Valentine’s Day is still a good month away, but that does not mean Valentine’s Day candy is in any short supply. You’ve probably noticed that your local supermarkets and drugstores redesign their candy aisles the day after Christmas (seriously, it was snowmen and Santas one day and hearts the next).

A staple of the holiday is the famous (infamous to some) conversation heart created by Necco. These are those tiny Necco wafers shaped into hearts with small phrases written on each piece.

As they do every year, Necco has changed up the phrases. This year’s collection is culinary-themed. They include: “Recipe 4 Love, Table 4 Two, Stir My Heart, Top Chef, Sugar Pie, My Treat, Yum Yum, Honey Bun and Spice It Up.” My personal favorite of the bunch is Top Chef, but I suppose classics like “I luv U” never die out.

• Necco’s Website

Buy Necco Conversation Hearts Online:

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

By now all our European and other non-US readers are wondering what the big hullabaloo is about conversation hearts. If you didn’t grow up in the US getting at least one Valentine with one of them stuck to a tear-out Mickey Mouse card every year, well, you would understandably be a bit lost. Lucky for all of you, I discovered a pretty good European equivalent!

At a local candy emporium I found a roll of “Giant” Love Hearts, made in the UK by Swizzles-Matlow. Upon untwisting the cellophane tube I found myself wondering if they were as good (as bad?) as Necco’s version. Appearance wise they are different – a round disk about 3/4 of an inch across, it’s got a heart relief-stamped into it. The hearts all have the appropriate messages, “True Love” “Be Mine” and so forth. There are a few modern ones, too, with “Email Me” and “Fax Me” – not to mention some seriously odd ones like “Be My Icon” (and lay on my desktop?!)

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You know going green and environmentally conscious has hit the big time when it starts to affect our classic candy traditions. Necco’s Sweethearts conversation hearts have different themed slogans for each year, usually based on what is happening in American culture. Last year they appealed to our love of animals, this year it’s all about the weather with sayings including “Cloud Nine” “Heat Wave” “Get My Drift” and “Melt my Heart.”

People seem to have a love/hate relationship with Sweethearts. Everyone buys them for the novelty value, the tradition, and the entertainment they provide… but you may be hard pressed to find someone who actually enjoys eating them (except for our own Caitlin, of course, who actually likes conversation hearts). While not one of my absolute favorites, this year’s weather and environment based sayings make me love them just a bit more. Who hasn’t been “In A Fog” about a loved one, or wanted to say “Chill Out” to a former boyfriend?

In addition to the weather phrases Necco has added some environmentally friendly ones, including my personal favorite, “Do Good.” Obviously “commit random acts of kindness” was just too long to fit on a conversation heart. I suppose it’s true that love, much like the weather, is a bit unpredictable – hence why these new hearts are the perfect sweet present for your very own El Nino/Nina.

• Necco 2008 Sweethearts News

Valentine, Necco, heart

Two years ago this time, Brian was bringing you news of a new Valentine’s candy made just for the dejected singles among us, BitterSweets. Being a dejected single myself, I jumped at the chance to sample this year’s batch.

Now, I know you’ve seen those little heart-shaped candies imprinted with messages that always seem to circulate around Valentine’s Day. In fact, you may even have hazarded to taste one. If you’re like most of the universe, you learned your lesson then and there. It turns out candies with sweet sayings on them tend to have little flavor in them.

This is where I have to admit that I actually like conversation hearts. Yes, that’s right world, I have bought them simply to consume rather than to share. It seems that I once got a strange batch that was, for some unknown but likely toxic reason, easy to chew. Ever since then, I’ve been seeking out that elusive texture. Unable to find it again, I guess I just learned to enjoy the tooth-breaking snap of the regular hearts. Of course, that’s only if I can manage not to gag on the cutesy little sayings stamped on each one. Now, finally, I have an option that allows me to enjoy the hearts while staying well within my comfort zone of sarcasm and general anti-Valentine’s Day-ness.

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Putting words on candy isn’t a new concept. We’ve already mentioned conversation hearts, personalized M&Ms, and even chocotelegrams. For those who crave something different for their Valentines there’s even BitterSweets, with sayings like “SETTLE 4 LESS” and “PRENUP OKAY?”.

But, you say, those are just for Valentine’s Day. What if I need to send an edgy message after February 14th? Well, maybe Embittermints are for you. With words like “Bite Me” or “You Suck,” Embittermints are, according to the official website, “the perfect gift for sworn enemies, annoying door-to-door solicitors, and anyone who rubs you the wrong way. You can give them to the one you love, or at least the one you used to.” The words are clearly pressed into each mint, so each message comes in loud and clear.

I felt kind of weird popping one of these Pez-sized mints (”Idiot,” it read) into my mouth. Giving this to sworn enemies? Did something evil lurk beneath the strong, minty flavor? Would I keel over backwards? Would I be overcome with a sense of terror? But nothing like that happened. They’re pretty much standard mints: not chalky, and similar in texture and flavor to Certs. They’re good, but nothing spectacular.

I really like these mints as a concept, though. Goodness knows there are a lot of mint tins vying for people’s attention already, and Embittermints is unique enough to push past the rest. Get them for your favorite obnoxious individual, but I would first make sure that their sense of humor is still intact… or that you’re three states away when they open the tin.

Embittermints are available for $2.50 per tin at select New York specialty retailers or from the Embittermints website.

• Embittermints

mints, humor, novelty