A Little Disappointment

I think the candy world might be one of the few where price often doesn't guarantee success. It's not to say that there aren't any great expensive candies or treats, it's just saying that there are many great very inexpensive treats. I've eaten candies that cost more than their weight in gold, and I've eaten candy that seems like they couldn't possible be making a profit selling the candy on the price of the package alone. In both of these categories I've tasted some amazing treats. I've also tasted some treats in both of these categories that I'd like to forget about.

Check out this latest review, which falls more into the category of I'd like to forget about, but I did pay a premium for it.

Bad Chocolate

I'm always conflicted about bad chocolate. Chocolate is a treat that often has a very close association of quality and price. It's very rare to get a really great piece of chocolate for a very cheap price. Having said that, I have had some disappointing expensive chocolate in the past. The reason inexpensive chocolate is often not great is fairly simple, cocoa is expensive. The reasons behind expensive chocolate being disappointing is a little harder to explain. My latest review is firmly in the the inexpensive, and not really great category. Maybe some day I'll be surprised, but for now I'll just keep tasting.

Check out my latest disappointing chocolate bar review.

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The Advent of Calendars

Every year I go to the store and stare dumbfounded at the Christmas items. My first thought is often, September seems a little early to be selling Christmas items, but that’s followed by my indecision trying to pick out my advent calendar for the Christmas season. The advent calendar is probably the first Christmas treat I think about for the holidays. It seems like the only holiday treat you can buy well before Christmas, mostly because you actually start eating it on December 1st.

So there I am, staring at the vast selection of cardboard walls filled with 24 doors hiding surprises behind each. The question is, which one should I get? For the sake of argument, and to keep this blog on brand, let’s eliminate any non-candy themed advent calendar. I’m not saying that they’re inauthentic or better or worse than the candy themed advent calendars. I just feel like they’re in a category all their own. The question I want to focus on is which of the candy filled advent calendars should I get.

While the selection is huge, one thing I’ve noticed is that almost all of them seem to have a chocolate theme. It’s pretty rare (if not impossible) to find an advent calendar filled with hard candy or gum. There’s also three basic categories I find with advent calendars. There’s the inexpensive basic chocolate calendars, calendars filled with popular candy bars, and calendars filled with fine chocolates. The prices of these different categories also have a huge range. First let’s look at each category, then try and figure out what’s best.

To me, the most traditional form of advent calendars are the simple chocolate ones. At the very least, these are the kind that I used to get as a kid. I’m not sure if the candy bar calendars and fancy calendars came out later in my life, or if my parents kept them away from me so they wouldn’t have to spend that much money. In general the quality of the chocolate is not great. Sometimes it’s downright awful (as I’m experiencing right now). The kinds/sizes of the chocolate in these simple advent calendars tends to be pretty basic, on occasion they have a bigger chocolate for the last one. Shapes can also vary in variety, however I often find that these simpler calendars have some pretty festive shapes and designs. The biggest advantage of these advent calendars is the price. If you’re looking for the fun of opening a door every day, maybe to a fun little shape, but you don’t care about the chocolate, these are for you.

The next category is the candy bar calendars. These are advent calendars filled with a name brand candy like Kit Kat or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I feel like these have come about more recently as advent calendars have become more popular. The size of the treat in these can also vary, but most of the time you have snack or mini sized versions of the classic treat, with a full sized treat as your last. Theme wise it can sometimes be a little weak as the focus is on the candy being recognizable and not festive. Although this is changing a bit over the last few years with many candy brands releasing special holiday themed versions of their treats. The price of these is one of the differences between these and the simple advent calendars. You can find these candy bar calendars going for 10 times the price of the basic simple calendars. These will give you the treats you want/like, but you’re paying for it and you might be disappointed with the size of each treat.

The final category of advent calendar is filled with fine chocolates. The quality of these treats guarantees you’ll enjoy eating each and every chocolate. Theme wise they can really vary, in some cases they can be truly festive, sometimes they just hint at the holidays, while other times they’re more concerned with making pretty chocolates over the festive spirit. These treats will often make your mouth very excited about opening each door, but it’s at a cost as they’re never cheap. I’ve seen some of these calendars go for over 100 dollars.

