One of the treats I got from the All Candy Expo was this pack of VE2 energy gum. It’s candy with a conscience - the packaging is very minimalist and it says, “To save trees & make less trash this package avoids using a paper sleeve wrap.” I love the idea that a medium which traditionally relies on packaging for impact can be promoted in a environmentally friendly way.

Developed over a period of 2 years by an ER doc, one packet of VE2 is equal to five cups of coffee. The press about VE2 claims that you can absorb caffeine through your oral membranes faster than via digestion - so in theory VE2 gives you a quicker energy hit than your usual energy drinks. I’m one of those people who can drink a can of coke or a espresso before bed and still fall asleep with no problem, so I viewed this gum review as a bit of an experiment.

Read More »

Share This

The whole energy food and drink phenomenon is a total anomaly to me. On the one hand we’ve got jillions of kids out there being diagnosed with ADHD, and we do everything we can to calm them down. Then once all these hyperactive kids grow up, we dose them up with No-Doze, cans of Red Bull, and candy like the Maxxed Energy Pop. Is it only me who sees the problem with this? I seem to recall getting high enough on the amount of sugar in candy like Blow Pops, without the lovely people from Charms feeling like they needed to add more stuff.

These enormous lollipops are packed with loads of somewhat questionable stuff - taurine, ginseng, guarana, b-vitamins, caffeine. Sadly, they forgot one essential thing on that list - flavor! These lollipops taste hideous! I actually kept it in my mouth for quite a while, hoping that somehow the taste would improve. It didn’t, and I have no problem with saying that this lollipop is so nasty, it verges on the inedible. The texture is incredibly like sandpaper and the size is so huge as to appear almost obscene.

Read More »

Share This

I am not going to lie to you: I am not a big gummi person. Unless gummi bears or their squirmy gummi worm cousins are coated in a thick layer of sour sugar, I’m usually not interested. So when I heard about Loud Truck Energy Gummies at the All Candy Expo, I was hesitant to try one, until someone on the floor said the magic words: “It’s like eating a bag of Red Bull.”

To some people, that statement would be terrifying. To me, it was a starter pistol that sent me racing over to the Loud Truck Energy booth to sample these mystical bears of energy and goodness. I love Red Bull, and most energy-fueled treats, so I was hoping that Loud Truck gummies would provide a new (and possibly cheaper) alternative to my beloved Red Bull fix. I instantly fell in love with them at the All Candy Expo, and couldn’t wait to review them once I returned home.

This morning at 8:00 am, I ripped open a new pack of Loud Truck Energy Gummies to start the day. Taste-wise, the gummies are quite good. The bears are firm but soft, with a nice chewy texture that doesn’t stick to the teeth. They have a subtle citrus flavor that gets stronger as the bear is chewed - a nice bite toward the end of the chewing process brings to mind a sip of Red Bull - a fizzy citrus taste that lingers after the bear is gone.

Read More »

Share This

One of my favorite things besides candy is coffee, so I couldn’t believe my luck when I received a huge, beautifully packaged box of Starbucks Chocolate to review! Yes, folks, Starbucks Coffee Company is now in the chocolate business. Starbucks has partnered with Hershey’s, whose subsidiary Artisan Confections Company, itself comprised of Joseph Schmidt Confections, Scharffen Berger, and Dagoba Chocolate, manufactures the Starbucks Chocolate. Did you get all that? Basically, Starbucks Chocolate is being made by people who know their chocolate.

I have to confess that while I was wowed by the attractive packaging, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the chocolate. Starbucks coffee is not quite full-bodied or flavorful enough for my taste, so I figured the chocolate would be geared toward a similar palate. I am happy to say that I was wrong. Starbucks chocolate, with just a few exceptions, is rich, full flavored, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Read More »

Share This

Heads up everyone, ’cause there’s a new candy bar in town: Snickers Charged. This new version of the Snickers bar means business with its flashy, bright silver wrapper, red accents, and an image of a snorting, angry-looking rhino on the front. How is this Snickers different, you ask? Well, this Snicker’s limited edition contains caffeine, taurine and B vitamins to provide a big energy surge to help you get though your busy day.

