Posts Tagged ‘Almond Roca’

Sweet Deal: Brown & Haley Factory Outlet in Fife

2 comments Written on October 7th, 2011 by
Categories: Deals
Tags: , , ,

If you’re a South Sound resident, I’m sure you’re probably aware of the Brown & Haley. You’ve probably sampled some of their products, ranging from good ol’ toothcracking Almond Roca to blob-like Mountain Bars and seen their plant peeking out from underneath I-705. While we’ve been to the outlet store located right at the factory a handful of times (and picked up things like tasty Milk Toffee Roca Buttercrunch Thins and Roca Crunch Truffles) this time I ventured out to Fife, just a few miles down the highway where Brown & Haley just opened a new warehouse outlet in August (and where the headquarters is also now based).

I was pied piper by a highway billboard noting that the outlet was somewhere on 20th Street. Headlined by a giant ALMOND ROCA sign, it’s on the same road that features several warehouses and car dealerships. My GPS couldn’t find it so I cruised down the road (subsequently avoiding 4pm rush hour traffic going south). Trying to avoid dropping by for no reason at all and most likely purchasing 30 lbs. of Almond Roca for myself to eat alone in the apartment, I remembered that it was a relative’s birthday coming up. Yes! I had a valid reason to be at a discount candy store with $5 burning a hole in my pocket.

Now some people may say, “Wait, $5? That’s like a value meal at McDonald’s. How much candy you gonna get?” That’s the beauty of a factory outlet. In addition to seasonal items (i.e. Candy Cane Roca) and discontinued items, they also have Almond Roca pieces lovingly known as “bloopers” or “boo-boos” (I guess the tub of “REJECT ALLMOND ROOCA” didn’t sell too well). There’s a section for Aplets & Cotlets/Liberty Orchards goods but we already got our hookup.

Fun Fact: Apparently Almond Roca is pretty popular in China. No news on Tacoma hiring any local “Roca Angels” to popularize the product here.

The store is a bit bigger that the outlet in Tacoma next to the plant, but also has more products and Brown & Haley memorabilia in the back like old promo materials and a chocolate melting pot (at least, I think that’s what it was. Could be a torture device for all I know).

You have know idea how hard it is to not splurge when a large percentage of the products are under a buck. But I came here on a mission. I’m only buying some gift items. Nothing for myself. Must resist.

I picked up several Mountain Bars, some Candy Cane Roca and some exotic Macadamia Roca (I feel like the fat content on the nutritional facts would just be an infinity symbol). I almost picked up a bag of sugar free Almond Roca for myself (I worked out that morning!) but I realized I would inhale it and slowly backed away. I even managed to deflect the alluring bag of the Roca toffee crunch (imagine a crushed up Almond Roca core).

Oh, hey, Halloween is coming. Well…I guess I could pick up a box of 100+ Mountain Bars for Trick or (Tricker) Treaters…

NO! GET BEHIND ME BROWN & HALEY!

I slowly made my way up to the front and plunked down my purchase on the counter. Total price: $1.49

Thank goodness that candy tax didn't pass.

My delicious haul.

Okay, so I didn’t go overboard on the goods and I didn’t even break my $5 limit (or even half of that). All in all, a good place to go if you need some quick sugar, some for a gift or have out of town visitors and want to impress them with our delicious local product. Also they have free samples.

Honestly, I’ll probably just continue shopping at the Tacoma location. Yes, it is a bit smaller, but you don’t have to fight Fife traffic and if you’re already downtown then it’s just a Link, skip & a hop away. Exercise is just the the thing I need after binging on a whole plastic tub of Peppermint Boos Boos anyway.

Not at the downtown location: 10lbs of dark chocolate for $20 and bonus scale to weigh your chocolate/Brown & Haley related weight gain (see picture at left).

The Brown & Haley Fife Warehouse is located at:
3500 – C 20th Street,
Fife, WA 98424
and they’re open
Monday-Saturday 9:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Deals | 2 Comments »

Brown and Haley Roca Crunch – Bits ‘o Roca, Not a Lot ‘o Crunch

No Comments » Written on July 8th, 2011 by
Categories: Food
Tags: , ,

Purchased at: Brown & Haley Retail Outlet Store
Price: 99 cents a pack

The Brown and Haley outlet store is proving to be quite the nuisance for my waist line with their cheap as hell discontinued and seasonal treats. Last time it was the Roca Thins; this time around it’s their seasonal Brown and Haley Roca Milk Chocolate Crunch chocolate sweaty balls. Ok, maybe not sweaty balls, but definitely chocolate, umm, half-ellipsoids.

Upon closer inspection of the half-ellipsoids, they seem to have a striking resemblance to schweddy balls to their dark truffle-ly counterpart, the Roca Double Dark Truffle. It wouldn’t surprise me if they shared the same chocolate mold inside their Tacoma-based candy factory. Heck I’d actually be surprised if they got exclusive access to their very own Roca Crunch mold. That would seem trufflist to me.

Surgery reveals a toffee growths through out the choco-semi-ellipse.

