From the bustling streets of glamorous New York comes 5th Avenue... or something like that.
For more of the goods, please check out the written review, or the Reviews page for all of our reviews.
Friday, June 8, 2012
5th Avenue review
"Crunchy peanut butter in a rich chocolate coating" sounds like luxury wrapped in a cloud... that can only mean its time to review 5th Avenue!
The space along 5th Avenue is known by many to be the height of decadent urban New York living. From the upper west side, and past central park the street was known at one time as the most expensive area in the world for shopping. While I'm not sure if that's true to this day, having personally walked along 5th Avenue in NYC, and seen countless films and movies staged there I will say evoking that kind of luxury with your chocolate bar is a good idea. At the very least it gives the buyer a sense of what they 'should' be in for. Words like luxury, decadence, and and indulgence come immediately to mind; so lets hope Hershey's 5th Avenue chocolate bar can live up to its namesake.
looking at the wrapper doesn't give us too much. Simple brown, with bold yellow lettering. It's direct, I'll give it that, but if you want people to think chic new york living, this isn't really it. Maybe this is more of a brownstone from the other part of 5th Avenue down in Harlem...
Opening up the candy, I find mine to be a bit melty. That said the room I'm reviewing in is a bit warm so I won't hold that against it. There's no really significant chocolate odor, and nothing special about the bar itself on the outside so lets dig in.
Crunching into the bar is much akin to a Butterfinger,or maybe a Crispy Crunch experience. You can see the lines where layer after layer of peanut butter were laid onto this chocolate bar. it's like a building with floor after floor of peanut butter cemented on-top of each other. And cemented is the right word here because this peanut butter isn't smooth like a Reese bar, its hard, kind of like a Butterfinger, only not quite as flakey, and definitely not quite as smooth.
Frankly this seems like Hershey's answer to Nestlé's Butterfinger. It has something of the same texture and that same odd chew to it, but it does not have the smooth, rich, buttery quality that Butterfinger delivers. That said it holds together better than a Butterfinger ever did... But I didn't come here for a clean experience, I want flavor dammit, and 5th Avenue (while decent) fails to deliver on any kind of luxury implied in the name.
It may not be bad, but it's certainly nothing special. I'd recommend this to fans of Butterfinger. Give it a shot, but don't expect to be blown away.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates 5th Avenue - 3 / 5
5th Avenue is a product of The Hershey Company. Find more from them at http://www.thehersheycompany.com/
The space along 5th Avenue is known by many to be the height of decadent urban New York living. From the upper west side, and past central park the street was known at one time as the most expensive area in the world for shopping. While I'm not sure if that's true to this day, having personally walked along 5th Avenue in NYC, and seen countless films and movies staged there I will say evoking that kind of luxury with your chocolate bar is a good idea. At the very least it gives the buyer a sense of what they 'should' be in for. Words like luxury, decadence, and and indulgence come immediately to mind; so lets hope Hershey's 5th Avenue chocolate bar can live up to its namesake.
looking at the wrapper doesn't give us too much. Simple brown, with bold yellow lettering. It's direct, I'll give it that, but if you want people to think chic new york living, this isn't really it. Maybe this is more of a brownstone from the other part of 5th Avenue down in Harlem...
Opening up the candy, I find mine to be a bit melty. That said the room I'm reviewing in is a bit warm so I won't hold that against it. There's no really significant chocolate odor, and nothing special about the bar itself on the outside so lets dig in.
Crunching into the bar is much akin to a Butterfinger,or maybe a Crispy Crunch experience. You can see the lines where layer after layer of peanut butter were laid onto this chocolate bar. it's like a building with floor after floor of peanut butter cemented on-top of each other. And cemented is the right word here because this peanut butter isn't smooth like a Reese bar, its hard, kind of like a Butterfinger, only not quite as flakey, and definitely not quite as smooth.
Frankly this seems like Hershey's answer to Nestlé's Butterfinger. It has something of the same texture and that same odd chew to it, but it does not have the smooth, rich, buttery quality that Butterfinger delivers. That said it holds together better than a Butterfinger ever did... But I didn't come here for a clean experience, I want flavor dammit, and 5th Avenue (while decent) fails to deliver on any kind of luxury implied in the name.
