Mars’s kind PR people are giving me the chance to give a couple of lucky readers some Coconut M&M’s of their own. To enter this giveaway, leave a comment about your favorite kind of M&M or what kind of M&M flavor you’d like to see Mars make by 11:59 EST on Monday, June 20th.

I’ll randomly select 2 readers who will each get 1 large bag and 2 single-serve bags of Coconut M&M’s. U.S. readers only, please, and be sure to leave a valid email address in the Mail field so that I have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!

I used to love Tic Tacs when I was a kid. They were marketed as mints, so they made me feel grown-up, but they tasted like candy, so they pleased my kiddie palate. When I hit middle school, Altoids were the “in” mint, and I left Tic Tacs behind… until now!

Orange Tic Tacs were my favorite when I was a kid. Either they’ve changed since then, or Orange Tic Tacs are different in Canada – they were white, not orange! But they did taste like I remembered.

All of the Tic Tacs that I received were shaped like tiny pellets. The orange ones had a smooth, glossy shell that tasted mildly sweet.

Once the shell was gone, the Tic Tac took on a more granular texture, and the orange flavor came through – sweet with a slightly sour tinge and a round, mellow orange ctirus flavor. While the shell was hard, the center was slightly softer and chewable.

Green Apple was a fruity flavor that didn’t exist when I was a kid. The shell of these had a bit of candied green apple flavor, which I enjoyed, but the flavor of the center was way over the top – sweet and sour but with way too much artificial sweetener aftertaste.

The Tic Tacs were as I remembered – fun little pellets that are really more candy than mint (neither of these fruity flavors made much lasting impact on my breath). I preferred the orange to the green apple, but I’ll give both O‘s because they’re both pretty innocuous.

If you’d like a chance to try an assortment of Tic Tacs for yourself, and you live in Canada, you’re in luck! Thanks to Tic Tac Canada’s PR people, I get to give away one set of Tic Tac swag to a randomly selected commenter. To enter, leave a comment about what your talent is by 11:59 PM, EST on Friday, May 13th. Be sure to leave a valid email address in the email field. Canadian readers only. Good luck!

The wrapper calls it “milk chocolate with caramelized peanuts and a hint of sea salt” and bills the cocoa content at 37%.

The milk chocolate base is thick and lightly nutty with caramel notes. The peanuts are slightly salty. The caramelization is quite nice and adds a sweet burnt sugar note to the peanuts’ flavor.

I wasn’t a big fan of the texture of the peanuts. They’re soft nuts with a relatively mushy texture, and here they blend right into the texture of the chocolate and makes it slightly drier.

All in all, a fine bar but not exactly my thing (I’m not a huge fan of peanuts). An O.

If you’d like to try them yourself, Green and Black’s is letting me give some bars away to one lucky reader in honor of Mother’s Day. That’s this Sunday for you U.S. readers! Leave a comment about how you celebrate Mother’s Day by 11:59 PM EST on Saturday, May 7th, and I’ll choose one random commenter to win. U.S. readers only please, and make sure to leave a valid email address in the e-mail field.

Mine came as a free sample in a press pack inside a plastic coconut and with a tiny USB that I first thought was a fun-sized regular Twix bar. Hooray for fun candy swag!

The Twix Coconut didn’t look or smell any different from a regular Twix bar. The chocolate and cookie were the usual Twix fare, mildly sweet for the former and pleasantly dry, crunchy, and buttery for the latter.

The caramel was where the difference lay. It had overtones of artificial coconuttiness. The flavor was nicely floral and nutty, but it tasted rather fake – more sunscreen than actual coconut.

I enjoyed the combination of the biscuit and the chewy, sweet, nutty caramel, but it wasn’t quite genuinely nutty enough to push it to the next level. I’m glad that I got to try this, but Twix Java is still my favorite twist on Twix. An O.

