Dagoba Lavender Blueberry

Sometimes, a bar sounds too interesting to resist, as was the case with this Lavender Blueberry dark chocolate bar. This is my second Dagoba bar review, but the brand name still reminds me of Star Wars, and lavender reminds me more of Ron Weasley's clingy first girlfriend than the flower.

Lavender is not one of my favorite fragrances, and I have limited experience eating it, so please keep that in mind. This bar also reminded me of hawking pillow mist at my old job, so I had no shortage of useless points of reference for this review.


The dark chocolate (59%) bar had a good snap, but again, the Dagoba "perforations" didn't work for me. I could smell and sense the lavender, but the taste was mainly dominated by blueberry. I should mention that my dad said he could taste the lavender, so that might just be me.

There were bits of dried blueberry in the bar, and the tart flavor enhanced the slight fruitiness of the dark chocolate, but the chocolate itself was just a bit chalky. The finish was clean and the bar wasn't bad by any means, but I don't think I would buy this bar again.

B-

Read more reviews of this bar at Chocablog and Doug's Republic.

Dagoba website

Reese's Dark Peanut Butter Cups

From time to time, Reese's Dark pops up in stores. I'm thankful for that, because I had already reviewed them and misplaced my tasting notes. I have small notebooks for candy tasting on the go, but I think I wrote this one on the back of a (solved) sudoku puzzle.

It says something right away that I was willing to buy Reese's Dark again. As a lover of dark chocolate and peanut butter, it's hard for me to dislike them. These have been reviewed at Gigi-Reviews, Candy Blog, and Chocablog, just to hit a few highlights.


The dark chocolate completely changes the Reese's cup. The coating is harder (as expected with dark chocolate), less sweet, and has an actual snap. It makes for a very different, more indulgent treat. The chocolate melted smooth and cool on the tongue, but the harder chocolate wasn't great with the grainy, sugary Reese's peanut butter.

In fact, the dark chocolate made the peanut butter harder to taste, especially on bites including the thick rim of the cup. I liked these, but didn't love them. In the end, the texture marriage of milk chocolate and peanut butter of the original Reese's cups is just better. Still, these were a fun distraction.

B

Reese's website

Dagoba Seeds

Being the nerd that I am, the first thing I thought of when I heard about Dagoba chocolate was Star Wars. However, it is an organic chocolate brand that was acquired by Hershey in 2006, so that Hershey could get in on the organic food boom.

Compared to some brands of organic chocolate, Dagoba isn't terribly expensive. If I remember correctly, the bar cost just under $3. This particular bar, Seeds is 68% cocoa, and according to the package, it also contains hemp, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, as well as Balinese sea salt.


This bar was a beautiful shade of dark brown, and even though the perforations didn't work very well, it had a fantastic snap. It smelled and tasted a bit spicy (not in the hot pepper way, maybe it was the hemp). The saltiness was also easy to pick up, and complemented the slightly fruity finish of the chocolate (with just a hint of sour).

I was hoping for a little more of the nutty texture, but my husband liked how the nuts didn't interrupt the chocolate much. The saltiness did bring out the flavor of the sunflower seeds in particular, and the combination was interesting. Overall, it was a good dark chocolate bar.

B+

This bar was also reviewed at Chocablog and Gluten Free is Life.

Dagoba website

Hershey's Chocolate Bubble Yum

Chewy chocolate is risky business. Although I'm not a big fan, Tootsie Rolls are much better than chocolate Skittles. When I came across this gum in a gas station in Kentucky, I was compelled to buy it. Maybe it was morbid curiosity.

When I was younger, I loved bubble gum, and that hasn't changed. For some reason, though, Bubble Yum and Bubblicious seem like too much gum for me now. However, it's hard to find such vivid flavors, or sugared gum, without buying this type of gum.


To sum it up quickly, it looked, smelled, and tasted like a Tootsie Roll. There was also a hint of hot cocoa, enhanced by weird crystals in the texture. The gum was hard to chew, since it was firm to begin with, and it kept getting harder the longer I chewed.

Surprisingly, it wasn't bad. I don't think I'll be buying it again, but the chocolate flavor was decent. The main thing I didn't like about it was the firmness, but maybe my pack just wasn't very fresh.

