I used to like the dark chocolate ones also.
And the Java Twix bars and dark chocolate Kit-Kats.
I just had two cups five minutes ago. I honestly can’t tell any difference, and they’re my favorite candy bar (or whatever you call them.) The weird shaped ones taste different to me — might be the ratio or something, and those I don’t like much, but the regular cups taste exactly the same to me.
ETA: Ok, I’m eating one right now and I have no idea what’s supposed to be different about this. The peanut butter is the same, distinct, slightly gritty Reese’s peanut butter. I was so upset when they released jars of Reese’s peanut butter and it didn’t taste anything like the filling in a peanut butter cup. I don’t want “real” peanut butter. I want whatever the hell the stuff is in the cup.
Tangentially related:
https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/
My solution is simple: real peanut butter and Nutella & they’ve never failed me.
Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups are really really good.
As are Justin’s.
Well, stand by because as per the article I added to my previous post, Hershey’s plans to fuck up change the Kit Kat recipe next year too.
Planet Money did an episode about Reese’s “skimpflation” a while back.
Highlight the text. “Quote” will pop up above it. Click on it.
FYI, Bon Appétit magazine has a YouTube video series in which a professional pastry chef attempts to make homemade versions of various commercial snack foods and candies. Here’s one in which she tries for “gourmet” peanut butter cups.
There are some fancy brands like Justin’s that are good for dark chocolate pb cups.
The proportions have definitely changed in recent years, it used to be a little ritual of mine to nibble off the sawtooth edges around the outside, then finish the middle. There was a snap and rigidity to the chocolate that is completely absent now, and it is so thin that it often can barely handle being picked up out of the wrapper without denting and squishing. They used to be a guilty binge-bag item for me, now I can barely eat one.
I agree, Trader Joes pbc give the historical experience that is missing from Reece’s.
A wise man once said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” 
The best Reese’s peanut butter cups are the Dark Thins. The chocolate/peanut butter ratio is perfect and the chocolate is amazing.
With all due respect to the chef, I don’t want no gourmet peanut butter cups. I want my slightly gritty, crumbly, salty peanut butter covered in average but familiar milk chocolate.
I linked to that in case anyone here was ambitious enough to try to make them at home. (I’m not; I just watch videos like this for entertainment.)
My mom and I used to make Buckeyes. Pretty much the same thing, just different shape. They are delicious.
Sorry, Dewey, I wasn’t trying to criticize you. I was mostly riffing on my opinion that RPBC lack of … finesse(?) is what makes them so darn good.
I suspect it’s something to do with the “Cacao Crisis” that we’re undergoing.
Basically climate change, disease, and unsustainable farming practices combined with increased worldwide demand have caused cocoa prices to rise and become much more volatile.
Future of chocolate: Cocoa shortages reshape industry
Cocoa Crisis: Prices at Historic Highs Due to Climate and Disease
Mmmm! Candy corn…the candy that makes its own gravy.