Pumpkin Spice Latte M&M's

Much like the Oreo brand, M&M's have become known for their unique flavor varieties over the last few years.  Whether it was Red Velvet or Carrot Cake, the candy classics have become synonymous with the ever-changing seasons.  Being able to adapt and transition from one event to the other, Mars have put M&M's on the holiday map and, as expected, they're at it again with one of their best editions to date!

Candy Apple M&M's

You know by now, we can't have seasonal products without seasonal M&M's.  For the last few years, M&M's have come second only to Oreo cookies in the battle for most-unique-flavors supremacy.  Whether it's Red Velvet, Pumpkin Spice, Carrot Cake, or Gingerbread, there's no doubt M&M's do their fair share of getting involved and enhancing the season.  Unlike some of you, I never knock a company for taking advantage of the system and using my curiosity for their profit.  In fact, I welcome it.  I love these new, sometimes oddball, off-the-wall flavors and always go out of my way to review and appreciate them.  In today's case, there's nothing too out of the ordinary and the flavor is probably long overdue.  Falling in line with Fall 2014, M&M's have gone apple picking!

Red Velvet Valentine's Day M&M's

I had no problem finding Cherry M&M's, but the Red Velvet M&M's were a different story.  Whenever I can't find a product, I need to drive out to a Wal-Mart much further away because, for some reason, they always seem to carry more than my local retailers.  Over the years, they're to thank for Halloween and Christmas Crunch cereals, Oreo Cookies, and a few cakes and candies that have been unattainable elsewhere.  In this case, they're to thank again because they're the only location to offer me these highly sought after Red Velvet M&M's.

Red Velvet cake and cupcakes have been all the rage for quite some time.  I think the Food Network deserves the credit, especially Duff from Ace of Cakes and his TLC rival, Buddy the Cake Boss, for creating masterpieces with Red Velvet ingredients.  To be honest, I can't remember anybody mentioning or wanting the flavor before it hit the TV screen.  When I was a kid, I didn't even know what Red Velvet was.  Outside of some type of sensual cloth, I had no idea that it was something you can taste.  Now, and especially over the last few years, everything is being flavored in Red Velvet!  Candy, ice cream, cake - you name it.  But hey, I can't blame them.  When something is that popular, you have to cash in before it crashes down. M&M's are no exception and leave it to Ms. Green to lure us in with her freshly baked cupcakes topped with, what I can only assume are, crushed Red Velvet M&M's.  Some imagination, eh?

The M&M colors are nearly identical to that of the Cherry bag.  If not for the white M&M's thrown into the mix, I don't think you would be able to tell the difference.  The white makes sense, though, because it represents the icing on Ms. Green's cupcakes.  The only color I would have liked to see more of is a deep purple.  Why?  Just because I like the color and think it would work.  Does it matter?  Absolutely not, I'm just being picky at this point.

Just like the Cherry M&M, the Red Velvet version is chocolate on the inside with less of an impact when it comes to flavor.  This one reminds me more of the Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread M&M's because there isn't much taste to it.  To me, it was still basically a chocolate M&M with very little Red Velvet in the mix.  To a degree, that's not a bad thing because, unlike the Cherry, it's far from overwhelming.  But, at the same time, a little bit more punch would have been appreciated and might have worked better.  Either way, It's a good pick-up and a welcome addition to the line of Valentine's Day M&M flavors.  Believe it or not, there are more than just these two bags that I've reviewed today, but these are the hot shots that deserve all the glory and acclamation.

It's the day before Valentine's Day, so if you're still behind and need to get something quick for that special someone in your life, then these are worth the money.  If you can find them, I'd recommend purchasing both.  I know they'll receive mixed reviews, as they have on The Holidaze, but they represent the season so well that they deserve a shot.  Throw them in with a bag of 3 Musketeers Strawberry Dark Chocolate and you're well on your way to sealing the deal.  Or a stomach ache, whatever comes first :)

Cherry Valentines Day M&M's

If there's one brand of candy that you can count on during the holiday seasons, it's M&M's.  The funny part is I'm not even a big fan of M&M's candy, but can't resist the various flavors that hit the shelves every few months.  Even if it's a taste that I'm not necessarily fond of, I pick up a bag and waste my money anyway, just to say I tried them.  Seriously, 95% of the bag sits there in my kitchen or in a bowl and never gets touched.  Once they're photographed and tasted for The Holidaze, they've served their purpose and can rest in peace.

