Jelly Belly Ice Shaver and more!

It was just about a year ago that I posted about seeing the Jelly Belly Electric and Manual Ice Shavers in my local Target. Well, now that Summer 2013 is ramping up it looks like the ice shavers are back, and now with accessories! I spotted this at the local Wal-Mart this past weekend.

Interesting that last year they only had the single ice shaver, and now they've got a double, but I think it probably makes more sense if they're trying to sell this as a party novelty. I mean who wouldn't want a Jelly Belly Snow Cone?

Looking at the back we get a few bullet points on the device. Although I see it has two syrup dispensers I don't think you can make two different kinds of snow cones at once.

It wasn't until I went to Target the next day that I actually saw the original single nozzle electric shaver and the old manual shaver... so archaic.

I also saw these at Wal-Mart.

Of course you can buy extra cups sold separately.... sigh. I guess the hard plastic ones with the curly straws are the way to go for long term use; but how on earth are you going to stack those in your cupboard?

Now this is the most interesting thing to me. This is not part of the snow cone experience. This is in fact a way to make Jelly Belly freezies. Or popcicles, or icees, or Mr Freeze, or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods. (I guess here we should call them Lickety Sips (tm)). There were instructions on the inside of the wrapper but since I didn't buy it it I can't be sure of the process. I'd have to guess though that they suggest using the same syrup you make the Snow Cones out of and mix it with water then freeze. I'm interested in this though since I've always been partial to popcicles.

Finally we've got the flavors.

For some reason Wal-Mart didn't have the Berry Blue. I thought perhaps it had been discontinued but the I saw it at Target the next day.

I'd love to see more in this realm. How about some more uniquely Jelly Belly varieties? Where's my Tutti Frutti, wheres my Marshmallow, and yes I'm even saying where is my Buttered Popcorn?

If you start making those then you may just have a sale on your hands. Until then I think I'll keep walking down the aisle.

Love is in the Aisle

Its only a few scant days away from Valentines and there are some delicious goodies in the candy aisle.

Personally I'm not so much of a fan of simple changes to packaging, I really like it when candy and chocolate companies go out of their way to make something unique for the holidays.

Mixed in with the Valentines stuff there were a few early Easter items. Specifically Check out these egg shaped Lindors! Nice packaging on that :)

Also this 3 pack of Creme Eggs, has a To / From spot on the packaging. Since we don't usually give presents for Easter, or at least not that much... Do you think they are trying to get people to give Creme Eggs for Valentines?

I wish they would do a Valentines CReme Egg. Maybe strawberry flavored... it would be pretty good :D Anyhow, I'll have one or two Valentines reviews for you over the next week or so, just keep it locked right here.

Aisle Walk Mish Mash

I've got a few random things I wanted to post today. New and interesting always catches my eye and there has been no exception to that since I've been back in Canada. To start there are a few Limited Time items in the aisle... I suppose they're her just for the holidays, so check them out quickly if you're interested.

Yes that is in fact Cinnabon bread! Seems like a great idea, although personally I never go to Cinnabon I know there are a lot of people out there addicted to it so this is probably a win for them. They should sell Cinnabon branded frosting spread as a side for that bread.

This product has me concerned. I feel like I want it to be great. I mean Ritz are great, and fudge is great... so what could possibly go wrong? I suspect everything.

 

And as expected Little Debbie has gotten into the holiday spirit too with these Christmas Snack Cakes. I wonder if these have really been around as long as the dated graphics imply. That seems to be the Little Debbie motif for everything even if its brand new. I will say though that I like the back of the box since it has cut-out gift tags on it. Kinda weird, but maybe works if you're planning on giving a Little Debbie snack cake for Christmas...

Now here we have a bit of an odd, not overly seasonal special edition. You remember what the Aero bar is supposed to look like right? Well if not click here to check out my review from about a month ago. Why the bubbles need to be actual bubbles I'm not sure... Maybe it saves on chocolate overall. I don't think I'm a fan though.

Finally there's this:

That is a whole display case full of Jelly Belly scented air fresheners! Seriously, that's pretty awesome. I totally want my car smelling like Buttered Popcorn!

It's Begining to Look A Lot...