C

Bubble Yum website

Hershey Pelon Pelo Rico Tamarind

One of my friends recently returned from Mexico (the same one who went to France last year, yes, I am so jealous), and she kindly brought me back a couple Mexican sweets to try! The first of two is Pelon Pelo Rico, a Hershey product. The flavor is tamarind, a fruit I don't see too often in the United States (just in Pad Thai).

If you look at the following picture, you might be reminded, as I was, of the Play-doh barber shop toy. Pretty fun concept for candy, too, but pretty messy. Definitely for kids.


The goo smelled like tamarind. The goo was also difficult to eat, and I ended up scraping it off the top with my teeth. If I was younger, I would have had no trouble just sucking it off. It was chewy, sort of like melted fruit leather might taste - sticky and pulpy. I have to say that the experience was pretty fun.

The initial flavor was very intense. It wasn't bad, but very foreign to my tongue (and I have had tamarind before). Once I was used to the flavor, it was better. My husband said the taste reminded him of mild peppers, and he liked it more than I did. I think tamarind is probably an acquired taste, and I think that if I had more exposure to it, I would have liked this candy more. It was a lot of fun to eat, and unlike any candy I've ever had before!

B

Hershey Pelon Pelo Rico website

Ice Breakers Rasberry Lemonade Bang! Chewy Sours

Bang! I love the Ice Breakers Sours series of candies, so when I saw these Chewy Sours at the store, it seemed like a good idea to try them. I thought they would be like Chewy Spree, but I was wrong.

The first issue was that they all stuck together in the package, so maybe they were stored at hot temperatures somewhere. They were also oddly shaped and not at all uniform. Even though they weren't what I expected, I was still pretty excited about them.


The candies smelled a bit like a cleaning product, mostly like citric acid. The coating, which looked like the regular sours, was good and sour and definitely lemonade flavored, but it all went downhill from there. These were chewy in the same way that licorice is chewy, which isn't a bad thing, but doesn't really make for a good, lasting chew.

The real issue I had with these was that the flavor of the licorice-type chew was that it was fairly flavorless. Once the sour burst (bang?) was gone, I was left with a sweet, oily, vaguely fruity wad of something that I didn't really want to be eating. It was very disappionting, and I'll stick with the regular sours. The idea of a chewy sour is good, but the execution in this case was poor.

C-

Ice Breakers Website

Ice Breakers Ice Cubes White Mango Kiwi Cooler

For the record, I had a great April Fool's Day joke I wanted to do, but unfortunately, the idea didn't come to me until about 12:00 PM that day, and that wasn't enough time to make it happen. Maybe next year. On with the review!

In the past, I was unimpressed with Ice Breakers Ice Cubes gum, but I couldn't resist the lure of a new variety and just had to check this one out. It cost me about $1 US, and I saved about 20 cents because it was on sale.


The pieces looked like they do on the box - white with a faint orange stripe down the middle. The first thing I noticed when I started to chew was the feeling of liquid oozing out of the gum. It was bizarre, but not unpleasant. It definitely took juiciness to a new level!

Once the oozing stopped (sounds grosser than it was, really), I examined the flavor. I could taste mango more than kiwi, but it was a stretch. If the box hadn't been labeled, I don't think I could have picked out distinct flavors. The texture of the gum was not my favorite, as it was a little hard (and hard on my jaw), but maybe that's because it's whitening gum.

I didn't write down how long the flavor lasted, but I want to say it was between 5-10 minutes. Once the initial burst of juice was over, what remained was a fruity and cool gum, but the excitement was over. The beginning was definitely the best part.

B

Ice Breakers Website

Hershey Kisses Strawberry Creme and Cheesecake

My friends at work and I really like trying new Hershey Kisses, so when one of my friends found these at Wal-Mart and brought them in, it was an exciting day. I'm not sure if these flavors are new this year, but they are new and exciting to me! Plus, the wrappers are really cute, which is a big selling point!

When I complain about the lack of limited edition candy flavors in the United States, I always forget about the Hershey Kiss. They aren't my favorite chocolates, but they certainly keep things interesting!


This might just be the cutest foil wrapper in existence! Perfect for Valentine's Day (and for my heart-shaped candy dish), the Strawberry Creme kisses have a very strong strawberry scent. The creme in the center, while not the most authentic strawberry, is pretty good. They taste a little yogurty, and the chocolate/strawberry balance is pretty good! I liked these a lot. B+


The Cheesecake Kisses also have a cute, classy wrapper. The Kiss itself smelled buttery and had a very mild cheesecake flavor. It didn't have the slightly sour, almost-lemony bite I associate with cheesecake. Instead, it mostly tasted of sweet cream cheese. This wasn't a bad thing for me since I'm not a big fan of the bite. B

Whenever I think about all the KitKat flavors in Japan that I miss out on, it helps me to remember that I do get to try lots of different Hershey Kisses.

