Theo Holiday Bars

I tend to avoid buying organic chocolate, because I would rather not pay more for chocolate with an irrelevant claim. All Theo chocolate bars are certified organic, however studies show that organic food is not more nutritious or less dangerous than its non-organic equivalent. Also, two of these bars are GMO-free, yet GMOs are not harmful to one's health. I decided to buy these anyway since the flavors were interesting... and I had a gift card... 

Theo Coconut Mint 

Place purchased: Plum Market, Ann Arbor, MI

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 7.9

The wrapper is cute. The milk chocolate is filled with small flakes of coconut. 

J: Nice images and color of wrapper. Good color and inclusions give nice variation. 
S: Cute packaging. 

Flavor and Taste - 8.0

The chocolate is very sweet and had a light, but noticeable, mint flavor. The mint tasted more like creme de menthe than peppermint. I could not taste the coconut. 

C: Can smell mint from beginning. Subtle mint flavor with coconut. I really like the combination, wouldn't have thought of mint with coconut. 

J: Great chocolate! Coconut is flavorful and mint is subtle but present. 
S: Good, balanced, mint is not too strong. 

Texture - 6.9

The chocolate is incredibly soft. The coconut is somewhat crunchy and gives the bar an intriguing chew.  

C: Very soft, almost too soft for candy. A little chewy with the coconut. 

J: Coconut is a nice contrast, but the pieces hang around in mouth because they are large. 
S: Interesting with the coconut pieces. Creamy. 

Aftertaste - 7.9

The aftertaste is sweet and slightly minty. 

J: Nice mint flavor. 

Overall - 7.7 

The flavor of this coconut mint milk chocolate bar is great; the mint flavor is not too strong or too weak. While the coconut does not contribute much to the flavor, it provides an interesting texture. The only flaw with the bar is that the chocolate is too soft. 

J: Great candy! I would buy.

Theo Gingerbread Spice

Place purchased: Plum Market, Ann Arbor, MI

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 7.9

The wrapper is very cute. The bar is solid milk chocolate with added spices to create the gingerbread flavor. 

J: Nice packaging. Creamy and uniform appearance.
S: Cute packaging.  

Flavor and Taste - 7.9

The gingerbread flavor of the chocolate bar is spot-on. I could detect the cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg. The spices work well with the milk chocolate. The flavor of this gingerbread chocolate bar is just fantastic. 

C: Classic gingerbread taste. Nutty/spicy, but not too overwhelming. For someone who doesn't like gingerbread, it's not too bad. 

J: Nice mellow, but present spice. Almost pumpkin pie like. Reminds me of gingerbread coffee creamer. 
S: Good, very characteristic and not overpowering. 

Texture - 7.8

The texture is soft and creamy. 

C: Creamy. 

J: Creamy and smooth. 
S: Creamy.

Aftertaste - 5.8

Sadly, the spices linger longer than the milk chocolate, leaving a strong and unpleasant spice flavor. 

C: Spicy, allspice/nutmeg are predominant. 

J: Strong spice taste lingers. 
S: Strong clove aftertaste.

Overall - 7.7

Not only is this bar my favorite from the holiday line of Theo chocolate bars, it is probably my favorite holiday candy I ate this season. Also, the gingerbread flavor is substantially closer to real gingerbread than any other gingerbread flavored candy I have tried.

C: The wrapper and texture are excellent, but not liking gingerbread flavor brings the overall score down. 

Theo Nutcracker Brittle

Place purchased: Horrocks, Lansing, MI

Number of reviewers: 3

Appearance - 8.2

Like the other bars, the wrapper is very festive. Though, as can be seen in the pictures, the wrapper did become very dirty before I bought it. The chocolate is very shiny and has pieces of almonds, hazelnuts, and brittle (which, in this bar, is more like small chunks of hard sugar candy). 

C: Nuts look evenly distributed. 

J: Nice images, color, decoration. Nice color and inclusions.

Flavor and Taste - 5.3

This chocolate bar is very bitter. There is some sweetness when biting into the brittle pieces. I could not taste the almonds or hazelnuts over the intense bitterness of the chocolate. 

C: I would expect this to be sweet, but it was overwhelmingly bitter. Says 70% dark chocolate, but tastes more like 85%. Can't taste anything but bitter. 

J: Strong dark chocolate flavor. Doesn't taste like much else. 

Texture - 7.2

The nuts and brittle pieces provide a nice crunch. 

