At World of Snacks we’ve been lucky enough to sample the best cookies, cakes, candies, chocolates, and treats from around the world. One snack item that we’ve failed to give enough attention to is drinks.  We are still trying to decide if we will actually offer drinks in our international snack store.  While we explore the logistics of offering foreign drinks for sale in the US we plan on at least sampling a few for review here on our blog.  So today we are looking at the Nestle Milo Energy Drink.

Our version of the Nestle Milk Energy Drink comes in a shiny green can, about the size of a normal US Red Bull Energy Drink.  The Nestle logo is in the top corner just above the Milo logo.  Below the can reads “Chocolate Nutritional Energy Drink.”  The middle of the can shows an athlete of some sort, maybe cricket or football (soccer), wearing a Milo uniform.  The bottom right corner mentions that the drink contains vitamins and minerals.  Now onto the taste test portion of our review.

Personally I tend to avoid energy drinks.  I do enjoy coffee and a little caffeine on occasion but for the most part I prefer other beverages.  So for the review of the Nestle Milo Energy Drink I consulted with several serious energy drink enthusiasts.  My personal experience was very enjoyable.  It tastes a lot like another Nestle product known as Ovaltine.  It hints towards a watered down chocolate milk with a little boost of energy.  So what did our panel of experts think?  They all enjoyed it too, not one negative comment!

So will World of Snacks offer Nestle Milo Energy Drink for sale in the US?  We still don’t know!  Once we do we will be sure to let everyone know. Be sure to leave your details to the right and we will update you if we add this snack and as we add others from around the world.  Until then be sure to check out our International Snack Store!

World of Snacks is on a mission to locate the very best snacks on the planet!  We’ve explored culinary specialties from 34 separate countries. Earlier this year we opened our international snack store and each month this year we are expanding out inventory by one country.  Next month, snacks from Japan!  Until then, we are continuing our search for future counties and to expand our current offering of foreign snacks.  Today we are reviewing an American owned snack that is made for the European market only.  It appears this version of the most sold candy in the world is from France specifically.  We are reviewing M&M Crispy!

Have you heard of M&M Crispy?  If you live in the US and have a decent memory chances are you have.  Originally released in 1999, this version of loved M&M’s was discontinued in 2005. What Americans may not realize is M&M Crispy was never discontinued in Europe, South East Asia, and Australia. That means our foreign friends have been enjoying this candy treat for nearly a decade since they were pulled from shelves in the US.

Why did they stop selling M&M Crispy in the US?  Chances are they didn’t perform as hoped.  So do Americans not care for this chocolate candy?  We think it may be because of competition.  There are so many other chocolate candies in the United States to compete with.  But we want to know what Americans think of this candy and because we don’t have a time machine (yet) we are going to do a taste test with several adults and a few kids, all American, most unfamiliar with M&M Crispy.

So how did our testers like the M&M Crispy from Europe? Pretty unanimously they all enjoyed them, some loved them, and others liked them. Only one tester recalled that the snack was offered in the US, he mentioned he ate them in high school, which is the exact time frame they were offered.  So now that we are a majority of the way though out review of the M&M Crispy, maybe we should tell you exactly what they are.  Well, in theory they are crispy rice balls covered in M&M’s chocolate with their much loved crunchy shell.  However, the chocolate is different than the US market M&M’s as well as the coloring of the shell.  The colors seemed to be dialed down, and with some research I learned that they do not use some of the artificial coloring that is used in the States.  In fact, some of the coloring is banned from Europe! They chocolate is sweeter, and seemingly less milky.  The crunch shell although is not as vibrant, seems to taste better.  One tester mentioned they’d prefer it if it was the American chocolate around the European center.  Overall though, we think this candy is perfect the way it is.

Will World of Snacks offer M&M’s Crispy for sale in the US? Eventually we do think we will include this European snack in our inventory.  We want to include as many American snacks with international flavors as possible.  So until then, why don’t you check out our selection of Japanese Kit Kats for sale.  Although out full inventory is not yet posted, we are 100% sure you will be excited about these flavors.  As always, keep snacking world!

