Candy Randoms: Japanese gummy candy

I often spend unnecessary amounts of money buying candy, especially when I see candies that I wouldn't normally see anywhere else. An example of this is when I go into a specialty candy store or into an Asian market. Hence I will be posting Candy Randoms, a series in which I comment on impulse buys. Below are candies that I purchased from a Japanese market. These candies are sometimes stacked in front of the cashier and are marketed toward impulse buyers like myself.


I'm not even going to try and translate what this says. According to the picture there's a white candy with multi-colored orbs in it.

Here's what the candy looks like unwrapped.It doesn't look as colorful as the wrapper displayed, but it certainly is colorful. It looks kind of like an eraser. Anyway how does this candy taste? Well, the consistency is like Hi-Chew, but a little tougher. There are also little jelly orbs in them that are a bit tougher than the white part. An interesting candy and the packaging is nice.



Here's a peach version of the candy above. Or is that a butt? You don't know, but I hope it's peach flavored. Unlike the other candy, the orbs that are shown are only pink, which makes sense since it's peach flavored.


As you can see the candy is much lighter than the previous candy. The consistency is just like the previous candy and the flavor is about the same except it has a bit of peach flavor to it. I liked this candy, but my students did not like it as much as other variations. They cited a "weird aftertaste" as the main reason as to why they didn't like it. I did not detect anything odd, but it's one man's word against his students'.

Overall, these candies are a nice departure from what candies I normally eat. However, I suppose I've been visiting Asian markets so much, that I eat these candies more than candies I would see at an American supermarket. Try to find an Asian market with these candies so that you can experience something new. Unless you're from Japan or something, then it's old news I suppose.

Strawberry Milanos, a new challenger

Today when I was walking toward the cashier at my local Target, I saw something marketed as new near the impulse section:


I wondered, to myself, if these could be better than Double Chocolate Milanos. Double Chocolate Milanos, in my opinion, are the best kinds of Milanos because they often times I find that there's too much biscuit to chocolate in other kinds of Milanos. Anyway, back to the point, I immediately grabbed a bag despite the fact that these weren't marked down unlike the other kinds of Milanos.

Driving home as quickly as I could, I looked forward eating these cookies. In the world of chocolate, I rarely see a strawberry-chocolate combination. It really made me think because chocolate-covered strawberries are delicious. Candy makers should stop tippy-toeing around strawberries and chocolate and start making strawberry chocolate. I mean, they have orange chocolate, and have you ever tried chocolate-covered oranges? They're not that great. Unlike of course, chocolate-covered strawberries.

Once I got home, I pulled out one of these:


Looking at the bag, I was somewhat disappointed with what I got. I was expecting a good layer of strawberry filling, but it seemed as if there was a scant amount. I decided to break the cookie in half:


Eh...I suppose you can see the strawberry filling, but not really. How did it taste? Again, compared to Double Chocolate Milanos, the biscuits really steal the thunder, or I suppose mask it. Honestly, if you gave me these and Raspberry Milanos, I probably couldn't tell the difference. It's unfortunate that the strawberry-chocolate combination wasn't as great as I expected, but it's probably because the biscuit to chocolate ratio was uneven. I won't give up on finding a bar with this combination, but it's not found here. My verdict is that if you like Milanos then you should get these just to see if you like them. I'm still a Double Chocolate Milano man.

Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits: Fizzy logic

Skittles are a favorite of many people and they arguably make some of the best commercials. There are many varieties of Skittles and the biggest change before Fizzl'd Fruits was probably Sour Skittles. Sour Skittles were noticeably larger in size than other types of Skittles, they were covered in sour powder, and they were a bit harder than other Skittles. While they were good, Skittles didn't really come out with anything new for some time, which is understandable, because why would you mess with something good? They then came out with Skittles Crazy Cores which weren't that much different from other kinds of Skittles, despite advertising as being one color on the outside and another on the inside.

Things changed the other day when I went into 7-11 and near the checkout counter, I spotted both a new variety of Skittles and Starbursts. The flavors that were shown on the Summer Starbursts didn't really appeal to me, mainly watermelon, so I opted for the Skittles Fizzl'd Fruits.