Like Christmas Candy time!!!

I was of course wandering down the aisle this week, and my goodness the Christmas stuff is out already!

There's some good stuff out already, but I expect more to be hitting the shelves around town soon. I picked up a few select goodies for review here, and you can expect some great stuff coming down the pipe for the holidays here at Walking the Candy Aisle. Starting most significantly with double reviews from now until Christmas. One regular and one Holiday themed (at least through November). Then I may switch over full time to Xmas candy.

A few specific Holiday treats jumped out at me that I thought I'd share.

Nice Kinder packaging here.  I'm thinking about kicking off the new year doing some stuff on Kinder here on the blog. Maybe now's the time to dig in.

I've been seeing these 3-Dees all over the place lately, but they just seem so dumb that I've been trying to avoid them. I mean fruit gummies come and go every day... are these so different? Anyhow, these certainly got the licenses.

Now here's a gift box I'd like to receive!

You knew it had to happen right. I mean the Angry Birds are EVERYWHERE!

I get that Mini Eggs are everywhere now, but why exactly are they Christmas themed??? What animal lays its eggs in the middle of winter?! That seems totally reckless for both chickens and rabbits.

Hooray for alcohol chocolates! Both Lindt and Baileys themselves have gotten into the game. Awesome. I can't wait to try (and review) these for the blog!

Something that could surely only be made and sold in Canada, the Reese Half Pound Peanut Butter Cup!!! Holy Moly that's a big peanut butter cup!

Zami launching into competition with Kinder comes out swinging with these holiday themed Winne the Pooh ornaments inside milk chocolate eggs! Is this a good idea or a terrible one?

And holiday themed Kit Kats. These are essentially just Kit Kat minis (the same size as the 2 stick ones) but they've got a picture of jolly old Saint Nick on them. I picked one of these up immediately.

 Very cute. I like the smile, and the mittens.

Weird thing to break a kit kat across the middle... but that's how this was designed. Still tastes just as good though :)

I'm looking forward to a great Christmas here on the Candy Aisle blog. I hope you'll stick with me and enjoy the festive season!

Jelly Belly Ice Shaver in the aisle

So I was perusing my local Target this weekend and what should I see but more Jelly Belly! In fact it was the Jelly Belly ice shaver. for those days when you just can get enough jelly belly, now you can enjoy them in snow cone form.

Sorry for the picture quality here, I had my kid on my shoulders while trying to take these pics.

OK seriously, who's going for the manual when you can have the deluxe electric version?!

Possibly even more exciting than the machine though is the syrup. Oh man, can't you just imagine how sricky sweet these must be. I mean that pure concentrated Jelly Belly flavor! Thats a pretty intense proposition. I remember one time I drank a big bottle of this of Mikes Hard Lemonade before I realized that it was a concentrate.... yes pretty stupid i know but I was also VERY drunk by that point. These would, I'm sure, be amazing on my corn flakes...

 They come in "Very Cherry". "Grape Soda", "Green Apple", "Berry Blue".... AND:

Probably the best idea ever. Why aren't all snow cones cotton candy flavored???

I'd definitely like to see a buttered popcorn syrup too, but for now this will do. Here's a link to where you can get these babies online.

Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans - video review

More delicious jelly beans? Yes! its time to look at Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans.


For more please check out the written review or all of the Candy Aisle reviews on the Reviews Page.

Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans review

After the Jelly Belly review a few weeks ago I've been jonesing for more of those tasty treats, and so today I've got what I'm anticipating is the next best thing. I'm looking at a true competitor to Jelly Belly, its Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Bean

  

Ok, so lets be fair, "true competitor" is probably too strong a term for these beans. I will be VERY surprised if they are better than Jelly Bellys. That is because Jelly Belly is the king of gourmet jelly beans and literally everything else is just wannabes. So I may have some bias going in, however you know me... I want these to be good. So lets keep our fingers crossed.

Starting with the packing, this is a real conundrum. The bag design: colors, fonts, and graphic layout is awful. What are they thinking?! If it weren't for the fact that I'm actually trying to pay attention here I'd swear this is the generic drug store brand. Gimbals, you need to hire someone who knows how to layout an interesting package, because this is the definition of generic. It really makes me upset to see shuch shoddy work from a company purporting to be legitimate. ok breathe...

