PEZ is sorta like the razor blades of the candy world – Mr Gillette gave the razors away as long as you bought the blades, and it’s kind of like that with PEZ, too. It’s really more about the dispenser than it is about the candy, isn’t it? The official PEZ website is almost entirely dedicated to the dispersers, with the candy very nearly an afterthought.

Until now I’ve found most of the PEZ flavors to be pretty okay – nothing to jump up and down about (and definitely not with a razor in your hand). This year’s contribution to the PEZ flavor roundup is… drum roll… chocolate! Chocolate is not normally a flavor I would associate with chalk-type candies, although it can work fairly well in boiled or hard candies. When I first opened the sample packet, I was surprised to find it had quite a nice smell – while not overwhelmingly chocolaty, it was nicely sweet without being sickening. The color is a very pale brown with darker brown speckles in it, not surprising given that most PEZ colors are fairly muted.

I really liked these, actually. The taste reminds me very much of Nestle Quick – my brain registers a very slight cinnamon-y edge to these as well, even though I can’t say for sure if there is any cinnamon in the ingredients. It might be the chalky texture which reminds me of the drink mix – it’s what I imagine it would be if it were compressed into a tablet.

All in all, I think the chocolate isn’t going to satisfy the hardcore chocoholic, but it makes a nice change from the other options (cola, various fruit flavors, and Sourz) currently available.

• The Official Pez Website

Buy Pez Online:

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