Buy this when you're in Spain

Hello!  I'm finally back after a week of traveling and an INSANE week at work.  I'm sure your week has been crazy too as everyone is wrapping things up before Thanksgiving and prepping for the holiday.  It's good to be back and talking about candy so let's jump right in.  This week, I have a recommendation for you from Spain.

About two years ago, my friend and I went to Barcelona and Ibiza.  It was a super memorable trip and it yielded some unforgettable candy too.  In Spain, they are big fans of the fruit and cream licorice, especially strawberry and cream.  I sampled strawberry and cream licorice ALL OVER Barcelona.  They had so many different shapes and sizes of it along with sour and not sour (regular?) versions.  Some licorice came in a long rope form like the stuff I found in Jerusalem, some were skinny and short like the ones I found in Italy, and all of them came in a sour or regular version.  There was a lot of licorice sampling to be done...I was really happy in Spain.  However, after careful consideration, I finally landed on the best combination: short, medium-thick, and regular.

Here's the winner:

Haribo Fresa-balla!  Man, these people really know gummy candy.  These licorice bites are soft and chewy right out of the bag with a nice strawberry flavor and vanilla cream center.  The perfect ratio of strawberry to cream.  I can safely say that during our 6 day trip in Spain I ate 6 bags of these things.  And that was AFTER going through the initial process of elimination in Barcelona taste testing all of the other shapes/sizes.  But, like most things in life, it took hard work and dedication to find the winning combination.

Sidebar: some dude we met on the beach one day noticed that I had a bag of these and launched into how terrible a company Haribo is and how there are like horse hooves or something in their gummy candies and blah, blah, blah.  He went from being interesting to a real downer.  It was like ok buddy, I noticed that you're wearing a speedo but I'm not going to point it out and make you feel bad about it.  For the record, I buy and eat organic when I can, I don't smoke, don't drink much, have 1-2 cups of coffee a day, work out regularly and pretty much lead a healthy lifestyle.  So if I want to follow the 80/20 rule and spend that 20% eating horse hooves and sugar then please, just let me do that.  That's my rant on letting other people make you feel bad for how you choose to spend your 20%.  Don't worry, just follow the 80/20 rule and you'll be fine.

Ok so unfortunately, I can only find this strawberry flavor on foreign websites.  They sell them at Tesco in England for example which will be a process to order if you live in the states.  Amazon sells a multi-flavor version of these so that might be the closest you can get to them in the U.S.  I was able to get my hands on a few bags again because my friend went back to Ibiza and was kind of enough to offer to pick up more crack candy for me.  The convo went like this:

A: Do you want me to get more of that candy you liked in Spain?
Me: Ooooo, yes, please.
A: Ok how many bags?
Me: Um, one
A: Are you sure?
Me: No, two.  Plus a pica.

"Pica" is what we started calling the sour variety of these candies.  Neither of us knew at the time what pica actually meant but inferred that it was sour.  Plus it was fun to say.

In the end, we decided that the regular version is still the best but pica is a fun way to mix it up.

So that's my pick in Spain.  If you go there, def pick up a bag of these but make sure you get the regular, medium-thick version unless you want to go ahead and sample all of the different shapes and sizes for yourself (which is actually pretty fun).  These are sold in just about every corner store in Barcelona and Ibiza so they're really easy to find.  In fact, if you're going, can you grab me a bag?

A hidden gem in Chelsea, NY

Happy Friday!  Have you recovered from Halloween yet?  I'm slowly accepting the fact that winter is coming and trying to enjoy NYC and the fall leaves as much as possible.  The bitter, soul-crushing, cold and wind are coming so you've gotta get out now and enjoy the weekends while you still can.  In an effort to get the most out of every last fall weekend, I've been touring around the city and buying candy from all my favorite spots.  I haven't really covered much in NYC yet and there is a lot to cover.  This posts starts with one of my favorite hidden gems in New York City, inside Chelsea Market.

If you're in NYC or planning a visit then you have to walk through Chelsea Market.  It's a long hallway of specialty food stores, restaurants, wine bars, a grocery store, and coffee shops.  It's a foodie's paradise.  It's also home to Food Network where I heard that they shop for groceries downstairs and then shoot some of their shows in the studios upstairs.  Even though Chelsea Market is one of my favorite places to wander around, it's still horrifically crowded with tourists.  Especially on the weekends.  Going in, you kind of have to accept the fact that you're going to be walking in this massive zombie-crawl throughout the market.  Or you can pretend that you're in a parade like I sometimes do, to keep from going crazy and stampeding everyone.  It's best to just keep your calm...smile and wave.

