Skittles Chocolate Mix

I've heard some buzz about these new chocolate Skittles for quite a while. The most positive opinion I've heard is that they are mediocre, but that didn't stop me from snatching up a pack when I was browsing at CVS. I do love chocolate, and how bad could these be? There can't be too many ways to mess up chocolate! Unfortunately, these Skittles managed to succeed where so many others have failed.

Like all the other versions of Skittles, there are five flavors:

Vanilla (White)- Now, I'm no genius; however, the last time I checked, vanilla (by itself) was not a flavor that would normally be included in a "chocolate mix." It's not such a bad thing in this case; the vanilla Skittle is by far the least revolting of the bunch. It has a bland, generic vanilla flavor... rather forgettable, really.

S'mores (Light Tan)- This one is sort of like the vanilla. The only real difference is the addition of a graham cracker-like flavor, but just think about that for a minute. Who wants to eat a chewy graham cracker?

Chocolate Caramel (Tan)- I suppose this flavor wasn't too bad. I noticed some faint caramel notes, but the utterly nasty chocolate flavor was more prominent as well.

Chocolate Pudding (Dark Brownish-Purple)- Here is where things started going bad. This one reminded me of a Tootsie Roll (which I don't really care for), but it had an odd tangy, fruity flavor as well. It's almost like the Skittles people started making lemon flavored candy before remembering that it was supposed to be chocolate. And the funky color doesn't help.

Brownie Batter (Dark Brown)- Now for the worst of the bunch! I can tell you right now that this doesn't taste like any brownie batter I've ever eaten. It starts out with the aforementioned Tootsie Roll flavor, but it quickly started tasting like I had a mouthful of chemicals. I really don't know how else to describe it!

I was very disappointed with the Skittles Chocolate Mix. I only ate about two or three of each flavor before giving up. I tried pawning them off on my family, but it didn't take long for them to come to the same conclusions that I had. We ended up throwing away over half the pack. Oddly enough, there's no mention of the Chocolate Mix on the Skittles website; from now on, the Skittles peeps need to stick with fruit flavors and leave chocolate to the professionals!

By the way, my home computer is jacked up. Until it gets fixed I can't upload my own pics, so the image you see here is (C) candyaddict.com.

Product: Skittles Chocolate Mix
Place Purchased: CVS
Price: $ .65

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5

m&m's ~ Mint Crisp

So, today we have another promotional tie in with the new Indiana Jones flick. This time it's m&m's that have undergone a little flavor change in honor of the movie, and I'll admit I was apprehensive about trying these. After all, I've had the Razzberry and Cherry Cordial version of m&m's, and those were so bad that I shudder to even think about them.

Anyway, the packaging for these is simply lovely; there's a picture of some Mayan looking ruins and lots of leafy green plants. Like the Snickers Adventure bar, there is a picture of Harrison Ford looking all intense and scruffy. Unlike the Snickers bar, the green m&m mascot is also pictured, and she's giving Indy her best come-hither look. It's sort of creepy, actually... but let's not focus on that! They also have some "Arti-FACTs" on the back; mine say that Sean Connery was always the first choice to play Indy's dad and that when it was time to pick a new m&m color, blue was the winner.

The m&m's themselves come in three colors: white, dark green, and light green. They're also really lumpy and irregular looking, and they range wildly in size. The candies are imprinted with the usual "m," but they also have little designs printed on them. The designs I've seen have included skulls, temples, and some kind of freaky mask/face thing.

On to the flavor! Basically, this m&m consists of a crispy disk (think of a larger version of a rice krispie) coated with mint flavored chocolate. I didn't really notice the mint much at first- it was noticeable, but not overwhelming- but by the time I finished the bag I had a nice minty fresh mouth.

I am happy to say that I really enjoyed these m&m's. I would like to see a plain mint chocolate version, but I doubt that will happen. Oh, well... a girl can dream!


