Confessions of a Novelty Confection Fiend

[jhlurie]

{The content of various "what is your favorite candy bar" and confection threads--at least ones not devoted to specific products--have been merged into one unified topic. In a few cases, if someone simply gives a one word answer they might simply be answering the question about what their favorite candy bar is... -- Nov 11 2003}

While at my local convenience store I spotted the following completely useless, but interesting item:

Mint Skittles...

It made me think about the fact that I've never outgrown a certain... let's say fascination... with the infinite stream of novelty confections which seem to show up regularly at these stores.  I'm very glad I'm not a parent, because I can't comprehend saying "no" to a child when I can't even deny myself buying something as dumb as this at least once.

Other recent "acquisitions" include:

Reese's "Fast Break"...

Listerine CoolMint PocketPacks...

Am I sick?  That last one isn't even necessarily candy...  

Any one else with this "problem"?  

[Rachel Perlow]

I bet those Mini Mint Skittles taste and chew like Mentos.

[jerobi]

I have about 5 Reeses Fast Break bars sitting on my desk at home (all free from coupons at NiftyNews, do a search from there).  I constantly pick them up, look at the 320 calories on the label, and put them back down.  That's just too much of a calorie hit for 1 minute of candy.

Mint Skittles though?  Man are they good!  My girlfriend and I are still fans of new candy so we always pick each other up a pack of whatever comes out.  Even though I haven't seen them in stores in PA yet, she got me both flavors of Mint Skittles and I enjoyed them.  I ended up getting a 16-pack of the Peppermint kind at Sam's Club.

Those pocketpacks are handy as well, and so powerful that they almost border on painful the first few times you have them.  I like to carry one type of breath freshener in my pocket and these strips are nice just for their compact size, even if I don't use them very often.

Know what candy I miss the most?  Fiji Fruits.  If any of you remember these, I would be shocked.  You can't even find a mention of them on the web.  But if someone were to produce a box from the early 90's, you can be sure that I would eat them stale...

ed: Fixed the link. (rp)

[tommy]

i can't get enough of these things.  still hoping for the golden ticket.

Wonka Bar

[jhlurie]

tommy seems to like chocolate!

have you tried this one?

It's like a Kit Kat, only 3 times as fattening.

Kit Kat, you're my only friend.

[jerobi]

If I'm not mistaken on the name, I believe that the Mr. Big bar is the one I learned about while working at Hershey Foods for two summers.

Know what goes into that bar?  Whatever is left over.  They just dump all the ingredients left over from producing the other candies for that day, add some cherry syrup (to taste, by a few workers that apparently "know" what it should taste like), and make a chocolate bar out of it.  For what I was told the label even says "May contain:" before all of the ingredients.

Tasty, eh?

[jhlurie]

Here are some new odd confections I've found...

Honees - I just can't get enough of these... they are basically high quality honey in a candy shell.  Varieties include Basic Honey-filled, Honey/Menthol/Eucalyptus and Milk-N-Honees.

Another new one--although for a change I can't find a picture on the web of it--is a new product from Brachs.  Chocolate and White Fudge Covered Caramel Corn.  Three or Four of these have the fat/calorie equivalent of... geez.  I don't know.  It's a lot.  The Fudge is really thick, not just a dusting like you get with some Fudge covered Pretzels.

[col klink]

Last week I found a new candy to die for.  It's called Pocky and it's a Japanese candy that is starting to do well in the States.  It's basically a long pretzel that is dipped in coatings.  Here's a lineup:

But my favorite is Pocky for Men:

I have NO idea why they apply a gender to the chocolate Pocky, but they did.  I am not aware of Pocky for Women.

[cabrales]

I like mini lychee jelly cups. The cups are each about 1/2 the size of one's pinky, are made of plastic, and are peeled open like single serving cream containers. Then, there is a bit of light syrup that allows the capsule of jelly (with a piece of lychee suspended inside) glide into one's mouth. They're usually found in Chinatown, and also come in flavors like green apple, mango etc. I like them refridgerated.

http://www.crackseed.com/category/candy/ly...jelly_cups.html (not depicting the better brand)

http://www.safetyalerts.com/recall/f/02/f0000162.htm

(FDA indicated candies should not be offered to children and the elderly, due to choking risks)

[jhlurie]

Last week I found a new candy to die for.  It's called Pocky

I've seen this one in New York.  Is pink a gender identifying color in Japan?  If so, maybe the strawberry Pocky is "for women", whatever that means.

Or not.

[jhlurie]

A new weird item.  Can Ritz and Smores ingredients work together?  I have no idea... I just spotted this.

Ritz Bits Smores: Click here ("work" warning: includes audio)

[B Edulis]

Pocky is fabulous. Keep your eye out for "tea" flavored Pocky -- chocolate and Earl Grey! And then there's "Man" Pocky -- begging the question, for? or tastes like?

