Sometimes Foodie

Caramel Apple Pops - Dollar General : Cherry Hill, NJ

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Tootsie’s packaging designs desperately need an overhaul. Just look at this bag.

This layout is a mess of green, tan, and red-violet. The garish combination of colors and semi-retro look aren’t working for me at all. Thankfully the individual candy wrappers inside are much more palatable. The Tootsie company seems to be staying afloat due to the quality of their products and nostalgia, and it’s good to have a great product, but I think they should try to revamp their plastic bags with a completely throw-back retro design. Embrace the nostalgia and try to create something a little more aesthetically pleasing. (Or at the very least lose the red-violet purple color.)

Some of you might have had these before, but in case you haven’t, here’s a quick explanation. These are green apple lollipops that have been dipped into a chewy caramel coating. The finished candy looks a bit like something Dr. Frankenstein would create in his lab, but it tastes like a caramel covered green apple.

I love the taste of these lollipops, but they do have their downsides. The edges of caramel can become sugary shrapnel. At times I have had these lollipops cut the sides or the roof of my mouth. (Just like those tube shaped freeze pops.) These are also temperature sensitive. If these get hot, that caramel is going to melt and ooze out of the wrapper making it even less appetizing looking.

This may be one of the ugliest products ever, but man do they taste good.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Coffee to Eat, Cappuccino - Aldi

My boyfriend is a big coffee drinker, so I like picking up little coffee flavored treats for him to try. This one came from Aldi.

I would describe the design as “chunky.” The top is a big block of text, followed by a large image, and finished off with another rectangle block of text. The color palettes and images are quite nice on their own, but there is no real flow to the design.

The cardboard packaging is similar to a box of chocolates, with it’s removable lid and a protective plastic film, it’s just smaller. Everything is very functional.

The chocolates themselves are pretty damn cute. They are cup shaped and filled with a soft coffee and chocolate ganache.

Sadly, these taste more chocolate than coffee. Only the filling is coffee flavored, and that is easily overpowered by the cup-shaped chocolate shell. These are really sweet too, the chocolate is similar to Cadbury, which is not one of my favorites. (It’s just too sweet for me.)

My boyfriend tried these and he thought they were okay, but definitely not coffee flavored. So if you’re a coffee fan, you might not enjoy these, but chocolate lovers will.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Kanro Amanatsu Soda Nodo Ame - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

I wasn’t able to find any direct translations online, but from what I’ve gathered this is an amanatsu flavored hard candy. What’s amanatsu? Check out this link! (There are so many variations of citrus fruit I have never heard of!)

“Amanatsu (甘夏 ama natsu^?) is a yellowish orange citrus fruit. It is about the size of grapefruit and oblate in shape. The fruit contains 12 segments and about 30 seeds.”

The colors used in the packaging design are really refreshing. There are variations of blue mixed with white, orange, green and red. The design focuses on text and images of fresh amanatsu instead of any mascots or gimmicks. A simple, refreshing, design is always very effective, and I love the little fruit illustrations! (Especially the sliced one.)

Inside, the candies are individually wrapped in silver foil, just like the Puccho candies I have been reviewing.

Once I removed the wrapper, I could see the beautifully cut hard candy. It looks like a delicious little citrus gem.

Right off the bat this is a citrus candy, but the flavor is mish-mash of citrus flavors. If you mashed a grapefruit and a mandarin orange together and added them to seltzer water, you would be pretty close to this candy. There weren’t any fizzy soda notes, but the flavoring did remind me of a carbonated juice. It’s sweet, but tangy, and a little sour. I love citrus flavors so I absolutely love this candy.

This tastes like an authentic mixture of citrus flavors, and I plan of carrying these around in my purse this summer for a refreshing little pick-me-up.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Yummy Earth Vitamin C lollipops - Home Goods: Moorestown, NJ

I took a break from these for a while, but now I’m back with the last 3 flavors. Today’s is Strawberry Splash.

The packaging is typical for lollipops, so I’ll skip right to the candy itself.

This lollipop is marbled with a berry red and a lighter, pinkish, color. There have been a lot of red flavors in this mix, so it’s a little tricky to purposefully pick this flavor out of the bag. Like the other marbled flavors, the marbling is very inconsistent, so no two strawberry splash lollipops look alike.

This flavor has a very mild artificial strawberry scent. (It smells a lot like these classic candies.)

It tastes a lot like those candies too! The addition of vitamin C adds a little tartness, but the flavoring is a pretty generic berry flavor, which is spot on for the classic candies I linked above.