Product: m&m's ~ Mint Crisp
Place Purchased: Publix
Price: $ .75
Calories: 200 per bag


Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Snickers Adventure Bar

I don't know about you guys, but springtime makes me feel kinda wild. I think it has to do with the warm weather; I just want to run around and climb mountains or something. Anyway, since I'm feeling so adventurous lately, I figure that this is a great time to review my newest find- the Snickers Adventure Bar.

The Adventure bar is actually a tie-in with the new Indiana Jones movie, and there's a picture of Indy on the wrapper. My hubby said it looks like a pic from the original movies, but I think it's a little hard to tell. The bar itself seems to be a little shorter than a normal Snickers, but I didn't have one to compare with it so I'm just relying on memory.

The wrapper states that the bar has a “cliffhanger kick of exotic spice and a hint of sweet coconut.” Personally, I couldn't taste anything even remotely like a spice. I was a little relieved about that; to me, spices and Snickers bars don't really seem like they would mix. The coconut flavor was noticeable (no coconut flakes though), but it's subtle enough to work well in the bar.

Overall, this Snickers tastes just like a normal one... only with a slight hint of coconut. Since I love coconut, I actually sort of prefer it to the original. I guess I'll have to stockpile some; I'm sure the Snickers Adventure will disappear once the Indiana Jones movie has come and gone.

There are a few more tie-ins to the movie, including a Mint Crisp version of M&M's that I'm planning on reviewing next week. On a completely unrelated note, I also got my big box of goodies from CyberCandy... I'll be reviewing that stuff soon as well!

Product: Snickers Adventure Bar

Place Purchased: Publix

Price: $ .75

Calories: 250 per bar

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Skittles Bubble Gum ~ Carnival Fun

I absolutely love the original Skittles bubble gum. In fact, I love it so much that I have a hard time just chewing on the little pieces instead of swallowing them right down. I usually try to stay away from the Skittles gum for just that reason, but I couldn't help myself when I saw this new flavor... Skittles Carnival Fun.

While not as scrumptious as the original, the carnival flavors are not too shabby. The new flavors are as follows:

Cotton Candy (Pale Blue)- This flavor does taste like cotton candy, but really... how hard can it be to make something taste like cotton candy? It's nothing more than sugar, after all. These were not my favorite of the bunch, but anyone who likes cotton candy should find them to be delish.

Gum Ball (Orange)- These taste just like the generic gumballs you get out of those grocery store machines for twenty five cents. You know the ones I'm talking about; they're all different colors yet they taste the same... mostly sweet with a sort of orangey flavor. I usually don't care for those gumballs, but the Skittles version makes me feel all nostalgic for the good ol' days.

Berry-Go-Round (Green)- I'm not sure how this flavor relates to a carnival (other than the cutesy name), but I suspect that the Skittles people just needed a fifth flavor to round out the box. It has that generic berry flavor, and it kind of reminds me of sweet tarts for some strange reason.

Candy Apple (Red)- I think these might be my favorite of the whole bunch. It starts of sort of sweet, but then a tart apple flavor comes through. It's been ages since I've had a candy apple, but these are really good regardless.

Pink Lemonade (Pink)- Did I say that the candy apple flavor was my favorite? I think I spoke too soon! The pink lemonade is REALLY good... it follows the same pattern as the candy apple; it starts out sweet before the sour lemon bite arrives. I think I might like these better because the lemon flavor seems more natural than the apple, but it's a pretty close race between the two.

Overall, the Skittles carnival flavors were just a little bit too sweet for me. Unfortunately, they also lost their flavor after about 10 seconds of chewing. I'll probably stick to the original Skittles gum for now, but I can see my kids preferring these. And unlike a lot of the stuff I review, these should be readily available... I actually bought mine at the Super Kmart in Rome.


Product: Skittles Bubble Gum ~ Carnival Fun
Place Purchased: Super Kmart
Price: $0.89
Calories: 15 for two pieces


Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

KitKat Little ~ Fruit Medley

And here we have yet another review of a funky Japanese KitKat product! These were a part of my previously mentioned eBay purchase and the ones I was looking least forward to trying. I think it had something to do with the idea of a "Fruit Medley" flavored KitKat.

