Truffle stuffed figs...the very thought give me hear palpitations (the good kind). Which is why we were so excited to try out the Rabitos Royale Fig Bonbons from Valeros.
Each of the 16 pieces is sealed in gold foil. Inside is a small fig that's been infused with dark chocolate truffle, and then covered in dark chocolate. When you break open one of the wrappers, you actually catch a waft of the strong dark chocolate and also the brandy. Again, simple ingredients making the best candy - dried fig, liquid cream, glucose syrup, brandy liquor, chocolate.
We tried to take a picture of the cross-section of one of these candies, but opted to show you the illustration on the back of the box instead. The photo didn't do these beautiful candies justice, and chocolate and fig butchered by yours truly doesn't make for a great close-up photo.
A little background, these candies originate from Southwestern Spain, where the makers pick local, young figs and fill them with a dark chocolate brandy mousse. These candies have also won acclaim at the Chocolate festival in Williamsburg VA.
What struck me the most with these candies is the contrasts. Contrasts in flavor and contrasts in texture - all packed into one little bite. The smooth dark chocolate, quickly giving way to the chewy, grainy (from the seeds) texture of the fig. But by the time you've taken note of that, you're hit by the pure decadence of the brandy-infused truffle mousse. We found the brandy to be a little strong. Not overwhelming, but strongly present in the candy.
These bonbons pack a wallop, give them a try if you're looking for something off the beaten path. Available at La Tienda
The box is brightly colored orange (tangerine I suppose), nicely designed, and sports a retro-looking cartoon guy who doesn't seem to have a torso.
What's cool about Glee in general? Among other things, they're organic and vegetarian. And they use rainforest chickle for their gum base. If you check out the ingredients, you'll notice a short list of flavors. And if you know much about Candy Snob, you know we believe the less ingredient, ultimately the better candy.
The gum pieces themselves are little squares, a little bigger than a Chicklet, and these are also orange in color. When you bite into a piece, the first thing you notice is the crunch of the shell, which appears to be thicker than most gum or this sort. From there, you get a bite across the sides of your tongue - when the real citrus flavor hits. And immediately following, a very brief coolness which is very, well, cool. The tangerine flavor is both genuine and natural tasting, but also distinct from its orange cousins. Often, its hard to tell the difference between orange and tangerine flavor. Not so with Glee.
In fairness, the one negative I would point out is that the flavor doesn't last very long at all - I popped 3 in my mouth at once, and the flavor was pretty much wiped out in 1-2 minutes. The upside to this, of course, is that you get to chew some more Glee Gum!
We covered Lucky Country's Black Licorice several days ago. But as we've tried to make clear, we're on a licorice kick...so when the fetching Mrs. Candy Snob and I were strolling through Costco, we felt compelled to pick up a big honkin' bag of Lucky Country black licorice. To be perfectly honest, I thought these were a different version than the Whole Foods bag we had bought, but they were not.
Same solid licorice, strong anise flavor, nice and soft. But note the packaging. It isn't new news that Costco (and Sam's Club) ask their vendors to package their products especially for them (large quantities, stackable, etc.). But what struck me more was that the Whole Foods version was so different. If you look at the Lucky Country strawberry licorice we also recently looked at, the "mass-marketing," plastic packaging with brighter colors, etc. seem to be the norm. In other words, instead of Lucky Country retro-fitting their Whole Foods (i.e. "natural") packaging to sell into Costco, could it be the other way around? Could Whole Foods be dictating the look and materials of their packaging to fit into their "all natural" motif?
Candy Snob Helps Feed Your Candy Obsession with News, Reviews and More
Candy Snob is the place to go to indulge your sweet tooth. Whether you're crazy for gourmet chocolate or a sucker for hard candies, we've got all the news, reviews, and information you can cram down your gullet.
The strawberry licorice comes again in the ~1 inch piece with deep grooves that run the length of the piece. It is much softer than its black licorice counterpart. I think this typically has to do with the flavoring - black licorice to me is less sugary than strawberry - which I believe makes black more firm. The strawberry is a little less dense, again something I attribute to strawberry vs. black licorice in general.
The flavor's good, but not great. I don't know if "gourmet" is appropriate to be honest. I would liken the flavor to Red Vines. Not nearly as sugary, and a much deeper flavor, but it lives in that general vicinity of strawberry flavor. But it doesn't have nearly the depth of flavor we've seen in other "gourmet" licorices.
Overall thought? Solid strawberry licorice, but not for licorice connoisseurs.
One note, this licorice doesn't appear to be the all natural version that the black licorice was, but if that's not a huge deal to you, this is well worth trying.
If you hadn't already realized, as we hadn't, Cadbury Creme Eggs appear to have been shrinking. Click here to read more on Consumerist. Or click here to see BJ Novak from The Office talk about it on Conan O'Brien.
Thanks CandyAddict for the heads up on this licorice and the pic. A very fun idea to appeal to both the black licorice lovers and also the tech/geek community.
Review: Lucky Country Gourmet Soft Licorice (Black Licorice)
We're slowly (or not so slowly) becoming addicted to "Aussie style" licorice. Why? Simply because its flavorful, typically in nice, bite sized pieces, and most of all because its soft.
We recently checked out Lucky Country's black licorice flavored offering. According to the packaging, they came across this particular recipe by accident, when a hard licorice batch went awry and turned soft. Here's to happy accidents! It is also all natural to boot - which we always appreciate.
These pieces are about one inch long, which make for convenient (and plentiful) eating.
They aren't as soft as other Aussie licorice we've had - which isn't a bad thing, but the softer the better in our book. The insides are a bit dry as well.
The flavor is strong for sure, big and bold anise taste abounds. Its not for the faint of heart, but also not for the hard core licorice traditionalists either. The flavor stays with you for awhile, I actually feel like my tongue is coated with something, which is slightly offputting.
Overall, I'd put it in the mid-top tier of the licorice I've had. If I HAD to give it a rating, I'd give it a 6 or 7.
Selling the family business wasn't William Wrigley Jr.'s plan, but the Mars offer was too good to refuse
That's what Business Week reported this week. Here are some key nuggets from the article:
Wrigley had little choice but to sell. The industry is just too competitive, and the Mars/Wrigley combo would give them 14.5% market share and a distribution network in 180 countries. Cadbury, the bane of Wrigley's existence, would now be #2 with only a 10% share.
The Mars offer represented a 28% premium over Wrigley's price
Things might have been different if Hershey's had accepted Wrigley's offer to sell back in 2002.
Under William Wrigley Jr.'s watch, sales climbed to more than $5 billion from $2 billion in 1999--driven by snapping up competitors, stoking product development, and expanding globally.
At the press conference, Wrigley said, "It's a challenge because you always think of the generation before you," he said. "But you have to separate yourself from that to make the right decisions."
Photo Illustration by Sean McCabe (Jerry Lai/AP Photo, Bloomberg, PA/Empics, PhotoLibrary)
We love Figamajigs, LOVE THEM! Can't wait to try the new mint flavors we've just learned about. They've also changed their website (www.figamajigs.com) to move of an online store, which looks to be a much nicer site. They're calling it the Figamajigs Market. Nice.
Review: Rabitos Royale - Fig Bonbons
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