Happy New Year!

 

Junk Fud and You - Snack Sets?

 Buying a set or variety pack of treats or candy can have it's pros and cons. I decided to examine both and let those candy companies know how to do it right.

Fact on Those Snacks

If you want to learn more about some classic snacks, make sure to pick up my fun comic book called Snack Facts.

You can pick up your copy at candycritic.org/snackfacts/buy.htm or on Amazon. 

Jellies From Asia

Whenever I write a new review, probably one of the hardest parts is trying to figure out what category it might fit into. While it's not always hard, in cases like this latest featured review it can be very challenging. I do have a category that's simply called "unique", but I try my hardest not to put any reviews into that category as it seems like a cheat. In the case of these Asian jelly candies, I figured lumping them in with gummies would be okay.

Check out my latest "gummy" review... sort of.

The Best Tea is a High Tea

 

I’ve had a few fancy meals in my life, but one meal in particular always seems fancier than the rest. Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever had a great fancy breakfast, but I’ve had a few fancy lunches and dinners. However, the meal that’s always fancy no matter what is high tea. I’ve had high tea in small cafes and I’ve had high tea in super fancy hotels, and each and every time it’s felt elegant and fancy. It’s really the only meal where I feel like I’ve stepped into an episode of Downton Abbey.

For those unfamiliar with this meal, it generally takes place in the late morning or early afternoon. As you might have guessed, the drink that goes with this meal is tea, however I’ve seen a few afternoon teas that offer fruity alcoholic drinks as well. The food is almost always delivered on a tall tower of plates and almost always consists of foods you eat with your hands (I’ll get more into that in a minute). Dessert is also almost always included with your tower of plates, so everything comes at once.

In general the idea of this meal is to sip tea, nibble on small hand held foods and talk with your friends. I think originally it was more of a social gathering than a meal, however today people also really go for the food as well. I also imagine that in the past this was a “simple” meal by the standards of those having it. In other words it was a simple meal for fancy people, but most people would still consider the food fancy.

While there are many different interpretations of this meal, most of the time there are certain things you always find available on your tower of plates. Just an FYI, most places do not let you order what you want, at most they might have a vegetarian and meat option but mostly you just eat what they give you. Fortunately it’s not just one food, there’s often a variety. The portions are also almost always small, so if you don’t like something you don’t have much of it to eat.

Probably the most common, and in my opinion important staple of this meal is scones with jam and cream (most often clotted cream). I’ve never had an afternoon tea that didn’t include this, this is also often the item where you might get more than one type of scone. More often than not you get the cream and jam separately and you’re expecting to put it on your scone yourself. Let me warn you, depending on where you are the order of how you spread your cream and jam can be very important. Ask your server if you have any questions.

The next most common part of this meal is the sandwiches. It’s not uncommon to get a few different sandwiches in your tower. It’s also not uncommon for the crusts to be cut off your sandwiches. While you can get any kind of sandwich, cucumber sandwiches are the most common. It’s another item that I can’t ever remember not getting in my high tea meal.

Sometimes you’ll also get small meat tarts or quiches as well. Other than the cucumber sandwiches, this is really the time for the chef to shine. I’ve been lucky enough to try some great local foods in this portion of my high tea meal, and best of all it’s just a bite so I can always sample more than one dish.

The top of the tower is where you find your desserts. The only thing I’ve found consistent about this part of the high tea meal is that the desserts will be super fancy and small. This again appeals to my love of tasting new foods, since they’re often only one or two bites. 

I love a good high tea. It can be very expensive considering how much food you get, but it’s always an adventure. It’s also not always necessary to go to the most expensive high tea place. Some of the best high teas I’ve had are at small cafes that really care about what they’re presenting on the plate. I’ll be honest, even the worst high tea I’ve had was still pretty good.

Merry Christmas!

I hope all your stockings are filled with sweet treats... except maybe the ones you're wearing, that would be just awkward.

10 Second Kitchen - Street Tea Yangon, Myanmar

 Watching a pot boil at a street market in Yangon, Myanmar.

Those Beasts and Treats

 If you've ever wondered what kind of treats that beasts like to devour, check out my awesome alphabet book called Treats And Beasts.

You can pick up Treats and Beasts at bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/ or on Amazon.

Wafer Bar Problem

This latest featured review is the main reason I have trust issues when it comes to wafer bars. It's not that I totally dislike wafer based bars, in fact my favourite bar (the British Kit Kat) is a wafer based bar. The thing about wafer based bars is when they're good, they can be fantastic, but when they're bad... yuck.

Check out this latest wafer based bar, in this case the wafer actually ruined the whole treat.

Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! - Hot and Spicy Lay's

 I decided to taste test a flavour of Lays who's name doesn't really make sense, except for the fact that they're really spicy.

Blue Orchid For The One You Love

 It might be tight, but there still might be time to pick up Blue Orchid for the holidays, and even if there isn't, it's better late than never.

