Tag Archives: Hard Candy

High School Musical Back Pack Snacks

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Haven’t we had enough of High School Musical already? From Broadway to an every-other-day showing on the Disney Channel, to promotional products out the wazoo, I’m starting to wonder if these smiley-faced kids ever do anything but sing and dance their teenage years away. That said, the brilliant marketers at Flix Candy are getting in on The Great Mouse’s (a.k.a. Mickey’s) grand plan by selling High School Musical candies. Disney Back Pack Snacks are tiny carryall bags for candy (picture a Barbie-sized pack, maybe a little larger). The High School Musical backpack is bright and fun, promising that you’ll have a novelty toy to use as a change purse after the candy is long gone. Yes friends, the gang’s all here and ready to have a good time. Inside the bag’s zipper are some tinier clear plastic bags of “candy sports balls,” which are similar to Sweetarts, but basketball-shaped. The pastel colored sports balls are chalky in texture, a bit tart, a bit sugary. I wasn’t addicted by any means, but they didn’t taste bad. What interests me most about this candy is that the candy itself isn’t related to High School Musical at all—just the packaging. Remarkably, they can throw a “name” on it and get so many kids hyped up about something they’d normally turn up their nose at—a plastic pack of generic “sports ball” candies. But if there’s any chance that Zac Efron or Ashley Tisdale eats them—well, by golly, I’d better have some too!

Verdict: If you’re in need of satisfying your sweet tooth and no more, stick with regular Sweetarts and save the planet. But if you know a little High School Musical fan who’d be thrilled to pieces to tote this mini backpack on his or her keychain, you’ve got an idea for an affordable yet thoughtful gift. That’s if the kids don’t already have everything with the High School Musical name attached to it.

Hannah Montana Disco Ball Lollipop Cover

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Miley Cyrus—how did you do it? From the DNA of Billy Ray to little-girldom fame, the world has its eyes (and its pocketbooks) turned to you. Hannah Montana Disco Ball Lollipops are brought to us by the masterminds at Flix Candy. These suckers are nothing special at all. But, hey, you get a plastic disco ball to hang on your backpack or keychain when it’s all done, so you can feel just like Hannah Montana giving a concert with all the glitz and glamour of being a superstar. The disco ball does have an official Hannah Montana logo sticker, which makes it worth more than a quarter to most girls ages 6 to 14. If you’re looking for something a little bit different, try Hannah Montana Concert Candy (chewable microphones), Glamour Guitar Lollipops, or Picture Ring Pops. Millions of viewers and concert-goers can’t be wrong—this little girl’s got star quality and the ability to sell anything she puts her name and likeness to.

Once I pried open the shiny, disco ball cover, the lollipop inside was nothing to write home about. Its strawberry flavor was a bit dull, and the candy itself was only slightly bigger than a Dum Dum. The inner wrapper was plain white—no glitz at all. All in all, you’re paying for the image with this candy, and image is pretty much all you get. I would never buy this candy myself, but I know about a million and a half little girls who would. So hats off to Flix Candy and Hannah’s savvy agents for bringing the goods to the goody-goody consumer. Based in Niles, Illinois, Flix Candy is big into licensed candies, with Care Bears, WALL-E and Disney Princess candies all in the repertoire. They also market candy to boys, like their Box of Boogers, Gummy Bugs and superhero licensed brands.

Skittles Crazy Cores

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When you want to taste a rainbow of flavor with a crazy, tasty kick, turn to fruit-flavored Skittles Crazy Cores. These bite-size candies look like traditional Skittles candies, until you bite them open. What sets these apart is the second flavor in its core, much like Everlasting Gobstoppers.

Each Skittles candy has one flavor outside, and another flavor inside, for five total flavor combinations: Mango Peach, Cherry Lemonade, Melon Berry, Strawberry Watermelon, and Blue Raspberry with Lemon. Each candy has a hard sugar shell, not at all detracting from the soft and chewy texture inside. I especially liked the Mango Peach and Blue Raspberry with Lemon flavor combos, but there’s wasn’t a bad grouping in the bag. In fact, if you eat a handful and don’t pay attention to the flavors, they all mix well in my opinion!

