Jim's Chocolate Mission

July 12th: 7Days of Chocolate Reviews - Edition 5

2009-07-12T07:00:00.003+01:00

By now I think this post needs no introductions ...

The Chocolate Mission Omnibus:

My first review of the week was the simply fantastic Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean bar which I concluded was one of the best milk chocolates I have had all year. A number of readers agreed that this bar was worthy of its 9.0 score, so I suggest if you are yet to try it you get involved with Thorntons' award winning Tonka Bean special.

Monday was the also the day I received a welcome heads up from ChocolateMission reader Phil who found an article from The Grocer magazine saying that Nestle were bringing out a new Kit Kat Caramel bar. It only took a one day for Susanne to confirm that they were in fact already available in Sainsburys - so I headed on down there and posted my review yesterday - You can see that by clicking HERE. The limited feedback I have had so far from Mark, Susanne and Lottie suggests that I may have been a little generous with my scoring ... the more I think about it the more I think they could well be right.

The standard of the products reviewed this week was exceptionally high with the Cadbury Moro Gold Totally Nuts, Zotter's Bird's Eye Chilli and then Hotel Chocolat's Praline Fusion all hitting scores in the high 8.0s and even low 9.0's in the case of Hotel Chocolat.

Lets hope this weeks selection is equally as good!

News from the Chocolate Market:

* You can view the article that Phil posted earlier in the week that talks about the relaunch of the Wispa Gold and Nestle's launch of the Kit Kat Caramel - See HERE

* Divine the sneaky bastard fairtrade chocolate company have launched a few new bars - See HERE

* Mars are throwing £1m at the advertising of their chocolate milk shake range - See HERE

* Premier foods is launching a new Cadbury Fudge Cake Bites product to its range - See HERE

* Cadbury are launching a new product for the upcoming Xmas market ... bit early don't you think? See HERE

... Have I missed anything? Please share!

Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Chocablog - Dom is running a new competition - get your entry in to be in with a chance to win some Thorntons chocolate! See Here

* Foodstufffinds - Got to grips with some Jell-o that she found in Selfridges. I hear this 'pudding' stuff is pretty popular in America ... I might have to check it out for myself soon. See HERE

* GiGi Reviews - Tracked down the latest Oreo Limited Edition to be churned out by Nabisco ... in all fairness these look rather damn good! See HERE

* Impulsive Buy - Marvo tried out the latest Pepsi Limited Edition - Pepsi Shiso from Japan ... he wasn't all that impressed by the flavour but I still can't get over the toxic colour! See HERE

* CandyBlog - Cybele reviewed Mars' Galaxy Minstrels that we have here in the UK. She obviously thought a lot more of them than I did ... cracking review as normal though, I suggest you check it out! See HERE

Question of the Week:

'Do you eat less chocolate during the summer months? If so what do you snack on instead?'

July 11th: Kit Kat Caramel

2009-07-11T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal 107 Fat 5.4g Fat(sats) 3.0g Carbs 13.2g (per bar)

At the start of the week ChocolateMission reader Phil shared an article from 'The Grocer' magazine that stated Nestle were bringing out a new 'Caramel' Kit Kat. Having just reviewed the simply fantastic Kit Kat Chunky Caramel all sorts of possibilities crossed our minds. Would it have a caramel layer? caramel chocolate ala Carramac? or would it be caramel flavoured chocolate. Well having tracked them down thanks to a tip-off from reader Susanne (Sainsburys!!!) I can confirm that to most peoples disappointment that they were described as 'caramel flavoured milk chocolate coated wafers'.

As you have probably worked out from the photo above these new Kit Kat Caramel came in a multi-pack that can be found in most supermarkets. Indeed I bought these in a 9x2 finger pack with each two finger serving weighing in at 20.8g. First impressions of the packaging were a little underwhelming. Aside from the yellow colour implemented on the wrappers the new flavour variant hardly had any whooplah attached to it and ultimately failed to raise any sort of excitement. Again if you look at the photos above you can see that the actual Kit Kats themselves looked no different whatsoever to standard milk chocolate Kit Kat. I wouldn't say this was necessarily a bad thing but it is not as if Nestle had gone out their way to really differentiate the product from anything else we have seen before. I am not saying that Nestle should have done anything overly elaborate as I still quite like the traditional Kit Kat design (hence the 8.0 score), that said it would have been nice to have a little shake up. Whereas the presentation failed to excite the smell certainly didn't. Upon opening the wrapper I was met with a pleasant barrage of toffee like scents that certainly gave promise for the taste.

Caramel flavoured milk chocolate wasn't top of anyones wish list when this product was first announced, however as Alan pointed out if it was anything near the standards of Hotel Chocolat caramel flavoured chocolate it could really be something to behold. Of course I never perceived the chocolate to ever be in the same league as the Hotel Chocolat equivalent but at the same time it was in some ways better (and worse) than I was expecting. Due to the mildness of standard Nestle milk chocolate it didn't take long for the caramel flavours to come through and at first they were really rather welcome. The toffee hints added nicely to the usual sweet dried milk flavours and seemed to bring something just a little bit more special to the flavours of the outer chocolate. Unfortunately though I thought that as the chocolate got later in its melt the taste became overly sweet and to the point where the sugary flavours dominated the malty, biscuit flavours of the wafer. The ferocity of the sugar in the taste not only took the wafer element out of the taste but also at times caused a mild burning sensation at the back of my throat. Before consuming one of the two fingers packets I was expecting to eat another packet after. This didn't actually happen though due to the burning feeling at the back of my throat and I decided against further adding to it by having another.

