Sugarfina Cocktail Hour – Part I Cordials

Sugarfina?is a new online candy “boutique” that sells candy that they’ve curated from around the world. They recently sent me a generous selection of free samples of their products, including their?cocktail hour tasting bar. It contained 8 different candies, so I’ll cover the cordials today and leave the gummis for Friday.

The candies came beautifully packaged in a white box. Inside were 8 little plastic bags of booze-inspired candy nestled in?Tiffany?blue tissue paper. Each little bag contained a handful of candies (8 gummi bears, half a dozen cordials, etc) and was labeled with a sticker so I could tell what was what.

The top row are the cordials: Cognac VSOP, Single Malt Scotch, and Absinthe Cordials, none of which contained any actual alcohol. The fourth bag contained Martini Olive Almonds, which were gorgeous and tasty chocolate-covered almonds decorated to look like olives.

The cordials were all prettily shiny spheres with liquid centers with a light sugar crunch around the center liquid. I believe the sugar layer kept the liquid from being absorbed by the chocolate.

Cognac VSOP was a dark chocolate cordial. The center tasted lightly sweet and fruity with a boozy undertone.

The alcohol flavor was noticeable but mild and lacked the true headiness you get from real cognac. It was much sweeter than real cognac is, though it wasn’t all that sweet for a candy.

Single Malt Scotch was also dark chocolate. Again, the center liquid was fairly sweet with the flavor of alcohol in the finish.

It lacked the firey burn and complexity of real scotch – instead, it just carried the edge of alcohol. In fact, its neutral alcohol flavor made me think more of vodka.

Finally, the Absinthe Cordial had a shiny, crunchy green outer shell hiding dark chocolate and a liquid center. I tried real absinthe once in Brazil (back when it was still illegal in the U.S.) and was not a fan – it tasted like black licorice, and I hate licorice!

The liquid here was quite distinctively flavored. It carried an edge of anise, which I normally hate, but here it was mild and vegetal, like fresh fennel, and the sweetness of the chocolate and sugar shell made it more palatable.

I enjoyed these, and especially appreciated the uniqueness of the absinthe cordials, but I think they’re more of a special occasion candy – maybe for some themed party – than everyday candy. An O.

Stay tuned for Friday when I cover the booze-flavored gummies.