(Images from serrv.org)
I think it typically goes something like this: friends… good, enemies… bad. Sharing… good, hoarding… bad. Chocolate… good, Buttered Popcorn jelly beans… bad. If I’ve learned nothing else in my quarter-century, these things I know. (Except for maybe that sharing thing – I think that might be more of a case-by-case kind of situation.) So armed with these all-important nuggets, I recently dug into a thrillingly sizable box of samples I received, splayed its contents out on my coffee table, and summoned my three roommates, the visiting sister and brother-in-law of one of them, and the sweet-toothed Bengali friend of another, to join me in a chocolate sampling, sponsored by Divine Chocolate.

Founded in the U.K. in 1998, Divine Chocolate is the first ever farmer-owned Fair Trade chocolate company. With their mission of improving the livelihoods of small-holder cocoa farmers in West Africa, Divine Chocolate is co-owned by the farmers of Kuapa Kokoo Farmers’ Cooperative, who receive fair trade prices for all of their cocoa, share in the company’s profits, and benefit from numerous community development projects and initiatives funded by Divine. And all these things I just rattled off? All good things. Which gave me pause, I have to admit, as I unwrapped the first of my (very generous sampling of) chocolate bars. With all these positives stacked up pre-tasting, where, I worried, might the equal and opposite list of negatives reveal itself?

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To all who know me, it’s no secret that I can eat my weight in Junior Mints, so when I first heard about Junior Mints Deluxe, I checked the mail impatiently every day until my samples arrived. When they did, I was a little sad to see that the Florida sun had taken a toll on the confections, but they were still mostly intact, and I got ready to chow down on some minty, chocolaty goodness.

The Deluxe candies are shaped a lot like cherry cordials, but otherwise the concept is the same as regular Junior Mints - dark chocolate on the outside, soft, minty filling on the inside. Here’s what Tootsie Roll Industries has to say about their latest Junior Mints product:

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I have many a fond memory of Baskin-Robbins from childhood: the free birthday cones, the baseball helmet sundaes, the hard, hard scoops that could be shot clear off your sugar cone and onto the lawn with one overzealous lick. Not to mention the choices – oh, the choices! All 31-plus of them! And I reveled in my flavor selection: Rocky Road, Rainbow Sherbet, Cookies ‘N Cream… the world was my hot fudge-covered oyster (notably not one of the aforementioned 31-plus). But I have to admit, in all my ice cream eating moments, never (ever) did I think to myself, “Mmmm, this ice cream is good, but it would be really good if only I could chew it.” So it is with a bit of skepticism that I opened up my box of Baskin-Robbins Soft Candy.

These candies come in two flavors: Mint Chocolate Chip and Very Berry Strawberry, and in both regular and sugar free varieties. They’re quite small – smaller than a Tootsie Roll – and rectangular. And they’re individually wrapped in foil reminiscent of my Viactiv Multi-Vitamin Chew (highly recommended as a vitamin supplement, less so as a sugary treat).

And soft they are. If nothing else, these things deliver in that department. Softer than both a Tootsie Roll and a Starburst chew, it took me a number of squeezes before I finally landed on Play-Doh. That’s about how soft these are, if you can imagine. (The sugar free ones actually were not quite as soft, falling somewhere between Play-Doh and Starburst on the hard/soft continuum.) But this is where the uniformity ends, so here’s how the individual flavors played out for me:

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“To share or not to share, there is no question” declares the side of my chocolate truffle Nestle Heaven bar… and I have to say no truer words were spoken. These three flavors - chocolate caramel, chocolate truffle, mint truffle - are among the most delicious, addicting, totally fabulous chocolate bars I have ever tasted. It took precisely one bite for me to come to the conclusion that this range of chocolate bars qualified for the CandyAddict.com Awesomely Addictive Candy Award.

Every single part of these bars is lovable, and awesomely addictive - from the funny yet elegant packaging, to the feel of the chocolate, to the taste of each piece. Each of these is gold foil wrapped and then completely contained by a cardboard box. The box opens at one short end, so you can slide out your chocolate bar and then slide it back in if you manage to stop yourself from eating the whole thing. The boxes are covered in funny sayings, like “If I have to choose between you and my chocolate, you won’t like the answer.” The descriptions on the back are edible enough without even getting to the chocolate, with brilliant copy like this: “…the delightful mint truffle center oozes through your mouth…” Oozes, people. It oozes!

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The new M&M’s Premiums line has arrived, and as soon as you see a box you’ll realize that these are no ordinary M&M’s. These M&M’s are something special. From presentation to taste, M&M’s Premiums are quite impressive, hitting the mark in both style and substance.

The presentation is fantastic, starting with the outer packaging. The typical M&M’s bag has been swapped out for a sleek, upscale-looking box that is resealable on the outside as well as on the inside, as both the outer carton and the plastic inner pack of M&M’s come with resealable tabs to keep the candy locked in and fresh.

