The Great Hershey Kiss Off

You may or may not heard by now about all the hubbub surrounding the new Hershey chocolate formula which includes vegetable oil over cocoa butter. What this substitution means is that the chocolate is no longer “milk chocolate” but “chocolate candy.” The reason behind this switch is what it always is: money. Vegetable oil is less expensive. Now, not all the chocolates Hershey makes are affected. Just Kissables, Krackle, Milk Duds, Whatchamacallit and Mr. Goodbar. (Sure, ruin the classics.)

But Hershey’s Kisses remain untouched by this scandal and that is why here at Cocoa Heaven we are proud to bring you the first in a series of Hershey’s Kiss dissection: The Great Hershey Kiss Off!

Putting aside the other kiss off that consumers are receiving from Hershey right now, let’s focus on the milk chocolate with cocoa butter kisses.

Wikipedia lists at least 35 different varieties of Hershey’s Kisses that vary by country and seasonality. But today, we will challenge two of the regulars from the Kiss line up: Caramel filled and Cherry Cordial.

Why: Both of these treats are a filled Kiss, neither is weird or groundbreaking in it’s concept and they both have wacky wrappers.

Kiss this: Those wacky wrappers

Upon further inspection they are the same. Just one is magenta and the other is copper. Whee! Tiger stripes all around. The little paper flags restate the contents within: “caramel” or “cherry.”

No contest here. No one wins.

Kiss that: Smell

The cherry cordial kiss reminds me a lot of medicine. The kind that caused you to run from your mom and hide. Also like Queen Anne Cherry Cordials, cheap and from the drugstore.

The caramel kiss smells really good, I can smell the chocolate with a faint hint of caramel.

Caramel emerges the winner of this round.

Kiss it: Appearance Outside

A tie, they’re both milk chocolate based kisses so they look exactly alike. What were you expecting?

Kiss it again: Appearance Inside

The cherry cordial kiss has a delightfully colored light pink liquid center.

The caramel kiss has an oozing bright caramel color. Cause it is.

Sigh, it’s a tie. They’re both gorgeous. Can’t we just agree that everyone had a good time and go home?

French Kiss: Taste

We’ll concede the milk chocolate, they’re both exactly the same, it’s all about the centers on this one.

The cherry cordial center tastes just as it smells, kind of medicine-y. Yes, a cordial does typically have a more sharp taste to it in that regard, it’s just the aftertaste and initial taste that seem cheap. I’ll eat it, but I won’t eat anymore unless I’m tired of plain, almond or Hugs.

The caramel filled kiss tastes good. Really good. I could eat about a dozen of these without taking a break. Smooth caramel, lots of it, squishing around in a sweet sugar blast.

The winner: Caramel filled! Make out with as needed and call me later to dish.

Some folks have really gone all out when it comes to Hershey’s Kisses. Check out Zoe’s collection. And in honor of the Kiss’ 100th Anniversary, Hershey created the world’s largest at 6,759lbs and 6ft 9inches tall.