Twix Coconut

Coconut is a touchy subject for some people. Some love it, some hate it. When I'm talking about coconut, I'm not talking about the fresh kind, I'm talking about the flavoring you find in candy of course. There are some people that love Almond Joys, while others may have a strong dislike for it. However, what would happen if you were to mix coconut with a beloved candy bar?

It's hard not to like Twix. Flavor wise, it's delicious. Texturally, it combines chewy and crunchy in a pleasing fashion. The only Twix variety I see a lot of in stores that isn't Original is Twix PB, so Twix Coconut is a bit of a risk, but it's Twix so it has to be good, right?

Cross section of a Twix Coconut bar

Texturally, this is still the Twix you know and love. However, when it comes to flavor, you have to ask yourself, "Do I like Twix more or do I like coconut flavoring more?" Well, if you like Twix more, you might not like this as much as Twix Original just because the coconut flavoring pretty much overwhelms everything else. I happen to like coconut, so I didn't mind it at all, but if you have an aversion to coconut this won't be your favorite. Overall, this is was good, but I think I would prefer Twix Original.

Twix Coconut: 8/10

Puccho Grape Gummyball (I think)

On the day of July 3rd I panicked. I owed my students candy, but some of the candy they wanted wasn't available at my regular candy spot. I drove a little farther and found not just the candy I was looking for, but I found some I had never seen before. I decided that this would be a perfect time to pick some up, seeing as how I wouldn't have this chance until the next weekend.

First up is a candy which has a name that I don't know. When it comes to these, it's usually really good or really bad. I'm not sure what's up with the mascot on the candy. He/she/it seems very angry for some reason. Probably because you're going to eat it. It sort of reminds me of a Buu from Dragon Ball Z. I do know, however, that it was grape because of the color. Purple always means grape.

Yeah, I'm not sure what this says. The English label with the nutritional information literally says "candy" where it should have a name

It looks kind of like a purple moth ball

The gelatinous inside of one of these suckers

The first thing that I thought was, "This is a pretty good sour candy, it even fizzles like soda candy". Generally, soda candies are sweet, but not this, it was very sour. Not Warhead sour, but still good. After a while, the candy began to crack, and I got to the second layer. The hard exterior was crumbling while I got a hit at the chewy insides. I didn't know whether it was gum or not because it was dissolving at a fast rate, but it seemed to get smaller. It eventually all melted and I thought, "That was pretty darn good." Because of the depth and many layers of the candy, I thought this was very good. I would like to try the soda flavored one in the future.

Puccho Grape Gummyball: 10/10

Ben & Jerry's: Phish Food

It's summer, it's hot, so that means it's time to indulge in everyone's favorite summertime treat: ice cream. Admittedly, I like ice cream during any weather, but during summer it tastes even better. It's a cool relief from the heat and it tastes delicious. Ergo, I decided to do a piece on it.

Ben & Jerry's is famous for not just their unique flavors, but for their price as well. A pint of Ben & Jerry's is around the same price as a quart of most other brands. However, you won't find flavors like Cherry Garcia or Chubby Hubby with other brands. That being said, I can appreciate a simple vanilla as much as something like Phish Food. This was inspired by a topic that I saw on the forums of bodybuilding.com, so I decided to go with a flavor that was regarded as one of the best.

The story behind the name. The band Phish apparently really likes Ben & Jerry's.

Overhead view of Phish Food

Given the choice between vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate ice cream, I would probably choose the first two over chocolate. I'm also not a big fan of Rocky Road, which is what this flavor's description was leading me to believe. However, this was a very good flavor. It was rich and like the other Ben & Jerry's flavors I have tried, there was a lot of stuff going on outside of the chocolate ice cream. It wasn't too sweet, and despite the picture above, there's A LOT of marshmallow and caramel swirls, which are also delicious. I guess the only thing that I can't gush about are the fudge fish. Whereas the rest of the ice cream is smooth and rich, the fudge fish are somewhat of a hindrance. They're like a protective measure to make sure you don't finish the ice cream too quickly. Even though they got in the way, the fish are still good and just think of them as overgrown chocolate chips. Unless you truly detest chocolate, I would say that this was a great flavor.

Ben & Jerry's: Phish Food: 9.5/10

Green Tea Oreo Soft Cookies

Today is my birthday. That doesn't mean there's going to be a special post or anything, I'm just putting it out there.

Summer is a bad time for candy. I'm not saying it's a bad time to eat candy, it's just that when you walk out of the store, you'd better eat that candy bar soon, or else you've got liquified candy. I've had a protein bar liquified after I left it too long in my car. It's a particularly bad time for chocolate candy because chocolate loses its shape so easily. As opposed to let's say, a bag of Skittles, a Hershey's chocolate bar is going to start melting in the first minute in the heat. Well it's a good thing the item I'm going to write about isn't candy then.

