Mint Chocolate M&Ms

Hi guys! I've just found out this morning that I'm going on a short trip, so here's a rushed review of my last Christmas product. I'll be back sometime next week -- probably on the 2nd -- and this blog will have a whole new face for the new year!

The M&Ms line has expanded lately. Dark and Dark Peanut have been added as regular flavors, and we’ve also seen a few limited editions pop up, such us Razzberry, Cherry Cordial, and this Mint Chocolate M&Ms.

Being a Holiday Mix, these come in red and two shades of green. They are a little bigger than plain M&Ms, being close in size to the Peanut Butter, I think. They are shaped irregularly, and in the picture you can see my favorite little conjoined Mint M&M.

They are a mint infused milk chocolate M&M, and honestly, that’s the best way to describe them. I think they taste like an Andes Mint, but I don’t have any on hand to do an actual comparison.

I liked these a lot better than Hershey’s attempt at mint infused milk chocolate. In retrospect, the mint probably doesn’t do well with that Hershey’s tang.

I think these are a nice seasonal item. I wouldn’t want to have them all the time, but popping up once a year is fine.

Ingredient Watch: All clear.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is about 1/4 cup of M&Ms. Each serving contains 210 calories, 9g of fat, 26g of sugar, and 2g of protein.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Mint Chocolate M&Ms
Brand: Mars
Store: Target
Price: $2.00 (11oz)

A Russell Stover Christmas

We’ve already had a Russell Stover Halloween; now it’s time for a Russell Stover Christmas. The products that I reviewed for Halloween are available in Santa forms, but I chose a few new products this time. There are still a few varieties that I passed on though. I guess we’ll get to those for Easter!

Coconut Wreath: I wouldn’t call this a wreath. I would call it an unattractive (but tasty) dollop of milk chocolate and toasted coconut. I usually don’t care for coconut. I like the flavor but find the stringy texture unappealing. However, the coconut here is toasted and crispy, which lends a great crunchy texture. This is a simple, sweet mix of chocolate and coconut, and I really liked it! (140 calories, 9g of fat, 11g of sugar, 2g of protein.)

Rating: 8/10


Chocolate Marshmallow Snowman: This petite snowman is chocolate marshmallow covered in milk chocolate. The chocolate marshmallow has a mild cocoa flavor and is super soft, smooth, and springy. It’s less sweet than a typical marshmallow, but the bar’s sweetness is kicked up by the milk chocolate coating.

Unfortunately, this contains sorbitol, an artificial sweetener, which really irks me. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think that artificial sweeteners belong in candy. Of course, neither do partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. But I’m sensitive to artificial sweeteners, so the inclusion is a little more bothersome -- I didn’t bother to read the ingredients until after I ate this. Still, it’s Christmas, so I’ll give it the rating I would have given it sans sorbitol. I’m sure some of you don’t care about it! (100 calories, 3g of fat, 13g of sugar, 1g of protein.)

Rating: 7/10


Marshmallow Santa in Dark Chocolate: When I reviewed Halloween’s Buzzard Egg, I mentioned that I would like to see a dark chocolate covered marshmallow. Well, here it is! I think that Santa shape here is actually pretty well done. I can definitely make out his outline.

Again we’ve got soft, springy marshmallow. One thing I like about Russell Stover’s holidays products is that they are fresh. This really shows in their marshmallow products. (I also like the line because it’s very cheap -- 39 cents a piece!)

The marshmallow is sweet, but the semi-sweet chocolate tones it down. It’s not nearly as sweet as the milk chocolate covered marshmallow is. The chocolate comes though more, lending a better balance.

However, again with the sorbitol. Again I’ll let it slide for the rating. I should know the read the ingredients before I eat something. This is something I do with everything I consume except for candy. I say I’ll try any candy once, but artificial sweeteners are a no go for me. (So much for the Peppermint Peeps!) (110 calories, 3g of fat, 14g of sugar, 1g of protein.)

Rating: 8/10

Brand: Russell Stover
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.39 each

Hershey's Mint Miniatures

The Mint Miniatures are milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and white confection infused with peppermint flavor. They smelled strongly of mint, even when they were still sealed inside the bag. I stored them separate from my other candy because I was afraid the mint would infect the other goods.

