The Good: Taste good, Tastes like chocolate and coconut, Inexpensive
The Bad: Not the most healthy (ingredients).
The Basics: M&M's surprises me by producing a candy worth going out of the way for in their mass produced Coconut M&M's!
Outside the M&M's Premiums I have had and reviewed, it has been years since I have had M&M's chocolate candies. I was intrigued by the Premium Mocha (reviewed here!) and Premium Chocolate Mint (reviewed here!), but for one reason or another, I have not had much cause to go back to M&M's. I suppose this is because as my palate has refined, I have found I enjoy darker chocolates and ones that are less mass-produced. I'd rather have less and better than cheaper and a lot. So, when my wife and I were out at Five Below, and she saw the new(er) M&M's Coconut flavor and insisted on picking them up for me, I was a little bit stymied.
As it turns out, I had little reason for trepidation. Out of all the new flavors of M&M's chocolate candies, it is easy to see why Coconut is enduring. The flavor is weird, but it is both precise and different from anything else on the market in that price bracket. That makes it both a surprisingly good value and a genuine taste treat.
Basics
M&M's Coconut are the standard bagged M&M's product, designed to appeal to all consumers. The 1.5 ounce bag is white with a picture of a coconut and a green M&M on it. Inside, the round chocolates are white, dark brown and green. The Coconut flavored M&Ms follow essentially the same formula as regular M&M's in that each candy is about 1/2" in diameter, making them more or less bite sized. These differ from the standard M&M's in that they are a little thicker, about 3/8" as opposed to the standard 1/4" candies.
The Coconut M&M's come in the three colors and have the standard M&M's "M" printed on them. In addition, many have palm trees, umbrellas or flowers to set these apart from standard M&M's.
Ease Of Preparation
These are candies that have been made by the fine folks at M&M's/Mars and as a result, preparing them is as easy as opening the bag and removing the chocolates and putting them in your mouth. It does not need to be any more complicated than that! M&M's Coconut come ready-to-eat and require no preparation save removal from the bag.
Taste
Opening the Coconut M&M's bag, the consumer is immediately struck by the scent of chocolate. I was shocked by the taste because the aroma from the bag was so unrelentingly that of chocolate, with not even a hint of fruit or other flavors to it.
However, the taste is anything but the predictable, mass-produced chocolate that the bouquet insinuates. No, the Coconut M&M's, when placed on the tongue begin to melt and the hard shell dissipates to reveal a strong, sweet flavor of coconut. Coconut is a distinct flavor that defines itself; there is no "coconut is like. . ." for analogy. Instead, one either hits coconut on the head or they miss it. I recall being strangely disappointed by the Coconut Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (reviewed here!). There is no similar disappointment from M&M's! These taste like coconut with a hint of chocolate in the aftertaste.
More than any other chocolate candy that did not actually have coconut pieces in them, Coconut M&Ms taste more like coconut with a chocolate chaser, as opposed to chocolate with a coconut aftertaste. This makes them a great value for those who love coconut flavor and have not found a candy to satisfy them.
Nutrition
Obviously, these are candies and the folks at M&M's/MARS do not intend for consumers to live on them. They are a snack and not a terribly nutritious one at that. A serving is considered 1.5 oz., which is one bag. With the standard recommended serving size, the candy has 210 calories, 80 of which are from fat! That's 14% of the RDA of fat, with 30% of the RDA coming from the six grams of saturated fat! While there is 4% of the RDA of calcium and two grams of protein, there is no denying that this candy is not good for you and one ought to use it as a dessert occasionally, not a meal ever.
The lack of health benefits ought to be obvious from the ingredients list, which rather terrifyingly does not include anything remotely like "coconut" in it! Instead, after milk chocolate, sugar and corn syrup, the ingredients degenerate into colorings that are simply defined as colors with numbers and no elaboration as to the chemical composition of them. These are made on machines which may also work on peanuts and almonds, so those with allergies are duly warned.
Storage/Clean-up
Just as with the preparation, M&M's Coconut candies are low stress when it comes to storage and cleanup. Storage is simple when the candies are kept in their bag at room temperature or cooler. Kept cool and out of direct sunlight, these confections have an indefinite shelf life (there is a production code, but no expiration date on my package). Resealed properly and kept cool, they ought to remain good.
M&M's were made famous by the catchphrase "melts in your mouth, not in your hands" and the M&M's Coconut seem to live up to that. As a result, they should not require any cleanup as they are very clean to eat. However, should one melt clothing one is wearing, consult a fabric guide for what removes chocolate from that type of garment. Otherwise, melted Coconut M&M's should wipe right off non-porous surfaces with a warm, wet cloth.
Overall
Back in the day, I used to make ice cream. One of the best, most intriguing flavors I made was a chocolate coconut malted milk ball ice cream. The combination sounds weird, but it truly worked. Since then, I have never had something that so accurately captured the flavor of coconut and balanced it with chocolate. Now, Coconut M&Ms do that wonderfully for me and so long as they remain on the market, it is very easy to recommend them!
For other candy reviews, please visit my takes on:
Cocktail Creations Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints
Butterfinger Crisp
8/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |
No comments:
Post a Comment