Category Archives: Novelty Candy

Wrigley’s Orbit White Melon Breeze

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Tooth whiteners are all the rage. If you haven’t noticed, just walk down the toothpaste aisle of your local grocery store and you’ll discover toothpastes, tooth strips, mouthwash, and chewing gums that all claim to whiten teeth quickly and easily. Enter Wrigley’s Orbit White chewing gum. This pack contains twelve pieces of sugarless gum “proven to remove stains and whiten teeth,” or so the packaging states.

I decided to put this gum to the test. Because this pack was the Melon Breeze flavor, I had my doubts. I’m a bit skeptical that something that tastes fruity can also be good for my teeth. But I decided to give it a whirl. Much to my surprise, the gum did leave my teeth and breath feeling cleaner. There was no sugary residue to complain about, nor any aftertaste. Each piece of gum (and there are 12 in the pack) is stored in foil-covered pockets. The white, rectangular gum pieces are complete with green specks that just make them look like a genuine tooth whitener. The wrapper calls these magical little components “sparkling speckles.” If you eat two pieces of Orbit White gum after eating and drinking, you should notice results after 8 weeks. That’s according to the clinical tests. Unfortunately, that adds up to a lot of cash. So much money, in fact, that you might actually be better off purchasing those super-expensive white strips if you want to get more bang for your buck.

At 2.5 calories per piece, you still can’t go wrong for a sugarless, fruit-flavored gum that makes your teeth and breath fresher. (Melon Breeze must be a combination of cantaloupe and kiwi from the looks of the packaging, but I actually tasted more of a fresh watermelon flavor.) You can also buy Orbit White in traditional flavors: Spearmint, Peppermint, and Bubblemint. Whether or not this gum lives up to the clinical tests, the packaging and product should be enough to draw you in.

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Nestle Treasures Creamy Caramel

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Switzerland-born Nestle arrived on the chocolate scene in 1866. Their century and a half of candy experience has given them an edge over the competition and established their brand name worldwide—but did you know that Nestle also creates baby food, powdered drink mix, and bottled water? As their product line has become more diverse, it’s still chocolate that they are most associated with.

Nestle Treasures are among the best filled chocolates on the market. If you haven’t tried these yet, get out to your supermarket and buy a bag—or four. Twelve-ounce bags are filled with individually foil-wrapped, chocolate nuggets that look like mini bars of gold. For bonafide chocolate lovers, that’s not too far off from what they actually are. Unwrapping the royal-purple wrapper, you can feel the inner majesty of the candy begin to surface and alert your senses to one fact: you are about to taste something amazing. Biting into the chocolate chunk, you unearth a creamy caramel fountain. This candy brings a milky sweetness that is the perfect ending to any meal. You can get by on just one—but you won’t want to stop there.

Part of Nestle’s Signatures brand, Treasures also come in full-size candy bars. They are also excellent for baking delicious cookies and brownies, and are available in flavors like chocolate crème, peanut butter, and the new dark chocolate caramel. Your best bet is to just buy the assorted bag and enjoy all of the varieties because you won’t want to miss any of them. I’ve sampled all of the filling flavors and would enthusiastically award peanut butter First Place. Caramel gets the Second Place ribbon, and chocolate crème comes in a close Third. All in all, these candies are the most appropriately named candies out there. Does a Snickers really taste like a “Snicker?” Who knows. But these are most definitely, as the name suggests, treasures to be uncovered.

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Twizzlers Pull & Peel Cherry

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Under the Hershey’s umbrella since 1977, Twizzlers have been around since the beginning of the 20th century. People love licorice because it is fat free, tastes great, and is fun to chew on. In 1994, Hershey’s decided to take Twizzlers to the next level, letting customers interact with the product. Twizzlers Pull & Peel candies are a similar concept to fruit roll-ups, in that kids (and kid-like adults) love to take them apart and play with them as part of the eating process. You can unravel the strands and braid them, make jewelry out of them, or just slurp them up like a straw.

