Now that the contest has ended, Tic Tac would like to offer our Canadian Candy Addict readers a chance to wear the Small Fun Revolution. The first 50 Candy Addict readers to email tictac@noisedigital.com before August 15, 2010 with:

1. The name of the winning video
2. Preferred t-shirt design (“Tic Tac Guy” or “I Heart Small Fun”)
3. Preferred t-shirt size (Sizes are S, M, L or XL)
4. Their Canadian mailing address

will receive a free Tic Tac t-shirt! (how cool is that?!?!?) What are you waiting for? Send that email!

It’s nice to take the occasional break from candy-eating and have a chance to try out some new gum. My two packs of Dentyne Pure couldn’t have come at a better time. I had just finished my morning latte and had an appointment with the eye doctor within the hour. I was a little apprehensive about having coffee breath and my mind wandered to all the terrible things people must deal with in their occupations. Massage therapists rubbing on a customer he would rather pay NOT to touch… Podiatrists with a funky-footed patient… an eye doctor treating a patient with medium-bold coffee breath. And now I’m back to reality.

This gum is made with NeutraFRESH, “a blend of natural botanical extracts”. Well, if anything can hide or eliminate the triple shot, I hoped this would be it. The packaging says it will purify my breath, so I’m game to see what its got. What is does have is some serious minty-ness, that’s for certain. The two flavors I received are Mint with Melon Accents and Mint with Herbal Accents. Now, I have to say “Mint with Herbal accents” is a bit redundant. Much like saying “This tastes like a blueberry with fruity accents”. I suppose that’s not so bad if that’s the biggest complaint, though.

On to the details…the gum comes in a blister pack with nine pieces. Each piece has a gushy center of minty-ness that escapes when you first bite into it. It’s not an overwhelming gush though and would be more what I’d call, subtle seepage. The Mint with Melon Accents was by far the better of the two. I usually prefer mint to fruit and was surprised I liked it so much. The gum did get a little mushy with time and the flavor far outlasted the firmness. Overall, I’d say it’s very good and left my breath fresh and pleasant. After I spit it out, I had that “just brushed” feeling and felt confident I wouldn’t offend anyone with coffee breath. I didn’t ask the doctor to smell my breath, of course, but I feel sure she would have approved.

Dentyne’s Pure gum would have to be awarded four BonBons.

• Practice safe breath with Dentyne

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

Tween sensations Justin Bieber and Brenda Song are set to endorse a new candy from Haribo called Vuvuzela Balls. Now that the news is out of the way… what?! What kind of a name is that? It instinctively makes me uncomfortable. Yes, I know the vuvuzela is the loud horn thing that buzzed throughout the World Cup games, but still. The name is apparently not necessarily “a keeper” (soccer pun, I kill me) and could be changed. From a marketing perspective, I can see how naming the candy after the now popularized horn can be beneficial to Haribo. I don’t even follow soccer, and I knew what it was. Vuvuzela Balls are bound to catch someone’s attention and cause a double-take. But, still. Eh, I’m just not sure I can handle “Would you care for a Vuvuzela ball?” Ok, I wouldn’t talk about it, but I’d eat it.

The candy is described as resembling an M&M but more chocolaty, without a shell, and noisier. Funny, I’d never thought M&Ms were terribly obtrusive in volume, unlike the vuvuzela. Nevertheless, the yet to be released candy has piqued my curiosity and I hope to be reviewing it soon. You can bet your sweet Gummy Bear I’ll be trying one.

• Haribo
• Brenda Song and Justin Bieber endorse Vuvuzela Balls

Also, why in the world is one of Tube Sock’s legs considerably larger than the other?! Sometimes I like to make up stories and it just so happens that right now is sometimes. I heard the uni-sock wearer broke his leg during the filming and had to continue filming because he was under contract. So, the biggest leg? That’s a cast under there. It’s dangerous work as a stunt sock, don’t ya know. Anyone else have any thoughts on leggus maximus?

• Skittles

I just can’t stop myself. I am supposed to save a few of the Pretzel M&Ms for my roommates, but I can’t stop eating them. I can already see the disappointment in their faces as I say “But, you don’t understand. There are little bite-sized, salted pretzels in the middle.” I wince as I explain “Chocolate-coated little pieces of heaven, I tell you.” I actually just poured out the bag so I could eat the crumbs and then return the four little delicious M&Ms to the bag to share with them. I hope I can resist them. Maybe I can put them somewhere and then forget them. Maybe I’ll leave little enigmatic notes that we will have to decipher later to find the lone Pretzel M&Ms.

I didn’t think it would come to this-that it would be this hard to not eat the whole bag. My thoughts are that all M&Ms are at least average or above and I expected these to be somewhere on that spectrum. I do enjoy a small bag of Peanut M&Ms from time to time, but usually M&Ms aren’t my favorite Go-To candy. These are different. It’s funny, I wasn’t really impressed with the first one I tried because I had just popped it in my mouth and chewed. Eh, nothing special, I thought. But, when I sucked the candy-coating off and the chocolate started to melt away and uncover the slightest saltiness…. Eureka! That is fantastic! Inside the M&M lies a lightly-salted, golden-brown nugget of a pretzel. It’s a fabulous salty/sweet combo that was just what my taste buds were looking for and delighted to stumble upon. I didn’t even know I was craving salty/sweetness until I felt satisfied by this treasure.

