Candy Review
CANDY CORN DOTS


This variation of Dots gumdrops appeared on the shelves this year for Halloween at the same time as the Bat Dots did. At first, though, I thought this would be a review that would be relegated to post-Halloween. For a time, I saw them only in bags of snack-size packages (suitable for handing out to trick or treaters), and I wasn't going to buy any of those until November 1. But much to my surprise, I saw boxes of them (I they are usually referred to as "theatre-sized" boxes) on the shelves at Walgreens, and I picked one up. (I then paid for it.)

In terms of shape, Candy Corn Dots look like the other varieties of Dots -- short, squat truncated cones tht have been rounded off at the top. They are colored to resemble candy corn -- primarily orange, with a layer of yellow at the bottom. (I'm guessing that making them white at the top was technically difficult.)

They have the same gummy texture as regular Dots, and they do taste like candy corn. Regular candy corn, that is; not like any of the flavored candy corns that I have seen (and that is a subject for a whole series of other reviews). Having said that, I just realized that I've never really been able to describe the flavor of candy corn. I know that it's made with honey (at least, that's what Brach's says on its packaging, as well as several other makers of candy corn), but I don't really know the right way to describe that flavor. (And yes, that is probably the subject for yet another entry.)

One thing I have noticed about all of the Dots varieties that I have sampled is that the flavor on all of them tends toward the bland side. They are sweet, but it seems that the people at Tootsie Roll are more interested in the gummy texture of the Dots more than their flavor.

Like the Bat Dots and Ghost Dots, Candy Corn Dots are a seasonal release. The Ghost Dots seemed to be popular enough last year to merit a return engagement this year. In a similar fashion, I suspect that Candy Corn Dots, as well as Bat Dots, will more than likely reappear on the shelves for the Halloween 2010 season.


-jc-

Candy Review
BAT DOTS


Since the Halloween candy first started creeping on the shelves sometime last month, I've been studying the shelves, seeing if there are any new Halloween themed candies this year. For the most part, the answer would be "no." Most of the candies being offered are bags of "Fun Size" candy bars, almost all of which are miniature offerings of Milky Way, Snickers, and other candy bars that you can find year round. All standard offerings. I think I may have seen some bags of the Snickers Nougabot bars, but those could easily be left over from earlier this summer.

One of the few seasonal variations I saw were the Bat Dots. Like the Ghost Dots I reviewed last year (and which I noticed have reappeared on the shelves this year), this is a seasonal variation on Dots gumdrops. The box describes them as being "blood orange flavored."

Now, the Bat Dots are a bluish-black color. Given the flavor that the people at Tootsie Roll chose for the candy, I was thinking that they would be black on the outside, and on the inside, they would be the dark reddish-orange color that I associate with the inside of a blood orange. I was wrong. The Bat Dots are the same bluish-black color throughout the candy.

At least the flavor is more or less what I expected. I don't know if there is any difference in flavor between blood oranges and, say, Valencias, but the Bat Dots definitely have an orange flavor. A natural and artificial orange flavor, according to the ingredients panel, but quite definitely an orange flavor. The Bat Dots also have the same gummy quality that have encountered in other Dots products.

Okay, this is a seasonal product, so the usual holiday disclaimer applies. These will be around through Halloween, depending on how quickly they sell at your favorite retail establishment. If you have kids, there is a good chance that you could find a mini box or two of Bat Dots in their Trick-Or-Treat haul. And if Tootsie Roll decides that they sold well enough this year, it's quite likely that they will start appearing on the shelves again just before next Labor Day.


-jc-

Candy Review
GHOST DOTS


This is one of those Halloween candies that I didn't feel the need to purchase before Halloween. But, since Halloween is over, and they were marked down 50%, I decided it was time to indulge my curiosity.

Ghost Dots are a seasonal variation of regular Dots, which are gumdrops that come is assorted fruit flavors. I am vaguely familiar with the standard variety Dots, although they are not one of my regular purchases when it comes to candy.