Overall I am a real fan of the standard Kit Kat and I have to say as a headline I didn't think this was as good. The added caramel had both its plus and minus points. As I have stated above it did bring an extra dimension to usual mild milk flavours of the chocolate with its sweet, buttery, toffee flavours. Unfortunately though the first word I used to describe it came a little over bearing and the sugary sweetness became all too much dominating not only the flavours of the wafer but also causing a slight discomfort at the back of my mouth. If your a fan of the Kit Kat range I am sure this is worth you trying, at the same time though I should warn that you shouldn't get all that excited about it.

7.8 out of 10

July 10th: Lotte Toppo Coffee Eclair

2009-07-10T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal 232 Fat 13.6g Carbs 24.8g (per 1 packet - 42.0g)

'Did these actually have any form of chocolate in Jim?' Will inevitably be the first question that springs to mind when you guys first read the name of this product review. To be quite honest with you all I hadn't the foggiest idea as the packaging was of course all in Japanese - to be honest I didn't really care :) Never in a million years was I going to turn down the opportunity to try these Coffee Eclair flavoured Lotte Toppo when propositioned by J-List. Frequent readers of my blog will know that I am pretty willing to try any sort of confectionery that has the word coffee involved - needless to say as soon as I received these I didn't hang around and dug straight in.

Immediately from the outset I was impressed with this product. As already indicated I hadn't a clue what all the on package description said due to the obvious language barrier but anyway the pictures of the cakes that were featured did enough to seriously whet my appetite. Inside the wonderfully presented box there were two 42.0g foil packages that contained several stick pieces; all of which managed to remain unbroken despite the serious air miles that the product went through. The stick themselves looked a little plain until snapped, upon where a plentiful amount of dark beige coloured creme emerged. Up to this point I had really been taken in by the product and the temptation only increased when the quite frankly gorgeous smell of sweet coffee and pastry emerged from the foil packets when opened.

Up until this point everything seemed to be bang on the money - the proposition sounded great, the presentation was good and the smell was absolutely to die for ... there was only one thing left to do and I truly obliged. My first observation of the stick pieces was that they seemed to be far heftier than previously similar products I have reviewed i.e. Pocky. Indeed each stick did feel heavier in hand and ultimately did make for a more fulfilling snack - having finished marvelling at the weight of the thing I finally got stuck in. The first flavours that came to my taste buds were from the outer biscuit which had a quite mild buttery, shortbread like taste. On the whole the biscuit was pleasant but I think the taste could have been a little stronger especially thinking back to other products like Pocky which seemingly always manage to deliver a strong malty context to the taste. The story happened to be much the same for the coffee eclair flavoured filling. The smell suggested the coffee element would come through very strongly but when it came to the actual taste it was more reserved than I was expecting it to be. The filling was very cream rooted and seemed to just have a hint of coffee rather than a real flavour hit. Despite being slightly disappointed by the lack of impact by the coffee I still very much enjoyed the smooth milky taste and needed no second invitation munching away on one pack in a single sitting.

Overall I guess in a way it would have been more accurate to describe these as cappuccino flavoured as at the end of the day they delivered much the same experience. With cappuccinos I tend to find you get a deliciously milky moreish taste but never quite manage to get your entire coffee fix. As I have described above these on the whole were pretty tasty and I must say I did enjoy them. As far as coffee flavoured products go though I would say that if your looking for a strong coffee flavour hit you should approach these with caution. Conversely if your after a biscuit with a mild coffee creme these are a pretty perfect snack that I would very much recommend you get hold of. If your a fan of Pocky or Toppo I wouldn't necessarily say these are a must try variant, but at the same time would agree that they are very much worth sticking on your J-List wishlist.

8.0 out of 10

July 9th: Zotter Bird's Eye Chilli

2009-07-09T08:00:00.001+01:00

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Not so long ago I declared that 2008 was the year of chilli flavoured chocolate as I felt that it was really last year that this flavour combination went mainstream. Since then I have covered several manufactures attempts ranging from the simply fantastic Lindt Excellence Chilli to the not so good Milka Fever bar. Today I got my chance to try Zotter's Bird's Eye Chilli - a bar that was billed as 'Noble bitter chocolate filled with chilli cream'. Given the high quality competition I was a little anxious to see how Zotter would do; my recent successes from the rest of their range did give me a little confidence.

This was another standard Zotter bar and came in the usual 70.0g size. The presentation was as ever pretty spot on with the paper wrapper sporting an arty sophisticated look and the thick golden foil wrapper ensuring a pleasant, fresh and unblemished look to the surface of the chocolate. One thing you can always bank on with Zotter products is that you will be treated to some fantastic smells as the foil packaging is unravelled. A mixture of rich smelling chocolaty scents and hints of spice filled me with anticipation - suffice to say it didn't take me long getting stuck into this one.

I haven't had many criticisms of Zotter thus far but I have mentioned a few times that their chocolate hasn't always been as strong in its flavours that I would have like. In previous bars this was never much of an issue as they were generally more about the featured fillings. Things got turned on their heads a little today though as the chilli element was more of a filling enhancer in contrast to the other nougat based fillings which made up the entirety of the filling itself. This of course meant that this bar needed the dark chocolate to deliver - thankfully it did. The cocoa flavours were strong and smooth from the outset and did a fantastic job of creating a wonderful richness with a creamy yet unsweetened taste. The bar had two distinct layers - the outer crisp dark chocolate and the smoother yet still quite firm truffle like centre. Although softer in texture it was the filling that packed the chilli punch. Containing only 0.18% chilli I was initially doubting how much of a say the chilli could have in the taste. My doubt was soon put to bed when my first bite revealed that the chilli element certainly wasn't held back ... boy was it hot. The chilli not only generated a warmth in the mouth but also some very distinct peppery flavours - as a lover of hot food I really enjoyed it and couldn't help but wolf down the whole bar in a single sitting.