Looking at the back is a bit better. Check out all of those flavors!!! 41 in total here, honestly its probably a bit too many to practically enjoy in any discerning way, but I'm impressed that its such a cornucopia of flavors. And some of these flavors just jump out as pretty original:  orange n cream, strawberry cheesecake, french vanilla, ice cream cake, honey, key lime, java, tiramisu, and lemon meringue are all here, alongside the more classic fare. While I suspect many of these flavors are covered somewhere int he Jelly Belly pantheon, they certainly aren't standard in every package. Color me impressed Gimbals. 

AND even cooler, printed right on the back of the package are some recipes!Sure I believe Jelly Belly has these too, maybe even printed on some of their packaging, but I like that Gimbals has it too. I appreciate that 3 of the four recipes are fruit mixes, while the last is pure desert. I bet you can guess which one I'm going to make...

 Finally on the back of the bag is a little note from none other than Lance Gimbal which says "My family's promise for four generations has been to create truly exceptional candies, bursting with flavor in each and every bite. Your satisfaction is guaranteed, - or your money back. Its as simple as that." Well sir, I accept that challenge Mr Gimbal.

Lets get this open and have a look at the beans themselves. Opening the package is great. I seriously love opening candy packages and getting that first smell. Its one of the simple joys in life. Gimbals delivers with a great fruit and sugar smell. Looking at the beans they're about the size of a Jelly Belly and the colors pop. There may be a slightly disproportionate amount of grey, and off-white, but this isn't a bag a rainbows and sunshine skittles here. This is serious. And there are honestlya few oranges and yellows too

The beans generally look great, but a few have some shoddy speckling. Maybe I'm crazy to care about this but on some level it defintiely affects how I think of the candy overall. Check this out.

Here is some really good speckling.

Here is some really bad speckling.

Its pretty obvious when you point it out. Seriously who let the jelly  bean with the massive head wound into the party?! That does not look at all appetising...

That aside lets get into it. The beans themselves taste... honestly great. I am definitely impressed with the flavors here. I started with some of my favorites buttered popcorn, and I'll tell you I can't tell the difference between this and a jelly belly. The popcorn jumps out, and the butter  is smooth. I am definitely a fan.




Some of these flavors as I said as really original. The java is a great one to mention. Its a complex falvor that could easily get lost in the sugar but it doesn't here. It really tastes like a nice sweet coffee flavored jelly bean.Of course I imagine they're really using coffee (to some extent at least) but I'm happy to say that they pulled it off.

 What else, well tasting the fruit flavored beans isa bit of a letdown. I wonder if maybe Gimbals thing is focusing on the more complicated flavors, because crafting something like tiramisu is a real accomplishment, and maybe people don't pay as much attention to something like lemon. With that, I have to say while most of the fruit flavors are passable, there's nothing in them that wows me. Lemon could use more zest, and tangerine could use more punch. Maybe I'm too accustomed to super strong fruit flavor after all the years eating Skittles, but I still feel that I'd like to see more here.

And what about the recipes? Well my plan, as you may have guessed was to make the Sunday Sundae, however I only received a single ice cream cake bean in my bag. It seems like if you're going to promote a recipe on your bag you should definitely make sure the ingredients are contained within.

So instead I went with the Smoothie Blast. While I doubt I'll ever know what the Superfruit Fusion is (that's the blue one) I have to say this overall tasted pretty good. Since I'm so much more of a dessert guy I don't know that I'd go out of my way to make this again, but I think it did the trick and half the fun is in the making of these things so I appreciate that aspect.

Overall I'm impressed with Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans. They have a tough road, living in the shadow of Jelly Belly, and for the most part they cary themselves well. Aside from a few minor gripes, mostly about style and presentation I'm satisfied with these and would happily get them again.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates Gimbal's Gourmet Jelly Beans - 4 / 5

For more on Gimbal's please check out their very nice website at this link. Also it wasn't until just now that I realized that Gimbals is right in my backyard in South San Francisco. Props to them on making some good candy. Maybe I'll go visit them and get some more :)