As I was perusing the massive Hershey booth at the All Candy Expo, I was surprised to see what appeared to be bags of soft licorice among the typical Hershey offerings, mostly of the chocolate variety. Much to my chagrin, however, everything was under lock and key and I had no idea what exactly these new licorice confections might be. When we finally met with the Hershey representative, she explained that they were launching a new line of soft eating licorice. Naturally, I immediately asked for samples but was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have any available at the show. I was promised a shipment as soon as they were available and went home hoping that day would come quickly.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed to receive a box containing a very nice box and a package of each flavor: black licorice, strawberry, and peach mango. Naturally, being a black licorice fan, I opted to try that one first.

As I started to rip open the bag, I noticed something that both shocked and surprised me… resealable bags! Oh my god! No more folding over the tops of opened bags only to pick them up the wrong way and have the contents dump all over the ground. No more stuffing myself to finish a bag just so they won’t get stale. It’s a revolutionary breakthrough! Ok, so it’s actually just the candy industry catching up to the pet food industry (do dogs really need to have zipper protected kibble?), but it was a beautiful thing nonetheless. Anyway, on to the tasting….

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Hershey’s has some great candy hitting stores during the rest of 2008. We’ve already reviewed some of them and thanks to Hershey and the All Candy Expo, we have samples of many of these so look for reviews of these soon. Here is some quick info on the upcoming candy from Hershey.

• Hershey’s Blissâ„¢ – Hershey’s Bliss individually wrapped chocolates feature a smooth, creamy texture for an indulgent personal chocolate experience. Hershey’s Bliss is now available in Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with a Meltaway Center. Hershey’s Bliss chocolate will welcome Raspberry with Meltaway Center to its line in December 2008.
  Candy Addict’s review of Hershey’s Bliss
• Starbucks Chocolateâ„¢ – When coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate.â„¢ Distinctive, artistic and handcrafted, Starbucks Chocolate combines the highest quality chocolate with Starbucks® coffee, tea and coffeehouse flavors. Product offerings include: truffles, tasting squares, signature bars, and chocolate-covered coffee beans. Now available where groceries are sold.
  Candy Addict’s review of Starbucks Chocolate
• Twizzlers® Pull-n-Peel® Cinnamon Fire Candy – New hot cinnamon flavored Twizzlers offer consumers a bigger, bolder licorice flavor. Now available.
  Candy Addict’s review of Twizzlers® Pull-n-Peel® Cinnamon Fire Candy
• Reese’s® Select Clusters – Reese’s Select Clusters wrap pecans, peanuts, peanut butter and caramel in milk chocolate. Individually wrapped, Reese’s Select Clusters will be available in August 2008.
• Hershey®’s All Natural Extra Dark Chocolate with Pomegranate and Infused with Raspberry Flavor Assortment – Hershey’s Extra Dark delivers velvety smooth, rich dark chocolate from a select blend of cacao beans for just the right balance of taste, aroma and sweetness. The line will add two new flavors including Pomegranate tasting squares in June 2008 and a Raspberry-infused flavor assortment in December 2008.
• Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s® Truffle Crunch – The latest addition to the Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s chocolate line, Truffle Crunch delivers a three-layer tasting experience that begins with an intense outer layer of rich chocolate surrounding a silky center of creamy chocolate and delicate cacao bits from the heart of the cacao bean. It’s a deliciously unexpected flavor adventure in 35 percent Milk Chocolate and 65 percent Dark Chocolate. Available August 2008.
• Jolly Rancher® Doubles – A new twist on Jolly Ranchers, Jolly Rancher Doubles combines two bold Jolly Rancher flavors. Combinations include: Cherry-Orange, Grape-Apple and Blue Raspberry-Watermelon. Now available.
• Good ‘N Fieryâ„¢ Candy – A new twist on an old favorite. The Good ‘N Plenty® and Good ‘N Fruity® family will welcome a new member with a hot cinnamon flavor – Good ‘N Fiery. Available December 2008.
• Hershey®’s S’mores Snacksters® – The Hershey’s Snacksters line expands with the addition of Hershey’s S’mores Snacksters – a delicious combination of graham cracker cereal squares, mini marshmallows and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate chips housed in 100 calorie packages. Available June 2008.
• Ice Breakers BURNâ„¢ Mints – A new mint variety will join the Ice Breakers wellness line delivering a combination of flavors and ingredients designed to enhance the mind, body and spirit. The Peach-Mango flavored Ice Breakers BURN Mints provide a unique, tasty way to add the B complex vitamins of Thiamin, Niacin, B5 and B6 to the day. Available June 2008.
• Ice Breakers® Chewy Sours – New Ice Breakers Chewy Sours deliver an intense sour flavor and exhilarating mouth experience. The soft, chewy fruit-crystal center is wrapped in a crunchy candy shell. Sugar-free Ice Breakers Chewy Sours will be available in two flavors: Strawberry and Pomegranate Lemonade. Available June 2008.
• Ice Breakers® Ice Cubes® White Chewing Gum – The power of whitening gum will bring an extra blast to the cool cube shape of Ice Breakers Ice Cubes Chewing Gum. Frosted with a proprietary process, the sugar-free gum is an extra-cold, refreshing alternative to stick and shell gums. The cool cube shape, reflective of an ice cube, reinforces its refreshing, ultra-cold and now teeth-whitening benefits. Ice Breakers Ice Cubes White Chewing Gum will be available in Wintergreen Splash and Mango Kiwi Cooler flavors. Available December 2008.
• Breath Savers® Strong Mint Menthol and Energy Mint Caffeine – The popular and powerful Breath Savers Mints adds two new varieties. Breath Savers Strong Mint Menthol takes breath freshening to a new level while Breath Savers Strong Energy Mint Caffeine offers a “boast of energy” with a touch of caffeine. Available December 2008.