The major difference between Ghost Dots and regular Dots is that the Ghost Dots all come in the same color. It's that pale shade of green you most commonly associate with things that glow in the dark. Yes, when I saw them, my first thought was to wonder if they glowed in the dark or under a black light. And I checked. They do more or less glow when you put them under a black light, but they don't glow in the dark.

I'm guessing that the whole idea of candy that glows in the dark hasn't occurred to the people at Tootsie Roll. If someone in their R&D department had thought of it, and they could find the right coloring that was safe for humans to consume, we would indeed have Ghost Dots that glowed in the dark with a ghostly light.

As for the flavor of Ghost Dots, the boxes say "Which Flavor? Which Ghost? IT'S A MYSTERY!" and "Assorted Fruit Flavored Gumdrops." And yes, the flavor is a mystery. They are vaguely fruit flavored, but I'm not certain what those fruits might be. Yes, I can detect two or three different flavors, but I really can't distinguish more than that. I'm not even familiar enough with the regular Dots to determine if Tootsie Roll is using the same flavors as the regular Dots, and just giving them all the same ghostly green color. (I am assuming that, though, until I can definitely determine otherwise.)

As could be expected from gumdrops, the Ghost Dots have quite the chewy texture. They have about the same consistency as Gummi Bears or similar candies. Not much else I can say about that part of the candy.

This is one of those candies where the usual seasonal disclaimer applies. Since Halloween is over, the Ghost Dots are already on the clearance shelf, and will gone within a week -- maybe even less. But I’m also more than a little certain that they will return to the shelves somewhere around the last week or so of August 2009 -- right after the back to school rush has ended.


-jc-

Candy Review
JUNIOR MINTS INSIDE OUTS


I can't recall if I had ever tried Junior Mints before I saw the Inside Out limited edition. Before I could write a thorough review of the Inside Out mints, though, I realized I needed to sample the original for proper comparison.

I found that the original Junior Mints remind me of miniature versions of the York Peppermint Pattie. (And I am sure that this will probably make the people at Tootsie Roll happy. They are the ones who make Junior Mints, and I'm sure they will enjoy having their product compared to another company's product.)

The original Junior Mints are small disks, flat on the bottom, and dome-shaped on the top. Outside is a dark chocolate shell, which I believe has been given additional rigidity with a glaze, because there is a certain extra resistance when you bite into one of these mints. Inside is a soft mint filling -- the package refers to it as "flowing," but it's not that soft.

The mint filling is slightly overpowering. It doesn't have the intensity of an Altoids peppermint (then again, I don't think there is any other mint that does), but it does overwhelm the flavor of the dark chocolate. At times, it is almost impossible to detect the flavor of the chocolate, because it gets lost in the mint.

As you might guess from the name, the Inside Out Junior Mints switch things around. The outer shell is a white candy. Not white chocolate -- the shell is a pure white color, and white chocolate is actually more of an ivory color. Inside, the filling is a chocolate mint flavor.

Now, let me make something perfectly clear. The filling is chocolate flavored. Not chocolate -- chocolate flavored. I checked the ingredients list, and the Inside Out Junior Mints contain absolutely nothing from the cacao tree in them. (By contrast, the shell of the original Junior Mints is real chocolate.)

The lack of anything resembling real chocolate in the Inside Outs is noticeable. There is something that resembles the flavor of chocolate, but it's obvious that it isn't really chocolate. The mint flavor isn't as intense with the Inside Outs as it is with the original Junior Mints, which again is a disappointment. A mint flavor that would overwhelm the artificial chocolate flavor might be a distinct improvement here.

For once, I'm glad that this was a limited edition. If Tootsie Roll made some improvements -- such as actually using some product of the cacao tree in the candy -- I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Junior Mints Inside Outs. As it is, though, I hope this is one limited edition that doesn’t make a return engagement.

-jc-