I grew up near the East coast and made my fair share of trips to the beach as a youngster. One of my favorite spots was a local and popular restaurant, the Sanitary Fish Market. What could possibly make a kid actually request to go to a seafood restaurant? Salt water taffy can. Oh, the joy of sticky, sweet goodness. Sure, we were able to watch taffy being made at the State Fair, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the taffy from Sanitary Fish Market. That was the best taffy my 14 year-old self had ever had.

I grew out of taffy as an adult… or so I had thought.

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Chocri is a German company that plans to open for business in the US in the new year. Their website allows you to design your own chocolate bars – white, dark, or milk, with your choice of additions, which range from the normal (nuts, fruit) to the more exotic (gold balls, gummy bears, spices).

When they asked if I’d like to order some sample bars to review, I was all “heck yeah,” but as I delved into the site, I began to realize that I am not exactly the ideal customer for this sort of thing. Because A, I have very strong opinions about what flavors go together, and B, I am overwhelmed by too many choices.

So, on the one hand the only things I would be sure I would like were the totally traditional choices like milk chocolate with crispy rice. On the other hand I knew that was totally not in the spirit of the thing. What would be the point of getting a combination that I could get anywhere?

Beyond that, I no longer remember exactly what went on in my mind as I clicked around the options on their site – so many that they claim that more than ten billion combinations are possible. So when the following bars arrived, I thought some crazy person had ordered them:

• White with red rice and mango cubes
• Milk with coconut shavings, candied rose petals and a marzipan rose
• Dark with pecans, sour cherries and orange pepper

Well, on the bright side, they sure aren’t anything you could walk into a store and buy, right?

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I’ve had some good peanut brittle in my time with Candy Addict, but I’ve never seen these nifty flavor twists: Coco Nutty and Yippee Cayenne. I wonder how they’ll work with the brittle.

Jer’s Handmade Chocolates is a relatively new company in San Diego. I was not happy with their Toffee Break Gourmet Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, but I’m still ready to like these Brittle Bites – especially given the quality ingredients.

Let’s try the Coco Nutty bites first. These come in a small 1.6 oz box, with four individual, small bite-sized pieces. I pop one in my mouth. The coconut flavor hits first, and strongly. Then the crispy brittle, which is hard to discern because of the strong coconut flakes. Lastly I notice the dark chocolate, quite far in the flavor background. I can see how some people would like these, but to me the coconut flavor’s too strong, masking the brittle and chocolate elements. Oh, and these are peanut brittle, but I couldn’t even taste the peanuts. Let’s try the Yippee Cayenne.

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Before attending the All Candy Expo, all the registered press people were sent dozens and dozens of press releases from various companies advertising their products and inviting us to drop by their booths. That is where I first heard about Landrin Waferatto USA.

The company’s roots date back to the nineteenth century when Georg Landrin began preparing confections for the Imperial Court of Russia. The reputation of his delicacies spread throughout the country and Europe, earning his products notoriety for their quality ingredients and taste.

Landrin USA was recently founded with the intent to market a line of truffles with designs and packaging inspired by couture fashion and art – i.e., appealing to women. I remember checking out some of the photos from their press release to discover all their boxes adorned with orchids, chiffon prints, the elegance of a perfume box, and they somehow unfolded into vases when you opened them.

Elaborate much? Maybe. But the principal and design is aesthetically sound, which is why it’s a current silver finalist for two of the 2009 Sofi Awards (Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation). But part of me didn’t want to like these. They were too pretty. They were too girly.

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Another guest review from our friend Laura Kaspick.

Like fellow Candy Addicts Caitlin, Robbie, and Laurie, I recently had the pleasure of attending the All Candy Expo. One of the products I was most excited to get my hands on was the Limited Edition Coconut M&M’s. As soon as the show floor opened, I eagerly made my way to the Mars booth to get myself a sample. Imagine my disappointment when I was told they wouldn’t be available at the Expo! Although I did recover (it’s pretty tough to be in a bad mood when surrounded by free candy), I was still thinking about my loss when I attended a Mars press conference later that day.

Midway through the presentation, Mars president Todd Lachman turned his focus to upcoming product releases, including the Coconut M&M’s. I half tuned him out as I wasn’t interested in hearing about Coconut M&M’s, I was interested in eating Coconut M&M’s! But I quickly snapped to attention when I heard “…and actually, here in my pocket, I happen to have a sample…” and then which lucky member of the audience do you think he threw them to??? ME!!!! I couldn’t believe my good fortune, and now I am going to share my good fortune with you by telling you what you have to look forward to when they come out this summer.

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