Mint Milk Chocolate: These are very strongly minted. Seriously. The blast of cool peppermint is really too much for me. I didn’t enjoy the intense mint mixed with so much sweet chocolate. Rating: 4/10

Mint Sweet Chocolate: The mint flavor is more subtle here. Mint seems to compliment darker chocolate better, and this is much more pleasant that the milk variety. Rating: 5/10

Mint White Crème with Candy Bits: These are basically flat Candy Cane Kisses studded with red and green nonpareils, so I’ll just refer you back to that review. I know I gave those a better rating, but I'm sick of white confection.. I want some white chocolate! Rating: 6/10

Overall, I wasn’t too crazy about these, which I think is reflected in the quick review. The best tasting were the white, but I only had a couple because, like the Candy Cane Kisses, they are made with inferior ingredients.

Nutrition Breakdown: Servings size is 4 pieces. Each serving contains 170 calories, 10g of fat, 20g of sugar, and 3g of protein.

Name: Hershey’s Miniature Mint Collection
Brand: Hershey’s
Store: Walgreens
Price: $1.00 (8.5oz)

Nestle Meets Santa Clause is Comin' to Town

Santa Clause Is Comin’ To Town is one of the classic stop-motion Christmas specials -- you know, the one with the Burgermeister Meisterburger. I’m not exactly sure how it ties in with Nestle, but let’s just go with it.

These come in Nestle Crunch and Butterfinger. The wrappers feature jolly old Santa, a few snowflakes, and the North Pole pole. Nostalgic. The chocolate medallions also feature Santa, which is a little weird. I feel bad eating this with Santa’s little molded face staring back at me. I don’t want to end up on the naughty list!

Butterfinger: Regular Butterfingers are covered in lackluster mockolate. This however, is made with real milk chocolate. That’s a necessity, because this is mostly chocolate. There are plenty crispy little Butterfinger bits that bring the salty peanut butter flavor, but it’s nothing close to the full on peanut butter blast of the Butterfinger.

I like this and I’m glad to have tried it with real milk chocolate. That being said, Nestle chocolate isn’t a favorite of mine, so I feel pretty ‘meh’ towards it.

This contains partially hydrogenated oils (most likely in the Butterfinger bits). The label does note that this “adds a trivial amount of trans fat.” So a slight tip of the hat to Nestle for at least noting that. (160 calories, 8g of fat, 18g of sugar, and 2g of protein per medallion)

Rating: 6/10


Nestle Crunch: So, this is pretty much a round Nestle Crunch; we’ve got the familiar sweet Nestle chocolate and crispy rice bits. I may say that I’m not crazy about Nestle chocolate -- and I’m not -- but the Nestle Crunch always wins me over in the end. It’s slightly malty, and I love malt. It’s familiar and good, but still, I want more from it. With a little more flavor, a little more maltiness, I would reach for these more often.

To it’s credit, this is free from any suspect ingredients. (170 calories, 9g of fat, 19g of sugar, and 1g of protein per medallion)

Rating: 7/10

Name: Santa Clause Is Comin’ To Town Butterfinger and Nestle Crunch
Brand: Nestle
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.50

KitKat Holiday Assorment

I’ve always underappreciated the KitKat. It’s never been a go-to candy for me, but every time I have one I remember how good they are. After eating my way through this assortment I’m a bit more interested in the KitKat and the wacky flavors you can find across the world. This assortment is pretty classic though: milk, dark, and white KitKats.


Milk Chocolate (red): This is your classic KitKat, but the smaller size throws off the proportions a little. There is more chocolate to wafer here, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. It’s sweet and perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. Scrumptious! Rating: 9/10

Mildly Sweet Dark Chocolate (dark brown): I’ve never had a Dark KitKat, but I’ve heard people rave about it. I have to admit that I was a little under-whelmed by this. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away. The initial flavor reminded me strongly of coffee, but that morphed into a semi-sweet chocolate chip flavor, which overtook the wafer. I think this would be very nice in a regular size, with more wafer to chocolate. Rating: 7/10

White Candy (white): Note that this is white confection, not white chocolate. That’s because it’s made with various vegetable oils, not pure cocoa butter. I’ve come to expect that with most mass-produced white products. Still, I did enjoy these. It has a strong vanilla flavor that works well with the wafers. Rating: 7/10

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 5 pieces. Each serving contains 210 calories, 12g of fat, 20g of sugar, and 3g of protein.

Name: KitKat Assorted Minis
Brand: Hershey’s
Store: Target
Price: $1.66 (11oz)

Snickers Nutcracker

I picked this up with the Snickers Crème Pumpkin in mind. This is labeled Snickers Nutcracker, with no trace of the word crème in sight. Would it contain nougat or not? I figured that the odds were 75% in favor of there being no nougat and… there was no nougat. As with the Crème Pumpkin, this is a nougat-less, extra sweet Snickers. Yummy!

