Looking for that perfect Christmas apparel for any candy fan (either yourself or a friend), why not wear Santy Cane. He's jolly, sweet and covered with facial hair. Nothing says good idea like a candy cane with a beard and a boot.

Check out all our shirts here.

And make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with all our new designs.

CC

It’s Monday And We’re In Thailand

No review this week since we’re Thailand, but we will be posting a review-a-thon in December. We also have a new episode of Chris’s Monday Morning Breakfast Thoughts that we just finished recording. In this episode we show off our newest piece of candy merchandise.

Click here to check out the new episode of Chris’s Monday Morning Breakfast Thoughts.

Also make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our Thailand adventure.

CC

Candy In The Media - For The Love Of Old Fashioned Candy Making

This video is not only a look at the restoration and use of an old candy machine, it's a love letter to the very idea  of restoring old candy machines and using them to make candy once again.

CC

A Random Video - I Eat Gum From A Toy Car... Yup, That's Random.

I don't know why I find this to be so strange, but a free piece of gum in a toy car is just a little odd to me. Strange since I think a piece of gum in collectable cards is totally normal.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see some of the  other fun stuff we did in Japan.

Also follow us on YouTube to keep up with all our crazy videos and podcasts.

CC

We Are Back From Japan And We're Eating Bugs - Zircca

First things first, this week's new  review is not from Japan,we're still organizing all of our haul and photographing it. This review is from our last episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! where I ate a bug filled candy bar. It was not a great bar, and strangely it had nothing to do with the bugs.

Click here to read about the review that didn't "bug" me at all.


The best way I thought to look at our triumphant return from Japan was with a video, and since it's Tuesday and we're always late, why not make it an episode of Chris's Monday (Tuesday) Morning Breakfast Thoughts.

Make sure to check out our posts from Japan on Twitter and Facebook.

You can also follow us on Instagram, because I'm told it's hip.

CC

Our Last Video From Japan

We’re getting ready to head back home from our awesome trip to Japan, but not without one last video. This time we’re comparing Kit Kat bars, matcha Kit Kat tonbe exact. Apparently Kit Kat has two matcha bars, one for everyone, and one for people with “grown up tastes”.

Click here to check out the difference between these two bars.

Make sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook feeds to see some pictures from our adventures.

CC

Memorable Japanese Kit Kats I've Reviewed - Part 5 - What I Knew About Japan Before I Went The First Time

Make sure to check out our earlier posts this week where we've been looking at some of the interesting Japanese Kit Kat bars that we've sampled in the past. Right now we're in Japan, and I'm hoping that right this minute I'm stuffing my face with even more Kit Kats.

Today I'm going to talk a little bit about my expectations of Japan. This is not my first trip to Japan (the one we're on right now), I went with Allison a few years ago and we stayed for several months. Allison had lived in Japan for several years, and she was working there again while we were there. I on the other hand was there to figure this place out. Figuring out Japan takes a lifetime, but trying to figure it out will make you very happy while you're there.

Growing up in Toronto I was  exposed to many Japanese things, including restaurants and Asian shops. I would often go to the Asian shops and explore. I would certainly look for candy and one thing I truly loved was ramune soda. It's a fairly average fruity soda, except on the method you open it. When I went to Japan I wasn't sure if everything I learned about Japan from the stores in Toronto would be accurate. As expected, in some ways it was the same and in some ways it wasn't. One of the ways that it was similar is the amount of ramune soda available. It was strange, but during my stay in Japan the first time, ramune soda actually reminded me a little bit of Canada.

That's why I had to get the ramune flavoured Kit Kat bar. To me it represents Japanese sweet food culture so well, and it reminded me of home a little too.

Click here to read about my ramune Kit Kat exspirience.

Also make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out what we're doing right.... now!

CC

Candy In The Media - Burger Bot

It's fun to watch this Burger Bot make burgers, but is it a better burger to eat?

CC

Memorable Japanese Kit Kats I've Reviewed - Part 4 - You Say Potato?

We're still in Japan, and if you're following us on Facebook and Twitter you may have caught wind of some of our treat adventures. This week on the site we've been talking about some of the more memorable Kit Kat bars that we've ever reviewed. I'm sure hopping that we're getting a few more to add to the collection right now.

