This week, the Candy Girls decided to try a few of the limited edition flavors released by the Mars candy company to celebrate the release of the first Indiana Jones film in almost 20 years. The Snickers Adventure Bar promises to "Satisfy your taste for adventure! Rich Chocolate. Crunchy nuts. And a cliffhanger kick of exotic spice and a hint of sweet coconut flavor." The Mint Crisp M & Ms packaging fails to make any lofty claims, so we'll just have to see how they taste for ourselves.
Snickers Adventure Bar
First Reactions: With a name like "Adventure Bar," we are excited to learn more about the promised "exotic spices" and "new flavor kick."
Liz: Aside from a picture of Indy on the wrapper, the candy bar itself doesn't seem too exciting. Aubrey: It just looks like any other milk chocolate covered candy bar. I'm not feeling the adventure yet.
Taste: Liz: There seem to be bits of coconut inside the nougat. Aubrey: I see those, too. But wait, are they nuts? Maybe just some extra nuts and some kind of artificial coconut flavoring? And I don't taste any kind of exotic spices. Liz: Whatever it is, it tastes like a Snickers bar that got left inside a box full of sunscreen for too long. Aubrey: Yeah, there is definitely a strange sunscreen association here. But I actually kind of like it. It's like a lighter version of the regular Snickers bar. And I think I taste just a hint of nutmeg in the caramel. Could that be the "exotic spice"? Liz: It's surprisingly not bad.
Conclusions: Would we finish the bar? Well, we actually did finish this bar, simply because we had to get to the bottom of the exotic and adventurous flavor mysteries.
Would we purchase again? In general Snickers bars are a little sweet for our taste, but the lighter flavors make this a little more appealing than the original. Of course, Snicker's fans might disagree, but for us this is a welcome change and we would probably buy again.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Mint Crisp M&M's
First reactions: The Mint Crisp M&M's are thematically tied to the new Indiana Jones movie mostly by the fact that they feature Indiana Jones on the wrapper. Is there a lot of mint in Peru? We don't know. But the mint aroma wafts from the bag as soon as it's opened. The M&Ms themselves are lumpy and non-uniform. They come in white, dark green, and (duh) mint green, with silver M's on their tummies. Some of the M's are accompanied by pyramids or skulls.
Aubrey: What's on this one? Liz: It's an M wearing a fedora. Aubrey: Hmm, I think this one is half an M wearing a fedora.
Taste: These have the same bite as a regular crispy M&M, but with mint. That may be the most generic sentence ever written, but that also pretty much sums up the taste of these suckers.
Liz: They're like Thin Mints. Oh! Except bitter! Ugh. Aubrey: They do taste like Thin Mints. That's why I don't like Thin Mints. Except I'm not getting bitter. Liz: You don't taste that? It's like it's all nice and minty, then--WHAM! Bitter. Aubrey: Nope. But I don't like them very much. I guess if you like mint and chocolate together you'd like these. Liz: I like mint and chocolate, but these are gross. Aubrey: I guess they're refreshing. I feel kinda sick.
Conclusions: Would we finish the bag? Nope. Would we purchase again? Oh my god, no.
Rating: 1 out of 5
-- Aubrey and Liz
