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.

We’ve all seen Ring Pops: those sweet lollipops made into the shape of huge faceted gemstones that we slip on our fingers in order to eat them. Well, now I’ve seen it all. Check out the “Bling” pops that Bazooka, the maker of Ring Pops, is sending to the Dallas Mavericks. These are Swarovski crystal encrusted Ring Pops in the Mavericks signature colors.

Here’s what Bazooka had to say:

“Bazooka Candy Brands, the iconic confectionary company and manufacturer of Ring Pops, believes that the Dallas Mavericks should be rewarded for all their hard work and their NBA finals win. That’s why they’ll be stepping in and saving the day, creating Swarovski-encrusted Ring Pops in the team colors of Blue and White for the team to wear to celebrate their feat. The Ring Pops will be shipped to the team shortly. “

I don’t know if any of the Mavericks will, but being a Candy Addict, I’d probably one of the only people in the world to actually eat this special Ring Pop, if they sent me one.

• Yahoo Sports story
• Bazooka (Ring Pops) Website
• Buy Ring Pops Online

I picked this bar up on a whim, as I don’t usually gravitate toward caramel-filled chocolate. Well, the candy gods must have been smiling on me because this is one delicious candy bar. The packaging is classic Ghirardelli, with an illustration of the caramel-oozing chocolate atop a pile of coffee beans. Pretty standard packaging fare. The packaging color is dull metallic gold, signifying luxury and richness. The chocolate is wrapped in a metallic gold foil wrap, again, traditional and signifying richness.

The chocolate smells sweet with a very subtle caramel note. When you bite into it, the chocolate is smooth, and the caramel is sweet with a butterscotch note, and then a subtle aftertaste of coffee. And then the addiction sets in. This stuff is sooo good! One little square will do you, though (which is probably why Ghirardelli sells little chocolate squares individually packaged). You probably won’t want to eat more than one square in a sitting.

The Ghirardelli fan in me was pleased when I ate this and it was the best.thing.ever. The Portland coffee-drinker in me didn’t think the coffee flavor was very pronounced. Of course, if you order a an actual caramel latte at your favorite coffee shop, the coffee flavor hides in all the sweetness and milk, too. I guess that means this candy bar is a lot like its namesake beverage. As a mother of three, I sometimes hide out in the laundry room for a two-minute break and sneak chocolate. We’ll call it Mother’s Little Helper. I will definitely stash a bar of this somewhere so I can eat a square on the sly whenever I need a little pick-me-up.

• Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
• Buy the Ghirardelli Caramel Latte Bar
• Buy Ghirardelli chocolate

Contest closed
Thanks for the winning comment, Amy! What a great memory! I once pantsed someone and am often reminded of it. ;) Here’s the winning comment:

i love the peppermint bark, but i was really intrigued by the caramel filled squares i tried last summer. great combination.

my favorite holiday tradition is getting to open one gift on christmas eve. as a kid, having to choose just the right one was soooo hard.

and i remember the year my mom gave us christmas themed underwear. each pair had rudolph or santas, etc… anyway, she told us we had to wear them, and she threatened to check later on. that was such a fun day. running around and being carefree. i miss that feeling of not having a care in the world. and the fear of being pantsed at any moment was pretty funny. oh, and she never checked. :)

Keep reading for more fun giveaways to come!
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If it’s better to give than receive, we must be excellent! We’ve got a fantastic one-day only giveaway for our readers!

THE GIVEAWAY
To celebrate the holidays, Ghirardelli wants to give one lucky Candy Addict reader a Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Party Pack! To enter, post a comment below sharing your favorite Ghirardelli flavor and tell us about your favorite winter holiday tradition by midnight EST December 13, 2010. We’ll choose our favorite entry from all valid entries and you get the goods. Simple, eh? (Psst… we’re always interested in new ideas, so unique traditions will catch our attention. And, well, if your favorite flavor happens to be my own, you’re gonna get noticed, too!)

Be sure and use your real email address when you post a comment (it will not be shown on the site) and make sure emails from candyaddict.com don’t get labeled as SPAM. You can’t win if you can’t receive the winning email!

Offer open to U.S. residents only and prize must be shipped to a U.S. address. Limit one entry per person. Entries accepted until midnight EST, December 13, 2010. Winners must be 18 years or older to win. Void where prohibited by law. If the winner does not reply by email within 24 hours when we send the winning email, the prize will be forfeit and another winner will be chosen.

• Ghirardelli website

Just in time for Halloween, the Twilight film franchise has released New Moon themed Halloween candies. The folks at the National Confectioners’ Association sent me three flavors to try.

