Charleston who?  Charleston Chew!  Named after that silly dance craze back in the twenties, you may not have heard of these babies unless your parents or grandparents introduced them to you when you were young.  As for me, it wasn’t too long ago that I first tried my first Charleston (a tragedy, I know).  But thank Zeus for that day!  Charleston Chews have been around since 1922, and their unique texture and consistency is sure to keep them around for decades.  However, it wasn’t until 1998 that Tootsie Roll brought us the mini Charleston Chew—a most fortunate occurrence for the skeptics.  Original Charleston Chew bars can be somewhat big and intimidating for a first-timer, but the minis are a perfect bite-sized taste of the original.  If you like to moderate your sugar intake (which I definitely don’t), the minis allow you to enjoy these bars of bliss without having to leave two thirds of the bar lying around, only to get stale and icky. 

For my first Charleston Chew, I had a mini.  The only downside I can see to these is that the nougat tends to stick to your teeth like rubber cement!  (An up-side, of course, only if you’re a dentist.)  However, for my second Charleston Chew I was instructed to put it in the freezer for about an hour, and then take a bite.  Boy, what a difference!  After putting one in the freezer for a while, the nougat hardens up just enough to NOT stick to your pearly-whites.  Instead, the chocolate quickly melts and the nougat breaks up into smaller, less-chewy pieces, allowing you to swallow the pieces before they take a toll on your molars.  These nostalgic chocolate-covered nougat bars come in vanilla (my favorite), strawberry, and chocolate.  I strongly recommend you try freezing the vanilla-flavored ones if it’s your first time.  You won’t regret it!