World of Snacks was created so our family and friends could explore the world through it’s sweet and salty treats.  Over the last year we have spent time analyzing snacks from 30 different countries.  At the first of this year we opened our international snack store to the world.  We now offer the best British Snacks for sale in the United States with shipping around the world. Each month following we will add a new country and their snacks to our inventory.  The focus of our international snack blog is to find inventory for our store.  Today, we are back in Ireland reviewing some gourmet chocolates that we are very excited to be sampling.

These special Irish chocolates that we are examining are produced by Lily O’Brien.  The company was initially founded in 1992 in the O’Brien’s kitchen with only a wooden spoon and a passion for chocolate. Today the company is one of Ireland’s most recognized global brands and has export sales that make up 75% of their volume.  Although they are famous at home, Lily O’Brien also sells products throughout the UK, USA, Australia, Sweden and more.  Although to be honest, here in the USA this is our first experience of this Irish Snack. 

Although they offer a variety of chocolaty options we are examining the Lily O’Brien’s Gourmet Irish Chocolate Gifts.  They have a range of keepsake, personalized, and wedding gifts.  Our sample is a massive Christmas Keepsake gift package.  It comes with their whole lineup of chocolates in a variety of individually wrapped gift packages.  The idea is to buy the keepsake box, open it up, give out gifts of gourmet Irish chocolate to everyone your have ever met, and keep the massive container for yourself. Well, that is our take on it.  Although the box offers a wide size of gift options, we dove into the biggest and divided it up for our review panel.

Our box contained three trays of 30 chocolates, for those who don’t feel like doing math, that’s 90 chocolates!  In this massive sub-box of our giant larger keepsake gift box there were 10 different flavors of the Irish chocolate. To prevent the need to create our first international snack novel, we are going to examine each with just a very quick summary.   So for your snack research pleasure, here is our nearly tweet friendly review of Lily O’Brien’s Gourmet Irish Chocolate Gifts.

First up was the Double Chocolate Truffle.  Filled with a velvet smooth 55% dark chocolate and encased in a hard shell 68% dark chocolate this dark on dark combination created a well blended creamy treat that for some reason has a hint of orange.

Simply Chocolate was just as the name implies.  This Irish snack was a blend of both white and dark chocolate and was a firm and a little hard.  Very enjoyable, but the most solid version offered by Lily O’Brien.

Le Crunch Chocolat tastes a lot like an American crunch bar that has been re-engineered into a gourmet Irish chocolate.  The crunch comes from a French biscuit.  Not the USA version of a biscuit though, the cookie kind.

My personal favorite was the Lemon Meringue Pie.  WOW!  This tastes like a fresh lemon meringue pie coated in outrageously delicious Irish milk chocolate.

Praline Perfection offered a perfectly presented white chocolate cup outer shell with a praline and smooth chocolate center.   The nut was a little small, but the treat had big flavor.

Caramel Mocchiato caught us off guard.  Generally coffee and chocolate candy can come off a little weak.  The coffee in Lily O’Brien’s chocolate was perfect, with a nearly fresh ground taste.  In addition to being snack lovers, we are very serious coffee and consumers and to be wowed by a snack version is rare.

We are not new to orange chocolate; in fact this is our third review featuring this combination.  However, out of the three this snack, the Zesty Orange Chocolate was our least favorite rendition.  The orange was a strange firm jelly and there were rind pieces on top?  Not our favorite Irish gourmet chocolate for sure.

Hazelnut O’Brien was our female tasters favorite, minus the nut. I personally enjoyed the nut, so I ate hers too!  The mouse like filling is divine and the white chocolate layer on top rounds this snack out well.

Their classic Sticky Toffee gave me an instant sugar rush, in fact we are 30 minutes post review and I am still high on sugar.  The toffee is the best I have ever tasted.  Our female taster was not a fan but all other truly enjoyed this chocolate snack.

Last but not least, Death by Chocolate.   This one left us wanting more.  The bold name oversold the item.  Or maybe it was because we just consumed 9 other delicious treats.  The taste took awhile to come together and it was enjoyable but lacked wow factor.

