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M&M's Just Released 3 New Crunchy Flavors & One Tastes Like THIN MINTS

by Callie Tansill-Suddath
Mars

It is hard to improve on the classics. But a little upgrade never hurt anybody. At least, the folks behind M&Ms think so.

Earlier this week, Mars Incorporated — the company behind many of your favorite candy (Snickers, Skittles, and Starbursts, to name a few) — introduced THREE new M&M's flavors of the old staple. M&M Crunchy Raspberry, M&M Crunchy Espresso, and M&M Crunchy Mint are heading to shelves this spring. The best part? The latter of the three flavors reportedly tastes just like a THIN MINT GIRL SCOUT COOKIE, according to a taste test conducted on The Today Show.

According to Mars, the new flavors provide an updated take on the classic confection, featuring dark chocolate instead of the traditional milk chocolate, with each filled with crisped rice providing an extra layer of texture to the monogrammed bite-sized spheres. Rather than having the traditional rainbow-coating, the new raspberry crunch, espresso crunch, and mint crunch varieties will have pink, tan, and green candy coats on, respectively.

As the official launch of the new flavors is in April, few have yet had the opportunity to taste the little chocolatey gems. But, Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb of NBC's The Today Show were given an exclusive sneak peak (er, taste). Their take? That the new flavors are "very reminiscent of the gourmet candy, but that the M&M is a nice, cheaper stand-in." Of the three, they favored the crunchy espresso, saying its taste was reminiscent of chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Of course, there is one ~mildly important~ detail about these new flavors: like most good things, they will come to an end.

Now through May 25, candy cravers can visit flavorvote.mms.com and cast a vote for their favorite of the three. The winner will remain on shelves for the next year and a half, while the other two will retire to the big candy dish in the sky. Fans are also encouraged to share their favorite on social media using the hashtags #VoteCrunchyEspresso, #VoteCrunchyRaspberry and #VoteCrunchyMint. You can also send a text with the word 'VOTE' to 84444 to declare your devotion to a flavor of new M&M.

The new M&M varieties (and related competition) are part of the third installment of the Flavor Vote M&Ms promotion. Launched in 2016 to celebrate the candy's 75th birthday, the promotion is responsible for the release of Coffee Nut M&Ms — which, after receiving the majority of the over one million votes cast, beat out Honey Nut and Spicy Chili Nut flavors for a spot on shelves (where it remains to this day).

The flavor brains behind one of the world's most recognizable candies have hardly shied away from experimenting with nontraditional flavors in the past. Some of the company's seasonal offerings include a white chocolate-filled take on candy corn for the fall, and a cherry-flavored M&M (think German Chocolate Cake) for Valentine's Day. They even got in on the birthday cake trend with a flavor that has since been discontinued.

M&Ms aren't the only Mars candies getting a makeover this spring. News of the new M&Ms follows the announcement of a spicy Skittle (you read that correctly). According to the product's Facebook page, the new member of the Skittles family is "the perfect balance of sweet and heat," and contains flavors of "sizzlin' strawberry, fiery watermelon, flamin' orange, lemon spark, and blazin' mango." Sweet heat Starbursts are also reportedly on the way. Could spicy M&M's be coming next? It's not a bad idea.

So whether you are looking for something something fruity, rich, or minty to snack on this spring, M&Ms have got you covered. Who knows? If the crispy mint lands well with crowds, maybe a crispy caramel coconut or crispy peanut butter patty will follow.