Today we're going to talk about potatoes. Potatoes are not something that most westerners would associated with dessert or in particular candy. Japan, and many other countries in Asia however feel that potatoes (both sweet and regular) make for wonderful sweet treats. The most popular form is sweet potato, and there are several sweet potato sweet treats available all over Asia. In fact a regular treat in Japan is simply a baked sweet potato, they sell them in trucks that roam around neighborhoods and kids line up like they were buying ice cream.  Regular potato is not as common, but it's surely available.

If you know about the Asian love of potatoes, than this potato Kit Kat bar isn't that strange. Put into a western context though, and it's pretty weird indeed.  Personally I'm pretty fond of potatoes (both sweet and regular) and I have yet to find them in a sweet treat where it didn't really work.

Click here to read this potato review.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out if we found a sweet potato Kit Kat.

CC

Memorable Japanese Kit Kats I've Reviewed - Part 3 - The Ones You Bake

Remember that all week we're looking at some of the most memorable Japanese Kit Kat bars we've ever reviewed on the site. Last week we checked out Pocky and discovered some pretty creative ideas, but nothing as creative as the Kit Kat bar we're looking at today.

This Kit Kat bar was a thing of legend in the candy community when it first came out, no one could figure out how it worked. This was a Kit Kat bar that you put in the oven. The strange thing is that unlike regular Kit Kat bars, when you put it in the over it didn't melt into a puddle of melted chocolate. Instead this Kit Kat bar somehow grew a shell of cookie goodness.

No one is arguing that the way this bar does this can only be evil science or terrible magic, but the results are pretty tasty. When this bar was first released I remember reading so many other blogs about these cookies and I couldn't figure out how it worked.



Fortunately for you I decided to video the whole exspirience of baking these most creative of Kit Kat bars.

Click here to read our review of this very wild Kit Kat bar.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out what kind of Japanese treats we've come across in Japan this week.

CC

This Episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! Might Bug You - Cricket Chocolate Bar

People always ask me if I would eat a bug, the answer is yes. If you're wondering how I feel about eating bugs, you'll have to watch this episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!!

You can check out past episodes of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! here.

Also make sure to follow us on Twitter of Facebook to find out what we're eating next.

CC

Memorable Japanese Kit Kats I've Reviewed - Part 2 - The Weird Apple Vinegar

All this week we're looking back at some of the Japanese Kit Kat bars we've eaten. We're actually in Japan right now, and hopefully we've found a few more.  Today's Kit Kat bar is one that falls into the strange category. In fact it falls in the strange and likely not very tasty category. No one has ever asked for a vinegar flavoured Kit Kat bar, but here we are, and here it is.

This isn't the only foray into the weird that Kit Kat Japan has made. They've also come up with a wasabi flavoured Kit Kat, and a soy sauce flavoured bar as well. I'm sure there have been other weird flavours considering they've released more than 300 varieties in Japan alone.

What I wonder is if these crazy, likely gross flavours are still just as popular as the non-gross flavours. Do Japanese people really go for the gross, or is this even a gross concept to Japanese people. More importantly, has any of these gross flavours sold so well, that they've considered keeping them on forever?

Click here to check out our review of this not so great bar.

You can also  follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out if we found any new Kit Kat bars while in Japan.

CC

Memorable Japanese Kit Kats I've Reviewed - Part 1 - Two Japanese Classic Flavours In One

Last week we looked at some of the fun varieties of a classic Japanese treat, Pocky. This week we're looking at a classic British treat that took the world by storm, and then Japan ramped it up even further, the Kit Kat bar. It all started several years ago when Japan released a special green tea variety. Since then they've been breaking the boundaries of what we expect the Kit Kat bar to be. So every day this week we're posting a look back at some of the more interesting Japanese Kit Kat bars that we've reviewed. We're still in Japan, and hopefully we're finding even more.

For our first entry this week, I thought I would start with a Kit Kat bar that pretty much sums up the  flavours of Japanese candy. Japan has some pretty creative treats of their own, but they also excel at taking already established treats and giving them a Japanese spin. Two of the more common flavours to use in this kind of adaptation is match green tea and sweet red bean paste.

In the  past there have been various matcha and red bean Kit Kat bars, but this was the first time I'd ever seen them both together. It's a strange flavour combination, but it really does taste Japanese.