There you have it.  This is our longest snack review to date!  Will World of Snacks offer Lily O’Brien’s Gourmet Irish Chocolate Gifts for sale online?  Not at the moment. They have a decent export set up and offer the sale of their snacks right on their website.  We may be interested in gift items in the future and if we extend our international snack store to include items like this we will revisit with this Irish snack brand.  Hungry for snacks?  Head over and buy British Chocolates online now or leave your details to the right to be notified as we expand our inventory.  

World of Snacks is heading for the land down under for the second time this year.  Of course, we are talking about Australia.  Last time we reviewed a snack from Australia we took a look at Darrell Lea Dark Chocolate Ginger Fudge Bars.  We also heard back from the folks who own Darrell and we think very highly of them.  Although this week's snack is not owned by Darrell, we are still just as excited to give it a try.

This snack attack is brought to you by Arnotts.  This long standing Australian snack company initially opened as a small bakery in 1865.  Arnott's first customers where local townspeople and crews from ships that where docked at a port nearby in Newcastle.  From humble beginning this snack company grew to employ thousands of workers from more than 40 countries worldwide.  Many Australians have grown up enjoying their delicious treats and the company is considered by many to be a part of Australia's history.  Now let's take a look at Arnott Mint Slice Biscuits!

These Australian Biscuits literally jumped off the shelf of our snack storage facility.  The package gleamed like a powerful cylinder waiting to be unleashed.  Arnott Mint Slice Biscuits come in a shinny wrapped package that appears to have melting chocolate, in the process of covering mint.  If you enjoy mint like we do (most of us), then you'll appreciate the aesthetics of the treat.  Even before you open the package you know what you are getting into.  Now, let's get into these Arnott's Mint Biscuits and get on with our international snack review.

Will World of Snacks offer Arnott Mint Slice Biscuits as a part of our normally stocked inventory?  We'd love to offer a new and improved version of Thin Mints to our American clientele along with the rest of the world.  The only thing potentially holding us back is the price.  What we neglected to mention is they start at $8 a pack, which is rather high for a single sleeve of cookies.  We really enjoy them so chances are they will be offered in limited runs when we feature Australia.  If you are interested in this snack or others be sure to submit your information to the right and we will send you a coupon and announcements once our international snack store launches later this year.

Get ready, our international snack blog is heading down under to Australia!  This unique continent is home to many equally as unique snack items and we chose to start our taste tour with a Dark Chocolate Coated Ginger Fudge Bar by Darrell Lea.  

Darrell Lea is a family owned Fine Chocolatier and Confectionery that has been offering delightful treats to Australians since 1927. This Aussie company entered the snack world as a humble push cart outfit that sold Bulgarian Rock and eventually grew to what it is today.  

So what exactly is a Chocolate Ginger Fudge Bar?  Here in the US ginger is not a typical flavor in many products, not alone sweet snacks.  This candy bar consists of rich fudge that is blended with small pieces of Buderim ginger, then covered in dark chocolate layer. From the feel of the wrapper and it’s presentation it’s easy to see this is a higher end candy bar and consider somewhat a delicacy.   Now on to the taste test!

Our panel of testers all sampled the Darrell Lea Ginger Fudge Bar and each had a similar initial response.  The flavor catches you off guard if you are not prepared.  Never having sampled a ginger candy bar and my only real experience with ginger being a condiment of sushi, I was a little shocked by the kick.  The first bite is so gingery it feels almost citrus based, like a fresh peeled lemon.  Luckily with subsequent bites the flavor disperses to a mild after taste.  The fudge is creamy and the dark chocolate outer is perfectly smooth.  The filling is clearly a fudge blended with ginger bits.  The experience reminded us of a strange and foreign Three Musketeers.

A majority of our tasters agreed they would not actively seek the Darrell Lea Dark Chocolate Ginger Fudge Bar in the future.  The youngest panelist seemed the most thrilled and truly enjoyed the bar while the others did not come back for seconds.  Will World of Snacks offer this Australian Candy Bar?  It’s to soon to tell.  If the following of dedicated state-side Aussies is demanding this item then we are sure we will offer it for sale.  As we approach the grand opening of our International Snack Store later this year we will revisit our research and make a decision then.