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Thursday, August 18, 2005
Choward’s VioletName: Violet & Scented Gum
Brand: Choward’s Place Purchased: gift from Pennsylvania Price: unknown (but have seen regular Chowards for $1.25) Calories per ounce: (here’s some stuff online) Type: Mint & Gum
Anyway, my stepmother sent these to me a couple of weeks ago and they went into my pile of chocolates, until I took out a candy bar and it tasted like violets. So I sequestered the invasive violets in three layers of paper bags (and promptly forgot about it because it was jammed in three paper bags and looked like trash). Then I came back to the office after the weekend and it smelled like violets, “Oh, I forgot all about them!” Well, now I’ve photographed them and chewed them up and can speak knowlegably about them. I did a little digging to find out more about Choward’s, you can read the history here.
![]() First, I preface this review (actually, it looks like I’ve prefaced the review several times, would you like to just skip to the bottom for the rating?) with the fact that I love herbal/floral flavors. My favorite ice cream flavor at the moment is Orange Blossom and Pistachio. However, probably from the above association with those damn little dolls, I just can’t get behind the little violet mints.
The gum, however, is pretty cool. The color, let’s face it, is something you just wanna string up on a necklace or something. The flavor is not at all like the mint, it’s got a nice cinnamon/clove twang to it and a little touch of the flowery violet. The chew is a little sticky and not at all like a chicklet, lacking that burst of sugar and cooling mint. Even after spitting out the gum after chewing for about ten minutes, it scented my breath wonderfully for a two hour meeting. Other reveiws: here and here. (more kiddles pages - here, here and here.)
Ratings: Violet Mints - 5 out of 10
POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:11 am 7-Worth It • 5-Pleasant • Mints • Gum • United States • Candy • Review •
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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You should try the Flavigny violet pastilles. They’re very nice and there’s an anise seed in the center, I think.
Violet gum, eh? Sounds interesting. Personally I’m more interested in the orange blossom ice cream. Do you order yours from Mashtis, or do you have a local source?
Jamie, I will look for those. I used to get little candy covered anise-seeds (or maybe they were fennel) which were fantastic. I’ve also had candied violet petals which were also pretty good (but still reminded me of those damn dolls).
Bruce - I live in LA, so there are now two Mashti ice cream parlors nearby. For a while Mashti himself was slipping me a special ginger, cardamom and saffron ice cream until they discontinued it. I’ve never had to do their mail order, but they’ve always included a bit of dry ice when I knew I wasn’t going right home with my pints.
how do you know what soft shale tastes like? I can think of other ways to get minerals in your diet. Is this the beginning of another blog? Rockblog or stonetasters.com. Just being a wiseass
You obviously have noooooo taste buds. I have introduced this mint to dozens of people and they all agreed that the violet mint is a shortly accuired taste, but no doubt a favorite.
Thanks for stopping by Anon ... I’m sure that my experience with the strange dolls has colored my experience, since I do have an affinity for other floral sweets. I have similar feelings about amaretto because of a bad experience involving pizzelle dough that I won’t go into here…
5 out of 10 does not mean that you shouldn’t continue to love it and recommend it. It just means that I don’t plan on buying it again.
ohmygosh. the mints are my FAVORITE! if you leave the package open, they get soft, and are utterly delicious! and the gum....YUM!
OMG! The best B_day present ever… The memories of New York just stepped into my mouth… The best candy mint and Gum) that Mr. Howards has created back in the 1930’s Thanks to my pal, now I can order Violets and Scented Gum anytime.
Thanks,
Shar......
I love the smell and taste of these mints. I was in New Orleans a couple years ago and bought some and just threw them in my bag and forgot about them. Then every time I opened my bag during the day I smelled that wonderful scent and to this day, that smell reminds me of New Orleans. I wish I could find a bottle of perfume that smells as good as those mints!
There are some violet flavored candies sold online by a couple of British sweet shops, I haven’t tried them yet. They also carry a zillion sometimes delicious and sometimes godawful sounding concoctions: Villagesweetshop.com; and Oldestsweetshop.co.uk.
I am a violet candy addict and as such have tried just about every brand imaginable. Chowards violet candy taste like soap! no joke. In fact, I brought it to work and shared with others becuase I found the taste so unique. (I had a hard time coaxing people to try them, most likely becuase I said, here!!, try!!, they taste like SOAP!! That being said, if you like the taste of soap, you will enjoy them, otherwise, for the Flavigny - I go through 4-5 tins a week. I LOVE them!
Deb - I just picked up some Flavigny (all flavors) in January and will post about them soon. I much prefer the Flavigny violet to Choward’s. Their Rose is also very interesting.
Those little dolls in the 70’s were called Little Kiddles and they were in a plastic perfume container. My sister had several of them and they all had different smells.
OMG, the gum is addicting. It reminds me of these little tiny candies that were pink, green and purple in a package the size of a deck of cards that were sold in Sun Drugstores when I was a kid. I loved those. Chowards gum has the exact same taste and when I tried it a few months ago, it took me back in time.
I also love the Flavigny violet pastilles.
If you LOVE Lavendar, try this ice cream!
IT IS HEAVENLY. I too love the Violet Candy!
This is a Los Angeles Icon!
http://www.mashtimalones.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=720
Chowards violets is my favorite candy ever! my future husband smells just like them and i just cant get enough of it. His smell drew me to him and at first i could not figure out where or what he smelt like and reminded me so much of something. I finally figured it out and i can’t get over how much i absolutely love smelling him ; ) everytime i smell the candy, i am quickly reminded of him and how much i love both of them! so Delicious!!
I just finished a package of the violet mints. When I was a kid in the 60’s I used to buy them at a drug store next to the movie theater before we’d go watch a movie. They carrie them at World Market (where I found them a year ago). I LOVE them. My husband thinks I’m crazy
By the way, the dolls were called Lucky Locket Kiddles and they came in plastic perfume bottles attached to a cord neclace and little collectable plastic perfume bottles that just sat on your dresser. I had several, they all smelled different and there was a violet one.
Happy New Year!
I don’t remeber what site I went to order my VIOLETS! (candyland.com) can some please send me to the correst site I finished off my VIOLET and need some more… HELP PLEASE!!!
I stumbled onto this site while googling “choward”
I love LOVE the mints they are addicting! My mom and I can polish off a pack in like 10 minutes, each! I don’t care for the gum all that much though. I find most people LOVE or HATE these delectable mints. I had no trouble buying these mints in NY but I am now in Vegas and only World Market has them albeit stale and overpiced.
I am pleased to have found C Howard sells them online straight from the factory. I ordered from them a few months ago and just placed a large order a few days ago.
The website is
http://www.chowardcompany.com/
I cannot fathom people thinking these mints are edible. I am pretty sure they are not really a candy but a mislabled bath salt.
I googled chowards to find out if there were any poisenings/deaths related to ingesting this candy much to my surprise I find groups of people enjoying it. Words cannot express my confusion.
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