'Tis the season, y’all. After Werther’s Originals, peppermints are my favorite hard candy, so it angers me when I get a red and white cane or wrapped goodie that is-- gasp!-- cherry flavored. What the hell? Warn somebody, at least.
Sometimes, though, I get the peppermint candy jackpot. It looks like a hard candy, usually barrel shaped. But instead of the usual hard, minty goodness, it’s an airy, melty pepperment airball. Do these peppermints have a special name? They should because they are. Special, that is. How can I pick these airy-fairy peppermints out at the store?
In conclusion: Cherry stripes-- bad. Minty hard candy-- good. Airy mint melts – much better. Werther’s Originals – ambrosia.
What I meant to say was: Those buttermints look like they are tiny non-striped versions of exactly what I’m talking about. So I should look for butter peppermints?
you need to develop a relationship with your confectioner. just like people might have a tobacconist, hairdresser/barber or proctologist they really like and trust.
Sure there are other confectioners to tempt the weak with their fly by night “specials”, but I’ve heard one stop stands and vending machine “quickies” are less fullfilling than a committed relationship.
I’m very annoyed by peppermint candy that doesn’t really taste like peppermint. I encounter this most often with the striped hard candies…there’s a vague minty flavor, but there’s also a noticeable off-taste.
I love the airy peppermints too! I haven’t had any in years though.
Preach it! I live in a sadly candy cane-deficient land, and last year we didn’t have any candy canes at all at Christmas. My sweet husband got online and found a source, and a few days later we had a giant tub full of candy canes! Heaven!
Until I bit into the first one and discovered that we were the proud, happy owners of about 70 STRAWBERRY-flavored abominations unto mankind. The hell??
Don’t mess with me with your fruit-flavored candy canes, people. I’ll cut you!
Fruit-flavored candy canes (especially artificial cherry flavor) are fine and good, but they’re properly rainbow-colored. Making a barberpole red-and-white-striped candy anything but peppermint is just wrong.
I really like good peppermint hard candy. My previous favorite was an organic peppermint sold at Whole Foods, but the company went out of business. My new favorite are these organic starlight mints. They’re sweetened with brown rice syrup and the flavor is very long lasting. Like good wine, they have a “finish” that lingers long after you chewed and swallowed the last bit.
I’m pretty sure the ones jrsone (nice username, BTW) linked to are what you’re looking for. They’re not really soft, as the name implies; they’re a little harder than the buttermints (which are the things you used to find in a candy dish by the door at some restaurants) but with a similar texture. You can either suck on them or chew them. I agree, they’re the best of the striped peppermint candy family.
I remember the butter mint dispensers you used to see in restaurants…those plastic balls with a small opening at the top, which was ringed by a small plastic open cylinder. The whole thing was mounted on a support, usually made of wire, so you could tip the ball to dispense the mints.
