Tag Archives: Milk Duds

Love & Hate – Chocolate Obsession

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The Sip Advisor is a certified chocoholic. But, not everything that glitters is gold. In recognition of Valentine’s Day, I decided to look at some of the chocolate-based products I love and hate – or at least dislike, as hate seems too strong a word here. First, here are some of my favourites:

Snickers

When I have a Snickers, I feel like I’m having a complete meal. Between the peanuts, nougat, caramel and chocolate, there’s a lot to like. As one of their old slogans says, “it’s so satisfying”. Now, I just need someone to make me Snickers Salad, which consists of Snickers bars, Granny Smith apples and whipped topping, an apparent essential dish of potlucks and parties in the U.S. Upper Midwest.

Twix

As a cookie aficionado, how could I not fall in love with a chocolate bar that boasts a cookie crunch with each bite. Add in a delicious layer of caramel and you have yourself one hell of a combo. Mrs. Sip and I have been lucky to try some of the limited edition Twix offerings over the years, with Salted Caramel and Cookie Dough being particularly memorable.

Twix

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

I have always enjoyed peanut butter cups, with the rare crunchy version being my favourite. I have also liked many of the recent Big Cup releases the Reese’s company has come out with, such as Potato Chip and Caramel. No matter what holiday is on the horizon, you can bet the Sip Advisor is tracking down the Reese’s offering for it, whether it be hearts for Valentine’s Day, eggs for Easter, pumpkins/ghosts/bats for Halloween or trees for Christmas.

Some honourable mentions include Oh Henry!, Wunderbar, Take 5 and Butterfinger. Now that I have your salivary glands watering, it’s time to reel you back in and down to earth with some not-so-pleasant chocolate bars. Here are a few the Sip Advisor dislikes:

Milk Duds

Whenever I have a Milk Dud, I immediately regret the experience, as I try to choke down the little ball of chocolate-coated caramel. Mrs. Sip loves adding Milk Duds to popcorn and often leaves me to pick this addition up for her – typically as we’re rushing to attend our show. Perhaps that has fostered the anger I have towards the product.

Milk Duds

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate

These are so plain, boring and unappealing, one wonders how the company ever lasted as long as it has, with this as their core offering. As seen above, the Sip Advisor likes complex, ingredient-rich chocolate bars and this doesn’t jive with that. Same goes for Hershey Kisses, which despite their cute shape, don’t bring much to the taste game.

Whoppers/Maltesers

Another Mrs. Sip favourite that I don’t particularly appreciate in the same way. I think I overdosed on these malt balls one Easter, when in the form of Robin Eggs. Since then, I haven’t looked at the product the same and prefer not to have them around. Still, I’m an upstanding person and will let the Sipplings make their own choice regarding them.

Narrowly avoiding entry on this list and my venomous treatment are creations such as Nestle Crunch, 3 Musketeers and coconut-based bars like Almond Joy/Mounds/Bounty. Looking at the items above, apparently, I don’t like chocolate in ball form.

Love & Hate: Chocolate Obsession

Chocolate Obsession

  • Decorate glass with Chocolate Syrup
  • 1 oz Coffee Liqueur (I used Kahlua Vanilla)
  • 1 oz Irish Cream (I used Bailey’s Red Velvet)
  • 1 oz Raspberry Vodka/Liqueur (I used Tumbleweed Raspberry Moonshine)
  • Top with Milk
  • Garnish with Chocolate Sprinkles

I’ll admit, putting together a list of chocolate bars I don’t like was difficult, as I’m pretty lenient when it comes to treats. I’d say the ones listed aren’t horrible, but they would be my last resorts to feed any chocolate craving.

October 24 – Nerds

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Terrible Treats

There’s not a lot of candy out there that isn’t good, but some items draw some serious ire for the Sip Advisor. Here’s what tops the unwanted list:

Black Jelly Beans/Jube Jubes

I’ve grown to accept both of these evil devices, as my tastes have expanded, but there’s a reason why in a bowl of jelly beans or jube jubes, the black ones are the last to be finished, often with a clump of them remaining and some brave soul being dared to rid them from the world. And no, I’m not a racist, except towards those damn purple people, but that’s another story for another day.

Black Jelly Beans

Jelly Bellies

You just never know what you’re going to get with the mixed jelly bean flavours and that mystery can really stress a fella out. BeanBoozled packs even capitalize on this confusion with identically coloured candies on opposite ends of the taste spectrum. Some doppelgangers include Coconut or Baby Wipes, Tutti-Fruitti or Stinky Sock, Caramel Corn or Moldy Cheese, and Juicy Pear or Booger. I do have to give the company credit for their Cocktail Classics line, featuring Mojito, Bellini, Margarita, Pina Colada, Cosmo, and Daiquiri flavours!

Jawbreakers

The favourite candy of dentists everywhere! I’m always worried when eating a jawbreaker that I’m going to wreck my teeth. I’m just not patient enough to let the hard candy become soft, which is probably why I enjoy chewy Gobstoppers for their light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel ability. I remember having one of those massive giant jawbreakers when I was really young and having to smash it on the floor to make a piece small enough to fit in my mouth… then it was basically a choking hazard. Ah, the wonders of childhood!

Peeps

I’ve never really been a huge fan of marshmallow based candies and cookies. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather have a cream filling! Are you done giggling? How about now? Seriously, I’m just not that into marshmallows. Perhaps roasting them over the fire and exacting revenge on them via flames is the closest I can say I come to enjoying marshmallows. I do make concessions for marshmallows as part of baking, such as Rice Krispy Squares or Ma Sip’s famous delicacies.

Peep Show Candy

Push Pops

The thing I hated about these candies is that your spit would end up all over your finger and hand as it came through the device holding it. I thought we were supposed to teach kids not to suck on their fingers and grow the eff up! There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the two ideas there. Similarly horrible were Ring Pops, although I do look fabulous in designer candy jewelry!

Milk Duds

Junior Caramels are much better, but when Mrs. Sip can’t locate any for her movie popcorn, she’ll grab Milk Duds, which can be very hard to chew and you normally end up choking on the piece as you try to swallow. We’ve also taken a shine recently to the Caramilk or Rolo bites that were released not that long ago. Basically, as long as the chocolate and caramel is soft, we’re pretty happy. Once Mrs. Sip dumps them into her popcorn, though, I no longer partake.

Drink #297: Nerds

Nerds Drink Recipe

  • 1 oz Melon Liqueur
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao
  • Top with Lemonade
  • Garnish with Nerds

Which candies do you deplore? We should have a candy burning festival and as all the awful items burn in hell, we should rejoice in the purity of our favourite treats and stuff ourselves full of glorious vices!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (2.5 Sips out of 5):
I certainly wouldn`t associate Nerds or this cocktail with the ‘Terrible Treats’ moniker. I tried to put the Nerds on the rim of the glass, but they were too heavy to stay in place. To compensate, I just poured them on top of the cocktail and I think that worked well enough.  The drink didn’t blow my mind and left me a little disappointed. Not to mention that I think all these candy drinks are slowly giving me diabetes!