So Many Pocky

I think Pocky probably ranks as number 2 on my list of candies with the most varieties, number 1 being Kit Kat. You wouldn't imagine that there could be so many varieties of a cookie stick covered in chocolate, but here we are. As of this moment I've reviewed 19 different variety of Pocky, and there are still a few out there I haven't tried, as well as new versions coming out all the time. I can't say that I've loved each and every version, but they have yet to make a real gross out version (like wasabi Kit Kat).

Check out my latest Pock review.

I Have A New Fake Flavour That I Don't Like, Thanks To This New Snack Review - Lay's 2 in 1 "Grilled Shrimp and Green Sauce"

It's important to establish this concept before I continue, there are two kinds of flavours in the snacking world, realistic flavours (sometimes real) and fake flavours. Realistic flavours are pretty self explanatory, they actually taste like the thing they're supposed to be representing. Fake flavours don't, but that's doesn't mean they're bad, it just means that the flavour evokes the thing it's supposed to represents more than it actually copies the flavour. When it comes to fake flavours, I actually enjoy most of them, the two exceptions are fake watermelon and fake banana flavouring. After writing this review however I can now add fake shrimp to this list.  I don't mind shrimp, but I generally dislike anything that's shrimp flavoured.

Click here to read the review where I made this discovery.

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Also, we're now posting our new reviews on Instagram, so you can follow us there as well.

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Bad Candy Ideas? - Part 4 - Fish Flavoured Anything

Everyday this week I'm posting about one of the worst ideas in the candy world that I've ever come across.  When it comes to salty snacks, I consider myself to have a pretty wide pallet as far as what I like.  I'm not a huge fan of spicy things, but generally I enjoy the taste, but not the burning sensation.  The one exception to this is anything that tastes like fish.  From prawn crackers to fish flavoured potato chips, I have never had a fish snack that I've enjoyed.

I think the biggest problem with fish flavoured treats is the fact that fish itself is a very subtle flavour.  Often when you're eating a strong flavoured fish, it's gone bad.  Fish flavoured snacks are always really strongly flavoured in order to compete with the potato, peanut, or cracker that it's flavouring.  So every time I bite into a fish themed snack it feels like I'm eating rotten fish.  I'm not saying that a fish flavoured snack is impossible, it just takes a great deal of care with flavour balance to get it right, and I don't think anyone has accomplished this yet.

Click here to read about one such horrible fish treat.

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This Week In Candy

This week I came across what I can only describe as the worst gimmick ever for a salty snack.  The snack in question is called Space Raiders, and the gimmick is so over the top and unrelated to sour pickled onion corn puffs that I just had to tell you about it.  I found these among a bunch of other salty snacks, but instantly I was attracted to the giant alien head on the package.  Most salty snacks have photos or illustrations of the ingredients, but these guys decided that an alien theme was the better way to go.  This alone is an interesting gimmick for a salty snack, but it doesn't end there.

On the back of the package there's an illustration of the same alien, but it's a full body shot, and there's some kind of height measurement next to him.  It's as if you'll want to know more about these Space Raiders before you eat their snacks.  The illustration also comes with more details about these creatures, such their species, home planet, habitat, and of course their favorite snack.  Not surprising one of their favorite snacks is Space Raiders Pickled Onion snacks.  All of the other things listed on this package are random words obviously made up to sound "spacey". (You can click on the image next to this text for a better look)

What I don't understand is where did these Space Raiders come from? Is this a TV show, a comic book, anything pre-existing? If not, it seems like a lot of work creating a cheesy fake universe for a salty snack.  I applaud them for going through so much detail, but I'm not really sure how well it melds with a their snacks.  I guess I'll have to try them to be sure...

This week on Snack Facts, our Instagram feed, we're looking at some of our favorite retro treats.  Every day this week we'll give you a new fact about a treat from days gone by.  Fortunately most (if not all) of these treats are still around today.  So why not follow our Instagram feed right now, and learn a little something.  If you don't have Instagram, don't worry, you can also follow Snack Facts on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Now it's time to find out if the Pickled Onion Alien snacks are actually worth eating, because they're this week's new review.  You can click here to see what I thought of the snacks themselves. How well does the alien theme work with these, is pickled onion really a tasty flavour, do Space Raiders have good taste in snack foods?

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A Cool Candy Thing

8-Bit Popcorn Tee Shirt by candycritic
Create a t-shirt.

Since we're featuring popcorn this week on our Instagram feed Snack Facts, I thought it would be a good idea to show off a t-shirt I designed a while back featuring the best popped snack ever thought of by the human race.  Popcorn is one of my go to snacks, and for some reason I can't resist the stuff whenever I'm watching a movie (at home or at a theater).  Best of all is how versitile this snack is, you can put sweet stuff on popcorn, salty stuff, and best of all, it tastes best with butter.  I mean what other snack tastes so much better with butter.  So show your popcorn pride, and pick up a T-shirt.

