I realised I haven't been blogging much of substance of late. Well, I'm going to blame that on the fact that I have been totally paralysed by an all-consuming question: which chocolate bars to buy. Let's see if you can all help me out.
The supermarket near campus has started getting in all sorts of crazy imported American treats. Not only the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Butterfinger bars that it has stocked for over a year now, but recently the imports have also expanded to new and unfathomable creatures with names like Milk Duds, Oh Henry Bars, Junior Mints, 100 Grands, Whatchamacallits, Zero bars, and 3 Musketeers. (They are also now selling Cherry Coke, Root Beer, and Dr Peppers, but these don't interest me beyond mere intellectual curiosity, since I'm not a fan of fizzy drinks.)
So my question to those in the know is: which of these chocolate bars are worth the excessive price tag and environmental damage of imported chocolate? (I have to admit that I fully believe both Butterfingers and Reese's are worth every centimeter of rising sea levels, but Hershey's kisses, not so much.)
If it helps your answer, my non-American (un-American?) chocolate preferences are as follows:
Nougat Honey Logs, Crunchie bars, Pixie Caramels, Pinky bars, Picnic bars, Moro bars: I would swim across an ocean to get my hands on these.
Mars bars, Milo bars, Perky Nanas, Milky bars: I would walk across a few football fields for one.
Cherry Ripes, Bounty Bars, Milky Ways: I might bother to get out of bed if it was being offered in the next room.
Aero bars, Kit kats, plain chocolate, anything with wafers in it: Unless I was really desperate, you'd have to pay me to eat one of these.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Important questions
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21 Comments:
Cherry Ripes rule !!! My brother-in-law sent me an empty wrapper when I was living in Africa. I tell you I would have walked on water to throttle him for that.
Based on your listed preferences,
I believe you would like 100 Grands and possibly Watchamacallits, though the latter may include wafers (it's been awhile). Three Musketeers are light and fluffy and slightly aerobar-like, I think, so maybe you should pass. Milk Duds and Junior mints are our default movie candy purchases - the first (arbitrista's favorite) is caramel and very difficult to chew, the latter is, obviously, mint and melts in your mouth quite nicely. I can't remember what's in Oh Henry Bars (but I think they might have things you like) or Zero bars...
Mmmm, chocolate. Do you think it would be ok if I had some for breakfast?
I'm with Brazen Hussey, your best bet is 100 Grands. They will provide you with the slight crunch, nougat, and chewey caramel.
Love Milk Duds and I only get them when I go to the movies. They are not worthy any other time. They are chewey and pretty much last the entire movie.
I vote for Milk Duds....the rest bleh (though I've never had a 100 grand)....especially 3 Musk - Yuck!
Oh Henry's are good, with peanuts and caramel in them. They also have ones with peanut butter, which are delicious.
3 Musketeers is nothing at all like Aero bars here (the ones that are chocolate filled with air bubbles), it's much like a Milky Way bar (is that like the Milky bar?), filled with chocolate nougat.
I'd stick with the peanut butter cups, which are so happy and delicious that nothing else compares.
American "chocolate" sucks. It always tastes really waxy and chemically to me. I'm with you on the bounty bars and mars bars though. However my favourite is Galaxy. If you're ever in a British airport in the vicinity of a flight departing for Canada, and you see someone in a shop spending literally all of their last British money on Galaxy chocolate, chances are it's me.
I can't comment specifically on many of the ones you asked about (e.g. 100 Grands and Watchamacallits). I'm in Canada - we have a lot of the same chocolate bars as the US, but some are different, and some are the same with different names. Here are my favorites:
Peanut Butter Cups are definitely number one. Other peanutt-y goodness includes Wonderbar, Hershey's Mr. Goodbar (very hard to get in Canada, except in bags of little mixed chocolate pieces), and Max 5 (I think these are Take 5 in the US - have pretzels in them which seems weird, but is actually quite delicious). Also, any time I have a Crispy Crunch I always think they are better than I think they are - it never occurs to me to buy them. They are wafer-y, but it's not the same kind of wafer - it's made of peanut butter. Oh Henry are also quite good, as are Snickers. Oh, and as wolfa said, the peanut butter Oh Henry's are extra good. Peanut butter M&M's are also very good.
i don't think whatchamacalit has wafers just crispies. but i could be wrong. been a while on that one, though it was one of my favorites as a kid. also really loved o henry. i agree with everyone here. i also agree, given your preferences, that you'll probably dig 100 grands.
milk duds are just plain help me it's stuck to my teeth and I can't get it off wrong.
