Limited Edition "Boo-tterscotch M&M's!

Well, it's summer, so obviously it's time for Halloween themed candy to drop. Just like in March, when there's still snow on the ground, it's the perfect time for Sam's Summer to grace the beer aisles.  Just like when Egg Nog hits your local grocer just in time for the holidays...later this month.  Yep, nothing is sacred anymore. Instead of being happy that we have seasons and holidays to look forward to, people just want to enjoy the parts of these times longer and earlier than ever. At this rate, in about ten years, people won't take down their Christmas trees at all anymore. They will just leave them up and the holiday season will no longer mean anything. But let's face it, there's no use getting upset about what other people do, right? I just stand my ground and never sip a Pumpkin beer until October first. Never let a Pumpkin Spice English Muffin cross my lips until I'm in the same month as Halloween. 

But when it comes to candy I have to review here, I guess I can make an exception! Our first Halloween candy review this year comes from M&M'S! You can bet your ass if there's a holiday coming that M&M's have some wild flavor to debut (Remember Candy Corn M&M's?) and they didn't disappoint this year! Let's take a look at White BOO-tterscotch M&M's! 

First off, I love the package. Huge Red M&M terrified of the BOO-tterscotch candies in front of him, while ghosts and bats fly around him. You'd be scared too!

You'll notice that they are colored in a strange manner. There's brown, a dark-ish yellow, which the painter in me wants to guess would actually be Yellow Ocre, and then there's...well...one that's kind of flesh colored. Which, is a little gross.

"I swear these aren't people flavored M&M'S!"

I do have to say, once you tear open the bag the room does fill up with a butterscotch smell. At first it's just an unknown sweet smell, but once you eat one of these your brain realizes what it is. I never would have suggested a butterscotch M&M in a million years, but they definitely nail the flavor here! They pretty much taste like the M&M version of butterscotch pudding. I think it's the white chocolate base they use, and in this case it directly made me think of that pudding flavor and texture once you crush up the candy coating. The weirdest part of this, is that I probably haven't had butterscotch pudding since I was a kid eating one of those little plastic cups out of my bag lunch. But the second you taste these it rushes back. It's like a fat kids version of a Vietnam flash back.

This gif was too perfect to pass up. 

So we can definitely confirm that they nail the flavor they were looking for. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they are great. I found that I liked these more than I expected, BUT unlike other flavors, I could only eat a small amount of these before I had to fold the bag over for later. The butterscotch flavor is pretty strong and I found them to get very rich after a certain amount. Unlike, say, Peanut Butter M&M's. I'm pretty sure I could just eat those until I died. Right up until the final second I would be pushing another one through my pursed lips. BOO-tterscotch? Not so much.

If you're a fan of Butterscotch, don't miss these. You'd absolutely love them. If you're like me, and have butterscotch so infrequently that you have pudding flashbacks to your childhood...you'll probably think these are just okay. But either way, you gotta applaud them for once again trying something new!

In the end I give BOO-tterscotch M&M's a solid C+. If I was a big butterscotch fan I'm sure it would be higher, but since there aren't even that many butterscotch flavored items out there on the shelves, I'm guessing the fan base might be small. That being said, these could be a hit at your Halloween party, so perhaps scoop up a bag and let them haunt your cupboard until it's time to don your costume and start partying.

Or hell, eat them right now and wash them down with some Egg Nog while basking in the glow of your Christmas lights. Screw tradition!

Review by Rich Brunelle, who once again resides on the East Coast, but for how long? Nobody knows!

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Building an empire, brick by sweet brick: Sweet Bricks Handcrafted Toffee

Oh Sweet Bricks, it's been a while. Over 4 years, and 180 posts to be more exact. The last review we did for them, I came out frothing at the mouth, begging, no, pleading to the gods for more toffee. FGFB knew back then, that Sweet Bricks would change the toffeesphere as you knew it. After 4 years, did they? Could they possibly have accelerated past what was near confectionery perfection? Let's find out!