Hershey's Website

Hershey's Miniatures Mint Collection

Apparently, these have been around for years, and I either don't remember them or never saw them at all, but this year, they are new to me. I usually don't choose Hershey's chocolate, but it's limited edition, so I felt compelled.

If you haven't already, I recommend reading Cybele's reviews on and articles about the reformulation of Hershey's chocolate. For example, here's one about the standard Hershey's Miniatures. She's done a lot of delving into the situation, and it's very interesting, to say the least. I can only assume that these Mint Miniatures were affected, too.


First, I tried the Mint White Creme. If this were a beauty contest, this would be the hands-down winner! It's so festive! But unfortunately, the white chocolate was chalky. The mint was nice, and it reminded me of those pastel meltaway mints with sprinkles, but the white chocolate wasn't creamy enough. At least it was pretty! B-


Next up was the Mint Sweet Chocolate. I used to like Hershey Special Dark, but lately, it tastes pretty bland. It wasn't much better with mint. The chocolate itself was grainy, and it didn't really go with the Special Dark taste too terribly well. A York Peppermint Patty would be a much more pleasing dark/mint treat. My husband liked this one, though. C-


Finally, I tried the Mint Milk Chocolate. Surprisingly, this was the best of the bunch for me. It had a mint taste reminiscent of an Andes mint, but again, had a chalky texture. The flavor was good, but I wish the chocolate was smoother. My father also liked this one best. B

Overall, these were pretty unremarkable. I can't say any of them tasted bad, but I certainly wouldn't buy them again. It was the texture that really got me, since all of them were grainy or chalky. Maybe that can be blamed on the temperature when I tasted them, though, so I'd be interested in hearing what other people think of these.

C

Hershey's Website (English)

Reese's S'mores

So this isn't really a real review, but I just wanted to share some classic summer eating. Before last weekend, I couldn't remember the last time I had s'mores, but it's been a while. I don't like marshmallows much, so I tend to avoid them. But every once in a while during the summer, I get the urge.

It had never occurred to me to put things other than chocolate bars into s'mores, but whoever thought of putting Reese's cups in them is my hero. The pictured s'more was delicious. My craving has been satisfied for this year.

Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews

I struggled mightily with the loss of the lemon Jolly Rancher. Never was there a better flavor. In any case, I just haven't been able to enjoy them as much since then. I'm not a huge fan of hard candy since it makes my teeth feel gross, so you'd think these fruit chews would be a good solution. I'll break down each flavor.

I'd like to mention first of all that the box my friend bought didn't have any Cherry in it, so I can't review that flavor. Way to go, packaging machine.

Blue Raspberry: There's nothing quite like that chemically enhanced raspberry taste. It reminds me of the Blue Raspberry Blow Pops I used to love as a child, nice and tart. However, and I'll have the same complaint for all of these, it was so grainy! Just like Air Heads taffy. I prefer a smoother chew, and the grainy, crumbly kind just isn't for me.

Green Apple: This one was sweeter than I was expecting, and it's a pretty good match for granny smith apples, but I wish it was more sour. Again, these things are too grainy!

Watermelon: This was my favorite of the three. Just like the watermelon Jolly Rancher, it was tart, juicy, and sour. I just couldn't get over the grainy texture!

I liked the small size of these, because with Laffy Taffy, I felt like there was just too much taffy in my mouth, but I wish these had a more Laffy Taffy-like smooth texture. I know a lot of people like Air Heads, so I'd recommend it to those people. In the meantime, I prefer the hard candy, but only once in a great while.

I'm still mad there was no cherry. And bring back lemon Jolly Ranchers.

C-

Jolly Rancher Website

Ice Breakers Spearmint Ice Cubes

Well, I finally tried a kind of Ice Cubes that was "Whoa!" worthy, but not in a good way. This gum was so minty, a flavor crystal got lodged in my throat and it burned. Not a pleasant sensation. I'll have very nice breath, though, so I suppose it has that going for it. Aside from that, I found the spearmint to just be too sweet. I'm sure it's the artificial sweeteners doing it, but it reminded me of green Starlite mints, and I wish it didn't.