Do you remember Sky Bars? For those of you who have never had the pleasure, a Sky Bar is a chocolate bar made of different sections, each of which contain a different filling. So in one chocolate bar, you got caramel, vanilla, peanut butter, and fudge fillings. Awesome.

Well this classic candy is getting a modern makeover. Instead of putting all the fillings in one bar, now some of the segments have their own, individually-wrapped candy bar with different Twilight New Moon characters on different flavors. I tried the Edward caramel and the Bella creme. Edward’s chocolate is etched with a family crest and says “Cullen.” Bella’s is shaped like a heart and says “Bella.” Both are good-sized chocolates.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a Sky Bar, so I can’t compare these to the originals. But I can say: yummy! The caramel flavor is loaded with a soft, sweet caramel that’s more liquid than chewy. The creme has almost the same consistency and the flavor reminds me of a Cadbury creme egg – really sweet but I somehow love it anyway.

Between the packaging, the cool shapes of the candies, the generous size of the chocolates, and the taste, I’d say these would be a huge hit with Twilight-loving Trick-or-Treaters.

I also tried the Twilight Sweethearts “Forbidden Fruits” conversation hearts. My box said “2 of 3″ and featured Edward. They are a bit glittery, and say things like “Soul Mate,” “With You,” “Live 4 Ever,” and my personal favorite, “Bite Me.”

For me, conversation hearts have always been more about having fun with what they say than how they taste, and this box was no exception. These still have the same chalky consistency I remember, but the flavors are much stronger. Flavors include orange obsession, tempting apple, passion fruit, and secret strawberry. They all tasted very sweet, very artificial, and, oddly enough, vaguely medicinal to me. I can’t say I enjoyed how these tasted. Fun to play with, yes. Fun to eat, not so much.

Since these come in a big box, they are not really suitable for handing out at the door on Halloween. But they’d be a lot of fun in a candy dish at work or at a party.

Given a choice, I definitely would choose the Sky Bars over the Sweethearts. Either way, enjoy your Twilight New Moon Halloween goodies!

Necco makes both the Sky Bar treats and the Sweethearts.

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

• Necco’s Website

Instance #1: About a million years ago (or seven months, give or take), I was offered the opportunity to sample and review Amano’s Jembrana dark chocolate bar. I eagerly accepted but, whilst awaiting my chocolate shipment, eventually forgot about it. Sometime after the holidays, I was reminded of the pending review and, having never received the samples, had no choice but to forfeit the article.

Occurrence #2: Out of the blue I received an email from Amano’s (lovely) PR people informing me that they had recently sent me their trio of new creations and I should keep an eye out for them. And, you know, if I wanted to write a review of ‘em, that’d be cool. Woo-hoo! A second chance! And free chocolate! Rarely does one get either of those, let alone both. About two weeks later, still sans samples, I realized that I had moved since the first time Amano tried to send me something (unsuccessfully, as you’ll recall). Well, free chocolate for the new tenants of my old apartment, at least.

Encounter #3: An actual encounter! After reporting back to Amano with my new address, they quickly sent another package and, it turns out, the third time IS the charm, because this one physically made it to my apartment. In Los Angeles. In May. That’s right, melt-o-rama. But I couldn’t bring myself to relay this back to the company. (I mean, at some point they were gonna start thinking I was just stealing all their chocolate, right?) So I popped these suckers into the fridge after their long journey and figured I’d check back with them later.

When later finally came, I was introduced to three almost (well…) good-as-new bars: the Jembrana 30% milk chocolate, Ocumare 30% milk chocolate, and limited edition Montanya 70% dark chocolate.

Jembrana Milk Chocolate

Made from the cacao beans of the Jembrana region of Bali, Indonesia, the flavor profile of this bar boasts hints of licorice, spice, and honey. It felt somewhat cool in my mouth and had a distinct sweetness from the honey without being cloying. Even as a decided dark chocolate fan, I enjoyed this bar and thought it not at all too sweet.

Ocumare Milk Chocolate

Hailing from Venezuela’s Ocumare Valley, this chocolate has natural plum and cherry notes. I found it less sweet than the Jembrana bar and very smooth and creamy. Impressively creamy. This is an especially great milk chocolate for dark chocolate fans.

Montanya Dark Chocolate

This 70% cacao bar from the mountains of Venezuela reports hints of apricot, nuts, marshmallow, and spice. I love marshmallow and was excited by that promise but, unfortunately, didn’t detect the flavor. The chocolate was cool and sweet up front (I did actually taste that apricot), and then got slightly more bitter.

Due to the tragic melting, all three bars were exceedingly soft (no snap whatsoever) and greasy (I used multiple napkins for finger-wiping); however, based on the texture reports from Amano’s other previously reviewed bar, I think chocolate fans will enjoy these. Especially milk chocolate fans looking to edge closer to the dark side of candy or, conversely, dark lovers looking to slum (she said, kidding) in the ranks of milk.