 Just like last time, Sweet Bricks kicked a galactic field goal with presentation. With this much care dedicated to actual packaging, I couldn't imagine what they did with the actual candy. The care package contained 4 different kinds of toffee for your man on the scene to try. I'll go through these one by one, and you can take the taste journey like you're right here with me.

First up: Blueberry Muffin Toffee

Opening the first bag, launched a thick, creamy sweetness into the air. As one tends to do, I quickly jammed my face into the bag to take in the sweet candy scent, and almost passed out it was too intoxicating. I think the same thing might be said about this toffee flavor, too much toffee. As a man who's not super into toffee, this might be the flavor that a toffee lover would toss and turn and nocturnal emish about all night. This guy, however, likes his toffee hidden underneath layers of other fantastic candies. Don't let my past few sentences fool you, this is absolutely stellar. The creamy toffeeness delivers a sweet wave in which the blueberry flashes you the peace sign as it surfs into your mouth.

UP NEXT: Coconut Cream Pie Toffee

 If someone walked up to you, and said "Hey man, I really want a coconut cream pie, you have any laying around?" Walk them over to your computer and print them out directions to 917 E Street San Diego, CA 92101 because this is the only place you'll ever want to get coconut cream anything for the rest of your days. Another creamy toffee mixed with what you would swear was real pie crust, and then put coconut and those annoying, but oh so delicious coconut shavings on top, and there you go. Better than any coconut cream pie I'ver ever had, this toffee. WORLD CLASS.

Rounding 3rd: Rocky Road Toffee 

 If you're a caramel person, after you've had these, grab a body bag and climb right in. This toffee is crafted so you don't have to think about how you eat it, you just do, the candy does all of the work for you. The sweet sugary toffee quickly dissolves and creates a caramel blanket that wraps your mouth in a sweet comforting glaze. The only thing I could possibly say was negative about this, is that's its too sweet. I'm sitting here just wishing I could get up from this review and brush my teeth. But, as a dedicated blogging servant, I'll push past it, and move on.

Last, and most definitely not least: Peanut Butter Smores Toffee

I'm going to be honest right now. I 100% think this may be my favorite candy I've ever had in my life. Judging by my giant melty snowman appearance, that's quite the proclamation. I've actually been sitting here and thinking of ways that I could explain how GOD DAMNED GOOD this is, but I'm not so sure language has progressed far enough to convey this level of elation.
Think of it this way. Remember when someone you knew, sitting around a camp fire, looked you dead in the eye, and pulled out a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups? They held your gaze, unwrapped a cup from it's packaging, and slid it between two graham crackers and a melting marshmallow. When they handed it to you, and you were unsure just how this was going to be, but knew it'd be delicious. And that second where your brain finally processed what it was you just bit into. THAT. That right there, that on-the-verge-of-insanity good. There's so much peanut butter in this, you forget it's actually toffee. The small marshmallow bits creating a little breathing space in between the peanut butter and crunchy graham cracker. I've got to hand it to Sweet Bricks, I'm sitting here in awe.

    Thank you Sweet Bricks, for bringing so much joy to my life. I don't understand how you do it, but everything your toffee covered fingers touch is just mind bendingly good. These aren't even the cannabis infused candy they just started offering for CA residents. If only cannabis laws in the US weren't so ridiculously behind the times. (especially in NH). You have a candy partner for life, a lover to cling to your back and whisper sweet encouragements on a daily basis while you feed us the sweet fruit that falls from your candy limbs.

Blueberry Muffin Toffee: B+Coconut Cream Pie Toffee: A

 Rocky Road Toffee: A
Peanut Butter Smores Toffee: There's no grade applicable here, this toffee defies logic with how insanely good this is.

you can check out Sweet Bricks over at http://sweetbricks.com/

Review by Josh, who currently draws pictures of aliens and the devil.
http://joshuaandrewbelanger.com / http://grimnorth.com

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M&M's have gone nuts! THREE NEW FLAVORS: Honey Nut, Coffee Nut, and Chili Nut!

