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Spain

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Pieces

Trader Joe's Candy Coated Milk Chocolate PiecesTrader Joe’s had a fair number of new products this year, but this holiday treat caught my eye: Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Pieces.

I’m a sucker for a nice bottle with a cork top, and even though this was $5.99, I figured it would be good for holding some freshly squeezed orange juice at home. Even with the large price tag, it is important to note that it’s a full pound of candy, not the skimpy 12 ounces like many candy bags have now.

The pieces are made in Spain, which is definitely not a country I think of when it comes to chocolate. (They do lovely gummis and nougats.)

The bottle itself looks like it holds more than a pint, less than a quart (but I’ll have to measure when it’s empty). It’s pretty thick glass and has the Trader Joe’s logo molded into it ... which makes me wonder if it will show up in the future for other packaged items. (Maybe we’ll see this again for Valentines with just white and red lentils with hearts and lips printed on them.)

Trader Joe's Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Pieces

The pieces, especially for a naturally colored product, are well made and lovely to look at. There are three colors: white, light red and muted green. Each piece also has a little printed icon. The white ones have Ts and Js and the green and red ones have a mixture of snowflakes, bells and stocking caps.

The lentils are a little larger and flatter than an M&M. They’re more like Nestle Smarties, though not quite that big.

Trader Joe's Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Pieces

The shells are very thick. Since they’re rather flat, there’s a sharper edge to the, which in this case with the bottle, means that they’re more easily broken and chipped. (Of course I also carried the bottle around for a full week back and forth to work while I was sampling them for review.)

The crunchy shell is very pleasant and has no flavor of its own, just a mildly sweet crunch. The chocolate centers have a very strong dairy milk flavor, a light hint of malt and honey and then some cocoa notes.

They’re inoffensive and pretty, certainly different from M&Ms with the packaging and natural colors. They don’t quite warrant the price tag on their own, but I wasn’t sorry I picked them up. Flavors might also be fun, especially if they could figure out a way to mix the flavors in the same package.

Related Candies

  1. Cadbury Dairy Milk Pebbles
  2. Choeur Choco Dragees
  3. Eat with your Eyes: Meiji Strawberry Lentils
  4. Russell Stover Color Me Candies
  5. Hershey-ets
  6. Kissables (Reformulated)
  7. Head to Head: M&Ms vs Koppers Milkies
  8. UK Smarties (no artificial colors)


Name: Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Pieces
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (3rd & Fairfax)
Price: $5.99
Size: 16 ounces
Calories per ounce: 136
Categories: Candy, Christmas, Trader Joe's, Chocolate, 7-Worth It, Spain

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:16 pm     CandyReviewChristmasTrader Joe'sChocolate7-Worth ItSpain

Monday, November 16, 2015

Vidal Gummi Gingerbread Men

DSC_0045rbOf course there should be Christmas gummis! And not just red and green gummi bears, they should be fully conceived holiday gummis. So, I was really intrigued with Vidal Gummi Gingerbread Men.

The package has all the holiday icons: ornaments, holly with berries, red background and of course a little gingerbread house for the gingerbread man. The gingerbread man looks extremely happy to be there, too. Like he wants to run and jump in your mouth.

The gummis are cookies n’ creme flavor, which is not quite what I was hoping for, especially since I’m not sure what that flavor actually is, it’s more of a thing with textures.

DSC_0051rb

They’re cute little guys, actually they’re pretty big for gummis (but small for cookies). They’re about 2 inches tall and an armspan of about 1.25 inches. Unlike real gingerbread cookies, these are “iced” on the bottom. There’s a foamy white layer base on the pieces and then a tan caramel colored gummi layer for the gingerbread. The actual flavor difference between the layers is negligible, it’s really about textures. The bottom is a little lighter, not quite marshmallow but foamy with a slight creamy touch. The top layer is a little smoother, but about the same flavor.

So, the flavor is, well, not cookies and cream. It’s more like honey sweetened yogurt. It’s sweet but there are no cookie or vanilla notes. There are certainly no spice notes, but it was clear that these aren’t gingerbread flavored. Instead they’re lightly tangy and just bland. I found them absolutely unappealing. The only good thing was that they didn’t smell weird, like some gummis can.

