There are real perks to being the editor of a site like Candy Addict. One of them is getting the chance to read all of our fabulous reviews and articles before the rest of the world. Another is getting to sample most of the candy that our writers receive to review. Unfortunately, sometimes something comes up and our writers can’t complete the review. Then it falls to me to do the honors.

Of course, it helps if I don’t come to this realization only after a marathon apartment-cleaning/box-recycling session. Somewhere amid my giant pyramid of boxes I discovered a medium-size box chock-full of fruit shaped lollipops from Melville Candy Company. A quick mental inventory revealed that these hadn’t been reviewed and were desperately overdue. D’oh! Time for me to buckle down and do some licking!

These were interesting, to say the least. The assortment consisted of seven different shapes and flavors of lollipops, each much larger than your average lollipop (at least 12 inches tall) and beautifully designed. At first glance I thought each one was hand painted or somehow made to be different colors. However, closer examination revealed that the lollipops themselves are only one color, with other colors being printed on the clear wrappers. Still, they look darn nice and very similar to their real-life fruit counterparts. But, the real question is, how do they taste?

Watermelon: This had a very mild watermelon flavor. However, the smell it emits is incredibly strong – the entire box smelled of watermelon as soon as I opened it! The flavor is a lot more mild than the smell; I would have preferred a little more flavor, but it wasn’t bad in any way.

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After my success with the Pineapple Now and Later, I promised myself that I would approach other Now and Later varieties with an open mind. So spotting a whole display of flavors at a gas station, I was, as Homer Simpson so eloquently stated, “like a kid in some kind of a store.”

Scanning the flavors, I was torn between several, but it soon became obvious which would be the one to try. Peach Smash. Why? First, I love peaches. Second, there are so very few peach-flavored things in the world aside from peaches. Third, I have no idea what a “Smash” tastes like, but if there are peaches involved, count me in!

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This past week I had the pleasure of having my father visit for the holidays. It was a great time. We explored the city, dined at my favorite eateries, and enjoyed the sweet tooth I genetically inherited from him by popping into various confection stores and leaving very, very full.

When it was time to bid adieu to him, we pulled into a gas station near my house so he could fill the rental car up and avoid the surcharge. Despite this gas station being located down the street from me, I hadn’t set foot in it a long time, but remember finding a slew of great candy during earlier visits.

As he paid the clerk, I browsed the candy aisle and scanned it for something out of the ordinary. Maybe because it was Christmas Day (I can’t really figure it out otherwise), but there amongst all the different flavors of Skittles sat the newest spin-off, Skittles Crazy Cores.

I first learned about the upcoming release of this candy back in the fall, but I hadn’t seen these in any major supermarkets or drugstores, which made my spotting them in an independently owned gas station particularly Christmas miracle-esque.

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After my review of Tropical LifeSavers, loyal Candy Addict reader, KK, left a comment in regards to my dilemma about being unable to find candy with an accurate mango taste. She recommended that I try Lucas Mango lollipops.

My local H.E.B. carries an assortment of Mexican candy, and though they do stock Lucas products, this specific lollipop was not available for purchase. I did, however, spot a similar confection called Vero Mango.

Vero Mango, like the Lucas version, is a mango-flavored lollipop that is dusted in a red sheath of chili. I am not really a big consumer of foreign candy that doesn’t come from European, Israeli, or Antipodean origins, so I thought this recommendation might be a nice step into the waters of the Mexican and Latin American candy world.

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Yes, it’s a classic American institution. But you have to admit: the New England Confectionery Company, better known to you and I as the folks behind Necco wafers, produces some of the driest, dustiest candy on the planet. Necco Wafers are the candy left at the bottom of your Halloween trick-or-treat bag after all the good stuff is gone. On Valentine’s Day, there’s one guaranteed way to make sure your sweetheart gets the wrong message: Give her a box of chalky, stale Conversation Hearts. LUV U? I don’t think so!

So, with low expectations I cracked open a package of Necco’s Smoothies. They’ve been around for a few years, but I can’t say that I’ve noticed them before now. Similar in size and shape to regular Necco Wafers, the Smoothies are supposed to remind one of smoothie drinks, those ever-popular concoctions of health clubs and veggie bars. I find this claim on the Necco company’s part to be the overstatement of the century. Let’s just say, if Smoothies are reminiscent of anything, it’s heartburn medication, in sorta fruity flavors.

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