I've never shied away from trying a new flavor of any candy. Sure, there's some that end up not being very good. But in the end I will always try anything once, even if it's a flavor I might expect to not like. Never before has that been more true than with the three new flavors of M&M's. All three are new takes on the classic Peanut M&M but you can vote online for which of the three will stick around. The flavors? Honey Nut (Sounds fun!), Coffee Nut (Oooh interesting), and...Chili Nut (Wait...what? Who would want...ugh seriously?...). But as a member of the most kick ass food blog on the entire Internet, it's my duty. So let's do this! Three new kinds of M&M's in one review! 

First up, Coffee Nut! Living in Seattle, I take my coffee pretty seriously. I drink about a pot a day and don't feel bad about it. Even when I'm so jittery that I feel like I'm shaking more than the meth-head I passed on my way back from the store today. The price you pay, son! Judging these by the evidence given, I was expecting them to just taste like a peanut M&M with an added fake coffee taste, and you know what? That's exactly what they are.

They chose an earthy brown color scheme for these and it fits them nicely. You can't have bright colors when you're trying to taste like coffee. In the end these aren't bad, but they also aren't anything I would freak out about. It might have been cool for them to smash up espresso beans in the chocolate for a SERIOUS coffee flavor. I almost said swap out the peanut for an espresso bean, but you know what? Is that ever good? Flavor-wise, yeah, but then you're left with a mouth full of espresso bean debris for the next hour. So, no, that's not a good idea at all.

If you're a fan of coffee flavored things and Peanut M&M's like I am, these are a pleasant little treat, but not good enough to get my vote for one that needs to stick around in their usual lineup. 

Next up? HONEY NUT! 

When I ripped open the package of these I was really hoping that the gimmick here would be that the peanut inside would be a honey roasted peanut. Seems like that would make sense, right? How else would you change a regular peanut M&M into a Honey Nut M&M? Well...apparently they had other ideas. It's just a regular peanut. At first these seems to be...regular peanut M&M's. Perhaps if I was some chump off the street I would believe that. But you see, my taste buds are honed to superhuman levels so I did detect an added honey flavor and sweetness. But having to try this hard to taste a flavor reminded me of when we reviewed Birthday Cake M&Ms...

There is honey flavor here, and I can't for the life of me tell if it's in the candy shell or the chocolate. But either way, it's way too faint. While I enjoy the yellow and black coloring and what honey flavor they do have, I really think if they had combined whatever they have already done, with making the peanut a honey roasted peanut, these might have been a home run. Still enjoyable, but missed potential!

Now comes the one I was dreading out of the three...Chili Nut M&M's!

I popped two of these in my mouth and chewed them up and had a split second where I said, "Hmm...these might not be that bad." Then the spice started to burn a little. These are basically spicy peanut M&Ms. The peanut isn't a chili peanut or anything. They just have chili spice mixed in. At first I tossed the package aside in disgust. Spicy M&M's! Who would want that?! Gross!

But then something happened...

As the spiciness on my tongue started to go away my brain presented the question, "Well...why not spicy peanut M&Ms?" It's true. I've had chocolates that were slightly spicy before that ended up being pretty tasty. While it's not the first flavor I would navigate towards when looking for a sweet treat, is it so bad? To find out, I decided to eat the entire package.

I thought I would hate these. So much that I did at first. But then as I ate more, they were kind of a fun take on a classic. The spice definitely builds. So once you put down a handful of them you have a pretty solid burn going. Keep in mind I'm a level 27 wimp when it comes to spicy stuff. I enjoy a burn here and there if the flavor is good enough along with it, but really spicy stuff, I only eat on a dare. But these aren't terrible. The classic crunch of the peanut and candy shell together take on a whole different importance when coupled with a spicy burn. They go together quite well and the sweetness and creaminess of the chocolate eases it a little bit.

