We discovered these guys on Instagram (by the way, follow us there if you don’t already, I promise we’re funnier and slightly better looking on that platform) all the way from across the world in Denmark.  Picture after picture of people freaking out while eating these spicy hard candies.  So of course, being spice freaks and of course candy psychos…we had to get in on the action.

We got a little care package that looked something like this:

Inside, there was a cornucopia of things with faces on them that looked like they were breathing fire:

First, let’s take a look a the included legend

I’m not sure how well that reads, but all you really need to know is that the LEAST spicy pepper they use is Habanero.  Ya feelin’ me?  I love Habaneros, but let’s get real, they’re hot.  From there, we get a pepper called Bhut Jolokia from India.  Stepping up the heat ladder, next we have the Trinidad Scorpion.  Finally…the Carolina Reaper.  I’m scared.

And here those bad boys are, ready for consumption, from “mildest” to hottest:

First, let’s talk about the heat.  These guys aren’t kidding, they’re not using these peppers just as PR- these are HOT.  I tried the green (Habanero) first, and immediately started getting heat.  It wasn’t painful, but it was spicy.  The thing that’s remarkable-on all of these- is the afterburn.  Having the sweet candy in your mouth certainly offsets the heat just a little, so when it’s done, the heat just pours on.  Again though, with the Habanero, it wasn’t too bad.

I stepped up the ladder until eventually (hours later, so my taste buds weren’t dead), I decided not to fear the reaper, and went for the blue one.  It blew my fucking head off.  And that’s a compliment to Burning Sweets, because a lot of the “spicy” candy we’ve had is mild, or maybe Jalapeño level at best.  Kudos to these guys for not giving a SHIT about convention, and making candies for REAL spice fiends.  These are legit, and a lot of the most intense heat is the afterburn, minutes after you’ve finished it  that’s cool.

Having said that, I do have a complaint about them, and it’s significant.  For me, the candy flavors just didn’t pop at all.  It was hard for me to even discern what the flavors were.  I feel like either the extreme heat dulled the candy flavor, or the candy flavor just wasn’t intense enough, but it didn’t work as a cohesive whole for me.  I’d suggest adding a strong sour element to them, something to latch on to that can pull you through the heat a bit.  As is, it’s just a sweetish background flavor that gets overwhelmed by the heat.

So why does that matter?  For me, if I want heat, I can just get peppers and cook with them.  But the idea of having spicy candy is super appealing, as it’s portable, it’s dessert, not savory, and it’s different.  But the candy’s gotta be on point flavor wise, it can’t just be a heat fest, and that’s kind of what these were for me.

Regardless, big kudos to Burning Sweets for doing something different.  They do ship worldwide, and if you’re the kind of person that just needs the spiciest everything, then you need to check these out.  Click the link below if you dare!