Ingredient Watch: Partially hydrogenated soybean oil in the caramel.

Nutrition Breakdown: Once again, there are no nutrition facts on the individual pieces. Boo. I did look at a multi-pack in the store to get the calorie count… but I forgot to write it down. I'm pretty sure it was 140 calories per Nutcracker, but don’t hold me on that.

Rating: 8/10

Name: Snickers Nutcracker
Brand: Mars
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.50

Fannie May Pixie

Fannie May is a Chicago-based candy company. One of their bestsellers is the Pixie, which is pecans and caramel surrounded by milk chocolate. It’s basically a big (1.5 oz) turtle. These aren’t a seasonal product, but the wrapper is decorated with festive holly leaves. I’m not sure if they sell them individually wrapped outside of the holiday season.

The caramel is soft, thick, and matte. It slightly buttery, but really lacking in burnt sugar notes. I’d like a darker flavor. Underneath the thick caramel layer are several large pecan pieces. Unfortunately, the premium sized pieces lack in other departments. They are mushy, not crunchy at all. Nor are they buttery, which is how I would describe a good toasted pecan. The whole thing was pretty lackluster.

Ingredient Watch: I spy partially hydrogenated oils in the caramel.

Nutrition Breakdown: Each Pixie contains 180 calories, 12g of fat, 14g of sugar, and 2g of protein.

Bottom Line: A bland take on a turtle.

Rating: 5/10

Name: Pixie
Brand: Fannie May
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.99

Nestle Tollhouse Jingles

Jingles are Nestle’s seasonal bell-shaped chocolates. They come in Nestle Crunch, Butterfinger, and Nestle Tollhouse flavor. I picked up the Tollhouse because I wanted to try something a little different. Nestle describes these as “cookie pieces in real milk chocolate.”


These are little molded bells dressed in red, green, and gold wrappers. (The gold aren’t pictured because my cousins got into the bag and picked them all out.) The chocolate is typical of what you get with a Nestle Crunch, which, for me, is pretty nondescript. I can’t say that I’m overly fond of it, but it’s not bad. The little cookie bits don’t really add much flavor, just crunchiness. Really, this is like a Nestle Crunch with chunkier bits.

Ingredient Watch: We've got partially hydrogenated oils near the end of the list.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 5 pieces. Each serving has 200 calories, 11g of fat, 22g of sugar, and 2g of protein.

Bottom Line: These are fine, but are somehow not as satisfying as a Nestle Crunch.

Rating: 6/10

Name: Nestle Tollhouse Jingles
Brand: Nestle
Store: Target
Price: $1.66

Hot Cocoa Creme Kisses

I've been curious about these. How can hot cocoa work as a flavor? What sets hot cocoa apart is the fact that it is hot; aside from that you just have chocolate milk. Still, I think they probably captured the flavor as best as they could. I suppose they could have thrown in some marshmallow flavor. After all, who doesn't have marshmallows with their hot cocoa? But no, no marshmallow here (and it may be better that way).

These are reminiscent of a regular Hershey's Kiss, but a bit milkier. It's smooth, milky chocolate creme surrounded by classic Hershey's milk chocolate. They're sweet, but not throat burningly so. I find them rather comforting, actually. I think that fits in with the hot cocoa theme. They really remind me of homemade chocolate buttercream icing.

Ingredient Watch: These contain PGPR.

Nutrition Breakdown: Serving size is 9 pieces. There are 210 calories, 13g of fat, 23g of sugar, and 3g of protein per serving.

Bottom Line: This remind me of comforting, homemade chocolate icing. That can't be bad.

Rating: 7/10

Name: Hot Cocoa Creme Kisses
Brand: Hershey's
Store: Walgreens
Price: $1.00 (8.5oz)

Cadbury Sugar Shell Chocolates

These Cadbury chocolates are the Christmas version of Easter's Cadbury Mini Eggs. I'm already a big fan of the Mini Eggs, and these aren't much different. They are little spheres of Cadbury milk chocolate – sweet, dairy, and smooth. They're quite yummy... and addicting!

The shells are crispier than an M&M. They don't have much flavor, but I don't expect them to. The colors are green, red, and white, and I can't help but notice that my bag is overwhelmingly green.

