Brainy Harvard professor and inventor David Edwards has recently unveiled Le Whif, a breakthrough creation that allows chocoholics to inhale (through their mouths) chocolate particles (or, let’s call a spade a spade here, powder) so minuscule that they deliciously dust the sides of one’s mouth and tongue without so much as registering on the calorie scale. It’s an intriguing concept that’s kind of hard to imagine in practical form, so my interest was piqued when I was offered the chance to sample this fantasy product.

A few days later, I received a USPS envelope containing some Space Age-y packages and a basic PR product card. No note or instructions or suggestions as to how one might want to approach Le Whif. Fortunately, I was able to find a (surprisingly detailed) how-to guide buried in the FAQs of their website and, along with a carefully heeded (and much appreciated) warning not to inhale too vigorously for fear of coating the inner workings of my respiratory system with chocolate dust, I forayed into the world of no-cal candy.

Unsurprisingly, what this amounts to is chocolate air. In a cute but not especially Earth-friendly plastic tube. Le Whif comes in four flavors: plain chocolate, raspberry chocolate, mint chocolate, and mango chocolate, three of which I got to sample.

Plain Chocolate (or “American Whif”)
What can I say? It tastes like chocolate. I guess I expected it to be slightly bitter, like cocoa powder, but it wasn’t. It was good. I daresay it was the most delightful puff of chocolate air I’ve ever had.

Mint Chocolate (or “English Whif”)
Mmm, refreshing. A typical mint/chocolate experience. Felt like a little snow flurry in my mouth. I’m not sure if this combo is endemic to Britain but, truth be told, it conjured up stronger images of Switzerland for me.

Mango Chocolate (or “Caribbean Whif”)
Again, good flavor here. It wasn’t outright mango-licious but, sure, it felt a little Island-y.

Once I got the hang of it, the Le Whif contraption was relatively easy to master. They say that it contains approximately four chocolate puffs, but I found two emptied it pretty sufficiently. And while they suggest that, between puffs, you can close Le Whif and store it in your pocket, I think I’d likely want to slap anyone who felt the need to save their second puff “for later.”

Overall, I was underwhelmed by Le Whif. It’s an exemplary replacement for air, less so for candy. The approximately three seconds of excitement I got from it hardly seem worth the price (over $2 per canister and currently only available through their website), though it seems tailor-made for extreme dieters and those having trouble quitting smoking because they just miss the inhaling part too damn much. So that’s my expert opinion, which I will couple with this official Candy Addict plea: Someone please get that genie back in its bottle before it unceremoniously bastardizes other good things like cheesecake, Christmas, and sex.

• Le Whif’s Website

Making great looking letters and numbers with candy has been a problem in the past, but not so any more. Here is a product called Letter Ice (and the numbers are called, appropriately, Number Ice). They are silicone letter and number molds. They are great for ice, jello, butter, chocolate, shortbread cookies, muffins, lollipops, etc. I made some lemonade ice cubes with them and my daughter loved them and I made a “7″ cube to put in her drink on her 7th birthday.

I didn’t get to try making some candy with them – I’m more of a candy eater than a candy maker. The pictures on the website do make it look easy to do though. The only problem for me is that for me to spell CANDYADDICT I would have to do multiple batches (2 C’s, 2 A’s, 3 D’s) or buy multiple mold sets. The company is currently looking for a distributor so hopefully we will see these in stores soon.

• Letter Ice and Number Ice website

I’ve never eaten sardines – gummy or otherwise – but I have marveled at the cool tins that efficiently package the dead fish. The Squishy Fishies container mimics a real sardine tin, and even comes with a key to turn to open the lid. I have to admit, I love this idea. I’m a sucker for tins (even if they’re not actually tin), and the fake sardine gimmick just seems like a whole lot of fun. Plus, the gummy fish are fruit-flavored, not fish-flavored, which makes the product much more appealing.

Sadly, for gummy candy fans, not even a full ounce of Squishy Fishies are inside each can, but I’m okay with that because I like the package so much. Plus, as the folks at Stupid.com point out, you can reuse the tin after the candy’s gone. For $2.29, I think the Squishy Fishies are a bargain. I’ve seen a lot less funny stuff for a lot more money, and the fake sardine tin would look great in my collection of random candy paraphernalia.

