Candy Bar Lab

I already knew that a couple of the world’s greatest culinary delights are made near where I grew up - the New Haven, Connecticut area.

1. Modern Pizza
2. PEZ

It turns out that back in the day, Almond Joys were also made in New Haven. Back then though, they were produced by the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company. Today, they’re manufactured by Hershey’s, which means they’re not actually made in New Haven anymore. Oh well…

Structure
The package contains two small bars, each consisting of a shredded coconut core topped with two whole almonds - all enrobed in a thin shell of milk chocolate.

Texture
The center is very soft, which makes the bar really easy to bite through. The coconut filling feels wet; like it’s bound together with a light syrup (in fact, I think that’s exactly how the coconut is held together). I like the consistency of the center a lot actually. It’s not dry or crumbly at all, which a coconut product could easily be. The almonds and chocolate shell provide a nice, crunchy contrast.

Taste
The coconut and toasted almonds are the flavor stars in this bar. They work together perfectly. The milk chocolate, on the other hand, is weak. It ends up being the role player in the group. All together, the flavors work well together. Though I would have liked a more intense chocolate experience.

Verdict
The combinations of flavors and textures in Almond Joy are perfectly conceived. This is a classic bar that deserves its spot on pretty much every candy stand you’ll come across in the US.

A couple years ago, I volunteered to make a few hundred little chocolate hearts for my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding. I had just learned to temper chocolate, but I was confident I could pull it off. Well, it was the middle of summer and the air conditioning decided to break in my apartment the weekend I had to make these chocolates. The humidity and 90 degree temperature in my kitchen that Saturday completely thwarted my futile efforts to temper chocolate and I was forced to travel to Burlington, Vermont (the site of the wedding) with nothing to show for my efforts.

We get there and my girlfriend suggests we buy the chocolate hearts from Lake Champlain chocolates, which was nearby. This saved the day. They were absolutely delicious; some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had.

Last week, a co-worker of mine (thanks Clinton) picked up a Lake Champlain candy bar for me and ironically, it had melted and cracked a bit in storage and transit from the store to me. Unlike my chocolate hearts effort however, this chocolate was salvageable. After a couple days of sitting in my kitchen, it was back to full health and ready to be eaten.

Structure
A six-segment, molded bar of milk chocolate with small pieces of raw almonds and sea salt spread throughout.

Texture
The milk chocolate is really smooth. It is amazing how different top-quality milk chocolate is from something like a Hershey’s Bar - they shouldn’t even be considered the same thing. Bad milk chocolate can be grainy - great milk chocolate is just so smooth (I can’t think of a better description). But besides the chocolate, there’s some great crunchiness from the salt and almonds. The sea salt crystals are definitely more noticeable, but the small bits of almond provide some depth of texture.

Taste
The milk chocolate is again the star - it tastes so smooth (I’m not creative today with my adjectives). The flavor lasts really long too - another sign of high-quality chocolate. They weren’t skimpy at all with the salt. If you don’t like heavily salted foods, you might be turned off by this candy bar. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you’ll love the combination.

Verdict
This bar is making me rethink my previous belief that I preferred dark chocolate over milk. Done this well, milk chocolate is amazing. The inclusion of saltiness makes it even better; heightening it’s flavor. Even though this was an expensive bar ($2.60 for 1.25 ounces), it would have been well worth it had I bought it myself (thanks again Clinton).

This is a limited edition bar that, to be honest, is more about the marketing than the actual product. It was made to promote the upcoming release of the new Indiana Jones movie. But to Mars credit, instead of just printing some Indiana Jones graphics on a regular Snickers bar package, they at least tried something new to match the theme of the movie. This change… to add coconut and chai flavoring.

Now, I understand going with coconut, but I was a little confused why they would add chai. In my ignorance, I thought chai meant “tea-flavored”. So I looked it up on Wikipedia and it turns out “chai spices” refers to a mixture of warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, etc. Well that made a little more sense to me, but I was still a little skeptical how that would taste in a Snickers.

Structure
The center is a layer of nougat topped with a layer of caramel and peanuts; all enrobed in milk chocolate.

Texture
Texturally, it’s identical to a standard Snickers, which means it’s really good. There’s chewy nougat and caramel with crunchy peanuts. All of the textures are perfectly balanced.

Taste
When I first bit in, it tasted exactly like a regular Snickers. It took a second or two for the coconut aftertaste to hit. It’s very subtle, but tastes pretty good actually. After a few more bites, I started noticing cinnamon coming through. All the flavors actually went together surprisingly well. Though it’s good they didn’t add too much of these exotic flavors - it would have detracted from the inherent greatness of a Snickers too much.

Verdict
The coconut and cinnamon flavors are an interesting change of pace from a regular Snickers. This is a limited edition bar that while I liked it, I’m glad it’s not a permanent offering. I recommend to go out and pick one up - it’s worth tasting for yourself.