Every holiday season, I look forward to the limited release of mint M&Ms. Aside from Reese’s peanut butter cups these minty delights are my favorite candy. Or at least they were until a few years ago. Initially, the mint variety was the same size as the standard plain chocolate M&M. When Mars, Inc started to play around with different flavors, they also introduced a new larger size. I’m usually the first in line for larger chunks of chocolate, but not when it comes to M&Ms. There’s a little something I refer to as the candy shell-flavor-chocolate ratio. If one element of this equation is off, the whole piece of candy is ruined. Perhaps, I am being too picky and technical, but I take my chocolate pretty seriously.
In the case of mint M&Ms, the new larger size totally throws off the overall aesthetic and taste. Part of the problem is how each piece of candy is different from the rest. Some are large and lumpy and others are smaller and round. This is what screws up the aforementioned ratio. In a regular bag of M&Ms, every piece is exactly the same size (with exception to a rare anomaly) and I can always count on each one tasting just like the rest.
The small standard size M&M. Every piece is the same size and tastes like all the rest.
In a minty bag, I never know what I’m going to get. The large, lumpy pieces have too much mint flavoring and a thicker candy shell that detracts from the chocolate. On top of that, the candy shell sometimes has a weird aftertaste. The small, round pieces vary between achieving the perfect taste ratio, but more often than not they lack a strong enough sense of mint.
The larger minty M&Ms. No two are exactly alike in size or taste.
I miss the standard size mint M&M. Every piece was beautifully proportioned to the candy shell-flavor-chocolate ratio. I can deal with new color introductions and the constant addition of new flavors (i.e. pretzel, coconut, cinnamon*), but please stop messing with the ratio! I understand that some flavors require a larger size to accommodate flavor fillings, however this does not apply to mint. Mars, Inc., I beg of you please, oh please, return Mint M&Ms to the original size!
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*This was not a good idea. Yuck.
c.b. 2011
C.B. Wentworth 