Reese's Introduces An Unexpected Caramel Big Cup To Candy Aisles Everywhere

The peanut butter cup innovation at Reese's never seems to stop, and now it's looking into its own past for a new flavor inspired by an old fan-favorite. There are so many Reese's products out there that these days it's basically impossible to try them all, going far beyond the classic peanut butter snacks to encompass seemingly every aisle in the grocery store, from frozen desserts to cookie kits. In fact, there are so many Reese's products that aren't cups that it can be easy to forget that the company is just as willing to throw out new flavors there as it is ready to make a coffee creamer. So it comes as almost a surprise that Reese's newest flavor, a Caramel Big Cup, isn't something that already exists.

According to a press release from the company, Reese's Caramel Big Cups will be available in grocery stores nationwide starting on November 17, 2023, with options for both standard and king-sized packages. Emily Stover, Reese's senior associate brand manager, says "Next to peanut butter, caramel is the most requested combination with chocolate," adding, "As the experts in chocolate and peanut butter deliciousness, we know what our fans want, and we're delivering on that with the Reese's Caramel Big Cup." The new Reese's cup is as simple as it sounds, with a thin layer of caramel being squeezed in underneath the peanut butter filling of the Big Cup.

Reese's says it's adding caramel to the Big Cup for the first time, but that distinction is important, because this isn't the first time it's paired peanut butter with caramel. A standard Reese's cup with caramel went on sale in 2006, lasting only a few years before it disappeared. Like many limited-run snacks from that era, it has evoked nostalgia from some fans, even if it was never that popular in its initial run. 

There was even a Change.org petition to bring back the flavor in 2021, but it only garnered 78 signatures. Maybe the relative lack of excitement for the first version is why Reese's is coyly trying to play this off as a new flavor, forgoing the normal "fan favorite returns" announcements that normally go along with these kinds of releases.

The caramel flavor is actually a pretty big departure for Reese's when it comes to its cups. While it is never shy about new flavors, the emphasis on the filling has almost always been centered around peanut butter, with new products either changing the shape, the chocolate, or adding filling like Reese's Pieces and Reese's Puffs that are still focused on the same flavors. Caramel has a pretty strong taste, so it should be interesting to see how well it complements the peanut butter, or if it overpowers it. Either way, the Caramel Big Cup is something Reese's fans will certainly be clamoring to try.