Anyway, these came in a small package roughly the size of a bag of M&Ms. The outside of the bag states that they are "Little," and indeed they are. Remember the KitKat Popables that were on the market a few years ago? Well, these are pretty much the same thing: basically a bite-sized KitKat the size of a small marble.

The color of these little KitKats was not my cup of tea; they were a pale peach color, and almost every one of them had a random blotch of a darker peach color somewhere on the surface. The smell was very strong, too: a natural banana smell with a hint of fake strawberry thrown in for good measure.

Fortunately, the taste was pretty subtle. I still can't decide exactly what they were supposed to taste like; if I rely on the picture on the bag, then they should have tasted like a mixture of banana, peach, and strawberry. Personally, I was just relieved that they had a natural, mellow banana flavor instead of that disgusting fake banana flavor! My hubby said they tasted like banana pudding, and I'm pretty sure that's as close to an accurate taste description as I can get. At any rate, these were a big hit with the family despite the weird color and overpowering smell... if they were easier to find, I'd most definately pick them up again.

Product: KitKat Little ~ Fruit Medley
Place Purchased: eBay
Price: $2.99
Calories: 200 for a single serve bag

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Sweet Pudding KitKat

Woo-hoo!! My box of Japanese goodies has finally arrived! I feel like I've been waiting forever for it, but that's the price you pay when ordering stuff from half a world away. Anyway, Jbox.com didn't have the snacks I was looking for, so I went to my standby for Japanese stuff... eBay. I found some interesting KitKat flavors, and I also bought a can of feta cheese flavored Pringles. I had a hard time deciding what to review first, but I had to go with one of the KitKats.

This particular KitKat is one of the strangest that I have ever eaten, and I've had quite a few. The eBay seller billed it as being "sweet pudding" flavored, but the picture on the bag looked more like flan to me. Maybe "sweet pudding" is Japanese for flan? It doesn't help matters that the only English word on the bag (Mini) has to do with the size and not the flavor; these KitKats are what we would call fun-sized here in the U.S.

I have to say that the color of the KitKat freaked me out a bit; it's sort of a off-white yellowy color, almost like banana pudding. The smell is very strong but pleasant, and I can only compare it to toffee (which I love!). It has a complicated flavor, too; the yellow "chocolate" is very sweet, but the crispy layers have a malty flavor. I'm also pretty sure that I picked up an almost coffee like flavor as well.

All in all, I enjoyed this flavor despite all my confusion. It's not as good as some I've had, but it's by far not the worst. I'll have to share these with my daughter; she loves every KitKat that comes her way... even the abysmal pumpkin ones we had a year or so ago!

Product: Sweet Pudding KitKat
Place Purchased: eBay
Price: $9.99 for a bag of 14 mini-bars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Walker's Crisps ~ Prawn Cocktail

I don't eat potato chips very often, but when I do I tend to gravitate to unusual flavors. My hubby gets pretty tired of my adventurous streak and gets all passive-aggressive until I bring home a bag of plain ol' Lay's, but my kids are game to try out the new flavors. Junk food is junk food, after all.

Anyway, I picked up this single serve bag of Prawn Cocktail "crisps" (which is just the fancy British way of saying potato chips) on my last trip to Whole Foods. I was a little wary about trying these; I know that prawns are a type of sea creature (similar to shrimp) and I wasn't sure about how well that flavor would translate to a snack food.

They actually weren't too bad. I'm happy to say that they didn't have a fishy smell, just a scent of mixed spices. The flavor was a little odd, however. It reminded me of salt and vinegar potato chips with some ketchup mixed in. I do like salt and vinegar chips, but I just couldn't get used to the ketchup taste. I ate about half the bag before giving the rest to Spencer, who declared them "tasty." There's nothing quite like the culinary opinion of a five-year-old!

I'm not sure that I would buy these again, but they were most... interesting.

