# Adventures in spicy and other challenging candies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485 "2015-12-27T19:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/1 "2015-12-27T19:49:37Z")
I’m a big fan of Atomic Fireballs, love to crunch them for the cinnamon and capsaicin burn. 3500 on the Scoville scale, what a treat! In a similar vein, I’ve enjoyed other cinnamon concoctions, a la “red hots”, cinnamon Jelly Bellies and licorice, etc. I’ve also enjoyed other capsaicin-laden sweets, including Tabasco Jelly Bellies, Toad Sweat dessert sauces, and custom-crafted habanero chocolate truffles. Extreme sour can be a nice trip, too. Lemonheads and other super sour stuff are old favorites. Add a fizz, as they do with Zotz candy, and I can enjoy them all day, quietly foaming at the mouth. Ginger candy bites back too, and as such it delights me. Salmiak licorice works for me too, especially the sweet and salty varieties like the Rondos. Though after about two, I’m generally sated. But I’d like to expand my range. I’ve seen mention of wasabi candies, but have not yet procured any. I’ve also seen lollipops with scorpions in them, but I’m not sure what the reward is for getting down to that particular arachnid. Anyone got suggestions/opinions regarding candies that go beyond sweet, that work as a delightful thrill? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/2 "2015-12-27T20:14:00Z")
Hot cinnamon Fire-Pix. Slivers of wood soaked in fake cinnamon oil. So hot they make your lips smooth. ---
**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/3 "2015-12-27T20:57:54Z")
Experiment with Mexican candy. Lots of varieties are combinations of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/4 "2015-12-28T00:42:34Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Hot cinnamon Fire-Pix. Slivers of wood soaked in fake cinnamon oil. So hot they make your lips smooth. Heck, back in the day a friend and I would get a little vial of cinnamon oil at the drugstore and soak our own toothpicks in it. I’m sure they still sell the oil so you, too, can make your own if you have the urge. Thinking about it, you could do the same with your favorite brand of hot pepper sauce. Hey, maybe I’m onto something here! I love a good tart candy on occasion and finding the right kind of sour cherry ball is a joy to taste! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/5 "2015-12-28T00:48:13Z")
Perhaps you would enjoy durian candy. None for me, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/6 "2015-12-28T01:01:43Z")
Warheads. also, Shock Tarts, or Shockers, or whatever the hell they’re called today. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/7 "2015-12-28T01:08:00Z")
Home-made jalapeño fudge. Mine is a [Velveeta recipe](http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/velveeta-fudge-51504.aspx) using a combination of Mexican Velveeta and pepper jack cheese. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/8 "2015-12-28T01:09:53Z")
[Top 10 Most Disgusting Candies Ever](http://listverse.com/2008/04/13/top-10-most-disgusting-candies-ever/) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/9 "2015-12-28T01:19:04Z")
> [@Tara57](#): > > Experiment with Mexican candy. Lots of varieties are combinations of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour. My former neighbor went there every year. She always brought back some form of peanut brittle for me. One was heavily laced with chili powder. The other laced with jalapeno pepper. That shit only lasted a day or two. Good thing I wasn’t diabetic 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/10 "2015-12-28T21:36:24Z")
> [@Tara57](#): > > Experiment with Mexican candy. Lots of varieties are combinations of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour. I’ve tried a few, with interesting results. I wish I had regular access to more. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Perhaps you would enjoy durian candy. > None for me, thanks. Nor for me, but thanks for mentioning it. > [@jz78817](#): > > Warheads. > also, Shock Tarts, or Shockers, or whatever the hell they’re called today. Ah, the uber sour varieties. They’re nice too! > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Home-made jalapeño fudge. Mine is a [Velveeta recipe](http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/velveeta-fudge-51504.aspx) using a combination of Mexican Velveeta and pepper jack cheese. Interesting. I’ve tried cheese fudge in the past, but not with the added heat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/11 "2015-12-28T21:38:53Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Top 10 Most Disgusting Candies Ever](http://listverse.com/2008/04/13/top-10-most-disgusting-candies-ever/) I enjoy the dubbel zout, but I had to work my way up to it. Tried the triple zout, but had to spit it out. As for the rest, I’ll avoid those, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/12 "2015-12-28T21:56:04Z")
Willing to do a little work? [Alton Brown’s Spiced Pecans](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/spiced-pecans-recipe.html) take about 20-30 minutes to make, and have adjustable levels of cayenne in addition to enough brown sugar and butter to make a candy coating. I made a batch for Christmas gifts and had to hide them so I wouldn’t eat them all. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/13 "2015-12-28T22:09:05Z")
**LHoD** , I’ve passed that on to the Mrs. as she’s a whiz with pecans and similar. We’ve always a bunch of raw ones on hand ready for roasting. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/14 "2015-12-29T03:58:27Z")
Excellent! If she comes up with any improvements to that recipe, lemme know. I think they’re awesome, but not quite perfect, but don’t know what would get them there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/15 "2015-12-29T04:10:00Z")
[Trader Joe’s Fireworks bar](http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/fireworks-chocolate-bar). Chipotle and pasilla chiles, and cayenne pepper. And pop rocks. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adventures-in-spicy-and-other-challenging-candies/741485/16 "2015-12-29T05:51:30Z")
I perused the Halloween candy aisle at the grocery store this year and came across these lollipops: [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Pelon-Peloneta-Tamarind-Mango-Lollipops/dp/B005M4UHPC). I picked up a bag for shits and giggles and LOVE them. They’re not hot, but I’ve always loved the mango/chili combination, and the addition of the sort of chewy tamarind caramel/chili coating makes these damn near perfect as candy.