Just in time for Pride, a new Hayes Valley candy store called Papabubble is selling $15 lollipops in the shape of the male anatomy. In the event that you weren't desperate to suck on one of these things -- which, in their packaging, look kind of like utensils for cannabis consumption -- there's plenty more in this polychromatic sweet shop.
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The Spanish chain has only two other locations in the United States, in New York and L.A., and it's high-end atmosphere is a fit with the rest of Hayes Valley's upscale retail. (No Bazooka Joe here; it's more like a Flight 001 for hard candy.) Granted, it's pretty easy for this type of thing to fall flat with adults, especially in this 72 percent-bittersweet-chocolate kind of town. The overwhelming glucosity and saccharinitude isn't always a selling point. So Papabubble has some interesting flavors such as Lime Chili & Salt and Sparkling Wine along with the usual fruits and berries, shaped either like tiny pillows or as cylindrical bits with visual clues about what flavor it is.
At about $5 for a 50 gram bag, it's hardly a bulk bag of starlight mints, but the space-age packaging makes this better for gifts. Or you could dissolve them in a bottle of vodka to infuse it. And watching the candy-maker at work, plying the taffy and cutting it with a genuinely enormous pair of shears, satisfies the curiosity. Papabubble is as pleasing to the eye as it is sweet on the tooth.
And with rainbow-colored candy dicks.
Papabubble, 488 Fell St. 355-1188.
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