Dorayaki are made by putting two pancake-like sponge cakes together with red bean paste in the middle. If you read manga, or watch anime, these should look familiar.
There really isn’t much to the packaging, it’s all clear, keeps the dorayaki fresh, and keeps everything together. (So I’ll skip over that.)
The outside of the dorayaki smells sweet, like a yellow cake, and it’s perfectly formed. (Like a little flying saucer.)
My mother and I joined BJ’s, which is both a great AND terrible thing. There is so much candy! (Good thing I have dental insurance.) I had seen UNREAL candy featured on Candyblog, and I was really excited to try it. It had such a good review, was I going to like it just as much?
The UNREAL design is very enigmatic. At first it looks like a big QR code. (In actuality it is a very stylized font.) The font gives it a foreign, almost alien, feel. Inside the bag are several mini chocolate bars.
These #8 bars are very similar to a Snickers. They contain peanuts, nougat, and caramel. How are these different?
I am not a winter person. I don’t like all the holiday madness or the freezing cold temperatures, but something I DO love about the season is all the peppermint flavored goodies. Candy canes, peppermint mocha’s, Andes mints….all of them are delicious!
I’m not sure if these candy cane Kisses are new, but this was the first year I had seen them.
The bag’s layout is the same as the pumpkin spiced Kisses, but with a (obvious) winter theme. I really like how the white background makes the images pop!
Another item from my boyfriend’s big bag of candy. A gummy bear the size of my fist!
There is a lot of packaging for this bear. First, there is a hard plastic shell around the gummy to keep it safe and shaped. After that, there is a clear sticker holding the shell together and then another layer of clear plastic wrapped around the tape to protect that! I understand the need for it all, but when I was done unwrapping this candy I had a huge pile of waste!
Once free of his gummy-prison, the gummy bear is pretty hefty. This gummy bear is 12 oz! That means this guy is more gummy than a whole bag of gummy bears!
It smells like artificial cherry. Not in a bad way, the smell reminds me of cherry lollipops.
Taking a bite was difficult! The outside of this gummy is NOT so gummy. It hurt my teeth to get through the hard exterior. Once I did it was softer inside, but not as soft as typical gummies. This candy has a stiffer chew, but it really does taste like a larger version of a cherry Haribo gummy bear.
After a few bites, my gummy bear split in two! The bear is made with 2 molds pushed together, so I guess the seam wasn’t very strong.
I think this is a really fun and silly gift, but I don’t think you’d ever need another. One is enough for a lifetime. I am a gummy bear ADDICT, and even I might not be able to finish this.EDIT: I finished it in two days…because I have no self control.
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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Another flavor of Darrell Lea’s soft eating licorice, this time I have green apple.
I loved the strawberry, and the blueberry pomegrante was really nice, but how will green apple rank?
The packaging is just as nice as ever. Since it is so consistent I don’t think I really have to get into that.
Let’s get straight to the candy! Opening the bag, I was shocked by the color. This is NOT a very attractive color for candy and it looks nothing like the image on the package. If I had to name this color, it’s would be canned-green-beans.
I picked these up at Walmart because Milkyways are my favorite candy bar. (I love them frozen.) I was excited to try my favorite chocolate bar a new flavor.
I had seen reviews of these before, on Candy Blog, but I had to try these for myself.
The packaging is VERY red. To me, it looks like a candy apple instead of a caramel one. I think a lot more could have been done to convey a caramel apple, but overall it isn’t terrible packaging.
I picked this up from a random convenience store while walking around Philly a while ago. (I really can’t remember where.)
After trying these gummis before, in THIS sampler, I was excited to get more of them.
The bag is simple, but it uses stunning images of fresh fruit. I just want to reach into the image and eat a grape.
Another gift from my boyfriend, so I am not sure where this came from.
The package is VERY pink and sparkly. There is a picture of the lollipop on the package, and it looks like it should be Hello Kitty shaped.
We’ll see how she looks. Have any of you ever seen those character shaped ice cream bars? They NEVER look like they are supposed to and most of the time they look like nightmares.