There's a French book titled Les Bonbecs written by my friend Alexandre Reverend that artfully depicts a fabulous collection of Euro and Amero candy including "Les Gelatines," "Les Caramels," "Le Gadgets," "Les Poudres," and other fun categories.

[wingding]

Last week I found a new candy to die for.  It's called Pocky and it's a Japanese candy that is starting to do well in the States.  It's basically a long pretzel that is dipped in coatings.  Here's a lineup:

Are you kidding?Look at this package...pull this out of your pocky,and it's bound to impress....

[foodgeek]

I'm not much into bars (although I sued to eat those those joyva chocolate covered jelly bars and chocolate covered halvah bars) but I do like upscale chocolate, mainly dark or bittersweet. Not crazy about milk chocolate, and don't like white chocolate.

Working with people who frequesnly visit Europe gives me occasional access to some interesting sweets. there was a box of Maxin's Of Paris chocolates in the office last week, but i wasn't crazy about it.

[researchgal]

...Flake, Ripples and Flake Twists - white and dark chocolate AND a huge box of Crunchie bars " Thank Crunchie it's Friday"

The one Chocolate I love which I can't get in the UK is an Australian "crunchie style" honeycomb bar called Violet Crumbles. 

S

Yummm...I had NO idea there were so many crunchy options. Violet Crumbles sounds divine! I may need to google it and see what I can find!

[researchgal]

Yup, just found that site, too.

Too bad you have order all that other junk just to try a Violet Crumbles!

[Suzanne F]

For those Anglosucrophiles in or around NYC: Devon & Blakely carries a variety of Cadbury's, the real thing. Only in cool weather, though.

Back to the survey: Milky Way, but only the dark chocolate version. Is the mocha version still around?

[Suvir Saran]

For those Anglosucrophiles in or around NYC: Devon & Blakely carries a variety of Cadbury's, the real thing.  Only in cool weather, though.

Back to the survey: Milky Way, but only the dark chocolate version.  Is the mocha version still around?

I still have my Cadburys craving.... Strange.. since I hate most all mass produced chocolate these days. But if I see cadburys somewhere, I get a glitter in my eye.. and whoever is near me, knows I am craving chocolate... I come home with far too many bars.. and once I begin eating them, after half a bar is over, I am already sick of it. But next time I see the bars in a store, I am that little kid in the candy store than wants everything.

[nightscotsman]

...Flake, Ripples and Flake Twists - white and dark chocolate AND a huge box of Crunchie bars " Thank Crunchie it's Friday"

The one Chocolate I love which I can't get in the UK is an Australian "crunchie style" honeycomb bar called Violet Crumbles. 

S

Yummm...I had NO idea there were so many crunchy options. Violet Crumbles sounds divine! I may need to google it and see what I can find!

I've seen Violet Crumble in drug and variety stores all over the Seattle area. Which means it should be easy to find in the US. Or you can order it on-line here.

[researchgal]

...Flake, Ripples and Flake Twists - white and dark chocolate AND a huge box of Crunchie bars " Thank Crunchie it's Friday"

The one Chocolate I love which I can't get in the UK is an Australian "crunchie style" honeycomb bar called Violet Crumbles. 

S

Yummm...I had NO idea there were so many crunchy options. Violet Crumbles sounds divine! I may need to google it and see what I can find!

I've seen Violet Crumble in drug and variety stores all over the Seattle area. Which means it should be easy to find in the US. Or you can order it on-line here.

Thanks, night!

[Suvir Saran]

While I like certain "commercial" US candy bars, all my favorites are either upscale dark chocolate or British.  Mmmm....chunky Kit Kats, orange Aero bars, Time Outs, Lions.......

British Kit Kats are so much better.. I love one every now and then.

[stefanyb]

My all time favorite candy is Viennese Butter Crunch.  I can never go through O'hare withoout buying a bagful at one of those Aunty whatever candy shoppees. 

Commercial candy bars I avoid, but Almond Joys will get me in a pinch.

Perfect shiva candy. How come we of a certain age and background all crave the came things?

[Peter B Wolf]

Toblerone.     

"Toblerone" ??

If you got to go 'Swiss' , at least go "Lindt Halbbitter"

[Suvir Saran]

Toblerone.      

"Toblerone" ??

If you got to go 'Swiss' , at least go "Lindt Halbbitter"

If I have to have candy, I am happy being tacky or mass market....

Toblerone is just so perfect for some of my moods... I can eat a lot of it.. A LOT.

I am sorry if I offend those that love fine chocolate by having this love of Toblerone, but I do love it. I eat it more when traveling to other parts of the world. I buy it at the airports in Europe and travel with it to farther places east.

[porkpa]

Anybody ever have Coffee Crisp? Its by far my all time favorite chocolate bar. Its great either at room temperature or frozen. Its very popular in Canada where it is manufactured by Nestles(I think) or maybe by Neilson. It wassupposed to be introduced to the American market about two years ago(New York City I think), but I haven't heard whether they actually tried doing so..