Reading through this list of upcoming candy from Hershey makes my mouth water!

• Hershey’s coverage at Candy Addict
• Review of Hershey’s Bliss
• Review of Starbucks Chocolate
• Review of Fire Twizzlers
• Hershey’s website

They’re finally here! The long awaited Mint Crisp M&Ms that we heard were coming out in time for the new Indiana Jones movie are finally on shelves. And not a moment too soon! Between my eagerness to see Indy in his new geriatric adventure glory and tasting the new M&Ms adventure that Mars has planned for us, I could hardly contain my excitement when I found these in the store. It was like finding Indy’s candy holy grail in a way.

The M&Ms are not the only new candy with the Indiana Jones tie-in. There’s also the Snickers Adventure Bar that I reviewed back in January. The plain Milk Chocolate, Peanut and the new Mint Crisp M&Ms are outfitted in new themed packages and they are quite attractive I admit (more so than the Shrek and the Pirates of the Caribbean ones M&Ms). Of course the Mint Crisp ones are a special limited edition flavor tied to the movie like the White Chocolate Pirate Pearls were.

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There are several ways people approach eating candy. One of the main two is nostalgia for a specific candy and the other is the adventure some candies offer; some people just like enjoying their tried-and-true treat from their childhood and others love to try the newest and craziest candy for the experience. As a true Candy Addict, I fall into both categories. That’s why I was especially excited to find a small box of lollipops from Lollyphile waiting for me on my porch when I arrived home from work a few days ago.

Why all the excitement about a bunch of lollipops, you ask? Well, these aren’t just any lollipops. These come in flavors you won’t find anywhere else: Absinthe and Maple-Bacon. By now you’ve either started to drool on your keyboard (hey, happens to me all the time) or you’ve scrunched up your nose in skeptical repulsion. When I first saw the two flavors, I did both.

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Eating is a very complicated pastime when you think about it. Depending on the situation it can be a very social thing: you could easily be sharing a dinner with friends, out for an afternoon coffee break with co-workers or hosting a potluck party with family. While it’s easy to make daily meals more social, I find that when we treat ourselves with chocolate or candy, it usually tends to be a very solitary activity. There’s lots of reasons for this; maybe your friends or special someone don’t love chocolate like you do, perhaps you don’t want anyone to see you secretly indulge your sweet tooth, or hey, maybe you’re like me and don’t want anyone to notice so you’d have to share. Regardless of the reason, candy consumption can be pretty lonely, and usually in a good way. This is why, when Jelly Belly released its new box of BeanBoozled jelly beans, I was excited to give them a try.

How does eating these BeanBoozled beans relate to social activity you ask? Well, when you look at it, BeanBoozled is more of a game than anything else really, because in essence it’s an edible version of Russian Roulette. Picture this: in the box there are 10 different colored beans with 20 different flavors. The flavor can be a tasty one like buttered popcorn, plum, juicy pear or cafe latte. On the other hand, the flavor could be not so enticing: vomit, skunk spray, pencil shavings or baby wipes (just to name a few). See where this is heading?

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