Candy Review Two! {Coon Rapids Are Candy Shop}

Razzles

Welcome to the second blog in our delicious, candy-tasting, series!  (Obviously, it’s delicious for us.  It can be for you too, as we always have everything in that we’re sampling!  All you do is have to swing by. :) )  We’re excited about today’s sampling since we’re going to try something a bit retro, something we haven’t had in years; as well as something newer–trendier, if you will.  Oh, and hey!  If you’re free this weekend, and looking for things to do (for either just you, or the family, too)–come on down to Main Street, Anoka!  It’s out annual, sidewalk sale.  It’s the perfect excuse to stop in to your favorite, little, candy store!   (Plus, there are going to be so many great sales!  

Anyway, without further ado–here we go with our first candy today; we’re starting with Razzles!  Remember those?  Razzles are a candy that once chewed, mix to transform into chewing gum. Originally introduced in 1966,[1] with an advertising slogan and jingle of, “First it’s a candy, then it’s a gum. Little round Razzles are so much fun.”  We loved them as a kid and are curious if we still do.  :)

Packaging:  They come 22-24 per pack and are in a thick, paper, wrapper.

Razzles

Color:  There are five colors and five flavors.  Yellow/Lemon, Pink/Raspberry, Purple/Grape, Orange/Orange and Blue/Blueberry.  

Look/Feel:  They start off about the diameter of a dime, though maybe a quarter inch thick, with one smooth and one bumpy side. They seem to have a weird, powdery substance on them that makes them appear a bit chalky looking.  (They don’t TASTE chalky at all.)  Once you chew them, the color gets much more pronounced and bold.  (We’d take a photo of that but, well–no one wants to see chewed up gum.)

Texture:  They’re weird.  They start off like candy–you bite down and it breaks apart into a bunch of smaller pieces.  As you chew, it melds together and turns to gum.  We think it’s so cool that a candy can actually do that–and, do it well!

Razzles

Taste:  Lemon tastes kinda lemony?  Raspberry is awesome with a big, burst, of raspberry flavor at the beginning.  Grape is mostly grapey with a tinge of something else–something that we can’t, quite peg.  Orange, uhm…we don’t actually know what one was orange.   Maybe we ate another lemon?  Or, maybe the lemon one we ate was orange?  Or, maybe there aren’t orange ones in this pack?  We have no idea, so, we just ate another yellow one which, again, tastes kinda lemony.  Blueberry tastes pretty much nothing like blueberry–but, that’s a really hard flavor to replicate.  We can’t think of too many candies that get it right.  The blue is good–but, it’s almost more like a mix of things.  Speaking of mix–we bet you could create a great concoction by mixing the colors in your mouth!  The flavors, like many sugary gum fades quickly.  They also get tougher, and tougher, the more you chew.

Beverage Pairing:  Grape Kool-Aid.  Actually, probably any flavor of Kool-Aid would be awesome.  It’s like childhood all over again.

Overall Rating:  ? ? ??  (of 5)


 

Next up, we’re going with something a bit newer–though it’s made by, Abdallah, which is a Minnesota company that has been in business since 1909.  We thought it’d be fun to sample something a bit more ‘trendy’ instead of ‘retro’–so, we’re trying out some sea salt caramels!  (Sea salt chocolate stuff is EVERYWHERE right now, yogurt, ice cream and even fast food joints are cashing in on the trend.)  We are sampling two (since we sell the single, wrapped, chocolates at 2/1.18) and, because we couldn’t make up our mind–both the Sea Salt Almond Alligator and the regular Sea Salt Caramel sounded incredible.  :)

Abdallah Sea Salt Caramel

Packaging:  Small, single serve pieces, in a plastic wrapper.  We love the option to get a single serve chocolate–it’s easy to try something new.  (And, you can’t, accidentally, eat the whole box.)

Color:  Beautiful, chocolaty, brown with specks of sea salt.  The caramel is a perfect caramel color.

Look/Feel:  Just as expected–smooth and bumpy!Sea Salt Caramel Abdallah

Texture:  Both of the caramels have a protective layer of chocolate that crumbs apart, and melts in your mouth–right along with the chewy, melt-in-your-mouth caramel.  (We can’t stand the hard caramel that feels like it’s going to pull your teeth out.  This is NOT that.)  You know you hit a piece of sea salt when you feel a slight crunch.  The saltiness of each crunch, mixes beautifully with the melting chocolate and caramels.  

Taste:  Both are SUCH a perfect mix of sweet and salty.  We all know that chocolate and caramel pair well, but add a little sea salt and you have it all.  The chocolate, on both,  is a dark chocolate but isn’t bitter at all.  The Alligator incorporates small pieces of almond (not whole ones) and they add a subtle crunch to the treat–but, are a bit hard to recognize over the other flavors/textures.  Because Abdallah uses higher quality ingredients (we can pronounce them all!) AND is local–the flavors are big, genuine, and fresh.  One of our favorite things about this treat is the lasting effect though.  The caramel gets a little stuck in your teeth, as does a piece of sea salt from time-to-time–we love sitting at our desk and tasting the salty/sweet mix for a bit longer.

Beverage Pairing:  We had coffee and a bit of milk–it was perfect!

Overall Rating:  ? ? ???  (of 5)

Sea Salt Caramel Abdallah