Sweet Treats for Tea-Lovers

Published on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, by James Norton / Edit Post

Bali’s Best Tea Candy

Bali’s Best Tea Candy

I Paid: $2.19 for a 5.3-ounce bag (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 4 stars

Marketing: 4 stars

With packaging that communicates understated luxury, and flavors including Green Tea Latte and Classic Iced Tea, the oval lozenges known as Bali’s Best Tea Candy are clearly taking a crack at being the new Werther’s Originals. Or perhaps they’re positioning themselves as more sophisticated Werther’s for people who consider themselves to be a little too good for mainstream hard candies.

One thing’s for sure: The tea flavor—mildly astringent, herbal, authentically charming—actually comes through in these hard candy treats. The Green Tea Latte flavor, despite a slightly heavy hand when it comes to the use of creamy milk, still tastes like its namesake beverage. Classic Iced Tea, meanwhile, is a remarkable taste-alike; if sweet tea were a candy, it would be this. Both varieties are a bit too sweet for this adult’s palate, but (a) tastes vary, and (b) these are, in fact, candies, and are labeled as such.

The ingredient lists are heartening. Green Tea Latte contains just glucose syrup extracted from tapioca starch, cane sugar, milk powder, tea extract, natural green tea flavor, and salt. Classic Iced Tea is the same, minus the milk powder and with tea flavor rather than green tea. This gives the functional-food claim on the bag (“a natural source of anti-oxidants”) a bit more heft. If you’re going to suck on a hard candy for a few minutes some afternoon, it may as well be one of these.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster column, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook. His wife, Becca Dilley, takes the photographs for Supertaster. She specializes in weddings and food photography, and is the coauthor of and photographer for the book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers.

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POST A COMMENT |8 Comments

COMMENT

  • You fans of original Ricola should try Chinese loquat syrup. It's a black syrup similar in texture to molasses. Parents give it to kids with a sore throat, but I enjoy it whenever it's chilly. Take a spoonful, or dilute in hot water for a tea/coffee/hot chocolate alternative.

    Jin Jiom is the brand I always see at Asian markets, sometimes behind the cashier or near the Chinese herbs and...+READ

    You fans of original Ricola should try Chinese loquat syrup. It's a black syrup similar in texture to molasses. Parents give it to kids with a sore throat, but I enjoy it whenever it's chilly. Take a spoonful, or dilute in hot water for a tea/coffee/hot chocolate alternative.

    Jin Jiom is the brand I always see at Asian markets, sometimes behind the cashier or near the Chinese herbs and medicines. I'm not suggesting this particular website at all, they just have a good photo of the product: http://www.vitasprings.com/nin-jiom-loquat-syrup-5-oz-chinese-imports.html-COLLAPSE

  • Speaking of cough drops as candy, I love Thayer's Slippery Elm drops! I don't quite remember when/where I first had them, but I recently found some at the local Henry's market. http://www.thayers.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1

  • sounds really great - I will look for them!

  • If you want the tea flavor without any milkiness, try Ten Ren's Green Tea candies. They're sold in bags at the stores for about $1.50. The sweetness in these is balanced out nicely by the bitterness of what seems to be green tea powder. I like the Jasmine flavor as well, but have never tried the also-available Black or Oolong.

  • I'm ADDICTED to Horehound Drops (or to use the correct old time term, Horehound "slugs". I'm okay with Ricola's though the seem to me to have the problem (common to most "herbal throat drops" of having so much menthol in them that you really can't taste much else.
    Inicidentally there used to be a green tea candy that knocked Bali's best into a cocked hat. I was made my a company called Garden of...+READ

    I'm ADDICTED to Horehound Drops (or to use the correct old time term, Horehound "slugs". I'm okay with Ricola's though the seem to me to have the problem (common to most "herbal throat drops" of having so much menthol in them that you really can't taste much else.
    Inicidentally there used to be a green tea candy that knocked Bali's best into a cocked hat. I was made my a company called Garden of Songs and had vaguely scroll painting like pic of an elderly Chinese gentleman with a collecting basked on his back. Their green tea candies were wonderful and reaclly could perk you up after a long day. the Ginger were a lifesaver if you had a queasy stomach. and the "throat drop" was intriguing since is tasted of a cross between menthol and liquorice.-COLLAPSE

  • I think Ricola candies are tasty, and I don't give a toot if the company labels them throat drops. I enjoy them even when I feel fine, because they're plenty of tasty.

  • I love Ricola! I also really like horehound drops.

  • I may be a weirdo, but I find original-flavor Ricola cough drops to be the most delicious, vaguely-herbal-tea-tasting "candy" on the market. Not too sweet, delicious, natural herbal flavor, and, hey, it even soothes your throat!