Oh the anticipation! New candy bars on tap from Mars

Breaking news from Mars! Check this out candy lovers. There's some good stuff here!
1) 3 Musketeers Coconut will hit the shelves in December. Unlike other coconut bars that I so looked forward to (Twix Coconut, for one), this one scares me a little. I'm not sure it sounds that good, but I'm certainly willing to check it out.
2) M&M's Dark Chocolate Mint. Now these, I'm anxiously anticipating.
3) In May, 2012, look for M&M Snack Mixes. Milk Chocolate Candies Snack Mix features milk chocolate M&M’s, mini chocolate chip cookies, mini pretzel twists and peanuts; Dark Chocolate Candies Snack Mix comprises dark chocolate M&M’s, raisins, almonds and mini pretzel twists; Peanut Chocolate Candies Snack Mix has peanut M&M’s, mini shortbread cookies, almonds and mini pretzel twists. YUM!
4) Snickers 3X Chocolate 2 To Go bars (that's a lot of numbers in a candy bar name) will feature peanuts in chocolate caramel on top of chocolate nougat, covered in milk chocolate.

Holiday Gift #4: American Heritage Chocolate

Here's something fun for the chocolate snob who thinks he's tried everything. MARS created a Historic Division through which they re-create old tyme-y chocolates. The American Heritage Chocolate line includes chocolate sticks, blocks and finely grated chocolate drink. The packaging is fun and is likely to impress the chocoholic in your life. The American Heritage Chocolate website says you can buy the products there, although I couldn't figure out exactly where. They do, however, list gift shops at historic sites that will ship the products.
Because the chocolate is made using 17th- and 18th-century recipes, there's definitely a heavy spice aspect to it. You're not just getting chocolate; you're also getting cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, annatto, red pepper, orange, salt and vanilla. It's a fun gift and would make a great stocking stuffer.

Free Chocolate Friday!

Every Friday from May 8 through September, Mars will be giving out 250,000 coupons for free candy! Woo hoo! Check it out at Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act. The coupons are good for one full-sized package of either Snickers, Milky Way, M&M’S, Twix, Dove and 3 Musketeers.

Ye Olde Chocolate

When you think about the history of chocolate, what comes to mind? For most people, it might be European chocolates, or perhaps the discovery of cacao by the Aztecs. But wait, my friends! Did you know that colonial America has a rich chocolate heritage? No? Neither did I. Of course, most of my knowledge of American history comes from "Little House on the Prairie," and I don't recall Half Pint ever eating chocolate. I know Willy and Nellie were always sneaking their paws into the store's glass jars of treats, but I think they were more like taffy or hard candies, if I remember correctly. But Mars is launching a "scholarly pursuit" to understand everything there is to know about chocolate and so, without further ado, I introduce you to the American Heritage Chocolate brand.

I was sent these little chocolate "sticks" as a taste test and, according to the press release, "Old-world chocolate has a distinct texture and taste with sometimes a hint of other flavors such as ginger, mustard or pepper."

The packaging made it look like something you'd buy in the gift shop of a historic site. Here in New England, every grade school child goes on a field trip to Sturbridge Village. I could imagine seeing these in the gift shop, next to the reproduction Horn Books and bags of marbles.

I was a little scared to try it, especially since it looked so much like a stick of brown chalk. But it wasn't bad. Less sweet than the chocolate we have today, and more crumbly. I didn't get the spicy notes they mentioned; instead, I found that there was a residual fruity taste, not unlike a piece of Juicyfruit gum. At first, I was unclear as to whether this American Heritage Chocolate would be for sale or if this was a press-only thing. But then I went to their website, www.americanheritagechocolate.com, and found out that yes, they will be selling it in blocks, sticks and drink mix at-- guess where?-- historic site gift shops! Somebody did a good job with the packaging.

Delightful!

In a bizarre coincidence (see the post below), I tried the Mars Delight yesterday. It was mighty tasty. The wafer part was like one of those Piroutte cookies, very crispy and flaky. That's all I'll say. I don't want to be responsible for encouraging more rat deaths.

When Candy Kills

In an effort to bring you fair and balanced journalism, I've decided to share an e-mail I received with you. The subject was "Mars Candy Kills." Well, that's certainly an attention-getter. So here it is:

I wanted to let you know that Candymaker Mars, Inc—creator of M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers, Starburst and other candies—funds deadly animal tests, even though there are more reliable human studies and not one of these tests is required by law.
You can learn about the current deadly experiment that Mars is funding to determine the effects of chocolate ingredients of the blood vessels of rats on the website http://www.marscandykills.com/index.asp?c=mkccdyptc, where experimenters force-feed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and then cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which is clamped shut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals are killed.
There are so many alternative candies that are delicious and not sold with blood. Please help us spread the word so that we can get Mars, Inc to stop unnecessary animal testing.

As you might imagine, this was sent by someone at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). When I worked at the newspaper, we'd often get letters from them, and they'd get filed in the "whack-job" pile, although we sometimes used them to spice things up a bit.
So what do I think of the above information? As an omnivore, I can't really say much. Do I like the idea of animal testing? No, of course not. Would I prefer to eat all-natural, not-animal-tested food? Yes. Do I? No. So I can't really comment one way or the other. But I thought I'd put it out there for you to make your own decision.
In the meantime, if Mars would like to respond, I'd be happy to accomodate them. Even better if they send along the info with some M&Ms and Twix. (Oh come on, it's a joke!)