I’m back for Part V of my jelly bean adventure. For some reason Brach’s calls their jelly beans “Classic Jelly Bird Eggs,” but to me they are jelly beans!

When I think of the jelly beans I ate as a kid, the Brach’s jelly beans are what I remember. In terms of flavor, these jelly beans are similar to the Necco jelly beans I reviewed a while back. If you’re looking for super sweet, chewy jelly beans, look no further. Don’t expect any tartness or realistic flavors – these jelly beans are all about the sugar. They’re artificially flavored, sugary goodness in all its glory.

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Today I was quite shocked to find not one, but two unexpected packages containing delicious candy treats. One was from Jelly Belly (look for that review coming soon) and the other was from our friends at Licorice International (who, by the way, have a beautiful new site). Intrigued, I ripped open the box to see what treasures it might contain.

Inside I found two packages of Australian Waldov Liquorice, one raspberry flavored and one black, as well as two “Irish Potatoes” and a nice note informing me that these were newly stocked items. Well, I’m always up for a new kind of licorice to try, so I immediately tore open the black licorice bag.

I could smell the delicious scent of black licorice even before the bag was fully open. Gingerly pulling out a piece from the bag, I noted that they were sticky but soooooo soft. I’m talking butter soft here, people. No, seriously, softer than you’re imagining. Firm enough to hold their shape, but just barely. These are arguably the softest licorice bits I’ve ever tried. In my book, that’s a good thing.

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Our good friends over at Licorice International recently sent me a little licorice care package containing, among other things, a sample of Dutch company Katja’s Apekoppen. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to get the chance to try a new kind of licorice!

Apekoppen, translated as Apeheads, are half brown/half white ape-shaped candies. I briefly skimmed an explanation of the confection and saw that they were actually a melding of banana and licorice flavors – the white part was banana, the black traditional black licorice. I immediately thought they were going to taste, well… disgusting. But, being the brave soul I am, I bravely forged ahead. Happily, I was rewarded with one of the most interesting licorice candies I’ve had in quite some time.

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As I was perusing the massive Hershey booth at the All Candy Expo, I was surprised to see what appeared to be bags of soft licorice among the typical Hershey offerings, mostly of the chocolate variety. Much to my chagrin, however, everything was under lock and key and I had no idea what exactly these new licorice confections might be. When we finally met with the Hershey representative, she explained that they were launching a new line of soft eating licorice. Naturally, I immediately asked for samples but was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have any available at the show. I was promised a shipment as soon as they were available and went home hoping that day would come quickly.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed to receive a box containing a very nice box and a package of each flavor: black licorice, strawberry, and peach mango. Naturally, being a black licorice fan, I opted to try that one first.

As I started to rip open the bag, I noticed something that both shocked and surprised me… resealable bags! Oh my god! No more folding over the tops of opened bags only to pick them up the wrong way and have the contents dump all over the ground. No more stuffing myself to finish a bag just so they won’t get stale. It’s a revolutionary breakthrough! Ok, so it’s actually just the candy industry catching up to the pet food industry (do dogs really need to have zipper protected kibble?), but it was a beautiful thing nonetheless. Anyway, on to the tasting….

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Being the uber computer geek that I am, I can’t help but love these Ctrl-Alt-Delete candies, despite the fact that they are made with black licorice (YUCK). I’m sure Caitlin, our licorice expert would LOVE these. If they only made these in red “licorice” I’d definitely have to get some.

Unfortunately, they are all sold out right now and there is no indication of when/if they will be back in stock.

• Ctrl-Alt-Del licorice candy