I think that there’s a market out there for non-fruity gummis. There are some licorice types around, but it would be fun to expand the flavors to things like mint and butterscotch or caramel or maybe even peanut butter. As far as these go, though, they’re purely for decoration and non-discriminating people. They are not tasty candy.

Vidal gummis are gluten free. They contain gelatin so they’re not vegetarian or kosher. There’s no statement on the label about soy or nuts, but they do contain coconut oil.

Related Candies

  1. Trolli Gummi Santa and Elves Mustaches
  2. Flipz Gingerbread Flavor Covered Pretzels
  3. Russell Stover Santas: Gingerbread, Peppermint and Maple
  4. M&Ms Milk Chocolate Gingerbread
  5. Twix Gingerbread
  6. Sugarfina: The Gummis
  7. Peeps Gingerbread Men
  8. Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows + Vanilla, Cinnamon Bun, Strawberry, Chocolate Royale, Gingerbread


Name: Gummi Gingerbread Men
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Vidal
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Farmers Market)
Price: $1.49
Size: 4.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 94
Categories: Candy, Christmas, Vidal, Gummi Candy, 4-Benign, Spain, Cost Plus

POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:57 pm     CandyReviewChristmasVidalGummi Candy4-BenignSpainCost Plus

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Yum Junkie Pufflettes

Yum Junkie PufflettesI keep a candy buffet going in my office, usually three to five jars of candy. I try to balance the offerings to complete a full “candy diet” of all the essentials: sour, gummi, spicy, chocolatey and nutty. Sometimes I’ll swap out chewy for spicy or creamy for nutty, but the basic goal is variety.

I mention this because candy buffets are big, they’re ubiquitous at events like weddings, showers and birthday parties. I like to curate my daily candy buffet based on what I’d want to eat, but a party buffet is a little different, because it’s also about being a decoration. Most candy buffet resources show off how to arrange candy based on colors, not textures or experiences. Sometimes there will be a nostalgic bent, so the packaging is the focus.

Yum Junkie is a new company based in the Los Angeles area that caters to the colorful candy buffet market with color-divided candies in most of the major sugar candy genres. When they asked me if I wanted to try some of their new candies, I opted for their Pufflettes, which come in the regular size and a mini called Petite Pufflettes. They describe themselves as Yummy, Gummy Bites. I got mixed bags, but they also come in single color/flavor packages as well.

DSC_8002rb

Pufflettes are actually made in Spain in an array of six flavors. The candy is a puffy gummi with a white base and a fruity flavored top. The larger size is about 1 inch long and .75 inches wide and high. They’re a not quite round, more like an oval base. There are a few makers of candies like these, notably I’ve seen Trolli makes a strawberry version of these called Strawberry Puffs. Pufflettes are the first I’ve seen not only of a multitude of colors and flavors, but also the ability to buy them either mixed or separately. (But the minimum purchase is 5 pounds.)

Strawberry —Pink & White - this is the one that kind of got me interested in Pufflettes in the first place, because a few European gummi companies already make a strawberry gummi puff. These are, well, okay. It’s not quite as good as the Haribo layered Strawberries & Cream, or one of those artisinal real strawberry jam mixed with a vanilla marshmallows. The texture is nice and the floral-tart blend is good. But the white base could use more vanilla or toasted sugar notes.
Grape —Purple & White - this is an unusual flavor, since grape is rather uncommon in gummi candies. There’s more of a creamy note to the white base and the grape is rather mild. I wish it was a little more like a Pixy Stix grape.
Raspberry—Blue & White - It’s a very blue flavor, with a lot of floral notes and sort of scented-candle sort of experience, not as tangy as others, but seems to have a creamy note.

DSC_8015rb

The Petite Pufflettes are only .75 inches long and .5 inches wide. The product description online lists the regular sized ones at 75 pieces per pound, while the Petites are 125 pieces per pound.

