3 Musketeers Minis Mix

Acquired by: retail purchase at local Walgreens

Price: $3.59 for 9 oz. bag

Rating: 4 out of 5

Oops! I blew through these 3 Musketeers Minis so quickly that I never got a picture of the full bag, or of the individual pieces. So for a product shot, you’ll have to settle for this photo of the empty bag posing on my computer keyboard.

Yes, they’re that good. But let’s rewind first, shall we, and see what we know about the 3 Musketeers Minis Mix.

What we have in this bag are three flavors of mini-sized 3 Musketeers candies - French Vanilla, Strawberry, and Mocha Cappucino. None of these flavors are offered in a full-size bar. It’s worth noting, however, that the flavor mix is reminiscent of the original version of the 3 Musketeers bar, as introduced in 1932. At the time, the wrapper contained three separate pieces of chocolate-enrobed candy - one with vanilla nougat, one with chocolate, and one strawberry. It was from this trio of flavors that the candy got it’s name - 3 Musketeers.

I first learned about the 3 Musketeers Minis Mix through a review Cybele posted at Candy Blog on August 21, 2007. Later, on October 4th, David at Candy Addict posted about them as well. Oddly, David only reviewed the Strawberry flavor at that time, because he’d previously reviewed the Mocha Cappucino and French Vanilla flavors as part of a Limited Edition Mix that 3 Musketeers put out in Spring 2006!

All this time, I searched the aisles of my local drugstores, supermarkets and discount department stores trying to find them myself. The 3 Musketeers official website was of little help - I looked through the product listings as best I could, and found no mention of the Minis Mix anywhere.

It was about two weeks ago that I finally came across this mysterious item at a local Walgreens here in New Hampshire. Feeling a rush of success, and the anticipation of finally tasting the candies that had been so well reviewed by others, I pounced.

“Mini” size is small - smaller than the so-called “Fun” size. Looking at the pieces as I took them out of their individual wrappers, I was reminded most of candies in a Whitman’s Sampler. The three flavors were somewhat unevenly distributed in the bag I purchased, with somewhat more of the Mocha Cappucino flavor than either the Vanilla or Strawberry.

The bag lived next to my television chair for a few days, and I’d munch a few while watching. Interestingly, at first I didn’t like the Minis. They seemed mushy in my mouth, and the flavors didn’t feel like they had any depth to them. Over a short time, however, they grew on me.

The nougat in the Minis mix is softer and fluffier than in a regular 3 Musketeers bar, which probably contributed to my impression of these as mushy. After a while, though, they seemed less mushy to me, and more like a nice buttercream-filled bonbon.

The Mocha Cappucino flavor didn’t taste so much like coffee to me, but like a darker chocolate with a bit of an edge. It was okay, but not my favorite of the trio.

Strawberry was actually pretty good. Which is saying a lot for me, because Strawberry is not one of my favorite flavors as a rule. In the case of the Minis, however, I found that the light berry flavor had a bright note to it that was quite pleasant.

French Vanilla wound up being my favorite of the three, even though I’m not sure this really counted as French Vanilla. True French Vanilla would have had a strong eggy richness, and the vanilla itself would have been somewhat more intense from the presence of actual vanilla seeds. Even though mis-named, however, this was a nice, strong vanilla flavor, without seeming artificial.

I was quite pleased with the mix as a whole, and would happily buy these again. My rating, therefore, is a 4 out of 5.

3 Musketeers Minis Mix may be a little hard to find, and we have no clue how long they’ll be around. Based on the experience of other bloggers and their readers, it seems your best bet is to check at national drugstore chains like Rite Aid and Walgreens, in the seasonal or Halloween candy aisle. If you find them, do give them a try - they’re worth it!

Related Links

• 3 Musketeers - Official website, which somehow completely fails to mention the existence of the Minis Mix
• May 24, 2006 review of French Vanilla and Mocha Cappucino Minis at Candy Addict
• August 21, 2007 review of current full Minis Mix at Candy Blog
• October 4, 2007 review of Strawberry Minis at Candy Addict

Posted: October 22nd, 2007 under Candy.
Comments: none

Maltesers

Acquired by: Retail purchase at local supermarket, in the imported British food aisle

Price: $1.49 for 37g

Rating: 4 out of 5

One of my favorite candies is malted milk balls. Here in America, we most often find these in the form of Whoppers or Mighty Malts in our supermarkets and drugstores.

I’m also a fan of British sitcoms. Over the past year, I have, on at least two occasions, heard characters on different “Britcoms” talk about a type of candy named Maltesers. Malt - hmm? Could these be another variety of malted milk ball from the UK? The level of casual, cultural reference in the television shows suggested something as commonly known in its country as a Hershey’s chocolate bar would be here. I was intrigued - that’s a level of fame that neither Whoppers or Mighty Malts can lay claim to. What made Maltesers so special, and how could I find out?