Click here to read our review about this ultra Japanese flavoured Kit Kat.

Also make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with our Japanese adventures right now.

CC

Monday Morning Breakfast Thought (quickie from Tokyo Disney)

Just got in to Tokyo Disney and we’re tired.

Click here to check out the very quick breakfast though.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our Tokyo Disney adventures.

CC

Opening A Classic Kyoto Candy

We’re on a train opening a special Kyoto treat known as Kotabe. It comes in many different flavours and we chose chestnut. It’s a treat you can only find in Kyoto, and it’s pretty unique. We’ll be posting the full review when we get home, but for now...

Check out the video of us opening and sampling some Kotabe.

Also make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with our entire adventure.

CC

My Favourite Pocky - Part 5 - The Different Stick

All this week we've been posting short blog posts celebrating our favourite Pockys that we've reviewed over the years. Today we're posting our last installment with a variation that we've only seen once with Pocky. Normally the thing that changes about Pocky are the flavour of the chocolate, the ingredients added to the chocolate, or the flavour of the cookie stick. This variant however changed the shape of the stick instead.

The flavour of this Pocky is a standard strawberry flavour, I think this is a flavour they've done a few times with a few subtle differences. This time however they changed the stick, and not in a way you might think. Instead of bending the stick, or turning it into a pretzel or something, they changed the stick from a round stick to a heart shape in the circumference. While I can't say that the idea worked well, it was pretty cool to see them go out on a limb and try something totally different.

I'm a really big fan of Pocky, and it's one of those treats that's become well known for the crazy varieties that are available. It's good to see that this company is willing to play with their classic treat, but it's also great to know that whenever you want, you can always go back to the original.

Click here to read about this fun strawberry Pocky.

As you know we're in Japan, so why not check out our Facebook and Twitter feeds to see what we're up to.

CC

Candy In The Media - Traditional Chocolate

If you want to know how chocolate was traditionally made, this is it. Best of all, it's still made this way in some places.

CC

Today I Ate Something Natto So Great.

As promised, the videos from our trip here in Japan just keep coming. This video is a bit of a return of sorts. 9 years ago (or so) we visited Japan and wrote a blog post about tasting natto (the most notoriously horrible food in Japan). Today we’re giving it another try, and frankly I’m surprised with the results.

Click here to check out our second attempt at natto.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our Japan adventure.

CC

My Favourite Pocky - Part 4 - My Main Squeeze

Make sure to check out our earlier posts this week where we featured some of our favourite Pockys that we've reviewed in the past. We're in Japan right now, hopefully finding some new Pockys to try. Today's entry is a really interesting Pocky, that's because it's a flavour of candy that you don't really see very often, grape.  Let me clear that up, you do see plenty of hard candies in grape, but you don't often see chocolate based treats in grape, and you certainly don't find too many grape cookies. But that's  not the only thing that makes this Pocky unique.

The flavour itself  was pretty interesting too, it wasn't that fake grape you might expect, it was a slightly tart, slightly more realistic grape. In my opinion, grape is an underused flavour, particularly when you're talking about a real grape flavour. That's what I like about candies like Pocky that keep coming out with different varieties, eventually they get desperate and start to explore flavours that aren't commonly used. Sometimes this ends in a wonderful disaster, but sometimes you get something really interesting. I've said it before, I'd rather try a creative disaster than a sure thing that's boring.

I've seen one other flavour of these Pocky Squeeze treats before, I forget what flavour it was, but I'm hoping to see more. I would be really keen to try this in a raspberry or maybe something interesting like a dragon fruit.

Click here to see what we had to say about this Pocky.

If you want to find out what we're up to in Japan, make sure to follow us  on Twitter and Facebook.

CC

My Favourite Pocky - Part 3 - Panda Pocky

All this week we're looking back at some of the Pocky we've reviewed in the past, today's Pocky is one that grabbed my attention right on the shelf.  I don't like to admit that I'm a sucker for a package or a gimmick on a candy, but I am. This is probably a perfect example of how a candy company can take a simple premises and turn it into something much more with a clever name and fun package.