Green Apple—Green & White - the listing said that green was lime, but it’s actually Green Apple. It’s definitely on the green side of things, with an almost grassy note to it. It’s tangy and vibrant.
Orange —Orange & White - my regular sized mix didn’t have orange, only the Petites. It’s zesty, which I liked, and a little creamy, so it reminded me a lot of an orange creamsicle.
Lemon —Yellow & White - these are tangy and have a sort of metallic lemon note to them, like a lemonade mix. The flavor lasts for quite a white and isn’t overly sweet.

DSC_8065rb

I usually prefer my gummis to be much more intense. And the puffy texture, while fun at first, really just made them bigger than I wanted when it came to the regular sized ones. I’m more likely to pick up an intense gummi like the Haribo Ginger Lemon, so these are not going to be something I’d buy for myself.

As a decorative item to include in a buffet, these are great. They’re more substantial than a regular marshmallow, and more flavorful. They’re also bulky and provide a lot of visual impact per pound, because they’re fluffy. So I usually put about 3.5 pounds of candy into one half gallon candy jar (these Anchor Hocking dealies). I only needed about 2.5 pounds to make a half gallon jar look full (didn’t really matter which size). The mixed colors are beautiful and not too chaotic looking because the white bases give them a continuity. The individual colors are a great option of you’re making a buffet according to a design plan, especially if you need a lot of bang for you buck and don’t want to have only candies that people can get every day.

The Pufflettes are currently available on CandyWarehouse.com but I also saw them at the Fancy Food Show, so they may show up at other shops in bulk or other packaging.



Name: Pufflettes (Multi)
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Yum Junkie
Place Purchased: Samples from Yum Junkie
Price: $19.50
Size: 5 pounds
Calories per ounce: 96
Categories: Candy, Gummi Candy, 6-Tempting, Spain

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:12 pm     CandyReviewGummi Candy6-TemptingSpain

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Sugarpova: Sporty & Splashy

Sugarpova Sporty Mix Bubble GumMaria Sharapova, one of the top tennis players in the world, launched a line of candy last year, called Sugarpova. (She even briefly tried to change her name to Maria Sugarpova for the 2013 US Open, but ended up not participating due to a shoulder injury.) The new candy line is made in Spain by the confectionery company Fini. There are over a dozen different candies in her line, all sugar candies like gummis and chews, with fun names like Flirty, Sassy and Chic.

The logo on the front of each package is a pair of lips. The packaging and candy shapes have little to do with tennis, except for the gumballs. I’ve actually tried these gumballs before in a larger size, but only in the traditional yellow color. (See the original review here.)

I ordered the candy online from an eBay sports equipment store, the bags are priced rather steep at $5.95 for only 5 ounces. That calculates to over $19 per pound, which is pretty absurd for sugar candy that’s not made from special ingredients like all natural flavorings, non-GMO corn syrup or organic sugar.

Sugarpova Sporty Mix Bubble Gum

Sugarpova Sporty Mix Bubble Gum come in five color/flavor combinations: orange, pink, yellow, blue and green. The pieces are about .75 inches across (about half the diameter of the jawbreaker version I tried previously). They’re also available separately, in Pink and standard Tennis Yellow. I chose the mix so that I could try as many flavors as possible.

The gumballs are made with sugar, no artificial sweeteners. One of the colorings is carmine, so they’re not appropriate for vegetarians.

Yellow is lemon-lime and is rather bland for the most part but with an oddly strong zest note to it. There’s a grainy filling inside the ball, but that just seemed sweet to me.

Orange is quite mild, it’s sweet with the only burst of real flavor coming from the sandy filling, in this case, it was tart.

Sugarpova Sporty Mix Bubble Gum

Blue is raspberry and quite nice for a berry flavored gum. The floral notes are a bit perfumey, but it also has a lot longer lasting flavor than some of the others.

Pink was difficult to discern completely, I felt it was a pink lemonade flavor, it was different from the lemon-lime, it was more like a standard lemonade drink mix, a little tangy and less zesty.

Green was watermelon. I didn’t care for this at all, it had the requisite melon and cucumber notes, but was far too sweet overall.

