Top Foods: Bulk Candy

I seem to remember recognizing the fact that Top Foods had an excellent bulk candy collection when I was a kid. Recently, Kyle and I were looking for a spot to get some refreshments on the way to an unrelated photoshoot so we stopped at a Top Foods. As you can see the array was staggering. There were some new gummies that I had never seen before such as alphabet letters, army men, stealth bombers, and centipedes. Another positive attribute was that most of their gummy selection seemed rather fresh. You can tell if the gummy is fresh based off of the give they have when you shovel or pinch when transferring it to your bag. Different candies have various gelatinous attributes and I think some are better a little harder. Other items of note at Top Foods were the Haribo berry mix, blue sharks (i now have a candy recipie idea for this), and the cola gummies.

Bulk Candy

I think bulk candy might be my favorite candy. I have purchased such great amounts that I had to double bag those big clear plastic bags at the grocery store. The only problem is that it can be expensive. Dont waste your time at places like the Sweet Factory. Though they do have a pretty good selection that is worth exploring on rare occasions, I like going to certain grocery stores better. Going to grocery stores can be risky though. You have to know which ones have a good assortment such as Top Foods and WinCo. Places like QFC or Safeway suck. Another thing you can use to your advantage at a grocery store is the variable pricing. This doesnt work at every store but its worth a shot: First, fill your bag to your satisfaction then on the twisty tie, next write the bin number for the cheapest price per pound. This worked at the Top Foods for $2.99/lb but it doesnt work at WinCo anymore. WinCo was my favorite because I was able to get bags at 1$/lb but I guess other people did that too because they no longer 'accept mixed bags'. I hope they had fun resorting my 6 pound bag with 17 different kinds of candy.

Thhhhkittleth

One of these doesnt belong. Its the brown one. And it happens to reinforce one of my candy theories which I'll devote an entire post to at a later date. Today I had the pleasure of snacking on four different kinds of Skittles and the displeasure of eating another kind. The red bag was my favorite, probably since I grew up on them; they have that classic flavor. The crazy cores were pretty good, they were essentially two Skittles in one. Based off my Jelly Belly post, you already know that I'm a fan of candy synergism (although the skittles don't have as much potential as the Jelly Bellies). The Wild Berry is a good variation but I feel like the Tropical Skittles don't have a distinct enough flavor to be a stand alone Skittle treat. The worst was by far the Chocolate Mix. Having flavors such as "brownie batter" and "smores" in a skittle was a little alarming and a bit offensive to my palate.

The only ones I wasn't able to review were the Sour Skittles but I have had them before. I love sour candy and Sour Skittles are no exception. They can be dangerous though, like a bag of Sour Patch Kids, if you eat too many your tongue will be in pain.

Roundup #1

My good friend/roommate/soon to be resident licorice expert contributor Nas brought home some treats the other night. Im a big fan of Trolli's product line and these didn't disappoint. The wild card here was the Haribo cola gummies, an unlikely complement until Nas' excellent discovery which I'll get to momentarily. I enjoyed each of these on their own. If I had to rank them, Id say the Brite Octopi took the number one spot due to their large volume, soft texture, and flavorful essence. The Cherry Bombers were a suprise because they had a gelatenous core, much like the Gushers (I'll have to do a segment on childhood treats like Gushers and Fruit by the Foot later) only with a softer membrane. The Cola gummies are good but I'm always a huge fan of sour and gummy.

One day I plan on making a candy cook book of flavorful concoctions so Nas' idea made me pretty excited. He started off with 3 Cola gummies, chewing them until they are more or less broken up in your mouth. Next you add 1 Cherry Bomber and instantly you have the Roy Rodgers of candy in your mouth. It was a pleasant suprise indeed.

Once in a lifetime flavors

Alone, Jelly Belly's offer a wide array of luscious flavors. However, my favorite thing about Jelly Bellys is eating at least three (sometimes a small handfull) at one time to experience flavor combinations that you will never again experience in your life (unless you decide to document it, which I fully intend on doing someday). Im pretty sure Ive seen two bean combo suggestions on the packaging at one point, but those suggestions were to give you a flavor you are familiar with that isnt currently the Jelly arsenal (like a 'lemon-lime'). The point of taking several at a time is getting a truly unique flavor that you just cant define or explian. It can be a risky operation because you can easily get a bad combo. To combat this, ill buy Jelly Belly packs with analagus flavors such as the Tropical Mix or the Smoothie Blend . Either way, the beauty with these little bean treats lies within them working together to form a single taste explosion in your mouth.

Image taken from The one next door's photostream

Candy creation spotlight: How its Made

One of my favorite channels to watch when I find a place with a TV is the Discovery Science channel. Within that channel lies one of my favorite shows: How its Made. Obviously it shows how things are made but there are a few about candy. Heres a some highlights: