Unusual Candy For Your Tree - Dill Pickle Candy Canes

The thing about these dill pickle candy canes is that I want them to also be really garlic heavy, but I don't want them to be garlic heavy at the same time. I love pickles that are garlic heavy, and I find it's a flavour lacking in the candy world. Most pickle flavoured snacks are more on the dill and vinegar side with a hint of garlic. Why they don't do this is obvious, garlic candy likely won't taste very good.  Probably the best way to enjoy this candy cane is to suck one end into a spike and skewer several olives onto it.

CC

We're Starting A Review-A-Thon, And It's All About Japanese Kit Kat Bars - Kit Kat "Cranberry and Almond"

All this week we're going to be posting reviews for various Japanese Kit Kat bars. We've got the good, the bad and the wasabi. There are hundreds of Japanese Kit Kat bars that have been made, and we're going to try and taste them all. If we fail, it's the greatest battle one could lose.

Here's the first entry in our Japanese Kit Kat review-a-thon.


Last week we did a quick ranking of 5 of the bars we got, and you can check it out in this YouTube video.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to keep up with the many reviews we'll be posting all week.

On a secondary note, we've decided that we're going to re-work our YouTube video channel. We've started to notice that we're pumping out content that we're not really happy with (and you don't appear to be watching it anyways). To start, we've decided to do our Monday Morning Breakfast Thoughts monthly instead of weekly. We're also looking to cut back the number of fully produced videos each month,  but we may have more informal videos posted more regularly (depending on what we're up to). Make sure to check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to keep up with this content.

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Ranking Kit Kat Bars

After visiting Japan the one thing I always come back with is a feeling of calm and tranquility, I also come back with a lot of Kit Kat bars.  I thought I would look at some of them and rank them from best to worst.

Next week we'll have the full reviews of each of these Kit Kat bars and more for a Japanese Kit Kat review-a-thon, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to follow along.

CC

Candy In The Media - Christmas Edition

This is seriously one of the best Christmas candy commercials ever made. It's very simple, but still looks and feels great.

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Unusual Candy For Your Tree - Macaroni and Cheese Candy Canes

For some odd reason, macaroni and cheese candy canes have become all the rage this year. Stores have been selling out of them at breakneck speed. I really want to love this candy cane, but I'm not so sure I will. The best way to enjoy this candy cane over the holidays, maybe dip it in your mashed potatoes.

CC

Unusual Candy For Your Tree - Clam Candy Canes

I'm just going to start right off with the candy cane I'd least like to eat. The only reason I'd want to try one of these is to see how much they actually taste like clams (then I'd like choke into a bucket). The only way I could see these working is as an accompaniment to your festive bloody mary cocktail.

CC

December Is A Busy Month For Candy Critic Starting With A Unique Japanese Candy Review - Kotabe “Chestnut”

This month is going to be super busy at Candy Critic and it all starts with this new review. This new review (Kotaby Chestnut) is the first of many reviews this week as we're kicking off a jam packed Japanese candy review-a-thon. The only Japanese candy we won't touch this week is Kit Kat bars, that's because next week we're doing a special Japanese Kit Kat review-a-thon.

Click here to check out the first in this week's Japanese treats.

Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the entire review-a-thon.


We're not only going to be posting cool Japanese candy reviews this month, we have a whole bunch of other stuff lined up this month as well. Rather than write about it, we decided to talk about on this week's episode of Chris's Monday Morning Breakfast Thoughts.

If you're on the YouTube, make sure to subscribe to our channel to get all the latest videos.

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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