Reese's Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup is a major disappointment
I couldn't even finish a single cup...
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Peanut butter plus still more peanut butter equals Reese's new Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup.
I love peanut butter. I am eating peanut butter and banana on toast as I write this. So I would seem to be the natural audience for Reese's Ultimate Peanut Butter Lovers Cups, a new candy that skips the traditional chocolate coating and instead is made with a peanut butter shell and a softer peanut butter filling.
But Reese's sent me some samples, and I couldn't even finish one single cup. Regular Reese's peanut-butter cups, the "you got your peanut butter in my chocolate" ones, are perhaps one of the world's most ideal candies. The sweet chocolate, the salty PB, the cute little fluted edges ... it all comes together in a perfect little package.
So why didn't this new twist on a classic treat do it for me? The Ultimate PB Cups reminded me of an overly sugary slab of peanut-butter fudge that my mom might've bought at Wall Drug in 1981. They're not bad, just too much of a muchness. I miss the contrasting sweetness of the chocolate, complementing the nutty peanut-butter filling. Maybe that's why I put bananas, or sometimes jelly, on my peanut-butter toast. The PB needs a friend to play with.
My peanut-butter-craving colleagues, none of whom have yet tried the Ultimate, think I am, well, nuts.
You got your peanut butter in my ... peanut butter? Reese's old slogan needs a revamp for these new candies.
"I approve! It's like making peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips!" said one.
"As someone who's allergic to chocolate but loves peanuts, this is legit the best news I've ever heard," said another.
It's also possible someone tried to bribe the remaining samples out of my hands with an offer of wireless earbuds. I am considering it.
If you think you've seen these before -- you've seen similar candies. In the past, Reese's released Peanut Butter Lovers Cups, heavy on the PB, and Chocolate Lovers Cups, with extra chocolate. But this is the first time the company has left the chocolate out entirely.
Starting in April, Reese's Ultimate Peanut Butter Lovers Cups will be available in regular, king size, and those little bite-size versions at stores across the U.S. You peanut-butterians, get out there and get some. They're only available for a limited time.
But if anyone ever gives me more of them, I'm going to take a tip from another colleague. His "million-dollar idea" to improve the Ultimate cups? Dip them in chocolate.