Unlike many of the limited-editions I buy, Cherry M&M's was one that actually interested me.  It's rare that cherry and chocolate don't work out well together, so I assumed this would be a hit.  The package design, like all varieties of M&M's, is superb.  There's are friend Red again, sporting a bow tie and jacket, bringing you a big box of chocolates and two giant cherries.  Not sure what they represent, but my dirty mind thinks something other than these M&M's.  I mean, just look at the grin on his face - he's got something up his sleeve as he prepares for the big night.

To nobody's surprise, the Cherry M&M's are red and dark red.  We'll call it maroon to avoid any confusion, but the two colors are more than appropriate for the season and flavor.  I would have accepted green to represent the cherry stem, but then you're entering Christmas territory and this separates itself from the rest and symbolizes Valentine's Day as it should.  Besides the color, the smell is overwhelming.  I've review a few of these holiday bags over the years and, without a doubt, this was the strongest scent to fly out from the bag since I started.  It's sweet, strong and seductive.  Okay, maybe not seductive, but I needed a third "S" word to make that sound better.  Smelly would have been a turn off.

The inside is traditionally chocolate with a hint of cherry.  Actually, scratch that, a hint is undermining the amount of impact that this cherry flavor brings.  It's a smack in the face and that will lead to differing opinions.  I've had a few people give this bag a taste test and, so far, the reviews are mixed.  Even my own opinion isn't official yet.  I've had at least 6 since I opened the bag and I can't figure out if I like them or not.  One second I love them, but the next I can't stand them.  If that doesn't sum up Valentine's Day, then what else does?  But seriously, when it's good, I get a taste of Cherry Tootsie Pops which is awesome.  But, when it's bad, it's more like Cherry Nyquil and that isn't so great.  So this one is a bit up in the air and I think the only way to get a true review is for you to make the decision yourself.  I do recommend the Cherry M&M's, at least to try during this season, but I can't promise that you'll like them.

Here's another heart made from Cherry M&M's.  Because I go from having no time to having too much time on my hands.

Check back later today for another batch of M&M's - Red Velvet!

Peppermint M&M's

It just seems like they're constantly releasing new M&M flavors!  I'm sure you've seen these before, because I know I have, but The Holidaze is behind on the Christmas times so I want to cover as much as I can in the short amount of time we have left.  If we're going to celebrate the season, we need to talk about everything - big and little - even if they've been released in the past.  Because next year, if these are discontinued, we can say we mentioned them.  For example, did you know there were Sugar Cookie Twix, last year?  I sure as hell didn't and now I regret missing out on the now extinct greatness!

When I first heard about these white chocolate peppermint M&M's, I was searching the Internet for various Christmas products.  This stood out to me because I couldn't find them and, on Ebay, they were selling for $15 a bag.  Really?  Were they that rare?  Was I gonna have to splurge on a bag of candy that I may not even like?  The answer is... no.  They're easy to find and readily available, somebody was just trying to cash in.  I'm sure somebody, somewhere, was suckered into the trap.  If they're reading The Holidaze, I hope they know I found stacks and stacks of Peppermint M&M's at Target.  Sorry, bud.. I was almost you.

I like how much they're using the snarky, sarcastic, red M&M to sell their products.  Out of all their characters, he's the closest thing to a used car salesman.  He gives you a smirk, points out the beauty of his candy, throws on a Santa hat to welcome your friendship, then charges you $15 for a bag you could have had for $3.  Isn't that how it goes?  He's good, and I like him, but I'll say it again - he needs a name.  I'm tired of calling him "The Red M&M."  I don't even like "Red," I just want him to have a traditional name like Joe or Bob.  It's funnier.. What would you name Red?

