Taste testing the All Candy Expo
In the opening credits of the '80s cartoon Duck Tales, Scrooge McDuck enters his money vault and dives head-first into a sea of coinage. Replace the money with candy, and you have a good idea of what it's like for the uninitiated to walk into the All Candy Expo at McCormick Place.
It is, quite simply, a deliciously overwhelming experience.
(Keith Hale/Sun-Times)
PHOTO GALLERY
Candy taste test
Our task was to find some of the most intriguing products of the show from the well-known (M&M's) to the unknown (Tequila Nuggets) and everything in between.
Here are a few highlights from the show along with a taste of what some of the proprietors had to say about their products:
He's the Michaelangelo of chocolate. Joseph Schmidt of Artisan Confections in San Francisco put on an awe-inspiring display of chocolate-smithing at this year's expo. His intricately detailed works included chocolate frames that surrounded chocolate art, chocolate flowers, chocolate vases and paper-thin chocolate bowls that would have felt just as at home at the Art Institute as they did at McCormick Place.
Rating: 5 out of 5 for pure artistic genius and taste, but we sure felt guilty destroying it.
The images and quips that Crown Candies' Tequila Nuggets conjured were so abundant around the office, we decided to stop by their booth to experience these caramel curiosities first hand. Pillow-soft and super sweet, biting into a Tequila Nugget is like eating a spoonful of sugar doused with the type of tequila that makes you swear you'll never drink tequila again. However, with less than four percent alcohol in each nugget, you'd sooner find yourself in diabetic coma than tipsy.
Rating: 1 out of 5 -- an intriguing concept gone entirely awry.
Once you taste Green & Black's organic chocolate, it may be tough to return to the non-organic variety. Flavors include almond, caramel, white and milk chocolate, ginger, cherry, mint, espresso and two types of dark chocolate. We may not entirely grasp why the organic designation makes Green & Black so good, but we certainly understand bliss when we taste it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 for not sacrificing taste for the good of our bodies.
The Fun Time Candy Kit is a perfect product for the indecisive set. How many times have you been sitting at your desk at work, thinking to yourself, "You know, I just can't decide between a Pop Rock-like candy and a super-sour spray ... or perhaps one to complement the other"? Thankfully Fun Time has combined the two in an easily portable container.
Rating: 2 out of 5 for sheer convenience.
After being wowed by the Green & Black's chocolate folks, we had to see if the organic movement translated as smoothly when it comes to hard candy. While Pure Fun Confections does, indeed, offer a huge variety of organic hard candies, not all flavors are, as they say, equal. While the organic peppermint could stand up against any restaurant-caliber pinwheel peppermint, the pomegranate reminded us why so very few candies choose pomegranate as a flavor of choice.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 for vast variety.
It's a taste only a six year old can truly appreciate. Thirty seconds of pure pain await the more jaded adult set who can get past the foreboding name -- Toxic Waste -- to actually pop one of these torture discs in their mouths. To call a piece of Toxic Waste candy "sour" is to call the Grand Canyon "big." It simply doesn't do it justice. After the initial sour attack, however, a somewhat palatable piece of candy awaits.
Rating: 2 out of 5 due to the massacre of a layer of taste buds; 5 out of 5, however on the sourness scale.
Giant Chewy Nerds are another in a long line of products that made us think, "Of course! Why didn't they think of that before?" The product's name is also one of the more accurate and matter-of-fact at the expo. You remember Nerds ... pebble-like hard candies that come in two separated flavors in a rectangular box. The Wonka Company is now using Nerds candy as a coating for mini jelly beans, thus creating a giant, chewy Nerd. If you're a fan of Nerds and a fan of jelly beans, this is a product that will cause much rejoicing.
Rating: 3 out of 5 for capitalizing on a long-overdue love connection.
The new chocolate-flavored Pez candy invokes memories of childhood, when a spoonful of Nestle's Quick chocolate milk powder would serve as a delicious snack rather than a ridiculous display of gluttony. While it will never supplant the fruity flavors for true Pez connoisseurs, chocolate is a welcome addition to the Pez lineup -- made even more enticing when devoured straight from Batman's cranked-back cranium.
Rating: 2 out of 5 for their resemblance in taste to Coco Puffs.
Skyrocketing gas prices and talk of economic doom and gloom throughout the nation is enough to get even the most chipper soul feeling a bit gloomy. Through the darkness our old friend M&M's has come along to offer a taste of the good life with its new M&M's Premiums line of candies. Each of the five new flavors -- raspberry almond, chocolate almond, triple chocolate, mint chocolate and mocha -- comes in a fancy marbled coating. These are certainly not your third grade choir teacher's M&M's. These are bolder, mightier and more sophisticated -- the Grey Poupon of bite-sized candies, if you will.
Rating: 5 out of 5 for the raspberry almond flavor; 3.5 out of 5 for all others.
OK. We concede that "Crackheads" isn't exactly the most politically correct name for a candy. But the candy's inventor, John Osmanski, insists that the name for his chocolate-covered espresso beans isn't intended to offend. In fact, Osmanski says his caffeine-addicted college professors served as the inspiration for the name. That said, Crackheads as a candy offer nothing more or less than your run-of-the mill chocolate-covered espresso bean. If you enjoy bypassing the cup of joe in exchange for a handful of espresso beans, these are right up your alley.
Rating: 2 out of 5 for originality in candy; 4 out of 5 for shock value/name recognition.
Listen to John Osmanski explain how he came up with the name for Crackheads candy.
For those who assume that sardines and anchovies have no place in the world of confection, think again. Maramor Chocolates has introduced a new product that infuses its beloved chocolate with health supplement du jour Omega-3 fatty acid, which it derives from stinky fish. Through a special scientific process (and perhaps a bit of magic) Maramor's Omega-3 chocolate is entirely devoid of any trace of fishy taste -- sure beats swallowing a cumbersome pill.
Rating: 3 out of 5 for chocolate taste; 5 out of 5 for providing kids with the excuse, "But mom, if I don't eat this chocolate, how will I ever get my daily dose of Omega-3 fatty acids!"