Overall this has to be another two thumbs up for Zotter. I don't wish to curse myself but I am yet to try a bad product from the brand and todays bar provided further evidence that when it comes to adding flavours to chocolates these guys know what they are doing. The 70% dark chocolate was of a very good standard and the chilli element was really brought to life with its implementation in the filling. I am not going to kid anyone - this bar may be way too spicy for some - it really does have a devilish kick to it. For that reason my recommendation of this bar comes with an element of caution. If you don't like spicy food stay well away ... if you do ... tuck right in!

8.6 out of 10

July 8th: Hotel Chocolat Praline Fusion

2009-07-08T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) Carbs ???

If your a keen ChocolateMission reader you will be aware that the Hotel Chocolat Praline White sits among my favourite bars of all time and currently occupies third place in the overall ChocolateMission rankings. Given the prestige of that slab I certainly was needing no encouragement from the Hotel Chocolat team when they suggested I try another similar product from their Mini-Slabs range the Hotel Chocolat Praline Fusion. This chocolate was formed of milk chocolate hazelnut praline swirled with white chocolate hazelnut praline ... yep this certainly took my fancy.

Some of the previous Mini-Slabs I tried before came in the form of two 62.5g slabs (125.0g) but these came in 50.0g servings (100.0g). As ever I could not fault the presentation of the product and I even noticed a few improvements from some of the previously reviewed Mini-Slabs with the old style inner plastic packet replaced with a more decadent foil patterned sleeve. The exterior cardboard box looked as sophisticated as ever though I perhaps wouldn't have chosen the yellow colour out of choice. The slabs looked quite frankly wonderful. Although I didn't capture it in the pictures above the other sides of the slabs showed off the lovely swirl pattern of the two toned chocolates which looked incredible. After opening the foil packet I was literally salivating at the prospect of what lay inside - the nutty smells were amazingly tempting.

I am already running out of superlatives and I haven't even got to the taste ... lets start off with the quick headline that 'this chocolate was bloody delicious'. I started off by eating away at the familiar white chocolate praline end and was quickly reminded of the splendor that was the previously reviewed Praline White slab. It was ridiculously creamy with just the finest of woody, nut flavours that lasted in the mouth for what seemed like an age. The milk chocolate praline was a little stronger flavoured though equally as finely balanced as the white chocolate end. The cocoa was more pronounced in the taste though still had a strong milk undertone that provided a fantastic smoothness throughout. In both chocolates the hazelnut flavours were amazingly distinct and seemed to seamlessly combine with both of the different chocolate types. Where the taste was awesome the texture was equally as so. It was unlike your standard chocolate and had more of a softer Gianduja type texture. It melted insanely smoothly in the mouth, though had the slightest chewiness to it which meant that it didn't disintegrate straight away when placed in the mouth. The soft thick melt meant the wonderfully fresh hazelnut flavours could be savoured and lingered long in the mouth after the chocolate had melted away.

Overall I have to say this was undoubtedly one of the finest chocolates I have ever eaten and is one that I would happily eat everyday if given half a chance. Why has it got an ever so slightly lower rating than the Praline White!? Well having thought about it I did marginally (very very marginally!) prefer the white chocolate end to the milk chocolate end, however I must stress this was the smallest of preferences. The texture was luxurious and how Hotel Chocolat quite made the taste so balanced between cream and hazelnut I don't know. If your a praline fan there is simply no excuse to not trying this bar - you owe it to yourself more than anything to experience such a fabulous chocolate. This Praline Fusion slabs gets two thumbs up from me ... if I had ten thumbs I would give it ten thumbs up - highly recommended!

9.2 out of 10

July 7th: Cadbury Moro Gold Totally Nuts

2009-07-07T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal 325 Fat 19.6g Fat(sats) 10.1g Carbs 31.4g

Almost a year ago to the day I posted my review of the Cadbury Boost Totally Nuts bar from Australia. Just a few weeks ago Shopenzed sent me a selection of bars from New Zealand - included in which was this Cadbury Moro Gold Totally Nuts. At first I pondered whether there was a point doing a new review as frankly it seemed like pretty much the same product as the aforementioned - it even came described the same - 'a chocolate flavoured centre packed full of peanuts surrounded in caramel, all covered in Cadbury Dary Milk chocolate'. Closer inspection of the wrapper however did indicate there were some very minor differences in the portioning of the nuts and the caramel so I thought 'why not!?'.

The bar came presented pretty much the same as the Boost Totally Nuts and came in an extremely substantial 60.0g form. The packaging also looked none to dissimilar, with the Moro branding pretty much just replacing the Boost branding. When I cross-sectioned the bar I compared it to the cross-section of the Boost:TN and could clearly see that the nut pieces were not as small, whilst the caremel seemed just a little more plentiful. Despite appearing aesthetically a little different the smell was very familiar with the sweet caramel scents proving very enticing amongst the strong nut aromas.

In regards to the taste test I first ate this bar and then read back over my previous review of the Boost:TN to see if I perceived any differences. On reflection I did notice some very subtle differences but they didn't really alter my perception of the bar that much. The outer Dairy Milk offered the same taste experience as with any other Southern Hemisphere Dairy Milk product - it was less creamy than our UK stuff but still provided an enjoyable chocolaty flavour hit to each and every bite. One of the small variances I did notice came in the implementation of the nuts. The peanuts seemed to be less present in terms of number but were whole nuts instead of broken up pieces. This had a slight impact of the taste as it meant that the nutty flavours were not released until properly crunched and chewed. This allowed the caramel to have a greater say in the overall taste as it was very much the prominent element in between the melt of the outer chocolate and the chewing of the nuts. Although noticeable it was such a minor thing that I never formed an opinion of preference or otherwise. I was frankly to busy enjoying it and the progressive nature of the taste from the chocolate to the caramel and finally the peanuts I thought was just simply magnificent. I ate this bar straight from the fridge which added a little more resistance to the chocolate centre and just a touch of chewiness to the caramel. It took a long time to eat which meant it was both savoured and satisfying - fantastic.

