Snacks: Pocky

Pocky is a Japanese treat from the company Glico.

There is not very much to Pocky. It's a thin cookie-like stick dipped in chocolate. But, Pocky is not limited to just chocolate. There is a huge variety, though not all found in the US, of flavors and combinations available. Examples: Plain Almond Crush Pocky, Green Tea Mousse Pocky, and Strawberry Pocky.

Whatever your flavor preference is, I'm sure there is a Pocky for you.

Pros:
Packaged in a box with a foil package inside. I have never had a broken Pocky.
Delicious.
Convenient. A great snack for people on the go.

Cons:
The only flaw that I have found with Pocky, is that if they are stored in a warm place, the chocolate will melt, fusing all of the sticks together when it re-hardens.

Verdict:
Get some Pocky. There is no one on earth that will not love it. In fact, if aliens landed here tomorrow, I would suggest giving them Pocky too. Pocky is THAT fantastic!

Candy: Duvalin

As a great follow-up to yesterday's post, I have another product from the Ricolino Company. I also found the official site, believe it or not, it was Ricolino.com, but I didn't try that until today.

Duvalin is a small, shallow cup of what I can only describe as a frosting of some kind. There was a choice of two flavor combinations, I chose hazelnut and vanilla. The other was strawberry and vanilla.

I will be the first to admit that this is the most confusing "candy" I have ever eaten. First off, I didn't even know for sure what the consistency was going to be, but like I said, it's like frosting.

So how do you eat this tiny tub of frosting in moderation? With the tiny, flat spoon provided to you of course!

I don't speak any Spanish, but by the end of my Duvalin, I was saying, "¡Muy bueno!"

Pros:
Nice Flavor.
Perfect serving size for something so sweet.
A tiny souvenir spoon!

Cons:
Borders on being too sweet.

Verdict:
- Simply because this product is basically a cup of frosting, if that sounds appetizing to you, you will probably love it. Kids, adults, seniors, you will all love it.

Candy: Bubu Lubu

Bubu Lubu is a Mexican candy by Ricolino that is very similar to products from the Joyva Company.

It is basically a candy bar made of marshmallow, strawberry jelly, and covered with chocolate. Joyva makes the same thing, only are not combined, meaning you can get chocolate-covered Marshmallow bars, or jelly bars (or rings).

The chocolate is very rich in flavor, the jelly is tasty, and the marshmallow it light and fluffy but kind of gritty.

Not bad for a knockoff.

Pros:
Cheap in price.
Strange fluffy mascot with a scarf and mittens.

Cons:
Cheap in quality.
Not widely available.

Verdict:
- If you see them, give them a try, you may have to buy a box of 8, but you could give the rest away on Halloween if you hate them.
- Otherwise, stick with a well established brand and product by only buying Joyva.

Candy: Skittles Chocolate Mix

Well, the good folks over at Skittles have decided to start making a "Chocolate Mix" of their popular candy. So, let's see how they did.

It's not a very appetizing way to start a candy review, but I simply cannot go without mentioning something. Skittles has the slogan: "Taste the Rainbow." So the first thing that pops into my head when I open this bag is, "What feces-infested sewer do you have to visit to see a rainbow made of different shades of brown?" Okay, glad I got that out of the way.

There are five flavors:

S'mores- These are flesh tone in color, and taste nothing like a s'more. They went a little heavy on the marshmallow flavor, and if the after taste is supposed to be graham cracker they are way off the mark. It almost tastes like what you would expect s'more flavored aspirin to taste like.

Vanilla- These are a nice creamy vanilla color, and the taste is exactly what you would expect. The word "vanilla" is sometimes used to describe something as bland and uninteresting, but there is nothing vanilla about the vanilla flavored Skittle. Does that make sense?

Chocolate Caramel- This might just be the worst flavor in the bag. I think Skittles knew it too, since there was only 7 in the bag. Something about it burns the back of my throat while I bite into it. By the end, it ends up tasting a little bit like caramel, but nothing like chocolate caramel. They must have been desperate to get another flavor in the bag.

Chocolate Pudding- First of all, half of the bag consisted of this flavor. It is a very dulled done version of chocolate pudding but after a few, you really have the taste in your mouth as if you were eating pudding.

Brownie Batter- The final flavor is almost black in color. And black is what you think of when you eat them since they taste like burnt brownies. Oddly enough, this still makes them the best flavor.

It was quite difficult to eat the entire package in one sitting which is absurd when talking about Skittles. I once ate a 16 ounce bag of the original flavors in a single night. So, I should know.

Pros:
Another new experiment in flavor from the Skittles people, there is an enormous list of Skittles flavors (Original, Wild Berry, Tropical, Carnival, Ice Cream, Smoothie, Sour) and the effort is appreciated.

Cons:
The flavors are hit or miss, and some are even hard to swallow.

Verdict:
-The only way you will know if you are going to like these is if you try them. The flavors are inconsistent. You shouldn't need to eat 5 of them before you can tell if you like it or not. But, some people may like that. So to break it down for you, I recommend you eat the things the flavors are based on if you have a real chocolate craving.
-If you want Skittles, pick another one of their many available flavor mixes.