APPLICATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED

In case you hadn’t noticed, Candy Addict is looking a little dead lately and we need to change that. We’re looking to hire some new writers to get the site really going again. If you’ve ever wanted to get paid to write about candy (and get free candy to review), now’s your chance!

What are we looking for in the ideal Candy Addict writer?

• A love of candy, obviously
• Excellent writing skills
• A sense of humor that comes through in your writing
• Familiarity with HTML – you don’t have to be an HTML guru, just have some basic knowledge
• The ability and time to write a minimum of 5 articles a month for the site
• Knowledge of WordPress is a big plus, but not required. If two writers had equal skills but one had WordPress knowledge, I’d probably choose the writer with the WordPress skills if all other things were equal
• U.S. resident preferred but not required. If you want to be a writer that gets free candy samples to review, you must live in the U.S. If you are outside the U.S., you can still write for us and get paid (in U.S. dollars), but you would get no free candy from the U.S. (but we might be able to arrange free candy from candy companies in your country).

What will you get out of writing for Candy Addict?

• Money. Yes, you will be paid for your writing. It’s not enough money to quit your day job, but it’s some extra spending money.
• Free candy. We get lots of free candy to review – you will be put into the free candy queue and get some too (but you will have to write a review of it)
• A paid writing gig to put on your resume.
• No hard deadlines. Write when you can, as long as you can meet what you committed to.
• World-wide fame and notoriety. (Ok, I lied about the last one, but all the others are 100% true)

If interested, send me an email to DO NOT SEND EMAIL – APPLICATION PERIOD IS OVER

Apparently, there is a chocolate bar out there that I am NOT allowed to eat!!! When I found out that there was no way I could get at this phenomenal piece of candy, I was outraged! Until I found out from the Chicago Tribune that this particular 12,000 pound chocolate bar was made to teach our children about portion control.

The company, World’s Finest Chocolate, is usually a company that does fundraising for schools but this time they went beyond that. This enormous piece of confectionary marvel is 21 feet long and 3 feet high. It took 1700 pounds of cocoa butter, just to give you one ingredient, to make this monster. But, it’s all for a good cause.

World’s Finest Chocolate is taking this bar on a tour called the “Think Big, Eat Smart Tour” to teach the nation’s children about limiting the amount of sweets they eat. Well, if they bring this baby to my kids’ school, I don’t know if I’ll be able to limit the amount of chocolate I’m going to eat!

• World’s Finest Chocolate Website

There are just so many gums on the market right now that it’s hard to make any kind of decision on what you wanna chew. There must be at least 4 or 5 different mint flavors per brand from what I see in the checkout lines, not to mention all the fruit or combination flavors. I’ve even seen gum that’s supposed to taste like desserts. Now Stridehas come out with a new Wintermint gum sponsored by snowboarder Shaun White.

Unfortunately, this is just another one of those gimmicks. If you love snowboarding or you’re a Shaun White fan, Stride knows you’ll buy this gum. On the outside of the white package you can see there’s a partial face shot of Shaun White with his blazing red hair. On the inside of the package there’s all kinds of drawings of Shaun with comic book like talking “bubbles” along with some quotes from Shaun. Beyond that, this is just another mint gum.

The sticks are a decent size, as seems to be the standard with Stride gum and they are pure white. There’s nothing exciting or different about this “Wintermint” flavor. It really just tastes like peppermint. I’m a big fan of mint gum just because I’m always paranoid about my breath so that’s the flavor I’m always chewing. I tend to lean towards the softer mint flavored gums, that’s the mint I like. The really sharp mint gums just end up making me thirsty instead of feeling refreshed. This Wintermint is more of those sharper mint gums and even though it was a good strong flavor, it ended up making me thirsty.

As far as how long the flavor lasts, I’d say 30-45 minutes. That’s a decent amount of time, especially with a sugarless gum. And, we know Stride prides itself on its long lasting gum flavors. It does keep the breath fresh and I really didn’t have any stinky breath for awhile after throwing the gum out so it does have that going for it.

As for whether or not you should buy it, well I will leave it up to you. If you want to give it a try you’re welcome to it but I will warn you that this Shaun White gum will cost you more just because his face is on the package. I was at Wal-mart the other day and saw both regular Stride mint gum and the Shaun White Wintermint at the checkout line. The regular Stride flavors only cost 96 cents while the Shaun White Stride gum was $1.28. Must be more because Sean’s mug is on there, right?

• Stride Gum Website
• Shaun White’s Website
• Buy Stride Gum Online

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

Do you have a little “Candy Addict” of your own at home? Would you like them to start learning their numbers in a way they’ll love? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then I’ve found the perfect book for you. Check out this new board book from Laurie Wolf called “Candy 1 to 20″. Every page contains the numbers from 1 to 20 but they numbers are laid out using various candies to make the shapes. For example, there’s a candy stick for number 1 and candy corn for number 20. Each number is made up of different candies, so your little “Candy Addict” will be so crazy to learn how to count. It’s a very cute board book that seems to be great for any pre-schooler. As a grown up “Candy Addict”, I just wish every page had real candy made into numbers so I could eat them as I counted to twenty! Retail price: $8.99.

