Hersheypark (Part Deux)

During this trip, we found out that Stella (our Mini Cooper S) is capable of 450 miles to a tank of gas. At one point, the onboard computer was telling us that we had a range of 502 miles, but I dunno if I would trust those last 52 miles, especially coming off a little more than a gallon of gas.

Anyways, on to the events of the day. We started the day riding Hersheypark's new rollercoaster, 97 Fahrenheit, which boasts a 97 degree drop (see picture). After roaming the park and making my annual visit to the Play Dome (see picture), we headed over to the Kit Kat Cafe to indulge in some refreshing ice cream. The temperature had climbed to almost 100 degrees and the humidity was almost unbearable.

The Kit Kat Cafe (located in the upper level of Chocolate World) is a place where one can rest and have a sandwich, salad, or bowl of pasta in a quiet, air conditioned environment. One can also create your own sundae of two scoops of ice cream, three chocolate candy toppings and two liquid toppings. For my sundae, I chose two scoops of vanilla, three helpings of Kit Kats (what else?) and caramel and hot fudge toppings. The sundae itself was nothing special, save for the delicious Kitters. What made the sundae was the wonderful bowl it came in. Mind you I had to pay an extra $1.99 to get the bowl, but it will make a great addition to my collection. Okay, it's nearing 1:15am, so I best be off to bed. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow...

Oh, it's on. Hersheypark 2008.

Here's the first of several picture posts that I'll be sending during our stay in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Here you see me posing with my buddy, Mr. Kitter. Today, we saw him scare the hell out of two teenage girls who thought he was fake cause he was acting like he was a statue. I bet they don't see too many girls running for their lives screaming and at the top of their lungs in Chocolate World. Tomorrow, I'm gonna see if I can get him to moonwalk or do the robot or something.

Today we also went to a chocolate tasting where "Erma" demonstrated the proper way to enjoy five different types of chocolate. We also got to break open a cacao bean and try the nibs. I drank half a bottle of water trying to wash out the bitter taste!

As usual during one of our trips to Chocolate World, Valerie and I rode on the factory tour ride just to get free chocolate. Last year they were giving out free Take Five bars. This year we got to sample Hershey Bliss Meltaways (3 times!). Here, you can see Kit Kats on the assembly line.


Until tomorrow, adios.

hershey's chocolate flavor bubble yum (usa)

I picked this up as an impulse buy while the Target cashier was scanning our groceries and Val was running back to pick up the apple sauce she had forgotten to throw in the cart. I had seen this before but had never actually been daring enough to try it. No, wait. Daring isn't the right word. What I'm trying to say is that I didn't want to spoil the Hershey chocolate flavor by making it a part of a chewing gum which would eventually become as bland as a plastic spoon.

Guess what? Three minutes into chewing this gum, it does taste like a plastic spoon. I was extremely disappointed that Hershey would even put its name on this. Initially there is a slight "false" chocolate taste but it fades quickly... I mean within the first thirty seconds. Then three minutes into the process, you might as well be gnawing plasticine. I don't even think I'll finish the rest of the pack.

Hershey's Chocolate Flavor Bubble Yum (USA)
Size: 8g Calories: 25 Fat: 0g Carbohydrates: 6g

williams-sonoma chocolate cooking class...

Today, Val and I went for a chocolate cooking class at Williams-Sonoma. The head chef was a former Procter & Gamble chemist. She was very informative and reminded me a lot of a female Alton Brown. On today's menu was a Chocolate Sorbet, a Mocha Cake with Spiced Caramel Sauce, a Warm Molten Cake and finally a Chocolate-Banana Croissant Panini, the latter being my favorite. Everything was quite delicious except for the mocha cake which I found to be quite salty.

The head chef (Maral Apelian Banks) explained to us the differences in the type of chocolates that you use for cooking and baking. Let me pass on a tip that she gave us. Try not to use domestic chocolates in baking because they are usually coated in wax and oil for shipping and the flavor is not usually as pure as European and other imported chocolates. Above, you see me holding a 10 pound bar of Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate. Wow. And I thought that the 5 pound Hershey bar was big!