Update: Twix has offered to give one lucky reader a Twix Coconut to try for him or herself. Leave a comment about which Limited Edition Twix is your favorite or about what flavor of Twix you’d like to see by 11:59 PM EST, Sunday, April 24th. U.S. readers only please. One commenter will be randomly selected to win.

Please leave a valid email address in the Mail field, NOT in the body of your comment (unless you’re not afraid of spammers) so that I can contact you if you win.

Edit: This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Barbara!

They’ve just launched a new website, which looks like a good resource to learn more about how chocolate is made, where it comes from, and how to savor it. The website is called The Story of Chocolate, so this giveaway is all about your chocolate story.

To enter, leave a comment about your personal chocolate story, whether it be a chocolate memory, a family recipe that uses chocolate, or just an ode to your favorite chocolate. One commenter will be randomly selected to win a Chocolate Gift Pack from the NCA’s Chocolate Council (example above; actual assortment may vary slightly).

Only US readers are eligible to win. Make sure you leave a valid email address in the form, where only I can see it, NOT in the content of the comment, where anyone, including spammers, can see it. Entries close at 11:59 PM EST on Friday, April 1. Good luck!

*Note: I have received no monetary compensation for this post. The NCA has supplied me with my own Chocolate Gift Pack for future review.

Edit: This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Jen!

These also came individually wrapped, two to a package, and were a pale green. The famous Kit Kat wafers were dry and crispy and covered in wasabi tinted white chocolate. They smelled neutrally sweet.

The chocolate tasted first of sweet, milky cream. Then a light horseradish kick came through. All of that kick was totally through the olfactory system – when I pinched my nose, it wasn’t noticeable.

There wasn’t any noticeable chocolate flavor, just creaminess with a slight spiciness. It had just the right amount of kick to make it weirdly addictive and intriguing. Any more would have been overwhelming, while any less couldn’t have been noticed.

I give this an OM. It earned the extra M through sheer novelty, but I truly enjoyed the confection. Nana was less of a fan.

I have about a half dozen of each weird flavor to give away. My way of passing on Nana and Justin’s generosity! For a chance to win some Wasabi and Sweet Potato Kit Kats of your own, leave a comment on the ZOMG, Candy!’s Facebook discussion page for a chance to win at least one of each. I’ll randomly select three winners on February 11th, midnight EST, so get your comments in before then!

There are some cute Valentine’s Day recipes in the above widget. Leave a comment about your favorite Valentine’s Day-related treat by February 8th 11:59 PM EST. I’ll randomly select one winner from the comments and hope that H&S can get you your prize by Valentine’s Day.

Not so fine print: U.S. readers only due to shipping costs. Please leave a valid email address in the designated line on the comment form, NOT in the comment itself. That way only I can see it. Email addresses will only be used to contact the winner; they will not be kept or sold for any purpose, and I will not give your email addresses to H&S candies.

Good luck!

Mars/Milky Way has given me 2 “Simply Caramel Relax and Enjoy” prize packs to give away to ZOMG, Candy! readers. Each prize pack will include a $75 gift certificate to SpaFinder.com for a yoga class or massage and “Enough Simply Caramel Bars to indulge in for a month (5).”

I thought it was amusing that Milky Way considered 5 candy bars to be a month’s supply. On the one hand, 1 bar a week is a healthy, reasonable indulgence, and 5 chocolate bars/person is a generous gift. On the other hand, don’t they want people buying and eating more than that?

So, to enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment about how many full-sized candy bars you would consider to be a month’s supply. Be sure to leave a real email address (seen and used only by me to contact the winners). Deadline for entry is Sunday, August 15 at 9pm EST. I’ll randomly select 2 commenters to win. Good luck!

In the meantime, check out my ZOMG, Candy! Facebook page! I’m running a candy giveaway through the discussion tab. I’d love to hear what you have to say, and I’ll bet you’d love to win some free candy!

Back on Tuesday, July 6th. Be safe, and have a great weekend!