For my birthday this year my boyfriend gave me a big bag of candy. Inside, I found Uncle Oinker’s Gummy Bacon. Thankfully, this is strawberry flavored and not bacon flavored. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE bacon and I LOVE gummy candy, but bacon-flavored gummies? No thank you.
The packaging is pretty rough, it feels like a student project. I wish they had put more cheesy jokes and such on the packaging and really pushed the bad-ness of it. I love things that are so bad they are good. What I DO like is that there is a little “bacon viewing window” just like real packages of bacon.
Inside the box there is a plastic pouch with four strips of gummy bacon.
"The PERFECT Drink"
This was another glass bottled soda I picked up back when I was at the Franklin Fountain. Not to be TOO cliche, but I AM a Jersey girl and I figured I should review a “Jersey” soda.
When I looked it up, it turns out this soda has quite the history! It was one of America’s first creme sodas! This beverage was originally used as a concentrate to make other creme flavored beverages.
Time for the last video game themed energy drink! Here we have Mario’s Power Up.
Just like the DK one, this can’s design is just a character against a basic background. At least DK had stars! Mario just gets a solid blue filler. It could have been a Mario stage or at least had little mushroom shapes on it.
Opening the can I could smell bubble gum. I HATE bubble gum flavored items so this was a very bad sign for me.
Here is another video game themed energy drink to celebrate Wreck it Ralph! This time it’s Donkey Kong’s Jungle Juice.
Right off the bat, the name really isn’t appealing. What is “jungle juice” anyway?
This can design is really basic. I feel like they could have done a lot more. (It could have been a barrel!) It seems like a lot more thought was put into the Pac-Man can design. (Even DK himself looks confused and disappointed!)
Aunt Charlotte’s is a little old candy shop where you can get classic handmade candies. My family has been shopping there for as lone as I can remember, and they give out free candy apples on Halloween to children in costumes.
These candy coated marshmallows are my FAVORITE item in the entire store, and they are only available in the fall during “candy apple season.”
The packaging is simple, just a clear cellophane bag, but inside is a fluffy marshmallow covered in candy apple coating!
I think these are delicious! The marshmallow is very lightly flavored and soft, so when you bite into this treat the hard candy coating gives-way with a really satisfying crunch.
It tastes just like you would expect, like a fluffy vanilla marshmallow mixed with crunchy candy apple coating. The small size prevents the candy from being overwhelming or too sweet.
If you’re in the NJ area, I suggest stopping at Aunt Charlotte’s and picking a few up. They are .25 cents each and only around for a limited time. (As you can see I bought a whole bag full!)
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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Franken Berry is only available in my area around Halloween, how am I supposed to get my strawberry cereal fix year-round? Maybe this new Strawberry Life cereal will help fill the void.
The box is bright and uses a large CG strawberry as the bowl. (Which I love! I wish they sold bowls like that!) As you can see on the box, this cereal is a bit different from other types of flavored Life. According to the website, the "cool pinwheel shape" was meant to appeal to kids. I think that is silly. Why couldn’t they have made strawberry flavored rice-chex?
I finally got to see Wreck it Ralph the other night, and I thought… what better time to review these drinks?
Today I’ll be trying Pac-Man Power Up Energy Drink.
Everything about this can’s design is so nostalgic and sweet, it makes me want to go play the game! (I own the old school Nintendo version and a Plug-n-play version.) The can features Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde as well as Pac-Man. The only gripe I have, is that I have no idea what flavor it is going to be. The only possible hint might be the Pac-Man cherries featured on the front, but that might just be part of the design.
This is a novelty drink, so my expectations were very low. When I popped the can open I was expecting a sickening smell, but it actually smelled fruity and sweet! As I poured it I saw that it was a pink/red color! The smell and look of this beverage was similar to Cherry 7-Up, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
I normally hate the taste of energy drinks, but this was really fruity and delightful! The flavor is definitely cherry, and I was shocked that I could taste a real cherry flavor. (Not artificial, but actual cherry juice!)
