November 20, 2007
How do you eat your M&M’s?
Written by Anne Mallory in Jaunty Post
When you open that bag of M&M’s, what do you do? Do you start right into the bag, popping each one as it falls into your hand? Do you spread them out and group them by color? Do you eat one color at a time? Do you pair your colors together? Eat them in groups? Dump them all in your mouth at once?
I tend to eat whichever one pours into my hand *until* there is about half a bag left. Then I carefully group the survivors together so that there is one color in each group — then I eat the group. I eat the small groups first - the ones that aren’t full groups, but instead contain the stragglers. One brown, one green, one orange, for instance. Then maybe one brown, one green, one orange and one red. Repeat on up until I’m left with the last groups that contain full rainbows. Crazy, yes. But hey, M&M eating is serious business.
Some people say certain colors taste better. Some people say certain colors have personalities. Some people say there are, ahem, “benefits” to eating certain colors. Jami Alden and I held a deep discussion on M&M’s the other day, and I thought I would throw it out to you.
What’s your take? How do you eat your M&M’s, which colors do you like best and what do you have to say about them? 
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Shana Says:
I’ve eaten M&Ms quickly and divided them by color. If I have a lot of time and am on a diet, I’ll eat them really slowly. If I’m at a party, I might scoop a spoonful on my plate and eat them mindlessly. I don’t beleive the different colors have different tastes. I’ve tried to taste for that but maybe my palate isn’t discerning enough.
brownone Says:
I’m a strage one. I actually try to eat the crunchy outer layer first and THEN eat the chocolate. My sister always tells me I look like a squirrel with an acorn. Oh, and for me it doesn’t matter what color they are, they all go down the same way! I have never tasted a diffrence.
Jenna Petersen Says:
I’m a sorter. I like blue and red. So I try to eat the brown ones first because then I can have the blue and red. Although sometimes I’ve eaten the color piles by how many are in them. Small to large.
Wow. I need to go back to therapy.
Taryn Raye Says:
I’d never really thought about it, but I guess I’m a sorter too and like Jenna, my favorites are blue and red. I’ll sort them and eat the colors I like least first to save my favorites for last.
And I had to laugh reading this because I’ve done pretty much all the things everyone’s talked about. Sometimes I do try to “pry the shell off” and then eat the chocolate.
I don’t think they taste any different based on color though and I have been known to just suck on them till the shell melts through to the chocolate.
(Maybe a therapist is a good idea? LOL)
Karen H in NC Says:
My special trick in life is to be able to identify the red M&M’s with my eyes closed. Strange but true. I’ll close my eyes and one of my kids will pop their choice of M&M in my mouth. I can tell if it is red or not. If not, I don’t know the color, but I can tell the red ones. Never fails…but I can’t do it with the M&M Peanut…they taste different.
Other than my famous trick, I just dip in the bag and toss a handful in my mouth. But sometimes I do sort, pick & choose.
Robyn DeHart Says:
If I’m home, then I’m a sorter too and alas green is my favorite. No snickering, I just happen to like green, it’s always been my favorite color. I eat brown first, then orange, then yellow, then red, then blue, then green. I only sort with plain M&M’s. Peanut M&M’s are my absolute favorite candy, I really love it right out of the freezer when they’re nice and cold. The thing that’s always bugged me, with all the advances in M&M’s (new flavors, being able to buy just one color, etc.) why do they not package plain and peanut together in a beautiful harmony of M&M magic? It’s the perfect combination and yet as it stands if you want this you have to buy and mix yourself.
For those of you peanut M&M fans, ever notice there’s always one flop in the bag, the one missing the peanut so it’s just like a big giant plain M&M? Oh, man, that’s the best, it’s like winning a prize.
Margo Maguire Says:
I have 2 favorites … Mega M&Ms and peanutbutter M&Ms. But I must say, that after I visited the M&M store in NYC, I felt kind of overdosed (and I didn’t even eat any!). So there’s been a moratorium of M&Ms at my house.
Dorothy Says:
I like the dark chocolate M&M’s and I eat them any which way I can get them! They even come in peanut now!!
Linda Says:
The only kind of M&M’s that I eat are peanut butter. If i’m at home then I tend to sort them into colors. Brown is my favorite for some reason and gets eaten last.
Helen Says:
I just eat them as they come out of the bag I love them the peanut ones are my favourite.
Have Fun
Helen
Shirley Karr Says:
On “The History of Chocolate” documentary that the History Channel airs periodically, they said an average bag of M&M’s will have 24% blue, 19% of a couple colors, and so on down to 14% of one color. Don’t remember the specific counts (that would just be too Rainman) but thought it interesting that there isn’t an even % of colors in each bag.
Anne Mallory Says:
Love hearing everyone’s M&M quirks.
Karen, go you red maven, you!
Robyn, that is a fantastic idea. I can’t believe they haven’t made mixed bags yet! It makes total sense now that you’ve said it!
For all you peanut butter M&M lovers - I love them too. But they are pure EVIL. They are guaranteed to make me scratch my head while saying, “But…where did they all go???”
Kathryn Says:
Okay, I eat M&Ms, but I am a Smarties girl…am I the only one here? I sometimes group them by colour, but I have to eat them in pairs (or even numbers). There has to be the same number in each side of my mouth, if there are two on the left, there has to be two on the right. And I am like this for most small snack/candy foods. Weird? Maybe… but people with quirks are more interesting!
Jami Alden Says:
wow, what is it about M&Ms that brings out the OCD in all of us? My son is already starting - I use M&MS as potty treats. “I go onna potty, den I get 2 candies! a gween one, anna bue one!”
ladydawgfan Says:
Unfortunatly, I have not been able to eat M&M’s (or any other chocolate, for that matter) since late September when I had a severe gall bladder attack. I’ve been low fat / fat free, desperately trying to stay out of the OR until after the holidays. Therefore, I am depending on all of you to do your darndest to make sure all of the M&M’s of the world find their ways to happy stomachs everywhere so I am not tempted.
C’mon, now!! I’m counting on you!!!
Cindi Hoppes Says:
By the handful! Cindi
Kayla Says:
Ha Ha so M&Ms. . . they are my favorite to say the least! love them
so yea umm definatley the Blue and green ones. i poor them all out of the bag, sort them, put them all back into the bag, and then finally eat. them. :loser: i kno. lol but i can’t help it. and it gets worse. once about half the bag is gone i take them out. sort them, eat the ugly brown and then make a pyramid with wat is left. im just a big loser.
Hey you gotta enjoy your M&Ms!
David Says:
My wife and I split the bag. She has dibs on the reds, blues, & greens. She claims that they taste better. I get the browns, yellows, and oranges. I say they all taste the same. Maybe there is something to this percentage thing though.