Tag Archives: retro

Candy Review: Cola Balls

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Cola Balls

Cola-flavored candy ranks pretty high in my top 5 favorite types of candy. Wonka Bottlecaps, Haribo Happy-Cola Gummi Candy, and Soda Pop Shoppe Jelly Belly jelly beans have been perpetual favorites. But… change is a comin’ around here and there’s a new kid in town. He’s shiny, long-lasting, delicious and named Cola Ball. Sweets4MySweetie, a retro and European candy shop in Canada, is chock full of ‘em.

These fellows are fantastic! They’re round, silver balls that, yep, you guessed it, taste like cola. And, as if a long-lasting cola flavor wasn’t enough, as a bonus, they also look like ammunition. While I now enjoy this particular trait of cola balls, I was less than thrilled at first. Imagine my surprise when I opened a box of what I assumed was candy and found a nondescript baggie of large BBs!

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Candy Review: Ooh la la Candy

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Ooh La La Candy logo
I love a good gift as much as the next person. However, I really prefer functional gifts. Not that I don’t appreciate the thought, but how many basket-fulls of perfumed lotion can one person stand?! Well, Ooh La La Candy is the answer to gift giving. A sweet sentiment (pun intended) AND a tasty treat makes for a good gift. How can you go wrong with popular candy mixed with some good design/packaging?

Sweet Stripes CupcakeGiven my predilection for useful gifts, it is needless to say that I was looking forward to seeing if Ooh La La Candy could meet my gift-giving needs. I quickly noticed the dual purpose of the “cupcakes”. Gift + sustenance! The cupcakes are crafted from candy which means one of my favorite things is being made from one of my other favorite things! The Sweet Stripes cupcake consists of black and white Sixlets (who doesn’t like Sixlets??) and is topped with a giant pink gumball. (Be forewarned, the anticipation will surely build because the packaging of the little cupcake is a bear to get into! They are securely attached to their individual, plastic cubes.) The other cupcake I tried was a PB&J Cupcake made with, yep, you guessed it, peanut butter chips and grape jellybeans. In lieu of a gumball topping the cupcake, this one had a peanut butter cup adornment.

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Retro Candy Flashback: York Peppermint Pattie

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York Peppermint Pattie Wrapped

When I bite into a York Peppermint Pattie, I get the sensation of driving a team of sled dogs through the Alaskan wilderness in the Iditarod. Do you remember those commercials?

I bought a Hershey York Peppermint Pattie a few weeks ago and was immediately accosted by my family: “Can I have a piece?” “When can we eat that?” What!? This bit of chocolate bliss has a diameter of about 2.5″ and you want us to split it four ways? Alas, when you’re part of a Candy Addict family, you have to share.

The Peppermint Pattie, as you may know, is a disc of peppermint-flavored sugar covered in a thin layer of chocolate. When I finally got to eat my fourth of the Peppermint Pattie in peace, the strong peppermint flavor filled my mouth. It’s a very refreshing flavor, a “zing” if you will. I personally don’t like those hard peppermints that you find in old ladies’ candy bowls, but York has basically perfected soft peppermint.

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Retro Candy Review: U-No

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Annabelle

And then there was U-No. This is the fourth and final oddly-named retro bar in my mini-cycle of candy that spiraled out of a dream I thought I had about overhearing a woman speaking to her husband when in New York City. (The other three candies are Oh Henry! Look!, and the 5th Avenue bar.)

Unlike those other three bars, I had U-No as a kid. And I remember liking it. So today we’ll see if I’m transported back to those halcyon days of rare treats, or caught in a transporter with a fly, like Jeff Goldblum, with disastrous consequences. And really, I’m a little worried, because my childhood taste was far from infallible.

Two things I didn’t realize growing up: U-No’s have powdered buttermilk and crushed almonds in them. That might have freaked me out at 8, but it intrigues me now.

So, will I still like this unique candy in the lunar-module, super-shiny wrapper?

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Retro Candy Review: 5th Avenue

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5th Avenue Bar

Here we are, with the third in my series of four oddly-named candy bars (that is, the Oh Henry!, Look!, 5th Avenue, and U-No).

In 1936 it seemed a great idea to William Luden (of cough-drop fame) to name a food after a street in New York City. Now, sure, linking your candy bar to arguably the wealthiest bit of real estate in the world might seem to be a good move to give your candy some cachet, but present-day maker Hershey should remember this: it also sets high expectations. (Yes, I know there’s a 5th Avenue in Reading, PA, where this bar was made, but don’t tell me they weren’t trying to associate their bar with the famous Manhattan boulevard.)

When you open this big bar (2 oz, 56g), you immediately smell the peanuts. Hershey’s label describes the bar as “crunchy peanut butter in a rich, chocolately coating.” Notice, they didn’t say a chocolate coating. We know what this means, unfortunately. Yup, it’s mockolate.

Still, maybe this candy tastes good anyway. Is it, for example, better than a Butterfinger?

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