In cherry, watermelon, and other fruit flavors, Pull & Peel must be an acquired taste, because I just didn’t love them as much as the traditional licorice ropes. But then again, they don’t claim to be licorice just because they share the popular Twizzlers brand. The taste of the cherry ropes is similar to that of some type of cough syrup that’s trying to be appetizing but just doesn’t make it all the way there. It’s not an offensive taste—in fact, I’m sure some people out there love it. No matter what you think of the taste, you will most likely eat the whole bag because these Twizzlers are just so fun to chew. Wrap them around your finger or chomp on the entire licorice braid—There’s no wrong way to do it. One drawback—You’re not going to be able to chew off the ends and use this licorice rope like a straw, which is an oh-so-fun component to traditional Twizzlers.

My expert conclusion: This candy is a lot more fun to eat than its predecessor, Twizzler licorice ropes. But if you’re looking for the same classic taste, you won’t find that here. Pick the flavor that most appeals to you, and try it at least once. The “candy” part of your brain deserves to have some fun.

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Dark Chocolate M&M’s

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“Name Something That Melts in Your Mouth, But Not in Your Hand.” The M&M brand has been around since 1941, and its corner on today’s candy market is substantial. The first chocolate candy that comes to mind for many—in fact, I think you’d find it as the Number One Answer if you were asked on Family Feud to name the best-selling chocolate candy.

Traditional M&M’s just got a little scarier. Popularized by an Addams Family advertising campaign, Dark Chocolate M&M’s are just another twist on the candy-coated chocolates the world has grown to love. Each colorful candy is printed with the famous, white-printed “m” logo with the word “dark” just below. The same candy crunch is there, but the chocolate is richer, darker, and more satisfying—just as dark chocolate fans would expect. Imagine eating a bag of candy-coated semisweet chocolate chips. That’s what you can expect in this product.

You can buy M&M’s pretty much anywhere candy is sold, but you may have to look a little harder for the dark chocolate variety. You can always get them online at www.candydirect.com.

I bought a small bag at a gas station and expected to have the thing completely gone by the by the end of my commute home from work. Instead, I had some to share and a handful to save for later—and I felt completely satisfied of my chocolate craving. Not many milk chocolate products can attain such excellent results, but Dark M&M’s really knocked that craving out of the ballpark. The only complaint about these candies is that they seemed a bit small, though I’m sure they are the same size as normal M&M’s. It may be that I’m just spoiled on the peanut-filled ones.

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Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Bites

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It’s long been in my mind that eating raw cookie dough is bad for you. Whether or not that is merely an old wives’ tale, I can’t say. But when I saw cookie dough in a candy box for sale in the movie theater, I knew I wanted to try it. Because I’m a budget shopper, I waited until I could find the movie theater boxes on sale at my local dollar store. I stocked up on Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Bites, and bought extras for stocking stuffers. I later found out that these cookie dough candies come in three other varieties: peanut butter cookie dough, chocolate chip cookie dough, and a dark-chocolate-covered version of the chocolate chip cookie dough. Tongue twister or not, I was ready to start eating.

I opened up the box to find tiny bites of chocolicious dough, raw as can be, covered in an outer layer of milk chocolate. The outside was shiny and polished, like chocolate covered raisins or peanuts. But I much preferred what was inside this candy shell. Delicious cookie dough, just like mom always made. I bit into another, and another. These movie-theater boxes give you plenty of candy to share with friends, or you may want to save some for later. I nursed that box for as long as I could, stashed it in my sock drawer for those chocolate cravings, and brought it out again and again. The best part: you don’t have to sneak some from the bowl when nobody is looking. Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Bites are perfectly safe to eat. How so? There are no eggs in the secret recipe, which is mainly flour, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Now that’s a brilliant idea.

I’ve tried a few other candies that are made to taste like cookies, and I haven’t always been pleased with the result. But if you buy Cookie Dough Bites, a product of the Taste of Nature candy company, you’ll be satisfied with any flavor. Just don’t try to bake them, or you’ll have a melted pile of cookie dough candy.

