Finnish Review-A-Thon Part 6

Well I finally caved in and went for the pure licorice.  I figured that I couldn't have a Finnish review-a-thon without trying a pure licorice treat.  It's been a fun week trying out Finnish treats, but sadly the review-a-thon is over.  Thank you people of Finland for making some fun and crazy snacks for me to munch on.

Click here to read the last in our Finnish review-a-thon.

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Christmas Is Coming!

7 Candy Canes by candycritic
See other Christmas Cards

Don't forget to send cards to all of those loved ones far away.

Click here to check out more of our stuff on our web store.

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Finnish Review-A-Thon Part 5

Did you know that the Finnish people love licorice?  Every single Finnish person I've ever met knows more about the complex flavours of licorice than me.  I've even flipped through a Finnish book all about the history and cultural significance of licorice... or at least that's what I think it was about, I don't read Finnish, but the pictures seem to point me in that direction.  They also drink a special drink made up of licorice, and I'm not talking about the root.  I'm talking about an alcoholic drink made with licorice candy, it's black, strong, and really scary looking.

Click here to read one of the many licorice themed reviews in our Finnish candy review-a-thon.

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Friday Candy Video - Lego Candy Machine

I have to admit that although I really love Lego, I'm not very clever with it.  Sure I go outside the boundaries of the suggested builds, but I've never come up with anything beyond a custom space base, or castle.  People that build things that actually serve a function out of Lego blow my mind.  I particularly enjoyed this project only because it also dispenses yummy candy.

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Airport Find - Giant Nutella

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.

Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye, and been certain you didn't really see what you thought you saw?  Then you walk a few steps, only to come back just to make sure what you saw wasn't real?  Sometimes this ends with you figuring out what made your mind play a trick on you, sometimes, although rarely, you find out that you did actually see what you thought you saw.  I present to you, and to the world, the 5 kilogram tub of Nutella.

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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 - Giant Bars

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 love a giant chocolate bar, even if it's not real.  The reality is if you did happen to make a bar this big it probably wouldn't have the shelf life to survive its consumption.  Basically what I'm trying to say is, there is a threshold for the enormity of a chocolate bar, or a chocolate bar can in fact be too big.  There is also an obsession with airport gift shops displaying these ridiculously huge chocolate bars.  The thing is, I love looking at these giant bar, taking funny pictures with them, and generally fantasizing about my attempt to consume them in one sitting.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Fruit-Sweetened Chocolate - Made by: Barry Callebaut  - Why: Using fruit to sweeten chocolate just seems to make sense. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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The New Year Starts Next Month

Make sure you have the perfect calendar to keep track of all of those candy holidays.

Click here to check out some of our other online gear as well, and help out the folks at Candy Critic.

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Finnish Review-A-Thon Part 4

Did you know that December 6th is the Finnish day of Independence?  I didn't until I started to research for this review-a-thon.  I did however know that it was coming up because I've been invited to a Finnish day of Independence party.  On another note, today is actually my sisters birthday.

Click here to read the latest entry in the Finnish review-a-thon.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising - Samples From Old Candy Catalog

Laughing Squid has posted pages from the 1949 National Candy Wholesalers Association Salesman Catalog, and they are awesome.

Click here to check a few more of them out.

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Thursday's Candy Links

Is what you're eating safe?  Here are some arguments suggesting that not everything you eat it safe to eat, including microwave popcorn.

The road to crime can start with the want for candy, it's kind of sad.

Here's what you do, go to the store and buy a tub of Cool Whip, then take the tub home and eat the entire thing, then read this article about what's in Cool Whip, at this point you'll know what kind of person you are.

I like Google stuff, I like Cadbury, so naturally I don't mind it if they're working together.

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Candy Store Tips - Pain In The Ass Bulk Bins

For many years now I've been lucky enough to explore candy stores all over the world.  I've seen the worst and I've seen the best.  Now, each week, I'm going to give you a tip that will help you know instantly how good any candy store you walk into might be.  This is also useful if you happen to own a candy store as well, follow these tips and customers will notice.

I can't tell you how many times I've been trying to dig some tasty morsel out of a bulk bin and had the stupid bin door slam in my face.  I'm not saying at this point that you shouldn't shop at a candy store because their bulk bins keep slamming down when you're trying to get your candy, but I am saying this drives me nuts.  I guess this tip is more of a plea to the candy store owners (in particular the new ones that are designing their stores right now).  Please, make sure your bins are easy to dig candy out of.  Also, make sure the bins are easy for your employees to clean.  I've been to a few candy stores with functional bins to take the candy out, but then notice the employees struggling to try and clean them out.  Employees could get frustrated with this and stop cleaning out the bins regularly.  This leads to some pretty gross bins and candy that I don't want to buy.