• Buy the book “Counting With Candy” at Amazon
• Buy actual candy numbers

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

#10: Sour Patch Kids

Sour Patch Kids used to be Justin’s favorite candy. But, after mentioning that they were his favorite candy, he began being pelted by them on stage during his concerts. He ended up eating too many and getting sick of them. While they are no longer his favorite candy, they used to be and that counts for something.

#9: Crime Scene Tube Candy

I know that this may not make sense to you but the Crime Scene Candy Tubes are in this list for two reasons. One, in honor of YouTube, where Justin posted many of his early videos to get started. And, two, because it would be a “crime” not to listen to Justin’s music.

#8: Island Punch Candy Sticks

Island Records is Justin Bieber’s record label. These Island Punch flavored candy sticks do homage to Justin’s recording company.

#7: Chocolate Covered Maple Creams

Justin Bieber is from Canada (Ontario in fact) and the symbol of Canada is the Maple Leaf. So, in honor of Justin’s country of birth, I give you chocolate covered Maple creams (these are nut free too)!

#6: Giant Astro Pop

Right now you’re asking me, “Why Astro Pop?” Well, Justin’s music is “Pop” music and just the mere mention of his name sends teenage girls straight to the moon.

#5: My Tunes Candy Music Player

This looks just like my MP3 player that I’ve got my Justin Bieber songs on!! The My Tunes Candy Music Player even comes with headphones. I love being able to listen to my Justin tunes and eating candy at the same time.

#4: Cry Baby Tears

“Baby” is probably Justin’s most well known hit. And, since it’s about a girl who’s left him and broken his heart, Cry Baby Tears just comes to mind. As well as all those girls we see crying non-stop at his concerts.

#3: Puppy Love Candy

Justin’s first hit “One Time” is about one of Justin’s favorite subjects, “Puppy Love”. It’s really about, more of less, having a crush on someone really bad. This “Puppy Love Candy” just reminds me of how cute Justin can be.

#2: Licorice Laces

Justin has the most gorgeous hair ever! Remember when he cut his locks!? That was so shocking! So, when I see licorice laces, I can’t help but think of his luscious hair.

#1: Peeps

As revealed on the Conan O’Brian show on Valentine’s Day, Justin’s new favorite candy is PEEPS! OMG!!! One of my favorite candies is PEEPS! Justin I love you!

Nintendo continues to cash in on its classic video game character, the Italian plumber – Mario!. This time they’ve come up with sour and non-sour gummy candies called Super Mario 3-Dees. I tried the sour version because I love sour candy! The gimmick here is the fact that the gummy candies are actually three dimensional figures, like gummi bears. They come in four flavors and four shapes. The flavors are: orange, watermelon, strawberry and mixed berry. The shapes are: Mario, Yoshi, Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong. The shapes do not denote the flavor as some candies do, but rather you could get say 3 Mario shapes in your bag but they can be all different flavors.

The candies are all brightly colored with pretty much standard colors denoting the flavors (ie: blue for the mixed berry, orange for orange, etc.) The texture is that of a pretty standard gummy and of course they have the nice sour coating on top that gives a little crunch if you bite into it right away. As for the flavors, they are pretty much standard fruit flavors, there is nothing really outstanding about them.

It’s pretty obvious that these Nintendo candies will appeal more to kids who just love Nintendo games or the Nintendo collectors out there. The Super Mario 3-Dees really have two things going for them: one is the fact that these are three dimensional candies, not flat like Sour Patch Kids, and two that they are Super Mario characters. Otherwise, they don’t stand out as any better than other similar candies on the market today. If you’re buying them for the flavors, I think you’ll be disappointed but if you love Nintendo stuff or have kids that love Mario, these are great!

• 3-Dees Website
• Buy Nintendo Candy Online
• Huge list of Nintendo candy

Everybody knows the name Hershey and everyone out there has probably had a Hershey bar. After all, they aren’t called the “Great American Chocolate Bar” for nothing ya know. Now they’ve come out with this new chocolate bar called Hershey’s Air Delight. It’s essentially a regular Hershey bar full of air holes which is sort of like the Nestle Aero bars or even the Bubble Chocolate.

I’ve had the Aero bars and they have air pockets more like a honeycomb. The air holes are large and very noticeable. I was never impressed by that feature, it really never added or took away from the flavor, and it just added a weird texture. The Hershey’s Air Delight has really tiny air holes – it looks a lot like the middle of the bar got kind of melted and smooshed. You have to look really really close to even see the tiny air pockets.