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Pez Candy

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What candy is more fun to eat than Pez? These little candy tablets come in assorted fruit flavors, the most popular of which are strawberry, orange, lemon and grape. But their true appeal is in the fun containers featuring cartoon characters, celebrities, holiday icons, animals, and even video game characters. Pez dispensers are collectable toys available in convenience stores, grocery stores, toy stores and elsewhere for around a dollar. You can buy refills packs of the candy or, since they are so affordable, purchase another container which comes with two or three new packs. The dispenser opens to hold an entire pack of Pez, so you can toss it on your desk or in your car and enjoy the candies one at a time—straight from Santa Claus’s mouth (or Mickey’s… or Spiderman’s… or a random clown’s…).

Pez originated in Vienna, Austria as a peppermint meant to cure smoker’s breath. In German, the word Pferrerminz (which means peppermint) was shortened to create the name Pez. (If you need some useless trivia at a social gathering, pull that one out—you’ll be the only one who knows.) But since adopting the popular fruit flavors, sours, and more, Pez has permeated candy culture worldwide. In the United States, nearly 3 million of these candies are sold every year. That’s a huge number, but believable since these are so affordable and because they make great gifts.

From stocking stuffers to Easter basket contents, I’ve owned many Pez dispensers over the years. They are equally fun for kids and adults, which is why they’ve retained their popularity for so many years. There’s something great about a candy that you can interact with, share with friends, and always count on to brighten your day. My favorite Pez flavor is a tie between strawberry and orange, but I’m a big fan of the assorted flavor packs. My favorite dispenser ever? That’s a tough one. But I must confess that I did break down and purchase the turtle from Over the Hedge because he was just that adorable.

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Wild Berry Skittles

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In 1990, the traditional five flavors found in every Skittles pack met their match. It was in that year that possibly the best ever flavor combination entered the scene. Its members included: raspberry (blue), wild cherry (red), strawberry (magenta), berry punch (purple), and melon berry (green). The posse decided they would go by the group name Wild Berry Skittles. The rest is history.

If given the choice between a traditional pack of Skittles and a Wild Berry pack, I bet you can guess which one I would go for. It’s due to the fact that I just almost always prefer the berry flavors of any candy—putting them all together and losing the lemon-lime category almost feels like cheating. But Wild Berry beats Tropical Skittles, the Smoothie Mix, and Sour Skittles if you ask me. Those other new-fangled flavor combos all leave berry-lovers out in the cold. Not that there was anything wrong with the original flavor pack, introduced to the U.S. from England in 1974. There’s always a place for those colors, all found on the color wheel, and what their traditional flavor counterparts bring to the table. Skittles are owned today by Mars, Inc., granddaddy of the Mars Bar, Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Way, and more. With that kind of solid reputation, I don’t think we’ll see Skittles drop off the market, um, ever.

Each bite-sized candy with a hard-coated shell is the size and shape of an M&M with a white letter “S?? stamped on the side. I prefer to eat Wild Berry Skittles all together, because their flavors mesh perfectly. Strawberry and berry punch are delicious, and their fruity flavors really pop out of each piece. My sole complaint about Skittles is that they really leave your teeth feeling unclean after you chew through the sugary goodness. But if that’s the price you pay for good candy, you can sign me up every time.

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Mike & Ike Original Fruits

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Five flavors of fruity candy chews in a movie theater box (or a smaller bag if you prefer)—you can’t go wrong with this formula. Mike & Ikes come to us from Just Born Candy Company, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They were invented in 1940, and the popular flavors changed over the years. But the five original fruits (strawberry, lime, lemon, orange, and cherry) remain today and are sold in a variety pack. Other Mike & Ikes combinations available are Tropical Typhoon, Jolly Joes (grape), Berry Blast, and Tangy Twister. They have an upcoming promotion where you can vote for the next new flavor combination, if you feel your voice should be heard. Just Born candy company also makes Hot Tamales (a cinnamon-flavored version of Mike & Ikes), Zours, and the Easter season’s popular treat, marshmallow Peeps.