What you have here is cookies and cream Pocky. The stick is the same, but they use a white chocolate with cookie bits on the outside. It's a simple idea that's been done a million times in the candy world. The thing that makes this Pocky great however is the cool package. In fact if you check out our Pinterest feed, you'll see that I've made this package the cover image for the "candy I've eaten" section. I love this package so much. It's simple and very clear. I would seriously buy a Panda Pocky t-shirt and wear it every day.

I'm sitting here years after writing the review and I can't for the life of me remember how these tasted, yet I can probably redraw the package from heart. That's how powerful some marketing can be. It's strange that Pocky can be a real hit or miss when it comes to marketing their different varieties. On yesterday's post we saw an example of a really weird marketing idea that even felt a little off putting. Today we're celebrating one of my favourite package designs ever.

Click here to read the review of this really good looking Pocky.

We're in Japan right now, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out what we're up to.

CC

Sampling McDonald’s Carbonara Fries In Japan.

Managed to get my hands on the legendary McDonald’s Carbonara fries today, and I made a little video of me preparing them. They actually weren’t that bad, they’re actually good enough that I’d get them again. I’d also be interested in more “strange” sauces for my fries at McDonald’s.

Click here to check out the video of me dumping a gross looking sauce on McDonald’s fries.

CC

My favourite Pocky - Part 2 - Manly Pocky

Remember, all this week we're looking at some of the Pocky varieties that we've already reviewed. We're also in Japan right now, and might be discovering some new ones. Today's Pocky is one of the first varieties of this treat that I'd ever sampled, and it was a little strange.

I've seen a few other candies, and in particular chocolate bars, that have gone with a "for men" campaign. The problem I've had with these candies is I've never actually been around to see the advertising campaign itself that goes with it, which I assume would explain why women can't eat this particular candy. So to me I always see these as being a little sexist. From what I remember about these Pocky, the only difference between these Pocky for men and the regular ones is that the chocolate is dark.

The macho man in me wants to believe that for some reason there's a food that only I, as a man, can handle, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Even more to the point is the fact that most women I know prefer dark chocolate. I would say that the first introductions to dark chocolate, and the appreciation I have for it has come from women. So I really don't understand this variety at all.

Click here to read our review of this sexist Pocky.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook as we search Japan for a Pocky for women.

CC

My favourite Pocky - Part 1 - Classic Pocky

All this week (while we're in Japan), we're going to look back at our favourite Japanese cookie treat, Pocky.  Pocky has become so popular all over the world that some people might not even know that it got its start in Japan in 1966.  By Japanese standards it's a new candy, it really ushered in a new trend of candy from Japan being distributed all over the world.

The first Pocky we're going to look at is the classic Pocky, the one that started it all. The great thing about this treat is while it's very simple, it really works. Better yet is that they really haven't changed it that much over the years. Even though we'll be looking at different Pockys all week, the classic Pocky has everything that makes this treat great. The thin layer of chocolate and a cookie stick that has probably one of the most unique and satisfying textures of any cookie treat.

This classic treat has become so popular all over the world, that it's started to become manufactured outside of Japan. The good thing is that it seems that the other factories/manufactures are getting it right.. I've had Pocky in a few places around the world, and each version seem to hold up to the standards of the classic Japanese variety.

So all this week we'll be looking at different Pocky treats that we've reviewed (and maybe while we're here in Japan we might find a few new ones to taste), but it's important to note that the origin of all of these varieties is very solid. Not many treats can pull off so many varieties. It takes a simple yet well executed treat to spawn so many great versions.

Click here to read our classic Pocky review (it was one of our first reviews that we posted, so it a little short).

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see if we come across any new Pocky on our Japanese adventure this week.

CC

It’s Our Monday Morning Breakfast Thoughts From Japan!

In this special episode Chris is at KFC in Japan, and he’s enjoying a biscuit. The thing about these biscuits is they’re good, really good, maybe better than the biscuits you get at KFC in the USA.

Check out the video here, and make sure to follow us on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter to keep up with all our travel videos.

CC

Candy In The Media - Making Your Own Candy Only Better

I really love Bon Appetit's series of videos with Claire Saffitz where she attempts to make gormet versions of popular treats. These are treats that we eat all the time, but she wants to give them a gourmet twist.

Click here to check out her attempt at Kit Kat bars and Lucky Charms.

CC