Which calendar you buy really depends on what experience you want, and if you’re willing to pay for it. In general, I tend to go for the simple cheap chocolate calendars. I feel like part of it is out of nostalgia, but also what I’m looking for. There’s something fun about opening a little door each morning, seeing a little festive designed treat, and getting just a little sweet chocolate taste. If I want something fancy or name brand, I feel like I’d be better off just buying that treat separately. I will say that on occasion I’ve been very disappointed with the quality of the treats in these simple calendars, however I’ve also been surprised at how good some of them are too. 

I feel like the ceremony of the advent calendar is much more important than the treat itself. While it’s always nice to get something tasty, it’s not so important to me that it would ruin the yearly tradition of opening up little doors every day in December even if the chocolate isn’t that great.

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This Week In Candy

Last week I was challenged... well sort of, by the folks at Kit Kat to make a Kit Kat hot dog.  There's pretty much no food challenge I won't consider, and this one seemed like it might work out.  On Twitter, the folks from Kit Kat sent me a photo of a Kit Kat hot dog and kind of dared me to try it.  The bread and Kit Kat seemed like it would be not problem, but I was a little concerned about the ketchup.  At first I went through the various ingredients that I could use that would look like ketchup, but would taste good on a Kit Kat bar.  I had a few ideas like jam and strawberry sauce, but then I thought about it.  I thought that using anything but ketchup would be cheating, and not really in the spirit of the challenge.

So I decided that the best thing I could do is just go for it.  As you can see above, it's not the most appetizing of foods to look at, but strangely enough the ketchup wasn't so bad.  The fact that many bottled ketchup's have so much sugar worked with the Kit Kat bar.  The slightly sour vinegar taste of the ketchup actually balanced out with the sweet Kit Kat.  While I don't think we'll be seeing a Ketchup Kit Kat in the near future, it wasn't as gross as I thought it would be.

We just posted a new episode of our Junk Fud podcast.  Junk Fud is a podcast where I chat with my friends about the world of candy, baked goods, fast food, and anything else we might deem as "junk food".  This episode I'm talking with my friend Mark about one of our favorite foods, pizza.  Mark and I are going to try and post a monthly episode of Junk Fud, and we're looking for any subject ideas you might have.  You can download the latest episode here, as well as some of our older episodes as well.

Over the last few weeks several chocolate bar companies have announced that they're changing the size of their chocolate bars.  Some companies have also come out announcing that they refuse to change the size, but prices will likely go up.  This is in big part to a huge increase in the price of cocoa right now.  Or more realistically, a huge fluctuation in the price of cocoa over the last few years.  Since candy companies don't know how much they're going to be paying for cocoa, they assume that they're paying the most it's been for a while, rather than lose money.  So what's your opinion on this, should candy companies change the size of chocolate bars, make them more expensive, or is there another alternative to keeping the candy industry in business.

I can't believe I'm already down to the fourth paragraph and I'm only now talking about Valentine's Day.  It's this week, and that means that heart shaped boxes of chocolates, conversation hearts, and heart shaped lollipops are going to be flying off the shelf this week.

To help you gear up for the holiday of love, this week on Snack Facts we'll be looking at Valentine's Day.  Check out our Instagram feed were every day we'll be posting a new fun fact about the holiday we all love.  If you're not on Instagram, you can also follow our loving posts on our Facebook page and our Twitter feed as well.

I've reviewed a few Valentine's treats in my day, but so many of them aren't really that clever.  So this year I thought of the most clever treat you could give that someone you love.  I thought the Passion Flake is both tasty and a clever gift for this holiday, I just hope Allison agrees.

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Candy News

For all of you bakers out there, I have three words for you "Sweet Potato Caramel".

So the folks at Haribo designed some candies that aren't really politically correct, so now they're saying sorry.

What better way to say I love you than candy, because apparently people would rather have that then a handful of dying flowers.

According to the Specialty Food Association, everybody is looking to blow out their taste buds with extreme flavors.

The words decadent and chocolate are used a lot together, I think this is a good thing.

Did you know the difference between Dutch Process and Natural cocoa?  Did you even know that there was a difference?

I never thought that one could even make Cotton Candy by hand (without a machine) but I've been proven wrong.

First Cadbury purple is trademarked, now it appears that the shape of a Kit Kat might be trademarked too.