(And just for the record, had I not thoroughly enjoyed these chocolates in the state they were in, I would have asked the company for a fresh sample, so as not to unfairly judge and malign their product. Yes, I would do that for you, readers. And yes, I do think this chocolate is that good.)

• Amano Chocolate Website

Buy Amano Chocolate Online:

• at Chocolate.com

Another guest review from our friend Laura Kaspick.

Like fellow Candy Addicts Caitlin, Robbie, and Laurie, I recently had the pleasure of attending the All Candy Expo. One of the products I was most excited to get my hands on was the Limited Edition Coconut M&M’s. As soon as the show floor opened, I eagerly made my way to the Mars booth to get myself a sample. Imagine my disappointment when I was told they wouldn’t be available at the Expo! Although I did recover (it’s pretty tough to be in a bad mood when surrounded by free candy), I was still thinking about my loss when I attended a Mars press conference later that day.

Midway through the presentation, Mars president Todd Lachman turned his focus to upcoming product releases, including the Coconut M&M’s. I half tuned him out as I wasn’t interested in hearing about Coconut M&M’s, I was interested in eating Coconut M&M’s! But I quickly snapped to attention when I heard “…and actually, here in my pocket, I happen to have a sample…” and then which lucky member of the audience do you think he threw them to??? ME!!!! I couldn’t believe my good fortune, and now I am going to share my good fortune with you by telling you what you have to look forward to when they come out this summer.

The Coconut M&M’s come in a cream colored package, about the shade of the Almond M&M’s bag. The picture on the front features sassy “Green” sitting on a tropical white sand island, with poor lovable “Yellow” falling out of a palm tree in the background. The candies inside are green, white, and brown with pictures of umbrellas, palm trees, suns, or flowers accompanying the standard “m” emblem. They are fairly uniform in shape and are about the same size as the Peanut Butter M&M’s.

With no description to guide me, I assumed that each piece would be a soft coconut center surrounded by milk chocolate and the familiar thin candy shell. Instead, they are coconut-flavored solid chocolate. I’m pleased to report that it is a smooth, subtle coconut flavor, not at all fake or chemically, despite the words “Artificial Flavor” printed on the wrapper. And the chocolate is real chocolate, which Mars promises in all their products. I really think these will appeal to coconut lovers and coconut shy-away-froms alike, as they deliver the coconut flavor without the controversial coconut texture.

Yep, I’m a fan, plus I’m always happy to see the latest and greatest innovations in the candy world. (Although, credit must be given where credit is due – the folks at Jelly Belly first introduced this concept when they came out with their Coconut Chocolate JBz.). So give ‘em a try, and if you’re a fan too, be sure to get them when you can (probably in August) as this tropical experience will only be here for a limited time.

• M&M’s Website

Buy M&M’s Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Candy Crate

Though a new limited edition flavor of M&M’s is nothing out of the ordinary, I was surprised by Mars’ latest release of Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s, an upcoming promotion for the newest Transformers film.

When I think of limited edition M&M’s, I immediately think of variations on either the original or peanut variety. In fact, I was so expecting this to be the peanut sort that it wasn’t until after I tasted them that I asked myself “Where’s the peanut?”

You rarely see Mars play with the almond or peanut butter M&M’s flavors, leaving all their marketing and sales to the more popular varieties. I mean, I can’t even remember the last time I saw a commercial for peanut butter M&M’s. So when I discovered it was one of their less-advertised flavors that was being given a limited edition makeover, I was pleasantly surprised.

I picked up a complimentary bag of these at the All Candy Expo, but I have also seen them in drugstores, so they’re readily available for purchase.

Unlike the regular peanut butter variety, there are only three colors of pieces: brown, red, and yellow speckled with red. Though the colors were fairly uniform, sizes were not. Some resembled the size of the milk chocolate variety while others were bulky like the peanut type.

The taste of the strawberry flavor is minimal, more present as a floral overtone with a strong aftertaste rather than as an actual component of the candy itself. It also happens to be only in the chocolate shell so it’s a bit drowned out by the chocolate and peanut butter flavors.

I liked the fact that these had a firm crunch, but were soft, being much fresher than most M&M’s I can think of, but the flavors didn’t really work for me. I actually enjoy the regular peanut butter M&M’s quite a bit, and much of that simplicity was lost here amidst the strawberry.

It’s not as if the idea of fruit and peanut butter doesn’t mesh well, because I still enjoy a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich; however, these are more akin to eating that peanut butter and jelly mixture straight out of a jar.

A good peanut butter and jelly sandwich is grounded in the bread, which lessens the intensity of the other flavors. I find myself missing such a harmonizing element, as the chocolate doesn’t really succeed on that front.