Buy Squishy Fishies Online:

• at Stupid.com

gummy, fish, gross, tins, collectible

The candy dork in me totally loves the things these guys come up with. All their furniture is based on images or items from childhood pursuits – from the Cupcake Seat to the Lite Table. They’ve also got a Candy Table – which unfortunately isn’t filled with candy (break glass for emergencies?) but instead with loads of plastic squirt guns.

Given that they make custom furniture, maybe we’ll have to convince them to fill those tables with some real candy – imagine it filled with Jelly Belly jellybeans! Better yet would be filling it with a whole selection of candy and then inserting a trap door whereby one could take out pieces to eat… uh-oh. Me thinks the IKEA el cheapo coffee table might be better for my waistline and my pocketbook (although certainly not as fun!)

• Jellio.com

Gone are the days when a t-shirt or other non-edible item with a candy logo was a rare find. I can walk through almost any major store now and find something with a candy theme – scarves, pillows, even dog treats. Is it licensing overkill, or just good fun? I’m still on the fence, but I have to admit, I was thrilled to find the new over-sized PEZ dog treat dispensers (made by Pet-Riffic) at Walgreens.

I wasn’t happy just because one of the varieties is a Smiling Beagle, and I have a beagle. I was thrilled because the product actually mimics a real PEZ dispenser. So, I guess for me, when the non-candy item is reasonably representative of the original, I’m fine with it. The price on the Walgreens display as well as the price on the box said $9.99, but when it was rung up at the register, the total before tax was only $5.99, and the receipt said “SALE” next to “PEZ for Pets.”

I was pleasantly surprised, and briefly entertained by the idea of buying another dispenser as a collector’s item, until I realized I’d spent a good portion of my weekend building an outdoor shed because my living quarters are too full of stuff already. For you collectors out there though, each dispenser goes for $20 at the PEZ Collector’s Store.

The dog treat PEZ dispenser works just like the candy version, and in addition to the Smiling Beagle, comes in the Toothy St. Bernard style. You load the stem with the included dog treats, slide the contraption back together, and pull up on the dog’s head to dispense the goodies.

As for the quality of the included snacks, I didn’t taste them, but canine taste-testers Jessie and Otis seemed to love them. The snacks smelled rancid and are made of yucky ingredients (corn starch, rice starch, sorbitol, maltose, and artificial flavors), but the dogs devoured them. The treats did have to be removed from the dispenser and fed by hand, but the dogs didn’t seem to mind.

There are only six bone-shaped dog treats in each package. I found some refills for the dispenser on eBay, but, I’d rather not give my pups more of those nasty-smelling snacks. Novelty is fun, but I think I’d prefer to give the guys something that at least has real meat in the ingredients. I don’t need any more Candy Addicts competing with me in the house!

PEZ, dogs, pets, collectible

When I figured out that my love for all things chocolate and candy was a little more intense that your average Joe, I did what most any person would do. I looked for ways to incorporate my love of sugar into my personal style! I sought out clothing, scarves, pillows, and anything I could get my hands on.

The problem was that once I graduated college and started living in the adult world, I began to crave ways to still show my love of candy in a more sophisticated way. I wanted my apartment to read “young professional” rather than “pig tailed preteen” with bright pink pillows all over my IKEA couch. I did find that candy coffee table books work nicely, but then the problem of too many nice books and not enough surface space arose. What’s a candy lover to do?

Buy some chocolate coasters, of course! These beautifully designed coasters look exactly like chocolate bars and are perfect for keeping your surface clean from whatever drinks you currently have on hand. They even come in two kinds, brown and off white, depending on your chocolate preference! The coasters are sold by Animi Causa, an Israeli design company with an impressive portfolio of work. Considering how beautiful the chocolate coasters are, it makes me want to commission them to outfit my apartment in candy furniture! Sadly, that isn’t possible.

A set of the chocolate coasters will cost you $12.95, which is a good deal considering how beautiful and well made they are. My only remaining problem is: which set do I order? The milk chocolate or the white chocolate? I love them both! Which one would you choose?

• Chocolate Coasters by Animi Causa

decor, design, house, home, Israel

At the All Candy Expo earlier this year, I happened upon this Wii Candy Dispenser protected behind a glass case and I had to stop. It was at the Au’some Candies booth along with a bunch of their other Nintendo-themed candy. The company showed it to me behind the glass so I never actually got to touch it but I did take the picture you see above. It looks like it dispenses blue disc candy from the top… maybe using one of the controller buttons? Perhaps these will be easier to find than a real Wii (curse you Nintendo)!