In the end if I had to vote for a favorite of the three, I supposed it would be the Honey Nut, which is kind of disappointing because while they are good they could have been awesome. Are they worth a try? Absolutely. The Coffee Nut are also pretty good but the coffee flavor seemed to get more fake with the more I ate. They are all cool and interesting enough to scoop up a pack just to try them. Even if you are unsure about the Chili Nut, If you are into spicy stuff at all, give them a whirl and you might be surprised like I was!

Click the pic below to vote for whichever flavor you think is best!

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Review by Rich, who currently hunts M&M's in Seattle, Washington when he's not hunting for the real life Superhero known as Phoenix Jones.

Snickers Crisper!

Ah, Snickers. A classic candy bar! Packed with peanuts! It really satisfies you! If you're hungry, why wait? Yup, they have had their share of cool ad campaigns over the years and lots of weird variant versions of the original. But we haven't seen anything new from them since they put out the Peanut Butter Squared Snickers. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the Snickers Crisper the other day while at a store! 

Whats the deal with the Snickers Crisper? Well, it's four square pieces and the package boasts Crisp Rice, Milk Chocolate, Caramel and Peanuts. Basically, this is Snickers version of the Whatchamacallit. Now, if you're like me, that doesn't get me excited in the least.  Why? Well, quite frankly, the Whatchamacallit is a bottom of the barrel candy bar that is nobodies favorite. It's boring as hell! It has a bunch of good ingredients but it's so thin you could use one to jimmy the lock on an old sedan. The layer of caramel on a Whatchamacallit is so thin and tasteless that it might as well be a layer of glue that just holds it together. Think about it. I've never bought one. The only times I've ever eaten one is if someone gave me one. They're junk!

However, if you're thinking I'm going to lump the Snickers Crisper into that same category, you're quite wrong. The Snickers Crisper is the Whatchamacallit done right. Instead of making it as thin as a Sun Belt granola bar, it's thick as hell! Which is great because it's so packed with giant crisp rice pieces, chunks of peanuts and a very generous amount of caramel!

It really seems like they improved on the original design in every way. Instead of being a hard, near tasteless block of chocolate, the Snickers Crisper is a big, crispy, crunchy, gooey, delicious mess. The amount of soft caramel really rivals any other candy bar in the game. I'm not even sure if a Caramello has more caramel than one of these! Not only that, but when you take a bite, the textures are really satisfying, (see what I did there?) and different. The peanuts mixed in with the rice are almost the best part for that reason alone!

In the end, I think the Snickers Crisper is a fun addition to their line of candy bars. Will it last? Who's to say. But if you're into all those classic elements that this bar has in it, then scoop one up. It seems like a weird idea for a candy company to basically just remake another long standing candy bar, but hell, if you can do it better, why not?

Give the Snickers Crisper a try today! I'm giving it a solid B!

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This review was written by Rich Brunelle, who lives in Seattle Washington where he eats at a million restaurants and then never does any reviews of them.

Canada Week part 3! Canadian candy! Orange Aero, Reese's Clusters, Kit Kat Chunky Double Caramel, and the Reese's Oh Henry!

When you're the cool kind of dude who visits another country for Christmas, sometimes you pack light. Me? I had my one backpack with a few items in it,(comics, underwear, cell phone charger), and that was it. This works out great until I start buying bags of chips and an absurd amount of candy bars. I imagine people in the stores where I was buying this stuff must have thought I had just gotten out of prison or been stranded somewhere for years without sweets. I was stuffing them into my overflowing backpack like some kind of lunatic, with Loonies and Toonies clattering on the ground all around me. But in the end I somehow pulled it off and the only real casualties were one bag of chips that popped open. No big deal, I just ate them right away. But today we're going to take a quick look at all the sugar filled goodies that came back with me from our neighbor to the north!

As a kid visiting Canada, there was nothing cooler than an Aero bar. I remember my mom letting me buy a few because I would tell her how much I wanted to show my friends at school. Let's be honest here, though, not one of those ever survived the drive back. They were so cool! Chocolate on the outside with crazy chocolate bubble magic in the middle? It defied logic. Well I have no idea how long an Orange Aero has been available, but I've never seen one, so I was quite excited to try it.