As you can see, the bag is blue and the Skittles are sparkled, probably emphasizing that they fizzle. Here's what the candies look like:

The Skittles are powdery looking and have a coarser texture than other Skittles. Aesthetics aside, let's move on to the most important factor when it comes to candy which is the taste. Upon eating it I could tell that there was a definite fizz, but it's not the kind of fizz that I preferred. Imagine, if you will, drinking a soda with a large amount of head. This a fizz that I would describe as a "soft fizz" as in the fizz that you get when you drink the fizz on top of a soda. Some may like this, but I am not a fan. I'm more a fan of whatI call, "hard fizz", that is the fizz you get when you get to the soda itself. This fizz can be found in many Japanese candies and gives for a unique experience, especially when a candy is both fizzy and chewy. The flavors of the Skittles became eventually confusing when you eat a lot of them anyway, so I don't think it's necessary to discuss that. Overall I'd say that you should try it, but I can't see this candy really becoming anyone's favorite.

Milky Way: A Comparative Observation

A candy bar which I haven't sampled in some time is Milky Way. I don't remember much, except that it tasted better than a Three Musketeers bar but was not as good as a Snickers Bar. I noticed that two new variations of Milky Way have been released since the last time I had an original Milky Way. Midnight Dark I believe has been around for some years, but I just recently noticed Simply Caramel. I knew that at this point I would need to purchase the three different kinds of Milky Way bars and compare them. The following are the observations of this study:

Milky Way Original

The first bar that I tried was the original flavor Milky Way. As seen in the picture, the nougat and caramel inside of the bar of chocolate. The elements of the bar all blend very well, and perhaps the only fault of this candy bar is that it may be a tad too sweet. However, ideas like that subjective seeing as people may find it to be just the right amount of sweet. On a scale of 1 to 10 this candy bar would be a solid 7.

Milky Way Midnight Dark

As seen in the picture, the color of the chocolate is noticeably darker than the original Milky Way bar. The chocolate is indeed dark chocolate, being, in my opinion, just the right amount of sweet. You'll also notice the fluff or nougat is a lighter color. The sweetness of the fillings is balanced out nicely by the dark chocolate. This chocolate is able to be sweet without being overly sweet. I would give this bar a 7.5/10.

Milky Way Simply Caramel

The last one that was tested and tasted was the Milky Way Simply Caramel bar. The picture shows that the insides are indeed only caramel. Despite the lack of nougat however, the bar tends to taste like the Milky Way original bar. I was quite surprised and thought that maybe the caramel in the original bar may have overwhelmed the other elements of the rest of the bar. Whatever the case, this bar is a good choice for the chocolate+caramel lover as it is purely caramel on the inside. It is as it is labeled: Simply Caramel. Resembling it's original counter-part, this bar also receives a 7/10.

The importance of this study was to observe and document the differences of the three commonly available Milky Way bars. It was observed that the Milky Way Midnight Dark bar balanced the sweetness of its fillings with dark chocolate, while the other two bars may be preferred by those who like their candies sweeter. A surprising result was the Milky Way Simply Caramel bar closely resembled its original counterpart. Due to these observations, consumers can better judge which type of Milky Way bar they may purchase in the future.

Easter Candy Kick-off (now with my own pictures!)

My next entry will address another candy driven holiday: Easter. Ever since I started going to elementary school I've always associated Easter with candy due to school fundraisers. Now that I'm older, I still associate Easter with candy. It's right behind Christmas and Halloween when it comes to candy. In-fact, I much prefer Easter candy to Halloween candy because candy given out during Halloween is just regular candy in a different wrapper, whereas Easter candy is brightly colored and covered in candy shells. There are also chocolate rabbits distributed during Easter and until there are chocolate pumpkins during Halloween, Easter wins.

Now I went to my local Target and picked up the following items: Orange Creme Kisses, Coconut Creme Kisses, and Hershey Bliss Milk Chocolate Eggs.

Orange Creme Kisses

Notice the gold and orange wrapper, reminiscent of a combination of Almond Kisses wrappers combined with Caramel Kisses Wrappers.

What's under the wrapper.

No delicious filling, only more orange and creme.

Basically the Orange Creme Kisses are as they are named: orange creme. Imagine white chocolate with a tinge of orange flavor and you get the idea. It isn't my favorite flavor of Kisses seeing as how I'm not a big fan of orange and chocolate. However, if you love orange and white chocolate, you should definitely give this a try.

Next: Coconut Creme Kisses

Notice the fancy blue wrapper.

The exterior looks pretty much like a regular Hershey's Kiss. The inside is filled with shredded coconut.