These were obviously going to be red and white colored and anything different would have been a disappointment and epic fail.  We knew that wouldn't happen, and that's a good thing because these are perfect for the season.  Everything from the bag design to the candy coating is red and white and emits a true feeling of winter.  You'd think blue would do a better job than red, but not when it's paired with white.  Peppermint is probably the number one Christmas flavor and nothing does it better than the Candy Cane.  Hence, red and white M&M's.  How come this stuff was never mentioned in College?  I could write pages and pages on the color of candy but couldn't write a paragraph about "The Great Gatsby."  Grown up, baby!

Usually, whenever I try these white chocolate + random flavor concoctions, I don't taste anything out of the ordinary.  Use the Candy Corn M&M's as the perfect example.  However, this time, they really hit the nail on the head and did a great job!  These are, without a doubt, my favorite Holiday M&M's and it's with good reason - the truly taste like Peppermint!  Yeah, there's the subtle hint of white chocolate, and that's to be expected, but it's not overwhelming and walks the line perfectly.  

So if you're only going to buy one of the 472 M&M flavors this season, I'd make this the winner.  They look and taste like Christmas and that's enough to make up for those damn Pumpkin Spice M&M's last October.

Gingerbread M&M's

This is a big one, guys!  This is one of those seasonal products that make so much sense that you just can't believe it hasn't been done before.  But over the last few years, M&M's and Oreos have been indirectly going at it in the who-can-release-more-flavors challenge.  We've seen everything from Pumpkin Spice and Cherry Cordial to Carrot Cake and Peppermint.  No, they haven't all been covered on The Holidaze, but they should be and, hopefully, will be at some point.  But, on this day, we're talking about our main attraction - Gingerbread M&M's!

I know Christmas is all about family and that's what I dedicate most of my time to during this season, but in terms of products, these are the types that make me happier than others.  The bag alone is perfect for the holidays and can sit on a table as a decorative item and totally pass as acceptable.  We have the sarcastic Red M&M (they really need to name these guys) wearing a Santa hat and holding a giant gingerbread cookie on a plate branded with the M&M logo.  For somebody like me, that's enough to sell this bag.  I love promotional art and package design, so this hits a home run.  Plus, he's pointing at the cookie as if to say, "Yeah, see this? You know you want it."

Yep.. I do, nameless Red M&M!

The M&M's are appropriately colored for the Christmas season.  We have red, green, and brown to represent the gingerbread man who's been chopped up and blended into the recipe.  Now you go from having a decorative bag to having an equally effective bowl of M&M's that add just a little extra to the Christmas spirit.  Any time you can insert some more red and green into your environment, go ahead and do it.  You'll feel more Christmassy.

This is just one of many - MANY- gingerbread flavored products that you'll see come and go throughout the season, but it was a must-buy for this guy.  I like gingerbread, so I had to see what these tasted like.  If I was going to suffer through those damn Pumpkin Spice M&M's, I was definitely going to enjoy a bag of Gingerbread M&M's.  Fair trade off, if you ask me..

As somebody who likes gingerbread, I loved these.  In all honesty, I tasted more chocolate than anything else, but that little hint of gingerbread flavor was good enough to make this a bag of Christmas joy.  However, when my girlfriend tried one, she thought it was disgusting.  She couldn't believe I, being such a picky eater, actually liked it.  Even my Mom said they taste like medicine.  I was so confused that I asked my Dad to try them and he, like me, thought they were good and tasted nothing more than a traditional M&M.  

So the debate rages on.  Have you tried Gingerbread M&M's?  What's your opinion? I'm sticking with my taste buds and calling these a success for Mars Candy.  Now I just have to find the other 86 bags of flavors they release.

S'Mores Candy Corn and Pumpkin Spice M&M's

Unfortunately, no stores in my area are cooperating with the Halloween season.  Walgreens and Target are my usual hot-spots but, this year, they're so far behind!  Kids have been back to school for a few days now so I have no idea why they haven't taken all those books and folders and stored them away to make room for orange boxes and decorations.  By this time last year, Walgreens was fully stocked with Halloween spirit.  This time around, it's been all about candy corn and M&M's.  And honestly, I'm getting tired of candy corn and M&M's!  Let's go, retailers! Get it together!