Overall the differences between this Moro Gold Totally Nuts and Boost Totally Nuts were so minimal that only a saddo like myself would be able to notice :) To be honest though I am pretty glad that I have been able to do this comparison as it meant I got to eat another of this simply delicious chocolate bar. Whether you prefer your nuts whole or broken into smaller bits I think you would enjoy this bar either way. The chocolate is of a good standard, the caramel is sweet and buttery and the nuts provide a roasted saltiness that compliments the other sweet elements wonderfully. Whether you come across the Boost Totally Nuts or a Moro Gold Totally Nuts I suggest you just do yourself a favour and indulge in one - mass confections are rarely this good.

8.8 out of 10

July 6th: Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean

2009-07-06T07:00:00.001+01:00

Kcal 577 Fat 39.1g Fat(Sats) 23.7g Carbs 48.1g (per 100.0g)

A few weeks ago I was invited to the Academy of Chocolate awards in London but was unfortunately not able to attend due to it coinciding with my Univeristy Finals .... DOH (Dom from Chocablog still went See HERE)! Despite being majorly disappointed I have still been able to indulge in some of the splendours thanks to Thorntons who sent me some of their award winning bars. One of their award winning bunch just so happened to be this 38% Venezulea Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean which won a silver award in the milk chocolate category. My aim today was to establish whether it was really worthy of this recognition?

As you will have seen from the picture above this bar was another from the Thorntons Blocks range, though it did come in a noticeabley smaller 70.0g size (normally 90.0g!). I don't know why this was, but one would assume that it was down to more expensive ingredients used in this bar. Despite the smaller size chocolate the bar came in the same sized box and was contained within a nicer looking foil packet rather than the plastic one that is usually used for the Blocks product line. Having opened the foil packet I soon realised this wasn't going to be a bog standard milk chocolate as a wonderful variety of different sweet and spicy cocoa scents intermittently made themselves apparent.

I like to do my research on the products I review and a little research into the Tonka bean revealed to me that it is the seed of the Dipteyrx Odorata, a legume tree in the Neotropics. Geeky stuff out the way suffice to say I was expecting something a little special and Thorntons certainly obliged. Having ran this site for nearly two years now I have certainly had my fill of milk chocolate and I can safely say this was certainly one of the best. So what made it stand out you ask? Well this chocolate combined a simply delicious unique taste with a quite fantastic soft, thick melt. The taste started off quite mellow with a milky cream undertone building in strength as the taste progressed. Although this sounds rather simple there was always something about the flavours that sparked interest and they certainly grew in diversity the longer the chocolate stayed in the mouth. The taste had notes of vanilla, honey, butter and small hints of cinnamon; this may sound overly busy but the progression of the taste came in an orderly fashion and was resoundingly smooth and consistent throughout. I was disappointed when I finished the 70.0g in one sitting but I must admit this left me feeling extremely satisfied and I enjoyed it from the very first to the very last piece.

Overall it has been a long time since I have been this impressed by a plain milk chocolate bar but I really, really liked this one. I was a little flummoxed at a how a plain Thorntons bar could be 'award winning' (me sceptical!? Never!) but this bar deserves all the acclaim it gets and possibly more. This bar offered something a little more than just your standard milk chocolate and had an interchangeable taste that was so much more than just a creamy boring chocolate. The varying elements in the taste and quite wonderful texture made for a truly superb product and one that I would extremely recommend for the rather small sum of £1.79. When I say it is as good as Hotel Chocolat's 40% house Milk Chocolate you have to know that I mean business - it is!

9.0 out of 10

July 5th: 7Days of Chocolate Reviews - Edition 4

2009-07-05T07:00:00.001+01:00

You know the drill! Lets see what went down this week!

The Chocolate Mission Omnibus:

The week started off with a little disbelief that another product could possibly challenge Niederegger in the marzipan stakes with the Zentis Belmanda proving to be a surprisingly well received product. Reader Lu also seemed to agree with me but Heidi who had also recently tried it recently wasn't too impressed by the chocolate involved.

Later on in the week I got to grips with some products from another two different continents the Mieji Shu Cookies from Asia and the M&M's Strawberried Peanut Butter from America, both of which proved to be very reputable products.

Friday saw me getting stuck into the Milka Berggluhen bar which had a lovely strawberry cocoa creme centre. This quickly got both George and Susanne asking me which I preferred out of that bar and the Thornton's Milk Chocolate with Strawberries I reviewed the week before - check out the review to see what I said!

News from the Chocolate Market:

* I brought the news a few weeks ago that the Wispa Gold was coming back - well it looks like product is under way! This article says we can inspect the bars back in our shops for a limited time as of September 14th! See HERE

* Nestle have made their Kit Kat range free from artificial colours, flavour or preservatives! See HERE

* Cadbury are redesigning their Trebor mint brand packaging! See HERE

* M&S are relaunching their confectionery range - which will also include Pick-&-Mix! See HERE

Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

Here are some of the articles I have been reading this week

* CandyBlog - Cybele managed to track down a new Dark Chocolate Variant of M&M's Premiums. See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Managed to track down the elusive new Marmite that is flavoured with Marstons beer ... mmmm! See Here

* GiGi Reviews - Is so lucky to live near a Trader Joe's! I love that place - Gi got stuck into some of their pretzels this week! See HERE

* Impulsive Buy - Marvo chanced his luck with a new flavour of Ben & Jerries that has just been launched in the US! Looks fab to me - white chocolate and peanut butter .... yum! See Here

Question of the Day:

'If you could see any product reviewed on this site what would it be & why!?'