It may not be bad, but it's certainly nothing special. I'd recommend this to fans of Butterfinger. Give it a shot, but don't expect to be blown away.
Walking the Candy Aisle rates 5th Avenue - 3 / 5
5th Avenue is a product of The Hershey Company. Find more from them at http://www.thehersheycompany.com/
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Candy incognito! - pt 1
Have you ever thought about the flavors of candy? Isn't it kind of odd how candy has been made to taste like other foods? Why exactly can't it just be a unique flavor? When you've got a range from sugary, to sour, and tart, even savory or salty why do some candies have to pretend to be something else?
Look, we all know the long standing tradition of candy to be patterned after fruit. From watermelon, to more traditional oranges and lemons, that all kind of fits since those foods fall into the same straightforward flavor categories as many candies, what I find more interesting are the candies that are flavored, or even just patterned after other food. Check out some of these that I found in my candy aisle.
Haribo always delivers. Why you'd want your pasta to be fruity / extra sour or your spagetti (sorry S'ghetti) to be sour is a bit beyond me, but I love the idea of plating up some candy pasta.
The classic Boston Baked Beans are actually pretty awesome if I remember correctly. Definitely a good side dish with your candy meal.
And efrutti manages to bring the whole shebang to the table here. I know its labeled a lunch bag but this is a practical smorgasbord. 5 Slices of pizza, a hot dog, 2 burgers, and french fries. That's a meal for a whole family! I just thank god its all fat free.
What you say you want something to wash down all this food? Well there are plenty of drinks on the market!
Again Haribo brings the goods with both Happy Cola and Fizzy Cola. What's the difference? I have no idea, other than Fizzy Cola is sweet & tangy. Remember, "Kids and grown-ups love it so,"
Trolli brings us cans of soda, in the form of poppers. And it comes in cherry, root beer, orange lemon and cola flavors, so you know they're not messing around.
Oh you're looking for some dessert now that you've had your meal. Well don't worry we've got you covered. What you want candy for dessert? Why bother when there is candy flavored like other desserts!
While Cookie Dough Bites are pretty awesome, I'm not sure why you wouldn't just go and buy a full chocolate chip cookie. These also come in like 5 different flavors.
From Cookie Dough Bites, comes probably the most decadent dessert, red velvet cupcake bites. YUM! The only thing I'd like more would be some Tiramisu bites...
If you're looking for ice cream though Baskin Robins has got you covered, in these sugar free candies! I hope they come out with a rocky road flavor...
Finally we can't forget Extra's Dessert Delights line of gum. From apple pie, and mint chocolate chip, to strawberry shortcake, and orange cream pop these flavors are pretty much exactly like the gum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Again, thinking only of our health these are thankfully sugar free.
I don't know why it strikes me as odd. I like experimentation, and novelty is appreciated. I guess I just feel like its all amusingly absurd. Candy can take any form and often travels incognito. Stay tuned for next weeks incognito post part 2, with some new candy that is more than meets the eye.
Look, we all know the long standing tradition of candy to be patterned after fruit. From watermelon, to more traditional oranges and lemons, that all kind of fits since those foods fall into the same straightforward flavor categories as many candies, what I find more interesting are the candies that are flavored, or even just patterned after other food. Check out some of these that I found in my candy aisle.
Haribo always delivers. Why you'd want your pasta to be fruity / extra sour or your spagetti (sorry S'ghetti) to be sour is a bit beyond me, but I love the idea of plating up some candy pasta.
The classic Boston Baked Beans are actually pretty awesome if I remember correctly. Definitely a good side dish with your candy meal.
This for me is where it starts getting really weird. I get that its just gummi, and they probably aren't attempting to replicate the complex flavor of a burger... but its still pretty off the wall. I mean I like Spongebob as much as the next guy, and have even talked about the variation of this candies in its alternate packaging before, but I think I'd still pass on a Krabby Patty.
And efrutti manages to bring the whole shebang to the table here. I know its labeled a lunch bag but this is a practical smorgasbord. 5 Slices of pizza, a hot dog, 2 burgers, and french fries. That's a meal for a whole family! I just thank god its all fat free.
What you say you want something to wash down all this food? Well there are plenty of drinks on the market!