As an energy drink, I did feel a boost of energy after drinking it, but I wasn’t bouncing off the walls. (Like I did with the Rock Star Iced Tea I drank earlier this year.) It has a bit of an energy-drink-aftertaste, but the cherry hides it well.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this beverage! I would definitely buy this again if I needed a little pick me up.
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.netLike me on facebook to keep up with all my adventures!
I love Yoo-hoo! I drank it all the time as a kid, and I still buy bottles of it as an adult. It’s yummy and nostalgic, so I when I saw to-go packets I thought it would be a great product. I was wrong.
The box is small, perfect to carry in purses, and the package has the same look and feel as traditional Yoo-hoo.
Back when my friends Brian and Kevin took me to The Fountain for ice cream, I picked up two bottled-sodas. (A Jersey-cream and this Pear Soda.)
The bottle is made of brown-tinted glass and it is short and stocky when compared to the other beverages in my fridge. The label design is quite modern and minimalistic. I like the contrast of the modern design against a vintage looking bottle. However I am not a fan of the HOTLIPS logo, lipstick-print designs always bother me.
Time for something new! This time I picked up Kabaya’s Ju-C Watermelon tablets! According to THIS SITE these candies have a bit of calcium in them to promote health, but the nutritional information on my package says they contain 0% Calcium for the whole tube. Oh well, candy-is-candy!
Companies LOVE coming to college campuses and having students try new products. It makes sense, you have a lot of 17-25 year olds there to test out your product, and if they like it they’ll seek it out in the future.
I have tried Neuro before, just a different flavor, and I was NOT a fan.
Like my other review states, I LOVE this bottle design, but this specific bottle looks like a sex toy. I think it’s because it is all one color, the Bliss variation I had before was broken up with different colors. (There is an orgasm themed drink in the line, so maybe they want that kind of association.)
Something savory! This time it’s a bag of Piattos, a hexagonal chip brand from the Philippines.
The flavor is why I picked these up, nacho pizza? What could that taste like?
The bag is small, only 3 oz, with a bold red color scheme. The flavor “nacho pizza” might refer to loaded nachos, because that is what I see on the bag. Yet, on the back it says that these are pizza flavored chips with “nacho cheese.” Either way, this sounded interesting.
I was really disappointed in those custard wafer cookies. I had to find something that had a better custard/pudding flavor. Maybe these ice bars will do the trick!
This box has a simple design. (Especially when compared to the custard cookie packaging.) The whole box is a soft custard color with dark brown and red text. I really like the simplicity and limited color palette. It features photos of the popsicle and a standard pudding with caramel topping.
The bars inside are wrapped in a bright yellow plastic. I like the consistency throughout all the packaging.
Inside, the ice bar is custard-colored with little yellow jelly-bits throughout. The top of the bar is brown just like the traditional caramel topping on most custards or flan.
Does it taste like pudding? YES! The custard-colored frozen confection has a nice, warm, vanilla flavor. When that is combined with the little translucent jelly-bits, it mimics the bouncy texture of real custard! The caramel topping, was more coffee than caramel. It had a strong, bitter, taste like black coffee. It mixed well with the pudding flavor, but alone it was a little too bitter for me.
Thankfully the popsicles weren’t a bust like those wafer rolls. These are yummy, texturally interesting, AND visually appealing.
Photos© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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I was never a big fan of pudding, until I tried those pudding flavored marshmallows from the Asian food market. Now, I try to look for pudding flavored everything! I saw these custard-wafers and I was really hoping that they would be delicious.
The packaging is VERY busy. The top of the package has photos of ice, the wafer-roll-cookies, and bold red text. The packaging is very overwhelming, also, why is there ice?
I love cola candies! I have reviewed several cola-flavored gummies, but never a hard candy.
This package follows the red-trend I discussed in previous posts. (Cola is almost always paired with the color red.) Visually, I wasn’t “wowed” by the design. My favorite part is the glass of soda pictured on the front, but the rest of the design is pretty “meh.”
Inside, are individually wrapped candies. (Just like the Super Lemon I reviewed a few days ago.) I noticed that these candies are pretty big just by holding a wrapped piece in my hand.