Although strawberry has always been one of my favorite flavors, this one isn’t my favorite of the bunch. It doesn’t taste very authentic, but it is sweet and satisfying.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Cinnabon Cream of Wheat - Dollar General : Cherry Hill, NJ

Cream of Wheat is one of my favorite breakfast items. It sticks to the ribs and warms you up. (Especially on cold rainy days.)

The box design is pretty busy for an American product. There are swirls, logos, photos, and splashes of text everywhere. The colors are a nice mash up of the two brand identities, the Cinnabon blue and Cream of Wheat’s blue text work nicely together. Although there is a lot going on, I think it works.

When cooked, there is a lovely cinnamon sugar aroma. The scent doesn’t remind me of a cinnamon bun, just plain old cinnamon.

Does this taste like Cinnabon pastry? No. It just kinda tastes like normal Cream of Wheat with cinnamon and sugar mixed in. It’s yummy, but I could easily make this myself.

I like the idea of having flavored Cream of Wheat, but this was a bit of a let down. I expected more than just cinnamon and sugar mixed in. I would pass on these in the future and just mix up my own.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Nintento 3-DEES Fruit Snacks - Dollar General : Cherry Hill, NJ

Remember THESE sweet-tart-like Nintendo candies? Well there are 3-D gummy ones too!

The package design is a bright Mario-red with large images of Nintendo characters. Overall, the design focuses on the characters and not the candy, which is typical for a novelty product. People are buying this because it’s Nintendo, not necessarily for the candy or it’s flavor.

Ignore the packaging, just look at these gummy shapes! The figures are surprisingly detailed and they can even stand up on their own! (Which is great for photos.)

There are 4 character shapes:

Mario

Yoshi

DK

Diddy Kong

None of the female characters are represented! Which stinks, but I understand that having more character shapes would have been expensive. (Especially for candy molds this detailed.)

These gummies come in 4 flavors:

Strawberry - (pinkish) smells a lot like apple juice with a hint of strawberry. Overall this tastes like a strawberry flavored applesauce.

Blueberry - (Red) smells very faintly of blueberries. The flavor is mild with some authentic blueberry notes, but it has a lot of apple juice flavoring like the Strawberry.

Orange - (orange) smells sweet, more like a mandarin orange. The flavor is just like the orange gelatin that is inside prepackaged mandarin orange fruit cups. (This is the only flavor that does not have any apple notes.)

Apple - (yellow-ish) has a really weak smell, I couldn’t tell what it was based on smell alone. As far as taste, it’s like I just had a spoonful of apple juice concentrate. The finish is slightly more like an artificial green apple, but the overall flavoring is definitely apple juice.

Although the flavors were apple-heavy, they were pretty enjoyable. What really stood out to me was the texture. The bite wasn’t like a traditional gummy bear, it’s more like a fruit pastille with a soft and bouncy chew.

I really enjoyed the shapes and textures, and I can actually see myself buying these again in the future.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Sakuma Drops (Grave of the Fireflies Edition) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Check out THIS LINK for the packaging THIS LINK for the first 3 flavors and THIS LINK for the last 3 flavors

Today I’ll be reviewing the last 2 flavors:

Mint

Strawberry

Mint:

The chocolate and mint flavored candies threw me for a loop. I thought this was supposed to be a fruity mix, so these two flavors seemed like they didn’t belong.

The mint flavored candy is a translucent white-ish color which can be easily mistaken for the lemon. (It’s also really hard to photograph. I darkened the candy a bit in photoshop so you can see it better.) The only way to tell the difference between the lemon and mint is that the mint candies are more opaque. (At first I thought they were the same flavor with less of the powdery coating.)

As far as the actual taste, there is a sweet, cooling, peppermint flavor that is just like a Starlight Mint or a candy cane. The hard candy texture is a bit denser than any American candy canes I have had, but the flavor is spot on. (It’s worth mentioning that this shape was VERY mouth friendly too!)

Strawberry:

Strawberry has always been my favorite flavor. As a kid I loved these strawberry hard candies and ate them very frequently. (Just ask my dentist.) Therefore, I was excited to try the Sakuma drop version of this fruity flavor.

The strawberry flavored candy is a bright pinkish-red color, and (like the rest) it has no scent at all. When I started sucking on the candy it was hard to detect much strawberry flavor, it was more of a generically sweet berry flavor, but it faded into a juicy strawberry syrup. The initial flavor reminded me a lot of those old fashioned strawberry candies, but it became more authentic as the candy melted. Sadly I only had 3 strawberry flavored candies in my mix.

