I've decided to look back at 2020. Sure it's been a tough year for just about everybody around the world, but it's also been pretty interesting as well. For me it's been particularly fascinating since I moved from South-East Asia back to Canada during a pandemic. Just in case you're wondering, we didn't move back to Canada because of the pandemic. We had actually planned to move back this year from the start, it was just made a little more complicated with the pandemic. No matter, 2020 was a year filled with interesting treats, including a return home to see what had changed since I left.
So here's my list of the 5 most interesting/strange reviews that I posted this year on Candy Critic. Keep in mind that this list is in no order, it's just me randomly plucking reviews that I posted because I remembered something interesting about them. They are by no means the best candies I'd eaten this year, but they're candies I don't think I'll ever forget.
When I bought this gum I was pretty sure that it was going to be memorable. I figured that I was going to have a really weird combination of flavours including heat. I figured it would be particularly agonizing for me since it was a gum, and the flavours would sit in my mouth for a really long time. What happened was actually more memorable, somehow they actually kind of made it work.
Click here to find out why spicy cola gum isn't the worst idea in the world.
Sometimes when I get a treat I make assumptions. When I saw this ice cream treat, I thought there was no way that they would put black beans into an ice cream. I thought that maybe it was some kind of translation issue (since this is an Asian ice cream), or maybe they mistook black beans with red beans (a popular and tasty bean often used in Japanese desserts). It turns out I was wrong, they did just put black beans into an ice cream treat. Sure it wasn't the greatest treat in the world, but I can now safely say that I've eaten black beans in my ice cream.
Click here to find out why this back bean ice cream treat doesn't really work.
3 - Skittles "Dips"
This was a candy that I truly misjudged. I almost misjudged it so much that I wasn't going to review it. Then a reader posted something about it on their Facebook page and it intrigued me. As it turns out I misjudged everything about these Skittles, even how great they actually were. It's not often you get a company making a new version of a treat that works this well. It's something we should encourage, which is why it's worth mentioning on this list.
Click here to find out why I liked these Skittles "Dips".
4 - Smith's "Lamington" (Chips)
You wouldn't think that potatoes would go with so many desserts. But over the years I've learned that you should never underestimate the majestic potato. While I've eaten hundreds of different flavours of potato chips, these really stuck out to me. Most of all because they were not only weird, but they were also what I would expect a potato chip that's flavour with a coconut cake to taste like. I guess I also appreciate that novelty (for me as a North American) of eating a potato chip themed to a truly Australian dessert.
Click here to find out what happens when cakes and chips collide.
5 - Watermelon Bites
This treat surprised me in two ways. First of all the design of this candy is amazing. The level of detail to make this candy look fantastic was truly astonishing. Just to give you an example, you can peel each watermelon slice, and eat the two parts separately. The seeds are even made up of a different kind of candy than the flesh. The second thing that surprised me is that I believe it is the highest ranked watermelon candy on this site. That's a pretty big feat considering how much I generally hate eating watermelon flavoured candy.
Click here to marvel at this candies design.
These may not be all the strange candies I've eaten this year, but these are truly the ones that stick out in my mind after going over my list of treats I've reviewed this year. I'm looking optimistically at 2021. While I'm starting this year in Canada, I'm taking the time to look at candies I had somehow forgotten to review. I'm also very interested in what candy makers are going to come up with. I feel like candy innovation is around the corner.
CC