July 4th: Hershey's Brownie

2009-07-04T07:00:00.004+01:00

Kcal 190.0g Fat 9.0g Fat(sats) 3.5g Carbs 28.0g (per 43.0g)

I want to start off todays review by wishing a happy 4th of July to all my American readers (and the rest of you aswell!). In respect to this I wanted to review a typical American product and CandyPirate duly obliged by sending me this Hershey's Brownie. I had previously reviewed another product from the same range - Reese's Brownie and was a left a little disappointed with it because of the lack of emphasis on the peanut butter. This offering wasn't billed quite as complexly as the previous and constituted of 'a chocolate brownie base topped with Herhsey's chocolate chips and drizzled with chocolate icing' ... sounds good eh!?

Despite the misleading packet information this brownie clocked in at 85.0g. For some reason the packaging broke the nutritional information down into two servings yet the actual brownie itself came as one solid piece ... so times the above nutritional values by two and you get the whole product actual values. Although this was slightly annoying the presentation altogether was pretty classy. The foil packet looked rather snazzy and well designed and kept the brownie in a wonderful fresh state. The Brownie itself probably would have looked better with a bit of Hershey's branding but still looked pretty damn appetising. The brownie didn't instantly register as scintillating in regards to smell but when heated in the microwave for a few seconds really emanated some freshly baked cake smells that got me salivating like Homer Simpson.

When I reviewed the Reese's Brownie a lot of readers suggested that I should have heated it before eating it. As mentioned above I didn't make the same mistake twice and decided to not only warm this one but also serve it with a little vanilla ice cream (...time to head to the gym maybe!). Much like the smell suggested the base brownie was superb with its sweet, buttery cake taste. Unlike so many Hershey's chocolate products I have had before the sour aftertaste of the chocolate was all but absent here and didn't factor into the taste whatsoever. Both the chocolate chips and chocolate icing were quite sugary in their taste, though at the same time they reaffirmed the friendly cocoa flavours of the base brownie making each bite where they were present insanely chocolaty. My only criticism of this product would be that where the chips and icing were not present the brownie at times was just a little too dry for my liking - especially in the middle where the brownie was most dense. For this reason I wasn't all that taken by the texture and thought that it could have done with a small bit of chocolate icing lining the middle of the piece to moisten the inner brownie. Despite what the packaging said I did eat this all in one sitting which I am sure you can guess proved to be a hugely fulfilling snack.

Overall I am not the greatest fan of Hershey's milk chocolate so this was never going to be a product that struck me as being out of this world. Although by no means the greatest at the same time it was pretty damn good and I would certainly have it again given half the chance. In terms of a chocolate hit this product delivers left right and centre. The actual quality of the chocolate wasn't the best but at the same time it was by all means good enough and made for one insanely rich chocolate experience. If you like your brownies I would certainly recommend you give this a try. My instructions would be to heat and serve with cream, ice cream ... or anything really just to add a bit of moistness. Happy 4th of July everyone - enjoy your day!

7.9 out of 10

Head to CandyPirate for all your American Candy needs ... all in the UK!

July 3rd: Milka Berggluhen

2009-07-03T07:00:00.013+01:00

Kcal 580 Fat 40.5g Fat(sats) 23.0g Carbs 47.0g (per 100.0g)

The sheer number of new Milka variants coming out never ceases to amaze me. Thanks again to Dean-German-Grocery I got the chance to try yet another one in this Milka Berggluhen bar ... I am aware the Berggluhen means 'mountain' something - can anyone help me with the translation here!? Names aside the bar offered a similar proposition to the Milka Strawberry Yogurt I reviewed last month, only with the yogurt part of the filling replaced by a chocolate creme.

This new variant is part of the standard Milka range and came in the normal 100.0g size. The packaging included all the usual Milka branding as well as some nice pictures of some strawberry fruits and some whipped chocolate cream. In the cross-section above you will be able to see that the central creme took up a large proportion of each block - within the filling it was nice to see some small red specs which were obviously the flakes of strawberry. The aroma of the chocolate was incredibly similar to the Milk a Strawberry Yogurt with its fruity smell. It was strong and enticing to a degree but I still thought it was just a little artificial.

My main problem with the Milka Strawberry Yogurt was that the taste was way too sweet which meant it was a chocolate that became rather monotonous and sickly very quickly. With this bar things were quite the contrary and the greater emphasis placed on the chocolate certainly made for a greater overall taste. The outer Alpine Milk chocolate provided its usual milk based flavours and although still quite sweet had that pleasant hazelnut note which added another flavour dimension. The inner chocolate creme filling didn't build on the taste of the outer chocolate, though more maintained the creamy nutty flavours in the background of the taste when the strawberry pieces where encountered. The smoothness of the creme filling was absolutely fantastic but I also enjoyed the crunchy small grain sized flakes that included the strawberry flavours. Just as with the Milka Strawberry Yogurt the fruit element was quite sugary yet was also surprisingly fruity. Due to the fast melt of the filling, each piece didn't last that long in the mouth - the greater impetuous placed on the cocoa flavours though made it quite a rich and satisfying chocolate.

Overall I have had better flavours from the Milka range but nonetheless this was still one that I really quite enjoyed. Personally I thought the cocoa creme worked better than the yogurt filling as it had more of a say in the overall taste and took the edge off the harsh sweetness of the strawberry flakes. Although the strawberry element seemed less sweet it didn't seem to lose any of its fruity flavours and the red berry notes very much came to the forefront of the taste. One thing I especially liked about this bar was the smoothness of the texture - I would even go as far saying it was comparable to Lindt's Lindor range in its degree of silky smoothness. If your a fan of Milka or strawberry flavoured chocolates this is a bar you will want to check out.