The texture is just a softer version of a Hershey Bar. The air holes don’t really add anything except to make it feel softer inside, almost like there should be some sort of filling in it, but there isn’t any filling. As far as taste, it takes just like a regular Hershey bar, just with that soft texture on the inside. It seems to be a new gimmick that Hershey is trying out in their bars and their Kisses too, like they’re trying to dip their feet in the water. I like Hershey’s chocolate and it always brings back childhood memories, but this Air Delight is nothing phenomenal. I’ll eat it if you give me one but I’d be fine with just a plain good old regular Hershey bar.

• Hershey’s Website
• Buy Hershey’s Candy Online

I’m just a HUGE chocolate and mint addict. I’m always on the lookout for something new that deals with chocolate mint and I will always try any candy that has that yummy combination no matter what. This time I found these Dark Chocolate (63% cocoa) Thin Mints from Haviland which is a sub-brand of Necco I found at my local CVS.

The first thing I noticed is that these are really thin mints. The photos on the box show something more along the lines of miniature York Peppermint patties with a thick mint center. That is not the case. The mint center is very thin and so is its dark chocolate coating. Luckily you get a lot of mints in the package which makes this a great deal for the money I paid.

These chocolate mints are actually very good. The flavors work in harmony together so that neither one overpowers the other. I’ve had some chocolate mints where there was way too much mint compared to the chocolate. Thin as these layers are, they work together extremely well. It’s a refreshing mint that’s complemented by the dark chocolate.

Another nice thing about these mints is that they are labeled “all natural” which can be misleading from time to time. Looking at the package the ingredient list is small and contains all the things I would hope to find in a product like this. These Haviland Mints were a pleasant surprise tucked away in the candy aisle at CVS. I love when I just pick something up for the heck of it and it ends up being really good.

• Necco Haviland Brand Website
• Buy Chocolate Mints Online

As I was waiting in CVS one day for a prescription to be filled I wandered around the store. I had about 20 minutes to kill and there’s not much else to do in CVS but look around. That’s when I found this little six pack of Soda Can Frizzy Candy. The six-pack is a cute little novelty and there are four flavors: lemon-lime, cola, orange and grape.

There’s actually a little plastic pop top on each can that you have to pop open to get the candy, which is kind of neat. The candies look like Tart N Tinys (remember those?) but in paler colors based on the flavor. They have almost the same texture too but are softer to chew.

These are not fizzy like pop rocks or some of the powdered candy that’s out there but they do pack a punch. The Lemon-Lime flavor was almost too tart and too strong on the fizziness. You don’t get the fizzy feeling until you start to chew the candy but it’s there trust me. The grape reminded me exactly of grape soda flavor. The fizz in the grape flavor is there but not as pronounced as with the lemon-lime. The orange was not a great flavor but this one fizzed on contact in my mouth. The cola honestly didn’t taste much like cola, it was actually kind of gross. I’ve certainly tasted much better cola flavored candies.

This six-pack of Soda Can Fizzy Candy is cute, but definitely not a worthwhile soda flavored candy (though the cans are cute and worth keeping). It’s a great little novelty item, but the flavors need to be improved and the fizz needs to be consistent. Seriously, don’t waste your money on this one. If you really love your soda flavored candy, I recommend sticking to Wonka Bottlecaps (which I LOVE)!

• Kidsmania Candy Website
• Huge list of cola candy
• Buy Soda Candy Online

Right before Father’s Day, I had posted about Beercandy and how it would make a great gift for Dads everywhere. I mentioned in that post that I was planning to order some of their products for my beer loving husband for Father’s Day. After all, what could be better for a beer-loving guy? Well, I spoke true and now I can tell you all about their Beer Taffy. I would have also reviewed the Beer Caramels, but sadly, since it was a Father’s Day gift after all, they were consumed before I could taste the. I had asked him for some details that I could include in the review but all he could tell me was that they were the best caramels he ever had.

If you are expecting that the Beer Taffy is going to be a sweet piece of chewy taffy with just a hint of beer flavor, like I did, then you’ll be in for a surprise. It’s nothing at all like I expected. If you like your taffy thick and chewy, then you’ll be very pleased. It literally took me 5 minutes to chew one of these. Your mouth will definitely get some exercise.

If you like the taste beer, then you’re going to love this candy. There are only two beers used to make the taffies, IPA and Stout. Both the IPA and the Stout taffy were equally strong in flavor, even though Stout is a normally a much stronger beer. There’s not much sweetness to this taffy, just enough to qualify them as candy, but the main flavor is beer. The best way I can describe this candy is “chewable beer”.

So, if you’re a beer lover and a taffy lover, you’ll really enjoy this candy. It’s a great combination of both handcrafted beers and candy. I like a good beer myself every now or then but to me it was strange to chew some beer rather than drinking it down. Then again, there’s no cans or bottles to worry about, you won’t need a beer cozy to keep it cool, and you sure don’t need a bottle opener!

• Beercandy Website