Again Haribo brings the goods with both Happy Cola and Fizzy Cola. What's the difference? I have no idea, other than Fizzy Cola is sweet & tangy. Remember, "Kids and grown-ups love it so,"
Trolli brings us cans of soda, in the form of poppers. And it comes in cherry, root beer, orange lemon and cola flavors, so you know they're not messing around.
Oh you're looking for some dessert now that you've had your meal. Well don't worry we've got you covered. What you want candy for dessert? Why bother when there is candy flavored like other desserts!
While Cookie Dough Bites are pretty awesome, I'm not sure why you wouldn't just go and buy a full chocolate chip cookie. These also come in like 5 different flavors.
From Cookie Dough Bites, comes probably the most decadent dessert, red velvet cupcake bites. YUM! The only thing I'd like more would be some Tiramisu bites...
If you're looking for ice cream though Baskin Robins has got you covered, in these sugar free candies! I hope they come out with a rocky road flavor...
Finally we can't forget Extra's Dessert Delights line of gum. From apple pie, and mint chocolate chip, to strawberry shortcake, and orange cream pop these flavors are pretty much exactly like the gum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Again, thinking only of our health these are thankfully sugar free.
I don't know why it strikes me as odd. I like experimentation, and novelty is appreciated. I guess I just feel like its all amusingly absurd. Candy can take any form and often travels incognito. Stay tuned for next weeks incognito post part 2, with some new candy that is more than meets the eye.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Jelly Belly - video review
Another fun mix bag of intense flavors is on deck for review today, let's have a look at Jelly Belly.
For more please read through the written review, or check out all of the Candy Aisle reviews on the Reviews Page.
For more please read through the written review, or check out all of the Candy Aisle reviews on the Reviews Page.
Jely Belly review
After talking about them earlier this week I just had to get some for myself, welcome to your review for Jelly Belly.
Please note this is a review for the 20 flavor assorted package as seen above. I'm not going to make note of every single bean flavor here. This is an overall review of the product and some general impressions. So lets get to it :)
Looking at the packaging I'm impressed right off, the logo of red and yellow just pop off the bag. And they've taken the explosion of beans you might see on a skittles bag and amped it up. The bean colors and patterns jump off the white background and showcase Jelly Belly in a very good light. I find now looking at this that I have some definitely nostalgia around these beans and this logo. It reminds me of being a kid and what a treat it was to have these.
If for some reason you don't know Jelly Beans are gourmet jelly beans. Smaller in size, and more expensive than traditional jelly beans but packed with real fruit flavors, and hitting on some totally unexpected but delicious flavor combos. Can you think of anything else in the candy aisle that might taste like toasted marshmallow, buttered popcorn, or orange sherbert? Probably not. And so Jelly Belly hits a very nice niche market that they really dominate.
On the back of the packaging we see the flavor chart. All mix packages of Jelly Bellys have this map showing what beans are to be found inside. There are some real standouts in this Assortment too. cotton candy, strawberry jam, buttered popcorn, and toasted marshmallow are all some of my favorites.
While they do feature a disclaimer on the packaging that the "package may not contain every flavor" I have to say I was disappointed to see that my bag had no cotton candy, lemon lime, or sour apple. I kind of feel like an assorted bag should feature at least one bean of every flavor. But they are upfront about it, and its not a dealbreaker by any means.
Here's my breakdown of what I got in this assortment. As you can see, lots of watermelon, and a bunch of red one I couldn't easily classify. One of the odd things about Jelly Bellys is that they don't really smell like anything from the outside. I suppose thats not odd, just surprising since the flavors inside are SO strong.
Ok, lets get into it for realsies. The beans are made well, I love the logo printed on the side, and the speckling on the ones that are patterned. Biting into a jelly belly isn't too dissimilar from any regular jelly bean. They're textured like granulated sugar. With a gummyness that perhaps goes a bit further tan I'd personally like. But you're here for the flavors, and man do they pop. Not quite as intense as say a Starburst or Skittle, these flavors are most impressive because they really live up to their names. Some of these flavors are really complex, and Jelly Belly uniformly pulls it off. Even on a flavor that I don't particularly enjoy, like say watermelon, I have to admit I am impressed with how true this tastes.
