These are all over the place on first glance:

…..what the HELL are these?  How would you know by looking at the bag?

Well, they’re “Hot stones”.   Originally flavored with salty licorice and pepper, you can imagine how most people would absolutely hate these.  I’ve had the originals, and while I admit they’re an acquired taste, I kinda like them.  These though?  They’re a particular variety that boasts 2 things and two things only: hot and sour.  Let’s check ’em out.

These shipped from England, and came all stuck together.  I did my best to unstick them, but you can see little chunks broke off in places.  I actually like the color variety here, it’s a bit non-traditional, and I dig on that.  Here’s the thing though: I’m still a bit confused as to what these are.  Hot & sour, huh?

I first tried the red one, and immediately liked the flavor.  Not completely sure of the flavor, but I’m guessing t’s cherry or raspberry.  It’s a standard hard candy, and after a while, you get a little salt bleed in from the center.  That’s it.  Hot?  No, not in the least.  Pepper?  Umm, no…salt.  Sour?  Not a chance.  To recap: no hot, no sour, buuuuut….unexpected salt.

I’m guessing they’re calling the candy shell the sour part, although there’s no world in which even a child would consider these sour.  The part that pisses me off though,  is the “hot” thing.  You can see on the front of the bag they even have a three flame scale, and these rank 2 flames-that should be hot, man.  Really hot.  I’m not exaggerating when I say there’s no heat to these at all.  Zilch.

So in the end, what you actually have with these is a mildly pleasant hard candy with a bit of salt in the middle.  No thanks.  If I wanted that, I’d go with the VASTLY superior Locochas candies from Mexico.  These…I’d say take a hard pass on them.  They’re not bad, but they’re definitely nothing that warrants tracking down from another country.