So, you're getting some American chocolate bars that we in Canada don't even bother with (see: Whatchamacallit, 100 Grand, Zero, Three Musketeers). We do have Junior Mints and Oh Henry, and both of those are worth it. I also find it funny that you have some of the same chocolate bars as Canada has, such as Crunchie and the Mars bar. (A friend of mine who lives in North Carolina gets us to mail her Crunchie bars and ketchup potato chips. We get her to send us cinnamon tic-tacs.)
By the way, root beer and Dr. Pepper are both very much worth it. Glorious.
So, I then had to look up why it was that we both were getting the same kinds of chocolate bars, which aren't really available in the US. Right: Cadbury and Mars are British. And we're in Commonwealth countries. Of course!
Your list makes me realize how little I know about the chocolate bars of my own country. Reese peanut butter cups and Junior Mints--yes, of course, very good. But I'm not sure I've really ever had Oh Henry, 100 Grand, Whatchamacallits, or Zero bars. I've definitely had 3 Musketeers (standard Halloween minibar) and they're kind of eh. Your post kid of makes me want to go out and buy them so that I know, but I think I'd better resist that temptation.
I highly recommend Junior Mints!!!! Also, I agree that Hershey's is nothing special, but...now they are making cherry cordial Hershey Kisses. They are to die for. I don't know if they have made their way to the Southern Hemisphere though. But if you see them you should definitely imbibe.
I've loved Cadbury's ever since I studied abroad in England. Some of the grocery stores here have started carrying their fruit and nut bars. Yum!
I think Three Musketeers are just Milky Ways, but with icky American chocolate, so not worth it. Milk Duds are hideously corn-syrupy. I don't like Junior mints much either, but they're okay.
I generally only think American chocolate is worth eating if it has peanut butter with it, so I haven't tried most of those. I remember being disappointed with the selection I spent the last of my US dollars on the first time I came here.
History Enthusiast, are you sure it's genuine Cadbury's? I was very disappointed to see the stuff I've found in American supermarkets was actually made by Hershey's. I did randomly find Australian Cadbury's in a candy shop in Chinatown in NYC, though.
I agree about the 100 Grands (yum!), and think you might like Oh Henry bars if you like peanut butter and chocolate. I would recommend at least trying a Zero bar -- I think they have white chocolate and nougat in them. They're unusual and tasty.
Thanks, everyone! Very helpful. I'll report back when I've tried some.
History Enthusiast and Lucy, I don't count British Cadburys as real chocolate either :) The chocolate Cadburys sells in Australia and NZ is much more cocoa-y than the milky crap they produce in the UK. As for Crunchie bars, they are totally different in the UK. They taste like honey, whereas here they have a much sharper syrupy taste.
Wolfa, I think your Aero bars must be like our Aero bars, which are (I agree) nothing like a Milky Way. But Milky bars aren't like Milky Ways either. Milky bars are just white chocolate, but somehow more caramelly than typical white chocolate.
I forgot to mention that Flakes and Snickers are up in my list of second favourites too.
Just a heads up- if you see any of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Limited Edition Elvis Presley Banana & Peanut Butter flavor (I don't make stuff like this up!) they are to die for!
Had to stop by - we are both fumbling towards something.
I am linking you. Lets start a club
cheers
alison
www.fumblingtowardsmyself.com
Ha! Yes we should! There's probably a whole army of blogs out there that are "fumbling towards" something.
Whatchamacallits have a peanutty taste, but I think you'll like 100 Grand the best of what you listed. I must admit, I've never had an O Henry.
Just you wait until they start importing Take 5 over there. Peanuts, peanut butter, caramel, pretzels(!), and milk chocolate!
It's about as good as it gets for regular check-out counter chocolate bars.
Someone I know likes Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and as special treat gave me one of these, which had been specially airmailed to him from the US. I didn't like it at all! I felt the chocolate should never have been put with the peanut butter and it was just all wrong. I said this to him, and that he could finish mine, and he looked at me with surprise, and then a kind of deep pity, as if I were mentally defective.
I experienced a fair amount of US manufactured chocolate and confectionary while in Chile, (although it was long enough ago I can't remember any names), and have to say I wouldn't cross the road to piss on it if it was burning.
Have utterly given up on all Cadbury's chocolate, and Nestle chocolate, in favour of Whittakers, which rock. In fact, any choclate less than 70% is just not worth it.
Except maybe Bounty bars. But preferably the dark ones.
Talk to me! (You know you want to!)