All great candy review posts start with a title taken from a Def Leppard song. That’s just a fact. Aside from that, we all want to know: are Junior Caramels a excellent addition into the caramel world or should the Junior franchise stick with mints?
Tootsie Roll Industries has been making more and more attempts to branch out into the chocolate candy world with more than just the classic Junior Mint. (Lest we forget the Junior Mint’s triumphant battle against the York Peppermint Patty.) I’ve now seen mini Junior Mints, Christmas color Junior Mints (where the inside minty goo is red or green) and Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints. Which I found highly delightful, with crushed up candy cane in the chocolate candy coating. But caramel?
Packaging
The classic Junior Mints box, but tinted with brown, I do like that the go right ahead and claim “pure chocolate” so that you’re not lulled into that fake chocolatey coating lie.
Appearance
They look like round Milk Duds or very large rabbit, um, “pebbles.” Not the most appetizing thing to look at, but I’ve eaten uglier chocolate candy.
Smell
They smell like Milk Duds! Hopefully they’re easier to chew, I prefer to keep all my teeth.
Taste
They are definitely softer than Milk Duds, thank goodness. While the coating promised to be pure chocolate and the box confirms the proper ingredients of things like cocoa butter, it tastes funky and fake. I don’t like this coating at all, it reminds me of the chocolate candy I used to find at the bottom of my Halloween bucket in August of the next year.
The caramel itself isn’t that bad, it’s just that you can’t really taste it until the icky chocolate is gone. Which doesn’t make it worth the effort. Buy the Milk Duds instead. Ah well.
Bottom line: Stick with the mints! Love live Junior Mints!
Leave a Reply