Candy Bar Lab

I’ve been eying Chuao (pronounced chew-WOW) candy bars at my local grocery store for a few months now. Of their three products, the packaging for this Spicy Maya bar was the one that immediately jumped out at me. The bold, white lettering on a red, metallic wrapper is very appealing. What’s not so appealing is the $6.29 price tag. But, I felt compelled to try one out for myself because I already know I’m a fan of spicy chocolate products.

Structure
A solid, molded rectangle of dark chocolate with 24 sections. The cayenne pepper, pasilla chile, and cinnamon are distributed throughout the chocolate.

Texture
This is a well tempered bar that produces a nice snap when you bite it. The only textural difference between this and pure chocolate is the bit of crunchiness from the ground spices, which I liked.

Taste
At first, I only tasted dark chocolate, which was by itself, quite good. A couple seconds after swallowing my first bite though, I felt some heat in the back of my throat. After a few more bites, the spicy, peppery taste became more noticeable. Thankfully, it never became overwhelming. All the flavors work well together and I found myself craving more each time I tried to put the bar down.

Verdict
This is a quality product with a unique flavor combination and excellent packaging. I shared it with six friends and it was unanimously liked. Having said that, I will admit that most people probably won’t want to spend more than $6.00 for a product like this. It’s more of a one-time indulgence than the kind of treat the average person will buy often.

I haven’t been able to find a good, definitive answer as to what a candy bar actually is. The candy part means that it’s sweet and the term bar implies something about its shape; most likely oblong and squared-off to some degree. But a ton of products fit this loose definition that I would not consider to be candy bars. So, here is a list of things that are similar to and sometimes confused with candy bars that are in fact, NOT candy bars by my (arguably subjective and arbitrary) rules.

• Solid chocolate bars. Many dedicated chocolate enthusiasts draw a distinction between pure chocolate bars and those that have fillings or things mixed into them. I agree with this distinction because candy bars are about combining flavors and/or textures.

• Energy bars. This distinction can be somewhat confusing due to the the use of traditional candy bar brands with energy bars (i.e. Snickers Marathon, PayDay Pro). Products like Snickers Charged and Twix Java, which I do consider to be candy bars, make it even more confusing. It all boils down to the primary purpose - indulgence vs. energy.

• Granola & cereal bars. Close cousins to the energy bar category, but also not candy bars. If it’s intended to be healthy first, then it’s not candy.

• Bite-sized pieces. The experience of eating a candy bar should include at least a a few bites. If the entire piece of candy in question can easily be popped into your mouth, then it’s something else. Therefore, M&M’s, Skittles, Reese’s Pieces, Life Savers, etc. don’t count.

• Anything round. Again, the term bar to me implies oblong and squared-off. Circles are neither. So Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Peppermint Patties, Mallo Cups, etc. are all out.

• Ice cream treats. This is also confusing because you can find traditional candy bar brands used in this category. If it melts at room temperature, I don’t count it.

One important factor that doesn’t come in to play when spotting a candy bar is price. They can be mass produced products that cost 50¢ at the convenience store or they can be $5 gourmet bars you order online. In the end, I believe you know a candy bar when you see one. It’s a combination of ingredients, purpose, packaging, marketing and other intangibles that let you know what you’re looking at is intended to be a candy bar.

I generally poke around for some interesting facts about the candy bars I review before I post. Sometimes, like in this case, I find a useless factoid worth sharing. Did you know that back in the 80’s, the former manufacturer put actual nickels in the PayDay packaging? I suppose this was a play on the term “PayDay”. Not surprisingly, it only last a few years. I doubt it made a difference to buyers and seems like it would have been more of a pain than it was worth.

Structure
A caramel center covered in peanuts.

Texture
On paper, it should work. A soft center covered in crunchy peanuts. But it fails because there aren’t enough peanuts and the ones on there are a bit soft. Peanuts are supposed to be REALLY crunchy and these just aren’t. Worse, the center feels more like fudge than caramel - it’s a bit grainy.

Taste
PayDay successfully combines sweet and salty, which to me is one of the most satisfying combinations imaginable. The peanuts obviously bring some flavor to the mix as well. Again, the caramel center is disappointing. It doesn’t have any actual caramelized sugar notes. It does have a lot of artificial vanilla flavor, which isn’t good.

Verdict
Conceptually, PayDay should be a great bar. It’s obviously a classic that’s been around forever and to many, I’m sure it’s a favorite. However, it needs fresher, higher quality peanuts and a smoother center with less artificial vanilla taste.