Kit Kat Soy Sauce

parent co: Nestle

pkg. size: 3.5"x1.6"

candy size: 2.5"x1.25"

weight: .8 oz

quantity: 2 mini bars

country: japan

description: shouyu (soy sauce) flavored chocolate surrounds the classic kit kat wafer with more sweet soy sauce chocolate cream between the wafers

i can always get behind a japanese KitKat, they have awesome flavors and i love wafers. the soy sauce variation is quite a thing to behold. while it looks like white chocolate, the taste is far from that blandest of the bland-tasting chocolates. while i definitely taste the saltiness of the soy sauce, there is also the distinct taste of maple in here. i never thought soy sauce had a maple taste, but since eating this and trying real soy sauce again, i can say that i see where that would come from. it's definitely a good thing as far as the candy goes - a straight up salty soy sauce flavor would probably be too much, but taking the maple undertones in with it really gives it a robust, sweet n' salty taste. i like it. the nice thing about the limited edition flavors is that they're limited, so you're pretty much guaranteed freshness, which is important when consuming candies containing wafers - they go stale, you know.

rating: 9

ingredients: sugar, vegetable fat, lactose, wheat flour, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, soy sauce powder, processed sugar, cocoa powder, yeast, cocoa mass, salt, emulsifiers (including soybeans), caramel pigment, flavoring, food yeast, baking soda

allergy information: includes egg, soy and flour

KitKat Banana

parent co.: Nestle

pkg. size: 3.5"x1.6"

candy size: 2.5"x1.25"

weight: .8 oz

quantity: 2 mini bars

country: japan

description: brown banana flavored chocolate surrounds the classic kit kat wafer with more banana cream between the wafers

every time i tell people about japanese Kit Kats and all the fun flavors, they want to know why we don't get them over here in the states. the funny thing about Kit Kat is that in the united states it is produced by Hershey, whereas in the rest of the world it is produced by Nestle. this is all due to a licensing agreement between Hershey and Nestle that has been in effect since 1969. while this might seem trivial to the average consumer, true candy enthusiasts will know the difference between Hershey's sour milk chocolate and the much more enjoyable milk chocolate of Nestle. i don't much care for Hershey's milk chocolate (with a few exceptions, of course), but that's a personal preference; i know many americans prefer Hershey's to other brands. at any rate, that licensing agreement is why we don't get the cool flavors that Nestle produces: Hershey is lame and unimaginative. but enough of that, back to the real issue at hand: banana Kit Kats. they are delicious. banana is a tough flavor to recreate without it tasting really phony; it's often too strong whereas real bananas are subtle. while this Kit Kat does have a bit of a phony banana taste to it, it's much better than other banana candies i've tried. of course, i love banana, so this was bound to be good for me. i really love that they chose to keep the chocolate flavor in play here, often i feel it gets abandoned completely for the other flavors (which i generally have no complaints about), here it helps balance the strong banana flavor (not to mention the brown is much more appealing than a bright yellow would be). again, crispy wafers and creamy, smooth filling - another successful Kit Kat.

rating: 9

ingredients: n/a

allergy information: n/a

Valentine's Day 2010 Recap: SweeTarts Hearts Gummies

parent co.: Wonka; Nestle

pkg. size: L-7.5" x H-6"

candy size: 1" diam.

weight: 11 oz.

quantity: 70-75

country: united states

description: tangy candy

more photos

these are kind of gross. they are cloying and way too sticky in my teeth. perhaps the most disappointing thing is the fact that they have no specific flavor. just sweet and sour, which can be good in some cases, but not this one. after eating a few i felt the need to brush my teeth, and possibly get a good cleaning from the dentist. i've already made my appointment.

