Have you ever taken a bite of something and thought, “Nope, doesn’t taste right”? Gluten-free foods come to mind. Or salsa on a tortilla chip after the salsa’s turned south. There’s nothing more unnerving than expecting one taste and getting another. But at least with gluten-free (and bad salsa) you’re sort of prepared to be disappointed. The same can’t be said with more “sacred” foods. Like chocolate.
I ate my fair share of Hershey’s bars as a kid but once Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups came along I switched my preference. Reese’s somehow developed the perfect blend of peanut butter and milk chocolate into a convenient cup where you get both tastes in every bite. The two-cup packs never convinced me to save one for later, but they did give the impression I was getting more for my money.
Some things are better left alone… but Reese’s never got the message. Instead, over the years they’ve produced endless varieties on the original peanut butter cup. Before you knew it we had a choice of sizes (including “Big Cup”), fillings (peanut butter and banana creme? Yuck!), and candy coatings, as well as holiday shapes like milk chocolate hearts, eggs, pumpkins, and bells, all with the peanut butter filling. Finally, Reese’s Pieces joined the list, made infinitely more popular by their supporting role in the blockbuster film E.T.
The problem with variations on a Reese’s is the altered ratio of milk chocolate to peanut butter. I would’ve enjoyed standing in ole man Reese’s shoes back in the 1920s when he taste-tested his way to perfection. He should’ve put a patent on it, because too much milk chocolate or too much peanut butter just doesn’t taste right to me. But at least we’re talking about milk chocolate here. Now for the real injustice…
The H.B. Reese Candy Company became a subsidiary of Hershey in 1963. Their peanut butter cups instantly became Hershey’s bestseller (even surpassing the classic Hershey Bar). But recently, subtly, quietly, Hershey committed a mortal sin of the candy world. Rather than leaving well enough alone they changed the ingredients of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Soon to come, there will no longer be any milk chocolate in a Reese’s, at least not by proper definition. Instead, you’ll indulge in a “chocolate-flavored coating”. In the world of food, we all know flavoring is just another word for “artificial”.
This little con of Hershey’s was brought to the headlines by none other than a grandson of H.B. Reese (and who can claim better peanut butter cup credentials than that?). Brad Reese is taking on Hershey for straying from the original recipe. Granted, the price of cocoa beans – the basis of real chocolate – has gone through the roof the last few years, forcing companies to get creative with size, price, or ingredients. I just wish Hershey offered me the option to still purchase the real thing.
I’ve already noticed how Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are shrinking. The originals were 0.9 ounces. Then they went to 0.8 ounces, then 0.75, and finally to the 0.7 juniors they are today. If Hershey keeps this up, you’ll start thinking the “original” is a “miniature”. I can make peace with shrinkage as long as the milk chocolate/peanut butter ratio stays the same. But now the words “milk chocolate” will be removed from the orange wrapper. Ask the FDA and they’ll say, “Sorry, “chocolate-flavored coating” is not the same as “milk chocolate”.
I’m joining Brad Reese’s campaign to restore Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to their original composition. Some things are just worth their weight in gold. Not that I’d pay gold for a peanut butter cup, but show me the original size, ratio, and ingredients and I might just be tempted.
Some content sourced from the NBC News article, “Grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is in pieces over missing milk chocolate”, and Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.
Life In A Word 
Thanks for the heads up. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard is my favourite. Maybe Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have something to say about the possibility of additives in the ‘chocolate coating’!?
Cocoa prices seem to have dropped significantly since May of 2025, so something else must have influenced the decision to remove real chocolate…
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Interesting market swing with cocoa beans lately. Climate change (or lack of supply, or both) drove up prices to the point where manufacturers like Hershey went with alternatives. That created a significant drop in demand, which in turn dropped the price of the beans. But I’m not expecting Hershey to swing back to milk chocolate, sigh. Forgot about the ice cream! (and the breakfast cereal for that matter) There seem to be endless ways to enjoy a peanut butter cup.
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I agree with you Dave – why did Reese’s mess with perfection? Just like Oreos – do we really need 50 different flavors of Oreos, or Oreos for TV/movie characters, or different seasons? How many iterations can they make from doubling the creme filling to making them paper thin? I actually heard that story about the grandson being angry about the “new” Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. And the story I heard mentioned the chocolate and also that the peanut butter tastes more like peanut butter creme now and I passed that info along to a fellow blogger who has a cooking site. She mentioned recently that cake mix companies were changing the size of their packaging, downsizing the product, so combining the mix with other ingredients like people always had done was causing the cakes’ consistency to change or taste bad.
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These manufacturers can come up with endless varieties and size changes ’til the cows come home. What I wish is that they’d retain the original exactly as it was first made, no matter the uptick in price. I’d pay for it! Reminds me of New Coke going back to “old” Coke. Or if I remember correctly, “old” Coke still being available in Mexico with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. People just want products the way they used to be
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I agree with you – what are the marketing mavens they hire thinking? People don’t always want change – even changing the logo on the Cracker Barrel restaurants created such outrage, they quickly reverted back to the old logo.