Available in bright orange 2-ounce pouches (great for singles) or 7.2-ounce bags (suitable for sharing at the movies), Skittles Crazy Cores look appetizing from the moment you lay eyes on the packaging. Each dual-colored candy gracing the cover appears to float in a dream world of color, like a party supply store on caffeine. Skittles are classic fruit candies produced by the Mars Candy Company. They were introduced to candy lovers in 1973, and have enjoyed over three decades of success in Europe, though they first came to the States in 1982. With the popular advertising slogan “taste the rainbow,” Skittles have successfully won over candy addicts from children to adults, all over the world. If you like Crazy Cores, you ought to also check out Chocolate, Wild Berry, Tropical and Sour Skittles for a delicious aside from the classic fruit-bowl flavors (Lemon, Lime, Grape, Orange and Strawberry).

Sorbee Crystal Light Hard Candy

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The popular diet drink has made its way to the candy aisle! Crystal Light Sugar Free Hard Candies are relatively new to the market, released by Sorbee, a Philadelphia-based sugar-free product developer. This product’s availability is good news for calorie counters who can’t seem to release their sweet tooth. From the image on the wrapper, you can tell this is a candy meant to please adults, not kids. There are no cartoon characters here—just the familiar label and giant images of fruit on the Pepto-Bismol pink, 3-ounce bag. Advertising 50 percent fewer calories than regular hard candies, these Crystal Light lozenges boast less than 7 calories per piece. How’s that for diet candy? Sweetened with Splenda, the candies are also kosher, utilizing natural and artificial flavors.

The star flavor out of this package is Orange. Tasting like an orange popsicle, this flavor is smooth and bright, with a bit of tang to it—and not the orange drink. Strawberry pretty much tastes like a diet drink, so there are no surprises here. With a hint of chemical to the flavor, I found Strawberry to be overwhelmingly strong and too fake in the taste department. Cherry and Raspberry are almost indistinguishable in color, with the latter being a shade lighter. Cherry tastes a bit like wax lips you’d wear at Halloween and Raspberry tastes like Lip Smackers raspberry chap stick. Take that as you will. What I do like about theses hard candies is the individually-wrapped packaging style, perfect for tossing in your bag. The candies themselves have a nice shape to them, like LifeSavers with the middle filled in.

Overall, these candies are okay if you’re on a diet, but don’t expect to enjoy them more than you would a Jolly Rancher or a bag of fruity LifeSavers. You may just get hooked on Orange, though.

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Shock Tarts

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It’s very hard to find good sour candy these days, but luckily for those who love both sour and sweet candy there is now a solution.  Shockers have this unique taste because at the first instant, when you put it in your mouth it tastes sour and shocking, but then it turns a little sweet. What I like to do is just suck on the candy until all the sour taste has died down, and then I chew on the remaining candy, which is deliciously sweet. They are very chewy, yet they don’t stick to your teeth.

Another great thing about shockers is that they package is a long tube that you just unwrap and pop in whatever flavor comes out. I kind of find it suspenseful, because I never know which is going to be the last flavor. Hopefully it will end up being green apple because that is my favorite. I personally think it is the sourest one and I love how it just holds the sour flavor longer than the others.

“Every flavor is super sour, but still different, and that’s what makes shockers my favorite candy,” says Whitney a sour candy connoisseur. Indeed all the flavors are uniquely wonderful. Orange has just this citric taste that makes my mouth tingle with joy. Cherry may not taste exactly like a cherry, but it sure does burst in my mouth. Blue raspberry has this way of just melting into the sweet candy, and eventually melting away. Grape is unfortunately kind of rare in some rolls making it a bit more enjoyable to eat. Green apple is tremendously sour and I just love that. Luckily for me that was the last one!

Werther’s Original

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Caramel comes in many shapes and sizes, but Werther’s Original‘s hard caramel is the best and long time original. This caramel is like no other because it has the simplest ingredients that make it naturally sweet.  The caramels have been made for over 100 years and the taste still remains the same.

Unlike other chewy candy the hard caramels don’t get stuck in your teeth and they’re easy to just pop in during a hard days work. Werther’s Original is extraordinarily creamy, which also makes it the perfect dessert.  “I don’t know anyone that can turn down a Werther’s Original. I keep a bag of the hard candy in my desk drawer at work so that I could just get lost in its creamy goodness whenever I want,” says Shiela, a hard working mom and teacher.

The world agrees that this is indeed the best caramel ever. The candy originated in a small town called Werther, by a candy maker named Gustav Nebel. His genius work provides the people of today with what is known as the World’s Favorite Caramel.