I’m gonna say it – I like candy corn. I only need it once a year, but that vaguely honey-flavored, tri-color, triangular tidbit of sweet paste hits the spot in mid-October. Chew a few kernels along with peanuts and you’ve got a bootleg Payday bar.

In 2020, Brach’s tried to kill off we few remaining candy corn lovers with bags of Turkey Dinner Candy Corn. More a dare than an actual treat, Turkey Dinner Candy Corn was only available at Walgreens and contained the flavors roasted turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, ginger glazed carrots, and sweet potato pie. I tried to find “Thanksgiving in a Bag” but it was sold out long before November.

Guess what’s back for 2021 with a new flavor mix? Returning “favorites” are roast turkey, green beans, stuffing, and cranberry. Carrots and sweet potato pie have been replaced with coffee and apple pie, presumably so there are a couple flavors you’ll actually eat more than once. How did I snag a bag? You gotta shop for Thanksgiving candy in mid-August.

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I bought this new Pepsi flavor because I needed change. I was driving to Domino’s to pick up a large pepperoni and green pepper and I needed a couple dollar bills for the guy who walks the pizza from the oven to the parking lot. (What can I say? I’m a cool dude.) I stopped at a convenience store to break a ten and saw a pallet of Pepsi Zero Sugar Mango before I got to the candy bars.

I’m a Coca-Cola Zero Sugar guy, but I can keep an open mind. After twisting the cap, the smell coming off is almost minty. The label only says “natural flavor” so I’ll assume the “mango” is coming from a mango. I’ve been drinking a lot of flavored soda waters lately, and the essence is that “fresh” smell that also comes off peach and pear.

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I’ve been away from the blog for a bit. The laptop was in the shop for repairs and I didn’t have the courage to post from my phone. Here’s hoping I can get back to daily posts.

The Coca-Cola Company has a new product, which is funny since it killed off a couple hundred brands during the pandemic. (RIP, Tab.) The new juice is Coca-Cola with Coffee. That’s not the same as the new Coca-Cola energy drink, which is confusing because both come in Red Bull-style tall cans.  I got my hands on both of the Coca-Cola with Coffee Zero Sugar varieties – “Dark Blend” and “Vanilla.” If you go full sugar, there’s also a “Caramel.”

I wish I had some big reveal for you, but it tastes like Coke with coffee in it. It’s not sharp or acidic, more like a coffee hard candy. As you go, the coffee flavor will start to fade until it’s mostly just there on the finish. The “Vanilla” version didn’t taste that “vanilla” to me at all – just less coffee. That’s probably because vanilla is already in colas. Brand recipes vary, but they’re all vanilla, cinnamon, and a citrus.

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I’m taking a quick break from the Christmas songs to try the latest version of the Reese’s peanut butter cup. I think we all know the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate varies in each version of Reese’s and everyone has their favorite. Stick with me here because I’m going to go deeper than a supermarket candy bar really deserves, but it’s a Sunday afternoon during a pandemic and what else have I got going right now?

To me, the Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees and Easter eggs are better than the original Peanut Butter Cup – although I do really miss the ridges around the edge of the original. I don’t think I’m alone because a couple years back, Hershey introduced the Big Cup – a peanut butter/chocolate ratio more like the holiday specials that still has the fluted rim. It’s a big flavor bomb of salt and sugar and peanut and chocolate. God Bless America.

Now, there’s a new version of the Big Cup that also has pretzel bits in the peanut butter. Here’s what’s odd… These aren’t the same pretzels that are in the Reese’s Take Five candy bar (which also has caramel, peanuts and chocolate, BTW). The Take Five pretzels are made with wheat flour, while the Big Cup pretzels are brown rice flour and potato starch. That makes this new candy officially gluten-free, which is great news for folks with celiac disease, but I think there’s another benefit that’s just about the experience of eating candy.

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My theory is that OREO doesn’t really care if most folks buy more than one package of any particular novelty flavor sandwich cookie. Didn’t like Red Velvet? Here comes Caramel Coconut! Imagine my Christmas surprise when gingerbread OREOS reappeared for 2020 with a new and improved recipe.

Before this year, what we got was Gingerbread Flavor Creme OREOs – two vanilla cookies with a gingerbread-spice filling. Maybe it was more efficient to repeat the vanilla cookies from other “yellow” OREOS, but it’s just backwards to have the gingerbread flavor on the inside. Nabisco must think this particular OREO has staying power, so it’s been re-reciped.

Short answer – the new ones are better. I don’t know the legal distinction between gingerbread and “gingerbread flavor,” but these OREO cookies have ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and, although I don’t taste a hint of chocolate, cocoa. I’d put them somewhere between a cinnamon-sugar graham cracker and a less-buttery Biscoff. The filling is the basic vanilla creme with red sugar flecks to plus-up the texture. I could do without the grit, but it does subliminally remind you of Christmas cookies.

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