I was excited review the Brach’s Sugar Free Lemon Drops. Lemon drops aren’t really a sexy candy to review. But it’s a hard and sour candy – both of which are right up my alley.

I liked that the candies are individually wrapped. That’s helpful for grabbing a few and dropping them into your purse/pocket/lunchbox.

In the end, it’s a good lemon drop. It’s not as good as a full-fledged made-with-real-sugar lemon drop. But it’s got quite a bit of flavor. I missed the sparkly sugar coating that you get on some lemon drops. But I guess an isomalt coating wouldn’t have been a hit either.

Wait, what’s that? Isomalt? Yeah, the first ingredient of the drops is isomalt with a little asterisk. The asterisk says, “Excessive comsumption may have a laxative effect” which promptly sent me on a bit of research. According to wikipedia, “Isomalt is a sugar substitute, a type of sugar alcohol, used primarily for its sugar-like physical properties. It has only a small impact on blood sugar levels and does not promote tooth decay. It has… half the calories of sugars. However, like most sugar alcohols, it carries a risk of gastric distress, including flatulence and diarrhea, when consumed in large quantities.”

So my point is, the stuff that makes it sweet without the sugar and low-cal can upset your tummy. Eat these guys in moderation to avoid gastro-issues.

Since I had a whole bag of these goodies, I spread the wealth around to a few family members for more input. My 8-year-old said,“It’s not too sour. I like it.” My husband says “Wow. Immediately lemony. Sour, but not face-pinching sour.” Good reviews all around!

And it might be a “just me” thing, but you know how some hard candies cut your mouth? I hate that. But that wasn’t a problem at all with these drops. They melted evenly and didn’t leave any rough edges.

According to the Brach’s website, their Sugar Free Lemon Drops are “Tangy lemon goodness made with Splenda®. And not a drop of guilt. Only half the calories of our regular Lemon Drops.” This reviewer believes they have met their claim. These candies are definitely a great option if you want or need a sugar free or reduced calorie candy. Just beware the isomalt.

• Brach’s Sugar Free Lemon Drops
• Buy Lemon Drops 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.

Steve Casselman began brewing beer at home back in 1985. This past October, he started the Beercandy website in order to bring his beer candy to life. Steve uses 4 kinds of beer to make his candy: IPA, Stout, Lager and Lambic.

My husband is a huge beer fan and I’m actually on the site right now, ordering some Beercandy for his Father’s Day gift. Review to come!

• Beercandy Website

The Iced Mint Mango flavor is interesting. I expected the mango to be the dominant flavor, as it’s the ingredient that’s featured most prominently on the bag, but the mango takes a backseat on this one. These candies are primary minty, but you can taste an undeniable sweet and fruity flavor if you’re looking for it.  I also want to use the word “faint” to describe this flavor, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you put enough ice in a drink, the flavor will be diluted, so it makes sense that the Iced Mint Mango candies taste a little watered down. 

Both flavors last for a very long time, but if you’re impatient like me, you can chew into them after a little while for that extra burst of fruity or minty goodness. So if you’re looking for some ”healthier-for-you” organic candy, I’d highly recommend giving these two flavors of Go Naturally a try. Actually, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking out for your health or not! Try some anyway! They taste great.

• Hillside Candy’s Website
• Candy Addict review of GoNaturally Organic Hard Candies
• Candy Addict review of Hillside Golightly Sugar Free Candy
• Buy Mango candy
• Buy Orange candy

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.

Cola-flavored candy ranks pretty high in my top 5 favorite types of candy. Wonka Bottlecaps, Haribo Happy-Cola Gummi Candy, and Soda Pop Shoppe Jelly Belly jelly beans have been perpetual favorites. But… change is a comin’ around here and there’s a new kid in town. He’s shiny, long-lasting, delicious and named Cola Ball. Sweets4MySweetie, a retro and European candy shop in Canada, is chock full of ‘em.

These fellows are fantastic! They’re round, silver balls that, yep, you guessed it, taste like cola. And, as if a long-lasting cola flavor wasn’t enough, as a bonus, they also look like ammunition. While I now enjoy this particular trait of cola balls, I was less than thrilled at first. Imagine my surprise when I opened a box of what I assumed was candy and found a nondescript baggie of large BBs!

