ZOMG, Candy!

I’m super late to the game on this one, but oh well. I picked up these M&M’s Pirate Pearls (BUY) at a local dollar store. They were released to promote the Pirates of the Caribbean movie that came out back in May, so they’ve of course been relegated to dollar stores and the like.

I enjoy white chocolate even less than I do milk chocolate. I just don’t understand why it can be called chocolate if it’s flavored with vanilla and has no cocoa solids (thanks, Wikipedia). And, of course, it’s on the cloying side of sweet.

The packaging on the Pirate Pearls was uninspiring, but I can’t be too critical because Johnny Depp/Captain Jack Sparrow is the main attraction, and ARRR! he be attractin’ alright! I also like the cute little pirate insipred designs on the M&M’s themselves. Way to go, Mars, for doing more than just changing the wrapper and the M&Ms’ colors. I appreciate that extra mile. Finally, the bag is slightly smaller than your standard bag of M&M’s, I guess because it’s a novelty tie-in product, so Mars figured they could get away with selling smaller portions.

As far as taste goes, the M&M’s Pirate Pearls were okay. They’re just like milk chocolate M&M’s size-wise and shell-to-chocolate ratio-wise, only they’re made of a sweet white chocolate instead. I managed about a half dozen or so before I’d reached my white chocolate limit. These would be good in trail mix or something along those lines, where there’s something salty to mitigate the cloying. If you’re a white chocolate fan (do those exist?), you’ll like these a lot.

If I see these again, I might consider buying another package to stash away as a collector’s item, but probably not. If they stuck Orlando Bloom on the wrapper, however, I could be persuaded to reconsider.

I remember buying regular 3 Musketeers bars (BUY) out of the vending machines in high school. I’d lift off the bottom layer of chocolate, eat that flat piece, and then scoop out the nougat center, leaving me with a nice chocolate trough. 3 Musketeers were never my favorite bar, as the milk chocolate and sweet chocolate nougat gets cloying quickly, but I enjoyed them from time to time.

The 3 Musketeers Mint with dark chocolate is a new bar from Mars. I assume it’s intended to compete with the York Peppermint Pattie. Well, York, you’ve got nothing to worry about. The 3 Musketeers Mint is nice and inoffensive, but it’s also uninspiring and unsensational.

I like the way the bar is portion controlled. It’s narrower than the normal 3 Musketeers, and it comes in two pieces for some reason. Perhaps it made for a better chocolate/mint ratio. Either way, it’s nice to easily be able to eat a single bar and save or share the second. I also like that the bar is dark chocolate because I like dark chocolate.

The bar smells sweetly of chocolate and lightly of mint. It’s a gorgeous bar, and the shiny and artfully swirled dark chocolate coating contrasts well with the fluffy and pristinely white mint nougat. The chocolate coating is fairly sweet, but not as stick-in-your-throat sweet as that of the regular 3 Musketeers. The mint nougat has the same texture as the chocolate nougat of the regular bar. The mint taste , like the smell, is not very strong, though it does have staying power. A few minutes after I finished the bar, I could still feel a light mintiness in the back of my throat. Like the bar itself, the lingering mint taste was neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

I prefer the strong peppermint kick of the York Peppermint Pattie. The 3 Musketeers Mint is subtle and therefore a little boring. I don’t think it’ll be able to hone in on the Peppermint Pattie’s domination of the chocolate-mint market. After all, the 3 Musketeers big marketing grab is that it’s lower in fat than most chocolate bars, but the York Peppermint Pattie is similarly “healthier”. The taste of the 3 Musketeers Mint alone is simply not enough of a draw for me.

I found these in a display case along with the Limited Edition Carnival Skittles (BUY) at the Dollar Tree. They were tucked away in a corner, so I nearly walked out without seeing them. The cashier probably wondered why I got went through the line twice, both times to buy just candy.

The packaging on the Retro Starbursts (BUY) is a nice tie-dye motif, and the individual wrappers are white with colored print instead of the other way around. The flavor names are cute and clever, if rather corny:

Hey Mango-rena! - The exclamation mark is key, of course. These didn’t taste like mango at all. I got more of a sweet cantaloupe/punch taste or something.

