Hershey Introduces Candy Inspired by 6 States Including a BBQ-Flavored Bar

It seemed fake at first.

America loves candy chocolate in particular. In 2016, we ate 1.3 million tonnes of it, that majority of the global supply. That is one major sweet tooth.

Which is why it makes sense that Hershey would want to pay homage to the great nation that keeps it in business. Yesterday they announced that they planned to just do that, with a line of limited addition products that were inspired by the tastes of six popular summer vacation destination states with one very odd choice for Texas.

That seems like a great idea. For instance, for New York, they picked a cherry cheesecake Hershey bar, which sounds delicious. Stepping into most delis in the city, including the famous Junior's, you’d probably see a plastic box containing a slice of that decadent dessert. Up next we have Hawaii, which was treated to coconut-almond Kisses. That flavor fits with the state’s signature palm trees and tropical climate. California will be represented by a strawberry flavored Kit Kat, which is supposed to represent Oxnard's annual California Strawberry Festival.

Things start to go a little off the rails when we get around to Florida. Hershey re-imagined Twizzlers in new key lime pie and orange cream pop flavors, which frankly sounds like a bit of a sugar overload, but we get the Keys and citrus reference. Georgia has it a little bit better, with a honey-roasted take on a classic Reese’s peanut butter cup.

And now we come to Texas' barbeque PayDay bar, which allegedly brings together the “tang” of barbeque-seasoned peanuts with caramel.

Given that the wasabi Kit-Kat already exists, perhaps this isn’t so strange. And maybe it only sounds strange people usually assume their barbequed meats will come on a separate plate from their dessert. But here’s the thing: Science has proven that sweet and salty flavors taste delicious together. So before we go dismissing this candy bar as an abomination, let's consider the notion that Hershey may actually be onto to something here.

You can find out for yourself, but you'd better do it soon the limited edition candies are only available while supplies last.

This article was originally published on Food&Wine.com