So this is like a Mounds Bar except the coconut is a bit drier. If you like Mounds or Almond Joys, I would give this a try, but if you hate shredded coconut stay away from this variety of Kiss. If you're impartial, it's worth a try as well.


Finally, for now: Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate Egg

The wrapper comes in different colors, I just decided to choose blue.

I accidentally deleted the picture of the chocolate itself, but imagine a miniature chocolate egg. There you go.

So this candy was as expected: it's an egg shaped Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate candy. There were no surprises with this candy. If you like Hershey's Bliss, then this candy is the same as that.

Expect more to come, or don't, I'm not really sure if I'm going to do another Easter candy piece or if I'll finally get around to doing foreign candy. Maybe a little from column A, a little from column B.

Fasting, does it work for buffets?

First off let me say that not everyone was made for buffets. Some people, despite labeling themselves as "big eaters", are not big eaters. However, this should not deter people from going to buffets and trying to find what techniques work for them. This entry is only to discuss what techniques work for me. In the world of eating Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi are like the Scot Kazmeier and Pudzinowski of strongmen.

How do I prepare myself for a buffet? Before, I would eat rather small meals and then not eat anything at least three hours prior to the event. However, I have found a technique that is quite effective. For the past two or three weeks I've been eating a very calorie-light breakfast OR something that works wonder is drinking a whey protein shake for breakfast and having another one after you workout. Then I fast for the rest of the day until the AYCE dinner comes.

Other people may say that they've read that this method is ineffective. Not for me. Let me tell you, when I do this I feel none of the pain I normally would have from eating too much. I've obliterated through several plates of food with no overly full sensation at all. One night, when the dinner outing that night was canceled, I made myself over 2 lbs. of beef and ripped my way through various cereals, veggies, nuts, etc. and I was still hungry. The only thing that stops me now at buffets is the feeling of food coming up my throat. That is to say, food comes up the same way it went down. As in it hasn't stayed in my body for more than 5 minutes.

Now let's discuss how to attack a buffet. Some people still foolishly decide to pick the things they "like" even if what they like is a plateful of noodles that would cost $3 elesewhere and they're paying $10 - 15 here. Unless you're a heavy eater (like me) you cannot go in with reckless abandon. if the buffet you're at is an Asian buffet, you might consider attacking the sushi first. If they offer sashimi, score, if they offer only rolls and nigiri be careful. Sushi rice can weigh down on your stomach worse than regular fried rice. Meats are relatively heavy compared to everything else; chicken and beef tend sink to the bottom and have an immediate effect. This is why you'll see many people at Asian buffets go for the seafood, especially the Asian people. Crab legs and crawfish require a lot of work to get to the meat. Once you get to the meat, it isn't that heavy. Having to work for a relatively light meat means that you can extend your stay at a buffet for a half hour or more. What I usually find is that A LITTLE BIT of rice or noodles are preferable to meats. Like I said before, meats are heavy and they hit the stomach quickly. Veggies are a good choice, but watch out...the fiber may make you feel fuller than you really are. Fried foods are heavy and leave you feeling dirty afterward, so maybe you should get them on your 3rd or 4th plate. Desserts are easy to nibble on as most places serve either fruit or soft serve. Baked goods are generally not well done, unless you're in Vegas, so I prefer soft serve if it's available.

I may make another post regarding AYCE and buffet joints, I'm not sure. If an idea comes to my mind, I'll make sure to post it.

So this is the new year (18 days later)

I'm going to start the new year off with a downer: Reese's Select Clusters are awful. Unlike Reese's Select Cremes, which I will praise in a future post, Reese's Clusters are undeniably my worst candy surprise of 2010 thus far.


Being under the guise of a fancier Reese's candy, I had great expectations for this candy. I had already had Reese's Cremes, which were delightful, so I decided to try its Cluster counter-part. What I encountered was something terrible. As soon as I bit in I noticed, "There's peanuts in here...whole pieces..." I also noticed that the peanuts were lacking in flavor and dry. I continued to chew and also noted, "The components of this candy seem oddly familiar...and unappetizing." I discovered to my chagrin that these were Baby Ruths. I jest not, these candies are simply a more expensive version of the hated Baby Ruth candy bars that I started with in my opening post. As I looked in disgust, I was glad that the candy was on sale for only $3 as opposed to its usual $4. I can at least go back and purchase two bags of Reese's Select Cremes. Skip this candy if you are like me and not a fan of Baby Ruths.