Ok so deep in the back of Chelsea Market is a store called Chelsea Market Baskets.  It's billed as an "artisan foods" store with "inspiring gifts" which is all true actually.  But what they don't mention is their great chocolate selection.  A whole wall of chocolate bars, a glass case of chocolate truffles, and jars and jars of bulk chocolate candy.  And not just any bulk candy, Marich candy.  You might remember Marich from that time I freaked out when I saw them in a Chicago Whole Foods.  Marich is quality stuff and the only place I've ever seen it sold by the pound in NYC is at Chelsea Market Baskets.  Ta-daaaaa:

yes, go inside

When I first discovered the awesome candy here it was like finding lost treasure.  I had been through Chelsea Market before but didn't realize that this veritable gold mine (chocolate mine?) of candy was inside.  They have all kinds of great chocolate candy by the pound including some favorites like lemon blueberry shortbread and triple chocolate toffee...

jars of bulk candy

jars and jars...

AND seasonally, they get one of my all time favorites: pumpkin spice caramels!

pumpkin spice caramel

yum!

These taste just like pumpkin flavored caramel, no weird fake taste at all.  They are exactly as the name suggests.  If you like pumpkin flavored things you should definitely buy them.  They're also sold by Marich online.

Moving on to the chocolate wall.  (I really hope I get to say those words again some time). Chelsea Market Baskets has an entire wall of artisan chocolate bars.  They're the fancier, bean-to-bar chocolate bars and make really nice gifts for chocolate lovers...or yourself on a random Saturday.

fancy chocolate bars

more fancy chocolate bars

A lot of the more well-known chocolate brands are represented here and if you're anything like me you'll stand facing this wall for an hour several minutes trying to decide which new bar to buy. 

Finally, if truffles are more your thing then you're in luck as they have a nice case of truffles too.  I don't tend to buy truffles often because I eat them all as soon as I get home (just me? I keep wanting to try all of the different flavors I bought and then next thing I know they're gone and I'm out like, 20 bucks in 2 minutes).  Anyway, the few truffles I've had from the case are all great quality.  If you have the willpower and can play the long game, then go for it.

case of chocolate truffles

So that's it.  The first of many more NYC posts to come.  If you find yourself in New York then you must take a (slow) stroll through Chelsea Market and stop into Chelsea Market Baskets for some fine chocolate.  Let me know your favorite fancy chocolate bar in the comments below or tag me on Instagram @thecandyquestblog.  Happy questing!

Halloween at Hershey Park

Happy Halloween!  For the last two years, my friends and I have been going to Hershey Park for a little girl time, roller coasters, and chocolate.  It's been so fun that we've continued the tradition, making this trip our 3rd annual.  This year, we ended up pushing the trip into late October which meant that we were there during one of their "Hershey Park in the Dark" weekends.  Way better timing.  Lines were shorter, the air was chilly, the leaves changed colors, kids (and some parents) were dressed up, and shopping at Hershey's Chocolate World (ChoWo to the locals) had more of a purpose since Halloween is this weekend.  Candy is in season!  So in celebration of Halloween, the holiday of candy, here's a tour of the "sweetest place on earth."

Our first stop was the amusement park (Hershey Park) and second was the chocolate factory store (Hershey's Chocolate World).  ChoWo is where you're invited to stuff your face with candy, buy up all the chocolate you can carry, take a factory tour, sample chocolates, and even create your own candy bar.

Here's the entrance to the amusement park, get excited try to contain your excitement:

It was the perfect fall day to walk around and ride some rides.  The leaves where changing which made every spot in the park picture worthy.  Here's a pic of us bailing on a ride and walking out of the line...

...and a pic of someone's pumpkin carving talents...

But on to what you've been waiting for... a building full of chocolate!

Behold!  The entrance to ChoWo!  Upon entering, they have signs for chocolate tasting, sign-ups for the factory tour (which is kind of like an amusement park ride where you glide past their recreations of the factory in a little car), and ticket sales for the create-your-own candy bar experience.  This I highly recommend.  You walk back into a little "factory" and use a computer to design your bar choosing your chocolate, your mix-in ingredients, and designing your wrapper.  You get to watch your bar go down the line and come to life.  It's a fun experience and the chocolate tastes fresher and creamier than a regular Hershey's bar.  But, since we had done all this before, we navigated past the entrance to get to the real goods...discounted, fresh, Hershey's chocolate and candy.  The initial view is pretty exciting:

Move, kid 

This store is a labyrinth of candy (minus David Bowie) and sectioned off by brands so Twizzlers are all together, Reese's, Kit-Kat's, Hershey's Kisses, etc., it's all here.  They even have a fill-your-own bag station with different flavors of kisses and chocolates to choose from:

