# What country has the best/worst/unique candy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731 "2018-09-04T11:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/21 "2018-09-04T23:52:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > For weird and/or bad, the salmiak licorice(“Zout”) they sell in Scandinavia and the Netherlands has to be right up there. It kind of grows on you after a while, but the first time you try it, it’s basically salty black licorice with a hit of ammonia. I want to love salted licorice, as I love salty sweets and black licorice, but I just can’t. The ammonia goes up my nose and makes me feel like my nose is bleeding. It’s the strangest sensation. ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/22 "2018-09-04T23:54:33Z")
I am addicted to spicy, salty, Mexican candy. I love the hard candies and lollipops coated with chili and salt. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/23 "2018-09-05T00:14:59Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well thats the thing in the USA you can find any kind of candy you want from the cheap crap to the fancy stuff. And its all to ones taste. I personally, LOVE Hershey bars. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/24 "2018-09-05T00:17:22Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well thats the thing in the USA you can find any kind of candy you want from the cheap crap to the fancy stuff. And its all to ones taste. I personally, LOVE Hershey bars. Right, when non Americans (and many Americans) knock American candy, they’re generally talking about what you find at the supermarket. If you want really good candy, it’s not that hard to find if you seek it out. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/25 "2018-09-05T00:28:23Z")
The OP is correct. We have spicy Mexican candy here. The kids learn spicy at a young age. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/26 "2018-09-05T00:35:38Z")
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and I very seldom eat candy. However, when I go shopping in The Strip District (part of Pittsburgh) I generally pick up a confection or two from the shops carrying Asian goods. This is done more as a gamble than because I ever got anything good. Part of the fun is buying stuff that is not labeled in English. Once, I got what I am pretty sure were sugar-coated olives. Another time I got what seemed to be sweetened fish jerky. Overall, these products are aimed at people who value combinations of flavors and textures that I do not. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/27 "2018-09-05T00:59:40Z")
Twenty-plus years ago, my then-manager went on vacation in China. He brought back various little souvenirs for us, and he gave me a Chinese chocolate bar. I took a bite of it, and the only way I could describe it was that it had a barnyard flavor. :eek: That one bite was enough to convince me that I never again needed to eat Chinese chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/28 "2018-09-05T03:44:00Z")
When I think of U.S. candy bars, it always seems to me like they keep cramming peanuts into everything. I like peanuts as much as the next guy, but it seems a little repetitive. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/29 "2018-09-05T06:34:40Z")
> [@Tarataratara](#): > > I am addicted to spicy, salty, Mexican candy. I love the hard candies and lollipops coated with chili and salt. Is this often sold in straws? I bought some back for my work colleagues. It was funny to watch people expecting sugar and getting spice (I didn’t mislead anyone I just put them in the common kitchen area without comment). In the end we had to throw a half-eaten box away. Thinking about it now, the packaging was an environmental disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/30 "2018-09-05T07:48:20Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Not candy, per se — the hot chocolate (beverage) I have consumed in Barcelona far outpaces in deliciousness the hot chocolate (beverage) of Vienna, Paris, or Brussels, all located in far more chocolatey countries. Why is that? 90% of it is something really, really stupid: milk rather than water. The other 10% is that we aim to saturate the milk, rather than just make it chocolate-y: there is supposed to be undissolved streaks of chocolate left in the pot, and the chocolate we use is supposed to be blacker than black. You can get the chocolate as a tablet and scrape off bits to dissolve in the almost-boiling milk, or use powdered chocolate which isn’t as good but will make do so long as you remember it’s _a la taza_, not a shake: more isn’t just better, it’s needed. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/31 "2018-09-05T07:54:43Z")
[Enjoy.](https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=chocolate+a+la+taza&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Achocolate+a+la+taza) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/32 "2018-09-05T11:00:58Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Also what do you non-Americans think of American candy? See’s Candy is OK, everything else I’ve had has been absolute crap. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/33 "2018-09-05T13:59:00Z")
For worst, Thomas Pynchon nominated [English Wine Jellies](http://bella.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Fun/gravity.html) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/34 "2018-09-05T14:37:30Z")
Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/35 "2018-09-05T14:43:35Z")
honestly I don’t mind Hershey’s since it reminds me of when I was a kid, and Hershey’s kisses and eggs were far, far better than that vaguely chocolate-flavored wax used to make “chocolate” Easter bunnies. only once in a while, though; compared to the better dark chocolates I like Hershey’s is too cloying. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/36 "2018-09-05T14:45:55Z")
I think Japan has the most interesting candy in terms of interesting concepts, cool packaging and unique (and accurate!) flavors. When something is “grape flavored,” it damn well tastes like grapes unlike the cloying US artificial grape flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/37 "2018-09-05T14:50:28Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > I think Japan has the most interesting candy in terms of interesting concepts, cool packaging and unique (and accurate!) flavors. When something is “grape flavored,” it damn well tastes like grapes unlike the cloying US artificial grape flavor. Ya think? A friend brought me a bag of green tea kitkat bars on his last trip to Japan. While they weren’t unpleasant, they didn’t taste remotely like green tea. Or any other kind of tea. If they hadn’t had a hint of vanilla to them, they’d have had no flavor at all. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/38 "2018-09-05T14:54:34Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Ya think? A friend brought me a bag of green tea kitkat bars on his last trip to Japan. While they weren’t unpleasant, they didn’t taste remotely like green tea. Or any other kind of tea. If they hadn’t had a hint of vanilla to them, they’d have had no flavor at all. kit kats are their own thing for sure but that’s a valid point; chocolate doesn’t seem to carry the flavors as accurately as a hard candy or gummy candy. although we did visit the kat kat “chocolatory” and the passion fruit kit kat was pretty amazing! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/39 "2018-09-05T15:34:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > For worst, Thomas Pynchon nominated [English Wine Jellies](http://bella.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Fun/gravity.html) I think he means [wine gums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_gum)? They’re great, although I prefer fruit pastilles. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731/40 "2018-09-05T15:37:38Z")
What’s the international status of liquorice allsorts? I know we export our local variety (Beacon) all over the show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-best-worst-unique-candy/820731.md?page=3)