8.0 out of 10

Fancy trying the Milka Strawberry Yogurt for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

July 2nd: Meiji Shu Cookie Mild Chocolate / White Chocolate

2009-07-02T07:00:00.009+01:00

According to my pals at J-List it is searingly hot in Japan at the moment though that didn't stop sending me across another sampling package full of the latest goodies to grace the J-List website. Without further ado let me introduce todays items for review - Meiji Shu Cookies. These cookies were pretty simple and consisted of an outer biscuit layer with an inner chocolate creme.

I was lucky enough to get my mitts on both the mild chocolate and white chocolate variants - both of which came in two boxed cartons with inner foil packages containing several mini biscuit pieces. Whilst on the the subject on packaging I must admit I was pretty impressed by the presentation of both flavours. Although I couldn't read any of the on pack blurb I thought the pictures looked particularly appetising and was glad to see they gave an accurate insight in to what the product actually looked like. Aswell as looking very tempting both variants smelt wonderful - the mild chocolate had more of a biscuity, wheat smell whilst the white chocolate had a grander milky, sweet smell.

I ate both of these over the course of two days (one each day!) and shared them with a few work colleagues over a mid morning coffee. Below are my thoughts on both:

Meiji Shu Cookie Mild Chocolate:

Kcal 295 Fat 19.3g Carbs 25.7g (per 51.0g)

It doesen't take a genious to figure out these were the milk chocolate variant out of the two and they were the first ones that me and my colleagues got stuck into.

The outer cookie elements had a wafer like malty taste that had just a touch of cocoa in it to give it a chocolaty taste from the outset. If you imagine what a denser coco pop would taste like you are thinking along the right lines here. The outer biscuit had a light crispy texture that when bitten into quite wonderfully perished to reveal the smooth, soft creme centre. The transition to the crunch biscuit to the inner creme was truly fantastic and was my favourite part of the whole product. The inner chocolate creme added a nice moistness to the biscuit and further cemented the sweet chocolaty taste that had already been generated in the mouth by the outer biscuit. The taste was resoundingly nice though there wasn't much in the way of an aftertaste which meant they weren't that fulfilling.

Overall these were a lovely snacking product and one that I would certainly have again. This conclusion has been determined because of the prestige of the chocolate element involved, but more because of the fun, uniqueness of the product itself. If it is a chocolate hit in particular you are craving these might not quite do the job. If it is just a decent tasting, light snack your after though these are very much the ticket.

8.2 out of 10

Meiji Shu Cookie White Chocolate:

Kcal 295 Fat 19.8g Carbs 23.9g (per 51.0g)

I thought these looked absolutely superb both on the packaging and I wasn't let down by the product itself.

In comparison to the Mild Chocolate variant the biscuit had more of a wafer like taste and had a consistent note of honey that remained present throughout its duration. Just like the aforementioned the textures that were displayed here were truly awesome - I just couldn't get enough of the dry biscuit letting loose the more liquid like creme centre. Where the creme in the Mild Chocolate failed to really build upon the flavours of the biscuit, this White Chocolate variant really had something else in store. The creme reminded me of vanilla ice-cream and had a sweet, custard like set of flavours. The resulting taste was exceedingly sweet but this was nicely balanced by the outer biscuit which maintained an everlong savoury base to the taste. In comparison to the Milk Chocolate the taste was longer sustained with the vanilla element leaving a longer last impression in the mouth. This obviously meant that out of the two they were the more satisfying.

Overall the feedback I got from my colleagues about these were that they were simply delicious and were enjoyed by one and all. I have to say I agreed with them - the taste would perhaps be a little too sweet for some but as someone who likes white chocolate I particularly enjoyed them. If I was going to order just one of the following variants I would pick these but to be honest both of them were pretty damn good. Again I would very much recommend these if your after a tasty Japanese snack.

8.6 out of 10

July 1st: M&M's Strawberried Peanut Butter

2009-07-01T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal 230 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 22.0g

Last weekend I went and saw the new Transformers 2 film - thinking about it now I wish I had these M&M's to keep me occupied during the overly long middle sections of the film where Megan Fox wasn't present. These days it is not often that a blockbuster passes through without there being some sort of confectionery item that bears the licence. Off the back of last years Indiana Jones M&M's and Reese's Black Knight Bats I today got to grips with these M&M's Strawberried Peanut Butter thanks to CandyPirate. CandyPirate seem to be the only guys in the UK that have these in stock at present so I suggest if these take your fancy you very much get involved and visit the CandyPirate website and pick up a few of the 39.7g snack bags they have on offer (Click HERE).

Just as the name suggested these were your typical M&M's Peanut Butter with just an added strawberry flavouring embedded in the milk chocolate. Having observed the packaging I was immediately taken in by it and I liked the way that the usual M&M's designwork had been altered to bear the Transformers theme. The M&M's themselves came in red, brown and red speckled yellow colours ... where was the Optimus Prime dark blue eh!? (...excuse me whilst I fight my inner geek!). In previous M&M reviews I have often commented on how they usually lack forthcoming smells - I found quite the contrary here and was welcomed by some pleasant red berry and chocolate scents.

Implementing fruit flavours in M&M's has never been one of Mars' strengths - for evidence see their attempts M&M's Razzberry & M&M's Wild Cherry. Those reviews didn't really inspire confidence but I was glad to find that Mars had done a distinctly better job here. The outer shells were of their usual accord and provided a nice crisp layer to the softer inner chocolate and peanut butter. I was again amazed at how M&M's can deliver such a strong chocolate flavour burst with such a thin chocolate layer. The chocolate hit was delivered well in each bite with the mild cocoa flavours predominantly sudued by the stronger sugar and milk ingredients. The strawberry flavouring did take a while to register on my tastebuds but I much preferred this to a strong, artifical type flavour burst like in the previously mentioned Razzberry & Cherry M&M flavours. The strawberry influence was sweet yet gave a distinct fruity, red berry like tinge to the chocolate andI though it complemented the peanut butter well. The peanut butter centres lacked the forceful nut flavours of Reese's Peanut Butter yet still have a delicious buttery, saltiness that meant these were incredibly moreish. It didn't take me long to get through the small bag but I felt pretty satisfied having eaten it.