Aero Orange has that distinct Aero chocolate you are used to on the outside, but the inside, porous light, bubbled chocolate is orange and has a great orange flavor to it. The flavor brings me back to the old chocolate orange that you have to bang against the table to separate all the slices. But in Aero candy bar form. I thought this was quite good and when it was gone I instantly wished I had bought more.

Aero Orange basically takes their usual formula and adds in some orange flavor. If you're not a fan of fruit in your chocolate, maybe stick with the original, but if you're up for trying new things, it's great!

Next up, when I see a Reese's item that I've never seen before, you can imagine my surprise and excitement!

I initially tried to find a smaller package but when it appeared that they did not exist, I bought this giant one that has a ton of individually wrapped Clusters in it. But, as you can see, even with this many, it was a dangerous game to play, because when the day came for the review, this is what was left in the box...

Don't think that I didn't reach for that final cluster many times thinking, "Eh, I can just leave these out of the review and nobody will ever know..." But I didn't! My will was so steadfast that I started thinking I should have been a Mountie...

Who am I kidding? I'm not nearly that cool. But you know what was? Reese's Clusters! Once that box was cracked I was reaching for one every thirty damned seconds! Creamy peanut butter, caramel, peanuts and pecans wrapped in milk chocolate! How can you go wrong?

These were a great mixture of flavors and textures. That salty Reese peanut butter that we all know and love, with a great crunch from the two different kinds of nuts. Then you have the caramel for a blast of almost buttery sweetness and the sugary chocolate on the outside.

I found myself popping an entire cluster in my mouth and letting it melt down.  Doing it that way you got each layer as it melted away. It was quite interesting.

Reese Clusters were great. My only wish is that perhaps they could have been bigger. One of these the size of a Big Cup would be incredible. But these pretty darn good despite being a weird mash up of past Reese's cup flavors.  A smaller package of them might be nice too so I don't end up eating enough candy for four people. All in all? Awesome! 

Then there's the KitKat Chunky Double Caramel! This is one I had never seen before at all. KitKats are supposed to be four sticks melted together! This is just one giant one! The package tells me there's both crunchy and smooth caramel in here? Canada what will you think of next?

See that scored line in the middle? that's where you snap it in half and one side is crunch and the other side is smooth.

The Crunchy side was my favorite of the two. It has the chocolate and wafers just like a normal KitKat but then above the top layer of wafers there is a thick layer of what tastes like light toffee. It's crispy and buttery and the entire thing goes together for an awesome unique take on a KitKat.

The smooth side wasn't bad either. Basically the same thing but it's top layer is a gooey strip of caramel. It does taste like a darker caramel than most candy bars have though, so it's a bit more rich. Overall I think the KitKat Chunky Double Caramel is a great candy bar and one you should definitely try out if you find yourself enjoying some time in the land of the Trailer Park Boys. 

Finally we come to the Reese's Oh Henry! I can't tell you the last time I had a regular Oh Henry, but I can assure you that when I did, it wasn't nearly as good as this one here with Reese's peanut butter added in.

Crunchy peanuts, Reese's Peanut Butter, creamy caramel and chocolate. This was quite similar to the Reese's clusters in taste, but this had a much different texture due to all the peanuts. The peanut butter was plentiful and it seemed to have a perfect amount of caramel to go together really well.

If I were the folks making Oh Henry, I would make sure this team-up with Reese's is one that isn't going away anytime soon. This was a great candy bar.

Now, I know what you're thinking, THIS IS ALL I GOT?! No, it's really not. I also purchased a number of Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp and a bunch of other classic Canadian candy bars, but figuring those have been around forever, I decided to have the review focus on things I hadn't ever seen before. Sorry, Eh!

This concludes Canada Week on Fatguyfoodblog! Hope you had as much fun as we did! Check back next week for more fun! I'll leave you with this important message from Gene Creamers, better known as Coach Teacher on the hit show Wheels Ontario...

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Review by Rich Brunelle. Who lives in Seattle and still feels like a creep taking pictures of his food so much out in public.