The chew was good, the sugar melts away pretty quickly and the chew is pretty soft and easy to blow bubbles. Eventually, though, after about twenty minutes of chewing, there really is nothing left of the flavor or sweetness and it becomes too stiff for chewing or bubbles.

Sugarpova Splashy GummisThe Sugarpova Splashy Gummis have nothing to do with tennis. Instead this is just a standard mix of gummis in the shape of sea creatures.

There are three different styles of gummis in the package. One is the standard fruity gummi, one is what I’d call the yogurt style gummi, which is usually opaque and pastel, and the third is the foamy base gummi, which has a bit of marshmallow in it.

The gummi octopus was fun because they were multicolored and each color was a different flavor. So they’re similar to gummi worms. Each piece had three flavors or so, something in a range of lemon, grape, strawberry, raspberry and cherry. It’s all soft with a good texture though the flavor was far more mild than I’m accustomed to with Haribo or Albanese.

Sugarpova Splashy Gummis

The flat swirly fish are what I’d call the yogurt style. There’s a creamy component to the flavor. The pink version was like a strawberry cheesecake flavor. It was sweet and had a creamy note along with a tartness. The floral flavors of the berry were less jammy than some other clear gummis. The green version was similar, milder than a transparent version, with a vague green apple flavor.

The foamy base gummis looked like sharks. This is a popular candy, a lot of different gummi companies make a version of these. This is a very flavorful version, soft and chewy, the marshmallow has a strong vanilla flavor and the blue shark top is strawberry. The other red and blue whale looking gummi was similar, except that the domed center had a softer goo inside - not a full syrup, just a softer jelly center.

The sea turtles were about the best of the bunch, vanilla base and flavored gummi tops. The orange was like a creamsicle and blue was a nicely rendered raspberry.

Fini is a nice, mid-range brand of sugar candy sold rarely in the United States under their own brand. You can find them in bulk bins, mostly as sour sanded, fruity licorice ropes and tape. But there’s nothing to merit the price of these though the packaging is decent enough. As far as Sugarpova goes, they’ve done a good job curating a specific set of candies and packaging them in a way that makes them appealing. But aside from the gumballs, there’s very little unique in the candy line otherwise.

The gummis and gum are gluten free. For those people who are sensitive be careful to read the labels on all the packages, as some varieties do contain wheat and soy.

Related Candies

  1. Storck Mamba Gummies
  2. Ball Gum Balls (Football & Tennis)
  3. Flix Sour Gummy Pop Corn
  4. Trader Joe’s Gummy Tummies
  5. Haribo Saure Dinosaurier
  6. Big Mo’ Bars: Peanut Butter & Creamy Caramel
  7. Gummy Fishies
  8. Gummi Clown Fish


Name: Sporty Mix Gumballs
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Sugarpova
Place Purchased: Midwest Sports Supply via eBay
Price: $5.99 + shipping
Size: 5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 103
Categories: Candy, Gum, 6-Tempting, Spain


Name: Splashy Gummis
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Sugarpova
Place Purchased: Midwest Sports Supply via eBay
Price: $5.99 + shipping
Size: 5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 97
Categories: Candy, Gummi Candy, 6-Tempting, Spain

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:09 pm     CandyReviewGumGummi Candy6-TemptingSpain

Friday, July 12, 2013

Short & Sweet: Figs

I went through my list of candies that I haven’t reviewed and wanted to do a little roundup with at least some basic impressions. Today I have a little theme of Figs, since I had four products with fig as an element still sitting in the review queue.

DSC02521

I have a black fig tree in my back yard, this photo shows what was the best harvest of my 15 years in this home way back in 2006. This year I got one delicious fig off the tree, then returned two days later in hopes that the others were ripe only to find that the critters got them all. So I must turn to candy for my fig fix. (Well, that’s not entirely true, I buy fresh figs from time to time and dried ones as well.)

Mitica ChocoHigosI got a birthday gift earlier this year of these Spanish chocolate covered figs called Mitica ChocoHigos.

