I am, admittedly, not a big fan of sharing. At the risk of making myself appear greedy, selfish, and all-around less likable, I will openly acknowledge here that my own personal philosophy is that every effort should be made to minimize the amount of sharing one ever has to do. Sure, there are exceptions when sharing is okay – sometimes even nice (think first-date milkshake with two straws, cable bills, and household chores) – but as a general rule, I think it’s best avoided.

When I received my generous shipment of Ugly Truffles and Damn Good Cookies from Chocolate Gourmet, however, I immediately recognized that the only way I’d be able to review such a quantity of treats in a timely manner, without making myself deliciously ill, would be to invite my friend, a sweet-toothed vixen herself, over for a night of eating chocolate. And oh, what a night it was.

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I have been a fan of Chuao for a while, but the shipping charge to get their product to the East Coast is fairly mind-boggling. Fortunately, I have a friend in Southern California who couldn’t think of anything else to buy me for Christmas.

You’ve read about Chuao here before, but these folks don’t rest on their laurels, and are always coming up with new fillings. The little flier that comes with the box of chocolate asserts that they are “unusual” and “unexpected,” and I am interested in pushing the boundaries of the usual bonbon fillings. I was afraid, though, that they’d gone a little too far with a couple of these. One of them turned out to actually be OK, but the other – well, I will leave that for the end, because a little suspense is a good thing, right?

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As I have mentioned before, I frequently make deliveries to various businesses in downtown Austin for work. One of the interesting things about it this time of year is that the lobbies of these hotels, offices, and skyscrapers are littered with merchants. It’s like a mini-bazaar of people selling jewelry, candles, and clothing as convenient holiday gifts.

None of these things really pique my interest, and I normally just brush right past them. However, on a recent trip to the twenty-second floor of 301 Congress, one little table caught my eye. It was a display of artisan chocolates. I hurried to the elevator to make my delivery so that I could quickly come back down and review the products for sale.

Upon my return, I noticed a stunning collection. There were molded chocolates designed for Christmas and wine bottles matched with wine glasses that were both decorated in a chocolate coating so that you could enjoy a drink and nibble on some Belgian chocolate concurrently. But the highlight of the table by far proved to be a series of molded chocolates that were depictions of paintings.

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After my review of Tropical LifeSavers, loyal Candy Addict reader, KK, left a comment in regards to my dilemma about being unable to find candy with an accurate mango taste. She recommended that I try Lucas Mango lollipops.

My local H.E.B. carries an assortment of Mexican candy, and though they do stock Lucas products, this specific lollipop was not available for purchase. I did, however, spot a similar confection called Vero Mango.

Vero Mango, like the Lucas version, is a mango-flavored lollipop that is dusted in a red sheath of chili. I am not really a big consumer of foreign candy that doesn’t come from European, Israeli, or Antipodean origins, so I thought this recommendation might be a nice step into the waters of the Mexican and Latin American candy world.

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One of the advantages to being the only Candy Addict writer outside of North America is that people send me cool stuff to try – stuff which I would never find here in Australia. In this case an Arizona-based Candy Addict sent me a bunch of weird and wonderful Mexican candy to taste test. Having grown up in Southern California, I’m no stranger to the common flavors of Mexico – tamarind, chili, mango and so on – but this is my first experience with those flavors from a confectionery perspective.

Made by de la Rosa, Pulparindo is described as a “hot and salted tamarind pulp candy” and, to my palette, it was only mildly hot and not really salty. It’s basically a pressed rectangle of tamarind, mixed with some sugar and chili. The first listed ingredient is sugar, which is pretty obvious from a textural point of view. It’s a pretty sandy thing to eat – you can hear it grinding against your teeth as you chew. Flavor-wise it’s pretty nice – but you would definitely need to be a tamarind fan in the first place! Appearance wise it’s not all that appealing, but if you’ve eaten raw tamarind before then you’re no stranger to brown patties!

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