Candy Hunting - Peeps Minis

Peeps Minis Chocolate Creme

Peeps Minis Strawberry Creme

Peeps Minis Sour Watermelon

Place found: Meijer 

Price: $2.99

Each bag contains 24 mini Peeps, which are only 14 calories each. Also, now through Friday (May 2nd), the mPerks code freepeeps14 can be used to get a free bag of Peeps Minis.

Vosges Super Dark Reishi Mushroom & Walnut

Place purchased: Cost Plus World Market 

Price: $6.99 (on sale for $3.49)

Number of reviewers: 3

Appearance - 7.3

The Vosges Super Dark Reishi Mushroom & Walnut bar is comprised of dark chocolate with small pieces of walnuts and reishi mushrooms. The bar has sleek, black packaging. However, the chocolate has bloom on the bottom of the bar. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.8

The chocolate bar has a strong dark chocolate flavor and also tastes salty and umami. The walnuts do not contribute to the flavor, and the reishi mushrooms only provide the umami taste. 

C: Doesn't have a very strong mushroom taste. Mostly just chocolate. Has a warm, savory taste. Umami/MSG is very prevalent. 

L: Savory note on back of tongue. Zero sweetness, but good.

Texture - 5.5

The chocolate has tiny crispy pieces. 

C: The chocolate is a little dry and gritty.

L: Gritty.

Aftertaste - 5.3

The aftertaste is mainly salty, umami, and to a lesser extent bitter. 

C: Mostly just tastes like chocolate.

Overall - 6.2

Overall, the Vosges Super Dark Reishi Mushroom & Walnut bar is good, but not worth its original price of $6.99. If the texture had been improved and there was more flavor from the walnuts and mushrooms, the chocolate bar would have been more enticing. 

Candy Hunting - 2014 Halloween Preview

Now that Easter is over, it is time to get ready for the next big candy holiday: Halloween!

Here are some new products that will be available for Halloween 2014. 

Hershey's Candy Corn

Candy Corn Creme with Candy Bits, Snack Size

Twizzlers Caramel Apple Filled Twists (Review)

Jolly Rancher Caramel Apple Crunch 'n Chew (Review)

Reese's Pumpkin

The new Reese's Pumpkins have a jack-o'-lantern stamped into the peanut butter cup rather than being pumpkin shaped, like the previous versions. 

Kit Kat Minis Snack Size

Twix Ghosts

McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Bars, Part 2

McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Almond Bar

Place purchased: McCormick World of Flavors, Baltimore 

Price: $4.49

Number of reviewers: 6

Appearance - 6.0

The McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Almond bar is consists of 31% milk chocolate with small roasted almond pieces dispersed throughout the chocolate. The chocolate is a dull brown color and has a thin layer of bloom. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.0

The almonds taste very oxidized, and the chocolate is sweet. 

C: Kind of blah.

J: Creamy chocolate. Almond flavor is great. 

L: Good chocolate, slightly oxidized. 

S: Strong nutty flavor.

Texture - 5.5

The chocolate is crunchy. It is difficult to distinguish the crunch of the almonds from the crunchy chocolate.  

C: Crunchy, brittle. 

J: Nice contrast between creamy chocolate and almond pieces. 

S: Brittle chocolate. 

Aftertaste - 5.8

The flavor of the milk chocolate dominates the aftertaste. 

J: Lingering almond flavor is dry and persistent. 

L: Bland.

L2: Rancid. 

S: Sweet. 

Overall - 5.7

I was unimpressed by this chocolate bar. The almonds were oxidized, and the chocolate was too dry and crunchy.

McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Jalapeño & Peanuts Bar

Place purchased: McCormick World of Flavors, Baltimore 

Price: $4.49

Number of reviewers: 6

Appearance - 6.2

The McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Jalapeño & Peanuts bar is comprised of 31% milk chocolate, small pieces of peanuts, and jalapeño powder. The chocolate is rich brown in color, unlike the chocolate in the almond bar. 

Flavor and Taste - 7.3

The chocolate bar tastes like milk chocolate with salty peanuts at first. The heat from the jalapeños comes in toward the end, though there is no actual jalapeño flavor. 

C: Get peanut flavor first, then spicy jalapeño at the end. 

J: Good chocolate flavor. A bit of salt from the peanuts. Nice spice at the end. I really like the subtleness. 

L: Nice nutty, love the spice. 

S: Salty with a lot of heat. Spicy. 

Texture - 7.3

The milk chocolate is softer in this bar than the almond chocolate bar, which is strange since they both contain 31% milk chocolate. 

C: Crunchy.

J: Nice contrast. 

Aftertaste - 6.6

The aftertaste is very spicy. 

C: Mostly just spicy.

J: Spice is too persistent. 

L: Good burn.

S: Has a lot of heat. 

Overall - 7.3

The Jalapeño & Peanuts bar is significantly better than the Almond bar. The chocolate is softer and creamier, the peanuts provide a welcome flavor rather than rancidity, and the jalapeño powder gives a powerful kick.

McCormick World of Flavors Chocolate Bars, Part 1

Candy Hunting - Canadian Candy

Cadbury Dairy Milk

Dairy Milk Caramel Popcorn, Bubbly White, Bubbly, Bubbly Mint, Pretzel & Peanut Butter, Oreo Cookie Crunch

Burnt Almond Dark, Premium Dark, Dairy Milk Mint, Sweet Salty Peanut, Mixed Nuts, Almond, Chips Ahoy! Cookie Dough, Toffee

Dairy Milk Hazelnut, Fruits & Nuts, Milk Chocolate

Dairy Milk Chips Ahoy! Cookie Dough (review) and Dairy Milk Caramel Popcorn

Dairy Milk Coconut Cashew

Dairy Milk Mixed Nuts

Dairy Milk Oreo Cookie Crunch

Dairy Milk Pretzel & Peanut Butter

Easter Candy

Cadbury Lil Scoops Vanilla and Chocolate

Cadbury Mini Eggs, Mini Creme Eggs, and Mini Caramel Eggs

Aero Lambs and Smarties Eggs

Eggies, Hershey Canada's version of Cadbury Mini Eggs

Mr. Munchy (milk chocolate with rice crisps), Mr. Rockstar (milk chocolate with rainbow stars), and Mr. Mallow (milk chocolate with marshmallow pieces)

Bite Sized Candy

Aero Bubbles: Milk Chocolate, Orange, and Peppermint

Kit Kat Bites

Mini Turtles Original Recipe

Mini Turtles Sweet & Salty

Coffee Crisp Bites

Big Turk Bites

Skor Minis

Licorice Twizzlers Extra Soft Bites

Strawberry Twizzlers Extra Soft Bites

Peach Twizzlers Extra Soft Bites

NHL

Cherry NHL Twizzlers Skate Shaped Candy 

Hershey's NHL Stanley Cup

PEZ NHL Stanley Cup

And More! 

Aero Caramel and an empty spot where Aero Strawberry should have been

Werther's Original Chocolate Crunch 

Twizzlers Strawberries 'n' Crème Filled Twists

Limited Edition Kit Kat White & Milk and Limited Edition Kit Kat Orange

Kit Kat Mint

Junior Mints with a different design than in the US

Juicy Fruit also has a different design in Canada

Hershey's Kisses bags are shaped like a Hershey's Kiss!

A blurry close-up of Cookies 'n' Creme Hershey's Kisses

Lindt Creation Mousse au Chocolat Milk and Dark

Single serve size Lindt Lindor Truffles

New Arctic Rush Tic Tacs and Strawberry Fusion Tic Tacs

OMG's Clusters