Jelly Bellys are a marvel. They are packed with flavor and even though there may be a few misses in this assortment, they are misses because I just don't dig on that particular flavor, the beans themselves are fantastic. I highly recommend you check out some Jelly Bellys in the near future... hasn't it been too long...
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Jelly Belly - 5 / 5
Jelly Belly is a product of the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Find out more about them at http://www.jellybelly.com
Please note this is a review for the 20 flavor assorted package as seen above. I'm not going to make note of every single bean flavor here. This is an overall review of the product and some general impressions. So lets get to it :)
Looking at the packaging I'm impressed right off, the logo of red and yellow just pop off the bag. And they've taken the explosion of beans you might see on a skittles bag and amped it up. The bean colors and patterns jump off the white background and showcase Jelly Belly in a very good light. I find now looking at this that I have some definitely nostalgia around these beans and this logo. It reminds me of being a kid and what a treat it was to have these.
If for some reason you don't know Jelly Beans are gourmet jelly beans. Smaller in size, and more expensive than traditional jelly beans but packed with real fruit flavors, and hitting on some totally unexpected but delicious flavor combos. Can you think of anything else in the candy aisle that might taste like toasted marshmallow, buttered popcorn, or orange sherbert? Probably not. And so Jelly Belly hits a very nice niche market that they really dominate.
On the back of the packaging we see the flavor chart. All mix packages of Jelly Bellys have this map showing what beans are to be found inside. There are some real standouts in this Assortment too. cotton candy, strawberry jam, buttered popcorn, and toasted marshmallow are all some of my favorites.
While they do feature a disclaimer on the packaging that the "package may not contain every flavor" I have to say I was disappointed to see that my bag had no cotton candy, lemon lime, or sour apple. I kind of feel like an assorted bag should feature at least one bean of every flavor. But they are upfront about it, and its not a dealbreaker by any means.
Here's my breakdown of what I got in this assortment. As you can see, lots of watermelon, and a bunch of red one I couldn't easily classify. One of the odd things about Jelly Bellys is that they don't really smell like anything from the outside. I suppose thats not odd, just surprising since the flavors inside are SO strong.
Ok, lets get into it for realsies. The beans are made well, I love the logo printed on the side, and the speckling on the ones that are patterned. Biting into a jelly belly isn't too dissimilar from any regular jelly bean. They're textured like granulated sugar. With a gummyness that perhaps goes a bit further tan I'd personally like. But you're here for the flavors, and man do they pop. Not quite as intense as say a Starburst or Skittle, these flavors are most impressive because they really live up to their names. Some of these flavors are really complex, and Jelly Belly uniformly pulls it off. Even on a flavor that I don't particularly enjoy, like say watermelon, I have to admit I am impressed with how true this tastes.
Jelly Bellys are a marvel. They are packed with flavor and even though there may be a few misses in this assortment, they are misses because I just don't dig on that particular flavor, the beans themselves are fantastic. I highly recommend you check out some Jelly Bellys in the near future... hasn't it been too long...
Walking the Candy Aisle rates Jelly Belly - 5 / 5
Jelly Belly is a product of the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Find out more about them at http://www.jellybelly.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Jelly Belly in the aisle
I have always loved Jelly Bellies. When I was a kid I remember we would get them as presents (instead of a box of chocolates) for my dad whenever there was occasion. Not sure why we never got them for mom, just dad.... but I suppose that's beside the point. Jelly Belly jelly beans are awesome!
Sorry, but I have a point of grammar here, is it Jelly Bellys or Jelly Bellies? thoughts???
I was over at a different Walgreens than I usually go to and saw that they had a huge Jelly Belly display up in the theater candy aisle. This store is much bigger than my Walgreens and so naturally has room for such extravagances. I must say I was impressed with the variety of options from the Jelly Belly company.
I was particularly surprised to see how many products Jelly Belly makes that aren't beans. They've got gummy bears, and mints, licorice, and more.
While that's pretty interesting, of course I'm still mostly drawn to their beans. They're just so darn good! Check out some of the varieties they had below.
The fruit bowl variety has been sponsored by Sunkist... My picks for ones I'd like to try most here would be peach, raspberry, or lemon.
