A somewhat recent tradition among the 225 Dine crew is to taste test the newest foods making waves on the market. We’ve tried Pecan Pie M&Ms and (*SPOILER*) we weren’t fans. After last week’s dive into the nostalgia of Halloween candy from our childhoods, we decided today—just a few days before Halloween—to try out some of the modern twists you can find on store shelves right now.
As inRegister community editor Lauren Leist told us after just the first sample, “I already have a cavity.” And away we go!
Pumpkin Spice Candy Corn
We found this off-brand variety at the local CVS. The brown-orange-white candy corns were “bursting with irresistibly sweet and spicy pumpkin flavor”—according to the package—and tumbling out of a festive cornucopia on the front label. Maybe it’s an attempt to keep candy corn relevant through Thanksgiving? Either way, it was met with mixed reviews.
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“It tastes like a really bad lollipop. I don’t want to hate on Tootsie Pops but that’s kind of what this tastes like. People need to calm down with the pumpkin spice.”
—Gabrielle Braud, Business Report staff writer
“It looks like candy corn that sat out for like a decade. The end of it looks like the color of a dog treat.”
—Brandi Simmons, director of online operations
“I’m not a candy corn person, but that’s pretty good.”
—Tammi DeGeneres, graphic designer
“It tastes like a pumpkin spice candle.”
—Kaci Yoder, 225 staff writer
Hershey’s Candy Corn
Be skeptical of any product that looks like a thing but doesn’t actually call itself that. Like when what looks like a bottle of real orange juice is labeled “Tropical Drink.” These candies have the shape of a white chocolate Hershey’s bar, but the label calls it “Candy corn creme with candy bits.” Expecting the bits to be something similar to crunchy peppermint flecked throughout, none of us really detected the taste or texture of candy corn in the bars. This was the candy everyone was most curious about, but it was, again, met with mixed reviews.
“It smells like a candle. It tastes better than actual candy corn, though. ‘Candy Corn Creme’ is not a real thing.”
—Brittany Titone, audience relations assistant
“I think if I wanted candy corn, I’d just have candy corn.”
—Sierra Crump, director of research
“I like this because I like white chocolate. It just tastes like a sweeter white chocolate, which I’m not mad about.”
—Brittany Nieto, Business Report advertising coordinator
“I am a big fan of candy corn in general, but those two flavors definitely don’t go together.”
—Kelli Bozeman, inRegister managing editor
“It smells like Fruity Pebbles, but it mostly tastes like white chocolate. It’s like they tried to make the whole thing taste like the white part of the candy corn. I don’t think they succeeded.”
—Amanda Capritto, 225 editorial intern
KitKat White
Not much about this screams Halloween, save for the bats and black cat on the packaging. It looks like a typical KitKat, just white. But again, the makers don’t actually refer to this as white chocolate, which might mean candy makers have finally realized how useless white chocolate is. KitKat calls it “crisp wafers ‘n créme.” Yes, KitKat went for the accent mark. Because KitKats are classy.
“For some reason, this tastes much better than a regular KitKat. It kind of reminds me of cookies and cream bars.”
—Adam Lagneaux, business manager
Halloween Oreos
At first glance of the bright orange filling on the label, you might be thinking, “Oh God! What did they do to the Oreos?!?!” Well, apparently, not much. The label says: “Same great taste! With orange colored creme!” Again with the “creme.” The orange color? That’s Yellow 6 Lake and Yellow 5 Lake to you. And you know what? Maybe just don’t Google what the “lake” stands for, OK? Just don’t. Probably in all of our best interests that we don’t investigate it too deeply. It also contains something called “vanillin,” because I guess the other brands used up all the good vanilla making sad white chocolate.
On the plus side, Halloween Oreos come in five spooky designs on the top of the cookie: pumpkin, skull, haunted house, bat and old-timey manhole cover. Kidding! The last one says “Trick or Treat.”
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Most of the folks polled thought they tasted like regular Oreos, but the discerning palates of 225‘s resident foodies Jennifer Tormo (editor) and Kaci Yoder (staff writer) detected a difference. Yoder thought the cream filling tasted salty, almost like Play-Doh, and Tormo agreed that it had a unique processed flavor compared to regular Oreos. The jury is still out.
Editor’s note: In fairness, both the Pumpkin Spice Candy Corn and the Hershey’s Candy Corn also contain Yellow 6 Lake and Yellow 5 Lake. But again, you really shouldn’t dig too deep into that.
Tried any of these Halloween candies before? Have a favorite new candy you plan to hand out to trick-or-treaters this Halloween? Tell us about it in the comments. We’ll read them when we get back from the dentist.