For a first-timer, the store is a little overwhelming (slash exhilarating) but as a veteran, I only stopped to snap the new and noteworthy finds for you.  Like this oversized "World's Largest Hershey's bar": 

And these "Extra Long" Twizzlers (why doesn't the usual length work?  What are you doing that you need an even longer Twizzler?)  But whatever, in case you do, here they are:

I was excited to stumble upon a seasonal item...pumpkin spice kisses!  These taste just like pumpkin and white chocolate and exceeded expectations:

pumpkin and white chocolate, keep 'em coming

And they had some caramel apple Twizzlers that I was sure I would hate but ended up loving.  They were really soft and chewy because they were fresh out of the factory.  What a difference!  The apple flavor in these by itself would have been too green apple-y and fake but combined with the caramel center it tasted just like fall. 

In fact, I regret not buying more from the Twizzler's section since the softness and chewy texture of the fresh-from-the-factory bags made a huge difference in taste.  They had every flavor imaginable, I only snapped a portion of what was there.

Ok, but the real reason to come here, the freshest tasting option at ChoWo, are the Reese's cups.  The peanut butter here is still kinda creamy which make Reese's cups taste so much better.  

light snack anyone?

I always stock up on Reese's cups and bring some back for friends when I go since the taste difference is so noticeable.  I think the Hershey's chocolate bars pretty much taste the same but the Reese's cups from the factory store taste much fresher. 

Ok, moving on to some new candy.  First are these little to-go bags of different "snack" mixes.  There were a few versions including this pretzel/chocolate/almond bag, a Reese's bag, and "snack bites" which were little bites of chocolate/almond clusters.

These are nice, portable options that give off the trail mix-y vibe so that you can pretend you're eating healthy.  But really at that point, why bother?  If you want chocolate or candy just go full hog and eat what you're really craving.  Otherwise you're just going to delay the inevitable and then you've eaten trail mix AND candy.

Next, Hershey's recently unveiled new kisses which are larger and contain "crisps" and an entire roasted hazelnut.  Sort of Hershey's answer to the Baci kisses from Europe:

crisps and a roasted hazelnut in the center

These were good but not very chocolatey.  If you're really craving chocolate then you're better off just eating a regular kiss.  The hazelnut in the center kinda takes over because there's not enough chocolate in the middle to offset it.  Still good though and worth trying.

For the last photo, I'll leave you with this shot of the glorious Hershey's Chocolate World cafe where all of your chocolate concoction ideas can come true:

that guy on the left is like "Hmph!  Where is my chocolate?"

So that's it.  The 3rd annual trip to Hershey Park and ChoWo was another smashing success.  I hope you make the trip sometime with your friends and family and that you go in the fall.  It's the perfect day to spend catching up, enjoying the beautiful fall foliage, and eating your favorite chocolate.  

If you try Hershey's new hazelnut kisses, comment on this post or tag me on Instagram @thecandyquestbog and tell me what you think.  Happy questing! 

The best pumpkin spice latte you haven't tried

You knew this was coming...a pumpkin spice latte post!  So I know pumpkin spice lattes aren't technically a candy but you need this information.  PSL's are ubiquitous this fall, they're everywhere, and people either love them or hate them.  They're a very polarizing beverage.  For the people who love them, I feel compelled to pass on my knowledge.  Like a PSL PSA.

First, let me start by telling you that I have loved pumpkin flavored everything long before it was trendy.  Long before there was a "PSL" I was consuming pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin creamer, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin candy, anything that had a pumpkin flavor.  Because, if you recall, there once was a time when pumpkin flavored everything was uncommon and scarce.  Now that the rest of America is on board with the pumpkin obsession, I am delighted to try even MORE pumpkin themed consumables.  You thought I would get burnt out on pumpkin, huh?  Not even close, I even sprinkle pumpkin pie spice in my morning coffee this time of year.  I mean, I take it too far, not far enough!

So, now that I've established my pumpkin street cred, please listen (well, read) when I tell you that the best pumpkin spice latte out there is at 7-11.  Yes, you read that right, 7-11.  I'll let that sink in a minute...and give you these visuals:

Just step right up and press the button!  This PSL is way better than anything you've tried at another coffee house.  Including the one at Starbucks, even the newly updated Starbucks version that has actual pumpkin in it.  Why you ask?  What's in the 7-11 version?  Who knows!  But it is DELICIOUS.  It tastes sweet and milky and pumpkin pie-y with the perfect balance of spices.  It's like a slice of pumpkin pie (with whipped cream!) has been blended right into your coffee.  You gotta go out and try one.  Everyone who has taken this advice has ended up a believer (although, admittedly, they were all incredulous and a little scared at first).

mmm, liquid pumpkin pie

Look, worst case scenario you don't agree with me and then you're only out like, a buck.  But, best case scenario/more likely scenario, you try it and love it AND it was only a buck!  You're welcome.