Back to the candy, they’re basically milk chocolate balls with crushed chunks of butter toffee crammed in the middle to give it that Brown and Haley appeal. Like most milk chocolate products they end up being a little too sweet for my tastes on their own but after chasing the balls semi-ellipsoids down with a glass of cold milk I found them to be pretty addicting. Not a particularly good sign when I’m trying to get less fat, not more fat.

My only concern about the product is the distinct lack of “crunch” which I was promised in the name “Roca Crunch”. In fact, it’s more of a “Roca Squish with Chewy Chunks”. I’m going to propose that these be renamed to “Roca Oval Chocolate Awesome Sweets” or “ROCAS” for short. That would be a far more fitting name for these toffee loaded chocolates. Though at full price, I don’t think they’re particularly remarkable sweets, but they’re pretty fantastic at the one dollar price point. Heck, I think they’d be worth two bucks in a pretty box. Two fifty if they threw in a bow, or some DIY wrapping paper.

Like most Brown and Haley products, these are definitely worth checking out, particularly at discount prices. I would suggest making a stop at the Brown and Haley factory outlet if you ever happen to find yourself in the good old town of Tacoma. While you’re in there check out pretty much everything they have. It would seem that they use the outlet store to try out new products and clear out other discontinued flavors. I’ve never been in there when there hasn’t been a pile of odd Mountain Bar flavors, holiday products, and other chocolate or toffee involved candy experiments. Chances are you’ll end up with a whole lot of tasty things that are going to go straight to your waistline.

The outlet store packaging is definitely nothing to write home about.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Food | No Comments »

Roca Buttercrunch Thins: Milk Toffee

No Comments » Written on May 11th, 2011 by
Categories: Food
Tags: , , ,

Purchased at: Brown & Haley Retail Outlet Store
Price: 99 cents a pack

Marisa’s Take: Ben and I are blessed (or in regard to our waistlines, cursed) to be located about fifteen minutes away from Brown & Haley Candy Company, maker of this product, Almond Roca, Mountain Bars and a variety of other confections they make. Keep in mind, where there’s a candy factory, there’s thousands of pieces of candy that don’t quite measure up to quality assurances tests (either misshaped, miswrapped and what have you). Enter the Brown & Haley Outlet store.

We picked up a box of Roca Thins for 99 cents at the store, which is located right outside the factory. They have a variety of deeply discounted goods like: 2 lbs of the seasonal Candy Cane Roca for 99 cents, Cappuccino and Mint (respectively) Mountain Bars for 10 cents or a bag of Macadamia Roca for 50 cents. My arteries are groaning, but my wallet is happy.

I find it a bit ironic, and perhaps slightly cruel, that a product consisting of buttery toffee mixed with almond and covered in milk chocolate could possibly use the word “thin” in the name. And while Milk Toffee Roca Buttercrunch Thins area a little less caloric than their log-like mainstream counterpart Almond Roca, per square inch you’re probably getting about the same wonderful thigh-widening delicious calories.

Coincidentally, as I write this post, I am currently on a bus that is passing the factory with the majestic Tacoma Dome a stone’s throw away. I gaze wistfully out the window as the rain falls in sheets outside. It is truly a Northwest Moment®/potential indie movie with a soundtrack by Death Cab for Cutie. I like to imagine there’s Oompa Loompa-like workers inside the factory, but instead of green hair and orange skin, they’re pasty white with scruffy hipster facial hair and glasses.

Ben’s Take: As a Northwest native I’m pretty used to Almond Roca, which has a very high toffee to chocolate ratio. As a child I really didn’t care for the toffee but I would have murdered for the thin almond impregnated chocolate coating. There was just enough toffee flavor leeched into the chocolate and almond coating to make the entire it perfect for my prepubescent sweet tooth.

Being a young pick eater I developed some odd eating habits; I would scrape the coating off of the toffee center with my teeth and stack the naked toffee centers on a plate. After I reached Almond Roca coating overload I would turn my attention back to the crunch toffee centers and eat them as is. For some reason I preferred them this way. Toffee flavored almond chocolate goo with a toffee chaser.

When I brought the Roca Thins in I tried to use my old Almond Roca method and found that these guys were constructed completely differently from their ‘fat’ almond coated cousins.There was still toffee in there and the soft chocolate coating was definitely the same as traditional Almond Roca. The toffee was fragmented into bits of crunchy flavor instead of monolithic hunks of toffee.

I expected the missing almond bits would upset the balance of flavor for the sticks, but thanks to the extra chocolate I’m not missing them. Well, only a little. It’s important to note now that the chocolate has a really high fat content and melts if you look at it funny. I had trouble with it melting when I was handling it for the photos, but this fatty meltiness means it dissolves as soon as hits your mouth. You can prevent them from melting before you can eat them by keeping the box in the freezer and allowing them to chill. Then it almost tastes like chocolate and toffee ice cream.

Don’t let the “thins” deceive you, these guys will make you super duper fat, but they’re totally worth it. If I was left to my own devices I would eat a box of these a day. Thank goodness I’m no longer working in Tacoma.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Food | No Comments »