So, Dark Chocolate M&Ms have returned for good. I picked up my bag at the local dollar store for 50 cents. I was surprised to see them there since they usually only carry old/outdated/weird candy and these just came out.
I missed them when they came out the first time as a Star Wars tie-in but I heard great things about them. Evidently Mars, Inc. took notice and has brought them back to stay. They taste exactly like I thought they would. The chocolate is just a bit less sweet and it’s just a bit bitter. Everything else about them is the same. They are good, but I am much more of a milk chocolate person and if given a choice I’d go for the regular M&Ms and skip the dark.
More interesting (to me) than the flavor is that the Ms are stamped with “m Dark” with the word “Dark” below the m. What’s weird is that not all of them say “Dark”. In a random sampling of the last 14 candies in my bag, 6 said “m Dark”, 6 just had an “m” on them, and 2 had an “n” stamped on them (printing mistake I assume). Why aren’t they all stamped “m Dark”? Even their webpage shows every one with a “m Dark” stamp. Hmmmm……
Why weren’t all of them printed ‘m Dark’? I think you answered your own question: “I picked up my bag at the local dollar store for 50 cents. I was surprised to see them there since they usually only carry old/outdated/weird candy and these just came out.”
That’s probably why the dollar store had them.
August 6th, 2006 at 7:43 pmI have some Dark Side M&Ms still and the new Dark Chocolate M&Ms and I have to say that they don’t taste the same. The new Dark M&Ms are sweeter than the Dark Side ones… I wish they would have kept the Dark Side flavor, since they are more dark chocolaty.
RESPONSE: I never went to the Dark Side so I can’t comment on that observation :)
August 14th, 2006 at 12:41 pm–Brian
In the name of science, I have just poured out a handful of 6 M Darks, three M’s , and one slightly misshapen unprinted piece. (FYI, my bag was from Target, not the dollar store.)
So let’s not blame the dollar store.
That said, I salute M&M/Mars for bringing back a good thing.
September 3rd, 2006 at 10:08 pmI agree, the strong taste of dark chocolate is not nearly as strong as it was when branded as “dark side”. I have to say I like the old color scheme better too.
September 16th, 2006 at 9:17 pmTHANK YOU FOR THE POOR REVIEW, I OWN A DOLLAR STORE AND ONLY CARRY FRESH PRODUCTS. NICE JOB AT CUTTING DOWN A ENTIRE RETAIL SEGMENT AFTER VISITING 1 OF THOUSANDS OF STORES IN THE US. AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LIMITED WISDOM.
RESPONSE: The review was not poor, you just did not like or agree with my characterization of dollar stores. I calls em like I sees em.
October 8th, 2006 at 8:43 am–Brian
I never got to try the original “dark side” m&m’s but I did pick up a bag of the new, here-to-stay, dark chocolate m&m’s the other day and they taste too sweet for dark chocolate. I don’t know for sure, but they just didn’t taste like other dark chocolate that I’ve had. I didn’t like them. More bittersweet tasting than dark chocolate.
October 18th, 2006 at 9:15 pmDark chocolate M&Ms are not real dark chocolate – they are in fact what is normally termed “semi-sweet” chocolate. If you look at the ingredients, you will note that they have MILK in them. The fact that Mars Co. calls them “Dark” is a pretty sad travesty. Wouldn’t fly in Europe where the EU has regulations as to what can be called dark chocolate.
My suspicion is that these “dark” chocolate M&Ms are actually a larger version of the M&M semi-sweet baking pieces that have been on the market for several years.
December 10th, 2006 at 5:00 pmI didn’t notice a difference between the Dark Side promotion “dark chocolate” m&m’s and the re-released ones, but they are both definitely different than the semi-sweet mini m&m baking bits. The baking bits have a much more distinctive and better semi-sweet flavor.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:26 pmYes-I don’t think they are really dark chocolate. I called Mars and they would not tell me what percentage of cocoa was in them because it is “proprietary information”. Even when i explained that I needed to know for health reasons if they are in fact dark, the customer service rep just kept telling me that she couldn’t tell me-it was proprietary information. So I told her that I would not be eating them anymore since they might be detrimental to my heart health, instead of good for me as “real” dark chocolate is.
August 30th, 2011 at 4:54 pm