The name of these bugs me. Or rather, the lack of name bugs me. I'm not sure what to call them. The bag just says Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolates with a Crisp Sugar Shell. Okay. I don't see why these can't be Mini Ornaments. After all, Cadbury now has an Ornament Creme Egg. You can read my post over at Sugar Savvy about that.

These contain PGPR. That makes me sad. I really love these but bad ingredients knocks it down a couple points.

Bottom line: I adore these far more than I should. But PGPR is a real turnoff. Still..

Rating: 8/10

Name: Solid Milk Chocolates (with a Crisp Sugar Shell)
Brand: Cadbury (under Hershey's)
Store: Walgreens
Price: $1.00 (8.5oz)

Hershey's Whole Bean Chocolate

I picked this up without knowing what it was. It was on sale for $1, so I thought, “Why not?”

I did a little research and found that this is part of Hershey's "Goodness" product line. Here's the deal: It's healthy chocolate! Healthy milk chocolate! The wrapper boasts 40% less sugar than the leading milk chocolate bar (which I assume is the Hershey bar). It also has 7g of fiber, 4g of protein, and 25% of the DRV of calcium per serving. Those stats aren't bad. Each serving still has 215 calories however, so it's not exactly diet food. The extra fiber comes from added inulin fiber, and the extra calcium comes from calcium carbonate.

Don't get too excited just yet though. I, at least, have a big problem with this bar. It contains sucralose, an artificial sweetener, aka Splenda. I do NOT like artificial sweeteners in my food, especially in my candy. I want sugar in my candy! Natural sugar! Artificial sweeteners have a terrible aftertaste. But more importantly, they irritate my stomach. I can't even have sugar-gum anymore.

This bar also contains PGPR, which, according to Wikipedia, is an emulsifier made from the castor oil plant. Ew. It's a cheap substitute for the cocoa butter in chocolate. A lot of mainstream bars contain this now, but this bar retails for $2 and is supposed to be “Whole Bean!” It shouldn't contain PGPR.

So I almost chucked this out, but I was curious and decided to have a piece.

Well, it smells like a Hershey bar. It even tastes a bit like a Hershey bar, just milder. It starts with that classic Hershey's tang, then morphs into something that reminds me of chocolate milk mix. It's not bad. It's smooth and melts well. I didn't notice any aftertaste, but I only had 2-3 bites. It's what the wrapper claims: "sweet, smooth milk chocolate.”

So I'm not going to rate this. I can't rate it fairly. The ingredients totally turn me off. The taste is fine, and it could be nice for people trying to decrease their sugar intake.

But if I want less sugar and more fiber/protein, I'm not going to look for a candy bar. I'll go with a nice granola bar like Kashi, which doesn't contain unnatural sweeteners!

Name: Whole Bean Chocolate
Brand: Hershey's
Price: $1.00
Store: Big Lots

Hebert's Fully Loaded Rocky Road

The Fully Loaded bars are slabs of chocolate ‘loaded’ with extras on one side. It’s not filled, just covered. The Rocky Road bar is a slab of milk chocolate covered with dark chocolate pieces, walnuts, and “marshmallow.”


I put marshmallow in quotes because this bar doesn’t contain any actual marshmallow. Instead, it’s covered with what seems to be white chocolate. I suppose this is because marshmallows would go stale if you just slapped them on top of a bar. While the white confection adds marshmallow-like sweetness, the texture is totally lost.

In fact, I think the whole concept of Rocky Road is lost. Rocky Road is just chocolate, marshmallow, and nuts, isn't it? Without real marshmallow, can we really call this Rocky Road? The walnuts occasionally come in with a nice nutty flavor, but it's not enough.

The slab of chocolate itself is nice. It's rich and milky. But it overwhelms the other flavors, which are supposed to be the highlight of the bar.

I liked this bar just fine, but it didn't live up to it's name. Still, I'm interested in the other Fully Loaded bars, including the Dark Chocolate Turtle that's sitting in my candy chest!

Rating: 6/10

Name: Fully Loaded Rocky Road
Brand: Hebert's Confections
Store: Walgreens
Price: $1.50

World's Finest Chocolate Continental Almonds

The scene: A lazy Sunday afternoon and a knock at the door. I answered to find an adorable little kindergartener accompanied by his dad and a case full of chocolate.

“Would you like to buy some candy?”

Because I'm a sucker for candy and cute little kids, I bought a box. The kids at my local elementary school have been selling World's Finest Chocolate since I went there -- probably even longer. According to their website, the company has been doing fund-raisers since 1949.

I've always thought that you could only get World's Finest products through fund-raisers, but I've recently seen the brand in retail locations. The website says they began their retail line in 2003 though, so I'm a little behind.