The packaging is mostly utilitarian but did an excellent job of protecting the chocolates inside. They’re not as decadent as some others I’ve had that might be soaked in liquor or filled with ganache. Instead this is the simple pleasure of dark chocolate and a sugary and crunchy whole, dried fig.

Mitica ChocoHigos

They were tasty, I enjoy the leathery and smoky notes of dried figs and chocolate. The chocolate was a little on the sweet side, I like a rather bitter chocolate with my very-sweet dried fruits. The figs were also a bit tough, but I suppose all that chewing just made them last longer.

Dick Taylor Fig

For some reason I never documented the wrapper on this one, which is too bad. It’s the Dick Taylor Fig bar. It’s made in Arcata, CA, a place I used to live. It’s another bean-to-bar artisan chocolate company.

In this case the bar was beautifully molded and had all the things I liked about the fig/dark chocolate combo. There were lots of fruit and tannic notes, a bit of wood, tobacco and smoke. It was expensive though (I picked up the bar in NYC at The Meadow), I think about $9.00.

Liddabit Sweets Fig Ricotta

I finally found Liddabit in NYC when I was there last year, then a few months later there were places in Los Angeles selling them and a friend gave me this box of Liddabit Sweets Fig Ricotta Caramels.

The pieces are wrapped in wax paper. I wanted to love them, but there was something that wasn’t quite caramelly enough and not quite cheesy enough and lacking in the oomph and power of figs It could be the balsamic vinegar was too much tangy for a sweet. I love Liddabit’s bars, but I find that I’m very picky about caramels, especially when they have so many elements going on.

JCoCo Black Fig PistachioThis was another find while on a trip and prowling stores in Philadelphia. The JCoCo Black Fig & Pistachio has amazing packaging. I was sold on the name which included black figs and pistachios.

Little did I realize the extraordinary packaging within. First, the three ounce package has three one ounce bars. Each is individually wrapped in foil, then has a sleeve with a black and white fashion photos (each is different). They’re all tucked into the envelope style paperboard box. (All using recycled packaging.)

DSC_0409rb

Dove and Seeds of Change (both run by Mars) tried this style of packaging a few years ago, but reverted back to the single bar. Personally, I prefer the inner wrapped portions, because I don’t eat a 3 ounce bar in one sitting and don’t have enough friends who can share one ounce portions at the same time. It’s easy to pull one out and toss it in a lunch bar or purse as well.

DSC_0413rbThe chocolate itself is good, it’s quite dark and Seattle Chocolates definitely did well in their sourcing for this assortment of bars. In the line of bars there are a few quirky hipster sort of versions like Agave Quinoa Sesame but others are classic like Veracruz Orange.

I didn’t think there were enough bits of fig and pistachio in there, or maybe they weren’t distributed well. There’s a bit of salt, I think from the pistachios, that again wasn’t distributed well.  On the whole it was good, but I only ate one of the three bars. It’s all Kosher and all natural.

On the whole, I want to give this line another try but they’re not a bean to bar company. So I find myself drawn to other bars that are truly unique and am probably missing out on products like the JCoCo line which is more of what I’d call a curated product - where the chocolatier sources finished chocolate and formulates inclusions and flavor combinations themselves.

DSC_0416rb

Though I don’t think I found a new favorite in this series of explorations, all were good. (I think if I were to go buy a fig and chocolate item right now, it would be the Compartes chocolate covered figs.)

Related Candies

  1. Niederegger Marzipan Classics
  2. La Higuera Rabitos Royale (Chocolate Truffle Filled Figs)
  3. Compartes Chocolates
  4. Lillie Belle Farms Assortment
  5. 3400 Phinney: Fig, Fennel & Almond and Hazelnut Crunch
  6. Caffarel Figs & Chestnuts (Fico & Castagna)
  7. Figamajigs

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:53 pm     CandyReviewSeattle ChocolatesChocolateSpainUnited StatesHighlightFun Stuff

Monday, December 31, 2012

Haribo Tropifruitti

Haribo TropifruttiWhile most Haribo mixes are just different shapes and flavors of the standard gummi, the Haribo Tropifruitti is a bit different.