After trying every flavor I’d have to say:

Pineapple - still the best. It was so realistic!

Lemon - sweet and tangy.

Strawberry - more authentically flavored as it melts.

Grape - yummy deep grape juice notes

Apple - A tangy green apple flavor

Mint - just like a piece of a candy cane

Chocolate - if Yoo-hoo were made into a candy

Orange - artificial, but tastes like orange soda

Overall I really liked all of these flavors, and the packaging is adorable. My only complaint is that some of these shapes really damaged the roof of my mouth (we’re talking Captain Crunch-worthy cuts) and I didn’t have much variety in my container. It was mostly mint and orange, two flavors I ranked at the bottom of my list. (But maybe I got a bum can.) Sakuma drops come in a lot of flavor varieties, and I look forward to trying some other versions.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Fresh Ginger, Ginger Ale (with Pomegranate and Hibiscus) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

I am taking a break from the Sakuma Drops Candy because they are tearing the roof of my mouth apart. ;_; I’ll post the last two flavors tomorrow.

I have seen this beverage line at other stores, and around the web, and I was pretty curious about how this flavor would taste, so I decided to pick it up during my last trip to the Asian Food Market. (I might try to film my next trip there and make a video post, but my camera doesn’t do HD video.)

Overall the packaging is very simple with a natural, organic, feel. The clear glass bottle it topped with a plain metal cap without any image or text, and the label is a creamy off-white with a black typewriter-esque font. These vintage-y fonts can look a bit awkward or forced at times, but I think it matches the aesthetics that the brand was going for.

Since this is a natural, unfiltered, beverage there are some separation issues and the label suggests a gentle shake to mix everything back up. I’m just not comfortable shaking a soda. (I don’t want it to explode!) So I gently rolled the beverage back and forth to combine the flavors.

When I removed the cap the soda bubbled and fizzed very nicely (and thankfully didn’t burst in my hands). It looked gorgeous with all the golden bubbles!

I knew this soda was going to be strongly flavored but I was still a little shocked by just how strong the initial ginger aroma was. I can smell the cane sugar and ginger, but there is only a slight fruity hint of pomegranate. Ginger is undoubtedly the star of the show.

Taking a sip, this stuff is STRONG. (Strong enough to be worthy of all caps.) The ginger is sweetened, but it slightly burns the tongue and really woke me up. The strength is equivalent to the ginger that accompanies sushi, but the cane sugar, pomegranate, and hibiscus help to balance the flavor. (The add-ins are noticeable, but they take a back seat to the ginger.)

This was VERY refreshing and I really enjoyed it. (Which is saying something because I typically don’t like minced ginger.) I can see this being a great drink for a spring picnic, or a unique mix-in for a summer cocktail. If you love ginger, you’ll love this soda. (Even if you dislike actual minced ginger, like I do, you might really like it as well.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Sakuma Drops (Grave of the Fireflies Edition) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Because this candy has a lot flavors, and such amazing packaging, I am splitting it up into multiple reviews.

Check out THIS LINK for the packaging and THIS LINK for the first 3 flavors

Today I’ll be reviewing:

Lemon

Grape

Orange

Lemon:

I am so used to lemon candy being yellow that I just assumed the yellow candy was lemon and the translucent one was pineapple, but it turns out that it’s the other way around. This translucent little oval is actually the lemon flavored candy.

When I popped it into my mouth it took a few seconds before I could taste anything, but once it began to melt there were some nice, tangy, lemon juice notes. This is tangy without being too sour or too sweet. This honestly tastes just like the lemon water ice you can buy at the beach. (Also called Italian Ice.) This mold-shape was really mouth friendly too! (Some of the other ones make the roof of my mouth sore.)

Grape:

As a kid I HATED grape, but now I can’t get enough of it. (Check out some of the grape candies I have tried.)

The grape candy is a rich berry-color and, unlike the lemon, it has a strong flavor right away. The candy starts out being surprisingly authentic, like a glass of red grape juice, and a little jammy. Eventually you can taste some tangy notes that are a bit like sparkling grape juice, but the overall flavor is a lot like the grape gummies I sampled a year ago (Review Here). (This shape was a little rough on the roof of my mouth.)

Orange:

Since I love actual oranges, I am picky about the orange flavored candies I eat. Unless the candy tastes really authentic, I won’t bother with them.

Sadly this doesn’t taste like a real orange at all. The flavor is a lot like the Orange Lion Soda Kids Candy I reviewed a few weeks ago, just without the fizzy center. This candy tastes like artificial orange soda, which isn’t bad, but the flavoring isn’t as good as the Lion version.

