As the winds become crisper and anticipation of the holiday breaks comes closer, we begin to see our surroundings holiday-ify around us. As I drive through my neighborhood, festive lights illuminate the roads. When I walk into restaurants and stores, holiday decorations pierce my eyes as they infiltrate each corner and aisle.

I experienced the same feeling when I entered Target to do this food review. The staple Target red now became highlighted with Christmas greens and whites, and traditional and themed holiday items filled the shelves.

I tried a select few different Christmas-themed versions of popular brands I found throughout the store.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha 7/10
This drink is known to be the most popular winter holiday drink from Starbucks, so I thought it would be perfect to try for the first time.

This Peppermint Mocha has a pretty solid holiday taste. It tastes like regular hot chocolate with a hint of peppermint flavor, but I can only taste that flavor in the aftertaste.

I asked the Starbucks barista which holiday drink people ordered the most, and whether the hot or cold version seemed more popular. The barista immediately said hot, so that’s what I ordered. However, the aftertaste left my mouth feeling a slight chill, courtesy of the mint. This added to the wintery aspect of the drink.

The whipped cream and the chocolate flakes at the top added festive decoration and sweetness to the overall taste.

REESE’S Big Cup Sugar Cookie Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup 8/10

I’m not that into peanut butter, but I do crave a Reese’s every once in a while. This Reese’s peanut butter cup pleasantly surprised me, and I liked the cookie crunch that gave it a sweeter flavor to combat the usual saltiness the peanut butter brings. Due to the added cookies, the sweetness is extremely boosted. Overall I think the flavors in this cup are a lot more saturated than the original.

It turns out I like this version of Reese’s peanut butter cup better. I think this is because this Reese’s flavor is quite different from the original, and I prefer the crunchier texture. However, I think if I ate more than two of these I would implode from a sweetness overload. One will suffice as a sweet snack.

Honestly, if I still had the same major sweet tooth as I did as a little kid, I would probably like this product even more.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Peppermint Bark Snowmen 6/10

I hear many people rave about peppermint bark, so I needed to try some for myself. At first, I expected to buy the regular Ghirardelli square-shaped chocolates, but then I saw these cute snowman-shaped versions. I thought the snowmen were more festive, so I bought them instead.

The peppermint bark tastes very similar to the Starbucks drink I tried earlier. The use of milk chocolate creates a sweeter taste than the year-round square-shaped chocolates.

Nevertheless, the peppermint chunks in the white chocolate give the chocolate a slight crunch. I like the addition of the white chocolate on top, as it’s almost like the snowman is being snowed on. There is a mint flavor left on the tongue after eating this adorable peppermint.

When you put the peppermint bark in your mouth, it immediately starts to melt on your tongue. This sensation adds to the overall experience and festivity of the chocolate.

Kellogg’s Elf on the Shelf Hot Cocoa Cereal 6/10

The second I turned into the cereal aisle, a multitude of little elf eyes staring at me caught my eyes. The idea of a hot cocoa cereal with little marshmallows enticed me more than just red and white sugar which the other version of this cereal can be described as.

Because everything else I had tried gave me an immediate sweetness overload, I was expecting that to happen for this also. However, I was wrong. I think part of the reason why this cereal had a necessarily blander taste was because of the natural flavors used by the brand, Kellogg’s. This cereal tastes like a slightly chocolatey variation of Kix, which gave me a sense of nostalgia. I could also compare the first bite to Lucky Charms since the chocolate flavor didn’t stand out in the beginning.

The miniature marshmallows gave the overall cereal an initial chalky texture, and the chocolate cereal puffs had a nice airy crunch themselves. Strangely enough, I like the chalky marshmallows as they add interest to the texture. Even after leaving the bowl out for a few minutes, the cereal didn’t become too soggy. However, this meant it would take longer for the milk to become brown from the chocolate for me to drink – the real taste test.

When I initially drank the milk, the hot chocolate taste was absent. I waited for around 10 minutes for the chocolate flavor to fully sink in, but by this point the cereal felt soggy and so were the marshmallows.

If you’re looking for a holiday-themed cereal with a tinge of sweetness, this is a good pick.

Limited Edition Goldfish Elf Maple Syrup Grahams 4/10

These Goldfish are maple syrup flavored, and they match that name a little too well. I smelled a strong maple stench when I poured the grahams out for the photo. The first grainy bite hit with such a pungent maple syrup taste that it made me not want to eat another one.

Despite this, I like the Elf inspired shapes, the Elf hat and maple syrup jar. The flavor is so syrupy it’s almost tangy. I didn’t really like this aspect, which is why I rated this product lower. The cheese flavors are definitely where it‘s at.

HERSHEY’S KISSES Mint Truffle 5.5/10

As I looked through the wide selection of chocolates in the Target candy aisle, all of the types of HERSHEY’S KISSES caught my attention. I decided on this truffle mint flavor because it looked the most like Christmas.

If you’ve ever been to the sushi place Kata Robata on Kirby street, you would be familiar with the taste of this chocolate. Trying this kiss brought me back to the taste of these chocolates I would take one-too-many of after eating at the restaurant. The dark chocolate in this kiss pairs nicely with the mint truffle, and the inside contains a paste of minty bright green. I’m glad Hershey used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate because milk would have overloaded the candy with sweetness.
Immediately I thought these kisses would serve as great stocking stuffers, so I will definitely add some of these in my friends’ gifts.

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites 3/10

As I walked down Target to check out, I suddenly came across these Jelly Belly beans near the register. Before this, I didn’t know holiday jelly beans existed, but here we are. There were five flavors: cranberry sauce, candy cane, pumpkin pie, eggnog and hot chocolate.

I felt most excited for the candy cane bean because the other ones were gross-sounding. As predicted, the candy cane tasted just like a regular candy cane but with a tinge of that classic jelly bean sweetness.

After tasting the pumpkin pie bean, I became slightly unsure of what pumpkin pie is actually supposed to taste like. This bean did not bring the flavor it needed to bring, and I thought of it as a bit of a let down.

The hot chocolate bean is hard to describe as it tasted like chocolate, but not specifically hot chocolate. Out of the whole pack, this bean didn’t taste as weird as the other ones. The bean pretty much just tastes like artificial chocolate.

Trying eggnog has never been something that I necessarily wanted to partake in, so I don’t know what eggnog is supposed to taste like. This eggnog jellybean kind of just tastes sweet with a slight caramel vibe.

The cranberry sauce bean had a cranberry flavor at first bite that slowly dissipated as I chewed. This happened for all of the jelly beans, but that’s just how jelly beans are. I feel like the actual flavor in jelly beans are only on the hard, outer shell and the insides are all the same.

Conclusion

One major takeaway from trying all of these goodies is that chocolate and sweets are heavily correlated to Christmas and the holiday season. After trying all of these snacks, candies and drinks, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t need to ingest any more sweets until next year.