Then, one day, while buying groceries at the local Stop & Shop, I spotted Maltesers on the shelf in the section for British imports. There they were - little bags of red, with a bold splash of the name, Maltesers, in white, and a few round, brown balls dancing around. Now was my chance - but they were not cheap. $1.49 for a single, 37g bag - that’s only about one and one-third ounces. As much as I wanted to try a potentially delicious, exotic new variation on my beloved malt balls, I couldn’t justify the cost for a casual snack.

Along came this blog, though, and a perfect excuse to go to the expense - to tell you about Maltesers, and whether they’re as good as the Brits seem to think. So I bought a bag - and then, to be fair, I bought a box of Whoppers for a side-by-side comparison.

For the purpose of this article, I’m only reviewing the Maltesers. It’s a given that Whoppers are good - they’re my go-to choice for a malted milk ball craving, being not only tasty, but more readily available than Mighty Malts.

For all pictures that follow, the Whoppers will be on the left hand side, and the Maltesers on the right. For better detail, click on the photos for a larger image.

Appearance

The Whoppers and the Maltesers are both similar in size. Whoppers are darker in chocolate color, though both are within the range of milk chocolate shades. The Maltesers have a glossier finish to the surface than the Whoppers.

Internal Structure

Malted milk balls are made from a round, crunchy, malt center, coated with a layer of chocolate. The Whoppers have a dense center with very small air pockets. The Maltesers have a light, almost fluffy, center, with large air pockets. The coating of chocolate on the Maltesers is thinner than that of the Whoppers.

Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is the term for the way a food feels in your mouth as you eat it. Does it melt? Is it crunchy or chewy? Does it slide on your tongue, or get caught in your teeth? The fullness of the concept is much more complex than these few words can convey.

The Whoppers had a distinct, almost hard, crunch. The chocolate coating was slight waxy, and a little gritty, as it melted on my tongue. The inside of the malt ball itself tended to feel sharp, almost like sandpaper, on the inside of my mouth.

The Maltesers were a very different experience. The chocolate coating was smooth and light, and melted more quickly than that of the Whoppers. The malt ball inside had a light, crispy crunch. There was also, however, a very interesting and enjoyable sensation of the malt center melting in the moisture in my mouth, and collapsing into a light, tasty, almost creamy substance that spread the flavor of the Malteser throughout.

Flavor

Whoppers are made by Hershey’s, and the milk chocolate coating tastes very Hershey-like. Hershey’s is not my favorite brand of chocolate - I much prefer the smoother, lighter milk chocolate flavor of a Nestlé or Cadbury milk chocolate.

This may explain why I liked the milk chocolate coating on the Malteser better - it’s a more European take on milk chocolate. That makes sense, since Maltesers are a British product. If anything, I usually like my milk chocolate a little more chocolate tasting than the Maltesers, but then it might have overwhelmed the lightly-flavored malt center.

The malt ball in the Whoppers had a very strong, distinct, malt flavor. In the Maltesers, the malt flavor is subtler, smoother. But the way that the malt center melts in your mouth spreads the flavor more than the harder center of the Whoppers does.

In the end, it’s hard to compare the flavors, because they’re so different. Whoppers are a strong, in-your-face flavor, while Maltesers are, well, like their name - they tease you with the malt flavor.

My Preference?

Hands down, I find that I prefer the Maltesers. I’ve always liked subtle layers of flavor, and the way the Maltesers melt in your mouth makes for a more interesting nibble than the Whoppers. If all things were equal, I’d be eating Maltesers when I get that malted milk ball craving.

But, alas, the only way Maltesers can get here is via specialty importers, and they therefore sell at a premium price. For the same $1.49 I spent for a 37 g bag of Maltesers - barely a decent serving - I can buy a much larger dose of Whoppers.

That makes Maltesers a bit too pricey for my budget. So, even though I am rating them a 4 out of 5, in actual practice they’ll be more like a 3 out of 5 - in the regular rotation when I can, but not something I can afford to make a point of.

The Cult of Maltesers

A Google search for “Maltesers” turns up 239,000 hits. “Whoppers ‘Malted Milk’” brings only 14,600 hits, and “Mighty Malts” (a product of NECCO) a mere 364. Clearly, there are a lot more people out there with an interest in the British candy.

Among the interesting sites I turned up for Maltesers:

• Guardian Unlimited, the online version of the Manchester, England newspaper The Guardian, hosted a discussion among readers. The subject was “How are Maltesers made?” Several readers had answers that seem quite possible, but many spun elaborate flights of fancy describing the process.
  
