Candy Hunting - 2/14/14

Birthday Cake M&M's

Place found: CVS

Price: $3.99

Milk Chocolate Mega M&M's 

Place found: CVS

Price: $4.39 (on sale for $3.00)

Peanut Mega M&M's

Place found: CVS

Price: $4.39 (on sale for $3.00)

All of the new M&M's were still in boxes when I went to CVS this morning. The press release from Mars, Inc. in September stated that the Birthday Cake and Mega M&M's would be introduced in May 2014. Luckily, the M&M's are being released in conjunction with Easter candy.  

Justin's White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Justin's white chocolate peanut butter cups are a limited edition product only available at Whole Foods. The product line permanently includes milk and dark chocolate peanut butter cups. 

Place purchased: Whole Foods

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 7.1

The white wrapper is representative of all Justin's peanut butter products. The smooth peanut butter is surrounded by a thick, off-white white chocolate shell. 

L: Looks like a Kashi bar. 
S: Kind of boring.

Flavor and Taste - 5.5

The peanut butter is very salty. The white chocolate adds sweetness without overpowering the peanut butter. 

C: Salty. 
L: Too salty. Otherwise, fine. 
S: Really salty.

Texture - 6.3

The white chocolate is hard and breaks into large pieces when bitten. The peanut butter is slightly gritty from salt granules mixed into the peanut butter. 

C: Good mouthfeel.
S: Feels like it has salt pieces in it. 

Aftertaste - 5.5

The peanut butter imparts a salty aftertaste. 

C: Really salty aftertaste.
L: Can't describe. Off.

Overall - 5.7

The white chocolate peanut butter cups are mediocre. The peanut butter was too salty. Also, the white chocolate was too hard and does not add flavor to the product. I have previously tried Justin's milk and dark chocolate peanut butter cups (sorry, no review, this was before I started this blog), and I remember them being better than the white chocolate peanut butter cups. 

Candy Hunting - 2/9/14

Snickers Rockin' Nut Road 

Place found: Circle K

Price: $1.29

Valentine's M&M's

Cherry M&M's

Place purchased: Walmart

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 7.6

The cherry M&M's are larger than milk chocolate M&M's, and come in two colors: red and maroon. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.8

The strong cherry flavor of these M&M's was reminiscent of maraschino cherries and cough syrup. These actually taste different from the Cherry Cordial M&M's released for the winter holidays in 2013.

J: Great chocolate taste. Cherry flavor is very artificial/medicinal. 
L: Cherry, but chocolate is an afterthought.
S: Cough syrup and molasses. Very overpowering flavor, don't taste the chocolate until the end. 

Texture - 7.8

These have the same texture as milk chocolate M&M's.

Aftertaste - 6.0

These had a slightly bitter aftertaste. 

J: The cherry flavor lingers for a long time. 
S: Burnt aftertaste. 

Overall - 6.8

The syrupy cherry flavor of these M&M's was overwhelming and did not have me reaching for more. 

J: Tastes ok, but I'm not a fan of the fake cherry flavor. 

Red Velvet M&M's

Place purchased: Walmart

Number of reviewers: 4

Appearance - 7.6

The Red Velvet M&M's are larger than milk chocolate M&M's, and come in three colors: maroon, white, and red. 

Flavor and Taste - 7.0

The bag of Red Velvet M&M's smells exactly like chocolate cake. Since the M&M's have the aroma of chocolate cake, all of the flavor compounds necessary for a red velvet or chocolate cake M&M are clearly present. The only problem is that the milk chocolate overpowers the cake flavor. The Red Velvet M&M's end up tasting slightly fruity, like cherry and coconut, at first. Though, the more M&M's I ate consecutively, the more they began to taste like chocolate cake. 


J: Really not different from a plain M&M. The odor of the bag is different. 
L: Coconut/pineapple. Not really red velvet. 
S: Tastes like a dry cupcake with slight notes of cherry and coconut. Tastes like icing. 

Texture - 7.3

These have the same texture as milk chocolate M&M's.

J: Normal M&M.
S: Kind of powdery and dry. 

Aftertaste - 6.3

The Red Velvet M&M's have a chocolaty aftertaste. 

J: Kind of fruity.
S: Icing, very sweet. 

Overall - 7.0

Overall, I enjoyed these M&M's even though they did not have a strong red velvet flavor. 