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This Week In Candy

It's chip week here at candycritic.org.  To start things off, we're having a potato chip review-a-thon.  That means that instead of just one review (posted today), you're getting a review ever day this week.  Best of all, each of these reviews will be a potato chip review.  We'll feature flavours from all over the world, some are great, some are horrible, but all make me want to drink copious amounts of cola (because that's what chips do).

Along with our potato chips review-a-thon, we're also featuring the glorious potato chip on our Intstagram feed Snack Facts.  That means that not only will you get a new chip review every day, but you'll also get a fun potato chip fact as well. If you're not on Instagram, then you can check out Snack Facts on our Facebook and Twitter feeds as well.

As far as projects that we're still working on: You can keep up with our Giant Jaw Breaker challenge on our Twitter, and Facebook feeds.  We're also finishing up a long  time second part of an article we wrote over 4 years ago about the Cadbury/Kraft merger, which should be posted next week.

To start off this week's review-a-thon, we have a potato chip from Greece, it's a typical Greek flavour, but it's a little cheesy.  We'll be posting new chip reviews all week, make sure to follow our Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter feeds to keep up with the latest reviews. Click here to read today's chips review.

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Canadian Candy List - Part 5 - Best Salty Treat

Over the last few years I've been living away from my home country, Canada.  I've been traveling the world exploring all kinds of snack foods, junk foods, and sweets, but my heart is still in Canada.  I'm going to be back home for an extended period, and I've decided to compile various lists on the theme of Canadian candy and snacks.  Each week, for the next several weeks, I'll be posting a different list of Canadian candies I've reviewed in various categories.  Some of these treats may be available in other parts of the world, some are exclusive to the Great White North, but in my mind all of them are Canadian.

Canada is very well known for its beer, or at least it should be.  For any country that's know for its beer there's an industry for the perfect salty snacks, and Canada has some great ones.  Some of them might seem a little strange to an outsider, but to Canadians these salty treats are a staple of our snacking diets.

 I'm sure you're probably looking at these Cheezies and wondering how they're any different than the standard cheese puffs you see all over the world.  It's simple, there's a density to these that are truly unique, and a cheesy flavour that's second to none.

Click here to read the Cheezies review.

These might not be the best chips I've ever eaten, but they're a great example of how even the big name brands understand how important the local flavour can be in Canada.  Rather than just making fun chips flavours, they make chip flavours that represent Canada.

Click here to read the Lay's "P.E.I. Loaded Baked" Potato Chips review.

 If you've never tasted dill pickle chips in your life you're truly missing out.  You're either missing out on one of the best flavour experiences you'll ever taste, or you're missing out on one of the strangest flavour experiences of your life.  Either way, you'll have an experience.

Click here to read the Old Dutch "Dill Pickle" review.

I love tacky souvenirs, and this one might be the best.  Why wouldn't you want to eat a chips out of a bag that looks like it should be filled with potatoes?  Best of all this bag is filled with locally made Prince Edward Island potatoes, some of the best in the world.

Click here to read the Prince Edward Island Potato Bag Chips review.

I'm sure that Canadians didn't invent the idea of using vegetables other than potatoes as chips, but with our awesome climate for growing root vegetables, we have some of the tastiest.  We have room to grow things, and we grow lots of great vegies to fry up and eat.

Click here to read the Root Chips review.






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Stuff I Want To Try

Caramel Crème Pretzel and Vanilla Frosting Pretzel - Combos Baked Snacks - It's about time they went the salty sweet rout. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Mustard and Ketchup Review

All we're really missing at this point is a hot dog.  Whenever I think of these two flavours, hot dogs are the first thing that pop into my head, particularly those inexpensive hot dogs from IKEA.  I always know what I'm getting when I buy one of those hot dogs, but for some reason I always come back for more.  Fortunately today's review didn't taste like IKEA hot dogs, although I'm sure I'd buy a bag of chips that did.

Click here to read today's chip review.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Fleur de Sel Caramel Popcorn  - 479° - I'm starting to really dig popcorn, and I think I'm turning into a popcorn snob. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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A Double Review Today

That's two, two, two reviews in one!  The folks at Salazon chocolate sent us a whole bunch of bars to review, and I was stumped. When a company sends me a bunch of treats, I generally only pick one to review.  I appreciate that they've sent me a whole mess of treats, but I figure I'll pick out the most unique treat out of the bunch.  This collection of bars was a little harder since they all had the same theme.  I decided that I would pick the bar I thought would be my favorite, and the bar I thought would be my least favorite, and review them both at the same time.  As it turns out, I really liked the one I thought would be my favorite, and thought the other one was OK, but not fantastic.

Click here to read about the bar I knew I was going to like.

Click here to read about the treat I figured I wouldn't like.

