photos in this post by Anthemic Tangle

I’m back for Part V of my jelly bean adventure. For some reason Brach’s calls their jelly beans “Classic Jelly Bird Eggs,” but to me they are jelly beans!

When I think of the jelly beans I ate as a kid, the Brach’s jelly beans are what I remember. In terms of flavor, these jelly beans are similar to the Necco jelly beans I reviewed a while back. If you’re looking for super sweet, chewy jelly beans, look no further. Don’t expect any tartness or realistic flavors – these jelly beans are all about the sugar. They’re artificially flavored, sugary goodness in all its glory.

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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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all photos in this post by Anthemic Tangle
For some reason, spring always seems like Jelly Bean Season to me. I think it’s because lots of good jelly beans show up around Easter and then hang around for some awesome post-Easter sales.

To me, jelly beans are fun. There’s just something about them that speaks to the kid in me and makes me want to hop and play. I don’t know if it’s the bright colors, the fun shape, or the fact that I can peg my siblings in the head with them. Or all of the above. I just know I want to share the fun. Thus begins my spring hunt for jelly bean goodness.

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I have been a fan of Chuao for a while, but the shipping charge to get their product to the East Coast is fairly mind-boggling. Fortunately, I have a friend in Southern California who couldn’t think of anything else to buy me for Christmas.

You’ve read about Chuao here before, but these folks don’t rest on their laurels, and are always coming up with new fillings. The little flier that comes with the box of chocolate asserts that they are “unusual” and “unexpected,” and I am interested in pushing the boundaries of the usual bonbon fillings. I was afraid, though, that they’d gone a little too far with a couple of these. One of them turned out to actually be OK, but the other – well, I will leave that for the end, because a little suspense is a good thing, right?

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As much as I enjoy trying new candy, the oddest things can put me off from doing so. Sometimes I don’t like the packaging or the description appears unappetizing. For Starburst Baja California Fruit Chews, it was the flavor selection that disappointed me.

In theory, the idea of a set of flavors indigenous to Baja California sounds interesting, but I never considered any of the flavors on the packet that representative of the region. However, I have always been partial to one of the four flavors, so when a coworker offered me some pieces that she bought from the CVS across the street, I thought it was finally time to give these a try.

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