I can only eat so many chocolate bars, and gummy bears, and sour versions of gummy bears, and nuttier versions of chocolate bars, before I say, “Yeah ok got it thanks.”

I need nuance, with unique sweets that make me do a double take and go “More please.”

Jovy Candy to the rescue.

When the packages say Chili Rokas, Revolcaditas and Tamaros, the wise among us discern these are Spanish names, and indeed these sweets come from Mexico. The box I got from Jovy was chock full of their spicy offerings, which are essentially sweet candies covered in a chili powder. The powder is almost like what the Mexican beach and street vendors put on fruit before they sell it to you — it’s salty, bitter, spicy and awesome. In fact, Jovy sells the powder all by itself.

What wins here is the sweet meets salt and spice. We’re used to salt on licorice, and even chocolate now, but it’s not a hard candy goto ingredient (in the States at least). Also, I t h i n k Jovy’s hard candies are sweeter than other hard candies. I wonder if, like Mexican Coca-Cola, the sugar percentage is higher compared to what we find in the U.S. The powder, then, is an “evening out” layer that brings way more variation to the candy. It’s like Yin and Yang. And definitely a top 5 most original sweet.

See the pic above? The bottom two pieces are watermelon (left) and mango (center), and the flavors are on point. Especially the mango. Then you have the peach ring and gummy worm covered in the chili powder, making the been-there-done-that-but-thanks gummies come back to life.

The kicker though is this gosh darn lollipop:

Look at the stick. It’s covered in the chili.

And then here it is from the back. I couldn’t take it out of its package because I wasn’t ready to eat it. It’s messy and sticky and fun and once its out of the bag it ain’t going back in. The powder gets all over your fingers, and when you’re an idiot like me, all over your clothes too. If it wasn’t so freaking delightful I might take a quarter star off for that.

The Elote is all mango, with the spice of course. Rough on the tongue as you start out. More spicy than sweet and you almost think: wait – they did something wrong here. And then after a few sucks and licks the sweet comes through, you think: Jovy, you magnificent bastards. As you settle into the flavor sensation, suddenly, you hit a soft center of chewy, spicy mangoness. This isn’t suck on it and forget about it candy. You’re having an experience with this thing. And, gotta be honest, you’ll be kinda pissed when it’s over.

So before you go out and drop ETH on some overhyped NFT, go to the old timey Web 2.0 internet and buy yourself some Jovy sweets. The bag we linked to has all of the ones above.

I’m serious. Go.

Do it.

Now.