Village Candy
344 Beaver Street
Sewickley PA
412.741.1490
Tues - Sat 10-5
Wed til 8
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Quick Links | Check Us Out On The Web at
villagecandy.net
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Greetings fellow candy lover!
March is my very favorite month. Daylight Savings begins, the start of that rejuvenating procession to spring. St. Patrick's Day comes during American Chocolate Week (the 3rd week), the 19th is National Chocolate Caramel Day, and this year we have the added bonus of beginning the Jewish holiday of Passover during the last week. The Easter candy in all its glorious pastels arrives and is put out on display, and as a sign that old man winter is losing his sleepy grip, the buds on the trees and flowers just begin to peek. And lest we forget March Madness. A winter to remember is finally waving the white flag - bring it on!
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In Your Easter Bonnet...
And what exactly is a rotogravure?
Next up...Easter. Even though it's not until April 4th, it's a good idea to get your groove on. Right now is the perfect time to get all your Easter candy - you'll have the best selection. Village Candy has chocolate wabbits in many shapes and sizes, along with a panoply of other chocolate shapes. And don't forget an array of eggie  weggies like you've never seen - boxed chocolate-covered vanilla or chocolate buttercream, small milk chocolate and large foil-wrapped ones with scrumptious fillings like caramel, marshmallow, coconut and peanut butter meltaway, speckled malted and bubblegum ones. And don't forget to finish your baskets with our edible grass (nope, no brownies here) and spiced jelly beans.  By popular demand, we've found a supplier of beautifully decorated, high-quality sugar eggs. Kencraft Handcrafted Confections of  Alpine, Utah has been hand-decorating these beautiful works of art since 1969. We loved their handiwork so much that we've also  procured an assortment of their lovely Easter and Spring lollies. They will definitely add a special touch to your baskets! Also don't forget that for all your Easter egg hunting, Village Candy has an enormous array of wrapped and unwrapped "by-the-pound" candies and chocolate shapes to hide inside those pastel-colored plastic orbs. You really can begin and end your Easter egg hunting prep here.  And for the hands-off types who can't be bothered to pile high the hand-made statements, or for those who just don't have the time, we've got just the ticket: Ready-made baskets like the one pictured, or custom packed to your desire. And don't worry, they all have the bunny's blessing. We have them pre-made in two sizes (small and large - imagine that!). |
Gnu Candy Just In
From the folks at Mars comes this new Milky Way Simply Caramel Bar. "With delicious caramel surrounded by real milk chocolate, the new
Milky Way Simply Caramel Bar gives consumers more of what they crave
about the Milky Way Brand - rich, creamy caramel." Is it me, or could Mars use some new writers?
Also from Mars, the new Twix Triple Chocolate was first released in the UK in 1991, and then again in 2003 and 2007 as limited editions. It was also released in North America in 2006 as
a limited edition, and now it's back! This Twix contains chocolate butter cookie and
chocolate caramel. And the Twix Peanut Butter is still in stock.
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Chiller Theater
A
report on all things sodarific: what's new in the fridge, tastings and
interesting tidbits from the world of bottled effervescence.
Birch Beer/Sarsaparilla Tasting
 It was great to see all the people coming out to throw back a bit of birch and a slurp of sarsaparilla, many for the first time. We were hoping to get a Spruce Beer in for the event but, of course it arrived on the following Tuesday (Empire Spruce Beer is now in stock). Not quite sure why fibrous flavors (e.g., spruce, birch, root, ginger) have inspired drink tinkerers over the years, but we're always daring enough to find out.
The tasting menu for the evening was evenly divided, with four  birch beers and four sarsaparillas losing their caps. The clear winner of both birch and sarsaparilla, with nearly twice the votes of its next closest competitor, was Snake River Sarsaparilla. The leading birch, which happened to be that next closest competitor, was Hank's Birch Beer. All the offerings picked up votes, so it's assumed that all had some redeeming quality. The winner of our ballot entry contest, culled from all entries with which we disagreed (just joking - totally random) is Marie Richmond. Congratulations, and come in to pick up your 4-pack of Sioux City Diet Sarsaparilla!
NOTE: This promotion is void where prohibited, and the fact that it involves a diet beverage in no way indicates the view of Village Candy LLC of Ms. Richmond's physical appearance.
Thank you to all who participated, and a shout out of thanks to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for their coverage.
By the way, that shipment that arrived just after the tasting brought in a slew of new offerings, along with a resupply of some that customers have been asking for. Back in stock are Leninade, (hold your children's eyes) Rat Bastard Root Beer, Virgil's Bavarian Root Beer in the cool bottle and Sparky's Root Beer in the 22 ounce bomber bottle. From New Hampshire's Squamscot Beverages comes their old-fashioned Cream, Root Beer, Ginger Beer and Maple Cream (which I'm anxious to try). Also in is a refreshingly sweet and not too bubbly Howie's Lemon-up, and from the original People's Court comes Judge Wapner's Root Beer ("I sentence you to drink my root beer!"). I kid you not.
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Candy Alphabet Soup
 ell, what do you say to this one? We felt so badly about having cupid shoot a barbed candy alphabet arrow at you last month (the month of love) that we decided to throw you a bone (no, this isn't canine month, it's just a hackneyed cliche). And if you're the first to send us
the correct guess, you'll win a wonderful windfall worthy of a wow.
Last Month's Clue
 This is, admittedly, one of our more esoteric offerings. Our goal is to challenge, not to patronize. C'mon, what's the fun in that? And a robust round of applause for Laura Miller, who was the first to correctly guess this flowery confection. If you haven't tried it, it's definitely worth a taste. Many of our customers are hooked on it, and buy them in multiples. It's the one that, because of its distinctive floral aroma and taste, was commonly referred to by children as "soap candy."
C. Howard Company Inc. was started by Charles Howard of New
York City in the early 1930s. Mr. Howard, in search of a "unique
and different flavored candy," concocted a delightful confectionery mint called "Choward's Violet" in a small industrial loft on Broadway. Howard's first retailing experience was selling "Choward's Violet" on the street corners of Manhattan, where the product's reputation grew. On the heels of "Choward's Violet" success, Howard then followed with a purple colored gum tablet, and named it "Choward's Scented Gum."
In ensuing years, Howard expanded his candy line to include
Choward's Peppermints, Spearmints (flavored with natural oil of spearmint), and Lemon Mints (flavored with natural oil of lemon).
When Howard was ready for "earthly internment" (sorry), the company carried on under the leadership of a long time employee. In the 70s, this employee enlisted the help of her nephews, who to this day operate the company as a family concern. The company continues to manufacture the original line of products, consisting solely of the Violet, Spearmint, Peppermint and Lemon Mints, along with the Scented Gum. This
gum's aroma is so strong that it is noticeable before it's even opened. At
first sniff it's unmistakably flowery, and captures
the spirit of a sweeter, simpler 50s style of candy. Even the packaging itself is written in a font indicative of the mid-twentieth century.
 C. Howard candies are native to the state of New
York and are common on the east coast. Their first new product in ages, just announced, is a Guava Mint?! We hope to give it a try.
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Village Candy is an old-time, new-fangled retail shop specializing in a unique selection of retro and current bulk and novelty candy, artisan chocolates, glass-bottled pop and candy-themed gifts. Oh, and remember customer service? It's back!
We are here Tuesday thru Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, but on Wednesday we stay late until 8! We are closed Sunday and Monday.
Sincerely,
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Doug Alpern, Proprietor
Village Candy
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