Speaking of Kit Kat, apparently there's a Kit Kat store in Tokyo that just opened... change my travel plans.

First they tell us that chocolate prices are going up, then they tell us to eat more white chocolate, now they're saying that chocolate prices are going back down... I'm so confused.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Candy News

I know Christmas is passed, but I still have more holiday links to post.  Like this one about how to build an indestructible gingerbread house. And this article about one of the greatest Canadian Christmas treats ever.

Got some eggnog left over?  Why not make some ice cream?

Could 2014 be the year of white chocolate? It appears that chocolatiers are finding a use for this confectionery that most people consider faux chocolate.

I always get a kick out of reading articles about people that are taking traditional candies and bringing them back.

If you happened to get any chocolate for Christmas this year, you might want to hang onto it as an investment.

Is the world really a better place when candy fights cavities, instead of causing them?

Disney is well known for some pretty spectacular treats, and now your car can smell like one.

Have you ever tried astronaut ice cream, have any astronauts?

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Candy News

I don't want to call these gingerbread houses, I'd rather call them gingerbread art.  Here's the first, and here's the second.

Just in case you want to make your own gingerbread art, here's how you can make a ginger D20.

Quick cookie tip, this is particularly good if you bake a lot of Christmas cookies this season.

I'm probably one of the worst food bloggers when it comes to typos, fortunately I'm not the only one.

The secret origin of candy canes.

How well do you know Yankee candle? I can only assume since you're reading this blog about candy that you know your Jelly Belly flavours.

Just when you thought all of the news this week would be happy, and be about Christmas, Mars has to go and shrink their bars, for profit.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Candy News

Jimmy Kimmel has a horrible (and funny?) tradition of asking parents to video tape their kids reaction when they tell them that they've eaten all of their Halloween candy.

The National Confectioners Association has published some great tips on how to make your Halloween candy last.

I look forward to the day when I can tell you that the chocolate price crisis is over, but I really think it's just getting started.

Wouldn't you know it, just when chocolate prices start really going up, more scientific proof that chocolate's actually good for you.

You could argue all day about where in Europe the best chocolate is made, however the most chocolate consumed in Western Europe is in Germany.

As you can imagine, this article about a man eating a world record 121 Twinkies in 6 minutes, also features an attractive photo.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Glowing Ice-Cream - Lick Me I'm Delicious - While I really would like to try this, I don't think I want to spend the 140 British Pounds a scoop that it costs. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Candy News

Apparently there's a study that looks at what treats are best to eat while driving.

I was wondering if I should list this Japanese "Butt Pudding" as a "Thing I Wanted To Try", but frankly I don't really want to try it.

Do you love, or hate, the hard dip on an ice cream cone?  Well here's the science behind it, and it's only three words.

Jason Segel may be staring in the most Canadian movie ever made, all about maple syrup.

Think you could manage the worlds largest cookie, pumpkin pie, ice cream cone, or cupcake?  I'll place a bet against it.

More and more candy companies are pledging to stop advertising to kids, so start advertising to me, I'm a good demographic.

Cocoa prices have spiked, and that means chocolate bars will either be more expensive, or less chocolaty... It's a lose/lose situation.

Is the concept of savory and sweet in combination no longer a novelty yet?  I've been writing about it for years, candy companies have been making these treats for years, I think it's officially a common thing.

Ad Age takes a look back at Twinkie the Kid.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Candy News

So apparently dark chocolate is gaining in popularity, I can honestly tell you that I know more people now that would prefer dark chocolate than milk chocolate.

Are you a late night snack fiend, here's a few reason you might be doing it.

The candy store Sugar Factory,that attracts the stars in Las Vegas, is now opening a location in Hollywood.

When you buy a treat at the dollar store, what kind of candy do you expect to get?

Science is still trying to make the perfect alternative sweetener, the question is, do they work?

Do you like your salty snacks to taste like meat?  If so, what's your favorite meat flavour?

How would you like to combine your love of coffee with your fascination with the dead?

I have a parakeet flavoured ice cream cone, what flavour is yours?