If I'm looking at everything on the Jelly Belly shelf, I think,I'm going for the Kids Mix. This mix has by far the most flavors I want to eat... so many good ones. Buttered popcorn, toasted marshmallow, chocolate pudding, strawberry jam, orange sherbert, tutti-fruitti... seriously this has to be the best mix. My only concern is that it may be too many flavors in one mix. You'd never be able to remember what was what and probably only get 2 or 3 of each kind.
And here we finally have the classic Assorted mix. I have to say overall it looks like a legitimately good assortment, there are some standouts like cotton candy, caramel corn, chocolate pudding, strawberry cheesecake, and tutti-fruitti. But why are people still putting black licorice flavored anything in with regular flavored candy. Its insulting to the rest of the candy and makes everyone look bad. Black licorice should be off in a corner on its own. I thought we'd all learned that by now.
For an Assorted Mix its pretty solid, sizzling cinnamon, strawberry, tangerine, pineapple, and of course buttered popcorn. But it's sugar free... I just don't see myself ever getting this. Also, only 10 flavors here instead of the 30 found in the regular Assorted Mix.
So now we get into the branded mixes. And talk about your serious branding, this one does a great job. Pepsico struck a good deal here, because these jelly bellies are great. I'm pretty sure I've had all of these flavors before and I definitely remember liking them. I'm not a huge Dr Pepper guy, but I've always loved A&W root beer, and how can you complain about an Orange Crush. Question, why is there no Pepsi?
If you've never ad it before Cold Stone Creamery is a fantastic chain of ice cream parlors here in the States. They mix chocolate bars into your ice cream right there in front of you, so it really feels like you're getting something special. This mix of jelly bellies is pretty special too. The branding deal is only with Cold Stone here so you're not going to get a Heath bar double brownie blast, but you will get their in house mixes which are pretty freaking great in their own right. I've had this mix of jelly bellies before and highly recommend it.
For our final bag of branded jelly bellies we have the Sunkist (I mean Citris) Mix. These Sunkist flavored beans seem to have made their way into a lot of the various jelly belly mixes, and I suppose that's with good cause. They're really pretty solid flavors all around. Whether I'd know a sunkist orange vs a regular one is debatable, But I would know a Sunkist drink vs an Orange Crush so I wonder which flavor they're going for here. They're both owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (ne Pepsico). Its also notable that Jelly Belly doesn't seem to have non-Sunkist branded versions of these flavors, so I'd say the big winner here is still and always Pepsico...
I'm not a big sour guy, but if I was I think I'd be down with this assortment. All of these fruits fit well in the sour category, and unlike say the Kids Mix, there are only a few different flavors in the pack. Enough to enjoy a variety, but not enough to forget what each of the flavors are.
In an impressive feat the regular Sour and the Sugar Free Sour varieties actually contain the same flavors. Good job on the consistency.
These solo flavors must be doing something right to get a whole feature bag of their own!
These are definitely two distinct flavors for a specific subset of candy fans.
Could this be good? I like Orange, I like Chocolate... hmmm. I think some further investigation is required here.
Like I said, I've been a fan of Jelly Belly for a while and its nice to see them still so alive and well. The Jelly Belly factory where the give tours is actually nearby where I live. I'm in San Francisco and its up in Fairfield just between here and Sacramento. Maybe I'll get up there one of these days.I bet they've got some pretty cool stuff there...
If you're interested in more on Jelly Belly there was a documentary made about the company and it's founder called Candyman: The David Klein Story that I'd recommend you check out. The film itself is a bit rough, but the content is interesting, and David Klein is a fascinating guy. Anyone in the states at least who has Netflix streaming can check it out for free. Otherwise here's the trailer so you can get a taste of it.
That's all for now. I'm really a fan of this candy and I'll be bringing you a review very soon.
Sorry, but I have a point of grammar here, is it Jelly Bellys or Jelly Bellies? thoughts???
I was over at a different Walgreens than I usually go to and saw that they had a huge Jelly Belly display up in the theater candy aisle. This store is much bigger than my Walgreens and so naturally has room for such extravagances. I must say I was impressed with the variety of options from the Jelly Belly company.
I was particularly surprised to see how many products Jelly Belly makes that aren't beans. They've got gummy bears, and mints, licorice, and more.
While that's pretty interesting, of course I'm still mostly drawn to their beans. They're just so darn good! Check out some of the varieties they had below.