Pick up all things Blue Orchid at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon (or search "blur orchid comics").

What If I Just Stopped Eating Spicy Snacks?

I've mentioned here many times that I'm not a huge spicy food fan. In fact I would describe my spice tolerance and low, only recently getting a little closer to moderate. I've always had mixed feelings about eating spicy snacks. I know that I'm probably not going to enjoy them, but I feel like I would be doing people reading visiting my site a disservice by not reviewing them occasionally. It's a really weird situation, I know I'm not going to like it that much, but I feel like I have to eat it.

Check out my latest spicy review.

Pop Mart Treats... Sort Of

For those unfamiliar, Pop Mart is a toy company that has stores all over the world featuring fun pop art style toys. While the name Pop Mart might not be that familiar to you, I’m willing to bet you’ve heard of Labubu, which is a Pop Mart toy. Their lines of toys reaches way beyond Labubu, and includes some of their own original creations as well as some licensed characters done in their style.  While I’ve seen their toys all over, I’d never actually gone into a Pop Mart store before, until now.

The main reason I’d never been into a Pop Mart store before is that it’s not uncommon for their to be a lineup to get it, sometimes the line can be really, really long. Most of their stores also often have a lot of security and bag checks just to go in. However, on a recent trip to Bangkok I came across a Pop Mart store with no line, and I happened to have no bag with me at the time (so I didn’t have to check it or have it searched).

I decided, for the sake of this blog, to check out all of the candy/snack themed treats that I could find and report back.

Since Labubu is what’s hot, I’ll start there. There are dozens of different monster/Labubu toys themed with snacks and food. In fact I would almost say that more than half of the Labubu toy lines have at least one or two characters that have some kind of food tie in, and several that are completely food themed.

Most of the food themed Labubus are pretty general and based on popular Asian foods, however I did come across a series of Coca-Cola themed Labubus, so you know they’re not shy about having official tie ins. Makes me wonder what other food company would pair well with Labubu. I’m thinking and Oreo cookie or Pocky themed Labubu would be kind of cool.

I also came across a series of toys they have called Pino Jelly that seemed to have a sort of gummy theme to them. Some of them seemed more candy branded than others.

I also came across these Mickey Mouse themed toys, many of which had fun candy/snack themes. The vending machine themed Mickey was probably my favourite.

Probably my favourite non-Labubu collection of toys was called “Molly Carb-Lover”. It’s a series of cute little dolls that all have some kind of bread/baked good theme. It’s a really peculiar set and even a weirder name, but I think that’s why I liked it.

The final thing I came across was this dog/hamburger themed toy called Hacipup. It seems like it might serve another function, but I really couldn’t figure it out since I don’t know what a “rolling time machine” does.

Candy and snacks as a theme in toys is common, when it comes to collectible toys like the ones from Pop Mart it seems like having a food tie in is essential. I didn’t buy anything on this trip as I was frankly overwhelmed with choices. Maybe one day I’ll get some kind of key chain/bag charm from Pop Mart, but for now I think I’ll just brows. 

One thing that makes me curious is if Pop Mart will ever go the other direction and start making treats. I feel like their visual style would work great for making fun and very pretty looking candy, and in particular gummies. For now though it appears that nothing at Pop Mart is actually edible, it’s just that half the toys look like they should be.

10 Second Kitchen - Cinnabon Bangkok, Thailand

 Watching them finish up some tasty mini cinnamon buns at the Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand.

Holiday Cheer with Blue Orchid!

 Don't panic, there's still plenty of time to get Blue Orchid comics (and even some merch) to the one you love this holiday season.

You can get everything you need at https://www.bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon(or you can also search "blue orchid comics" on Amazon)

Is It A Cookie?

Is there a certain ratio that makes a cookie a chocolate treat? One of the biggest challenges I come across on a regular basis is trying to figure out which category of treat to put many of the snacks I review. This latest review is just such a problem. It's a cookie, but it's also a big glob of chocolate. There's probably more chocolate than cookie, but the cookie really feels like the part that's holding this whole treat together. So is it a cookie, or is it a chocolate?

Check out this latest confusing review.

Quick List - My Favourite Candy Packages

 A quick list of some of my favourite candy packages from all of the treats that I've reviewed on candycritic.org.

Blue Orchid For Christmas!

  Fill up someone's stocking with lots and lots of fun comics!

Pick every issue of Blue Orchid (the comic I wrote and drew) right now for that special person on your Christmas list.

You can get everything you need at https://www.bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon(or you can also search "blue orchid comics" on Amazon).

Best Gummy Ever?

The fact that there are so many gummy candies out there in the world makes it really hard to pick one that is better than another. I think we could all point out some of the worst gummies in the world, but the best depends greatly on what you like in a gummy candy. I have opinions on the subject, but I think I can also say that I've tasted a lot of gummy candies, so maybe my opinion matters? Probably not.

Check out my latest gummy review, it's in my opinion the best gummy ever made.