I was thinking, uh-oh, did I write an unfavorable review of someone’s candy and this is a warning? Have I angered anyone lately? Does someone in my home have a weapon that they haven’t mentioned? As it happened, it was just that time of the year when A Christmas Story was about to be aired on every channel. Thinking about my Christmas wishlist reminded me of Ralphie and his coveted BB gun. So, I breathed a sigh of relief when I read the business card at the bottom of the box and learned that they were just silver, non-nefarious jawbreakers!

These aren’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill jawbreakers, though. They are delightful, shiny jawbreakers – everyone knows shiny makes everything exponentially more appealing! If you run across them, I highly recommend grabbing some. Just make sure you have enough to share because you will end up sharing them! And, if cola isn’t your thing, I’m sure they could be repurposed in any number of ways. Perhaps, impromptu marbles, decorations on a birthday cake at the local NRA meetup, as parakeet toys, or of course, ammo for a slingshot, etc. For these reasons and their tastiness, I give them 5 Bonbons!

• Big list of cola candy
• Sweets4MySweetie website

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.

I’m not really a huge fan of fruity sweets and when I think of candy, I think of chocolate. So, after I devoured and finished up the review of Wonka Exceptionals chocolate bars, I turned to the Fruit Marvels and Fruit Jellies. I can definitely say they are unlike anything else I’ve ever eaten.

I’m not quite sure what to do with the Fruit Marvels. They’re round and kinda hard, somewhat like Gobstoppers so I wasn’t sure if I should chew it immediately or suck on it a bit. I popped one in my mouth and tried to chew it but it seemed a bit too hard to bite into it. With a little persistence, I cracked into it and found a chewy, gummy, fruity center. I tested the Pomegranate, White Grape, and Clementine Orange varieties and they all have accurate flavoring and taste just like the fruits they represent. My problem with these little hard candies is that I don’t know if I should suck on them or chew them, or both?! If you chew it shortly after sucking off the dusting of sugar on the outside, it seems like a premature ending. In the beginning, it’s a little too hard to be pleasant chewing them and I feel cheated somehow because the fruitiness of the center is not fully experienced. They are much better if you suck on them for a few minutes and then chomp down for a much tastier experience. Try doing both and you’ll see what I mean.

For the Fruit Jellies, I had the Goji Berry and Red Apple flavors and they are super fruity and flavorful. The Red Apple Jellies taste like apples and the snozberries taste like snozberries! (Ok, not really, I just was seeing if you were paying attention and throw in a little homage to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) I’m not quite sure I’ve had goji berries before so I can’t say if they taste like the goji berry or not, but if the other flavors are any indication, then I’d bet they taste the same.

As I mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of fruity candy and have to really be in the mood for them. I’ve not really been in the mood for fruity lately so I enlisted a fruity-candy-lover, Brooke, to get some feedback on the Fruit Marvels and Fruit Jellies. She was a big fan of the Jellies and she emphasized (repeatedly) that the Red Apple Jellies taste like they are made from real red apples and not some fake apple flavoring. She loved the square shape and how the sugar stayed on the outside of the jellies so she wasn’t covered in sugar dust. She appreciated the firm chewiness instead of the usual wet sticky mess typical with most gummies. Gummy consistency and texture sounded like an important factor so I thought I should mention it. Overall, she said they were some of the best gummies she’s ever tasted. She was rather lackluster about the Fruit Marvels and didn’t like the texture of them. For the review, she refused to eat more than necessary of the Fruit Marvels, which is fine with me, because I liked them better than the Fruit Jellies she loved so much. No fighting over the Marvels and Jellies, so that’s convenient.

All in all, they aren’t bad for fruity candy and I totally agree with Nestle- Wonka Exceptionals are really quite that- exceptional. I give the Fruit Marvels 3 Bonbons! The Fruit Jellies are awarded 5 BrookeBrookes!

• Wonka Exceptionals

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.

What’s better than eating candy? Eating candy and supporting the fight to end kid’s cancer! It looks like WARHEADS® has teamed up with St. Baldrick’s Foundation and is sponsoring the organization’s second annual t-shirt design contest. In case you’re not familiar with the organization, St. Baldrick’s Foundation raises tons of money during its fund-raising events and donates it for childhood cancer research. Brave folks who shave their heads bald stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer.

