Try our new Joe Tea drink and chips range

Joe Tea is a small company who produce awesome teas and chips which perfectly compliment each other. Not only are the flavours fantastic, but the packaging is pretty cool too - adorned with bright colours and pickup trucks.

These have just arrived at Stateside HQ from the States, and you can buy them online here or in our Aldershot and Guildford stores. Read more about the company below.

JOE TEA was started to do one thing - make awesome tasting teas. During the Summer of 1998, I started selling JOE TEA in Hoboken and all over small beach towns on the Jersey Shore. At first, the store owners were reluctant - then they tasted the tea. One by one, we opened up accounts and JOE TEA started to flow. By the fall, JOE TEA expanded to many of the better independent food retailers around the New York Metro Area. Each day I loaded up my truck with JOE TEA and went to new towns and in doing so, created routes throughout NJ, NY, CT and Eastern Pennsylvania. And we've kept busy over the last few years. Along the way, JOE TEA came to be known at "The Original Off Road Tea".

If you've tried any of these new products we'd love to know what you think - let us know in the comments.

Get dirty with new Todd's Dirt seasonings!

We love bringing new products to our customers, and having tried these new Dirt seasonings in San Francisco in January, we knew you guys would love them. It all started with trying to recreate a friends recipe, owner and creator Todd says: "After years of trying and many countless combinations, I came up with a seasoning that was even better. In 2003, I came out with a batch that everyone went crazy for and started asking for more. Many became addicted to Dirt for all their cooking. I was making 15 to 30 bottles a month, and started to think maybe I was on to something." And we couldn't agree more! Check out his website and the video below for more information on the products.

No matter what type of seasoning you're looking for, Dirt has the solution. The original seasoning is great for steaks and BBQ's (as well as pretty much everything else!) and the Crabby Dirt makes seafood sensational!  And if you're looking for something spicy grab a tub of the Bayou seasoning - perfect for fans of creole or cajun style spices. Whichever you go for, Todd the Dirt-Man is confident you wont be disapointed!

Follow the stars for 10% off in Guildford!

The evenings are getting darker, rolls of shiny wrapping paper are popping up by the tills and we've even seen the Christmas Coca Cola advert on the TV. But it wouldn't be Christmas without lights, and the lights in Guildford are due to be turned on on 24th November. And it's not just the lights, there's a whole host of festive fun going on throughout the day.

From 3pm there's donkeys and Newfoundland dogs outside Debenhams and face painting in White Lion Walk shopping centre. Throughout the afternoon there's a parade, various performances and Santa on the Guildhall balcony. Then join 96.4 Eagle Radio's Peter Gordon and stars from panto, including Bonnie Langford, to count down to the lights switch on from 7pm.

The switching on of the lights by Bonnie Langford also marks the start of late night Christmas shopping, with most shops including ours staying open until 8pm. And look out for gold stars in the shop windows, as participating stores will be offering 10% off! Of course that includes us, so pop in to see our full range of Christmas candy and save yourself on presents. For more information, see the Guildford town website. See you there! 

Amazing Glaze: check out our new popcorn Glaze Pops!

Summer might be the best time to see the big blockbusters in the cinemas, but we've decided to dig out the DVD's because that way we can put our feet up, text to our hearts delight and wander into the kitchen whenever we feel like it to cook up some fresh popcorn. And it's not just any popcorn we're making, but all the flavours of the rainbow! We've discovered these amazing new Glaze Pop glazes which can be added to fresh popcorn to create flavours like cinnamon, blue raspberry, cherry and caramel.

Each packet makes around 5-7 batches of sugar glazed corn, something that in the past could take up to an hour! But this new glaze is easy to use and the perfect sweet treat. Simply add it to your popper or pan with the corn and keep stirring until the popping slows down, it couldn't be easier! Full instructions are below:

Use your regular amount of corn and popping oil. (Don't use salt). Use a measure of GLAZE POP equal to 1/2 the quantity of popcorn. (If you use half a cup of popcorn use one forth cup of GLAZE POP). Put the oil in the popper first and as soon as it liquefies add the popcorn and GLAZE POP. Keep stirring until the popping slows down (do not wait until the last kernel pops) and dump Caramel Corn promptly. Allow to cool before eating.

 

 

And why not try it out in one of our new popcorn poppers, we even have great outdoor poppers which are great for festivals and barbecues!

Come down and taste our sauces!

If you're lucky enough to live near us then you might be excited to hear we'll be giving away samples of some of our amazing sauces, salsas and dressing over the next couple of days. We understand you can't buy everything, but to give you a chance to decide which are your favourites we'll be sampling several products today, Friday and Saturday.

Drop into our Aldershot store to try some of of favourite barbecue sauces like  the best selling Jack Daniels range and the award winning Sweet Baby Ray's. And we're also giving you the chance to try some of our brand new range of Braswell's sauces, including everything from Apple & Cinnamon barbecue sauce to Pumpkin Butter!

So what are you waiting for? Pop in today for a free taste!

Mountain Dew Pitch Black - back by popular DEWmand!

Another day, another huge delivery from the States! And this one was particularly exciting as we received several pallets of the hugely popular (and constantly requested!) Mountain Dew Pitch Black! We were lucky enough to receive some Supernova last month, but now we're super excited to be able to bring you Dew with a blast of Black Grape.