The fruit bowl variety has been sponsored by Sunkist... My picks for ones I'd like to try most here would be peach, raspberry, or lemon.
The Tropical Mix sounds pretty great. My top picks here are strawberry daiquiri, island punch, and pina colada.
If I'm looking at everything on the Jelly Belly shelf, I think,I'm going for the Kids Mix. This mix has by far the most flavors I want to eat... so many good ones. Buttered popcorn, toasted marshmallow, chocolate pudding, strawberry jam, orange sherbert, tutti-fruitti... seriously this has to be the best mix. My only concern is that it may be too many flavors in one mix. You'd never be able to remember what was what and probably only get 2 or 3 of each kind.
And here we finally have the classic Assorted mix. I have to say overall it looks like a legitimately good assortment, there are some standouts like cotton candy, caramel corn, chocolate pudding, strawberry cheesecake, and tutti-fruitti. But why are people still putting black licorice flavored anything in with regular flavored candy. Its insulting to the rest of the candy and makes everyone look bad. Black licorice should be off in a corner on its own. I thought we'd all learned that by now.
For an Assorted Mix its pretty solid, sizzling cinnamon, strawberry, tangerine, pineapple, and of course buttered popcorn. But it's sugar free... I just don't see myself ever getting this. Also, only 10 flavors here instead of the 30 found in the regular Assorted Mix.
So now we get into the branded mixes. And talk about your serious branding, this one does a great job. Pepsico struck a good deal here, because these jelly bellies are great. I'm pretty sure I've had all of these flavors before and I definitely remember liking them. I'm not a huge Dr Pepper guy, but I've always loved A&W root beer, and how can you complain about an Orange Crush. Question, why is there no Pepsi?
If you've never ad it before Cold Stone Creamery is a fantastic chain of ice cream parlors here in the States. They mix chocolate bars into your ice cream right there in front of you, so it really feels like you're getting something special. This mix of jelly bellies is pretty special too. The branding deal is only with Cold Stone here so you're not going to get a Heath bar double brownie blast, but you will get their in house mixes which are pretty freaking great in their own right. I've had this mix of jelly bellies before and highly recommend it.
For our final bag of branded jelly bellies we have the Sunkist (I mean Citris) Mix. These Sunkist flavored beans seem to have made their way into a lot of the various jelly belly mixes, and I suppose that's with good cause. They're really pretty solid flavors all around. Whether I'd know a sunkist orange vs a regular one is debatable, But I would know a Sunkist drink vs an Orange Crush so I wonder which flavor they're going for here. They're both owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (ne Pepsico). Its also notable that Jelly Belly doesn't seem to have non-Sunkist branded versions of these flavors, so I'd say the big winner here is still and always Pepsico...
I'm not a big sour guy, but if I was I think I'd be down with this assortment. All of these fruits fit well in the sour category, and unlike say the Kids Mix, there are only a few different flavors in the pack. Enough to enjoy a variety, but not enough to forget what each of the flavors are.
In an impressive feat the regular Sour and the Sugar Free Sour varieties actually contain the same flavors. Good job on the consistency.
These solo flavors must be doing something right to get a whole feature bag of their own!
Nice how the Pomegranate is so high in anti-oxidants. Its practically healthy!
Besides buttered popcorn, cotton candy has to be one of the best flavors of Jelly Bellys.
These are definitely two distinct flavors for a specific subset of candy fans.
Could this be good? I like Orange, I like Chocolate... hmmm. I think some further investigation is required here.
Like I said, I've been a fan of Jelly Belly for a while and its nice to see them still so alive and well. The Jelly Belly factory where the give tours is actually nearby where I live. I'm in San Francisco and its up in Fairfield just between here and Sacramento. Maybe I'll get up there one of these days.I bet they've got some pretty cool stuff there...
If you're interested in more on Jelly Belly there was a documentary made about the company and it's founder called Candyman: The David Klein Story that I'd recommend you check out. The film itself is a bit rough, but the content is interesting, and David Klein is a fascinating guy. Anyone in the states at least who has Netflix streaming can check it out for free. Otherwise here's the trailer so you can get a taste of it.
That's all for now. I'm really a fan of this candy and I'll be bringing you a review very soon.
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