Continental Almonds are milk chocolate covered almonds. The almonds are fresh and crunchy. They are consistent in size, and I would say they are fairly large, but I don't know how big almonds get! They are covered in a thick layer of milk chocolate. The chocolate is milky and has a good melt. I like to let the chocolate melt and then crunch down on the almond. Yum!

I really like these and buy them every year. I wouldn't call it the world's finest chocolate, but it is pretty darn good. It was a treat when I was a kid though, so I may be biased.

Rating: 8/10

Name: Continental Almonds
Brand: World's Finest Chocolate
Store: Cute Fund-raising Kindergartener
Price: $2.00

Goo Goo Peanut Butter

The Goo Goo Cluster is made by the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, TN. It's one of the few surviving regional candies. I'm not sure if you can find them outside of the South. I'm in the New Orleans area, and I can find Goo Goos at discount stores and the “mom and pop” grocery store (a dying breed themselves) in my town. I don't ever see them at the big grocery chains.

The Goo Goo Cluster comes in the original, Supreme, and Peanut Butter version. I've tried the original and Supreme before, but this is my first Peanut Butter. I picked it up at a discount store even though it was due to expire in a month. I kind of regret that now, because it would probably get a better review if it were fresh. But I've got to take what I can get.

A Goo Goo Cluster is peanuts, marshmallow, and caramel covered in milk chocolate. The Goo Goo Peanut Butter is just peanut butter and peanuts covered with milk chocolate. It's not very attractive -- it's just a plop of ingredients -- but it has it's charm.

The peanuts obviously weren't fresh. They weren't crunchy, but they were awfully salty. The whole thing was too salty for me. The chocolate didn't add enough sweetness on it's own. I think they should have added (or rather, kept) either the caramel or marshmallow from the original Goo Goo. This would have added more sweetness and kept it more true to the original. It's just too much peanut butter.

While this bar has definite problems, I know it would have been better had it been fresh. I'll consider giving it a second chance if I find a fresh one.

Rating: 5/10

Name: Goo Goo Peanut Butter
Brand: Standard Candy Company
Store: Big Lots
Price: $0.40

A Russell Stover Halloween

Buzzard Egg
This is a marshmallow egg covered in milk chocolate. I didn't quite realize what it was until I got home. An egg? For Halloween? Did they decide to slap a buzzard on leftover Easter stock and call it Halloween candy?

Silliness aside, I actually like the packaging. The wrapper is a nice blackened purple/silver color and the buzzard looks sharp. I'm rather afraid of taking her egg.

The chocolate layer was very thin... and very sweet. The marshmallow was fluffy, soft, sticky... and very sweet. Yes, the whole thing was very, very sweet. Throat-burningly so. But that's okay with me; I like very sweet. I was also very pleased with the freshness of the marshmallow.

At 110 calories, this is a nice treat that I don't have to feel guilty about. I'd be interested in a dark chocolate version to cut some of the sweetness.

Rating: 6/10


Caramel Pumpkin
The caramel is chewy, with a nice stretch – I pulled it in half and the caramel stretched for a long time. However, it's lacking in taste. It's not buttery, salty, burnt, or even particularly sweet. It's not bad, but it's distinctly lackluster.

Rating: 5/10


Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin
I suppose this is the love child of the marshmallow egg and caramel pumpkin. Now, I know I just knocked the caramel pumpkin, but I wonder if my taste buds were off that day because the caramel here is much better. It's buttery, but it would benefit from some saltiness. The marshmallow adds sweetness and interesting texture.

Rating: 6/10


Coconut Cream Pumpkin
My first thought was, 'Wow, what a poor misshapen pumpkin.' While the other two pumpkins actually resembled pumpkins, this looked much more like a hockey puck. It seemed very heavy and solid to me, almost like a chocolate covered cookie (or hockey puck). It's not pretty, but I can forgive that.

The middle didn't strike me as cream, but more like fluffy, sticky icing. I'm not sure that the cream is actually coconut flavored. It tasted mostly of vanilla, but there were pieces of coconut throughout. Not so much that it had that stringy texture, but enough to give it a nice flavor. Coconut isn't a preferred flavor of mine, but I liked this.

Rating: 7/10


Overall, I think these would be nice additions the special Halloween bags you might make for your kids/grandkids/other special kids in your life. They are also a nice, cheap treat to pick up for yourself. They are fresh and come in a greater variety than what I've reviewed here (orange marshmallow, strawberry creme, etc.).

