I am fussy about what flavors get mixed with my chocolate. Chocolate is pretty much perfect just the way it is.

But coffee and chocolate are one of the perfect flavor combinations. And I was intrigued by the GoGo Beans concept. I don’t drink coffee regularly, but when I need it, I need it – and yet, I am picky about it. If I can’t get a properly made fancy coffee, I’m not one of those people who can settle for instant with non-dairy creamer (eeek!), so a chocolate-coffee candy with extra caffeine could be a useful thing.

But, it’s not a pill you just swallow – it still has to taste good. And when I got these samples, I was so disappointed, I had to get second and third opinions, just to be fair.

Javaz (I had the dark chocolate version) are a round chocolate candy with white splotches on the chocolate coating on the outside, and pieces of whole coffee bean inside. Going by appearance, the GoGo Bean looks like the Javaz with a candy shell, but they’re really quite different, aside from the added caffeine. The Javaz has a smaller or more chopped-up coffee bean, whereas the bean in the GoGo Bean is whole. And the GoGo Bean does not have chocolate in the ingredient list – it is made with cocoa powder – whereas the Javaz is made of actual chocolate.

Contrary to what you might expect from that description, the chocolate flavor of the GoGoBean was superior. The Javaz was not at all chocolaty, with almost that off-taste of cheap chocolate. One of my assistants said it was “just sweet.”

Biting into the GoGo first tastes like an M&M then turns into coffee bean flavor. My second tasting assistant said the shell didn’t have the flavor she dislikes that she usually associates with reddish colors of M&Ms.

All three of us agreed that the GoGo Beans were superior, but neither one of these were something that I would eat again, or even wanted to finish a free package of. However, both of my coffee-addict assistants were happy to take the rest of a tube of GoGoBeans to work with them, so if you’re looking for a convenient chocolaty source of caffeine, you might want to give them a try.

• How Do You Take Your Coffee Website

The concept of this candy is a cool idea. Gummi bears that give the caffeine buzz of an energy soda without the crash an hour later? Awesome! And, as I’ve mentioned previously, I find biting the heads off gummi bears to be a lovely form of stress relief, so all in all, this seemed like a dream product.

On the plus side, the gummi texture was excellent. The bears are just the right blend of soft and chewy. Plus, they work as advertised. I went walking for over an hour after I ate them, and had plenty of energy for the whole hike. Also, the gummi bears are a light enough snack that I didn’t have to worry about eating them right before I exercised. As an added bonus, I never got the caffeine jitters like when I drink too much coffee.

The gummi bears have other benefits, too. Health food junkies may prefer that the caffeine source is Guarana Extract, touted as the “natural caffeine.” Each serving is only 60 calories and contains all sorts of good stuff like Vitamin C and a bunch of B vitamins. Pretty spectacular for candy!

Of course, since this candy is packed with an extra punch, it comes with a warning. For those of you who don’t like to read the fine print: this product is not recommended for children, pregnant women, people with heart conditions, or people sensitive to caffeine or niacin. As always when eating something new, read the label before you try it.

Overall, I felt like the pros balanced the cons in this candy. If you don’t mind the cough syrup taste, it makes for an easy, portable energy source that’s fun to eat.

• Loud Truck Gummi Website

Buy Loud Truck Gummies Online:

• at CandyDirect.com

After my not-so-good experience with Kickbrix energy chews, I was sent a sample of Buzz Bite Mint Chocolate Energy Chews.

Since I love everything chocolate, I was excited to try these because they contained not only chocolate, but also mint. Combine that with some good old caffeine, and I was ready to go.

I decided to try the Buzz Bite Mint Chocolate Energy Chews on a morning where I had not gotten much sleep the night before. Since buying a Nintendo DS, I haven’t gotten much sleep on the days I have to get up for work. On the morning in question, I crawled out of bed, showered, brushed my teeth and got dressed. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, I noticed the nice green tin can that contained the energy chews.

First of all, I like the packaging. Anything that comes in a cute little tin is all right in my book. That way, the energy chews are easily contained inside their tin and not spilling out all over the place in my purse.

I discovered that while opening a chew, they came off easily from the wrapper, whereas the previously mentioned energy chews kind of stuck to the wrapper and were hard to pry loose. Not the case with these. They look like a chocolate version of a Starburst but were much chewier and easy on the teeth. I definitely tasted the chocolate, and while there was a little of the bitterness of the caffeine in it, the chocolate flavor kind of drowned that out. Definitely edible as an energy chew. As for the aftertaste, there was a slight mint flavor, but no lingering aftereffects.