I'd like to thank the beautiful Snyder's Candy for providing photos for this article.

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Airport Find - Worst Coke Machine Design Ever

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.

Seriously?..  Do I really have to write any words down here to explain how wrong this Coke machine is?  Why in the world would anybody from Coca-Cola approve this?  I'm not complaining, but I'm also not tempted to buy a Coke right now .

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Best Pop Frozen

The other day I read an article all about Popsicles, the content of the article isn't important, but for some reason while reading the article I made a connection in my head.  When we think about frozen treats we tend to add the word "sicle" to the end of it, like cake-sicle, pie-sicle, etc.  So then what does the "pop" portion of "Popsicle" mean?  The first thing that came to mind was pop as in soda pop.  After doing a little researched I learned that the first Popsicle ever made was in fact an attempt to make a new flavour of soda pop.

So that got me thinking, why not take the frozen treat on a stick back to its roots, why not try and find out which flavour of soda pop tastes best frozen.  I've selected 4 different flavours, Cola because it's a classic flavour, 7 Up because I think a clear treat might be fun, Fanta because it's one of those great fruit sodas, and Yerani because I wanted to try something a little different.

Cola - I figured that I would try the cola Popsicle first because cola really is the benchmark of soda pops today.  The syrup did have a bit of a strange reaction in the freezer and tended to settle in the middle of the treat.  The carbonation is pretty much all gone, however it did leave bubble throughout the treat in particular on the outside edge.  The cola flavour is OK, and didn't really change that much.

7 Up -  Of all of the frozen soda pops I'm sampling, this one is surely the most unattractive.  Every time I see a clear or white frozen treat my mind instantly imagines that it will have no flavour at all.  Fortunately this frozen treat is full of flavour, and it also has a much better texture than the cola.  It could be because I got a generic cola, or it could be that 7up has a high carbonation, but it's really a light and airy ice.

Fanta - Of all of the soda pops selected for this experiment, Fanta is really the most juice like of them all.  In fact the carbonation of Fanta is so minimal it barely affected the texture of the ice treat at all, and if felt more like frozen juice than frozen soda pop.  The flavour of Fanta is also very juice like, more so than an Orange Crush or C-Plus.  As a frozen treat Fanta is fairly un-impressive, having said that it's also not disappointing either, so I guess it's best just to say that it's fine as a frozen treat.

I think I have some explaining to do.  I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of this particular treat and only realized it after I had already eaten it.  All I can say it that it looked exactly like the cola frozen treat, only with a pink base... Sorry

Yerani - Most of you probably have no idea what Yerani cola is, and frankly neither do I.  All I can say is that it's a cola coloured drink with a  light cola and slightly fruity taste.  I can also tell you that I'm not a big of it as a frozen treat.  The flavours are way too light and hard to detect, so all you can taste is frozen water and that's not good.

As it turns out, although soda pop was in fact the inspiration behind the "Popsicle", it's not always the best choice of flavour.  Some of these drinks did make for a fine treat, but I think the better bet is still juice.  However if you are looking for something a little different, or something that might make you feel a little nostalgic, why not try using pudding instead.

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Finnish Review-A-Thon Part 3

I have to admit that my knowledge of Finland is pretty scarce.  In fact I'm learning more about this wonderful country this week, than I ever knew before.  For example did you know that the Finnish coat of arms depicts a lion wielding a sword while screaming.  It's pretty much the greatest coat of arms I've ever seen.

Click here to read the latest addition to the Finnish review-a-thon.

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Wednesday's Candy Links

Nestle tries to muscle in on Cadbury's trademark purple.

Serious Eats examines the new Pepsi Throwback, and compares it with colas of today.

Is the traditional meal a thing of the past for the new generation?  I'm thinking that it's been fading for a while now.

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Sleeping In Food

Boing Boing recently posted about this great looking pizza sleeping bag.  Not only does it make me hungry but it makes me feel all warm and comfortable inside as well.  Then it came to me, what other foods would make for a great sleeping bag?  I think pigs in a blanket would be one of the better ideas, imagine being the warm sausage in a puffy pastry bag.  I also think that a cinnamon bun would be a great place to sleep, right in the gooey center.  What other foods do you think would be great to nap in?

Click here to buy one of these tasty looking sleeping bags for yourself.

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Finnish Review-A-Thon Part 2

In my continuing effort to promote a great country that provided me with some awesome treats, I've decided to make a special banner at www.candycritic.org, you can check it out yourself.  My only fear of doing a Finnish review-a-thon this week was the Finnish love of licorice.  I'm not a big fan, and I knew that I'd have to face my fears many times this week.  Fortunately my first introduction to Finnish licorice has actually been rather pleasant, here's hoping this keeps up.

Click here to read the latest Finnish review.

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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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