Overall unlike many that have gone before these were actually a pretty successful move tie and I would expect them to become a main part of the M&M's portfolio in the future. Peanut Butter and Jelly (jam to us Brits!) is a pretty common sandwich filling in the US so it surprises me very little that this combination worked well. The strawberry element was decently executed despite the simplicity of the 'flavouring' approach to its implementation and I thought that it complimented the savory flavours of the peanut butter well. I always like to rate things dependent on whether I would have them again - although I would always pick Reese's Pieces ahead of M&M's Peanut Butter I would most definitely settle for these as a second best. If you like the chocolate and peanut butter combinations this is a product you will almost certainly want to get hold of.

8.2 out of 10

Want to try the M&M's Strawberried for yourself? Head to CandyPirate for all your American Candy and Chocolates Needs - Right here in the UK!

June 30th: Hotel Chocolat Hot Shots

2009-06-30T07:00:00.001+01:00

Fathers day last week didn't pass without the old man being the lucky recipient of another selection box courtesy of my pals at Hotel Chocolat. Given his partialness for the odd whisky truffle I thought that he would appreciate these Hotel Chocolat Hot Shots - a selection comprised of milk and dark chocolate truffles with 'hints of whisky, rum and cognac'. Remembering back to my review of Hotel Chocolat's Summer Cocktails I recall not being overly fond at the vicious nature of the liqueurs involved there, which I guess is why the folks at Hotel Chocolat were a little surprised when I requested these. Unlike last time though I felt that the boozy nature of the truffles were communicated better and thus felt more prepared.

I really liked the presentation of this product as the packaging immediately caught my eye with its sophisticated look. The chocolates were sealed first by a thick cardboard sleeve and then a cardboard box in which they were protected by several layers of paper and film - a handy booklet was also included to tell the truffles apart. All this packaging meant that the truffles themselves were kept in A-grade condition and I was further enticed when I was met with a wonderful array of chocolaty smells.

Below are my thoughts on each of the three different truffles:

Oak-aged Cognac:

This chocolate was formed of a 40% milk chocolate outer shell with a cognac hinted milk chocolate centre. The outer milk chocolate established some familiar cream based cocoa flavours with a thick smooth melt. The inner filling felt delightfully soft on the tongue with just a little bit more moistness and further enhanced the breadth of the chocolate hit before delivering the cognac chiefly in the later stages of the taste. Personally I found the cognac a little too strong and startling to the taste and possibly just a little too bitter. The cognac flavours were the least lasting out of the three and probably the one I would substitute out given the chance. Standard.

St Lucian Rum:

This was definitely my favourite out of the selection and combined a 74% outer dark chocolate with a St Lucian Rum infused centre. Unlike the cognac truffle I thought both the liqueur and the chocolate worked in tandem well and enjoyed how one complimented the other. The flavours of the outer dark chocolate were focused primarily on delivering the chocolate hit to the product and did so with a fine depth of strength with its cocoa flavours. The inner filling was nicely hinted the rum which I felt had a far smoother implementation that the other two in the selection. The flavours were boozy and had a nice fruity edge that gave the truffle a bit of sweetness. Excellent.

Highland Single Malt Whisky:

I felt lucky to even get to try one of these as they were definitely my old mans favourite and were gone within a flash. Like the cognac truffle this one had an outer layer of 40% milk chocolate but contained a malt whisky hinted centre. The same fantastic creamy chocolate influences were established by the milk chocolate and transcended almost identically into the softer truffle filling. I must say I much preferred this whisky truffle over the cognac as I found the taste far more smoother and didn't quite have the shocking nature that the previously mentioned delivered. The booze flavour hit was very much there but far kinder in its implementation and the malt flavours lingered longer in the mouth leaving a greater lasting impression. Very Good.

Overall these were a fine set of liqueur truffles and were far more to my taste than the Summer Cocktails. The liqueur hits were still as strong in these but I was expecting them far more given the nature of the branding and information on the box. The St Lucian Rum truffle was my personal favourite though I must admit I was equally as happy tucking into one of the Malt Whisky ones. I liked the Cognac truffles for their chocolate but was less impressed with the throat burning liqueur hit that was delivered at the end of the taste. It is unfortunate I didn't get to review these before Fathers Day as I would have said they would have made a great gift. At the same time though I think these would be a suitable present all year round so I would recommend them to anyone who likes their boozie chocolates.

8.6 out of 10

Buy these Hotel Chocolat Hot Shots by Clicking HERE

June 29th: Zentis Belmanda

2009-06-29T07:00:00.005+01:00

Kcal 307 Fat 18.7g Fat(sats) 5.2g Carbs 30.0g

I feel sorry for all marzipan bars that get rated on this site as they are all naturally compared to the quite simply awesome Niederegger range. Saying that it isn't often that Dean-German-Grocery send me a duff product so I was hoping for good things from this Zentis Belmanda bar. I hadn't heard of the Zentis brand before but a little research on the net revealed that they actually had a website that was in English. A quick skim read of their company history told me that they are traditionally a jam making company and are still relatively small in terms of size in Germany. If your interested you can read more about them HERE -but for now lets get down to the important stuff ... whether they can make a good chocolate bar!!

This product came in a pretty huge 60.0g size that certainly left me feel very fulfilled having tucked it all away in one sitting. On the whole I thought the presentation was pretty good. The wrapper was made of a two tone gold foil and included a cardboard piece inside that made sure the bar was kept in fine condition. The chocolate itself was a little less spectacular in that it had no markings or patterns on its surface- that said the marzipan had a nice golden tinted colour that looked rather appetising. Of course with the foil wrapping the product not only looked smart but also maintained a nice freshness that was evident through the nut and cocoa smells that were revealed when opened.

