Reed's Ginger Candy Chews

These Reed's Ginger Candy Chews boast "all natural" and "gluten free." They can be found at wegmans though I'm not sure about the price. The packaging is a small box jam packed with nine smaller individually wrapped chews. The box says it is a product of Indonesia. Reed's is best known for their Jamaican Ginger Beer and their overall promoting of ginger. According to ReedsGingerBrew.com, ginger is used as a traditional way to improve digestion, cure motion and morning sickness, and for general health. The latest research shows ginger to be anti-cancer, used to lower cholesterol, and used as arthritis medicine.

I had no idea ginger had such medicinal properties. I was more intrigued with the uniqueness of the product. The flavor, I imagined, would be unlike anything I have previously tried.

Upon opening one of the chews, there was no scent whatsoever. I even brought it right under nose to take a whiff.. still nothing. But, they say don't judge a book by the cover, so I had high hopes. I certainly was not let down. The chew is coated in a white powder, what I assume to be sugar and starch, to prevent sticking to the package. The texture is extremely chewy, so much that I struggled to bite off a piece. Once it was in my mouth, I decided to spare my teeth and just suck on it. The flavor is deliciously spicy and sweet, just as the box had anticipated. I can't eat more than a small bite at a time because the flavor is so intensely gingery. I adore these.

I love the list of ingredients: Sugar, Ginger, Tapioca Starch. Pure simplicity.

Nutrition Facts: A serving is one chew, nine servings per container. Each chew is 25 calories, 0 calories from fat, 6g carbohydrates, 3g sugar.

These chews are a nice change of pace from my typical fruity/chocolatey (but not together usually) preferences. I love how long they last and that they are only 25 calories. I rate these a 9 out of 10 and will definitely buy them again.

Sweetriot unBAR 65

This is a sweetriot chocolate bar. Its a small 1.34 oz hunk of 65% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao (that's kuh-kow) 'peaces.' According to the package, it is "the unofficial bar of the world." I found it at wegmans for $1.89 and was impressed with the little story on the back. "sweetriot. fix the world. sarah & the rioters. created and made directly with our loving latin amigos, sweetriot continues its sweet movement to fix the world with its 'mega peaces' of chocolate. with just one bite, you're joining us as a rioter. PS-did we mention it's all-natural, low calorie (48 calories per mega 'peace'), gluten-free, dairy-free, and has high antioxidant levels! hit sweetriot.com"

Well, there you have it, I am a rioter. News to me. However I have a few questions about the chocolate like, who is Sarah? And her rioters? And how exactly are they saving the world 'peace' by 'peace'? So, as the blurb on the back tells me to do so, I visit sweetriot.com. It turns out Sarah is the mastermind behind the chocolate/cacao products. She and her team live by these values:

• We use premium, high quality, and all-natural ingredients.
• We believe in fair trade with developing countries.
• We celebrate culture and diversity through our products.
• We create sweet experiences for our customers, partners and employees.
• We are young at heart, energetic, down-to-earth and contribute to the greater good.

When I opened the package, I was greeted with a sweet chocolatey scent. Less like dark chocolate, and more like semisweet chocolate chips or something. And what are those adorable little creatures molded into the chocolate? They look like little birds.

The chocolate is sweet and melts rather quickly leaving behind small bits of cacao. The cacao nibs are bitter but in such a way that compliments the chocolate. The crunchy texture of the nibs against the smoothness of the chocolate is quite enjoyable. The taste is pleasantly more complex than I had expected, sweet, yet dark and woodsy with delicious coffee tones.

Ingredients are as follows: Cocoa mass, Sugar, Cocoa powder, Cacao nibs, Cocoa butter, Soy lecithin and Natural flavor.

Nutrition Facts: There are four 'peaces' in the bar, but the whole thing is considered one serving. So a total of 190 calories, 130 calories from fat, Total fat 14g, Saturated fat 7g, Total carbs 19g, Dietary fiber 2g, Sugars 10g, Protein 3g.

I love almost everything about this bar, from the taste, to the mission of the company. I do wish however, that it were less of a hunk of chocolate and more of a bar (thinner), nibbling would be easier that way. I like the size of the bar though, a good sized treat and easy to share. I rate this candy a 9 out of 10.

All Natural Fruit Jellies

I picked these up at Trader Joe's yesterday with my mom. They are jelly candies made with all natural colors and flavors. The package says these are a product of Greece.

Ingredients are as follows: beet sugar, corn syrup, water, pectin, citric acid, natural flavors (orange, lemon, grape, raspberry, blueberry, mandarin), sodium citrate, vegetable colors (carotene, curcumin, anthocyanin), ascorbic acid (vitamin c), cornstarch.

Now, with six flavors you can imagine my surprise when I found only four colors (yellow, orange, pink, and red). Of course that is because of the natural coloring and I'm not complaining.

Eventually I realized that there really were six different colors, with slight variations of the orange and pink.

These are like gumdrops but softer. The sugar on the outside is sweet and adds a texture that benefits the overall feeling of the candy. The jelly itself is sweet and juicy.

darker pink: I have no idea what this flavor is. Its mostly just sweet, no exciting tanginess but enjoyable to say the least.

lighter pink: Sweet with nice strong concord grape notes.

yellow: This is lemon no doubt. At first its like lemonade, very sweet like the light pink one, but eventually becomes a little bit zesty. Yum.

light orange: Citrusy and fresh. Mandarin I am guessing. Slightly tangy but not too powerful.

dark orange: This is like a glass of fresh orange juice. Refreshing.

red: Yummy but, like the light pink, indecipherable flavorwise. Obviously we have the darker pink and red narrowed down to either blueberry or raspberry. The two colors have different flavors definitely, but I can't decide which is which.

A serving size is 5 pieces, 11 servings per container, 140 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, 10mg sodium, 36g carbohydrates, 29g sugar.

Overall I enjoy these but wish the non-citrus flavors had more of a punch. I really love that they are natural but they are confusing and I was left unfulfilled by the lack of flavor in the light pink and red. I probably won't buy these again. On a scale of 1-10, I rate these a 6.