These aren’t horrible by any means, and I do enjoy them more than milk chocolate M&M’s, but I couldn’t help but eat the whole bag thinking something was slightly off…. Perhaps this could be remedied if actual jelly were combined with the peanut butter center instead of it being artificially mixed with the chocolate.

Regardless, I am glad to see Mars is exploring their entire line of product, and hope they continue this trend with their almond variety.

• M&M’s Website

Buy Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s Online:

• at Amazon.com

I come to you today with a Barbie bonanza.

You may notice that our first Barbie is of the non-edible variety. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some Candy Addicts lurking over at Mattel because why else would they come up with a Hershey’s-chocolate-inspired Barbie? The official explanation on Barbie’s box says: “For well over a century, Hershey’s has been the chocolate of choice! Now Barbie doll celebrates the sweet story of Hershey’s excellence.” But I’m sticking to my theory that there are a bunch of chocoholics hanging about at Mattel. Which, by the way, just makes me think that must be a cool place to work even more than I already did.

The Hershey’s Barbie Doll is part of the American Favorites collection. I can see the Hershey’s inspiration in the color and shape of the dress as well as the cute Hershey’s sash – they remind me of a Hershey’s Kiss. For a Barbie collector or a candy memorabilia collector, this doll is a treat!

Now, over in the edible section, we have Dylan’s Candy Bar’s Then & Now Chocolate Square Pack of Barbie milk chocolate squares. The squares feature pictures of different Barbies throughout the years and I gotta tell you some of these Barbies are a hoot. The 1986 Barbie picture had me howling and wincing at the same time. Not that I’m admitting to wearing eye shadow like that – ahem.

Besides being fun to look at, the Dylan’s Barbie chocolates are quite tasty. They’ve got a good chocolate flavor in the same quality ballpark as Cadbury or Dove. However, I found the texture a bit perplexing. It wasn’t bad, it was just a bit weird. The chocolates are kind of chewy and, instead of dissolving quickly in my mouth, they kind of took their time. Since they taste good, it wasn’t a problem for me but I found the slight chewiness a bit disconcerting.

If you like Barbie-themed candies, Dylan’s has an array to choose from – the website gave me the giggles and some great ideas for presents for my niece.

Overall, it’s a good month for Candy Addicts with a Barbie fetish!

• Hershey’s Barbie Website

• Dylan’s Candy Bar Website

This Easter, a new chocolate rabbit has hit the scene. Packed with milk chocolate and peanut butter goodness, he is no ordinary Easter Bunny. He is, in fact… the Reester Bunny. And though the market is already well-saturated with rabbit-shaped treats, he’s ready to kick butt and take names – all three of him.

That’s right – Reese’s new Easter treat comes in not one, but three sizes: a big heavyweight bruiser, a middleweight sold in packages of four, and these little guys, only a couple of inches long. The design of all three is basically the same – a flat milk chocolate rabbit filled with – you guessed it – peanut butter. Each bunny is individually wrapped in silver foil stamped with the image of the bright orange, overall-wearing Reester Bunny.

The Bunny himself is a little generic, like the Easter Bunny from a random low-budget Easter special. Actually, his orange color and yellow cheeks make him look like a rabbit version of Garfield. He’s smiling, but there’s something vaguely startled or worried-looking about his eyes, as if he’s just realized it’s Monday or he’s out of lasagna.

As unremarkable as his design is, Hershey’s certainly has done an excellent job of capturing it in chocolate form – under the foil, the molding on these is excellent. Rather than being a generic chocolate rabbit shape or even a nondescript chocolate blob, they’re definitely recognizable as the Reester Bunny.

Taste-wise, these are definitely a Reese’s product – their peanut-butter centers are that same grainy, slightly salty PB we all know and love from Reese’s peanut butter cups. There’s definitely a higher ratio of chocolate to peanut butter than in other favorites like the Reese’s peanut butter cup and the Reese’s Easter egg – it seems like they need a thicker layer of chocolate for the detailed molding job. They’re certainly not skimpy on the peanut butter, but seeing as Reese’s products are usually all about the peanuts, I think this is the least amount of peanut content I’ve ever seen in a Reese’s product. The chocolate is quite firm and a little snappy, unlike the soft, thin layer of chocolate around the original peanut butter cups.

Overall, I can’t find too much to complain about here – once again, Reese’s has demonstrated the variety of completely different-tasting candies that can result from simply adjusting the ratio of two different ingredients. So squeeze over, boring plain chocolate rabbits – the Reester Bunny’s coming to town.

• Reese’s Website

Buy Reese’s Products Online:

• at Candy Crate
• at Candy Direct
• at Amazon.com