Candy Bar Lab

I’ve formed a habit of looking for candy bars wherever I go. The other day, I was in a costume store looking for a Halloween getup and found myself scanning the candy stacked up at the checkout counter. Amongst the Gummy Flesh Fries and Sour Mud Worms, I spotted an odd looking candy bar - the Rainbow Coconut Bar. The bright colored packaging includes the tagline “Pure Coconut for Pure enjoyment!” and a quick scan of the ingredients shows that it’s almost entirely made of coconut.

Structure
A solid slab of coconut, sugar, salt and corn syrup pressed together. It’s not quite a rainbow, but it is striped on either side with red food coloring.

Texture
It’s tough to bite through, as the coconut has been pretty tightly compressed. Once you get a bite in your mouth, you’ll notice it’s chewy and a bit dry.

Taste
I was expecting the Rainbow Coconut Bar to be really sweet. It’s actually not at all. The sugar content is relatively low and this allows real coconut flavor to poke through. Some bites are a little salty which I would normally like, but didn’t quite work here.

Verdict
I admit, when I purchased this candy bar, I was already expecting a dud. I bought it because it was different and I thought it would be fun to blog about. Even though I’m giving it a thumbs down, it surpassed my expectations. Ultimately though, this candy bar is too one-dimensional (only coconut) to get a positive review. I’ll still reach for an Almond Joy next time I want a coconut fix.

Bounty Bars used to be sold in the U.S. - up until sometime in the 90’s. I guess they were losing the domestic coconut candy bar battle to Mounds, so now you’ll have to look internationally to find one. Someone was nice enough to bring me this particular bar back from Argentina.

The first thing I noticed was the packaging. I love it. It’s very tropical and has kind of a 50’s tiki thing going. Another subtle touch that I appreciated was that the Bounty logo is repeatedly imprinted into the chocolate on the bottom of the bar (sorry, I should have snapped a picture of it). Imprinted logos on molded bars is common, but I’m not sure if that detail can be found on any other enrobed bars.

Structure
Two segments of shredded, raw coconut enrobed in milk chocolate.

Texture
This has a pretty thick chocolate shell and a soft center. Together, I think these two qualities compliment each other well. However, I had a problem with the center. It was rather dry and grainy - not as good as I was hoping for.

Taste
Besides the chocolate and coconut, I noticed a lot of vanilla flavor. It’s a bit disappointing that none of these coconut bars use any toasted coconut. I imagine that it would provide a deeper, more complex flavor to the whole bar. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of Samoas (Girl Scout Cookies), which is one of the great cookies of all time.

Verdict
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this bar that much. I say this is sad because I WANTED to like it more. The packaging is so appealing and they have a cool factor because they’re retro in the U.S. now. All in all, I’d eat another one of these if you handed me one, but I’d reach for a Mounds (or better yet, an Almond Joy) next time instead.

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.