The first thing I did was flip this candy over to see what it was really made of, even though the flavor description remains the same: milk chocolate, peanuts, caramel, and nougat. Upon inspecting the ingredients, there’s 60mg of caffeine, 250mg of taurine, and 10% of your daily value of Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, biotin and Pantothenic Acid in this Snickers. There’s also 4% calcium and 2% iron in there too. Considering all these additions, the size of this Snickers bar is slightly smaller than the average one, weighing in at 1.83 oz where the original as at 2.06 oz. I guess that extra .23oz with caffeine would have been too much to handle!

Read More »

Share This

If I’ve learned anything about gum recently it’s this: gum isn’t just for chewing anymore. No, nowadays it freshens your breath, entertains your taste buds, even sends caffeine coursing through your system. X-it Sugarfree is no exception. In addition to X-it Sugarfree Gum, I also received several different types of mints and bonbons. I have enough gum and mints to keep my breath fresh for a decade.

What’s my favorite thing about these X-it products? Honestly, its the packaging. Each product comes in an attractive tin that tucks easily into your purse or pocket, guarding the lining against spillage. Even better, the tiny mints come in tins with black plastic lining that dispenses a couple at a time - even more protection against spillage!

Read More »

Share This

What do you look for when you pick up a pack of gum? Do you want it to freshen your breath? Maybe you’re trying to quit smoking cigarettes and you need something to chew on to help deter you from continuing the bad habit? Or do you want something with long-lasting flavor for a long, dull day at the office?

I discovered out that gum can have more than one duty when I found a package from the Action Candy Company in the mail. The company is releasing a new line of five sugar-free gums in January 2008, and three of those gums have a dual purpose - not only do they please your taste buds and freshen your breath, but they also help you out in other ways. The other two are intensely flavorful and breath-freshening.

Read More »

Share This

Good lord this candy bar is good. Seriously. I think of all the Limited Edition candy I have tried, this is by far the best. The wrapper says “Coffee Caramel & Chocolate Cookie Covered in Milk Chocolate” and the coffee flavor is just right - not too strong and not too weak. The chocolate cookie goes perfectly with the coffee flavor and the milk chocolate. Looking on the ingredient list, I see “espresso ground coffee” as the last ingredient, so it looks like it gets its coffee taste honestly.

Just to make sure I wasn’t the only one who thought this Twix Java was good, I shared and gave one stick to my wife. She agreed it’s great. It’s definitely good enough to earn our coveted CandyAddict.com Awesomely Addictive Candy Award. It’s that good.

According to the press CD I got from Mars, “TWIX® Java will be available in retail stores nationwide in December 2007.” Most candies actually hit stores before their scheduled release date, so if you are hankering for some Twix Java goodness, I’d start looking for it in stores right about… NOW. No word on how long the limited edition will last, so get it while you can.

Share This

Want some sustenance for an all-night gaming session, something that’ll deliver a kick of caffeine just as well as your Mountain Dew and Bawls? Uncommon Loot thought so. They recently sent over a few Headshot bars, whose packages boast, “Headshot is a candy made for gamers by gamers. Feeling tired owning all those newbs? There is enough energy packed into this bar to improve your game so much, that people will be complaining you have an Aimbot!” Made with guarana, a highly caffeinated berry, the bar promises to pack quite a punch.

The first flavor Uncommon Loot released is Chewy Chocolate Toffee, though they plan to follow up and release new flavors such as Chewy Peanut Butter, Fudge Graham and Mocha Cappuccino every three months. The packaging looks like something a gamer would pick up - it’s silver and adorned with a cross hair and bullet holes.

Read More »

Share This

Crackheads. Chocolate-covered espresso beans are not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the name, but that’s what these are. Some of the beans are covered in dark chocolate and some are covered in white chocolate. They’re made by a small startup candy company called Osmanium out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and this is their first and only product.

I’ve had a number of other brands of chocolate-covered espresso/coffee beans, so how do these compare? Quite well, actually. The dark chocolate doesn’t seem to have the bitterness that some dark chocolate has and is pretty good on its own (discovered by sucking the chocolate off of a bean). While not a huge fan of white chocolate in general, the white chocolate paired with the espresso bean was surprisingly good. Putting the white chocolate in the same box as the dark chocolate was a brilliant idea and really sets it apart from other chocolate-covered coffee beans. A 1.3oz box runs about $2.

• CrackheadsCandy.com

Buy Crackheads online:

• at Stupid.com
• at ThinkGeek.com
• at CrackheadsCandy.com

Share This