the Chocolate Lava Big Cup

While products like Oreo and Pop-Tarts are heralded for their parade of new flavors each year, there’s another classic American brand whose innovations deserve our attention and enthusiasm: Reese’s, of course. 

Having already announced new flavors, sizes, shapes, and release dates for its peanut butter cups in recent months, the company will now add another new variety to the portfolio, one so intuitive that it’s hard to believe it didn’t exist before: Reese’s Chocolate Lava Big Cup.

Reese’s new product, which hits store shelves nationwide this month, is described by a press release as “a decadent, delicious, and uniquely combined” peanut butter cup that “provides Reese’s fans with a rich experience in the form of an extra layer of ooey-gooey, chocolatey filling.​” The name “Chocolate Lava Big Cup” refers to the dessert that inspired the candy, though chocolate lava cakes typically achieve their runny centers from a short, high-heat bake rather than by the addition of a gooey chocolate filling. 

Like Reese’s Caramel Big Cup, the chocolatey filling of the Chocolate Lava Big Cup will sit beneath the peanut butter, just above the chocolate base of the cup (just in case the visual on the package — a cascade of chocolate from above — threw anyone off). The product will be available in both standard and king sizes wherever you buy your Reese’s. 

Though Reese’s peanut butter cup is a relatively simple candy, the number of iterations spun off in recent years is indeed enough to make your head spin. Since 2019, the portfolio has expanded to include Reese’s Thins; a Chocolate Lovers cup with more chocolate; a Peanut Butter Lovers cup with a half-peanut-butter exterior; an Ultimate Peanut Butter cup with a full peanut butter exterior; Big Cups with Pretzels, Potato Chips, Peanuts, and Reese’s Puffs, respectively; the Caramel Big Cup; the Jumbo Cup; Reese’s Snack Cakes — I could go on, but it might exhaust your scrolling thumbs if I did. 

The point is Reese’s is testing every conceivable combination to find the best pairings (and ratios) for its singularly grainy peanut butter filling. It’s only surprising that a cup with a runny chocolate “lava” center hasn’t come to market before now.

“On the heels of last year’s Reese’s Caramel Big Cup launch, we felt the excitement that erupted for the extra layer in our big cup line and wanted to give our fans a delicious experience beyond the every day,” said senior brand manager Melissa Blette in the press release. “Reese’s Chocolate Lava Big Cup delivers a satisfying treat that helps fans experience a unique, tasteful adventure through its decadent chocolate lava layer.”

Be warned, however, that there might be a lot of buzz around the new Chocolate Lava Big Cup. I tried going to five different stores to find Reese’s Jumbo Cups upon their release in June — and they were sold out at every single one. But even if you can’t find this latest gooey innovation right away, not to worry: The company confirmed to Food & Wine that the item is joining the permanent lineup.