ZOMG, Candy!

I recently had the pleasure of getting a candy sneak preview. Crown Candies sent me two boxes of their Borrachitos (Spanish for a little drunk, and a traditional Mexican treat, apparently). I got one each of their two available flavors: Tequila and Licor de Cafe.

Crown Candies imports these handmade candies from Mexico. They call them “gourmet caramel candies,” but, as I explained to David of Crown Candies, I find that a bit of a misnomer, as they aren’t actually caramels. Instead, they’re a soft jelly-like candy flavored with caramel (or dulce du leche, if you prefer) and liquor. The Tequila flavor is laced with Tequila (duh), and the Licor de Cafe with coffee liqueur (less intuitive if you’re unfamiliar with romance languages).

The borrachitos come inside a resealable plastic tub with paper dividers separating them from each other. That tub is then shrink-wrapped and packaged inside a box. The texture of the candy is hard to describe. It’s super soft and immediately gives way when you bite into it, yet there’s a slight chew to it, The white center is creamy and also soft. They’re covered in granulated sugar, presumably to keep them from sticking to each other and to add an extra touch of sweetness.

The Licor de Cafe had a lovely strong coffee liqueur flavor to it in addition to its caramel notes. I noticed an initial, barely perceptible mustiness to it, probably from the paper liner, but it wasn’t present enough for friends to notice when I shared the borrachitos. My band director proclaimed them to be “very good,” and he’s got a doctorate in music education (sorry; inside YUB joke).

The Tequila borrachitos (left three in below photo) were lighter in color than the Licor de Cafe flavored ones (right three below) - more golden than brown - and their mustiness was a little stronger, probably because they had a double-layered paper liner. David from Crown Candies assures me that they’ve stopped using the double layer and that they’re looking into plastic separators, so that should resolve that issue. He was so confident that he sent me a third box of borrachitos with the new packaging to taste, but I haven’t had a chance to get them yet because I’ve been out of town and without access to my PO box.

The Tequila borrachitos were also strong! They immediately taste of caramel, and then whoosh comes the alcohol flavor. I’m not hardcore enough to enjoy the Tequila flavor, but I think tequila lovers/hard liquor connoisseurs would enjoy it. The Licor de Cafe flavor was just right for me, with it’s slight but innocuous alcohol tinge. An O for the tequila. The Licor de Cafe isn’t something I would reach for as a casual snack, but I would indulge in a piece now and then and would offer it to company. It gets an OM. I wonder if Crown Candies has considered a chocolate liqueur version.

Borrachitos are available online from the Crown Candies website, and they’ll also be at the All Candy Expo in Chicago that’s going on next week.

These Liberty Orchards’ Aplets and Cotlets were given to me by my friend Rita, who is from Washington state. In Washington, these are a locally made confection that probably takes advantage of the fruit trees of the state. If I ever get to visit her at home, I’m making her take me on the Liberty Orchards’ factory tour.

The Aplets (apples + walnuts ) and Cotlets (apricots + walnuts) come in a pretty box split in half between the two types. I love the logo design, with a apple as the O. On sight, the aplets and cotlets seem identical, but Liberty Orchards was thoughtful enough to include a decorative piece of paper that explained which half of the tray was which. There were 16 total confectioneries in my box, so 8 of each.

The aplets and cotlets smell lightly fruity. They’re basically a wonderfully smooth fruit pate/jelly candy with walnuts mixed in, all covered in confectioner’s sugar. The aplets had a light and subtle apple taste that tasted like genuine, real fruit - because it was made from real fruit. The cotlet, which was billed as tangy, wasn’t. In fact, I found it to have an even lighter fruit flavor than the apple. The walnuts were crunchy and mild, as walnuts should be.

I give these an OM because I find them too delicate and dainty for my taste. They’re a great, light way to finish a meal, but for snacking purposes, I’d prefer something with a little more OMPH.

I found these Narbles at the grocery store in the candy display near what used to be the video rental area. I had never heard of Narbles, but the bag was super cheap so I decided to give them a try.

Narbles are like spherical jelly beans - the good kind of jelly bean, like the kind made by Starburst (BUY) where the flavor is strong and vibrant. Narble shells, however, are much thicker than those of jelly beans, and I found it a hair too thick to make chewing easy. The chewy jelly insides also dissolve easily, unlike jelly beans, which can sometimes get stuck in your teeth.

The flavors are cherry (generically artificial cherry taste), grape (a strong artificial grape lollipop/popsicle flavor), orange (a strong sweetness that could have used more of a citrus tang), lemon (way too sweet and barely any lemon taste), and apple (also way too sweet and with hardly any discernible green apple taste). The cherry ones are actually red, by the way; for some reason they showed up pink in the photo.

Narbles are pleasant enough. They’re intensely sugary, so they’re not terribly addictive. If Starburst jelly beans didn’t exist in the world, I’d gladly eat these instead.