3 Alarm Hot Tamales Candy Review

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my boyfriend had come home with the cinnamon candy I had asked for, and even more glad to see that there was a bit of novelty to these specific Hot Tamales.

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As I examined the box I noticed the little description of each color from hot to hottest. This is sort of reminiscent of the Taco Bell hot sauce package colors which indicate how hot they are. I popped a yellow one in my mouth and it actually tasted a bit like what you’d expect something yellow to taste like. It was hot, but not painfully so. Definitely had that nice artificial cinnamon flavor that I’ve come to love. Next, I tried the orange-red one which looks just like the regular Hot Tamales, and unsurprisingly, it tasted just like a regular Hot Tamale. Next, I popped the dark red into my mouth and as soon as I began to chew I actually felt my mouth burn as if I had just chewed on a Jalapeño. I definitely experienced a pleasant burn which lingered a bit afterward.

Before trying these I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to tell the difference, but the level of hotness was pretty obvious. And just to make sure it wasn’t just all in my head, I did a blindfold test. I had my boyfriend give me one of each while I had my eyes closed and I have to say that even without looking at them it was very obvious which one was which. As soon as I started chewing on the first one I immediately suspected it was the orange-red one, but to make sure, I asked for a second one. As soon as I had the second one, which was milder, I was sure that the first one was the orange-red one and thus the second one was yellow. And finally he gave me the dark red one which was again, very obvious.

As I was looking inside the box I notice that a good majority of the candy pieces were dark red which luckily was my favorite color, but it would have been nicer to have something closer to an even amount of each just so you can keep it varied a bit. I am hoping though that other boxes are different. Either way, I definitely enjoyed these candies and hope that they continue producing this variety of Hot Tamales, or at the very least, release a box variety of just the dark red ones.

One of the main reasons I truly enjoyed these is because I like to buy cheap bags of cinnamon imperials where each candy seems to vary in its spiciness. I would really recommend these to anyone who loves cinnamon-flavored candy.

Review: Wonka Exceptionals Fruit Marvels Pomegranate

Pomegranate Fruit Marvels

Whilst waiting in line at the cash register towards the end of my monthly grocery shopping  I spotted an interesting royal purple tin in the candy section. You know, the area that they place right in your face to make sure people spend a couple extra ‘harmless’ dollars on something they don’t need, and usually I don’t even look at it, but this candy made me a bit curious. They had two flavors available — pomegranate, which is the one I purchased, and tangerine, for about a dollar fifty.

The tin is actually pretty cool considering you can use it to store other things like buttons, sewing items, and round playing cards, so I figures that even if the candy sucked, I would have a neat little container (I also saved the Juicy Fruit plastic container because it works well to hold sugar and the nice little flap in the front makes it easy to pour it!). After opening it, I noticed that the outside had a rough, pink sugar coating. It smelled pretty fruity, but I didn’t really get much of a pomegranate aroma out of it (I used to often eat pomegranates as a kid so I’m very familiar with the smell, taste, and staining power). The first sugary layer did have a nice mixed berry taste and I enjoyed the rough texture, which quickly melted away and was followed by a smoother (but not as smooth as say the coating of a Gobstopper) middle shell which wasn’t really that sweet in comparison. It kind of reminded me somewhat of marzipan without the almond aftertaste. I usually don’t like to wait until hard shells have melted away (I usually chew Gobstoppers right from the beginning) so I bit into the rest of it and was pleasantly surprised to find a very flavorful berry-like gummy center. It was a bit bitter and the flavor didn’t taste synthetic (though it definitely didn’t taste like pomegranate) at all and the gummy texture was of the softer variety (unlike Haribo gummy bear, which I adore) which definitely worked well with the crunchy outer shell.

The container mentions that they contain 25% real fruit juice, which is more than most fruit juices, but it only matters when you’re taking flavor in consideration since these candies don’t have any real nutritional value other than fulfilling 15% of your daily value of carbohydrates (but that’s for the whole tin) and providing the gluttons with 39 g of sugar (comprised of sugar and corn syrup unfortunately). As for the fruit juice, it obviously wasn’t going to be pomegranate juice they were talking about, in fact, as usual, it’s pear. So in short, these candies are a good occasional treat, but I wouldn’t try to replace my daily fruit intake with a can of these. What bothers me though is that the front of the tin says that these are made with natural ingredients, and on the back they mention modified corn starch which I’m pretty sure doesn’t occur naturally. When they finally start making candy the old fashioned way, by using sugar and the actual juice of the fruit that the candy is supposed to taste like, then they can consider the candy to be made with natural ingredients. I’m not too fond of the fact that it contains carmine color either considering how it affects those who are allergic to it. I never understood the need to give candy bright colors. Would kids not want to eat the candy if it weren’t filled with food coloring? Do we really need kids to find candy more appealing?

I did enjoy this candy and for those who like to have an occasional treat, these are actually quite enjoyable. The contrast between crunchy and chewy has always interested me, and these candies have a nice tart chewy center that I actually like. I don’t care much about the ‘statements’ made on the front of the can, as if they were trying to convince people that candy can ever be healthy or that somehow the little bit of pear juice in it can replace your apple a day (of course they don’t say that straight up, but we know how marketing works) but as long as you’re treating these like candy, and not a vitamin supplement (considering it has no vitamins!), you will probably not be disappointed with this. And remember, you will always be left with a nice tin to store some of your odder items! Anyways, here are the nutritional facts.

Rating: 8 out of 10