There’s some ideas that just aren’t good ones in the food world. New Coke, Pepsi Clear-These are obvious misses.  But how about changing the formula of Butterfingers, a beloved candy for decades? Sure, we liked the new take, but LOTS of others have not.  It’s risky, being different.

M&M’s went for it by trying to represent Mexico and Thailand via little bites of chocolate.  They also did English Toffee Peanut, but today we only have 2 to discuss because hey, I’m doing my best and couldn’t swing three. I work. I live.

Mexican Jalapeño Peanut, and Thai Coconut.

Love the bag color. And love the colors of the pieces!

You guys. Those are….almost the Mexican flag colors. Almost.

Why? WHY!!!? WHY IS THE YELLOW NOT WHITE? Yes, it’s festive looking but for fuck’s sake. WE HAVE A THEME HERE PEOPLE.

To the important part: the taste. I really liked these! Generally, they’re just peanut M&Ms with some heat. But the heat really feels nice, flavorful like a jalapeño, and it feels like there’s just an extra kick of salt to make it zing at the end. For me, these are a total success-and making a great spicy candy is no easy task. We’ve not loved quite a few. If the damn yellow pieces were white I’d marvel at the brilliance of the suits at M&M HQ. As is though, I have to wonder what they were thinking.

But compared to the Thai pieces…at least it looks like they’re trying.

Again, more or less we have peanut M&Ms. These though, are flavored as “Thai Coconut”. What’s different about these compared to their hellish, completely unsuccessful coconut M&Ms? We’re gonna find out.

So…I’m not gonna lie, I do like this color selection of the pieces. But it makes. No. Sense. Guess what colors the Thai flag is? Any idea? I didn’t either. But they’re red, white & blue. Don’t you think that would have been interesting and educational? I, for instance, would have opened the bag, and certainly would have immediately complained about how the colors didn’t harken Thailand at all, until I looked up their flag, felt ashamed, and then moved on. But I would have learned something. Now M&Ms is basically leaving all my learning up to me and books!

The big takeaway is that these are pretty good too. A bit sweet for me, but they work. The peanut inside, that’s what I think makes these work unlike the regular M&Ms coconut.  The salt with the coconut somehow feels more tropical-and I’m not sure if there’s any other Thai flavors in there, but if so, they’re not strong. Lime? Lemongrass? Dunno.

I liked these, and I’m personally a coconut psycho: however, I need my coconut candies to be as real as possible. I need that grit of the actual coconut, the non overwhelming sweetness: basically, I’m spoiled and I need my expensive coconut candies. Mounds and Almond Joy are the 2 exceptions: I still love love love them,  But these? Just a tad too sweet for me, a bit too uninteresting.

Overall I’d say definitely try the Mexican Jalapeño, and if you’re a coconut fan, you might really dig the Thai Coconut.

Bravo, M&Ms. You didn’t mess this one up!