So far, after trying six of the flavors, I am ranking them:

Pineapple

Lemon

Grape

Apple

Chocolate

Orange

I still have 2 flavors left! I might take a break tomorrow and post a review of something else before finishing out these candies. (The roof of my mouth is all sore and cut up from some of these shapes, so I need to take a day off.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Sakuma Drops (Grave of the Fireflies Edition) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Because this candy has a lot flavors, and such amazing packaging, I am splitting it up into multiple reviews.

Check out THIS LINK for the packaging.

Time to actually try some of this candy!

Today I’ll be reviewing:

Apple

Chocolate

Pineapple

Apple:

The green, slightly translucent, candy seems to be Apple flavored. (More specifically, this tastes like a Granny Smith apple.) The flavor is bright and sweet, like a glass of apple juice, but there are some tart notes that clearly remind me of a green apple. All of these candies seem to be made in random molds, the flavors and colors won’t always match their shape, so I am not too sure what this shape is supposed to represent. (This shape had an odd mouth feel, and kind of hurt the roof of my mouth a bit.)

Chocolate:

When I saw this flavor I instantly asked myself, why is chocolate in a fruity mix? This flavor is an semi-opaque brown color, that looks a lot like a root beer barrel, and it has a mild chocolatey aroma. (Which is unique, because the other flavors don’t seem to have any smell at all.) Surprisingly enough, this candy tastes a lot like Yoo-hoo. Although this flavor was a bit unexpected, it was very enjoyable. (Plus this flower-shape didn’t hurt my mouth at all.)

Pineapple:

Yesterday I thought this candy was lemon flavored, but it turns out these are actually pineapple. The flavor is very authentic, it tastes just like eating a pineapple ring! This candy is a bit unlike the last two flavors, because it actually creates a juicy feeling in your mouth. (Similar to Starbursts or Hi-chew.) I think this is the best flavor of the three, and the mouth feel of this shape was perfect.

Out of these three flavors pineapple is my hands-down favorite. It is delicious and juicy! (Apple comes in second and then chocolate. Not because the chocolate flavoring is necessarily bad, I just prefer fruity flavored hard candies.)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Sakuma Drops (Grave of the Fireflies Edition) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

_{(Sorry for missing a day, I was having a little bit of an emotional time and didn’t get to type up a review.)}

Candy from possibly the saddest movie ever.

Because this candy has a lot flavors, and such amazing packaging, I am splitting it up into multiple reviews.

This review will focus on the aesthetics.

Right away I recognized the picture on this package, and the candy itself. (If you have ever seen the film Grave of the Fireflies, you might too.)

The outside packaging is different from any other candy I have reviewed because it isn’t made of paper, or plastic, but metal. This classic candy is inside a little metal tin with a removable cap. The container is surprisingly sturdy and the candy inside has a satisfying rattle. I think the container can be recycled, but a lot of people seem to collect and display them instead. (Or it can be re-purposed, any ideas?)

I think the design is very simple, but effective. Ignoring the image from the movie, you have a bold red, black, and white design with text and fruit. The text on the packaging is simple and thin, while the clip-art-like fruit are bold and chunky. Looking at each element alone, they may seem crude or unfinished, but together the design works really well.

There are a few flavors (I couldn’t find a comprehensive list so I am guessing)

Orange (orange)

Chocolate (brown)

Mint (white)

Grape (red)

Strawberry (pink)

Apple (green)

Lemon (yellow)

Pineapple (clear/translucent)

I was a little thrown off by the chocolate and mint flavors being in this mix, because everything else is fruity, but we’ll see how everything tastes when I review the candies tomorrow!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Wegman’s Chocolate Mousse - Wegman’s : Cherry Hill, NJ

It’s been a rough couple of months, so my mom decided to pick up some little treats for the family.

I am in love with this plastic angled container! The translucent, packing tape-like, label peels off cleanly so that the presentation becomes that much nicer. These are just so impressive looking, especially for a pre-made grocery store creation. I bet theses would look fantastic at a dessert table for a party.
Once I removed the lid I could instantly smell the chocolate. The aroma is a bit sweeter than a dark chocolate, but richer than a baking chocolate.
The dark chocolate shavings on top add texture but they quickly melt in your mouth and blend with the frothy chocolate mousse. The flavors are pretty rich for a grocery store product, and I liked this a lot, but it’s a little too sweet. (It took me two days to finish my portion because it was just too much for one sitting.)

I love the packaging and presentation. These gorgeous ready-made desserts from Wegman’s are definitely worth a try!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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