Do you remember the good ol' days when your parents would take you to the candy store and you would just stand there in awe before stuffing your plastic baggies with loads of sweets? Well, I do. I remember the beautiful glass jars and containers filled with so much candy, gumballs and gummies that I felt like I was a guest at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Life was so good back then. I didn't have a care in the world, except for being a little kid. Sadly, those candy stores don't exist anymore, well not in Atlanta at least. But thank goodness for this company that I'm about to introduce to you all, Brooklyn Hard Candy is bringing me back to my sweet sweet childhood with their reminiscent and vintage glass jars filled with their handmade fruity concoctions.
Started in 2010 by two graduates of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu in London, Nathan Panum and Danny Mowles were on a mission. Having realized that everyone was specializing in chocolates, they wanted to move away from that arena and create a line of unique sweets not many people had set out to perfect, until now that is. Through lots of research, sleepless nights and extensive trial and error, the dynamic duo finally developed the perfect process of creating these sublime sugary delights.
Let's get started:
☼Beautiful bottles of Concord Grape, Golden Pineapple and Blueberry
☼Here's another snapshot of the bottles without flash
☼Close-up of the Concord Grape-dark purple color
☼Close-up of the Golden Pineapple-dark yellow/orange color
☼Close-up of the Blueberry-dark blue color
☼Concord Grape candies out of the jar
☼Golden Pineapple candies out of the jar
☼Blueberry candies out of the jar
☼PACKAGING: I'm completely blown away by just their vintage and gorgeous packaging alone. Each flavor comes individually bottled in a glass apothecary jar, labeled using recycled paper, and sealed using a cork lid. I'm not going to lie, I have a complete packaging obsession-I buy products ALL the time based on their packaging alone, and not what's on the inside, even though it's always a plus to know what is inside. It's so rare these days to not only see hard candy being made by hand and in small batches, but to see them being packaged in something that must have taken a lot of time and thought, it just really goes to show how much love and care they really put into their product. Because of these elegant glass jars, you can see the actual candies themselves, in their colorful, bite-sized and sugary goodness. For anyone who appreciates delicate packaging, handcrafted hard candies or anything in between, these would make the perfect gifts for them. Even if you have a sweet tooth for yourself or have grown up on those mass-produced Jolly Rancher candies, be sure to buckle your belts, hold on tight and take your tastebuds on a roller coaster of unique fruity flavors. I promise that once you've tried these babies, you're never going to want to see another pack of hard candy from the grocery stores ever again!
☼TASTE: Just like the packaging, the three flavors I tasted blew me away! It's like the people over at Brooklyn Hard Candy knew what my favorite fruits were: blueberry, golden pineapple and concord grape. In addition to those flavors I just mentioned, there's also tangerine, wild strawberry and green apple (boy oh boy-the hardest thing about having to choose a flavor is which one to choose!!) These candies were definitely an incredible and mouthwatering experience. Instead of having that rough texture you get from Jolly ranchers and other hard candies at your local grocery/drugstore, as soon as I popped one of these into my mouth, it's like the candy melted in my mouth. Not literally melted as in turned into liquid, but the candy was super smooth and pleasant feeling, nothing like I've ever felt just eating regular candy. The fruity flavors were definitely there and were essentially perfect-I easily could have eaten the entire bottle in one day. I am definitely a chewer and not a sucker. Whether I'm eating lollipops or ice cream, I like to bite and chew through it, rather than just sucking and slurping on it-some may call me impatient, but I call it enjoying whatever I'm eating in one bite. These were no different. I ate each piece of candy one-by-one and chewed through them. Even the aftertaste was just as incredible as the candy itself, not weird or unpleasant. Of the three flavors I tried, it was nearly impossible to choose my favorite flavor. Each flavor was so distinct and its fruitiness was so abundant that it was extremely difficult to make a decision. Being in the Olympian spirit, the blueberry flavor took home the gold, the golden pineapple took home the silver and concord grape took home the third. It was such a close race, but the blueberry flavor was so unique and flavorful that if real blueberries tasted like that, I would've turned into Violet Beauregarde immediately. The golden pineapple was so good as well, but instead of that tangy flavor that you get from eating real pineapples, each piece was sweet and super satisfying. Lastly, since we know that two players can't both get a silver medal, the bronze had to be given to concord grape. I loved that the grape flavor wasn't extremely overpowering or artificial tasting, like grape soda. Instead, it was rather subtle, but definitely there-sort of like a ninja (but not really). No matter which flavors you choose, I can pretty much guarantee that they'll all be gold medalists in your books because they definitely were in mine.
☼RANDOM: My little nieces and nephews gobbled up these goodies like no other. Unfortunately for them though, so did I. As much as I love to share to show that I care, it was a little too hard to share these sugary and fruity goodness with everyone. Because of their unique texture once they hit your mouth combined with the real fruit flavors, no wonder why they were a complete hit! At $8.00 a bottle (according to their site), it may seem a little pricey, but how often do you get to purchase and taste amazing handcrafted hard candies packaged in a vintage apothecary jar by local artisans from Brooklyn? Let me answer that for you-NEVER....until now that is! :)
What are you waiting for? Go out and try them for yourselves, I promise you won't be disappointed. Even if grape or blueberry might not be your favorite fruits, with the various fruit flavors they offer, in addition to their handmade peppermint sticks and lollipops, you're sure to find something that you'll love and will guarantee to be a hit at your next shindig. In fact, if I get into pharmacy school the next school year, I already know what I'll be gifting the admissions office & professors-I mean come on, I know they'll love it!
Check them out here:
Brooklyn Hard Candy
Show them some social media lovin':
Have a super sweet day,
-Sandy
FTC: This product was generously sent to me for the purpose of conducting a review, but all reviews and opinions expressed are my own.
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