Rasinets are a candy that is completely lost to me. That’s not to say I don’t love chocolate-covered raisins, because I do, but rather that I don’t like to spend my money on them. I get plenty as gifts, and for some reason my Jewish family always has them in bowls for the plucking when we gather for the holidays. I consume enough of them without having to pay for them.
So when I was a kid and all my friends bought Rasinets at the movies, I went for the Sour Patch Kids and never really ventured past that comfort candy. I can easily claim I have more fingers than the number of Rasinets I have eaten in my lifetime.
Flash-forward to this year’s All Candy Expo, and lo and behold Nestle is debuting a new product – Cranberry Raisinets. Well, my first thought is it would be far catchier and there’d be fewer syllables if they were called “Craisinets.†My second thought is that these might actually be worth trying.
Though I haven’t eaten many Raisinets in my life, these certainly look like them. Each piece has a fresh aroma of milk chocolate, which, after checking the ingredients list on the back, is actually real chocolate (Nestle is infamous for mockolate).
The chocolate isn’t overly sweet, and it blends well with the dried cranberry center. As opposed to the raisin counterparts, these have a surprising burst of tanginess indicative of cranberries. The texture is a little mushy, but the taste is great.
These are very simple, but that’s why I feel they succeed. Just milk chocolate over dried cranberries. The flavors work well, the product is made well, and you’re not disappointed into hoping for more when in fact you’re surprised by how good this seemingly average candy tastes.