Product: Walker's Crisps ~ Prawn Cocktail

Place Purchased: Whole Foods

Price: $ .69

Calories: 131 per serving

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

See's Candies ~ Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar

A few years ago I read a blog about See's Candies, a mid-range chocolate and candy company based in California. I decided to give them a try, and I ordered a bunch of items from their website. I wasn't disappointed... See's makes good quality candy at reasonable prices, and now I order from them on a fairly regular basis. Even though I have ordered many different products, there is one particular candy bar that is always on my order form- the Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar.

As of right now, I'm operating under the theory that See's peanut brittle bar may just be the most delicious candy bar ever created. That's really high praise coming from me considering that I'm not particularly fond of peanuts. See's has managed to find the right balance of ingredients to make a candy bar that has every right to be referred to as 'the nectar of the gods.'

The concept is pretty simple; it's a rectangular plank of peanut brittle covered all over in milk chocolate. The brittle itself is divine; it's the perfect combo of sweet and salty with a hint of buttery flavor. The peanuts are crunchy and have a wonderful roasted flavor, and the milk chocolate compliments the brittle perfectly. Normally I find milk chocolate to be a bit too sweet for my tastes, but in this case I don't think any other type of chocolate would have had the same effect.

See's has a lot of unique chocolates and candies, so if you're into the sweeter side of the snack world you should definitely check them out. They have a website as well as a catalog, and they have several physical locations as well... but most of those are out west.

Product: See's Candies ~ Awesome Peanut Brittle Bar
Place Purchased: www.sees.com
Price: $7.80 for a box of 8 bars
Calories: 150 per bar


Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Ritter Sport ~ Dark Whole Hazelnut

Ugh. I have had a horrible week! I was sick, Spencer was sick... pretty much the whole family was sick. Since I've had such a tough go of it lately, I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite indulgences: a Ritter Sport bar.

Ritter Sport has long been one of my favorite candy bars. I'm a first generation American on my mom's side, and as kids my brother and I always got packages from Germany containing all kinds of candy. I loved the milk chocolate Ritter Sport bar with raisins and hazelnuts... yummy! Nowadays there are all kinds of flavors, and I don't have to wait for my German relatives to send them to me. Finding Ritter Sport is as easy as making a trip to your local Target, which is where I happened to find this dark chocolate and hazelnut bar.

And it is a really good bar. The chocolate is smooth and creamy, and it's smoky without being bitter. And the hazelnuts! There are so many of them; you can't take a bite without getting a mouthful, and that's not a complaint. The nuts are crunchy and flavorful, and they add just the right balance to the chocolate. It took a lot of self control to stop at one serving instead of devouring the whole bar.

The "normal" 100g Ritter Sport bars are pretty hefty; one bar has three servings. Fortunately, the company has made it easy to save some for later. The bars can be broken into rows, and the package it comes in can be resealed. All in all, it's a great value for the price.

Ritter Sport bars aren't too hard to find. They're sold at Target, Whole Foods, amazon.com, and Cost Plus World Market. You can also find some of the hard to find flavors, such as Blueberry Yogurt or Irish Coffee, at Germany's Best or German Deli.

Product: Ritter Sport ~ Dark Whole Hazelnut
Place Purchased: Target
Price: $1.99
Calories: 210 per serving, 3 servings per bar


Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Orville Redenbacher's Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper Popcorn

I don't really care for pepper. I think it's the smell; it kind of grosses me out a little bit. Nevertheless, something about the new Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper popcorn flavor from Orville Redenbacher just called out to me.


This is good stuff. I didn't think I'd be able to eat it... the pepper smell is overwhelming after popping a bag. I tried it anyway, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's fantastic! It tastes like good popcorn and it's only slightly buttery (not drenched in the stuff like the "movie theatre" flavors), and there's not so much a pepper flavor as there is a nice spicy burn.


Orville Redenbacher has a hit on their hands with the salt and pepper popcorn. It makes a nice change from the traditional popcorn flavors... but be sure you keep some water nearby!


Product: Orville Redenbacher's Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper Popcorn
Place Purchased: Wal-Mart
Price: $2.50 for a box of 8 mini bags
Calories: Info Coming Soon!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5