July 15th: Tootsie Roll

Kcal 220 Fat 5.0g Fat(trans!!) 2.0g Carbs 46.0g

Tootsie Rolls are the one of the most if not the 'the' defining cultural icon of the American candy market. They have been manufactured for over 100 years and remain as one of the best selling candies in the US. Today courtesy of CandyPirate this icon went through its paces under the Chocolate Mission rating system.

So what is a Tootsie Roll you ask!? Well its officially classed as a 'chewy chocolate flavoured candy' - its not quite a chocolate bar, its not quite fudge...but imagine a crossbreed of the two. The Tootsie Roll is available in many different shapes sizes - I sampled a 64g bar which proved both greatly fulfilling as a snack and as an enjoyable eating experience.

The Tootsie came in a pretty smart retro style looking foil wrapper, to avoid the sticky roll sticking to the wrapper a thin non-stick cardboard sleeve was included, which more than served its purpose. Im not going to sit on the fence the Tootsie Roll did not look appetising in any manner - look at the picture above...it looks like a plastic lump of ... (fill the gap yourself lol!). Not appetising in the slightest...the sticky tacky nature of the roll further detrimented its score in this area. Despite its ghastly appearance the roll didnt smell at all bad - it had a strong caramel like scent that although was a tad confusing considering the chocolate flavour of the bar was still quite pleasant.

Its worth noting the make-up of the Tootsie Roll. The ingredients dont make pretty reading: 'sugar, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, condensed skimmed milk...and finally the cocoa'. This isnt a product for the organic purists amongst us and although it can claim to be a 'low fat candy' it does include those horrible trans fats....bad times!!

What with the aesthetic look and constituents of the bar, to say I was mildly cautious before eating this would be a slight understatement - thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. After sectioning the bar (quite a messy and sticky experience!!) I went about experimenting different ways of eating bite sized pieces....it turned out that this product could be equally enjoyed a number of different ways. Sucking on the individual pieces slowly released a chocolaty fudge flavour that just about right in its intensity. As the piece slowly warmed in the mouth it became softer and softer until it all but melted away on the tongue. This method gave the roll a nice buttery taste and texture that was neither overbearing or too subtle...it was just enjoyable slowly sucking away at the flavour. The next method I tried was chewing on the individual pieces. This made for a more intense cocoa flavour that still had a strong caramel undertone at its root. The chewing of the pieces made for an interesting taffy like texture that was certainly a unique experience. Its hard to liken the taste of a Tootsie to any other product but if you were to imagine a chocolate flavoured caramel with the texture of very chewy fudge you really wouldnt be far off.

Overall I must say this is a product that really quite surprised me when it came to the taste test. As I said I was really quite worried at the prospect of this product when looking at its ingredients and aesthetic look but what lies at the heart of this bad looking artificially manufactured product is actually a nicely flavoured satisfying chocolate flavoured snack. Whether you like this or not will solely be down to personal preference - so take my review at face value. Fair enough its not chocolate being celebrated in its greatest glory - nor has it scored particularly highly on the Chocolate Mission rating system, but this is a product I would recommend you try at least once if only for the sake of saying you have tried it.

7.0 out 10

Want to try the Tootsie Roll and other iconic American Candy & Foods? Head over to Candy Pirate for all your American Candy & Food needs