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Dave I just checked my package of snack size 124g $3.29 for 10 (I buy them every week), and it still says under ingredients: Milk chocolate, cocoa butter, milk ingredients, unsweetened chocolate, peanuts, sugars etc. But it is packaged by Hershey Canada, so maybe we will eventually be due for a change too.
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Same as in the U.S. Joni – milk chocolate. But most of their spins on the peanut butter cups no longer have milk chocolate. I figure it’s only a matter of time before the cups go that way too.
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How could they do this to us? I was never really a fan of the Reece’s pieces, I preferred a peanut m&m. I think my favorite Renee’s is the bite size cups that can just melt in your mouth.
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The minis at Christmas are great, added to a basket of Hershey’s Kisses and other MILK chocolates 🙂 I probably ate a few bags of Reese’s Pieces a long time ago (somewhere around E.T.) but I’m with you; peanut M&Ms are so much better. Now you have me wondering if M&Ms are still made with milk chocolate!
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I bought a package of original Reese’s late last year and couldn’t decide if it was the product or me that had changed. I always liked them, but this recent purchase left me flat. I was toying with writing about this but you beat me to it. Which in no way upsets me, because there are other old candies I like better.
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Bit of a nod to you that I didn’t explore the history of Reese’s more, J P. You’ve got the patent on that approach. But this was one of those topics that got my goat enough to hit the keyboard while I still had negative energy.
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I’ve always enjoyed the Reese’s holiday shapes. I haven’t had them lately, but chocolate has become so expensive, and many don’t taste like they used to… OR have our taste buds changed?
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It’s a fair point about taste buds. Eat foods enough times and you adjust to their taste no matter the ingredients. But I draw the line with milk chocolate. I’ll always (and only) eat the real thing!
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Some of the tech guys I follow have been commenting on this, and have noted that Trader Joe’s “Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups” are far better than what Reese’s is putting out these days. Here’s the product description:
“Like their milk chocolate brethren on our shelves, our Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are made with real peanut butter that’s made with slowly roasted and ground Virginia peanuts. The luscious, smooth, rich, dark chocolate enveloping that peanut butter is crafted from high quality cacao beans. Other purveyors of peanut butter cups fill theirs with all kinds of “extraneous” ingredients. Ours are free of such things. We eschew artificial flavors and preservatives, as well as colors other than those derived from natural sources. We’re quite certain they taste better our way.”
Worth checking out, I’m thinking.
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Good to know – thanks! I’m always up for trying a product that claims to be better than the mainstream option. We’re getting a Trader Joe’s within reasonable driving distance this year so I’ll keep it in mind.
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Absolutely nothing tastes as good as it used to, and it’s all in the way things are being made. It’s an artificial world, my friend!
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Just another vote for whole foods, sigh…
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When will we learn: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
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Either that or “fix it” but keep the original as an option!
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I agree, some things are sacred 🙂
I hate when they try to fix what is not broken, like when they want to mess with the original Coca-Cola.
But, with that being said I have been eating Unreal chocolate confections and love all of them 🙂
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Thanks Ana! I’ve seen this brand at our supermarket checkout lanes and I’ve been curious. Their website seems to address everything I’m concerned about in this blog post (and less sugar!) I will definitely give them a try.
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Whoa! Quite the brouhaha. (You need to write a post about the origins of unusual words like that one, and bupkis, and skidoosh. I’m sure you can think of more.)
Reese’s peanut butter cups are Hubby’s and my favorites. This is an outrage! (I’m not actually outraged, but that does seriously stink.) Honestly, I’d want to do a blind taste test and see if I notice the difference.
I cannot understand Reese’s Pieces. ET can have them.
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I’m forever beyond purchasing mass-market “chocolate”, Ilsa (as much as I still love me a 3 Musketeers bar). My chocolate habit is what I’d describe as an occasional pleasure, which means I’m willing to spend more with less consumption. I’m trying the Unreal brand right now, but I just read an article where taste-testers chose Endangered Species and Theo as the best of the elites. I promptly added those to my list!
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Oooh, so you get to conisder yourself a chocolate snob? I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think it’s cool. I want to be a snob about something. I’m working on coffee…
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I’ll take “snob” since no other word comes to mind (go figure – me – no other word) and also because I’m confident in my choices when it comes to chocolate. Mass-market chocolate works for rookie taste buds and tight budgets, but upper-crust brands should still be the aspiration for any true lover of chocolate. Also, like everything else there are upper, UPPER brands which run into ridiculous price ranges (ditto coffee). If those are as good as their price tags, then I need to develop the palate of a wine-taster before I’m willing to pay 🙂
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You have clearly given this some good thought. I’m only on what I would consider tier two with coffee, but I’m aspiring to afford becoming a snob. 🙂 Eventually I’ll move from Dunkin Donuts to Peet’s.
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As for coffee, I’m up to Nespresso, which is a clear cut above Kuerig or any other “K-cup” brand. There is no going back (only forward) once you’ve had a cup of Nespresso!
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I have a loooong way to go, Dave. Maybe I should try chocolate snob like you instead. 😛
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