This flavour was originally available back in 2004, but eager fans and hundreds of requests proved too much for Pepsi to ignore as they released this statement:

"Back by Popular DEWmand was created to celebrate our incredible fans by rewarding them with the return of some of their favorite DEW flavors," said Brett O'Brien, senior director of marketing, Mountain Dew. "There is no fan like a Mountain Dew fan – DEW fans are always engaged and we truly value the feedback they provide about what they want to see next from Mountain Dew. Through this program we'd like to thank them and encourage their continued enthusiasm and support."

It might look like a lot in the photo, but stocks are limited so grab some while you can! You can see our full range of Mountain Dew flavours here.

Invite Jack Daniel to the barbecue this summer!

In Tennessee, home of Mr. Jack Daniel, we’re pretty sure they can set up the barbecue and start grilling whenever they want.  Here in the UK however, we spend most of the summer planning barbecues for ‘the next sunny day’, which is always weeks away. In the end the barbecue comes out and everyone joins in the summer fun, no matter what the weather does. We’re celebrating the English summer with our amazing range of Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauces.

Jack Daniel’s whiskey was created back in 1866, and the unique charcoal-mellowed flavour really lends itself to these sauces. Although they do not contain alcohol, they still have the smoky taste of the Tennessee whiskey which works amazingly well on the barbecue. The company even hosts a yearly barbecue competition in Lynchburg with prizes for the best chicken, ribs and even dessert! Whether you’re a fan of the original No. 7 sauce or prefer something sweeter like the Hickory Brown Sugar, we’ve got plenty to go round. These sauces are  the genuine American recipe one's that you'll find in TGI Fridays, and are different to the one's you can buy in UK supermarkets.

The Jack Daniel’s website even has a great recipe finder where you can filter by sauce or ingredients and find new meal ideas. Fire up the barbie and check out our range of Jack Daniel’s sauces here.

Have s'more fun at the festivals this summer

S'mores have always been the food of the girl scout at American summer camps, but this year we think we should start a trend for them in the UK. With countless festivals and barbecues going on throughout the summer, there's no shortage of flames to toast those marshmallows on! So why not grab a stick and a couple of friends and have some all-American fun?

The first recipe for s'mores can be found in "Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts" which was written back in 1927. Since then there's been s'more bars, s'mores Pop Tarts and even lip balms! But nothing beats the original and the best, so here's our guide to creating s'mores over a campfire or barbecue.

Firstly you'll need Graham or Honey Maid crackers, a bag of Jet Puffed marshmallows and a bar of Hershey's milk chocolate. Once you've got your ingrediants you need to find some medium sized sticks or wooden skewers and push the marshmallows on to the end. Place a square of chocolate onto a cracker and toast your marshmallow. Once it's browned and gooey on the inside put it on top of the chocolate and place another cracker on the top. Hold the sandwich in one hand while pulling the skewer out with the other.

The marshmallow will melt the chocolate and give you a crunchy, gooey centred treat that will leave you asking for s'more! And if you want s'mores the easy way we have a handy S'mores Making Kit, which is back in stock in July!

And we've found the perfect campfire song to sing while making them, thanks Buck Howdy!

Review the Stateside Candy Co!

Here at the Stateside Candy Co, we love to hear feedback from our fans. YouTube user KieranR9 has sent us this fantastic review of our website after receiving a Hershey Milk Chocolate bar.

Whether you're a presenter in the making or just an enthusiastic fan, we'd love to hear your views on our products, website or company. Send your videos to ella@americansweets.co.uk and you could be featured on our blog!

The Stateside Candy Co. in Classic American magazine

With a name like the Stateside Candy Co it may come as no surprise that we love all things American; from candy to cars and soda to songs, we just can't get enough of it. So imagine our excitement when we opened our copy of Classic American magazine this month to find this fantastic article telling readers all about what we do! And to top it off it features some great photos of our Aldershot store and fantastic staff.

This months issue also features some awesome photographs from Wheels Day - we've been playing Where's Wally trying to find our van in the crowds! Grab your copy of Classic American now to read all about the company and bag yourself a exclusive discount code!

Instant Grilled Cheese Sandwich!

Do you ever get a craving for a grilled cheese sandwich but you just don't have the time or means to make one? Well we have just the product for you! Our new Herr's Grilled Cheese Flavour Cheese Curls combine the tasty cheese flavour of cheese curls we all know and love with an added extra. As soon as you pop one of these large puffs into your mouth you can instantly taste the buttery toasted bread, whisking you away to a cheesy-snack heaven.

Having taste tested these (perhaps a few too many times) we can report back that they really are as good as you'd imagine, in fact they've become a fast-favourite here at Stateside HQ. Grab a packet while you can, because we're pretty sure they'll be going fast as the picnic and BBQ season begins! If only Herr's could invent some tomato soup flavour snacks to combine with these we'd never need to cook again!

Check out our other new Herr's chips, including Jalapeño Popper, Texas Pete's hot sauce and Nachitas, here.

Check-in at the Stateside Candy Co!

Planning a visit to our Aldershot store soon? Well you can now tell the whole world about it through location based social networks Gowalla and Foursquare! Simply check-in when you get here and post your reviews, tips and photos for everyone to see.

And make sure you do it on every visit, as we'll be handing out discount codes and special prizes to regular Gowalla and Foursquare visitors! Check out the profile pages now to see pictures and tips people have already added.