rating: 2

ingredients: glucose syrup, sugar, water, potato starch, gelatin, and less than 2% of tartaric acid, malic acid, sorbitol, fumaric acid, lactic acid, calcium lactate, sodium ascorbate, artificial flavors, citric acid, fruit and vegetable juice colors, color added, sulfiting agent (for color retention), wheat and corn starch

allergy information: made on equipment that also processes milk

Fun Dip Tropical

when i spotted this "new" Fun Dip Tropical i immediately grabbed it, since b.paul loves the original Fun Dip, plus how can you go wrong with mango? the flavored sugars are actually really good. where the original has cherry, grape and blue raspberry-lime, the tropical flavors are strawberry, mango and watermelon. i probably wouldn't consider strawberry to be a tropical flavor, but it's an improvement on cherry, so i won't complain. the mango was definitely my favorite, it's got a nice mango flavor, with a slightly tart aftertaste. the watermelon tastes a lot like a powdered Jolly Rancher, which isn't bad. a little phony, but still good. the strawberry tastes pretty much like what you'd expect from artificial strawberry flavor. what i didn't notice before was that the sticks in this version aren't the classic white calcium-flavored sticks, but a "tropical" lime-flavored replacement. if it weren't for these sticks this Fun Dip would be a huge improvement on the original. but alas, these sticks taste like bitter lime peel and lemongrass. i don't know what flavors they're using (the package just says artificial flavoring), but they are not working in their favor. fortunately i had an original Fun Dip also, so i took one of the sticks out of that and used it. my advice to Wonka: use the regular sticks and not the crappy lime.

rating: 7

Very Berry Nerds Rope

b.paul loves Nerds and therefore Nerds Ropes are a common sight in our home. i've never seen this Very Berry version before but i'm sure it's more common than i think, i'm just not very aware. i immediately liked this one better than the original because of the blueness of it: blue packaging, different shades of blue Nerds, and what's that, is there a blue licorice rope in there? no. no there is not. they lured me over, the reeled me in and then they unhooked me and threw me back. why not a blue rope? yeah, it doesn't really matter because the licorice here is (to my taste) a berry flavor so it's better than the regular cherry or whatever that other one is. the Nerds are all quite berry-tasting too. although i can't taste any specific berries in here, they have that "berry" flavor - kind of strawberry, kind of raspberry. i do like the rope here, it's not brittle, chewy enough to pull at but not stringy. i would definitely pick this over the original, but it's still pretty sugary (sometimes Nerds hurt my teeth. like pixie sticks).

rating: 5

Yorkie

i'm not really sure why this bar is not for girls, but it's a pretty straightforward bar. i had thought that there might be some crispies in it or something, since the wrapper makes reference to the bar as being "chunky," but apparently that just means that it comes in big, chunky segments. again, not being a huge fan of plain milk chocolate this wouldn't be my first choice in candy bar, but when compared to a Hershey's milk chocolate bar i would say this is a bit better. the chocolate is smooth, not greasy, but with a slightly milky aftertaste. another tidbit of info: the name yorkie is a reference to the original producer of the bar, Rowntree's of York. interesting.

rating: 5

Bit-O-Honey

Bit-O-Honey is a childhood favorite of mine, although i can't help feeling guilty eating them much anymore. they have hydrogenated oils in them, you know. but candy isn't supposed to be good for you, and so i don't care that much and still enjoy the occasional chewy delight. sadly it is cold here, and so it is cold in my house, and thus all of my taffy-like candy has turned hard. under normal conditions these little taffies have such a good chew, a bit resistant at first but then melting into stretchy, chewy goodness. they're much tougher than a fruit chew. i also really enjoy the flavor, it does have a bit of honey (aptly named candy is good) taste to it and it actually contains honey. less than 2% but hey, it's real honey. the overall taste i get is just kind of buttery, not quite toffee, but somewhere in between honey and toffee.

rating: 8

Aero Mint

for those of you who haven't tried the Aero bar, i am sorry. but let me explain what exactly it is: wonderful. it is just wonderful. but really, the original Aero bar is just a milk chocolate bar puffed full of air so that it has a delightful texture, kind of crumbly, kind of puffy. in this version there's a puffed mint inside with a milk chocolate coating.

there, you can see the airy mint insides for yourself. it's really great, it kind of falls apart in your mouth. also, it's good for sucking on. aside from the texture this aero also has a great flavor. it's minty, but more in a creme de menthe fashion than a strong peppermint (think Andes mint not starlight mint). i appreciate this kind of mint, because i can actually eat as much of it as i want, sometimes the stronger mint (Junior Mints, peppermint patties) is too much for me. coupled with the smooth chocolate, it really is kind of like a giant Andes mint. very tasty.

rating: 9