Candy/Snacks 2020 Recap

This blog started out as an Oreo blog, but I quickly realized that if I just stuck to Oreo flavors, I wouldn't have much to write about. There are limited edition flavors of other types of candy and snack foods that catch my eye, and I sometimes feel compelled to buy them. Here's a quick rundown of different things I saw in 2020. 

Skittles Dips were an intriguing concept. They are regular Skittles with a creamy yogurt-flavored coating. I wasn't sure if I'd like them, but I knew I had to try them.

Skittles Dips have a cool look to them. The coating is translucent, so you can tell the flavor of the Skittle underneath the coating. The taste experience is similar to eating a yogurt-covered raisin. The coating has that mellow, sweet flavor, and the Skittle inside has the stronger flavor behind it. In all, it's not a bad flavor combination. 

At the beginning of fall, I took a trip to Wal-Mart and came across Chocolate Popcorn M&M's. This was another flavor combination I found intriguing.

CHOCOLATE POPCORN M&M's ARE AMAZING. M&M's people, you're probably not reading this, but if you are, please consider making these a regular offering in your flavor lineup. I haven't liked all of the M&M's special flavors I've tried. I wasn't a fan of Fudge Brownie, and I've found some of the other flavors too sweet. BUT THESE ARE INCREDIBLE. These are a good mix of sweet and savory, with a crispy M&M center. 

Another M&M offering in the fall was Creepy Cocoa Crisp. I found these on the very same trip to Wal-Mart when I found Chocolate Popcorn.

I wanted to like Cocoa Crisp M&M's. I really did. I actually thought I'd like this and dislike the Chocolate Popcorn M&M's. But I didn't. These were not the cocoa flavor I was expecting. It was almost too much chocolate and not enough. Looking at the packaging right now, I wonder if they were going for a certain cereal they didn't want to license. But this felt like a letdown. 

Another offering for Halloween were Hershey's Vampire Kisses. These were chocolate kisses with a liquid strawberry center.

Vampire Kisses were an interesting idea. However, I didn't love them. It was a similar experience as eating a cherry cordial, or other fine chocolates with more of a liquid than creme coating. But they weren't quite what I was looking for.

M&M's had two special flavors for the Christmas candy season: White Chocolate Peppermint and White Chocolate Sugar Cookie. I believe I've seen Peppermint in the past, though 2020 was a big year for Sugar Cookie-flavored items.

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's were actually pretty good. I've long been a fan of Chocolate Mint and Holiday Mint M&M's (though I still don't know if those are technically different). This was also pretty good, though a tad too sweet.

On the other hand, White Chocolate Sugar Cookie M&M's were not what I was expecting. While there was the unmistakable sugar cookie flavor to them, I found them to be too sweet and not enjoyable. They would have been better with a more buttery flavor to them. I would recommend not using white chocolate as a base for the flavor, but really go all in on the sugar cookie taste. 

The 2020 Christmas candy season also saw Sugar Cookie-flavored Hershey Kisses. (There were other sugar cookie-flavored things this year but these were all I cared to feature.)

I thought these Sugar Cookie Hershey's Kisses were pretty good. They were white chocolate kisses with pieces of sugar cookie embedded in each. I thought this was pretty successful.

Finally, I was in CVS one day and came across these Taco Bell chips, with flavors matching their mild and fire sauces. I've considered reviewing chips on this blog in the past, such as the Lay's "Do Us A Flavor" varieties, but those were lost to time.

The Mild Taco Bell chips were okay. I tend to use the Hot sauce (RIP Verde), but Mild has a distinct Taco Bell taste to it. The seasoning was a tad too much. But it tasted like I just ate a Taco Bell taco.

The Fire Taco Bell chips were also okay. They don't taste spicy upon first bite, but the heat sneaks up on you. I can't say I'd buy either of these on a regular basis, but for a novelty item they weren't bad.

By the way, I have to give an honorable mention to Ritz Cheese Crispers 4 Cheese and Herb crackers. I don't have them at home right now so I can't take and post pictures, but these were surprisingly good. I recommend. 

2020 brought some snack foods that ranged from great to not so great. However, I'm glad I tried what I did. While flavors come and go with the seasons, 'tis better to have tasted and lost than never to have tasted at all.