Please go out and try one and tell me what you think in the comments below or tag me on Instagram @thecandyquestblog. 

Shopping in Seattle, with a sugar rush

Thanks for coming back for my second post about Seattle!  In this post I'll tell you about my new favorite candy store along with some unique finds inside of it.  Read my previous post listing essential candy to buy while you're in Seattle (or buy online if you're not taking a trip) here.

During my time in Seattle I wanted to explore a new area and while I was at it, check out a popular candy store.  If you're in town, you must check out University Village.  It's a lovely, serene, outdoor shopping mall with a huge, food-serving, tea-tasting Teavana store among other clothing/beauty/home stores.  It also holds my new favorite candy spot in Seattle: The Confectionery.  Here's the entrance and some interior shots:

perfectly organized tables by theme!

This store has everything, lots of old favorites as well as new and hard-to-find candies.  The OCD in me loved that they had little tables set up by theme, and the germophobe in me loved that all of the candy was either pre-packaged or packaged-to-order by the adorable girls behind the counter.  These coed's could not have been sweeter and they let you taste anything you want in the store.  The Confectionery is unique in that the candy is bulk candy but not accessible without some help from the staff.  The candies are pre-bagged or the staffer will weigh and bag a custom portion for you.  This really appealed to my inner Howard Hughes as it keeps the general public from scooping (and contaminating) the candy jars themselves.

Here's a rundown of my experience in the store.  First, I am a crazy lover of all things pumpkin and was initially side tracked by this fantastic fall spread.  They had one of my seasonal favorites, pumpkin spice caramels (see the tall orange jar below) which got me reeeeally excited to stuff my face with all things pumpkin for the changing weather:

fun fall candies, including pumpkin spice caramels

then, I passed by the chocolate counter and stared at their chocolate covered candy for awhile...

...and these halloween chocolates...

...and these adorable wedding mints!

But thankfully, I had come with a plan in mind so I was able to control myself (just barely!) and continue down the counter to find what I was looking for: their unique and hard-to-find collection of malt balls and caramels including my new favorite, birthday cake caramels.  Yaaaay!  Birthdays for everyone!

huge selection of flavored caramels

uniquely flavored malt balls

Overwhelmed with excitement, I asked the very patient coed behind the counter if I could try her favorite caramel (chocolate peanut butter) along with a red apple caramel, a cookies and cream caramel, and a bag of birthday cake caramels which are my new favorite and hard to find so a stockpile was mandatory.  (I should mention too that I LOVE pumpkin spice caramels but have tasted them several times before so I didn't buy them at The Confectionery.  Make it known though, pumpkin spice caramels are a great iteration on the pumpkin theme and a solid choice.  Buy them!)  From the malt ball section I tasted the pumpkin spice and the gingerbread.  Here are my tasting notes (my totes?) on the malt balls and caramels:

gingerbread malt ball

pumpkin spice malt ball

I found the gingerbread malt ball to be a little ho-hum but the pumpkin spice one had a nice layer of pumpkin, chocolate and malt ball flavoring.  Def worth a taste if you like malt balls and pumpkin flavors.

Next was the chocolate peanut butter caramel, a staff favorite for good reason.  It was a great blend of three flavors involving an outer coating of milk chocolate, followed by a layer of peanut butter and then a chewy, caramel center which sort of glues all three flavors in your mouth for awhile while you chew it down.  It was so good that I went back inside (shame-be-damned!) to buy a bag of them.

chocolate peanut butter caramel

chocolate peanut butter caramel interior

yah, I went back for more

The cookies and cream caramel was good but tasted a little chalky/fake.  Not as oreo-y as I would have liked.  The red apple caramel kinda tasted like a red apple but the red flavoring was a little too strong and had that fake apple flavor to it.  In theory, a red apple caramel is a winning combination but in reality it tried too hard.

What DIDN'T disappoint were the birthday cake caramels...just as dreamy and amazing as the first time I encountered them:

ethereal bday cake caramels

 When I saw that they had birthday cake caramels I got a little more excited than someone should.  I think I even did a little dance while she scooped and weighed them for me.   Never thought I would see them again, dreams really do come true.

So overall the Seattle trip was a real winner in the candy department.  From the moment you touch down in Seattle, head straight to the stores in the airport to pick up my Seattle candy essentials.  Then be sure to check out University Village and visit the cheerful, adorable staff at The Confectionery.  Taste their hard-to-find, unique caramels and malt balls and show me your favorites by tagging me on Instagram @thecandyquestblog.  Happy Questing!