Sugar Savvy

Every once in a while, you’re fortunate enough to experience something so eye-opening that it changes the way you frame your worldview. After falling in love for the first time, or tasting your first Jelly Bellies, schoolgirl crushes and plain old generic jelly beans will never be seen the same way again. Amano’s trio of […]

These days, chocolate can be tasted with a discrimination similar to those of wine tastings. Here are some resources that I found to be helpful for planning my chocolate tasting:

All Chocolates

Tasting Basics

Selecting Chocolates

Flavor Notes

The Chocolate Review - if you register, they have a great PDF listing flavor notes
The Nibble
Real Simple’s Tasting Grid (PDF)

I started […]

I spent the latter week of my spring break in Maine and managed to nab a factory tour of Haven’s Candies, which was definitely one of highlights of my break. Though I’ve taken tours of the Jelly Belly and Scharffen Berger factories, I’d never gotten anything as up close and hands-on as my tour of […]

Annabelle’s Rocky Road is a retro candy that’s easily distinguishable by its bright red wrapper. I first read about Annabelle’s, who also makes the Abba Zabba and the Big Hunk, in Steve Almond’s Candy Freak. The wrapper promises milk chocolate coated marshmallow with cashews, which I was excited about, as it’s hard to go wrong […]

Here in the US, the Kit Kat is manufactured under Hershey’s. Elsewhere in the world, Kit Kat is made by Nestle. My Kit Kat Hazelnut Cream was given to me by my friend Katie, who bought it for me while in Egypt last Christmas, so it’s made by Nestle. And because it’s probably manufactured in […]

I think it’s time to update my favorite candies page, as I’ve found a wonderful replacement for my 100 Grand love: the Nestle Lion.

I bought the Nestle Lion from The Candy Store in San Francisco. I’ve since seen it in Austin at Central Market (where it cost half as much as it did at The […]

Disclosure alert: These mints were samples sent by Newman’s Own.
I love the packaging on these Newman’s Own mints. They took the Altoids-like tin we’re used to and made it more exciting with the old fashioned circus advert. The top of the tin informs you that they’re made with organic sweeteners.
My first thought on opening the […]

I’d never heard of Hammond’s until I picked up their Caramel Covered Marshmallow (BUY!), which they call Mitchell Sweets, at The Candy Store (I’ve since seen them repackaged with a different sticker at Sur La Table). I kind of wish I’d spent my money on something else, though to be fair to The Candy Store, […]

When I was told that a sample Galaxy dark bar was on its way to me in the mail, I never expected the 125 g (4.4 oz) behemoth that finally arrived. It was ginormous!
The bar’s wrapper reminded me of Dove chocolates. A quick Googling revealed that Galaxy and Dove are actually the same company. It’s […]

Hershey’s Cacao Reserve line (BUY!) is their attempt to appear upscale while still being mass-market. The generous 9.1 oz bag of Holiday Collection truffles sent by Hershey’s contained about 8 each of their milk (35% cacao), dark (65% cacao), and spice milk (35%) chocolate truffles, all individually wrapped. While the packaging extolled the virtues of […]