This bag of S'mores flavored candy corn by Brach's is the ONLY thing Walgreens had to offer in terms of Halloween.  I'll be honest with you, had they been offering more, this isn't something I'd go out of my way to buy.  But I felt so bad walking into Walgreens on September 4th and leaving without anything related to Fall.  It's not the greatest find, especially when so many other people are finding glorious treasures in their area, but it's the best I could do.  It's better than nothing, I guess.

They certainly look like candy corn, but I don't have to tell you that.  I feel like that's all I've been talking about lately and, if you've been reading, you know way more than you need to know about how candy corn looks and the way it feels.  But when it comes to flavor, these actually aren't bad.  For the most part, it still tastes like candy corn, but it has enough of a s'mores punch to separate itself from Halloween and be more of a Fall candy.  I like that about this variety because, for me, s'mores is much more related to the upcoming season than it is with Summer.  Whenever I've gone camping, it's always been during the cooler months.  I can't take the heat or, even worse, the bugs, so camping and s'mores scream Fall for me and that's what Brach's does for me, here.  Not the best candy in the world, but a change that I welcome and embrace simply for the fact that it's something new to me and, most importantly, available!!  If not for the Jersey City Walgreens' lack of work ethic, I'd probably missed out on these altogether.

If you've read The Holidaze in the past, you're familiar with the fact that I'm not a very big fan of pumpkin flavored anything.  Pumpkin spice is a bit more tolerable, but it's nothing you'll see me write home about.  Unfortunately, around this time of year, everybody releases a pumpkin flavored product and, thanks to my uncooperative taste buds, I'm left out in the cold.  But I try.. I really try.  I tell myself that pumpkin is an acquired taste and I've been committed to acquiring that taste as recent years have gone by.  Even if it means only taking a few bites or sips, I have to force myself to enjoy this flavor.  After all, there's no more prominent Fall flavor than pumpkin!

So, when I heard about Pumpkin Spice M&M's, I knew they had to be found and tried.  Of course, like I said, everybody and their Mother found them before I did because of these major retailers messing with me.  Although, for as much as I've seen them pictured, I haven't really read any reviews on them and that gave me hope.  Finally, I could find something and talk about it as if nobody else had ever seen them before.  Even if I knew that wasn't true, I had to salvage a poor start to the season with a lie.  Thankfully, my girlfriend found these at Target, last night.  Much like Walgreens, this was the only Fall / Halloween item available.  Sad.

You know me, I'm a package art kinda guy and, once again, M&M's hits a home run with their design.  It isn't overly fancy, but it hits on every mark.  The bag is a light brown, the "Pumpkin Spice" logo is colored appropriately, and the orange M&M, who's notoriously nervous, has somehow ended up in a pumpkin patch.  This guy, who's really the pretzel M&M, is so afraid of being eaten that it messes with his entire life.  Now, with his luck, he happens to look just like a pumpkin as Pumpkin Spice M&M's hit the shelves.  He can't catch a break.

Originally, I said that the Candy Corn M&M's were the perfect color for Fall, but that was until I saw Pumpkin Spice M&M's.  Green, orange, and brown - these are juuuuust right.  They represent the Fall, but they also symbolize pumpkins.  It's not rocket science, but it's done the right way and I like that.  You don't even have to be a fan of pumpkins to appreciate the way these would look in a bowl on your table.  Light a fall-scented Yankee Candle and you'll have those leaves falling off trees whether they like it or not!

I was going to remove that ugly, smashed, beat-up M&M from the photo, but I felt bad for him.  I also think he's responsible for the aroma emitting from the bag as soon as it's opened.  He's like that rotten pumpkin, surrounded by gnats, that you find on farms.  Appetizing, right?  But these do have a very cool "Fall" smell to them.  It's "spicy" and even if that doesn't make sense, it's appropriate given the name of this candy.