This morning I picked up a few new chocolates that I'll be reviewing in the upcoming days, including a new brownie flavored Hershey bar. It should be interesting. Until tomorrow...

hershey reese's easter fudge egg (USA)

I know that I've fallen behind since I last posted, but fear not - I have several new items to post. Tonight I'm going to write about the Reese's Easter Fudge Eggs that Val and I ate while we were watching Zodiac on Tuesday night. Yes, I'm one of those people that brings food into the movie. But just to make it a little better, I had a small popcorn and medium drink as well. Okay, so Tuesday nights are Free Popcorn Night. But still... The medium drink was $7.00. Heh...

Let's see. the Easter Fudge Eggs are basically Fudge cups in the shape of Easter eggs, only they aren't really eggs. Rather, they look like oblong domed cups sans ridges. So much for specialty packaging. Anyways, we bit into these chocolate treats and were quite surprised about their taste. While obviously lacking the yumminess of the peanut butter, the fudge was a nice substitute.

I guess you can say that the fudge and chocolate combination, while very tasty, was a little too much on the taste buds. I really liked the combination but I don't think it was properly executed. Nice try Hershey, maybe next time.

Hershey's Reese's Easter Fudge Eggs
Size: 1.2oz Calories: 180 Fat: 10g Carbohydrates: 18g

bunny ears kit kat (USA)

I'm not going to do a review on this because it's common knowledge that regular Kit Kats always score a perfect 10, unless I find them under our refrigerator a year later. This special Easter edition Kit Kat has bunny ears that run the length of the Kit Kat. Amazing! What will Hershey think of next? Anyhow, I love 'em. Blah, blah.

In other news, my latest shipment from Japan came. Jason (my contact in Japan) sent me a large bundle of Kit Kats very nicely packaged, as if they were laid out in some formal style. Huh. It's those little extra things. My next order from him will include several new Aero bars and a few new boxed edition Kit Kats. I can't wait! I also think I'm going to reach out to my Canadian resource, as I'm really trying to get a hold of those Cinnamon Kit Kats. Okay, until later on today when I review the Blueberry Fromage Kit Kat...

nestle banana aero bar (Japan)

Sorry for the lack of updates. Val was a bridesmaid in a wedding this weekend and most of Friday night and all of Saturday was taken up. Let me just tell you thought that they had an amazing chocolate fountain at the Viennese (sp?) dessert table. The chocolate tasted as if they had used freshly melted Hershey Kisses for the filling. On another note, I'm expecting a large order of Kit Kats to arrive from Japan. In the meanwhile, I have Banana Aero bars to review. Mmm. I don't even have to taste them and know that they are going to be insane.

I could barely read anything written on the package of the Japanese packaging, but let me tell you, I loved it! For one, the entire box was covered in yellow and orange air bubbles as well as flying bananas. Top that off with a talking poodle on ice skates and I believe we have a winner! The box had a perforation on top and inside were ten single-serving bite-sized Aero bars.

Biting in the (small) piece of chocolate was heaven! Now, let me tell you that bananas are one of my favorite fruits / flavors and I've tried many different banana flavored chocolates and candies before. None of them, not even the banana flavored Kit Kat has come close to the real flavor of a banana as this Aero bar. The Nestle chocolate, combined with the aerated banana flavored middle makes for quite a delicious treat. They really don't get much better than this!

Nestle Banana Aero Bar
Size: 5g Calories: 28 Fat: 1.7g Carbohydrates: 2.9g

dark chocolate 100 grand bars (USA)

Happy Valentine's Day to my other two readers out there. Here's another Target limited edition we picked up while shopping on Sunday. I'm a pretty big fan of 100 Grands, being that they are essentially made of the best parts of Nestle Crunch and Milky Way bars. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm always talking about the packaging and really, who cares? But... Aside from all the nonsense advertising usually on the package, I like the really classy gold ends with black Avant Garde lettering. It really screams, "limited edition". Hehe.