As for giving me energy, it seemed to boost my work productivity that day. I’m kind of a lazy worker, and lose energy early in the day, so these chews seemed to provide me with the extra energy that I needed to get through the day. I even think these mints were responsible for keeping me up all afternoon, thereby eliminating my four-hour nap that I take in the middle of the day. Hmmm… I think I might definitely use these again. Who needs a nap, right?

• Buzz Bites Website

Buy Buzz Bite Energy Chews Online:

• Amazon.com

Let’s be clear; I don’t speak Korean, so I’m utterly ignorant of all the great information on this label, and on a website listed on the can: Naver. In fact, I’m not even sure that Haitai is the name of the manufacturer, but it was the only thing in English I could find that looked like the candy’s maker listed on the label. If anyone can help me out with some translation detail, I’d be glad to learn more. Google didn’t deliver, alas. Automatic translating the Naver page also got me nowhere.

But check out that awesome container! Really, it’s why I bought this candy (well, that and the word “chocolate”…). I mean, it’s shiny METAL, 4 3/8″ high, with a 2″ diameter blue plastic snap lid. If the chocolate inside is as good as the outside, I’m gonna love this candy. And it should be decent at four dollars for 3 1/2 oz (100g).

All right, so I’ve pulled up the inner seal of the snap lid, and find a bunch of dime-sized, round-edged triangles of chocolate. They smell good. I pop one in my mouth and get to chewing. First impression isn’t that great: I get a waxy chocolate taste that’s pretty bland. Then the interior flavor hits, and my second impression is confusion: what is this flavor? It’s very faintly bitter, maybe like faintly sour milk? Whatever it is, it’s not a good addition to the chocolate. It’s not horrible because it’s also bland, and the waxy chocolate overlays much of what I just described, but it doesn’t make for a good candy flavor, either.

Now, what’s with the name of this candy, you might be asking. Is this chocolate supposed to enhance my power of concentration? And how? Well… please see paragraph one. I don’t know Korean. However, there’s a sticker listing the ingredients in English. They all look pretty normal for chocolate, and there’s no added caffeine, but the last ingredient is the following: “rice embryo bud extract.” Google redeems itself by bringing up two pages for this one.

Apparently, plant embryos contain linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid. They also contain vitamins B1, B2 and B6, E, K, Na, Ca, Mg and other trace elements. The second site says that rice embryo bud extract contains a lipase inhibitor, claimed “to provide a cosmetic, obesity-preventing food.” Hmmmm. Am I going to lose weight or increase my rational focus?

In the end, I don’t care, because these candies just aren’t very good. And this review took just as long to write, so I’m not feeling any increased mental acuity. If anything, my brain hurts from trying to figure out what I was tasting.

In conclusion, the container for Haitai’s Power of Concentration Chocolate is really cool. They just need to make some tasty candy to replace the waxy blah bud extract oddity that’s in there now.

• Naver Website

Package disclaimer: “Not recommended for pregnant women, children, or persons sensitive to caffeine.” (This includes YOU, weird pregnant guy expecting your second kid in June!)

Huh? This is just wrong: A candy bar aimed straight at the shaved heads of wacky, Jack-Ass-style twenty-somethings. In this fast-paced and hectic age, do we really need more buzz? I guess someone thinks so.

The Nestle advertising blitz and buzz (can you sense the trend here?) features online videos of highly energized male and female actors playing the part of young adults shaving one another’s heads and spray painting stencils of the Butterfinger Buzz logo onto their freshly revealed scalps. The ads seem to shout: THESE COOL YOUNG PEOPLE ARE CRAZY AND YOU NEED TO HANG OUT WITH THEM RIGHT NOW!! A paintball gun is even used – that was crazy sick YO! No, just stupid. All this for a candy bar? And not a very good one? Come on.

At the very least, the campaign seems forced. Certain candy icons should never be messed with.

I first noticed the awkwardness of the Butterfinger Buzz package with its two separate, single-serving bars jostling around in a super-kingsize sleeve that made the bar appear broken. The candy within looked like the classic Butterfinger with its bland and thin mockolate coating (the peanut buttery center is the star here, always has been), and the first bite revealed the usual crumbly-crunchy peanut butter candy innards.

