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| It looks like I was just a little mistaken about something. I think candy season has already begun.
I did not think that we would be seeing very much of the Halloween decorations, costumes, and candy until after Labor Day. I forgot to take one little thing into account.
Here in Louisville, school started last week. The big back-to-school push is over. Well, at least the big push to get the kids outfitted with all the necessary school supplies with which to begin the school year is over.
I was in Walgreens a day or two ago, and as I walked down the seasonal aisle, I was a little surprised to notice that the school supplies had either been relegated to their normal aisle of the store, or were shoved over to one small portion of the seasonal aisle. Replacing the cornucopia of pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, and other school essentials were costumes and multitudes of bagged candy.
There were a couple of store personnel busily stocking the shelves as I walked down the aisle. They hadn’t even put up the prices yet, so I gave the display a cursory glance at best. But based on what I did see, I think I should have at least a few reviews coming out of the Halloween season.
Looks like candy season is starting earlier than I thought it would. Well, to borrow a line from Shannon Foraker, "Oops."
-jc- | | |
| STATUS: Currently transferring entries from 2007.
[Step by step, one by one, higher and higher . . . ]
Hello, and welcome to A Chocoholic UnAnonymous.
My name is Johnny Carruthers, and I am the aforementioned chocoholic.
I have been writing reviews of candy bars and other confectionary goodies for quite a few years. I was already writing articles for a couple of science fiction fanzines (that's where the "scifi" part of my username comes in), when, in a fit of whimsy, I decided to write a review of a candy bar. My editors liked the idea, and they printed it, so I wrote more.
A couple of years ago, though, I had this epiphany. I realized that I had more reviews that I wanted to write than could ever be used in print, even if my editors ran an issue of nothing but my reviews. And I knew that was more than a little unlikely.
Since I didn't have the inclination to publish my own fanzine (for one thing, I didn't think I could do a decent fanzine on a regular basis), I turned to the Internet. The first version of A Chocoholic UnAnonymous was launched on LiveJournal in July 2006. It's still there, by the way. This version isn't a replacement; it's an expansion. An attempt to gain a wider audience, as it were.
Not too long ago, my friend Janus (aka "janusfiles") mentioned that Xanga had finally added a feature where you could adjust the dates of your entries. And after reading (with some amusement) of how he created a mirror site on LiveJournal for his Xanga site, I decided to do the same, only reversing the direction of migration. I seem to have picked up at least a few readers, due in no small part to Janus's telling all of his friends and subscribers about me. For those of you who discovered me this way, I thank you.
And if you discovered me through some other means, I thank you as well.
Somewhere along the line, one of my subscribers here asked why updates weren't appearing in her subscription digest. To the best of my knowledge, it was because I was backdating entries as I posted them. I decided that I needed to change the way I posted things just a bit.
So now, any new entry will have the current date for at least the first 24 hours. After that, the time/date stamp will be changed to match its original posting date. (And the quicker I receive comments on a new entry, the sooner another entry gets posted. Hint, hint.)
This entry will be updated from time to time, and will be deleted once I have copied all of the older entries. And I plan on taking my time copying the entries. From what I saw, Janus was trying to copy everything as quickly as he possibly could. I plan on treating this as a marathon; something that requires patience and endurance. Much easier on the sanity that way.
Once again, welcome, and I hope you enjoy. And if you do enjoy, please leave comments. Lots and lots of comments, thank you very much. It's probably the easiest way I can really tell if someone is reading what I am writing.
Oh, and if you're really curious as to what I might currently reviewing, the original version of A Chocoholic UnAnonymous can be found by clicking on the link below:
http://chocolatescifi.livejournal.com
I've actually adapted this entry for the Bio on my LJ profile page. As I said, this particular entry will eventually go away once I have finally copied all of the entries from the LJ site here. I thought it was worth keeping the basic information around somewhere. Eventually, the plan is to post new entries to both sites simultaneously. Eventually.
-jc- | | |
| Candy Bar Review
3 MUSKETEERS MINT
I was a little surprised when I first saw this new candy bar a few weeks ago. Surprised because I would have expected Mars to announce it with at least some advertising fanfare. But as of yet, I have not seen any print or TV advertising for the 3 Musketeers Mint bar.
As the name so readily implies, this is a variation on the 3 Musketeers bar. Inside, the nougat is a peppermint flavor. And surrounding that mint nougat is dark chocolate.
