I had the pleasure of reviewing some of Lollipop Labs unusual lollipops this weekend. Given that they have flavors like “Dirty Martini” and “Earl Grey,” I would recommend these lollies more for the discerning Candy Addict than for, say, your five year old.
A couple of general notes: these lollipops don’t have a lot of scent when you open them, but don’t let that fool you. As soon as you lick them you get plenty of flavor. I thought one of the coolest things about them was the way the flavor nuances change as you eat them. Sometimes you’ll get more of one herb than another as you go, while still enjoying the overall main flavor of the lollipop. Neat! Plus, I love that I recognize and can pronounce every ingredient on the labels.
One more thing: if you don’t see a flavor below that appeals to you, Lollipop Labs will custom design the flavor and shape of their lollipops to your specifications. How cool is that?
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After my brief period of believing that there was no unique candy in Montreal , I was proven wrong – with a vengeance. All it took was a trip to the shopping district of Rue St. Denis, a shopper’s paradise of quirky little shops, restaurants and cafes – and some great chocolatiers.
One of those is Marius et Fanny Patisserie Provencale, which, despite the name, is a chocolatier as well. On the pastry side of things, they do a variety of cakes and cookies including some marvelously crisp-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside macaroons filled with a flavored ganache (and as they weren’t technically candy, I had no qualms about devouring mine on the spot instead of bringing them home to write about later).
Of their chocolates, I was most intrigued by their tiny tasting bars or “tablettes,†each about the size of a couple of fun-sized Kit Kats. The little bars came in a variety of intriguing flavors, including paprika and sun-dried tomato and basil (YES! I knew somebody had to be doing a sun-dried tomato chocolate bar after tasting this combo for the Great Chocolate Experiment). Eventually, I decided on lavender, a flavor I’d never tasted before.
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When I was at the Chocolate Show the other weekend, I was excited to find New Tree there, a chocolate company with which I am quite familiar! New tree is a gourmet Belgian chocolate company located in San Anselmo, California that not only makes good chocolate, but they’ve added health benefits to it as well!
Each of the different delicious flavors of New Tree chocolates are categorized according to a desired health effect when you eat them. For instance, in their Energizing line, they have chocolates with coffee and ginger to help stimulate you. Or would you rather have something Soothing? They use citrus and lavender for calming effects.
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