Mike & Ikes are the same consistency as a jelly bean, but they are about the size and shape of a large Tylenol Extra Strength pill. Still, you won’t have to work hard to get these pills down, because their fruit flavors are pure delight. My favorites are strawberry and lemon, and I especially like to mix them together for a little strawberry lemonade. Mike & Ikes’ packaging has changed over the decades, but the flavor remains the same. You can tell by visiting their website that Mike & Ikes are trying to appeal to a young, hip audience with their Web presence resembling a skatepark with grafitti text and all. But adults will buy them for the nostalgia factor and kids don’t really need a reason to eat candy—so in that sense, they’ve got all their bases covered. Mike & Ikes are one of my favorite chewy, fruit candies that I’ve recently rediscovered. Discover them again or for the first time at your local convenience or grocery store or a movie theater. You won’t be disappointed by the juicy taste that bursts from each little piece.

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Maynards Wine Gums

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Candy for wine connoisseurs? A brand of British-based Cadbury candies, Maynards Wine Gums are hot, hot, hot in the UK, which is where I first tried them. In fact, they are to the U.K. what Starburst and Skittles are to the United States. Imagine chewy gum drops in wine-inspired flavors and colors, and you’ve imagined Maynards Wine Gums.

But, don’t be fooled by the name. Wine gums are not chewing gum, but more of a chewy gummi candy. And they don’t contain any wine! They come in larger bags and smaller rolls that you can pick up from the candy aisle and take on the road for a refreshing fruity taste. These candies may not suit those who don’t like wine—or parents who don’t want their kids to develop a liking for alcohol. They come in flavors like port, sherry, burgundy, champagne and claret, as well as different shapes including kidney-shaped, crown, and rectangle. Invented by Charles Maynard in 1909, these chews have a thicker consistency than other gummies, which lets the flavor last—like a fine wine. The flavor quotient on these candies is outstanding—bright and refreshing all the way down.

I was initially lured in by a wall-sized poster in a London Tube stop. Wine Gums? I was stumped. I could tell they were candies and that I wanted to try them, but I really didn’t know what to expect. So I dashed off to a convenience store to stock up on Green & Blacks candy bars (a real candy gem!) and purchased a pack of wine gums out of curiosity. At first taste, I didn’t know what to think. They did in fact taste a bit like alcohol, but not in an overwhelming way. The flavor was unique but hard to describe. Black and red wine gums are the most popular, but yellow, green, and orange are not to be omitted. The number-one selling fruity candy in the U.K., wine gums are a product you really have to experience for yourself.

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Laffy Taffy Ropes

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What’s so funny about taffy? After all, it’s just artificial colors, corn syrup and some other standard candy ingredients. When did taffy go all Jerry Seinfeld on us?

For those still wondering what’s behind the name, I’ll tell you. There are jokes on every wrapper of Laffy Taffy whether you buy it in smaller wrapped cubes or 10-inch Laffy Taffy Ropes. This gimmick has made Laffy Taffy, a Wonka brand, a frontrunner in the taffy market as well as a favorite with kids everywhere. But it kind of feels like a prize that isn’t an actual prize. (Example: The box of cereal that claims to have a prize inside, and it’s really just a Mad Lib printed on the box. Or a Cracker Jack box with a prize that is nothing more than a printed piece of cardboard.) Still, it’s kept the kids on board for a number of years, so it’ll do. Laffy Taffy Ropes come in flavors like apple, banana, blue raspberry, grape, strawberry, mango and cherry. But I am a person of intrigue, so I picked up the two-flavor “mystery swirl?? rope. Would I open it to find cherry-banana? How about raspberry-grape? Only time would tell.

I opened up the wrapper carefully so as to preserve the jokes. (“What is a caterpillar afraid of??? A DOGerpillar!) Don’t hurt yourself laughing. These are kid-friendly jokes after all. My taffy was most certainly green (apple) and pink (strawberry) swirl, which was so tightly swirled together that there was really no discernible color once you got into the “meat?? of the stick. It was more of a brownish green than anything. But my taffy rope had a soft, chewy texture and bright, fruity flavor like I expected to find. Not like salt water taffy, these fruit chews were more the consistency of a Starburst. Which is a very good thing! I would eat a few of these ropes in one sitting—I guess it’s a good thing that they sell for a quarter each. Affordable for kids and adults, Laffy Taffy is here to stay.

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