Free birthday goods

It used to be that Denny's was the place to go for a free birthday meal. Nowadays, things are different and a lot more places offer free goodies. Because I'm cheap New Englandy and frugal, I recently spent my birthday graciously accepting all the gratis goods coming my way. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts both offer free drinks. (Sign up on their websites and they'll send you a postcard for a free beverage). I took the opportunity to try the Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks. I'm not usually much for flavored coffee beverages, but it just sounded yummy, so why not?
No dramatic lead-in here: it was so good. The roasty taste of the espresso was balanced by the sweet buttery deliciousness of the caramel. Since it was my birthday, I opted for the whipped cream, which was topped with sticky caramel drizzle and-- you know it's coming-- a shake of sea salt. "Caffeine and salt?" you cry. "That's a heart attack in a cup!" Well, yes, it may be, but it was also pure yummy decadence. For a once-a-year splurge, it was worth every penny. Or in this case, it was TOTALLY worth the free coupon.
Next on the birthday party free goods roadtrip was a stop at Panera, which yielded a free pastry (in this case, a brownie) which was handed over to the Sugar Baby.

Since I was already at the mall, I headed over to the Godiva store where I cashed in on my monthly free chocolate. I chose a pumpkin cheesecake truffle. Had I been thinking more clearly, I would've chosen the pumpkin spice truffle, which has a chocolate shell, as opposed to the one with the white chocolate (or, in this case, orange-colored chocolate) shell. The filling was half pumpkiny cream and half cream cheesey cream. It was pretty tasty, but also pretty sweet. One was definitely sufficient to meet my daily recommended truffle intake.
I still have yet to cash in on my free bubble bath from Sephora and hibachi dinner at the local Japanese place. And I got a nice e-card from Mini Cooper, but alas, no free car.

Before I even begin, let me do a full disclosure: Buzz Bites is a Candy Yum Yum patron. This, however, has no bearing on what I'm about to write. My policy is, if you send me something to try and I hate it, I just won't write about it. I'm not out to make or break a company, and I'm certainly not the Roger Ebert of candy reviewing, so my two cents is just that, two cents in an ocean of pennies.

Having said that, on with the post. Buzz Bites are "chocolate energy chews" that look disconcertingly like bouillon cubes. I don't have much experience with caffeinated candy, simply because Mama Yum Yum loves her the java. I drink coffee all day long, so the last thing I need is more caffeine. But in the interest of my coffee-hating readers (oh, how tragic!), I had to try one. Here's the deal: it's pretty fudgey and very sweet. It left a lingering aftertaste in my mouth, but it wasn't a bad aftertaste. I didn't feel the need to immediately brush my teeth as I would after having, say, a diet soda. As for the caffeine effect, well, I'm just not a good judge because, as I said, it runs through my veins. So I had get input from another tester.

Yep, you got it: No-Nuts is earning her keep by being the Candy Yum Yum summer intern guinea pig. She tried one and said it was pretty good and she thought it gave her some energy. (Hmmm, I'd have to agree since she cleaned my stove after eating one.)

Each chew is 25 calories and is the equivalent of one cup of coffee or 1.25 energy drinks. If I was the type of person who 1) didn't like coffee and 2) could satisfy my sweet tooth with just one piece of candy, I'd say these would be a good option. And if I was looking for a business opportunity, I'd start selling these in college dorms during finals week. What a gold mine that would be!

Say It With Me: Borrrrrrrachiiiiitos!

Sue MKAFFGGF can't stop saying "Hitachino! Hitachino!", the name of a beer she likes. Likewise, I can't stop saying, "Borrachitos!", a type of Mexican candy made by Crown Nuggets.

I was sent two sample boxes of these candies. Visually, they're mucho tasty-looking. Kind of like little cinnamon-sugar cruellers, or maybe log-shaped bulls-eyes. The taste is completely unique.

These come in two flavors: Licor de Cafe and Tequila. Allow me to stray a bit here and explain that, on the Madam Yum Yum taste continuum, coffee is at one end and tequila (shudder) is at the other.

Madam Yum Yum has been drinking coffee since the age of, oh, five or so, when she'd sit on her mother's lap and steal sips. (After four other kids, Madame Yum Yum's mother had bigger and better things to worry about than the purported growth-stunting properties of caffeine, such as bailing her sons out of trouble for lighting fireworks and ripping open leaf bags.) Madame Yum Yum gave up coffee for nine long months, but is now in a co-dependent relationship with Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. So it's safe to say that anything coffee-flavored is a-okay!

On the other end of the scale, Madame Yum Yum had one of those famed life-altering experiences with tequila in college. She doesn't remember much, just sitting around a kitchen table with a mighty cheap bottle of swill, fighting for space at the porcelain god with Mr. Goodbar, and something about riding a bicycle in a parking lot at 2 a.m. The rest of her memories end with laying in bed for two days, begging for mercy. It took many years before Madame Yum Yum could even say the word "tequila," which she had to do when she got not one but two assignments to write about tequila.

So back to the candy at hand. Naturally I opened the Licor de Cafe ones first. The texture was completely different than I thought. These babies are very soft, almost gelatinous. The sugar adds a nice contrasting texture. I can't think of anything else to compare them to. Next, the taste. Mmmm, nice boozy kick. Mr. Goodbar likened them to that Christmas favorite, rum balls. In fact, Mr. Goodbar has since co-opted the box and has a piece every night after work. Happy hour in a candy!

As for the tequila flavored ones ... Okay, I have to be totally honest here and say I just couldn't do it. I really thought I was over my aversion, but apparently not. I couldn't bring myself to try them. But I passed them onto a friend who is a tequila aficinado and she said the aroma alone was heavenly. You can check these out at the Crown Candies website.