Candy Bar Lab

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.

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.