Have you always dreamed of running your own candy company, making all the decisions, guiding the fate of flavors? Well, you still can’t do all that, but you can have a say in the choice of the newest Jelly Belly Jellybean flavor.

Out of over 200,000 flavor suggestions, five have been chosen to vie for public opinion and the chance to make it big as an official Jelly Belly flavor. The five choices are Sublime Chili Lime, Honey, Thai Iced Tea, Mojito, and Acai Berry. You can vote once per day through August 31, so if you see something you’d really like to try, get out there and vote!

A little while ago we came up with some new flavors of our own - check out Candy Addict’s Girly Beans! Somehow none of them managed to make it into the final five… oh well, maybe next time!

For the record, my choice is honey, but I think Acai berry could be interesting as well. Let us know your pick in the comments below!

• Jelly Belly Dream Bean Contest
• Jelly Belly Dream Bean Contest News Article
• Jelly Belly New Flavor Contest Press Release

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Think of everything you love about Candy Addict - reviews, Top 10 lists, news, etc. Now, apply all of that to snacks. What do you get? Snackerrific!

Candy Addict is proud to announce the unveiling of our new sister site, Snackerrific.com. From potato chips to ice cream, you’ll find something to whet your appetite and tickle your funny bone every day of the week. We’ve got six excellent snack writers on staff and they have already written some great snack reviews so you won’t see an empty site when you visit for the first time. Here’s what we’ve covered on Snackerrific:

• A&W Root Beer Float (in a bottle) review
• Trader Joe’s Handmade 100% Dried Fruit Bars review
• Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars review
• Guiltless Gourmet Chili Lime Tortilla Chips
• Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Crackers
• P.B. Loco’s Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate Duo
• Bentley’s Premier Popcorn

So come on over, pop open a bag of pretzels, and settle in for a snack-lover’s paradise! Let us know what you think (either here or there), and help make Snackerrific every bit as successful as Candy Addict! See you there!

• Snackerrific

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In our continuing coverage of the ‘08 election (hey, everyone else is covering it, why shouldn’t we?), today we bring you Kai’s Campaign ‘08 Candies. Kai’s makes traditional handmade Japanese rolled candy (kumi ame) in various cute and fun designs. For this election season, they’re offering both Lick Obama and Lick McCain candy sets. I got a chance to try the Obama set, and while I can’t claim the candies set new heights in confectionery deliciousness, I will admit that they’re pretty darn amusing!

The Obama set includes several lollipops with a cartoon Obama face, a bunch of little blue lozenge-shaped hard candies with the Democratic donkey, and similar candies in red, white and blue with the word “Vote.” For now the Obama set also includes a McCain pop, and the website says that they’re redoing the McCain face - in the meantime, only the Obama set is available.

The candies themselves taste fairly typical - the Obama ‘pop is mostly just sweet (the website says it’s lemon-lime flavored), while the lozenges have very slight flavors - lemon-lime for the donkeys and lemon for the vote candies (the lemon-lime of the lozenge tastes different than the lemon-lime of the Obama lollipop). McCain’s ‘pop sports a flavor that seems to be that of burnt sugar, though the website claims it’s strawberry. It’s not totally unpleasant, but I’m not sure I would ever have come up with strawberry if I hadn’t read it.

What’s cool about these is that the images go all the way through the pop, so even after you’ve sucked on them for a while, you can still take it out of your mouth and proudly display it for coworkers or admirers. And while the flavor may not be astounding, they’re certainly good in a general sugary kind of way. But really, we aren’t buying these for their flavors, are we?

• Kai’s Candy Company Website

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As I was perusing the massive Hershey booth at the All Candy Expo, I was surprised to see what appeared to be bags of soft licorice among the typical Hershey offerings, mostly of the chocolate variety. Much to my chagrin, however, everything was under lock and key and I had no idea what exactly these new licorice confections might be. When we finally met with the Hershey representative, she explained that they were launching a new line of soft eating licorice. Naturally, I immediately asked for samples but was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have any available at the show. I was promised a shipment as soon as they were available and went home hoping that day would come quickly.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed to receive a box containing a very nice box and a package of each flavor: black licorice, strawberry, and peach mango. Naturally, being a black licorice fan, I opted to try that one first.

As I started to rip open the bag, I noticed something that both shocked and surprised me… resealable bags! Oh my god! No more folding over the tops of opened bags only to pick them up the wrong way and have the contents dump all over the ground. No more stuffing myself to finish a bag just so they won’t get stale. It’s a revolutionary breakthrough! Ok, so it’s actually just the candy industry catching up to the pet food industry (do dogs really need to have zipper protected kibble?), but it was a beautiful thing nonetheless. Anyway, on to the tasting….

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Right now you’re probably wondering why Candy Addict would be reviewing something called Hobo Beans in the first place. Well, if you’ve been reading us for any amount of time you’ll recognize the name Archie McPhee and a light bulb will go off above your head (not literally, but you get the idea). From bacon mints to gummi haggis, they bring the “weird” to “weird candy.”

Hobo Beans are actually nothing more or less than maple flavored jelly beans. Now, I love jelly beans. I also love maple candy. A combination of the two would have to be delightful, right?

