One of the many interesting things about the All Candy Expo is that amongst all the candy giants like Mars, Hershey and Nestle, there are plenty of little and foreign candy companies too. I really liked that aspect of the showroom floor because it gave me the chance to try candies that I otherwise wouldn’t have experienced. Hleks Chocolate Poppers were one of these candies.
Hleks is a Turkish confectionery company and their popping candy is similar to our Pop Rocks. These are very similar to the new Pop Rocks Chocolate Bar, except that the shape is different and they come in a fruit flavored chocolate variety as well. The nicely designed bag has the tag line: “Bite-size Chocolates that Pop!” which I found exciting since I’ve never had popping candy inside my chocolate before.
Chocolate: Opening the bag it smells like a rich, dark, milky hot cocoa. It really reminds me of European chocolates with the large dairy smell. It’s such a rich aroma too, I could sniff it all day. Heck, if I could bottle this I’d make a fortune! I took a peek at the the back of the package to find no strange ingredients. This is all cocoa butter baby!
The balls are not uniform in size; some are a little bigger and some are smaller. The balls are shiny and the coating must be soft because they’re subtly cracked in some spots. They’re rather cute really, in some strange candy way. I’m pleased to say that they still smell very strongly even outside the package.
The flavor is subtle at first and feels waxy on the tongue. I’m guessing it’s the panning that’s responsible, so it looks all shiny and pretty. Once that melts away though the party starts, literally. Tons of tiny little explosions start as the outer coating disappears. The subtle popping provides a neat texture and sensation in the mouth, like an elegant drink that’s fizzy but not aggressive enough to make you belch up your lunch for the next two hours. It’s really pleasant!
The chocolate in the center gives a subtle grainy backdrop that mixes well with the popping bits. It still gives a nice flavor that doesn’t distract from the experience too. I even bit one in half to see if the chocolate texture was different, but they look uniform throughout.
Fruity: Again the size isn’t uniform, but these must be sturdier than the chocolate ones since there’s no bruising of the soft chocolate shell. They come in the colors of blue, yellow, orange and green. The blue has a faint grape flavor, green have a very faint berry-like fruitiness which is hard to pinpoint, yellow also has a slight vague fruity flavor to it, and orange tastes the same as yellow and green.
The fruit flavors linger throughout the whole eating experience, which is nice. The melt and popping sensation is the same as the chocolate ones. The only gripe I have with these is that I wish the fruit flavors were more distinguishable, but I suspect this was done on purpose so that the popping candy was still the focus.
I really enjoyed these which says a good deal since I’ve never been a big fan of pop rocks or popping candy. The chocolate and the pop candy are a good match, even though the star of the show is the popping candy. I really appreciate the fact that the chocolate is good quality too. Keep your eyes peeled for these in stores. Overall a winner!
I’m kind of surprised you enjoyed these. WHen I last had them, I found the chocolate was kind of… waxy, for lack of a better word.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pmRobyn, I am surprised too! I did mention above I found them waxy…but I enjoyed these because of the popping candy sensation. If they were just chocolate balls, I wouldn’t have liked them nearly as much! :)
January 9th, 2008 at 1:41 pmThank you both, Sera & Robyn :) HLEKS is the world leader in popping candy and products with popping candy. Our chocolate balls are unique and their tastes and intensities are adjusted or developed per customer/country requirements, we are exporting to 70 countries. We are glad you enjoyed our candies. Take care, watch for our new items :)
March 10th, 2008 at 9:51 amyour candy is very good and magic to me
April 7th, 2008 at 9:23 am