Not all products are available in the US, though most can be found at speciality import stores. The complete line is listed on the company web site, where you can also find suggestions for beverage/wine and chocolate pairings.

But how does it taste? Actually, I was surprised, it’s rather rich. In a side by side comparison with the original Butterfinger, the Buzz (pictured right, and regular on the left) has a more intense and full flavor. The color is a deeper, brighter orange, too. Though I suspect that was a deliberate decision.

I found mine at a Walgreens, they are also available at 7-eleven. Yeah, they have an annoying media campaign and Facebook page, but I’m simply going to ignore that and enjoy the candy+caffeine concoction.

I have a new candy addiction – salted caramels – and I blame our trip to Portland. It was there I tasted the salted caramels from the little chocolate shop, Sahagun. The candy is an adorable cup of dark, creamy chocolate filled with flowing caramel that is at the same time sweet and savory. And the addition of my favorite nut, the hazelnut, on top of the confection makes this treat my idea of perfection.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the hazelnut filled chocolates topped with a creamy, cupcake-ish chocolate hazelnut frosting.

A special thanks to fellow blogger Jessica of ItalyLogue for giving me the head’s up about the liquidity of the caramel so as not to have caramel drip down my chin after taking a bite

I’m afraid I finally met a candy I don’t like. The problem with Violet Crumble is the texture. The inside ‘honeycomb’ is the texture of those crispy, baked meringues. To me that gritty feeling in the mouth is like eating chalk–not to mention the sensation. I simply can’t get past the texture to even talk about taste.

Clearly I was the kid in school that cringed in actual pain when teachers dragged chalk down the chalkboard. OUCH.

There are a few other, not so biased, reviews out there:
Candy Blog
Candy Addict

Btw, I found this at Long’s Drugs on Shattuck Ave in Berkeley.

I spotted Flyer Gold Plane No. 2 (Swiss dark chocolate with caramel) at the checkout counter of the Whole Foods Market (in Providence) and was immediately drawn to the packaging. The combination of a lovely vintage plane image, reminiscent of Pan Am graphics, and the words rich dark chocolate with caramel was too much to pass up.

The chocolate exterior was smooth and creamy and the caramel was absolutely lush and thick. I could taste the butter and sugar in the caramel, as well as the rich, nutty flavor that comes from bringing the caramel just to the point before it burns. This really is more of a high-end bon bon, the type you might find in a French candy boutique, rather than a plain bar. That said, don’t let the 270 calories per bar scare you. It’s so rich a few bites will easily satisfy the sweetest of sweet tooths.

The chocolate treat was my mid-morning snack. I’ve heard good things about Jo’s candy but found the overall flavor of the peanut butter lacking. The chocolate quality was good, smooth and melty, but again, was a weak tasting milk chocolate. Overall it was ok, but really lacked much flavor.

Italian candy maker Pastiglie Leone makes a line of lozenges in a variety of flavors, including assenzio, or absinthe. The candies have a texture similar to Altoids, but are about half the size of the famous mints.

I’ve sampled several other flavors in this line, including lemon and cinnamon and the absinthe flavor is my least favorite — it’s simply too bitter. There is an anise flavor, but the range of bitter flavors overpowers any subtle sweetness. I couldn’t even finish one small candy.

The flavor is awful, but the packaging is delightful. I’m keeping an unopened box on my desk for sheer aesthetics. I truly am a sucker attractive packaging.

I love the taste of coconut, especially drenched in chocolate, but ever since I read Steve Almond’s Candy Freak I’ve had second thoughts. The author describes coconut in Almond Joy/Mounds as though, “I feels as if I’m chewing on a sweetened cuticle.”

Yeah, that’s pretty spot-on.

But when I saw the Choxie dark chocolate coconut truffle bar I knew I needed to taste. The bar is covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate while the inside is a mix of white chocolate, coconut and toasted almonds.

Full disclosure – i don’t like white chocolate, but the taste of the coconut and the crunch of the nuts was perfectly pleasing. On the downside the Choxie chocolate is mediocre quality at best and the filling makes this a super sweet candy bar. One square is all I could eat – normally I can eat whole chocolate bars in one sitting.

I stopped in Paper Source to pick up more blank cards and spotted the bear buble gum from Mineco at the register. It’s adorable. so i picked up a package ($1.50 for 4 pieces of gum).

I’ve tried out the grape. Perfect ‘fake’ grape flavor, just the way I like it. Though while it gets a perfect 10 in presentation, it got stale and lost all flavor in about ten minutes. Oh well, it can’t be pretty and taste good, too.

These are currently my favorite chocolate bars — the Ritter Sport whole hazelnut bars, either in milk or dark chocolate. And they are often on sale at Target!