• The Falcon’s Malteser - First in a series of mystery books for pre-teens, this has a plot that centers around a mysterious box of Maltesers.
  
• www.playchocolateball.com - this appears to be a Swedish - or some other Scandinavian language - promotional site for Maltesers. Though it’s called “play chocolate ball”, and the initial screen has little bowling pins and Maltesers that move in response to your cursor, nothing seems to actually happen to them - the pins don’t fall over.
  
  From the front page, though, click on “Alle filmer” at the bottom left of the screen. You’ll have a selection of short films to choose from. These mostly seem to be amateur videos extolling fan’s love of Maltesers. But if you go to the far right of the second row, choose the film called “Godt for magen”. This is actually a television commercial for Maltesers that stars Charlie Sheen!
  
• YouTube - a search for Maltesers at this video site turns up 462 films that have that as a tag. I haven’t watched any, but judging from some of the descriptions, you might want to be careful if you’re at work or the kids are around.

Bottom Line

Maltesers have a cult following for a reason - they’re that good! I have to admit, though, that I’m not sure they’d catch on as well here in America. Subtlety is lost on most Americans, and what I like so much about Maltesers is their subtlety.

I’ll still be buying Whoppers, because they’re tasty enough, and much more cost-effective for me. But I’ll be thinking about Maltesers when I eat them!

Related Links:

• Maltesers homepage at Mars UK
• Whoppers at Hersheys.com
• Mighty Malts at NECCO.com
• Wikipedia entries - Maltesers, Whoppers (no individual entry listed for Mighty Malts)
• Maltesers review at Taquitos.Net

Posted: October 18th, 2007 under British Imports, Candy.
Comments: 2

Harry and David Mint Crème Maltballs

Acquired by: Retail purchase at local Target store

Price: $2.99 for 6 oz.

Rating: 3 out of 5

One of my favorite flavors of all is malted milk. I’ll eat malted milk balls by the score. When I’m lucky enough to find an ice cream shop that actually knows what malt is, and has the powder variety, not the liquid, I’ll order my chocolate malt “crunchy” - meaning that it’s got enough malt powder that it sticks to the sides of the shake can and resists mixing.

I never considered combining the malted milk flavor with anything but milk chocolate. Until a couple of years ago at Christmas, when Target’s Choxie line of chocolates offered a mint flavored coating on a malted milk ball.

After December 26th, I pounced on a package at a discount. And I liked what I tasted - the malted milk and the mint flavors complemented each other beautifully. Since then, I’ve hoped to find a return of this variety to the Choxie shelves at Target, but alas, it seems that Choxie is too trendy to repeat itself.

So it was with some delight that I cruised the premium chocolates aisle at the same Target recently, and spotted this box of Harry and David Mint Crème Maltballs. Would I be pleasantly reminded of the Choxie version, or would I be disappointed?

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been reunited with that favorite flavor from the Choxie Mint Malted Milk Balls! Pop one of these green spheres in your mouth, and the minty coating begins to melt on your tongue. Crunch, and the flavor of malted milk joins the mix.

The malted milk center has a good texture - nice, tiny honeycombs, not large and full of holes. Crunchy, too, with no hint of excess moisture detracting from the experience.

Mint is so often overdone as a flavor in candies, but not here. The creamy coating adds just the right note of refreshment. This is no solo act - the mint and malt work together in a talented duet.

I wouldn’t want to eat these all the time - although the flavor is light, they’re fairly rich and satisfying. But now that I’ve found them, I will certainly make a point of picking them up now and then. Which gives them a 3 out of 5 rating.

Related Links:

• None, I’m sorry to say. Harry & David’s website doesn’t list these at all. And Target doesn’t sell food items through the online store. I’m guessing this may be an exclusive packaging for Target stores nationwide. Sorry!
  

Posted: September 26th, 2007 under Candy.
Comments: none

Reese’s Whipps

Acquired by: Retail Purchase at local Walmart

Price: 50 cents for a 1.9 oz. bar

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have been around for a long time. In recent years, the Hershey company has been on an extensive program to extend the brand with new varieties. By current count at the Reese’s website, there are at least 15 different candy and snack products with the name Reese’s attached.

The latest of these offerings is Reese’s Whipps. I first found Whipps on the bottom shelf of the checkout display at a local Walmart. My immediate impression, based on the wrapper image and the word “Whipp” was that these might be similar to the Mars company’s 3 Musketeers bar.

3 Musketeers was once my very favorite candy bar. I liked the malty chocolate flavor of the nougat center. But even more than that, I loved the texture of the bar - the slight chewy nature of the nougat, the way it spread on your tongue as it softened and melted in your mouth.