As if supporting a worthy cause wasn’t enough, the winner of the t-shirt design contest will have his or her design on some 60,000 people donning the shirts for head-shaving events. To, ahem, sweeten the pot more, WARHEADS® is giving the winner a 25 oz bag of WARHEADS® Extreme Sour Hard Candy, a WARHEADS® t-shirt, bandana, beanie and water-bottle. Oh, and there a super sweet $250 cashola prize for the winning designer and a $250 donation will be made to the Foundation in the designer’s name. WARHEADS® thinks we’re all winners so the second and third place submissions will also receive the WARHEADS® prize pack and their designs will be sold in the St. Baldrick’s CafePress store. So, check out St. Baldrick’s Foundation and thank WARHEADS® by buying their candy because we should encourage the positive things corporations do, too.

• WARHEADS
• St. Baldrick’s Foundation

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I’m not a stranger to “healthy” candy, nor are my views on it anything but direct: there really isn’t such a thing. So if you’re looking for a candy that’s going to be something I recommend you add to your diet, you can stop reading now.

That said, I do believe there is a difference between candy and candy that is better for you. And with childhood obesity on the rise, more and more parents are looking for these sorts of confectionery avenues. Kids are always going to want to eat sweets, so you might as well buy them the ones that are not as hard on their bodies.

Recently, I have reviewed products from companies that share this vision for candy, namely from Surf Sweets and BrightSpot, so it’s not all that surprising to hear of more and more companies adopting this mantra. The latest comes from Yummy Earth, who proudly boast a tagline that their candy is “The best stuff on earth.” Hmm… Snapple anyone?

The idea for this company is steeped in genuine love of both candy and children; the founders are two fathers who teamed up develop a candy for their children that didn’t rely on all the additives, preservatives, etc. that are common in most American candy.

There are certain traits each of their products share, including all being certified USDA organic (the first of its kind for gummy bears or gummy worms), manufactured without corn syrup, and stamped with a variety of allergen-free ingredients. Note that the Parve (a specific designation of Kosher) certification displayed on their website applies only to their hard candy, as the gummies contain gelatin (presumably an un-Kosher gelatin), which is also why the hard candy is certified vegan and the gummies aren’t, so you’d do best check the specifics on each bag for the slight variances.

Organic Candy Drops: All these pieces were shaped at about a half-inch diameter. The bag I received came in fourish flavors, which all remind me of hard candy sticks in terms of flavor and smooth surface.

Wet-Face Watermelon: is the pink piece. It bears a refined watermelon taste with a slight burst of tartness. It’s not really watermelon, and as someone who dislikes watermelon in candy, I enjoyed that.

Mango Tango: this piece is half-orange, half-yellow. The citrus here is zestful, but more indicative of lime, lemon, and orange than mango. I am not sure what flavor is doing the tango with the mango, but it’s very confusing in a delicious and flavorful way. Not really mango, but tasty.

Cheeky Lemon: this piece is the full yellow drop. The lemon flavor is more tart than zestful, but in an understated manner that lets you appreciate the charm of a lemon. I don’t really notice the cherry notes hidden under the potency of the lemon flavor.

Pomegranate Pucker: is the deep-purple piece. I have to say I enjoyed the other flavors, but wasn’t bowled away until this one. Wow! The pomegranate juice notes are strong with an alcohol base flavor profile that is robust, complex, and deep like a woodsy wine. Notes of black currant and grape juice reveal themselves, and I am reminded of the black currant piece in Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles, a product I lauded to no end. Of all the things the kind folks at Yummy Earth sent me, this was the best.

Organic Lollipops: come in eight different flavors, including three of the flavors found in the candy drops. Each lollipop is about an inch in diameter and labels its flavor on the wrapper (the candy drops did not do this, hence why I mentioned their colors).

In terms of the repeating flavors (Wet-Face Watermelon, Mango Tango, and Pomegranate Pucker), each resembles the flavor and smooth consistency found in the candy drops, except the pomegranate is not as bold here.

Strawberry Smash: like the watermelon, this is comprised of a muted strawberry flavor, relying on the taste of strawberry in an altered state, such as a jam or fruit leather. It too reminds me of the strawberry piece in Rowntree’s Wine Gums. This piece refrains from being to sweet and lets the flavor speak instead of sugar. Very delicious.

Sour Apple Tart: I believe this piece is more tart than it is sour, the way a Granny Smith apple isn’t really sour. The apple flavor is reminiscent of freshly squeezed juice and is spot on for what it is trying to convey to your taste buds.

Very Very Cherry: there are so many types of cherry flavors, and this one is more along the lines of a cherry juice or the tart quality found in sour cherry pie. Those who are fans of that sort of cherry will enjoy this.

