Subtlely Sweet: Hammond's PB&J Sandwich Bar

Guest Candy Review by George Gilbert

The PB&J Sandwich Chocolate Bar is just one of the four new Hammond's chocolate bars carried here at Georgie Lou's.  Based out of Colorado and in business for 90 years, Hammond's is best known for their handmade, gourmet lollipops, so their recent addition of specialty chocolate bars was a bit surprising. In addition to the PB&J Bar, we also brought in Hammond's Malted Milkshake (milk chocolate with malted milk), Sea Side Caramel (dark chocolate with sea salt caramel), and Crackle Crunch (milk chocolate with raspberry popping candy).

The PB&J Bar is a filled chocolate bar, so it has little three-dimensional squares that function as pockets for the peanut butter and jelly, which is literally inside the bar instead of being mixed into the chocolate.  PB&J has ten pockets in all, so it's great for sharing.  Although the pockets are filled with peanut butter and jelly, the flavors are somehow only subtle and get overpowered a bit by the milk chocolate.  The chocolate is very good, but as a fan of strange flavor combos, I was slightly disappointed because I would have liked a stronger punch of the filling flavors.

As I continued to eat more of the bar, I discovered that it's inconsistent and each pocket actually has different filling amounts, suggesting that it may be handfilled.  Also, the jelly is actually raspberry, which may be a turnoff to some who prefer a more classic take on America's favorite childhood sandwich.  When tasting the jelly by itself, it's flavor is very mild, which in turn doesn't bode well for a strong flavor profile.  My mom, who owns the store, and I were expecting and would have preferred a sweeter, tangier grape jelly instead of raspberry.  And judging by the appearance, taste, and consistency of the peanut butter, it appears to be handmade as well instead of the strongly flavored, processed spread most of us grew up with.  Overall, the bar is pretty tasty, but it is very surprising for better or for worse.

Each Hammond's specialty chocolate bar is priced at $3.00 and weighs 2.1 ounces.  So far, they're selling well, suggesting they'll have a place in our store for a long time.