Candy Bar Lab

This limited edition bar is essentially a plain old Snickers with the addition of some chemicals that are supposed to “charge” you up. These boosters include caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins. Now, I understand the addition of caffeine to generate this effect - it’s a psychoactive stimulant. On the other hand, I’m disappointed they decided to add taurine. Despite being found in a bunch of energy drinks, it actually does nothing to boost energy. It was popularized by Red Bull (they like it because the word is derived from taurus - the Latin word for bull). Mars is using taurine for the marketing angle only.

In the end, if Charged tastes like a regular Snickers, but delivers a kick of caffeine, it’s a success. My concern however, is that caffeine has a notoriously bitter taste.

Structure
The center is a layer of nougat topped with a layer of caramel and peanuts; all enrobed in milk chocolate. Caffeine, taurine and B vitamines are presumably incorporated into the caramel (though I can’t confirm this).

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
I was curious to see if my discerning palate would be able to catch a hint of the bitterness from the caffeine. Well, it turns out the bitterness isn’t subtle at all. A couple seconds after my first bite (which tasted great - like a regular Snickers), the aftertaste poked through. It was like the taste of chewing aspirin. I know because I could legally drink before I could swallow pills and so I chewed more than my fair share of pills growing up. Anyway, it’s not a good thing. It’s very bitter and takes about 10 seconds to go away. A real disappointment. Though, I will say that the positives of being a delicious Snickers outweighed the negatives of the aftertaste to the extent that I did finish the whole bar.

Verdict
I don’t know why anyone would choose to eat this over a regular Snickers. The benefit of a minor caffeine jolt isn’t worth the downside of the bad, bitter aftertaste. There are a number of good tasting protein bars (including Snickers brand ones) that are healthier and provide real energy - not just a kick.

I was really excited to try this bar out. The packaging describes it as milk chocolate, peanuts, and caramel. That sounds like an awesome, simple combination that’s different from any of the mainstream candy bar options in the US. The closest I could think of was the limited edition Snickers Xtreme, which I hadn’t tried.

Structure
The center is caramel with chopped peanuts and crispies (not mentioned on the packaging) mixed throughout. The whole bar is enrobed with milk chocolate.

Texture
The milk chocolate is soft and mostly imperceptible. The “caramel” center is dry and chewy. I put caramel in quotes because I’m not sure it was actually caramel. It was dense like a nougat. The peanut bits were soft and scarce. Disappointingly, there were more crispies than peanuts.

Taste
The chocolate was again an afterthought. The caramel center doesn’t have much depth of flavor - just sweetness and vanilla. The whole bar has a weird aftertaste that lingers for a few seconds after each bite. The peanuts don’t deliver any roasted peanut flavor. This is all a detailed way of saying I was disappointed in the flavor.

Verdict
This is a big pass for me. On paper, milk chocolate, caramel, peanuts and crispies should all go together very well, but the Starbar just doesn’t taste very good and the caramel center is too thick and grainy. I’d recommend a Snickers Cruncher if you’re looking for something similar.

Here in the US, Kit Kat bars are manufactured by Hershey’s. In the UK (which is where this bar is from), Nestle makes them. This is a little red flag for me because I tend not to like Nestle chocolate. On the other hand, I like plain Kit Kat bars and this version has peanut butter. So in theory, I should really like this candy bar.

Structure
The center consists of creme filled wafer covered on the top and one side with creamy peanut butter - all contained within molded milk chocolate.

Texture
The chocolate covering is quite thick, which is par for the course with these large single stick Kit Kat bars. Surprisingly, the wafer wasn’t the same as what I’m used to in American Kit Kats. It was lighter and not as crispy as I expected. The peanut butter is smooth and creamy, which works well with the wafer center. All together, not a bad texture; certainly better than it’s American caramel cousin.

Taste
The chocolate is a bit bland (I mentioned earlier that I’m not a huge fan of Nestle chocolate) and the wafers don’t add any flavor. That leaves the peanut butter to save the day. Unfortunately, it does not. I don’t know how to accurately describe it, but the peanut butter tasted funny. Maybe it was too much artificial vanilla or maybe just too much sugar. Whatever it was, it just didn’t taste quite right to me.

Verdict
This was an acceptable candy bar (it’s chocolate and peanut butter after all), but I was underwhelmed. There are a lot Reese’s products I would reach for before this one.

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.

In the UK and the Middle East, the Dove brand of chocolate is known as Galaxy. This particular product from them seems very similar to a Flake and possibly an Aero. It seems that outside the US, people like air in their chocolate. I’ve never seen anything like this regularly sold over here in the States. I previously enjoyed Mint Aero, so let’s give this one a try.

Structure
The whole bar is very long and thin. The center consists of thin layers of milk chocolate, separated by pockets of air. The layered centered is enrobed with a thin shell of milk chocolate.

Texture
It crumbles a lot. I had to put my hand below my mouth to keep the small pieces from falling on the floor. The scraps of chocolate do melt quicker in your mouth than a big hunk of solid chocolate would. Overall, it’s very light and delicate.

Taste
It tastes like milk chocolate. In terms of quality, I would put it a half-notch above Hershey’s. Dove (i.e. Galaxy) is marketed as a high-end chocolate, but I’m not convinced it’s all that good.

Verdict
There’s nothing particularly offensive about this bar. It’s just boring. I like plain chocolate bars, but I usually reach for something higher in quality if that’s what I’m going for. If the only distinguishing feature of the bar is that it has a unique texture, it should improve upon the regular feel of chocolate. I’m not sure that Ripple accomplishes this.

When we hear “nougat” in America, we think of a fluffy, white substance like the stuff found in Snickers and Three Musketeers. But nougat means something entirely different in other parts of the world. This German candy bar is the gianduia variety of nougat, which is a combination of chocolate, hazelnut paste and almond paste. I had never seen this bar before recently finding it in a local store, so I had to check it out for myself (I’m hoping it’s worth the $3.99 I paid for it).

Structure
This is a solid, molded bar with six segments.

Texture
Nougat Praline is soft and smooth - like a thick chocolate mousse. It thoroughly coats your mouth and dissolves nicely. The texture is completely homogeneous; there are no crunchy bits.

Taste
This bar was delicious on the first bite, which was likely accentuated because I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It tastes almost exactly like Nutella; bursting with hazelnut and chocolate flavors. The downside… it’s REALLY sweet. There’s a lot of sugar in this product. I enjoyed the first bite, but became overwhelmed after a few more. It’s an indulgence that should be split across multiple sessions or shared with a few others.

Verdict
I’m on the fence about this one. This is a high-quality candy that is certainly tasty, but it has a one-dimensional texture and is a bit too sweet. Most importantly, I don’t think this product should be made as such a large bar. It would be better to make this candy in bite-size pieces. I definitely won’t be shelling out four bucks for another one.