When I was a kid, perhaps no dessert excited me more than the Andes Mints some restaurants would serve alongside the bill. Sure, they were available at the candy store and pharmacy pretty much whenever you wanted them, but — at least, in my family — they were never actually purchased, but souped only from dining out and hotel pillows. I’m an adult now, so theoretically I could purchase chocolate mints whenever I want, but I don’t. However, the melding of those flavors with a classic wafer candy bar has me rethinking that, as Hershey’s brand Kit Kat has announced its first Duos flavor, Mint + Dark Chocolate.
Okay, I’ll stop referring to Andes Mints for a moment, because they’re made by a completely different company. But the comparisons are pretty unavoidable. The leg up that Kit Kat has, of course, is that its tried-and-true layers of wafers add a snap and crunch to the two-tone green mint creme and dark chocolate layers, which aren’t overly sweet and delivery on a creamy mint flavor. If it sounds like I’m gushing, I am. Members of the Food & Wine team tried the candy bar today and there wasn’t a negative sentiment to be found among us.
One editor remarked “I like Kit Kats and I like Andes Mints so I like these,” encompassing the notion that mint can be a somewhat divisive flavor in candy (but if you don’t like mint already, why are you reaching for a mint candy bar?). Another staff member said they were “really minty” at first, before adding “but refreshing.” The combination of crispy wafer, dark chocolate, and mint also reminded us of Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies, meaning a decent off-season replacement for Thin Mints might actually be coming to the candy aisle instead of the cookie aisle.
Here’s the bad news: As is often the case in food media, we were let in on this product innovation a little earlier than the general public. Okay, eight months earlier. The Kit Kat Duos Mint + Dark Chocolate flavor won’t be released until December 2019 (in time for minty winter weather, though!). Here’s the better news: Once the flavor is released, it’s going to be the first permanent Kit Kat flavor in the lineup in nearly a decade, with, according to a Kit Kat representative, more Duos flavors on the way.
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