Restaurants, Food and Drink |

Stink bug jelly beans, cricket crackers are hot at Sweets & Snacks Expo, but how do they taste?

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Winner of the 2018 Most Innovative New Product Award in the sweet snacks category, these minis are part of the white chocolate trend, but for me the peanut butter is the defining element. Unlike the distinctly dry and chalky peanut butter in Reese's peanut butter cups, which I do love, here it's silky and creamy, lovely for one bite. I think the ratio of white chocolate to peanut butter works better with these minis than the full size cups. Do note, there's no individual paper wrapper under the foil, plus they're organic.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Winner of the 2018 Most Innovative New Product Award in the coveted chocolate category, which is a surprise, because this product doesn't contain any chocolate at all. Hershey's calls it caramelized "creme," which tastes a lot like caramelized white chocolate. Smooth, buttery and sweet, it's texturized with slightly salty ground peanuts and pretzels. I was skeptical of this bar, which launched during the Winter Olympic Games, but it is a winner.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

From the makers of the iconic gold gummy bear comes these notably dense chewy cubes in six exotic sour flavors: blood orange, dragon fruit, passion fruit, gooseberry, plum and mango. Coated lightly in sugar, the texture is almost crisp in its resilience. They're a sour gummy for grown-ups. But you'll have to wait until January 2019 until they hit the market.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Winner of the 2018 Most Innovative New Product Award in the small business innovator category, Wild Ophelia was created by Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat founder Katrina Markoff to "encourage, educate and propel American high school and college girls who have entrepreneurial dreams in food," according to the company. This is a snappy, well-tempered dark chocolate bar infused with bits of toasted nuts and crushed wafers, together evocative of the flavors of Nutella on toast.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Made with ripe avocados, dried to a crisp, then seasoned, these are nothing like guacamole-flavored tortilla chips. With tapioca flour as an ingredient, they're like a light honeycomb crisp, though with none of the dreamy creaminess of our culture's most millennial fruit. Yet the tiny triangular chips do remarkably retain the fattiness. Available in three more flavors (sriracha, chili and lime, and new nacho), but only on Amazon for now.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Overheard at the show, "It's like caffeinated LaCroix!" Pretty much, but the flavors are so much better, especially the pomelo, which is like a giant grapefruit. It is lightly sweetened with sugar, not juice, but made with green coffee beans, which some people believe have health benefits. I just loved the soft bubbles and refreshing aroma, and the 42 milligrams of caffeine too.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

Winner of the 2018 Most Innovative New Product Award in the gourmet category, these are the "first shelf-stable vegetarian curated mix of cheese, nuts and seeds" claims the company, or as a show passer-by described them, "They're like gourmet Lunchables." Available in three flavors (original, Mediterranean and tropical), each one packs small, quarter-sized parmesan cheese crisps with almond and pumpkin seeds plus dried fruit (apricots and cranberries; apricots and figs; and mangos and pineapple respectively). Yes, like Lunchables, you could pack your own with less packaging, but for a delicious and healthier grab-and-go item, these are pretty delightful.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

If you're thinking these look and sound like Cheetos, that's exactly what Peatos wants. Made with a nutrient-dense, pulse flour blend (peas, lentils and fava beans) but no artificial color, their appearance hides their stunningly spicy taste. Three other flavors are also available (classic cheese, chili cheese and masala) but if you crave Flamin' Hot, the Fiery Hot is the one to get.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

I am skeptical of the cricket flour trend, but I love fancy crackers and weird food. Flax, sunflower seeds and brown rice are the first three ingredients, before the label gets to the organic cricket powder. Super thin and delicately crisp, they finish with a hint of heat. Do note that if you have a crustacean allergy, you may be allergic to crickets, so you could always use that as your excuse to not eat them.

Louisa Chu / Chicago Tribune

I've never tasted a stink bug, or been unlucky enough to smell one, even though they're a common house bug in Chicagoland. But the flavor on these Jelly Bellys starts with a smoky note, with a finish of skunk, which some say is how the bug smells. What a relief that they weren't that bad, or so I thought, because the dirty dishwater is worse. I expected something like a steamy dishwasher in need of a cleaning, but it's a cheesier funk. I would have liked a hint of soap flavor in there, but overall both are horrible, impressive and this is why I have trust issues.