The calorie count is much lower than a regular candy bar. The Buzzard Egg has 110 calories; the Caramel Pumpkin has 160; the Caramel Marshmallow Pumpkin has 120; the Coconut Creme Pumpkin has 150.

Brand: Russell Stover
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.39 each

Snickers Creme Pumpkin

I wasn't sure what to expect from the Snickers Creme Pumpkin. When I think of creme/cream in candy, my first thought is of something sweet and milky. My second thought is of something with a custard-like consistency.

But in the world of Snickers, creme apparently means “no nougat.” The Snickers Creme Pumpkin is just caramel and peanuts covered with milk chocolate; the regular nougat is missing. I don't have a regular Snickers to compare it to, but the caramel seems slightly runnier than usual; perhaps this contributes to the creme bit.

Aside from the name, I really liked the Snickers Creme Pumpkin. It was cute, like a tall, slim Jack-o-lantern. All of the flavors come though, especially the peanuts. There aren't a terrible lot of them, but the nutty and salty flavors are very clear. It's almost like peanut flavored caramel. I don't miss the nougat, but I haven't had an actual Snickers in some time, so I can't say how it compares.

I like the scaled down size, so I hope they introduce something similar for the other candy holidays. One reason I don't eat Snickers often is because it's just too much. It's nice to be able to pick this up. I might try to grab a few more if they go on sale after Halloween.

I am a bit annoyed that the nutrition facts aren't printed on the wrapper. I sent an email requesting the information, but it's been over a week and I haven't heard back from them. Boo Snickers!

Other than that, this was pretty darn tasty.

Rating: 8/10

Name: Snickers Creme Pumpkin
Brand: Mars
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.50

Twix PB

The Twix PB is a chocolate cookie topped with peanut butter and coated with milk chocolate. It sounds good – a chocolate covered peanut butter cookie – but I feel the three elements have trouble working together.

The cookie is bland. It adds a nice crunch to the bar, but there's little going on in the flavor department. The chocolate coating doesn't add much either. It cuts into the peanut butter with a little sweetness, but it's not providing that chocolate/peanut butter combination I adore.

In fact, all I'm really getting here is peanut butter. It's good, although perhaps a little on the oily side. It's slightly salty with a grainy texture, which I like. But I want more than just decent peanut butter from this bar. While I like the crunch the cookie adds, I can get the same effect by spreading some PB on a graham cracker.

In the end, I'm spoiled by the many superior peanut butter products out there, and this bar just can't compete. But if you're a fan of Twix or peanut butter, I still suggest giving it a try. It's not a bad bar (I did eat it!); it's just not something I'll reach for again.

Perhaps a dark chocolate coating would have added more chocolate flavor?

Rating: 5/10

Name: Twix PB
Brand: Mars
Store: Walgreens
Price: $0.69

Frey Cafe and Cacao

I noticed the Frey Supreme line of chocolate bars in the Target aisles a while back, but I've only just got around to trying them. They come in a wide range of flavors. I picked up the Cafe and Cacao, and I was going to get the Tiramisu, but decided to have some fun with the Hot Chili Pepper instead. I'll have a review of that one later.

The bars are 100 gram tablets. They are rather thin, which I think gives them a nice snap. They are split into 10 pieces, so it's easy to snap pieces off to share. A serving size is four squares (so 2.5 servings per tablet). One serving of the Cafe and Cacao is 210 calories.

The Cafe and Cacao is supposed to be "extra fine milk chocolate with coffee and crispy cocoa nibs." That's right up my alley; I love nibby bars and coffee flavor. So, naturally, I ripped this open as soon as I got into my car and ate half of it for lunch (healthy, I know). The rest of it disappeared over the course of the next day, so I'm writing this from memory. This also means that I don't have any pictures, which I'll try to include in the future.

The bar smells like a sweet hazelnut coffee, and upon checking the ingredients I see there are ground hazelnuts in there (another favorite of mine). The chocolate is sweet and milky with a fairly creamy texture. The coffee comes through, but not overwhelming so. It's definitely sweetened by the hazelnuts. I really enjoyed the texture of this bar. While the chocolate is creamy, the cacao nibs (and I suppose the ground hazelnuts) give it a nice crunch and an extra chocolate punch.

Now, I am biased towards this bar because it combines some of my favorite flavors, especially coffee, which I don't think is used enough in candy. So my final rating?

Rating: 8/10

Name: Cafe and Cacao
Brand: Frey
Store: Target
Price: $1.66