This was taken the week prior to the snow bomb that dropped over a foot of snow that ultimately shut down the state for a day and a half.
Like most normal intelligent people, I love candy. When I was able to eat normal candy, more often than not my faves were 3Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way and Mars Bar with Almonds. I tried a whole bunch of others (thru the age of 21, so about 15+ years), but these are my top four.
Fast forward forty years and although I still love candy, it does not love me like it used to back in the day when I was a sugar junkie. Instead, it loves me like a plan "B", in that the only way to get some loving out of me is to go sugar-free, which we all know is not conducive to living a good sugar junkie life.
Now I have eaten a lot of sugar free candy since 1985 (this is when I was officially diagnosed as a diabetic), and for me they fall into three categories: good but expensive; average for the price point; and slop not worth the money. So without further ado, let's begin at the beginning.
1} Good but expensive:
There aren't too many candy companies that I've come across, either highly commercialized or niche regional, that can produce a quality sugar-free product. In fact, I know of only two that I can personally offer my positive opinion on.
Russell Stovers: Now we all know that Russell Stovers makes a quality chocolate product that you do pay a premium for. But their sugar-free product is something that you pay a premium price for because it's a quality product.
I often go out of my way to buy their sugar-free product because it's a quality product, and honestly, a quality sugar-free candy is hard to come by.
Muson's Chocolate: Is another example of a good quality product that is worth the premium price if you can find it, as most stores do not carry a large selection of sugar-free chocolate.
2} Average for the price point:
Most sugar-free mints and gums fall into this category: they get the job done and don't make you sick if you go overboard consuming them. And really, this is what you basically want out of your sugar-free mints or gums: to fulfill that craving without making yourself sick in the process.
Granted, there are some candies that should not have a sugar-free version if the company has a regular version. Let's face it, most confectioners should not make a sugar-free version when there is no call/clamor for one, because why expand your market when you feel there isn't one.
Which brings us to the last category: slop that isn't worth the money.
Stop me if you've heard this one: Hershey's chocolate is mediocre.
Now it was never this bad throughout most of their history, because if it was, you wouldn't see the vast economic empire that is Hershey's today. Instead, you would see maybe a niche chocolate company that was swallowed up by their rivals.
Some thirty plus years ago, Hershey's radically tweaked the process in which they made their chocolate. The end result of this tweaking is a product that those outside of the US would only consume as an absolute last resort.
I was a so-so fan of Hershey's as a child, with their offers being a top fifty choice unless they were launching a new product. As an adult, I am not even remotely a fan of their sugar-free product.
I used to be in the beginning, because sugar-free candy was often a crapshoot and when you can find one to add to your very short consumable list, you do. But it eventually became apparent that their product was not worth the higher price tag (on average, sugar-free chocolate is up to 50% higher than normal chocolate).
Compared to others, most notably Russell Stovers, the taste was off and the contents inside (e.g. peanut butter cups) was roughly textured (sometimes when you bake with a sugar substitute, the quality can be...off).
Hershey's, in my personal opinion, is a mediocre product to begin with and has devolved into one of those companies that everyone knows about due to their oversaturation of their product (think any Kraft product or Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce) and buys based on that oversaturation and not on taste or price point.
There are few other sugar-free chocolates that I've found over the decades, but the ones listed above are those who I've had extensive experience with. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to offer my five cents (no pennies as they've been discontinued) about sugar free chocolate and other assorted sugar-free options.
Remember, sugar free doesn't always mean it's better, it just means it doesn't have the sugary taste that you crave and love. So consume your sugar free products with your eyes wide open, your taste buds wide open, and most importantly, that bottle of Imodium within arms reach.
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Lay it on me, because unlike others, I can handle it.