It’s a small but wonderful innovation, as it allows buyers to carry, share, and store the M&M’s without worrying that they’ll spill. You can also pour out a handful for a friend and then save the rest for later without having to resort to the old school M&M’s pack method of rolling the bag as tight as you can and shoving it in your pocket, which is nice.

The M&M’s themselves are also quite striking: with pearly shells of soft mint green, royal blue, shimmering copper, raspberry red, and a dazzling lavender, the M&M’s provide a lovely visual that I’m sure will be quite popular for parties, gifts, and holidays. Their decorative quality is fancier than your typical holiday-themed M&M, which makes them appropriate candy decor for weddings and other formal events as well. They really are quite lovely. Almost too pretty to eat.

Almost. But come on, now. A pretty candy shell isn’t going to stop me from shoveling M&M’s into my mouth in the least dainty way possible. I can’t help it, man! I’m a Candy Addict!

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Glee Gum is “all natural gum made with rainforest chicle.” Chicle, I learned, is the original “gum” part of chewing gum, no longer used by large-scale commercial gum makers because - you guessed it - a cheaper synthetic substitute was developed. Glee Gum’s site has an excellent FAQ with lots of information about chicle and its benefits to gum chewers, workers, and rain forests, but how’s the gum taste?

The nifty retro-styled, business-card-sized box contains eighteen pieces of gum about the size of Chiclets. (Hmmm, interesting name… Chief Candy Addict Brian noted this a few years back in a history of chewing gum). Glee Gum peppermint has a nice minty flavor on the first bite, and the gum texture is exactly what you’d expect: kinda rubbery, like any other gum. I like the peppermint flavor of this gum because it actually reminds me of the plant, but this gum loses its flavor fast. Nearly all taste is gone in under three minutes. Good thing there’s seventeen more pieces.

I don’t know about provoking any glee, but this gum is nice if you want a fresh-tasting natural gum without a bunch of artificial gunk in the way of the flavor, or in your body. Glee Gum also comes in Spearmint, Tangerine, Cinnamon, Triple Berry and Bubblegum, and the company is open to your new flavor suggestions on their site.

• Glee Gum Website

Buy Glee Gum Online:

• at Candy Direct
• at Amazon.com

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Julie’s Corner Store in Lacon, Illinois isn’t your typical candy shop. In fact, it’s not a candy shop at all. In addition to fudge, the store sells everything from antiques to reproduction tin toys to tools (I saw sandpaper for sale!). You can bet the fudge is just as interesting as the store.

Julie’s uses fresh ingredients and real butter and cream. I got a nice review pack from them with a variety of flavors: chocolate peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla praline, orange creme, and chocolate mint. The box reminded me of something you’d get at a beachfront candy store, the kind of place that has hand-pulled taffy and seafoam candy.

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Very few candies scare me just by hearing the name. I can think of a few though… vomit flavored jellybeans, garlic mints, Hotlix (candy with real bugs in it). I think these Chum Bucket Mints are some of the scariest though.

I’ve had the tin of them for a week or two now but keep finding other things to do rather than try them. But, the time has come and as I sit here writing this, I still have not tried them. The tin says “Chum Flavored Candy,” the ingredients include “artificial seafood flavor” and the smell is telling me to throw them away and don’t try them. “DON’T DO IT, BRIAN!” my brain yells at me. I don’t like most real seafood, so I can’t imagine I will like “artificial seafood flavor” in candy form.

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I’ve always appreciated the aggressive nature of Altoids. They simply aren’t a wallflower candy. Instead, they are more like the uncle who has one too many at family gatherings and inevitably ends up dancing with his shirt off or passed out under a porch. These are mints you eat with anticipation. You know that there will be flavor, oh yes, and sometimes it may slightly overwhelm you with potency. But, like the expectation of a wacky uncle’s trademark bad behavior, there is something comforting about the flavor and effectiveness of Altoids. After all, they consistently freshen even the most critically vile breath.

The new Crème de Menthe and Dark Chocolate Dipped Crème de Menthe are no exception. And I’ll say it right now: they are delicious.

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It’s not easy to find innovation in mints nowadays. How many different round mints in rectangular tins can the market sustain, really? That’s why I was so pleased to stumble on the “Great Bite” product line. They have some of the coolest packaging and product shapes I’ve come across in a while. The tins, the round sour packs, the Tic-Tac-like packs - all have a “bite” taken out of them and so do the candies themselves.

The mint tins are your typical Altoids tin shape and size, but the top left portion of the tin is bitten off. Each mint inside is about the size of a Life Saver (with no hole) and a portion of the mint is bitten off too. This theme continues across the whole product line. The mints (and tins) come in peppermint, spearmint, and orange and all taste great except the peppermint - it has a strong licorice taste to it that even my seven year old daughter picked up on (which isn’t good if you dislike the flavor of licorice). The orange was especially tasty and hits you immediately with a strong orange kick.

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