Sometime in the 80’s, the Mars company reformulated the recipe for the 3 Musketeers bar. I regret that I can’t find evidence of this on the web, but I remember distinctly at the time it happened that I read about it in the newspaper. I believe the recipe change involved using a different form of sugar, something that many candy makers were doing at the time - usually to reduce costs.

The flavor of the 3 Musketeers bar was forever altered. What had once been a mellow, malty note became purely sweet-tasting, with the light chocolate flavor nearly overwhelmed.

3 Musketeers bars were no longer the bar I had come to love, and I sadly walked away. I’ve hoped, over the years, that the Mars company might reverse their decision, or find yet another new formulation that would restore the original flavor. Or that I would discover another candy bar that could give me the same whipped nougat texture that I loved so much. But alas, it was not to be.

I bought Reese’s Whipps in the hopes that I could again experience something like my old friend. The wrapper shows a cross-section of the candy bar. A whipped nougat center is wrapped with a fudgy peanut butter candy. The whole is coated with milk chocolate.

I opened the wrapper and exposed the bar. If I saw these naked next to a 3 Musketeer bar, I’d be hard pressed to tell which is which without biting into one. Both have the same brick-like shape, and to the best of my memory, they’re about the same size.

I carefully broke the bar in two, and found a cross-section almost identical to the drawing on the wrapper. This is promising. A sniff of the bar revealed a faint peanut-buttery scent, with just a hint of milk chocolate.

Emboldened, I took a bite.

BLISS.

Pure and simple, the Reese’s Whipps bar had the same chewy, yet melt-in-your-mouth, texture that I remembered from 3 Musketeers. The peanut butter flavor was almost subtle, but definitely present. I loved that it didn’t overwhelm the taste buds.

Hershey’s has a winner here. I actually prefer the Reese’s Whipps over other Reese’s products, even the original Peanut Butter Cups. The flavor of the peanut butter in the Whipps is handled in a much more mellow, sophisticated way, and I liked it.

The texture of the nougat, plus the gentler peanut butter flavor, make this a bar that can last a long, long time. That’s a good value for the candy lover.

And most of all, Reese’s Whipps have returned to me, if not the flavor I loved in the 3 Musketeers, at least the magical texture of that bar’s whipped nougat - and with a different flavor that I love as much as the old 3 Musketeers. I am ecstatic!

I seldom get to Walmart to shop, so I’ll be scouring the racks carefully at other stores to see where else I can purchase Reese’s Whipps. These need to be on my regular snack list - making them a 4 out of 5 rating.

Thank you, Hershey’s!

Related Links:

• Manufacturer: Hershey’s
• Product Information: Reese’s Whipps at Hersheys.com
• Review at Candy Blog: Reese’s Whipps (link added 10-1-07)
• Review at CandyAddict: Reese’s Whipps (link added 10-18-07)
  

Posted: September 25th, 2007 under Candy.
Comments: 3

Brach’s Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn
Brach’s Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn

Acquired by: Retail purchase at local Stop & Shop supermarket

Price: 99 cents for each 9.5 oz. bag

Ratings:
Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn - 2 out of 5
Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn - 4 out of 5

It’s a two-fer today as I take a look at two new flavors of a seasonal candy classic. Brach’s, makers of the number one brand of candy corn in America (even if they do say so themselves), have mixed things up by combining their classic candy corn with their own caramel brand, Milk Maid. The results are, well. . . mixed.

Aside from color, both of the new varieties look like classic candy corn. For the Milk Maid Caramel flavor, the colors are brown at the base, pale orange above that, with white tips. The Milk Maid Caramel Apple flavor substitutes an apple red for the pale orange.

Both varieties had a soft, fresh chew. In the Milk Maid Caramel flavor, I had trouble detecting the caramel. The biggest flavor note I found was a layer of just plain sweet on top of the basic vanilla I expect from ordinary candy corn.

The Milk Maid Caramel Apple flavor was more distinct. I tasted an actual, appley flavor, and even a hint of caramel.

In the final analysis, I much preferred the Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn. It had a pleasant flavor, a nice tooth, and it melted on the tongue in a satisfying way. The Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn, while it had the same good texture, simply didn’t taste as good - just sweet. Gryphon tried both flavors as well, and agreed with my assessment.

Final Ratings, then - I wouldn’t go out of my way for the Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn, but if it were placed in front of me, I probably couldn’t resist nibbling at it. It gets a 2 out of 5. As for the Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn - that’s a solid winner. I’d seriously consider buying it instead of plain, ordinary candy corn, so that’s a 4 out of 5.

Related Links:

• Manufacturer: Brach’s
• Product Info: Brach’s Milk Maid Caramel Apple Candy Corn
  (Surprisingly, the Brach’s website didn’t have a listing for the Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn, only the Caramel Apple variety.)
• Wikipedia: Candy Corn

Posted: September 17th, 2007 under Seasonal, Candy.
Comments: none