Googly Grape: I’d wager that this is the most traditional of the flavors. The taste is approximately that of grape juice, but not nearly as sweet. It’s mild like a grape popsicle, but genuine in it’s flavor presentation.

Tooberry Blueberry: blueberry is a hard flavor to reproduce in a candy, and these guys do pretty well here for the most part. Like their other flavors, it tastes more like the fruit juice than the fruit itself. I am not quite sure what the white flavor swirling the blueberry is (cream perhaps?), but I would prefer this lollipop without it.

Gummy Worms: For those of you accustomed to eating gummy worms, please not that these are about half the size of a traditional worm. I would also say they look a little more snake-like than worm. Regardless of size or shape, they are highly fragrant and provide a 100% daily dose of vitamin C.

Sour Apple Tart: in gummy form, the sharpness of the apple flavor in the lollipop is muted—but this is a great thing. The taste is pure apple and works well with the firm, but easy to chew texture of the gummy. Best of the three flavors.

Pomegranate Pucker: oddly enough, this version of the pomegranate flavor differed from that of the candy drop and lollipop.

Tangy Tangerine: tangerine isn’t a popular gummy flavor, but I’m not sure why, since it works well here. The citrus component is far from subtle and has a great tangerine zest, but it does seem more like orange than tangerine.

Gummy Bears: these are akin to Haribo gummy bears in shape, but not as defined. Like the gummy worms, they too boast a 100% daily dose of vitamin C. I also noticed the gummy chew was a bit firmer in these, which is a nice contrast from your typical flabby gummy.

Sour Apple Tart: the gummy quality is definitely playing a role in reducing the same flavors that are in the hard candy. Even more so than the worms, these lost that tartness in the lollipops. I think the reduced intensity worked well in former example, but here it’s just too subtle.

Pomegranate Pucker: not really a surprise, but the pomegranate flavor here is completely different than any of its other manifestations reviewed so far. Had I not known these were pomegranate, I’d probably guess grape.

Strawberry Smash: this bear in particular stood out. More so than the others, the chew factor played out well. The strawberry flavor mirrors that of the green bear in the Haribo variety (yes, green is strawberry in Haribo land), but does so in a much more flavorful and natural way. Best in this bag.

Aside from offering a great array of flavors in some better-for-you ways, one thing I really enjoyed about these guys was that the hard candies came in resealable bags; not sure why the gummies didn’t as they would need it more, I would think.

For those of you who, like me, enjoy certain flavors more than others, you can purchase the majority of these in individual flavor bags, as opposed to the mixed variety I sampled.

All in all, I think these are actually tasty. I don’t say that in that “healthy candy” tasty way, but tasty for any type of candy. Certain pieces here are just spectacular, and I would easily purchase those on their own. In a testament to how good they are, I actually handed them out for Halloween and received a variety of compliments from my neighbors; in the better-for-you candy world, your toughest critics are kids, and Yummy Earth easily made them smile.

• Yummy Earth Website

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.

Gilliam Candy Company has been around since 1927 but it’s only been under the Quality Candy banner since 2003. Lucky for me Gilliam joined the Quality family because I got to try their Stick Candy.

I remember these hard candy sticks from when I was a kid. The tantalizing colors and stripes would glisten from the shelves and they all looked so luscious it was really hard to pick just one.

I’m afraid you may have the same problem with these sticks. I sat ogling my stick candy in gluttonous glee before I finally chose a few to sample. For those of you who don’t like trying to guess what flavor the stick will be, they’ve got the names of the flavors printed on the ends of the sticks. But if you want to go for the mystery and choose by color, just don’t read the wrapper!

You won’t have a shortage of colors and flavors to choose from – here’s the list of flavors I got a look at: banana, blackberry, blueberry, bubblegum, cherry, cherry cola, chocolate, cinnamon, clove, cotton candy, grape, horehound, island punch, lime, orange, orange pineapple, passion fruit, peaches & cream, peppermint, pina colada, pineapple, raspberry, root beer, rum & butter, sassafras, sour apple, spearmint, strawberry, tangerine, tutti frutti, watermelon, and wintergreen.

Obviously, it’d take me a month to try all these so I narrowed it down to five: bubblegum, horehound, rum & butter, sassafras, and sour apple.

I tried the bubblegum because just the thought of it made the kid in me giggle. This flavor tastes like bubblegum with some barley sugar and a little bit of fruitiness thrown in.