The gummis are a tropical flavor mix, as you’d expect. The shapes are that of pineapples, toucans, bananas and palm trees. In addition, the texture is a little softer and less chewy than the more rubbery gummis.

I picked up my bag at Cost Plus World Market. It was $1.89, but sometimes they have sales for $1.25 a bag or so if you’re a bit Haribo fan it’s worth waiting for. This particular gummi candy is made in Spain, unlike most other Haribo gummis available in the US, which are made in Turkey.

Haribo Tropifrutti

What’s most interesting about these gummis is not the flavor variety but the style of the gummi itself. It’s very different from the tough and clear version of the Gold Bears. These are muted in color and have a sort of chalky exterior. They not shiny or terribly translucent. The coating is a little like a jelly bean, it has a small crunch to it, but not the same graininess. The interior is also not as chewy as a regular gummi, it’s a cross between a jelly and a gummi. It’s soft, pliable, sticky and juicy.

Banana (Yellow) - this is an exceptionally uncommon flavor for a gummi, so I relished trying it. It’s a good flavor, it’s a little like a slight unripe banana, in that there’s a light tartness to it. But what’s missing is that overly fake banana note that comes with the too sweet artificial banana candies.

Currant (Darker Red) - has an interesting balsam note to it, it’s less about the florals and more about the woodsy seed flavors. It’s definitely not what I would consider a tropical fruit. 

Haribo Tropifrutti

Watermelon (Green) - It’s lightly tart with a well rounded juice flavor and a little dash of artificial Jolly Rancher to it.

Pineapple (Clear) - this is one of my favorite flavors, especially in Haribo gummis. This did not disappoint. It’s sweet, had a strong floral note and a distinct tartness.

Orange Mango (Peach) - tastes a bit bland, like a punch drink. It’s more citrusy than mango, but barely either.

Strawberry (Pink) - smells like cotton candy, it’s light and barely flavored, but so are many strawberries.

I like the change in texture and thought the Pineapple and Banana were really good, but the vibrant flavor profile I’m accustomed to with many other gummis was missing. So maybe this is for people who don’t like a lot of flavor ... like the Haribo equivalent of jelly beans.

Related Candies

  1. Haribo Gold Bears from Turkey and Germany
  2. Haribo Ingwer-Zitrone Gummis
  3. Haribo Raspberries Gummi Candy
  4. Short & Sweet: Tropical Flavors
  5. Haribo Saure Dinosaurier
  6. Katjes Tropical Gummis & Yogurt Gums
  7. Starburst Baja California & Tropical


Name: Tropifruitti Gummi Candy
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Haribo
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Farmers Market)
Price: $1.89
Size: 5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 101
Categories: Candy, Haribo, Gummi Candy, 7-Worth It, Spain, Cost Plus

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:48 pm     CandyReviewHariboGummi Candy7-Worth ItSpainCost Plus

Friday, August 10, 2012

Valor Milk Chocolate with Almonds

Valor Milk Chocolate with AlmondsOne of the classic chocolate bars around the world is the milk chocolate with almonds. Probably one of the most popular in Spain is the Valor Chocolate version: Milk Chocolate with Marcona Almonds.

Most bars are the standard tablet of 100 grams (or 3.5 ounces) but several years ago Valor came out with this handier single serving version. It’s thicker and easier control portions with only 1.59 ounces in the bar.

Valor Milk Chocolate Almond

The bar is pretty and one of my favorite formats. For bars with nuts, I enjoy a thicker bar that’s not too wide so it’s easy to snap off a piece or bite it without mess.

The Valor bars, being from Spain, use Marcona Almonds. Marconas are a cultivar of almonds that are not as common in the United States. Here in California we grow about 80% of the world’s almonds, and nearly all are the nonpareil variety. Marconas are more rounded, rather flat and usually quite smooth. They’re also quite crunchy and less fibery than nonpareils.

The nut distribution was a little off. The first section had one almond (shown). The middle two sections had six almonds. The last section had none at all.