Au’some Candies has a few other new Nintendo candies coming out soon too. One of them is the Mario Kart DS Candy Container seen at left. It’s a stack of black tires about 6 inches high and it’s filled with candy. On top is a removable kick-ass Mario Kart on top about the size of a Matchbox car. Freakin sweet! (I have one and it’s great!), These are in stores now.

• Comprehensive list of Nintendo Candy
• Au’some Candies

Buy Nintendo candy online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Knuckle Sandwich Toys

Nintendo, video game

Maybe the whole Mentos + Diet Coke craze is well-worn. Candy Addict’s first post about this phenomenon dates back to October of 2005. In Internet historical reckoning, that’s around the same time as the extinction of the dinosaurs. Even the Mythbusters got into the act, exploring the scientific principles that govern the geyser.

Now ThinkGeek, the Web’s premier destination for all things nerdy, is selling a special kit which will let backyard Mythbusters conduct experiments of their own. For $19.99, the Great Geysers Kit includes a specially-designed quick-release tube, allowing folks to add Mentos down the neck of the bottle without having to flee for their lives afterwards. It even comes with two tubes of Mentos, so the only thing you need to provide is the two liter bottle of soda. Result: Fun and sticky science!

• ThinkGeek Great Geysers Kit
• Mentos plus Diet Coke

mentos, soda, science

What catches you eye with candy? Is it the colors? The placement on the shelf? The promise of a familiar favorite contained within the wrapper? For me, it’s a bit of everything but I’m also a sucker for the design of a candy. If there’s something clever and unique about its presentation, I’m all over it. That’s what caught my eye about this Flic’n'Lic candy by Au’some Candies when I saw it on the shelf in my local candy store.

It’s hard candy (I prefer to call it a lollipop because of the handle) that has packaging which works as both the container for the candy and as the handle for eating it. The case easily flips open (it’s even slightly curved so it fits comfortably in your hands in both directions) and snaps into position, baring the candy ready for consumption. This is such a great design. How nice to have the opportunity to eat a little now, close the case and then finish your candy later. All without having to worry about saving the wrapper or a sticky mess evolving in your pocket.

I know I’ve rambled enough about the design of the Flic’n'Lic, but how does it taste? Fantastic.

Au’some Candies does magical things with the fruit flavors in the candies that it produces, and these are no exception. According to the display they come in four flavors: strawberry, blueberry, cherry and orange. The website’s graphics show a green apple flavor but I saw no trace of one in the store. Since the cherry and orange flavors were sold out (a good sign?) I bought the strawberry and blueberry. The strawberry was fresh and sweet like a real strawberry. It wasn’t tart at all, but it really got my saliva going, which was very pleasant. The blueberry didn’t taste artificial at all, which is amazing since it’s hard to pull off this flavor. It was zesty and had a strong berry flavor.

I give these two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Not only are they extremely tasty, but the design really adds to the pleasure and convenience of this candy experience.

• Flic’n'Lic Candy Webpage
• Flic’n'lic TV Commercial (1.9MB .mov file)

Buy Flic’n'Lic Online:

• at Candy Direct

fruit, lollipop, strawberry, blueberry, cherry, orange

He loved nothing more than to spend class eating lip balm. You heard me—eating it. Usually he brought his own Chapstick for this. However, he greatly preferred my Cotton Candy flavored Bonne Bell lip balm (with just a hint of sparkle). Jason would sneak into my backpack, extract my lip balm, and munch away on his waxy snack.

What could have possessed him to do this? I am not sure. I just know there is always that one kid in the back of the classroom, eating paste while the rest of the kids are making scrap paper collages.

I can only imagine how happy Jason would have been if he had gotten his hands on some of Lotta Luv’s candy lip balm creations. Imagine – some of your favorite candies re-imagined as a tasty, yet functional lip balm!

Lotta Luv’s lip balm come in a wide variety of candy flavors from the classics (Sugar Daddy, Bit ‘O Honey) to candy bars (Baby Ruth, Crunch Bar) to current favorites (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, York Peppermint Patty). They even have several flavors of Bubble Yum gum and Jelly Belly Jelly Bean lip balms. There are so many varieties that I cannot even list them all!

As a Candy Addict and a lip balm addict, I know I will be hunting down a few of these flavors to stash in my purse.

• The Lotta Luv Website

Buy Lotta Luv Candy Lip Balm online:

• at Amazon

jelly belly, bubble gum, chocolate