With great difficulty, I closed up the bag of the remaining Pretzel M&Ms and with great resolve put them aside for my roommates. Without a doubt, Pretzel M&Ms will have a place in my future (a very near future if they don’t eat them tomorrow!) and I give them a well-deserved 5 BonBons!

• Pretzel M&Ms

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

I’m not really a huge fan of fruity sweets and when I think of candy, I think of chocolate. So, after I devoured and finished up the review of Wonka Exceptionals chocolate bars, I turned to the Fruit Marvels and Fruit Jellies. I can definitely say they are unlike anything else I’ve ever eaten.

I’m not quite sure what to do with the Fruit Marvels. They’re round and kinda hard, somewhat like Gobstoppers so I wasn’t sure if I should chew it immediately or suck on it a bit. I popped one in my mouth and tried to chew it but it seemed a bit too hard to bite into it. With a little persistence, I cracked into it and found a chewy, gummy, fruity center. I tested the Pomegranate, White Grape, and Clementine Orange varieties and they all have accurate flavoring and taste just like the fruits they represent. My problem with these little hard candies is that I don’t know if I should suck on them or chew them, or both?! If you chew it shortly after sucking off the dusting of sugar on the outside, it seems like a premature ending. In the beginning, it’s a little too hard to be pleasant chewing them and I feel cheated somehow because the fruitiness of the center is not fully experienced. They are much better if you suck on them for a few minutes and then chomp down for a much tastier experience. Try doing both and you’ll see what I mean.

For the Fruit Jellies, I had the Goji Berry and Red Apple flavors and they are super fruity and flavorful. The Red Apple Jellies taste like apples and the snozberries taste like snozberries! (Ok, not really, I just was seeing if you were paying attention and throw in a little homage to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) I’m not quite sure I’ve had goji berries before so I can’t say if they taste like the goji berry or not, but if the other flavors are any indication, then I’d bet they taste the same.

As I mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of fruity candy and have to really be in the mood for them. I’ve not really been in the mood for fruity lately so I enlisted a fruity-candy-lover, Brooke, to get some feedback on the Fruit Marvels and Fruit Jellies. She was a big fan of the Jellies and she emphasized (repeatedly) that the Red Apple Jellies taste like they are made from real red apples and not some fake apple flavoring. She loved the square shape and how the sugar stayed on the outside of the jellies so she wasn’t covered in sugar dust. She appreciated the firm chewiness instead of the usual wet sticky mess typical with most gummies. Gummy consistency and texture sounded like an important factor so I thought I should mention it. Overall, she said they were some of the best gummies she’s ever tasted. She was rather lackluster about the Fruit Marvels and didn’t like the texture of them. For the review, she refused to eat more than necessary of the Fruit Marvels, which is fine with me, because I liked them better than the Fruit Jellies she loved so much. No fighting over the Marvels and Jellies, so that’s convenient.

All in all, they aren’t bad for fruity candy and I totally agree with Nestle- Wonka Exceptionals are really quite that- exceptional. I give the Fruit Marvels 3 Bonbons! The Fruit Jellies are awarded 5 BrookeBrookes!

• Wonka Exceptionals

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

I recently had the pleasure to try Nestle’s Wonka Exceptionals Chocolate Bars. Let me start by saying one must be rather sure of the deliciousness of its product to name it “exceptional” anything. I can affirm this title and say exceptional is pretty accurate. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not far off because they are REALLY good.

The Domed Dark Chocolate Bar is pretty tasty. It’s a good quality dark chocolate with a dome of milk chocolate perched in the center of each square. It’s definitely for the adult palate as is most dark chocolates. I can’t recall being a big dark chocolate fan as a kid.

The Chocolate Waterfall Bar is a swirl of milk and white chocolate. Usually, I think white chocolate is too sweet, but the swirling combination of white and dark chocolate totally negates the super sweetness of the white chocolate. It’s like a milk chocolate bar with a swirl of white chocolate and it’s perfect.

Smooth, creamy and yummy. Very good… dare I say… exceptional?! I give these bars 5 Bonbons!

• Wonka Exceptionals

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but not everything needs to be covered in chocolate. Not Just Cereal is a fine example. Chocolate coated cereal sounds like a great idea, but it’s overkill. One of my roommates liked the cereals, but roommate two and I were not fans. I think it must just be up to individual tastes. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, just nothing special. My roommates and I did find ourselves munching on it when nothing else was available, though, so that might count for something. I suppose it’s alright, but it would be an unlikely purchase for me to make at a store.

The first one we tried was Fruity O’s. Think Fruit Loops covered in chocolate. I was apprehensive about this one especially because it just sounded like a gross combination. It wasn’t half bad and I liked it a bit better than the others. I guess my biggest complaint is the chocolate isn’t the best. It’s similar to the chocolate on Whoppers, but not as good.