Well, not quite. Mind you, I’m not saying these are horrible, they just aren’t… you know… good. Oh, sure, they smell like maple when you first rip off the plastic wrap, but when it comes to taste they fall far short. The closest they come to maple flavor is a vague sense of almost maple-ness - which isn’t surprising considering the source of the flavor, according to the ingredient list: “artificial maple flavor.” Yeah, no kidding! Instead of sporting any one specific flavor, these have more of a general sweetness followed by a strange tartness that comes through after chewing and right before swallowing.

I can’t say I’ll be rushing out to buy these any time soon, but I do have to admit that the mini can they come in is pretty cute. If you’re a tin/can fan, then by all means grab one for your collection… but forgo the beans themselves. Of course, I’m sure your friendly neighborhood Hobo would probably appreciate them greatly!

• Hobo Beans at Archie McPhee

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It’s no secret I like Peeps. In fact, I think they’re close to candy perfection - sugary marshmallow interior plus granulated sugar exterior… how can one go wrong? It goes without saying that when I saw the Just Born booth at the All Candy Expo I made sure to make a pilgrimage into those hallowed environs.

When I arrived at the booth, I saw something that intrigued me - brown squares which looked quite marshmallow-y yet carried a distinctive brown hue. What was this? Something new? I had to know!

I was served one of the brown squares on a napkin, took a bite, and was immediately transported to another dimension of yumminess. Oh. My. God. These were so good! Unbelievably soft, full of chocolate flavor… I had to have more! I immediately asked if they had any samples to take home, and was presented with a coveted pre-release package of brown bear shaped marshmallow goodness.

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Well, the All Candy Expo is officially over and I am officially beat. I can say that almost everyone there was really nice and happy to talk to us. Many of them, including the biggies like Nestle and Hershey, even read the site to keep up with consumer opinion (which means that every comment you leave might go straight to the bigwigs)!

In addition to the observations made by Brian and Jamie, I just wanted to add a few of my own. One thing I noticed a lot of was pomegranate flavoring, in everything from chocolate to Tootsie Roll Pops. In the past we’ve mentioned a few products with pomegranate, but it definitely seems like it’s suddenly a big trend for the major companies.

I also saw quite a few products geared toward the Hispanic sector, with many companies based in Mexico starting to market products in the US. Along with this are a lot of candies that include spices like chili or paprika - not my cup of tea, but I’m sure there’s a big market out there for such confections.

For the record, my “candy suitcase” came in at 45lbs, so I guess all in all it was a pretty good haul. Of course, my feet may never recover from all that standing and walking, but at least I’ll be kept well stocked with candy while I convalesce!

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To call the All Candy Expo large would be one of the understatements of the century. This place is massive. There are people, booths, candy, people, more candy, and even more people everywhere you turn. The whole thing is a bit overwhelming.

We started out the day by grouping together (safety in numbers!) and meeting quite a few of the folks Brian has cultivated contacts with over the years. I was quite impressed by how many people knew of our site and were eager to have us review new and/or established products from their lines.

One of the best things I tried today was a French mint flavored with real licorice (not anise) that was sooo smooth and good. I scored an awesome little tin of those and will definitely be getting a review up in the near future. I also managed to get some samples of the new Baskins Robbins soft candy, which I had been hoping to find. I even introduced myself to the Ganong Chocolates guy and was very pleased to see they had some new products to try - I loved their Fruitfull and now they’ve released a new product along the same lines.

I left feeling more than satisfied with my freebies, yet strangely drawn to my toothbrush. On the agenda tomorrow: a chocolate-themed luncheon and more schmoozing than my brain can quantify. As for tonight, I have pressing engagement with a soft pillow to attend to….

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As part of my job I have to travel to Florida several times a year. For someone who hates sun, sand, and heat, it isn’t exactly a dream come true. One of the few things that make the trips bearable are my mandatory excursions to Fresh Market and their gourmet candy section. On my last trip, I picked up a bag of Albanese Gummi Bunnies, intending to review them when I got back home to New York. They didn’t make it home; in fact, they didn’t even make it to the airport. They were that good.

So, to make up for it, I bought some Albanese Beeps on Amazon. They have served to reinforce my belief that Albanese makes some of the best gummies I’ve ever had.

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When this month’s Licorice of the Month Club box arrived, I was a bit dismayed to be immediately confronted with a strong cinnamon smell. You see, I hate cinnamon. Not dislike a little, but hate. However, for the loyal Candy Addict readers out there, I decided I should give these little cinnamon dollars a shot. Here goes…

Hmm, they seem nice and soft, and if it weren’t for the smell, I would think they were a very promising example of red licorice. Now for the taste test.

Oh, yep, those are cinnamon. Very reminiscent of red hots or those disgusting cinnamon jelly beans you think are going to be cherry flavored and then end up having to spit out. Not absolutely hideous, but not something I would ever eat normally. Very soft, nice texture if a little bit sticky.

Overall, I think these would be good for someone looking for a mild cinnamon kick; they’re a pleasing texture and not too spicy. I, of course, will now be swiftly disposing of the rest of the bag and drinking milk to cleanse my mouth. Where oh where are my chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies…

• Buy Cinnamon Dollars at Licorice International

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