Stuff I Want To Try

Wavy Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate - Lay's - While I love chocolate covered potato chips, I'm not sure how well it would work out of a bag. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Yesterday I Was Too Tired, So Today I Post a New Review

It took me a while to write this review.  When it comes to treats with multiple components, I often find myself trying to eat the treat in as many ways as possible.  In this case I started with a random handful, then I tasted each ingredient individually, finally I started making up combinations that I thought would be appropriate.  That takes a lot of time, and a lot of thought between each handful.  I sometimes wish that candy companies who make these sorts of mixed bag treats would put recommended combinations on their package.  While it would take the creativity out of eating this treat, it would make my life a little easier.

Today's treat was provided to us from our friends at sarsaparillas.co.uk, a fun candy store in the UK that can supply you with all kinds of treats from all over the world.

Click here to read today's review... well it's actually supposed to be yesterday's review, but I couldn't manage it.

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Popcorn, The Worlds Most International, Well Known Snack?

In my travels all over the world, sampling every snack I could get my hands on, I've noticed that one snacks is more prevalent globally than others.  Certain brands are most certainly available all over the place, M&Ms, Kit Kat, and Mars Bars, are pretty common no matter where you go.  But this hasn't been that way until very recently.  For example, when I traveled through Singapore airport last winter I ventured into the M&Ms store. There they told me that this store was the first place in the country to sell M&Ms, and that store's only been open for a few years.

There is one snack food that I've seen in every country I've ever set foot.  As far as I know this snack food is available everywhere in the world (although I could be wrong since have yet to travel to every country).  This snack food is popcorn.

Popcorn has been around for a very long time.  In fact some archaeologists have found evidence of popcorn going back more than six thousand years.  These early findings were found in Peru, and it makes sense.  At the time this culture used corn as a primary food source, so it only makes sense that they would explore different varieties and different ways to prepare it.  In North America popcorn became popular during times of crisis (the wars or during the depression).  When food was becoming expensive (or had to be rationed) popcorn was a great inexpensive way to snack.

Today we see popcorn everywhere, and I imagine that it has a lot to do with the reasons why it gained in popularity in North America.  Popcorn is cheap and easy to transport, so in places where corn may not be easy to grow, you can still have popcorn.  The shelf life for popcorn can be months, so transportation is very easy.  Finally preparation of popcorn takes a little oil and some heat, and that's it.

Popcorn is also a very versatile snack, it can take salty, sweet, or even spicy very well.  This allows any culture the ability to take this food, and make it their own.  I have to admit though, most of the time when I see popcorn it comes covered in a butter like substance.  I imagine that the theater culture is what provokes the idea that popcorn is best with butter.  It's not only in the theaters, but also on the big screen that has created the connection between popcorn and the movies.  Many films that show people in theaters will include the popcorn bucket as a prop.  I'm sure someone seeking out a conspiracy theory might find this to be a little ironic.

Popcorn is truly a universal treat, and I think there are several reasons why.  It's versatile, cheap, stores well, and it's been around for a long time.  In all my travels I have yet to find a country that doesn't have popcorn available either at a theater or from a street vendor.  Sometimes the flavours, and toppings vary, but the basic snack is always the same.  I think that popcorn might be the most popular snack in the entire world.

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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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Wednesday Japanese Candy Review!

The Japanese people love fish, if you ever need proof of this, visit Tokyo and head over the Tsukiji fish market at around 5 am.  You'll see more fish than you could possibly imagine any city eating in a week, but all of it will be sold in a day, and the next day it opens again.  With this love of fish, fish flavoured snacks are very common.  Japanese people love fish so much, they even have non-fish flavoured snacks in the shapes of fish.  I guess that's what happens when you live on an island.

As always, I'd like to thank our friends at oyatsucafe.com for providing us with another great (and strange) Japanese treat to review.  Make sure to pay them a visit, particularly if you want to sample this week's review.  Also, enter the word "candycritic" in the coupon box to get a great discount.

Click here to read our latest Japanese candy review.

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What Does Toblerone Mean?

Since my Swiss isn't that great, I'm not really sure what "Toblerone" really means.  I know that the first part "Tobler" is the name of the creator Theodor Tobler, but the "one" (pronounced more like own without the "w" sound) is a big mystery to me.  I also wonder when the last time someone had a bar named after them.  Why do we have to give all of our treats descriptive or wacky names?  Two mysteries that won't stop me from enjoying this Toblerone, but might make me spend a lot of time on Wikipedia this morning.

Click here to read the Toblerone review.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Ruffles 'Crispy Fries' - Ruffles - I'm not sure how revolutionary these are, but they might be tasty. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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A Salty Lollipop?

This weeks review was pretty special, it was something  I'd never tried before, it was kind of pretty, and best of all it was the creation of a small time candy maker.  These elements are often the case when it comes to candy, since small candy makers are willing to take risks in an attempt to make something unique.  The folks at A Secret Forest Patisserie made a lollipop that was original, but not crazy.  It just worked.  I could go on, but that's really what the review is all about.

Click here to read this lollipop review.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Ruffles Tangy Honey Mustard Chips - Frito-Lay - I'm developing a real taste for mustard lately. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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