Again, my complaint is the same: these packs seem like a rip-off. Also, I'm partial to fruity/minty combo gum, so maybe I'm being too harsh.

B

Ice Breakers Website

Ice Breakers Strawberry Smoothie Ice Cubes

A friend of mine got a 2 for 1 deal on this gum, so I keep trying different kinds. Nothing has wowed me yet, and although the flavors are good, I'm holding a grudge because 10 pieces is not enough. Am I paying for the shape? And why is the word "Whoa!" on the box, getting my expectations unreasonably high?

Actually, this one was pretty good. These had a really nice creamy strawberry flavor, but it didn't hang around that long. After the cooling was gone, I felt like most of the strawberry flavor was gone (unlike Kiwi Watermelon), but it wasn't unpleasant to chew or stale-tasting.

So nothing to get excited about, but not at the bottom of the list, either. I really need some kind of rating system.

B

Ice Breakers Website

Ice Breakers Kiwi Watermelon Ice Cubes

Mmm, artificial flavors. Oh well, it's kind of expected in gum, especially sugarfree gum. Ice Breakers Ice Cubes are an interesting kind of gum where you pay more for novelty than quality. There are only 10 cubes in the box, but for the $1.20 or so price, you could get more gum for the money with other brands.

The cubes themselves are frosty and matte white with dull reddish-pink and green flecks (not as sparkly as portrayed on the box), roughly a cubic centimeter in size. I realize now that I took a picture of the back of the box, but I really wanted to capture that "Whoa!"

On to the flavor. The "Cooling Xylitol" hits you immediately, but it really didn't make me say "Whoa!" It's no different from any other minty gum. The fruit flavor here is decent, but it's pretty much 100% watermelon. Maybe my palate isn't sensitive enough to pick up the kiwi. I suppose it sort of smells like kiwi, but maybe it's just because so much of the kiwi experience is tied up in the texture that they just couldn't emulate that in gum form.

The "Cooling Xylitol" is gone pretty quickly, as are the flavor crystals for which the Ice Breakers brand is known. The watermelon taste does hang around a while, so I'd have to say it's one of the better melon gums I've had. However, I wish there was more gum in the package.

It's a cute idea, but I'll probably stick to Orbit. I have a pack of Maui Melon Mint ready for review, so we'll see how it stacks up.

A-

Ice Breakers Website

Ice Breakers Berry Sours

Ever since I was little, I've loved sour candy. And it was never sour enough for me. Lemon Warheads were great until the sour powder went away. Okay, so I don't enjoy having my mouth cut up by sour candy anymore, but I really love these Ice Breakers Sours.

I've had a couple different kinds, and this berry pack is by no means my favorite, but it's the one I have now. As far as I can tell, all the kinds I've had are eqyally sour, and I just wanted to note that the package says "Caution: sour level may cause irritation to the mouth." That's how you know it's good.



The package is glittery, which is always appealing. There's the "to share" side with the big opening, and the "not to share" opening, which never really works for me. The flavors are listed on the front, but that doesn't really help. One of my only gripes with Ice Breakers Sours is that it's really hard to tell which one is which flavor, especially since these all look pretty similar. I'm going to guess as best as I can. Honestly, I usually just blindly shovel these things into my mouth.

Raspberry Lemonade: This one is the easiest to identify because of the yellow flecks in it. The raspberry flavor is good and reminds me of blue raspberry Blow Pops, but the lemonade part is a little bit like lemon Pledge, so this is probably my least favorite of the three. I'll still eat it, though. Note that it's represented by a purple lemon on the front of the container. This flavor is the sourest.

Berry Splash: It was hard to tell this one from Strawberry, but if you get very close, you can see it has purple and red flecks, suggesting multiple berries. I still taste strawberry in this one, with maybe a hint of blackberry? It's hard to tell. This one is very good, as there's no cleaning solvent taste. It's not very sour. I'd have to call this one my favorite.

Strawberry: This one seems to only have reddish/magenta flecks. Call me crazy, but it actually does taste like strawberry. Because it's a bit sour, it almost tastes like strawberry lemonade you might get at a place like Red Robin. This one is the sweetest and the least sour, and if it had been just a bit less sweet, it would have been my favorite.

All in all, these are good but not great. The Fruit Sours that come in the bright green container pack much more of a punch. They used to have some fantastic ones with margarita flavors, but unfortunately those seem to be discontinued.

B+

Ice Breakers Website