The after-Christmas candy sale is currently at its zenith for bargains. Everything is 50, 75, even 90 percent off the original price.
Often, there are candies that catch my eye, but for which I don’t feel like shelling out a few bucks. Brach’s Cherry Cordial Nougats are one such confection. But after Walgreens had them on sale for thirty-three cents, it seemed ridiculous not to buy them.
I was taken slightly aback by what these were made of. A cordial, by definition, is a chocolate shell with a fruit filling. The only thing these had even remotely in common with a cordial was that they used cocoa. Well, Brach’s, I hate to break it to you, but you can make a cookie with cocoa powder; that doesn’t mean it’s a cordial cookie!
Aside from my cocoa issues, I wasn’t exactly sure how nougat would fare in the presence of both cherry and cocoa. Reading the ingredients list, I also discovered there are no nuts in this, which is actually a component of a real nougat (if you’re going to get technical).
So we have artificial cherry flavoring (as discovered by a lack of cherries as an ingredient), cocoa powder to serve as a replacement for chocolate, and the mockolate equivalent of nougat here. This is probably the point where you are asking yourself, why would I buy something that sounds so egregious? Well, I have a soft spot for cherry cordials, and was willing to give Brach’s the benefit of the doubt – that, and it was thirty-three cents.
Each piece is about the size of a blob of taffy. Set against the white nougat piece is a red spiral with an outer brown ring. Despite their odd components, they do look enticing.
As I unwrap one, I have a waxy residue coat my fingers. Not a promising start. And though the bite is very soft, indicative of a white nougat, the flavors are all over the place. It begins with a grainy, cough syrup cherry flavor that suddenly becomes cocoa-esque and resembles a Tootsie Roll, but something far less appetizing. My tongue is battling the flavors of medicine and mockolate while the nougat itself is completely indiscernible in this mess.
So no, I didn’t like these at all. They aren’t nougats, they aren’t cherry cordials, and they aren’t edible. At about 2 cents a piece, I didn’t feel like I had wasted my money, but if I had paid full price it would have been a different story.
Buy Brach’s Products Online:
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Gee, I liked ‘em. I thought the cherry and chocolate blended well. Besides, have you ever reviewed a good tasting Cherry Cordial? They all taste cough-syrupy. At least this way you don’t have a mouthful of the clear-liquid goo that a real coridal has.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:59 pmi had the exact same experience. i knew they would be gross, but for 33 cents, they were at least worth trying. i think it’s funny how we candy addicts look forward to trying things we know full well will be disgusting.
January 13th, 2009 at 1:47 amI don’t care, I want to try them too!
January 15th, 2009 at 5:03 pmI dunno I liked these. Compared with Cherry Cordials (Which I dislike) I thought these were pretty tasty.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:39 pmI loved these. Where can I buy them?
January 8th, 2010 at 4:05 pm