C: Good crunch with the nuts. 

J: Inclusions give nice variation.

Aftertaste - 5.0

The aftertaste is just really bitter. 

C: Bitter. 

J: Bitterness.

Overall - 5.8

Overall, this chocolate bar was incredibly bitter with some crunchy nuts and sugar brittle pieces. The wrapper claims that it is only 70% dark chocolate, but this tastes much more bitter than any 70% dark chocolate I have eaten. 

J: Note: I don't like dark chocolate much at all. 

Theo Peppermint Stick

Place purchased: Horrocks, Lansing, MI

Number of reviewers: 3

Appearance - 8.2

The wrapper is very festive and promises of dark chocolate with candy cane pieces. The chocolate is shiny and has pieces of hard sugar candy scattered throughout the bar. 

C: The package is so cute! 

J: Nice rich, dark color. 

Flavor and Taste - 5.8

The chocolate is bitter and has fruity notes to it. While the bar does contain peppermint oil, the mint flavor is not detectable at all. Maybe if the hard sugar brittle pieces were peppermint flavored instead of the dark chocolate, the mint would have been noticeable. 

C: Very bitter, can tell that it's dark chocolate. Does not have a very pronounced mint flavor. Falsely advertised as peppermint stick. Expect sweet and peppermint, and it has neither. 

J: I hardly taste anything over the bitterness of the chocolate. Not any peppermint. 

Texture - 7.0

The brittle pieces contribute a crunchiness to the dark chocolate. 

C: Crunchy, seems to have sugar pieces not candy cane/peppermint pieces in the middle. 

J: Great expected crunch from the peppermint stick. 

Aftertaste - 5.7

The chocolate has a bitter aftertaste. 

C: Dark chocolate aftertaste. 

J: Lingering bitter.

Overall - 6.1

The Peppermint Stick chocolate bar was very disappointing. There was no peppermint stick. No peppermint flavor. Just a bitter dark chocolate bar with hard sugar pieces. 

J: Crunch is nice, too strong in dark chocolate. 

Starburst Fruity Slushies

Place purchased: A small candy store in Michigan (but I have also found these in large bags at Walmart)

Number of reviewers: 3

Starburst Fruity Slushies come in four flavors:

Blue - Blue Raspberry Rush
Red - Cherry Splash
Orange - Citrus Slush
Pink - Strawberry Lemonade Chill

Appearance - 6.5

Flavor and Taste - 6.5

Blue Raspberry Rush
     This has a very artificial flavor, like a blue raspberry popsicle. 
     C: Tart, lime like
     L: Unexpected. I can't really describe it. It's something with a hint of blue raspberry.
Cherry Splash
     This tastes exactly like the original cherry Starburst. It's a somewhat medicinal cherry flavor.
     C: Very cherry. 
     L: Very similar to normal cherry. I don't sense the "splash". 
Citrus Slush
     This tastes like a combination of orange and lemon. I liked it better than both the orange and lemon original      Starbursts. 
     C: Tangerine.
     L: Could put more citrus and less sweet. Citrus dies pretty quick. 
Strawberry Lemonade Chill
     This tastes like the original strawberry Starburst, but with an off-flavor. The flavor is slightly medicinal. This flavor      was my least favorite of the four. 
     C: Lemon very pronounced. Off-flavor. Like strawberry kiwi.
     L: Tastes fun, like summer. Slightly floral, off putting. 

Texture - 7.5

These have the same chewy, stick-to-your-teeth texture as all other Starburst candies. 

Aftertaste - 5.9

Blue Raspberry Rush

     There is a sweet aftertaste with a slight berry flavor. 

     L: Mild.

Cherry Splash

     This has a very medicinal aftertaste.

     L: Bad tart, burning.

Citrus Slush

     The aftertaste is sour.

     L: Slightly plastic and sour.

Strawberry Lemonade Chill

     The aftertaste was slightly sour and sweet. 

     L: Intense floral/lemon. 

Overall - 6.2

The Starburst Fruity Slushies were rather disappointing. The Cherry Splash flavor tasted identical to original cherry Starbursts. Blue Raspberry Rush was an ordinary blue raspberry flavor. The off-flavor made the Strawberry Lemonade Chill very unappealing. Luckily, there was one flavor, Citrus Slush, that tasted good and was not a flavor already part of the Starburst lineup. 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Treats

Place purchased: Dollar Tree

Number of reviewers: 3 (I felt bad asking people to try this one)

Appearance - 4.3

An egg shaped candy for Christmas?