On closer inspection, I found the Buzz’s interior to be distinctly darker than the classic Butterfinger, more of a burnt orange in color that reminded me of a blood orange. With an even closer view it looked similar to a slice of prosciutto.

I had fun comparing the candy bar’s sedimentary center to other foods, but I tried to focus on the taste because that’s what it’s really all about – appearances are superficial.

The texture was more dense than the classic non-caffeinated version and was like chewing a semi-moist clump of red Georgia clay, or how I imagine that might feel. Halfway through the first bar I noticed a disturbing bitterness. Don’t get me wrong, I like bitter just as much as sweet – I’m a big black-coffee drinker – but this was unpleasant. I finished the first bar with some difficulty, and didn’t even bother with the second.

The Butterfinger Buzz claims to have as much caffeine as “the leading energy drink” (80mg for both bars), but since I barely finished one serving (one bar) I didn’t notice much of an increase in my energy level. However, a caffeine-sensitive colleague of mine scarfed an entire Buzz and actually felt quite a rush that afternoon. It was annoyingly entertaining.

I advise you to scamper out and buy a Butterfinger Buzz so you can judge for yourself. But hurry, these limited edition bars are only available through April 2009 or while supplies last.

As the ads say, “Get your BUZZ on!” (But not if you’re a child, sensitive to caffeine, or a pregnant human.)

• Butterfinger Buzz Website

For those of us who can’t function in the morning without at least two cups of coffee, (or, in my case, a giant Red Bull), the idea of a product that promises the awesomeness of candy plus the benefits of caffeine is hard to beat. And for hardcore caffeinated Candy Addicts, Jitterbeans (or Crackheads Squared) are a dream come true.

I first came across the original Crackheads at last year’s All Candy Expo. The name alone had caused quite a stir, as you can imagine, but as Brian noted in his review of the original Crackheads, it was the addition of white chocolate that really set Crackheads apart from other chocolate covered espresso beans. What I like about the original Crackheads is the sweetness of the chocolate; both the dark and white chocolate used provide a soft, sugary shell for the bitter, crunchy bean within, creating a nice balance of tastes and textures.

Crackheads Squared, or Jitterbeans, as they are alternately known, amp up the taste, texture, and caffeine levels of the original Crackheads. One box of Jitterbeans has 600mg of caffeine – that’s more than 11 colas, 7.5 Red Bulls, or 6 cups of coffee. In other words, you might not want to eat an entire box at once, lest you end up like Jessie Spano on Saved by the Bell.

The difference between Crackheads and Jitterbeans is noticeable as soon as you open the box: whereas the original Crackheads had a softer appearance, with the white chocolate pieces taking on a slightly vanilla color, Jitterbeans are shiny and bright, and have more of a crunch to them than their predecessor. The coffee taste is more pronounced in Jitterbeans; here, the espresso is definitely the star, and the chocolate to coffee bean ration is tipped in its favor, which is a plus or minus, depending on which flavor you really prefer.

Personally, I enjoy the original Crackheads a bit more, but only because I’m the type of person who loads her coffee with sugar and milk to drown out the strong coffee taste, and the originals tend to allow more of the sweet, chocolaty flavor to come through. However, I will say this: both Crackheads and Jitterbeans get the job done, kids. I followed the recommended serving of 7 pieces and felt as if I’d had my morning Red Bull (without which, I usually get grumpy, sluggish, and pretty bad headaches). I was alert, awake, and ready to go. And to be quite honest with you, I’ll take any excuse I can get to be able to say, “I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve had my morning candy.” Because what Candy Addict doesn’t want to start the day like that?

BONUS: We’re giving away a Crackheads gift pack too! One lucky winner will win a Crackheads T-shirt, 3 boxes of original Crackheads, and one box of new Crackheads Squared. All you have to do is answer one simple question. “What city did Crackheads originate in?” (hint – look on the Crackheads Candy website). Email your answer to jitterbeans@candyaddict.com. One lucky winner will be randomly chosen from all correct entries. FINE PRINT: Entries must be received by midnight EST, Friday, Feb 20. Contest open to US residents 18 years or older only. One entry per email address. Not responsible for misdirected/unanswered emails. If winner doesn’t respond to the winning email in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

• Jitterbeans Candy Website

Buy Jitterbeans/Crackheads Online:

• at Think Geek
• at Amazon.com

What’s your stance on ginger? If you’re not a fan, you’ll certainly want to avoid these Indonesian treats. But how about the rest of us, the ginger-neutral or the devotees? What should we make of these penny-sized candies, suffused with the famous root?