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Old Candy Critic Articles - A Spooky look at Spooky Mix

I've decided to take down several old articles from the candycritic.org and re-post them here on the Candy Critic blog.  This week I'm posting an article getting you guys into the Halloween spirit.  It's all about a special bag of sweet treats, and what exactly is inside it.

In the candy world there is no bigger holiday than Halloween. The thing is, so often all you see is the same candy that you see all year round in smaller packages. I don't like it; I mean one of the ways of making the candy industry worse is giving me less variety. The other option candy companies take is to re-decorate their treats in Halloween wrappers. If you ask me the people should be wearing the costumes not the candy. People go in the costumes, candy goes in the people, that's the way it should be.

There are however a few companies that make special treats just for this holiday. The problem is they're generally really expensive or really cheap. The pricier ones are simple, they're generally great, but the chances of people giving them away on Halloween are pretty slim. The cheap ones are what I like anyways, I mean the surprise is the best part of this holiday. So here's what I've done, I went to my local bargain store and found the cheapest Halloween treats I could find. I'm going to eat them, I'm going to tell you what I think, and maybe I might even like a few of them. That or I'll be grossed out or even get sick. Wait a minute if I like them I'll probably get sick eating them all anyways. Either way I'm probably not going to be doing very well by the end of this, so it's a good time for all.

The treat of choice is a bag full of something called Spooky Mix. Now I don't want to give away the price but let's just say I couldn't buy an average chocolate bar for what I paid for these. Now they may be older than Halloween itself so that'll have to factor in. I picked out the less dusty of the bags, but that could always be because they where at the bottom of the pile. I should also mention that the eyes on the pack freak me out a little, not because they're out of the socket or blood shot, it's because they're not quite looking in the same direction. That always gives me the shakes.

So it's on to the tasting. I'll write up a simple review and then tell you how much I liked them by how many of them I ate all at once we'll call it the Glut-O-Meter.

Hard... holy cow this stuff is hard. Ouch!!!

As far as I can tell it takes a little work to actually turn this little piece of cement into gum. The part that sucks for me is I'm trying each color; to make sure there are no flavor differences and each time my mouth is put through its paces.

Well after a crazy chew I've come to realize that they’re all the same flavor, and that flavor is... Well gum flavored. I guess plain would be the best way to describe this gum, maybe sugary too. I really wish gum companies would stop it with this plain flavor stuff; even a little mint or something would be OK.

Chew time : 4 min

As you may have guessed this treat is both orange and licorice flavored. Fortunately for me the orange really takes over because I'm not a big fan of licorice. I have to say I kind of like the stripes, not as taste but how they look. This candy is really just your run of the mill hard candy, nothing spook-tacular at all.

Suck time : 8 min

Ah the lollipop, you won't steer me wrong, will you?

The lolly is purple and the flavor is grape, what could be more terrifying than grape? I'm actually a big fan of grape flavors, most of the time. This one doesn't really taste like grapes, the fruit. I don't care though, because if I wanted a grape I'd eat a grape, actually I wouldn't mind a grape, but that doesn't take away from this treat. It's tasty and it works for me.

Suck time : 13 min

Of all of the treats in this pack this one was the biggest mystery, and I suppose mysteries are good on Halloween right? As it turns out it's a chew (like taffy), the flavor really escapes me to be honest. It might be orange, but I could just be saying that because it was colored orange. To be honest I don't know what it was, but I guess the great unknown is what you want on Halloween.

Now I've put these treats together because they basically look the same to me, or at least the wrappers do. The candies themselves match the color of the wrappers and the flavor...

Well green taste a little like, pineapple? I was waiting to get a mouthful of lime but I think its pineapple or something like that. It's not bad just a little odd for the color.

Yellow is, yep you guessed it, lemon. I'm a big fan of lemon candies the only thing that turns me off them is when they contain medicine, then I feel like I'm being deceived. This lemon candy isn't bad, might be my favorite treat so far.

Orange... wait for it... Oh ya, it's orange. I'd like to say I figured it would be but if you've read up until now you'll realize that orange isn't always orange. This is another fine hard candy, I like'em

I should mention one bad thing about all of these candies, when I unwrapped them much of the foil package came off on the candy. I peeled all I could but I'm sure I missed some.

Suck time : 9 min

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Tuesday's Candy Links

More chocolate, more selection, this is the kind of news I like to hear from local chocolate makers.