Optimus Lime - This was my favorite flavor. Unsurprising, since I love citrus flavored candies, and the Green Slushy was my favorite Carnival Skittle flavor. Not quite as complex as the Green Slushy Carnival Skittle, but still quite enjoyable. With a bright and tart lime taste, it reminded me of a lime Skittle, but better, maybe because it’s a bigger candy. And while we’re on the subject, check out this cool Optimus Prime cake.

Psychideli-melon - Quite faithful artificial watermelon candy flavor, like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.

Disco Berry : I guess they ran out of clever names when it came to this one. It tastes like a super intense version of a red berry candy, which makes sense, as this chew is a deep red that’s nearly maroon. I think the berry is cherry, since I think that’s what’s pictured on the wrapper.

Overall, I enjoyed these flavors, though I felt cheated by the Hey Mango-rena! Hey Mars, just making it mango-colored isn’t enough. You’re supposed to make it taste like mango too.

Kristen on one of Sugar Savvy’s sister sites in the Well-Fed Network, Kids Cuisine, got to these Didits before I did, but I thought I’d share my take on the Chocolate-Vanilla Sundae Bars. Her review gives a great description of exactly what the Didits brand is about. Each serving of the sundae bars (two small bars) contains just 90 calories, 1 gram of saturated fat, and 30% of the recommended daily dose of calcium.

I can understand why Kristen and her kids didn’t like this. From the picture on the wrapper, I expected a chocolate cookie topped with vanilla marshmallow and enrobed in milk chocolate. What’s inside is decidedly different and therefore disappointing. However, I still found it pretty tasty.

The chocolate cookie is chocolatey, chewy, and cookie-esque. Those who have had energy bars/meal replacement bars like those made by Slimfast or Atkins Advantage will recognize the cookie-meets-taffy texture. The “vanilla marshmallow” top is marshmallow-esque - it’s kind of foamy like marshmallows look, but it’s gooey and oozy instead of fluffy. I’d liken it to a corn-syrupy, inferior imitation of a melted marshmallow. The milk chocolate coating tastes like the coating you’d find on a candy bar, which makes sense, as Kid Didits are manufactured by a division of Mars.

At 90 calories per serving, I think these make a good portion-controlled snack. I sometimes eat energy bars in two sittings because their caloric content can get pretty high, so these Didits would be great as a mini energy bar. To compare the Didit sundae bars to sundaes or candy bars, however, is to set them up to disappoint.

Limited edition candies may be a marketing ploy to snare the impulsive shopper, but they’re also a great way for candy makers and consumers to try out a new spin on familiar favorites. Also, candy consumers are more willing to buy unfamiliar candies if they’re associated with a familiar brand. Limited Edition Carnival Skittles are an interesting departure from regular Skittles, but I won’t be sad to see them go.

The Carnival flavors are:

Bubble Gum (pink) - Tastes just like sweet, sugary bubble gum. For lack of a better word, this Skittle tastes like pink.

Cotton Candy (turquoise) - This tastes initially like sugar, followed by a hint of artificial blue raspberry (not to be confused with fresh raspberry).

Candy Apple (pale yellow) - This one also tastes initially like sugar but, quite logically, followed by a hint of apple flavor rather than blue raspberry. The apple flavor is actually quite nice and reminds me of apple flavored Fanta.

Red Licorice (red) - I am not a fan of red licorice candy because I think it tastes like wax. Somehow, Skittles managed to encapsulate that waxy essence. I’m impressed, assuming that the waxy taste is not just my imagination.

Green Slushy (light green) - I saved the best for last! On first bite, there’s a sharp lime taste. The lime flavor then mellows out into a sweet lemon-lime. It’s more complex than a regular lime Skittle, and more enjoyable. My favorite normal Skittles are the citrus ones, so it’s no surprise that I liked Green Slushy the best. Candy Apple is okay, but I found the initial sugar taste off-putting and too sweet.

That was my issue with this bunch of Skittles overall - three of the five flavors tasted of mostly sugar, which got bland and cloying. I polished off the Green Slushy ones and left the rest for my family to finish.