April 2015

Village Candy
344 Beaver Street
Sewickley PA
412.741.1490
Tues - Sat 10-5

Wed 'til 8

Closed Sun/Mon

Bunny Hop Edition

Chocolate Blueberries

Rabbit Visits

New Things in Store

Chiller Theater

Quick Links

Check Us Out On The Web at

villagecandy.com

and

March 20 was the first day of spring, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac ("since 1792"), or "when the Sun crosses the celestial equator on its way north along the ecliptic." Don't know about you, but we sure haven't noticed many signs of it in these parts. We've had a few spring-worthy days here and there, but not enough to wipe the memory of the "Freeze of '15." And Easter comes quite early this year. Last year: April 20; this year: this Sunday, April 5.

We still have a huge variety of treats to fill your Easter baskets, entertain your guests or take for gifting. Chocolate bunnies, spiced jelly beans, malted robin's eggs, and gummi 1) bunnies, 2) carrots, 3) blossoms, and 4) butterflies. And SO much more.

And, should you be short on time or caught off guard, our ready-made baskets would make anyone proud.

Chocolate Blueberries

Our New Favorite Snack

Unlike the faux chocolate blueberry "gels" you've been seeing advertised recently, these are the real deal.

Sweet antioxidant rich whole dried blueberries are wrapped in a layer of thick, luscious milk chocolate. Just the type of sweet decadence you want, and better than any other chocolate blueberry on the market. You'll just want to continually pop them into your mouth, they're that addictive. Bet they'd be delish as a cereal topper or pancake ingredient too!

It's About Time For Rabbit Visits

Good Thing - They've Been Multiplying

We procured chocolate rabbits this year, but we forgot to check their gender. Now they're all over the place, and in all different sizes. In fact, there are so many, we've put some on sale! Bissinger's and Platter's chocolate rabbits are 30% off, all in an effort at ethical population control, of course!

Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier, producer of this adorable bi-tooth to the left, actually has roots that date back to 16th century France, when King Louis XIV granted the family the title

"Confiseur Imperial" in honor of confectionery excellence. More recently, Food Network's "Best of" named them one of the nations's top chocolate confectioners in 2002. This big guy is awfully adorable, and it goes without saying he's also quite tasty.

Aunt Elaine Chocolate Bunny Platter's Chocolate's motto, since Carl Platter started in his Buffalo basement in 1938: provide a quality product at a price folks can afford. And they carry on that tradition today. "That's the way Old Man Platter did it, and that's the way we do it."

We have lots of other chocolate rabbits, eggs, dogs, cats and aardvarks (joking - just checking to see if you're still with me) to nibble too.

New Things in Store

What's New in the Candy Biz

Smarties 'n Creme

Similar in size to the large Smarties roll, these are twice the fun and twice the flavor.

These mega sized mouthfuls are loaded with tangy fruit flavor topped with a dairy-free creme. Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, peach and orange. Oh, and creme!

Skittles Orchards

Skittles Orchards are the newest flavor in the lineup, and contain Orange, Red Apple, Lime, Peach and Cherry flavors.

Lime Skittles were part of the Original Skittles flavors, but were replaced by Green Apple in 2013, with considerable consumer backlash, so now they're back.

Skittles were first made commercially in 1974 by a British company. They were introduced in North America in '79 as an import candy, and in '82 U.S. production began.

Skittles has one of the most "liked" brand pages on Facebook, with over 25 million followers.

David Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower Seeds

David is the name in unshelled sunflower seeds. Village Candy always stocks a variety just in time to litter baseball fields, and this time we've expanded our lineup. Along with Original, Bar-B-Q, Ranch and Jalape�o Salsa, we're adding three NEW flavors: Buffalo Style Ranch, Sweet & Spicy and Cracked Pepper.

Delicious, nutty and crunchy sunflower seeds are widely considered as healthful foods. Much of their caloric content comes from fatty acids. The seeds are especially rich in polyunsaturated linoleic acid, but also contain monounsaturated oleic acid that helps lower LDL or "bad cholesterol" and increases HDL or "good-cholesterol" in the blood. They're also an excellent source of vitamin E and a very good source of copper and vitamin B1, and a good source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B6, folate and niacin. And you expend calories cracking the shells in your teeth (hahaha).

Chiller Theater

A report on all things sodarific: what's new in the fridge, tastings and interesting tidbits from the world of bottled effervescence.

Cola Tasting

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Village Candy has 8 colas in stock (including

Mexicoke and Pepsi), and we're going to give each a slurp. So on Saturday, April 26, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, we'll offer up these robust drinks for all (who register) to sample. Remember, these tastings are always free and fun, but you must RSVP before it's too late.

We're going to "cola-es" around some great colas, so come test the dark waters with us - register now!

Cola became popular worldwide after pharmacist John

Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886. Pemberton was a Confederate Colonel who was wounded in the Civil War and became addicted to morphine, beginning his quest to find a substitute for his chosen opiate. The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at Pemberton's Eagle Drug and Chemical House, a drugstore in Columbus, GA, originally as a coca wine. It was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, with the claim that it cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache and impotence.

Pepsi was created in 1893 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his drugstore in New Bern, NC, where the drink

was introduced and sold as Brad's Drink. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898 (after the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the original recipe), then to just Pepsi in 1961.

Interestingly, on three separate occasions between 1922 and 1933, The Coca-Cola

Company was offered the opportunity to buy the Pepsi-Cola company (now PepsiCo), and declined each time.

Cola manufacturers add small amounts of different ingredients to create distinctive tastes for each brand. Trace flavorings can include nutmeg and a wide variety of ingredients, but the base flavorings that most people identify with as cola taste remain vanilla and cinnamon.

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,