If you think that the size of cola servings is the problem with the world today, you can pretty much just blame Pepsi.

If you have several thousand dollars to blow on a meal today, here's a list of 15 of the World’s Most Expensive Foods. Did the $25,000 sundae catch your eye, here's some specifics on it.

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This Week In Candy

Candy News -  The hot weather in North America seems to dominate the news headlines these days, in particular the bad crops and possible increase in food prices.  The question is how is this going to affect the candy industry.  A great deal of the ingredients found in candy are produced outside of North America, in particular the expensive ingredients like sugar a chocolate.  But there are still many things grown more locally that are used often, like corn and potatoes.  So will there be a dramatic price increase in candy over the next year?

What's Happening At Candy Critic - I've decided to put myself on a strict baking regime as of late.  I'm working on a baking cookbook and frankly I've been doing far too little baking for a guy writing a cookbook.  I'm also racking my brain for good Candy Critic review-a-thons, so if you have any ideas, it would be much appreciated.  Finally I'm thinking about starting a section on this blog about candy tourism, if you have any places that should be mentioned, let me know.

Rant - Is it too hot to write a rant?  I should probably just cool my jets with some ice cream instead.

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Friday's Candy Links

We all knew that the snack bar at the movie theater was ripping us off, but do you know how much they're ripping you off?

So you're single and you want to meet a nice guy or girl, what's stopping you?  Well according to the folks at Dentyne it could be your bad breath.

People tell me I have a "sweet job", that's a double entendre and they're implying that my job is good and that I get to eat sweets.  Well it turns out someone has done the science on this.

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This Week In Candy

Candy News - Spring time really is the season of new foods.  All kinds of food shows (not just candy related) and all kinds of new treats (many of them candy related) are coming out this time of year.  I'll try and keep up, but it's not easy, unless the candy companies producing these treats want me to review them, and send me a few, then it'll be a lot easier.

What's Happening At Candy Critic - Just got back from a quick visit to London to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.  I've never seen so many snacks and treats dedicated to one person in my life.  Every shop window and every store shelf had something dedicated to the Queen.  All this week I'll post my adventures and all of the cool things I found.

Rant - Tim Horton's, a donut chain in Canada has a great business model.  One of the highlights of this business model is their prices.  Every single Tim Horton's, all over the world, have the same prices.  Including the Tim Horton's located in Airports.  I love this idea, and I want to know, why are things in airports so freaking expensive?  Every time I travel I wonder around airports (because I have to show up hours before my flight for a reason I can't figure out, but don't get me started on that) and I find all kinds of things I'd normally buy, but at almost double the price.  Why do I have to pay a premium because I'm in an airport?

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Monday's Candy Links

The folks at the Today show know that a little sugar alone can't make you fat.

If you live in the Middle East (Dubai to be exact) and you want to blow a ton of dough on a box of chocolates, I have the perfect solution.

Serious Eats offers up 10 creative ideas to top your popcorn.

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Friday's Candy Links

Star Wars geeks unite, it's Jabba the Cupcake.

Friends Eat presents their list of the top chocolatiers in the world, I don't agree that these are the best, but they are very good.

On the subject of chocolate, it looks like chocolate treats are going to get even more expensive in the near future.

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Airport Find - Hot Dog Airplane

One of my favorite things about traveling is checking out airports.  In particular I love checking out all of the unique treats and treat advertising that you can only find in airports.  On my recent trip to Brussels I took note of a few of the great candy displays and exclusive treats, and I'm going to post a new one every day this week.

I like this sign a lot, the idea of a hot dog airplane makes me giggle, and I just like the sentence "Need Food?".  The problem I have with this sign is how it seems to be advertising the idea that you can get food at a reasonable price in an airport.  With a few exception, food is overpriced at almost every airport in the world and I'm certain they do this because they know that travelers have no other choices.  I have spent 20 euros (that's like 35 dollars) on Burger King in an airport for one person, if that's not ridiculous I don't know what is.

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Tuesday's Candy Links

Dentist makes environmentally friendly gingerbread houses.

Gelatin prices are going up, so that means candy prices are going up too.

The continuing journey of the worlds largest chocolate bar, spreading the news about health... and really big chocolate bars.

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