Beech's Rose Creams

I was perusing the selection at my local Brit import store, trying to get my hands on that Wispa Gold stuff that Jim loved...sadly, I had no such luck.

But all was not lost. There are always many interesting products available, and they did have a nice little table display with a variety of Beech's Creams candies.

This one caught my eye because it was a rose flavored cream! I happen to love rose flavored items, and I just had to have them. Once I got home I tried to do a little research on Beech's because I had never heard of them. I didn't find much, other than Beech's own website. In a nutshell, the company was started in 1920 in the town of Preston in the North West of England...well,OK, that's really as far as I read. Let's just skip to the candy.



Each little patty is about the size of a U.S. half dollar coin, and they are nicely presented in three neat little rows. There are 11 individual candies in the in the box. Once opened, the sweet smell of roses wafts up.

The patties are made with dark chocolate (the box says 55% minimum). The chocolate is thin and soft. There's no snap -- though, to be fair, I wasn't really expecting it in a fondant-filled patty. There's not much a flavor to the chocolate either, other than super-sweet. The melt is waxy and lumpy.



And then there's the rose fondant itself. While the picture on the box would lead you to expect a pink filling, the fondant is actually white with only the very faintest hint of pinkish-lavender. The fondant is slightly sticky but perfectly smooth. The rose flavor is strongly floral (well, DUH!) but it's also oddly fruity. It tastes like chemicals trying to taste like rose water.

Even worse, far worse, is the aftertaste. Think of old flowers and cat pee. (No, I don't really know what cat pee tastes like, I'm just guessing by the stink -- and what I imagine is pretty similar to this.) And did I mention that it lingers...and lingers...and lingers...? You'll need to brush your teeth immediately after eating one.



I wanted to like these candies. I really wanted to. But they just don't taste good. In fact, they are so far from good that if we were talking in terms of miles, I could practically walk to England from Southern California and it still would not be far enough to get away from them.

These will truly make you gag. BLECCH!



PURCHASED FROM:
The British Emporium (Upland, California)