Valor Milk Chocolate Almond

The milk chocolate is rather high in cacao, at 34%. There’s a little whey in the ingredients list way down at the end, which is forbidden in US chocolate by labeling standards (it’s really just a harmless filler). The chocolate is barely sweet, has a deep rich and malty flavor to it and has an almost salty note to it. It’s missing complex vanilla notes, which is probably because they don’t use real vanilla in the bar. It’s a very firm bar, even in this heat (I kept it in an air conditioned room though it’s still often 80 degrees in there) but I still found that it took longer in my mouth to melt than the standard Hershey’s, Cadbury or Dove.

The nuts go really well, they’re a more delicate flavor and that superb crunch is satisfying. The milk flavors are less sticky and more fresh tasting than the Swiss or British style, but almost goaty.

It’s a great bar when you want a less sweet chocolate that’s not too overpowering and difficult like a dark bar. The almonds make it much more filling, but I wanted a few more in there. This is something I’d definitely chose over a Cadbury Fruit & Nut or Hershey’s with Almond. I don’t know what the source of the cacao for Valor is, their website is vague (“all over the world”) so I can’t comment on the ethical policies of the company.

Related Candies

  1. Trader Joe’s Almondictive Bits
  2. Niederegger Marzipan Classics
  3. Ferrara Chocolate Candy Coated Chocolate Covered Almond Eggs
  4. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almonds
  5. Sconza 70% Dark Chocolate Toffee Almonds
  6. Dove Caramels & Chocolate Covered Almonds
  7. CocoaBella “World’s Best Box”


Name: Milk Chocolate with Marcona Almonds
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Valor
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Farmers Market)
Price: $1.49
Size: 1.59 ounces
Calories per ounce: 157
Categories: Candy, Chocolate, Nuts, 7-Worth It, Spain, Cost Plus, Ralph's

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:42 am     CandyChocolateNuts7-Worth ItSpainCost Plus

Friday, August 26, 2011

Gatos Licorice

I picked up a couple of these little licorice ropes at Cost Plus World Market simply because I loved the package.

Gatos Licorice

These little Gatos Licorice (Gatos Extracto de Regaliz) were pretty cheap for imported candies (these are from Spain), only 50 cents for a little .39 ounce bar. There’s slimmer and lighter than a Panda Licorice (Finnish) bar and perhaps a little drier.

Gatos Licorice

The little bars are about 4.25 inches long and are actually thick tubes. They have a light anise and licorice scent with a few hints of charcoal and molasses. Each package has only 35 calories.

The texture is stiff, it’s a wheat base so I expected it to be like a Twizzler Nib. Instead it was dry though not completely crumbly. The flavor took a bit of chewing or dissolving to release but then I really enjoyed the strong licorice notes, which are soft and sweet, woodsy and herbal and a little acidic twang to it all. The molasses wasn’t strong, the toasted caramel flavors were mellow. It’s not a sweet candy at all, there’s even a bit of a bitter burnt note. There was a bit of a stale cereal vibe to the whole thing that I didn’t care for, but it was mostly at the start of the chew and dissipated as the licorice grew, sometimes wheat based products can be like that.

These are fun to pick up and keep tucked away in a pocket, since they’re so small. Of course the bold and distinctive wrapper with the yellow, red and grey tones were what attracted me (logo & more photos here), so it’s a bit of a conversation piece. I don’t think I’d buy them on a regular basis, but I’m curious to try some more of their products.

Related Candies

  1. Panda Candy Coated Licorice
  2. La Higuera Rabitos Royale (Chocolate Truffle Filled Figs)
  3. Switzer’s Chewy Licorice Bits
  4. Leaf Schoolchalk, Allsorts & Pipes
  5. Kookaburra Licorice
  6. Organic Finnska Soft Licorice
  7. Dutch Licorice


Name: Gatos Extracto de Regaliz Liquirizia
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Saet Sweets
Place Purchased: Cost Plus World Market (Park LaBrea)
Price: $.50
Size: .39 ounces
Calories per ounce: 80
Categories: Candy, Licorice Candy, 7-Worth It, Spain, Cost Plus

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:43 pm     All NaturalCandyReviewLicorice Candy7-Worth ItSpainCost Plus

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