The Toasted Rice is the only one that I would consider buying. The crispy rice blends nicely with the chocolate and is overall pleasant in taste. I still don’t think it’s necessary to drench cereal in chocolate, but given the plainness of the Chex-like cereal, the chocolate is an improvement. I mean, hey, there’s a reason Chex Mix is so popular and snackable. You just gotta add something to it because Chex alone is boring.

My least favorite is the Honey Toasted O’s. I thought this was the one I would like the most since I love the cereal and how could I not like it with chocolate on it? I dunno, but I didn’t. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is I don’t like about the Honey Toasted O’s. It just seems to be a waste of chocolate and honey O’s.

I was also not thrilled with the Cinnamon Crunch variety, either. The crunch was satisfying, but the cinnamon flavoring and the chocolate didn’t mesh very harmoniously. The flavors seemed to compete too much for my attention and it felt as if there was a war going on to see who could lay claim to my taste buds. I think that pretty much summarizes why I am not a Not Just Cereal fan. When the cereal already has a very prominent flavor, the chocolate is just too much to add to the mix. I think that’s why the Toasted Rice was the best. It was a bland cereal jazzed up with a coating of chocolate.

So how can I really express where this product stands in my mind? In light of feeling a need to quantify more precisely how good or not so good something is, I’ve decided to implement a new rating scale for my reviews. On a scale of deliciousness, one is the lowest on the pleasure scale and five is the highest. I think it’s fitting that since I’m reviewing candy and my name is Bonnie I shall denote the unit as a BonBon. Today, I give Not Just Cereal a cumulative three BonBons- comfortably, smack dab in the middle of fantastic and disgusting.

• Not Just Cereal

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

“Mega mystery” implies some serious mystery is about to happen. Considering a 10.0 on the Richter Scale is epic, I’d say “mega” would logically fall somewhere between a 7.0, known as “major”, and a 9.0, known as “great”, on the Mystery Richter Scale. Since Stride is known for it’s ridiculously long lasting gum, one can also assume that Mega Mystery gum has some seriously sustained mystery in store for us. All of these hypotheses hold true with this gum.

I don’t know what the heck is in it! The ingredients are of no help, either. I guess that would really ruin the surprise to have the mystery ingredient spelled out in plain sight, though, huh? “Natural and Artificial flavors” is the only clue we get. And, that’s no clue at all because, well, doesn’t that encompass every flavor that exists? The tie-died packaging also has every example of the color spectrum on it, so another dead-end.

Now, I’m left with only an educated guess. So, avert your innocent eyes if you don’t want to know what my two cents are or if you’re *spoiler alert* wary. It’s definitely fruity. Something like tangerine with a subtle mint undertone? Wait, I hear something at the door now. Uh oh, I don’t think I was suppose to tell you that… Yes, I’ve said too much already.

I can only hope that the good folks at Cadbury eventually tell us what flavor it is. The suspense is…

• Stride gum

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

I grew up near the East coast and made my fair share of trips to the beach as a youngster. One of my favorite spots was a local and popular restaurant, the Sanitary Fish Market. What could possibly make a kid actually request to go to a seafood restaurant? Salt water taffy can. Oh, the joy of sticky, sweet goodness. Sure, we were able to watch taffy being made at the State Fair, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the taffy from Sanitary Fish Market. That was the best taffy my 14 year-old self had ever had.

I grew out of taffy as an adult… or so I had thought.

It wasn’t until Sweet’s gourmet taffy arrived at my door that my love of taffy was re-awakened. I sampled bubble gum, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, cotton candy, red licorice, watermelon, tangerine, banana, cherry, guava, coconut, macadamia nut, mango, and pineapple flavors, Oh My! And they were all delicious. I was especially fond of the peppermint, espresso, cappuccino, mocha latte, and buttered popcorn taffy. I love these flavors in general, and the taffy very closely resembled the taste of the foods it emulated. What was remarkable about this taffy is that it is softer than my Eastern shore variety. It didn’t stick to the wrapper, but had just the right amount of chewiness to satisfy my childhood nostalgia and make me whisper “Mmmm, taffy” in my mind. All the nostalgia minus the stickiness. My adult self appreciates that- it’s too messy to type with candy fingers. According to Sweet’s, it whips its taffy instead of pulling it and thus the lessened stickiness. Brilliant.

Sweet’s pulls all the punches and also offers some fantastic packaging to house its taffy. The twist boxes are one of the coolest and creative packages I’ve seen in a while. Since I couldn’t possible eat all the taffy and still respect myself in the morning, I took the extra taffy I had left over to work. The twist boxes were a big hit, so I know it wasn’t just me with my “refined design sensibilities” that appreciated it. The boxes of taffy make a fantastic gift! Taffy inside a taffy-disguised container. It’s like one of those stacking Russian dolls, but better because who wants another doll anyway- give me candy!

To sum it up, this taffy is crazy good and with over 50 flavors of taffy, I know Sweet’s has something for everyone. A definite, non-sticky, thumbs-up!

• Sweet Candy

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.