Courtesy of Mouth Party
Fancy candy is everywhere. With big candy coming under attack for cutting corners, small businesses across the country are taking back the market share by putting out superior products.
Do you ever remember those caramel candies that were in like every candy jar as a kid? They were just the right mixture of sweet and caramel; it was one great quick insulin boost for young Unmanly Chef. But as I grew up, and I tried those sweet childhood memory candies again I basically said to myself, “how the hell did I eat this crap?”
Recently I stumbled on a much tastier version of my childhood fave, they’re called Mouth Party Caramels. Mouth Party is a local Baltimore company that produces small-batch gourmet caramels and caramel sauce. Their caramels are really f’ing good. They don’t use any bizarre ingredients, so that means no high fructose corn syrup, no hydrogenated oils, and no other chemicals that will allow it to stay fresh into 2020.
Caramel comes from the Spanish word caramelo, the process of caramelization is simply removing water from sugar.
The Mouth Party caramels run the gamut of flavors from original to Old Bay, they pretty much have something for anyone. I tried a bunch of them (see cavities later). Here’s my run down:
Old Bay – Mmmm not my favorite, if you’re an Old Bay lover give it a whirl but I prefer it on my crabs not my sweets.
Bergamot – This flavor is somewhat of an acquired taste, to me it tastes just like Persian tea so I really loved it. Mrs. Unmanly Chef wasn’t as thrilled.
Pear – REALLY tasty, mild pear flavor that accents the caramel perfectly.
Sea Salt Caramel – Uhh no explanation needed, iss goooood.
Original Caramel – See Sea Salt
Chocolate Covered Caramel – Really decadent, high quality chocolate flavor goes well with the yummy caramel.
So they have a flavor for just about anyone, they’re really satisfying. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention their secret weapon. Their weapon x. Their big kahuna.
The caramel sauce.
Courtesy of Mouth Party
Ho. My. God. The caramel sauce is so good. It takes all those store bought caramel sauces and takes it out to the woodshed with how good this stuff is. I put it on my ice cream and I just about passed out from how good it was. If I could swim in a literal pool of this stuff I would. (Don’t imagine that, it’s not practical)
The price range for the caramels is fairly reasonable, about 50 cents a piece. The sauce runs a little pricey, but let me tell you it’s worth it. For 9 dollars you can elevate pretty much any dessert into some sort of magical caramel explosion.
Overall Grade: A