There really isn't much to say about this bar. If you've had a 100 Grand bar before, then you know what this taste like. Substitute the milk chocolate coating with Hershey's ever-so-slightly bitter dark chocolate and you get this special edition bar. The only problem here is that the overwhelming sweetness of the caramel kills any ounce of flavor that the dark chocolate may have given this bar. So in essence, you don't need to run out and buy a bag of these so called "limited edition" bars. Buy the originals. You aren't missing much.

white chocolate kit kat (Japan)

The White Chocolate Kit Kat is a staple to the Kit Kat world, but Nestle Japan puts a little bit of a twist on it. In addition to the regular ingredients, I believe that they have added honey to it as well, though one would never know from the taste. I've always been a fan of Nestle Kit Kats over Hershey's ones, and this is one of the reasons.

Grr. My computer crashed and I had to retype this next section from memory.

Anyhow, let's get on with it. I pulled out the first of the two packs and unwrapped the two-fingered delight. There was a an aroma of white chocolate that must be personally witnessed to understand. The chocolate itself was the standard issue white Nestle chocolate - white and not too sweet. The wafer was fresh and crisp. Delicious. Muy delicious. I would recommend this bar to all chocolate aficionados as well as anyone looking for a wonderful tea biscuit replacement.

valentine's cherry kit kats (USA)

Oh man. Yet another limited edition Valentine's Kit Kat from Hershey. Last night as Val and I were shopping in Target, I stumbled across a bag of limited edition Valentine's Cherry Flavored Kit Kats. Now, I'm not really a fan of cherry flavored anything, but I decided to give them a try on behalf of Kit Kat Palace's 3 readers (myself included).

The wrappers are nice enough looking. Nothing special, but what can one expect from Hershey? They aren't the creative geniuses behind the Kinder Bueno or Aero Bar packaging, but whatever. It's a Kit Kat and that's what matters. When I bite into the pink wafer I'll get a sudden rush of pleasure from the crisp wafers and delicious chocolate and be quite satisfied. But boy am I surprised when I take my first real bite. What the hell am I eating? This isn't a Kit Kat. It doesn't even slightly resemble a Kit Kat, except for the wafer in the center which when mixed with the cherry flavored white chocolate taste like I'm eating a breakfast cereal. Yuck. Boy, this one is disappointing. However, I can't give it horrible remarks because I don't really cherry flavor to begin with. Anybody out there care to give me their opinion?

kit kat best friend hearts (USA)

Technically, I've already covered this one. A few posts back, I did a review on Kit Kat Conversations. This one is similar. This Kit Kat is meant to be shared and has a message on it that reads "Best Friends Forever". It sports a small heart on each half of the Kitter and one large one in the background. I know, there really isn't much to this Kit Kat except for the packaging and the "sweet" message on top, but a Kit Kat enthusiast can never be too thorough. Regardless, it is a special edition, so I'll add it to my collection. On that note, go buy one and share two fingers with your significant other.

Oh man. See what happens to me when I write my blog entries late at night? I'm tempted to look online to see if there are any new flavors available... Ughh. My next shipment is on its way. More wonderful flavors from Japan.

kit kat conversations... (USA)

I'm probably only going to write one more entry after this one and then there will be about ten days of silence. I'm going to Florida to run the Miami Marathon then relax afterward on a weeklong cruise with my wife. We went back to and once again on an impulse buy, I purchased a bag of Kit Kat Conversations.

Basically, they're regular two finger mini-bars with various messages imprinted on top of the chocolate. The wrappers have pink and red hearts as well as new "friendship exchange" logo on the top left corner. The back of the wrapper has spaces to write your name as well as the recipient's. The Kit Kat itself was extremely fresh and true to top notch Hershey flavor. There's a reason why regular Kit Kats are on top of my list.

While on the cruise, we'll be stopping in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Antigua. I'll be sure to bring back some foreign goodies to review.