Candy Bar Lab

In the interest of full-disclosure, I have to admit that I generally don’t like white chocolate. Since it doesn’t have any chocolate liquor nor cocoa solids, it’s not even really chocolate. On the flip side, I absolutely love Oreo cookies. They’re easily my favorite mass-produced cookie.

Before I try out a new product, I usually guess whether or not I’ll like it. Sometimes I’m surprised. Sometimes the candy bar is exactly as expected; both good and bad. With the Cookies n’ Cream, I earnestly didn’t know what to guess.

Structure
A solid, 12 segment molded bar of white chocolate with little balls of chocolate cookies mixed throughout.

Texture
The white chocolate is very soft; it’s almost not even like chocolate. There’s absolutely no snap when you bite in. Normally, this would be a deal breaker. However, I enjoyed the contrast between the crispy cookie bits and the soft chocolate.

Taste
Again, the white chocolate fails if you apply traditional chocolate rules. It’s very sugary and tastes like artificial vanilla. But, it kind of evokes an Oreo center. The cookie pieces do have some chocolate flavor, but they’re a bit overpowered by the white chocolate.

Verdict
The chocolate in this bar feels and tastes cheap. Any self-respecting chocolate connoisseur would probably thumb their nose at this product. But I’m going to go against traditional wisdom and recommend this product for those who like Oreo cookies. Though, if you’re looking to buy a product called “Cookies ‘n’ Cream”, I’d assume you already are and there’s a good chance you’ll also like this product.

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 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.