J: Overall good but nothing special.

Desserts Skittles

Place purchased: Walgreen's

Number of reviewers: 5

Appearance - 6.7

I am confused by the pink wrapper. I guess they ran out of other colors to use. 

Flavor and Taste - 6.7

Raspberry Sorbet
Tastes like cherry and raspberry. Medicinal. 

C: Berry flavor becomes more raspberry as it's chewed. 
J: Cherry, but not like a typical Skittle. Not anything special. 
S: Good. Tart, candied raspberry. 

Strawberry Milkshake
Tastes mostly like strawberry with a slight cream flavor. 

C: Strawberry/cream. Not very intense. 
J: Strawberry. 
L: Definitely not a milkshake. 
S: Really artificial, like flavored powder (like Fun Dip). 

Orange Crème
Tastes like a Creamsicle, of which I have never been a fan.

C: Orange/Creamsicle. 
J: Orange cream. Best flavor. 
L: Orange and creamy! 
S: Cream doesn't mix well with the orange flavor. 

Key Lime Pie
Tastes grassy at first, then like citrus/lemon. It does not taste like key lime pie. 

C: Not too strong flavor. Sweet. A little green/acidic. 
J: Limey. 
L: Not even remotely close to key lime pie (and I'm from FL). 
S: Doesn't taste like key lime pie at all. Just normal lime but more sweet. Disappointing. 

Blueberry Tart
Tastes like berry. Medicinal. 

C: Stronger than Key Lime Pie. Fruity, but not distinctive. 
J: Very low flavor. 
L: Blueberry with a weird second note. 
S: Delicious! Strong blueberry flavor. 

Texture - 7.0

These are chewy, like all Skittles. 

C: Chewy. A little gritty as I chewed it. 

Aftertaste - 6.6

The aftertaste for each of the flavors was a weaker version of the initial flavor. 

C: Not much, just a little taste of sugar. 
J: Lingering taste for all flavors. 

Overall - 6.6

These Skittles were good, yet the choices of dessert flavors could have been improved upon. Wrigley already makes Extra Dessert Delights gum, which has much more authentic dessert flavors than these Skittles. The Desserts Skittles would have been astronomically better if the flavors of the Dessert Delights gum had been used instead. Just think, an apple pie Skittle. 

J: Great, but nothing special. Flavors are not too impressive or different. Very fruity, not "dessert" enough. 

Peppermint Bark

Place purchased: Cost Plus World Market

Number of reviewers: 2

Appearance - 7.8

The peppermint bark chocolate bar has layers of dark chocolate, vanilla and mint flavored fake white chocolate, and peppermint candy pieces. 

C: I like the two layers of dark and white chocolate. 

Flavor and Taste - 7.3

It tastes like a mixture of white and milk chocolate at first, then it tastes like mint chocolate. The amount of peppermint is not overpowering. 

C: Nice mint flavor that is not too overpowering. 

Texture - 7.0

The bar is very soft, likely because the majority of the bar is made with "creamy vanilla" fake white chocolate. The candy pieces add a little crunch, but also end up falling off the bar when bitten into. 

C: I expected more crunch from the peppermint candy. Very creamy. 

Aftertaste - 7.5

There is a good minty aftertaste. 

C: I can still feel the menthol, but it's not too overpowering. 

Overall - 7.4

The flavor of this peppermint bark bar is very good; the right amount of mint was used. Though, the texture of the bar could have been improved by using real white chocolate rather than the fake stuff. 

Candy Cane Cream

Place purchased: Cost Plus World Market

Number of reviewers: 2

Appearance - 6.8

The dark chocolate bar is segmented with peppermint flavored filling.

Flavor and Taste - 6.3

The dark chocolate tastes good. However, the filling tastes overwhelmingly of menthol. It is like eating a chocolate coated cough drop.

C: Very pepperminty. Reminds me of Andes mints. 

Texture - 6.8

The texture of the chocolate is good, but the filling is very gooey. 

C: Creamy texture to the chocolate.

Aftertaste - 7.5

The menthol flavor is not nearly as strong as an aftertaste than when eating the bar. 

C: Menthol cooling sensation stays in my mouth for awhile. 

Overall - 6.6

The dark chocolate used for this chocolate bar is very good, however the menthol flavor of the filling was too strong.