My suggestion is that we make a hoopla, jump through it, and celebrate Gin Gins Boost! These candies are pretty darn good, even though I’m not usually pro root-candy. But something about the picture on the bag got me interested.

I mean, how often do you see a ginger-root man in a suit, flying through the air, carrying a suitcase with tubers for hands? Exactly.

And now for the candy itself. Each piece looks like a brown lozenge, and comes individually wrapped. At first, it seems these are hard candies with a boring flavor, but the candy quickly softens a bit until you can chew it, and the ginger really kicks in. But so does the sweetness, which very much helps cut the spice’s edge. Another pleasing sensation is the mild heat the ginger seems to generate in your mouth. Overall, Gin Gins Boost is a unique candy experience: spicy, warm, yet somewhat mild and chewy sweet. I like it!

Now, the package instructs me to “savor the natural goodness of these flavorsome pick-me-ups, while the sweet heat freshens your breath and delivers the unique health-giving warmth of ginger.”

Okay, I will.

And if you’re a ginger fan or just curious, I recommend Gin Gins Boost to you, too. I got mine at World Market; they’re also available online.

• Gin Gins Boost Website

Buy Gin Gins Boost Online:

• at Amazon.com

With so many different energy products out there, it kind of gets overwhelming sometimes. There are energy drinks, energy shots and energy pills to choose from, so many products that sometimes it’s hard to decide what to use. I’ve never been a fan of energy pills; in my experiences the energy pills give me so much energy that I have to keep moving around or else I feel like throwing up. Instead I prefer energy drinks, but sometimes I don’t want to drink all those calories.

I had a chance to try Kickbrix energy chews. I was excited to try these because sometimes energy drinks are too much for me; I never finish a whole can and feel like I’m wasting my money. These chews seemed perfect; they are small, chewable and only 25 calories. Plus, their website looks pretty awesome.

However, good looks and marketing may be all these chews have going for them. They come in two flavors; Berry Blast and Citrus Blast. I decided to try Berry Blast, only because anything berry can’t be that bad, right?

When I first opened the package, the first thing I thought of was Starburst. These chews look just like them and even had the same texture as a Starburst. They were soft and chewy, but as I continued chewing, I immediately thought that Kickbrix tastes like something the dentist would give me just before getting a dental impression. It had a minty taste, and left a fresh gum-like taste in my mouth. The berry flavor was somewhere in there, but not very prominent. It also had a sour taste to it.

While chewing, I noticed that it didn’t break apart in my mouth like some candies do. It reminded me of those wax bottles that I used to eat when I was young. I couldn’t chew it for very long because the flavors in this chew did not mix well together. I ended up spitting it out. But surprisingly,  I didn’t have to wash my mouth out because as soon as it was out of my mouth, it felt like I had just brushed my teeth. I guess that minty taste worked in its favor.

As for energy, I’m not sure if I didn’t chew it long enough or what, but I didn’t feel any sort of energy boost from it. My guess is that I would probably need to actually chew it for awhile and ingest it before experiencing any type of energy from this product, but I didn’t even last that long.

Has anyone else tried Kickbrix? If so, what did you think? How would you compare them to any energy products that are on the market today?

• Kickbrix Website

As if chocolate wasn’t a spiritual enough experience for me, I recently found out about Intentional Chocolate. Get this: the chocolate comes infused with good intentions. “Advanced meditators – some of whom trained with the Dalai Lama” add good intentions to each and every product.

In fact, it says so right on the bag: “Whomever consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and function at physical, emotional and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor, and well-being… for the benefit of mankind.”

OK, that’s all really groovy but how does it taste?

The word I’m going to repeat a lot here is “rich.”

I tried the Love Truffles first. They come in a box of nine. There are three flavors (you get three of each): Tahitian Vanilla, Lilikoi, and Kona Coffee. Each truffle comes in its own gold box, in a foil cup. The boxes are a good thing because the truffles are covered in unsweetened cocoa powder and a bit messy. I found it easiest to just pop the whole truffle in my mouth (and, of course, lick the cocoa powder off my fingers).