L: Somewhat misleading.
S: The packaging is fine, but I don't understand why the candy is egg shaped.

Flavor and Taste - 2

These taste like cinnamon, fruit, and a hint of plastic. Definitely nothing like any snickerdoodle cookie I have ever eaten. 

L: Like a weird plastic-y cinnamon candy. 
S: Like maple syrup with cinnamon gone really wrong. 

Texture - 3

The filling is very runny, and the chocolate melted all over my fingers. 

L: Too much gooey filling.
S: It's just kind of gross and gooey. 

Aftertaste - 4.7

There is a slight cinnamon aftertaste. 

L: The taste doesn't linger, so that's good. 
S: Still really sweet in my mouth - too sweet. 

Overall - 2.3

These are disgusting. Cinnamon plastic flavored chocolate coated goop. 

Gingerbread Peeps

 

 

Place purchased: Walgreen's 

Number of reviewers: 5 

 

Appearance - 8 

The gingerbread house with gingerbread men Peeps inside is adorable!

C: Cute!
J: Really fun shape. Good color.
S: Cute packaging.

Flavor and Taste - 7.4

These smell amazing, just like cinnamon rolls. They taste like cinnamon sugar, with a little spiciness from the cinnamon. The gingerbread Peeps are more like cinnamon roll Peeps, and I am completely fine with that. 

C: Cinnabuns, doesn't really remind me of gingerbread, gets a little bit spicier at the end but mostly cinnamon. 
J: Gingerbread taste is very short lived. 
L: More cinnamon than gingerbread, but it does taste good.
S: Yummy! Not too overpowering. 

Texture - 7

These have the same texture as normal Peeps. Soft marshmallow and crunchy sugar. Unless you accidentally leave one out, then it is crunchy marshmallow and crunchy sugar.

Aftertaste - 6.2 

The Peeps have a sweet, caramel aftertaste. 

J: Only sweet.
L: Too sweet. 
S: Not much of an aftertaste. 

Overall - 7.4 

I am not a huge fan of normal Peeps, but I love these. Gingerbread (well, cinnamon) Peeps are delicious! 

C: I like them better than regular Peeps. 

Hammond's Pigs N' Taters

 

 

Place purchased: Cost Plus World Market

Number of reviewers: 5

Appearance - 7

The wrapper looks great. Red bacon pieces are visible after biting into the chocolate. Wait... bacon is not bright red... 

J: Classy looking wrapping; high end.
L: Not very original. Kind of boring. Pink fake bacon bits look unappealing. 
S: Love the name! The bacon in it looks kind of gross. The packaging isn't particularly creative. 

Flavor and Taste - 5.2

The chocolate bar smells smoky and meaty- exactly like a dog treat. After looking at the ingredient list, I discovered the cause of the dog treat odor. Artificial bacon bits. No real bacon in this bar. Luckily, the bar does not taste as bad as it smells. The flavor starts out smoky from the fake bacon and then ends very salty. I could not bring myself to try more than one piece of the bar, because it smelled so off-putting. 

C: More bacon flavor, but get saltiness from potato chip. 
J: Aroma of pet treats. Chocolate is good. Bac-Os and chocolate, such a fake flavor!
L: So gross. Salty dog treat with some smokiness. 
S: Very salty, but I kind of like it. Not too much of a bacon flavor. 

Texture - 6

The bar is made of smooth chocolate with small, crunchy pieces of potato chips and artificial bacon bits. 

C: Reminds me of Bacon Bits - both taste and texture. 
J: Weird crunch.
S: I like how it crunches in my mouth. 

Aftertaste - 4.9

It has a salty and slightly smoky aftertaste. 

J: Smoky aftertaste.
S: Good aftertaste. Saltiness that goes away quickly. 

Overall - 5

I have had great chocolate bars containing potato chips and bacon, and I have had good chocolate bars from Hammond's. I was very excited about a chocolate bar containing both potato chips AND bacon. Sadly, this Pigs N' Taters bar contains absolutely no bacon. For $2.99, I would expect real bacon pieces, not artificial bits that smell like Beggin' Strips. I still have about half the bar sitting in my desk. Nobody will eat it. 

J: I would not buy this. 

S: Fun idea, but a little too salty and doesn't taste like bacon at all.