King Leo Tin Soft Sticks Peppermint

I am originally from Baltimore, MD, home of the Flower Mart which is held every year around the Washington Monument in Baltimore. One of the signature items at this event is "Lemon Sticks" which are made by cutting a large lemon in half and inserting a ~3"-long soft, porous peppermint stick in it and then sipping the juice through the peppermint "straw." When I retired to Delaware and our small town needed a draw to increase awareness and attendance at our local summer festival, we decided to promote this old-fashioned idea in our Victorian town. I ordered 5 tins of King Leo peppermint sticks based on the reviews assuring me these were the ones to use for the delicacy. NOT! We ended up with 5 tins of unusable peppermint sticks and 74-1/2 large lemons cut in half at the end of the event. (We started out with 75 lemons.)We based a large part of our pre-event advertising on these Lemon Sticks and ended up with egg on our face and a sour taste in our mouth because King Leo decided to take production off-shore (Mexico) and changed the recipe without bothering to make buyers aware of a change in the process.I did a bit more research and a company called "Bob's" has the correct type of peppermint sticks and they are available at most Dollar Tree stores for $1.00 for a 5 oz. bag.Just so you know...

I see that many others are as unhappy as I am about the switch. These are not the same as they have historically been. One of the distributors told me they changed the packaging without telling them, so they believe this is the "new" style. I searched through all the listings to order one that specifically said unwrapped sticks, but when they arrived, they are the individually wrapped knock offs. I have written a complaint directly to Quality Candy Co, in Nevada expressing my unhappiness. Maybe they will go back to those very special ones of last year. I won't be purchasing any more until they do.And, these are listed as 3" long, individually wrapped - the cellophane is 3". They do not even measure 3" and are thinner and very different from the normal King Leo's. These are not cheap - do not buy them.

Despite promoting this as being in a gift tin, the candy is actually contained in a cardboard carton. The price is FAR too high not to have the promised packaging. When I looked to return it, I was informed it was not eligible for return. AVOID THIS SELLER AND PRODUCT!

What the heck happened to King Leo? Believe the negative reviews. They are much lower quality, and taste completely different than cans I've bought in the past. They taste like they have cold medicine and bathroom cleaner(? ) blended in. Idk. I'm glad I decided to just get 2 pk to see. The cans themselves are still nice quality. So, if you like the can, go for it and refill with Redbird.

I am really irritated. I have loved these since the 1970s. They used to be made in Nashville where I first had them. I started getting them on Amazon several years ago and thought they had gotten shorter in length. Well today mine arrived and am unhappy for a couple of reasons: I paid $19 for them less than a week ago and now they are $15. In addition, they are much shorter than the height of the can. The info on Amazon says approximately 49 pieces but the bottom of the can on the label says 43. And the picture of the label on Amazon says 40 calories per piece yet the label shown on Amazon says 45 calories. So indeed it appears the length of the peppermint sticks has shrunk and the current batch is 88% of what they were previously. What a ripoff.