Now, anything with mint and dark chocolate is probably going to be compared to the York Peppermint Pattie. It might be unfair to the other product, but let's face it, it is something of a classic. You could even call it a standard for judging similar candies. Which is what I am doing, come to think of it.
The mint nougat is as fluffy as the chocolate nougat of the original 3 Musketeers bar. And the peppermint is definitely the dominant flavor in this candy bar. It isn't as strong as the peppermint Altoids, but I would have to say that it is probably stronger than the peppermint fondant inside a York Peppermint Pattie. It leaves an aftertaste that lingers for several minutes after you have consumed the bar. It's not unpleasant, but it is definitely there.
Covering the bar in dark chocolate was definitely a good call. The flavor of milk chocolate would definitely have been overwhelmed by the mint. As it is, the dark chocolate is almost overwhelmed, but manages to hold its own on your tastebuds. And while the mint leaves an aftertaste on the palate, the aftertaste begins before the dark chocolate's flavor has left your mouth.
The only complaint I have about the 3 Musketeers Mint is the size. For some unknown reason, Mars decided to produce it about half the size of the original 3 Musketeers bar, and with two dainty little pieces instead of one big bar. I found that a little irritating, because personally, I would prefer one really good-sized chunk of chocolate and mint. In addition to the full-size bar (and I use the term advisedly), the 3 Musketeers Mint also comes in bags of Minis.
When I reviewed the special version of Snickers that was released in conjunction with Shrek The Third, I mentioned that tinting the nougat of the Milky Way Midnight bar green would be an interesting idea for St. Patrick's Day. I think tinting the nougat of the 3 Musketeers Mint bar green would an equally interesting marketing idea for St. Patrick's Day.
-jc- | | |
| It's August, and the stores are brimming with back-to-school sales, specials, and other inducements to attract customers. In about a month, though, the school supplies will be moved away from the seasonal sections of their respective stores, and you know what that will mean.
Candy season will have begun.
Those school supplies will be moved to make way for the Halloween costumes, Halloween decorations, and most importantly . . . the Halloween candy. That will herald the beginning of a season that will last around seven months. At the very least. I'll have to check my calendar to find out the specifics; at the moment, I'm not sure when Easter falls in 2008.
The seasonal aisles of your favorite department, drug, and grocery stores will be filled with various confectionary delights from Labor Day through Easter. Maybe a week or so after that; if Easter comes early, the stores may not be in as big a rush to get the summer merchandise out right after that.
As one holiday gives way to the next, from Halloween to Christmas to Valentine's Day to Easter, the stores will give us numerous (and opportunities) to indulge our sweet tooth. It will be interesting to see what specialties the candy companies have planned for us this year.
Labor Day is September 3. The shelves should reveal all by then.
-jc- | | |
| Candy Review
DARK CHOCOLATE PEANUT M&MS
The first time I saw this new M&Ms variation on the shelves, I was not all that surprised. If anything, once I determined that it was indeed a new product, my first thought probably was something like, "Oh . . . I wonder took Mars so long?" Personally, I think the Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms were probably inevitable after Mars made the Dark Chocolate M&Ms part of their regular product line.
At first glance, the Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms are lumpy, irregular shapes, rather than the regular, even disc shape of both the Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate M&Ms. (Or what used to be called "Plain" M&Ms, until some marketing genius decided to get into the act.) That, of course, is because peanuts are irregular and lumpy, and do not come in even, regular shapes.
The Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms start with whole roasted peanuts. (At least, I'm assuming that they are roasted.) The peanuts are coated in dark chocolate, and finished with a sugar shell that makes sure that the chocolate "melts in your mouth, not in your hand." (Does M&M/Mars still use that slogan?) And of course, the sugar shells come in a rainbow of colors (just not purple, damn it!)
Peanuts and dark chocolate are a flavor combination that I have always thought worked well together, and to me, the Dark Chocolate M&Ms are a good example of how good a combination they are. Neither flavor dominates your tastebuds; instead, the two blend together harmoniously. The rich sweetness of the dark chocolate provides a contrast to the slight saltiness of the peanuts. As I said, neither flavor overpowers the other -- they compliment each other. The sugar shell doesn't contribute anything in the way of flavor; rather, it adds an interesting crunch that provides a minor contrast to the texture of the peanuts.
Like the Dark Chocolate M&Ms, the Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms come in a purple bag. The peanut variety is distinguished by a bright yellow stripe across the bag, and that stripe was what originally brought this new product to my attention. Best of all, it does not appear to be a limited edition, so this is something that should be around for a long time to come.
-jc- | | |
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