Now, when it comes to flavor, you and I are most likely going to differ.  But the positive I take away from that is, chances are, neither of us are going to hate them.  At the very worst, you're going to love them and I'm simply going to like them.  That's an absolute win, in my book!  I'll take that any day of the week!  These are hard to describe, but they're good!  The reason I like them more than I expected is because of the spice.  That's crucial for me because "pumpkin" and "pumpkin spice" have always treated me differently.  Spice is always so much more kind.

Pumpkin Spice M&M's aren't something I'd eat consistently or a lot of in one time, but they're good to have around on a cool, Fall day.  The enhance the season and that's all I can really ask for.  Now, if you're one of those huge pumpkin fans who went crazy when Starbucks ran out of Pumpkin Spice Latte's, then you obviously have to try these.  They were made for you!

In the meantime, I need retailers to wake up around here because I'll be running out of topics before we even get started =)

Candy Corn M&M's

Last year, I heard all about Candy Corn M&M's.  I saw them, I picked them up, and read the bag.  It clearly said "white chocolate" M&M's.  I thought, if these are just a collection of M&M's that I can get at any time of year, seasonally colored to represent candy corn, then it's not worth buying to try and write about.

But soon after I passed up on the M&M's, I read various reviews that described the flavor and they believed they were actually candy corn flavored.  Well now we're talking.  This year, I wasn't going to let others describe and review for me, I was going to do that myself.  Luckily, I found a tiny bag at Michael's Craft Store and was able to pick it up for cheap.

One thing I never discounted last year was the bag design.  On both the large and small bags, they went all out as they usually do with their seasonal M&M's.  Of course, they went with the obvious color scheme of yellow, white, and orange.  I wouldn't expect anything different, but the fact that they dressed the red M&M in a candy corn costume is pretty cool.  We all know this guy.  He's been in 100s of commercials and he's quite the complainer.  It seems like he's never happy.  But somehow, they convinced him to put this costume on and act like he's proud to be laying in an M&M ball pit.  He's even throwing up the RVD thumb as if to say "Yeah, check me out, ladies."  They must have paid him in gum.

You'd probably notice the size of these M&M's first, but I want you to notice the fact that I flipped every M&M over to be M-Side Up.  That's dedication to The Holidaze, so lie and tell me you noticed that first, okay?

Second, you'll notice the strong scent of sugar once you rip this open.  It kinda smells like cake frosting battling with the stronger scent of vanilla extract.  It's strong, but I like it.

Lastly, before you try one, you have to respect the colors.  Comparing these M&M's to candy corn is easy, but they're perfect for fall as well.  Besides brown, I can't think of three better colors to pour in a bowl and display on your table as a decorative item.  You don't even have to be a fan of Halloween or candy corn, you just have to enjoy the season itself.  And if you don't like Fall, then I have no idea how you stumbled on this site.

Okay, now for the reason behind purchasing these suckers at all - the taste!!  I gotta be honest, all I'm tasting is white chocolate.  I've seen a dozen sites saying that they taste candy corn, but I'm really pushing it if I say I do, too.  I mean, you might get a hint of it every now and then, but I truly feel like I'm tricking myself into believing it.  A lot of people have said "Yeah, it's white chocolate and candy corn combined."  I'll take your word for it and, if that's the case, then I now know what those two flavors taste like when put together, but I can't make the same claim.  

Regardless of what I taste, you taste, I think, or you think, these M&M's are still very good and they're worth buying for the colors and design alone.  I didn't think so last year, but I've had a change of heart after writing about them.  If not for the season, I'd probably avoid them and stick with the classics, but I can't turn down Halloween candy two-years in a row.  Now, from what I'm hearing, there are new pumpkin spice M&M's out for 2013 and those I'll have to try.  I've been on the lookout, but no luck just yet.  When it comes to stocking shelves, stores have been slower than ever.  But soon, Halloween will strike and strike hard.  Until then, go ahead and pick these up.  I'm curious to see what you think.