Come With Me On A Journey Through Six Caramel Flavors
Posted on September 5, 2023 Posted by Athena Scalzi 13 Comments
Back in July, I bought a bunch of pretzels from pretzels.com and did a ranking post on them. Turns out, that company also owns caramels.com. And you know who loves caramels? Me. Also, my dad, so he’s here to help with the ranking of the six caramel flavors I decided to try out.
Much like their pretzels, the caramels come in these matching cylindrical canisters with the flavors listed on the bottom. While the pretzels were twelve dollars for a 1/2 pound tube, the caramels are eighteen dollars for a one pound tube.
First up, the tried and true Classic Butter:
My dad and I have definitely had our fair share of caramels in our lives, and this was indeed a good, standard caramel that we would in fact enjoy again. Nothing incredible, but a good caramel is a good caramel. It was an 8/10 from both of us.
Staying in the realm of pretty standard caramel flavors, we went for the Pecan Maple next:
The fact that they put “pecan” before “maple” in the naming of these ones turned out to be very accurate, because they were quite pecan-y, and the maple was rather subtle. A contributing factor might have been the actual pecan chunks throughout these caramels. Regardless, they were really good, and tasted like a pecan pie. I gave them an 8.5/10, whilst my dad settled on another solid 8/10.
Getting into uncharted territory here, we tried the Blueberry:
The blueberry was A LOT. It really punches you in the face with flavor. Definitely need a chaser of some water or something with this one. It wasn’t bad, just really strong, more of a one and done kind of caramel, whereas I could see going back for a second one when it comes to the previous two. These were a 7/10 overall.
Onto Sugar Cookie:
Sugar Cookie, as you can probably imagine, was very sweet. To me, it tasted a lot like “the holidays.” I think that might be because making caramels, Buckeyes, and baked goods with my family is a bit of a Christmas tradition, but it was really nice, and made me wish festivities were already upon us. It was sweet and yummy, and sugar cookies are one of my favorite types of cookies, so I gave it an 8.5/10. Again, my dad went with an 8/10. My teeth were really feeling this one (yeouch).
Here they are, the caramel I have been waiting so patiently to talk about, Tropical Passion Fruit:
I actually really enjoy passionfruit. It’s a recent discovery of mine and I have liked it a lot ever since I first tried it, so these caramels were promising. However, when I opened the lid and smelled the canister, I was immediately flashed back to the days of my youth, when I was sick and had to take the nastiest tasting medicine that ever existed: children’s amoxicillin. The smell hit me like a ton of bricks and I was disgusted. There’s no way they could possibly taste like that revolting medicine from the Dark Ages of Childhood.
And yet, they did. One bite and it was over. I spit it out immediately, repulsed. I couldn’t believe it, I was so excited for passionfruit, and got one of the grossest medicines ever invented. My dad said it tasted fine, but wasn’t that good, and gave it a 5/10. Obviously, I gave it a 0/10. I’m literally shocked and appalled.
And finally, the flavor I got because I knew my dad would be happy, Black Licorice:
I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t dislike black licorice, it’s just not something I’m passionate about, like my dad. I don’t seek it out or eat it on purpose, but I’m not a hater. So I expected these caramels to be like a four or five for me, or pretty much just meh, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were! They weren’t overly strong, more of a mild yet also complex flavor. They went down smooth, you know. Very well done, I would totally have another. Solid 8/10!
At the time that I ordered these, there were some other flavors I was interested in trying that I don’t see listed right now. In fact, I don’t even see the classic or pecan maple listed in their flavors right now. Or even the blueberry! Maybe they sold out? One of the ones I wanted to try was harvest apple. Looking at what they have right now, though, I would want to try coconut, raspberry, and probably huckleberry! I’m sure coffee and peanut butter would be great, too, though.
Anyways, I really recommend caramels.com! This company also has licorice.com which has like fifty some types of licorice, so maybe I’ll try that sometime soon.
Which flavor are you most interested in? Have you ever homemade caramels? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
-AMS
I’ve made caramel but not caramels. What I made was in service of a topping for a hidden apple cake. That was awesome. If you want to give that a whirl, try here:
https://www.seriouseats.com/gateau-invisible
Can’t abide licorice. Rubber mixed with sputum from the mouth of Satan.
Well now I have great xmas present idea for my spouse, thank you!
I understand your experience with the passionfruit caramel reminding you of a dreaded childhood medicine. For me it’s anything with raspberry flavor because it reminds me of Triaminic cough syrup. I might as well be allergic to it because I can’t consume anything raspberry flavored. Every few years I try, thinking I’ll have outgrown the association, but nope, I think it will be with me for life!
Yum. Never made caramels but I do enjoy them. One nice thing about them is that in watching my sugars, they are small and one or two wouldn’t ruin me. Would be a wonderful treat.
Thanks for the review. I’ll have to take a glance at their sampler packs.
Good review (especially the passionfruit one — my kids once had a dessert that tasted like banana flavoured medicine, but their reaction to that was the opposite of yours.)
Nice review, Athena! Out of your selections here, I’d probably go for either the classic butter or for the pecan-maple, as I’m not terribly adventurous in mixing up wild flavor combinations. And with apologies to those who enjoy it, I’d sooner starve to death than ingest anything even remotely licorice-flavored. Your dad is welcome to my share!
Way back eons ago (over half a century, in fact), I tried making caramels with my mother one year for the traditional platters of holiday goodies that she lavished on all and sundry. We didn’t have a candy thermometer, though, and the result was a rock-hard substance with a strong burned-sugar flavor that wound up cemented to the bottom of Mom’s favorite saucepan. She was highly annoyed, and the experience left such scars on my psyche that I’ve never tried making caramel since. I wish you much better success if you try making caramels this autumn!
The pecan one sounds tempting! I did end up buying some pretzels from them based on your review and that was a lot of fun!
So what did your father think of the Black Licorice?
I like caramels. Caramel and pecan is always a great combo. I like the licorice my father orders from Finland. It is chewy and about the size and shape of those caramels. It has a strong licorice flavor, which I like. Probably I would like the plain, pecan, and licorice flavors. Based on your review I think I’d give the fruit flavors a miss, and the sugar cookie caramel sounds too sweet.
I’m not a big pretzel or caramel fan but I’ll be waiting for a review that I hope you’ll do of goodies from chocolate.com after their opening in October. I enjoy your writing and reviews and I hope you continue doing them.
@pjcamp, neat, thanks!
@Pangolin, you are so welcome! :)
@Louis Sivo, yayy I hope you like them :)
@Chuk, why thank you!
@Colonel Snuggledorf, thanks so much, I really appreciate it!
@Michelle, yes the pecan one was definitely my favorite! I hope you liked the pretzels you ended up getting!
@Scott, he loved them! I’m sure he’ll make quick work of the rest of them.
@Gretchen Johnson, I have heard of Finnish licorice before, I’m sure it’s good!
@Sanda, I would love to do a chocolate review! Sounds yummy. Thanks for the support!
I would spit out anything tasting of that amoxicillin medicine too! Just nasty. So I guess your dad gets the passion fruit ones then?
Did they come with an ingredients list?
I have come across too many candies that have a flavor made from phalates and that breaks me out too much, so I am only doing natural flavors and that causes me to have to make too much of my own snacks.
For me the dreadful medicine was mint-flavored. no mint to this very day, and I turn 73 soon. I loved caramels in my youth, but they’re way too rich for me any more. I enjoyed reading about them. The OMW book I like the best, Ghost Brigades, has that taste for licorice in it, like Proust’s madeleines, and I appreciate it each time I reread. I do enjoy your reviews, Athena. Keep ‘m coming.