Green tea and Oreo cookies? Why not. I've had crisp Japanese cookies that have had green tea filling before, and they've been good, so why not the king of creme filled cookies? Admittedly, I've never had an Oreo Soft Cookie before, or a Cakester, as they're called in American stores. I always believed that it's hard to improve upon the original Oreo design, but why not give this a try.

These are individually wrapped

It looks a lot less appetizing in real life, let me tell you that. I think the heat pulled the cookies apart

This was the stain that was left behind. Kind of concerning

The initial flavor of the cookie is very much like the cookie part of an Oreo in that it is not sweet, but slightly bitter. The texture is much softer than an Oreo cookie (hence the name Soft Cookie), and it felt kind of oily. The filling, to my surprise, lacked sweetness. This was new to me because the cream filling of an Oreo is generally recognized as the best part of the cookie. When the cream is not sweet, but only subtly sweet, I'm not sure if I like it or not. Well, I guess if I have to ask myself, "Was this good?" then I think I know the answer. The smell of green tea was there, but I was hoping for a sweeter cream. If you're a fan of green tea and don't like your sweets to be too sweet, then this would be for you. However, I would probably spring for a bag of good old Oreo cookies instead of this.

Green Tea Oreo Soft Cookies: 5/10

Oh Henry!

Continuing with the theme of candy bars that not many people buy we have:

I’m not sure what to make of the name “Oh Henry!” but it apparently comes from the man who invented it, Tom Henry. It’s a good way to get your name out there I suppose. There are other theories out there, but I’ll just accept this one as the truth. Anyway, the wrapper looks very old-timey like a Mr. Goodbar. Candy bars like this seem like they would have been advertised in my brother’s old comic book collection, and they probably were. The description is nothing special, chocolate, fudge, caramel, and peanuts, which you can get with Snickers.

A cross section of an Oh Henry! bar. They come in two mini-bars

How would I rate an Oh Henry!? Well, the flavors are okay, there’s nothing special about them. The texture of the caramel is a bit rubbery and gives it a bouncy feel. The peanuts are just a smidge better than Baby Ruth peanuts. Overall, it’s an okay candy bar, but it’s not as good as the big names like Snickers. Try it for the texture, if nothing else.

Oh Henry!: 7/10

Apple Crisp Poppycock

Most Americans are familiar with caramel corn. Cracker Jack is one of the most recognized snack foods in the United States because it’s mentioned alongside peanuts in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. Outside of Cracker Jack, there are other brands selling caramel corn, but, sadly, none of them feature a prize.

Poppycock comes in a fancy re-zippable bag and offers different kinds of nuts outside of peanuts. This particular flavor interested me because who does Apple Crisp flavored anything? I suppose there are cookies flavored like this, but it seems odd to do this with caramel corn. However, I guess it makes sense, since caramel and apples go so well together. I don’t know how well dried apples and caramel corn go together though.

After assuming that I would be eating something that tasted like an apple crisp, I was mildly disappointed. The flavor of cinnamon was absent, and I couldn’t taste the apple due to the strong caramel flavor. If you poured this into a snack bowl and didn’t tell me that it was apple crisp flavored, I would have thought it was very good. It’s still very good, but it has undertones of disappointment due to my assumption that the cinnamon and apples would come through. Overall, good, but it’s hard to tell this from any other variety of Poppycock.

Apple Crisp Poppycock: 8/10

Big Cherry

Cherry and chocolate is a combination rarely seen outside of cherry cordials. Many people like chocolate. Many people have a preference for cherry when they eat fruit candies. Why not combine the two? Keeping in theme with candy you don’t really come across very often, I decided to write about another one.

Big Cherry certainly would be a big cherry if it were really that big. However, it is a cherry surrounded by cherry syrup, covered in chocolate, and sprinkled with nuts for good measure. I’m not a big fan of cherry cordials, but I am a big fan of adventure when it comes to food.

This looks kinda bad

Oh my...

Welp

Well, it tastes better than it looks is all I have to say. The chocolate wasn’t an enjoyable experience as it was far too nutty for my liking. Honestly, every bite was too nut-laden to enjoy the chocolate. The syrup was a bit too sweet for my liking and didn’t lend enough cherry flavor or smell. The cherry was a cherry drowned in syrup and dying of sugar asphyxiation. This was not a very enjoyable candy for me, but if you enjoy cherry flavored candies then you could give it a try.

Big Cherry: 6/10