All the truffles are really creamy. The outside shell has a bit of a crunch to it and quickly melds with the really rich, smooth, creamy chocolate center. The chocolate itself is really light – not quite a mousse but still light. But the flavor is really intense, good, deep chocolate.

The Tahitian Vanilla was more deep chocolate flavored than vanilla – I just got a hint of the vanilla, really. The Kona Coffee (my favorite) had just the right blend of coffee and chocolate. It was like having a cup of really good joe along with super rich chocolate. My taste buds did the happy dance. As for the Lilikoi, it turns out that “lilikoi” is actually Hawaiian for “passion fruit.” Since the chocolate is 100% vintage Hawaiian chocolate, this made sense to me. I have to say I’m on the fence about the Lilikoi truffle. It’s startlingly tart and leaves me with a fruity aftertaste that reminds me a little of guava. Having something so tart in with the other two sweets is surprising and interesting, I’m just not sure it’s my cup of tea.

Next, I tried the Dark Hot Chocolate. Oh man, if my mom served this to us as kids when we came in from the cold, I’d have volunteered to shovel more snow. When I opened the bag, I got the wafting chocolate smell with a hint of chai spices. I like this smell so much, I’m getting happy sitting here with the bag open just inhaling the yummy. I had a little trouble figuring out the servings because the directions use ounces instead of teaspoons. So I just winged it, which worked out fine. You can use hot water or milk to make the hot chocolate – I opted for milk for the full creamy effect. All I can say is: super rich, super yummy, and yes, please, I’ll have another.

Last, I dug into the bag of Dark Chocolate Pistoles. Even though these are only the size of a small, flat nonpareil, they are so rich I can’t eat more than a few at a time. Which is fine, because they are really satisfying. If you like good quality dark chocolate, this is for you. I’m thinking it’d be fun to add these to ice cream, use them on top of cakes and cupcakes, etc. Heck, I’d even melt these and use them for some killer chocolate fondue.

Overall, I thought this was all really quality chocolate. I’m not sure if the intentions worked, but knowing that people put the effort into placing happy thoughts in my chocolate gave me the warm fuzzies. I think these would make a great gift – not only does the recipient get awesome quality chocolates, but they also get warm wishes, too.

• Intentional Chocolate Website

Buy Intentional Chocolate Online:

• at Amazon.com

You don’t see too many beige-colored candies. Now I know why.

I was visiting my favorite retro candy store when I spotted a candy box marked with the familiar GSK logo. This was intriguing: any candy manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline – the major pharmaceutical company better known for Beano gas-prevention tablets and Breathe Right Strips – had to be amazing, right? Who knows candy better than the people who brought us Aquafresh, the first toothpaste with multiple colors? I just had to try Horlicks Malties.

Looking back, I’m not so sure my decision was wise.

Horlicks is best known in the United States – or at least it was about 70 years ago – for its malted milk balls. This was before someone came along and dunked them in chocolate, a vast improvement.

Malt is the milk/whey powder that makes up an ice-cream malt, minus the chocolate, ice cream or anything else that gives it flavor. Malties are malt powder pressed into Tums-sized (Tums are another GSK product, by the way) tablets. Malt powder has traditionally been touted as a natural energy source, kind of a prequel to Zone Bars. Delicious ingredients that make up the tablets include wheat flour, dried milk, vegetable fat and zinc oxide. Yummy!

Each box of Malties contains three individual packs with nine tablets each. Judging from the box, I assume they are meant as a snack for children. But biting into a beige Maltie is the equivalent of chewing a sand-flavored Tums. Dry, dry, dry, with an overwhelming flavor of canned milk. Needless to say, these were not a hit with our kids.

I don’t think this product was produced with the U.S. market in mind. On the front of the box is a wide-eyed scarecrow with a hot-dog nose riding a skateboard. He is being stalked by grinning bees that are about to smash into a one-room schoolhouse. I don’t know about you, but as a parent, this is not a reassuring image. In England, Horlicks powder is promoted as a sleep aid. That scarecrow doesn’t look like he’s slept in ages. Better slow down on the Malties.

So, if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, a little dry and gritty, why not give Malties a try? But, remember I warned you about the scarecrow.

• Horlicks Website

Buy Malties Online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Amazon.com