I tried the horehound because I didn’t know what “horehound” meant. Miriam Webster said it’s a kind of minty plant or a candy made out the plant, but this wasn’t minty at all. Mostly it tasted like barley sugar to me and I found it really mellow and pleasant to eat because it was just the right amount of sweet. I had trouble putting this one down.

I tried the sassafras because I think the name is fun. I know that many root beers say “sassafras” on them, but this tasted kind of like black licorice to me with some root beer in the finish.

I LOVE butterscotch so I couldn’t wait to try the rum & butter. This stick isn’t actually a butterscotch wannabe. It has its own, distinct sweet rum flavor with some buttery flavor sneaking in here and there. I found it light and enjoyable.

Finally, I tried the sour apple. While this definitely had a mild apple flavor, I wouldn’t call this sour. I prefer my sour apple flavor to be strong and quite tart, but if you like your apple flavor on the light and sweet side, you’ll enjoy this.

Overall, these were way fun to eat – the flavors were satisfying and the colors and shape evoked a sense of nostalgia that just added to the fun factor. As a bonus, they last a good long time so they should keep you occupied for quite awhile.

• Quality Candy Company Website

Get ready for a slew of Quality Candy Company goodness because I’m in possession of a treasure trove of quality goodness! First up: Choco-Crisps, a new release from Quality Candy.

I thought these were going to be some kind of chocolate wafer thingy, but I was surprised to discover they are nothing of the sort. These little guys are hard candies on the outside with chocolate in the middle. The “crisp” part comes in with the candy shell: it’s not as hard as it looks. Rather, it’s thin enough that you can easily bite through to get to the chocolate inside. I really enjoyed the texture of the candy shell. It’s not as thin as, say, an M&M shell, but it’s thin enough to make it fun rather than a lot of work. Plus, it doesn’t get all sharp and painful when you chomp it up – it just adds a crunch factor to the chocolate.

Speaking of the chocolate, that was a nice surprise too. It’s got this really creamy consistency that melts slowly so you can really savor it. The creaminess of the chocolate contrasts with the crunchiness of the candy shell so you get this mix of textures that’s dynamite.

At first, I thought the chocolate filling tasted kind of like a Tootsie Roll. But the more I chewed, the more chocolaty it got. As the chocolate flavor dominates the flavor from the shell, I got this constantly changing flavor combo that kept my tongue interested.

I tried three flavors of shells. The orange had an orange and cream flavor that reminded me of Dreamsicle. Now the pink flavor I was told was raspberry, but to me it tasted a lot like a strawberry Twizzler. Either way, I really enjoyed it. The peppermint, my favorite, had that great, classic peppermint candy cane flavor that makes your mouth tingle. After the chocolate faded I had this tingly, minty chocolate flavor lingering in my mouth that just rocked.

Like the rest of the Quality Candy offerings, the Choco-Crisps remind me of old-fashioned candies in a way that makes me smile. They may have an old-fashioned look but the great taste and texture sure do keep up with the here and now. The Choco-Crisps are coming out soon and I recommend you give them a whirl.

More Quality Candy Company reviews coming soon!

• Quality Candy Company Website

On the other hand, as I am sure I have mentioned a million times, I’m a sucker for mango. The idea of Curiously Strong Mango was something I couldn’t resist.

These are little bumpy round things, kind of like little sugar flowers, in a pale orange color. They don’t look like mangoes, and I am not absolutely sure they taste like mangoes. It’s clearly an artificial flavor, at most one that tastes more like mango than it tastes like another fruit. They’re not like the mango Hi-Chew I reviewed recently, for instance, where you taste them and aren’t surprised to read in the ingredients that there’s real mango in there somehow. They are more “Curiously Fruity,” like it says on the tin, than they are in-your-face MANGO.

But, they’re really good. They are more sour on the outside and get a little less interesting as you suck down to the inside, but that’s OK. As it is, the roof of my mouth hurts after eating a few, so I don’t think I need even more sour. Also, I might warn those of you who live in similar humid climates to mine – apparently the tin doesn’t seal tightly enough to keep them from getting sticky in August.

But, those are nitpicks. Taking these as a curiously sour fruity thing, I’m totally happy with them. I’m glad to see from their extremely annoying animated website that they offer other fruit flavors – the passionfruit sounds intriguing. There is a place in my life for a sour hard candy that has been sadly empty lately, and I would gladly buy these again.

• Altoids Website

Buy Mango Altoids Online:

• at Candy Favorites