Anabel Tastes the Seasons: Choose Sweet Tarts for your sweetheart and other tasty Valentine’s Day eats
February 13, 2015
As Cupid readies his arrows, love permeates the air with Valentine’s Day excitement. Whether you spend the holiday with a loved one, friends, or even family, make sure to cruise over to your local grocery store for these yummy treats.
Shortly before Valentine’s Day, reporter Anabel Prince tested a variety of Valentine’s Day themed candy including Hershey’s Marshmallow Heart, Hershey’s Kiss Deluxe, Reese’s Heart, SweetTart Hearts, Sweethearts and Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler.
Sweethearts: Fun fact: despite their popularity around Valentine’s day, stores carry sweethearts all year round! With fun phrases like “be mine,” “call me,” or “ur sweet,” one cannot deny the cuteness of these candy hearts. One can, however, deny the assumption that they have any taste whatsoever. When eating these, I thought of literal fruit flavored cardboard. Sweethearts have the consistency and flavor of chalk. Why are these popular again?
SweetTart Hearts: Yum! Please, if you even think about buying sweethearts, just get these instead. These prove tangy, sweet, and sour all at the same time, and are definitely my favorite of the bunch.
Hershey Kiss Deluxe: If you love Hershey’s kisses, or need to get a certain message across to a special someone, look no further! Personally, the taste of Hershey’s Kisses (and their chocolate in general) never have impressed me that much. For this one I say: to each his/her own.
Hershey Marshmallow Heart: First, think of a giant, sticky, overly sweet paste disguising itself as a marshmallow. Then imagine it covered in semi-sweet chocolate coating way too thin to even begin masking the previous flavor. Voila! A Hershey’s Marshmallow Heart. This one proves my absolute least favorite of the group.
Reese’s Heart: Peanut butter lovers, unite! Have you always wanted a Reese’s peanut butter cup in the shape of a heart, filled with surprisingly authentic tasting peanut butter, and covered in a thick, chocolate shell? If yes, congratulations! They sell them for about $2.99. Despite not necessarily enjoying Reese’s in the past, these didn’t gross me out too much. Well done, Reese’s.
Whitman’s chocolate sampler: While I decided to purchase the $3 box for budget purposes, Whitman’s sell boxes up to $20, making a fantastic gift for pretty much anyone. At the point of tasting these, I had already had the “pleasure” of tasting all the aforementioned products, which most likely skewed my opinion. On an empty, chocolate depriven stomach, Whitman’s chocolate samplers seem as if they are straight out of my dreams. With caramel, marshmallow, chocolate, and coconut fillings, the wide variety stands sure to please all.
While initially the chocolate overwhelmed Prince, the intense flavor became pleasant enough, leading her to recommend the candy to any chocolate lover (in much smaller portions than the colossal amount provided in the jumbo hearts and kiss).
Valentine’s Day treats offer little originality, mostly serving as consumerist products meant to lure customers with their oversized heart-shaped bodies. Considering you can purchase most of these sweets all year round, I would skip your way over to the standard candy aisle instead. Despite this, I will give credit to them in that they provide a fun tasting experience for friends and family alike.