As I mentioned in the opening the paragraph this product was always facing an uphill task given the incredible standards set by Niederegger. I will reveal now that although this Zentis offering wasn't quite as good but by its own merit was still a tasty chocolate bar. One area where this bar was superior to the Niederegger equivalent was in the quality of the chocolate. The dark chocolate that coated the bar here had greater strength in its cocoa flavours and just created more of an impression on the resulting taste. Despite the cocoa flavours being rather strong they were never bitter, though I guess this was largely down to the sweetness from the marzipan. The marzipan at the centre of this bar provided some adequate almond and sugar flavour bursts but just didn't quite deliver the same pastry like dough flavours of the Niederegger. What was notable was that the texture was equally as good - the marzipan had a nice moistness and avoided being dry and crumbly; I think this is essential for good quality marzipan.

Overall if it wasn't for Niederegger I would probably be singing the praises of this bar to the hills. This was fundamentally a great tasting chocolate and marzipan combination but unfortunately for Zentis the Niederegger factor stops this bar from being as celebrated as much as it should. The chocolate was of a great quality and the marzipan was also very good - it is just a bit of unlucky that Niederegger make marzipan that is simply out of this world. Despite this I still think that if you like your marzipan you should really give this bar a go - I am sure you wouldn't regret it.

8.4 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy & Chocolate needs!!

June 28th: 7Days of Chocolate Reviews - Edition 3

2009-06-28T07:00:00.004+01:00

Welcome to Edition 3 of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' .... lets have a look at what we got up to this week:

The Chocolate Mission Omnibus:

Wimbledon got started this Monday so I thought the only way to mark the occasion was start things off with a Strawberry based chocolate review - Thornton's Milk Chocolate with Strawberry. This bar was well received by not only myself but also many of ChocolateMission's most dedicated readers expressing their urge to get involved with it aswell.

The most momentous review of the week for me was my review of the Kit Kat Caramel Chunky which I would literally do cartwheels for just to get hold of another. This bar was absolutely delicious and is probably my BOTY (Bar of the Year) to date. In a none to rare moment of stupidity I also managed to get my wires crossed with ChocolateMission reader Tara who I offer my apologies to once again :) Tara kindly tried to inform me that this bar was also in distribution in Canada aswell as the New Zealand & Australia. No matter where you get it from I am sure this bar would be well received by a large amount of you - recommended!

Lastly on Saturday I got to grips with Reber's MozartKugeln truffles which brought both colour and flavour to the table. These weren't the greatest truffles ever but they certainly brought something new to the table and they seemed to appeal to some readers such as Lottie and Alan ... Jeanna and Lu remain unconvinced but I would still urge you guys to give them a try.

News from the Chocolate Market:

With it being the summer season chocolate NPD is pretty low at the minute so I will keep this relatively short.

* Alan has reported some sightings of the smaller snack sized packs of Cadbury Raisins & Cadbury Peanuts in the shops. Personally I have only seen the larger bags so far and think they are way too big ... who on earth wants to eat 100.0g of chocolate covered peanuts!?

* Hotel Chocolat have got some new sales up - with a few multi-buy deals on some of their boxed chocolate ranges, aswell as their 'Summer Puddles' range. Well worth checking out - Click HERE to do so.

* Walkers Nonsuch Toffees have announced they are broadening their 'Pick-n-Mix' range - Click HERE

* Looks like Ferrero have nailed their latest marketing campaign with the Kinder brand seeing some good results from their latest below-the-line advertising - Click HERE

Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

It has been a busy week but I have still been keeping an eye on some of my favourite sites:

* Wisconsin Candy Dish - Jeanna visited the place that ChocolateFest originates from and got to see some very bizzare things. The Alice in Wonderland themed chocolate fountain chaught my eye, as did the chocolate coated bacon! See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - The latest addition to the blogroll got hold of some new consumer goods gracing the UK shelves this week - check out the Oreo's Chocolate Creme & Strawberry Jaffa Cakes. See HERE

* Chocablog - Dom reviewed a bar called 'William Curley Sea Salted Caramel', he said it wasn't as good as Paul.A Young Sea Salted Caramels but still highly recommended it! I will be having my own say on those two products soon so keep an eye out for them. See HERE

* ZOMG, Candy! - Got to grips with a product called Kinder Joy that really took my fancy! Dean-German-Grocery are on the case! See HERE

Question of the Week:

'What was the worst chocolate/candy bar you have ever eaten?'

June 27th: Reber Mozartkugeln

2009-06-27T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

I have had my eye on these truffles for a while now so I was pretty ecstatic when Dean-German-Grocery sent me a packet to sample. According to Wiki these Reber Mozart Kugeln are an imitation product of the 'Original Mozartkugeln Salzburg' which are handcrafted chocolates produced by a company called Frust. To be honest I sort of lost interest after the opening paragraph of that page where it started talking about the Mozartkugeln trademark (YAWN!) - so if you want to read more about this then I suggest you take a look HERE. Getting back to the product at hand these Reber Mozartkugeln came described as 'pistachio marzipan and almond marzipan with hazelnut praline coated in dark and milk chocolate' ... wowzer these certainly packed the ingredients.

These Reber chocolates come in many different formats but for the purpose of this review I sampled a pack of eight individual chocolates. I thought the presentation of the product was first class. The outer film wrapping was innovative in look and shape, whilst the golden foil wrappers had a real touch of class with the detailed picture of one Mr Mozart. As you can see above the chocolates looked a right treat as well - the layers were all very visible through the cross-section and the different constituents made for a colourful looking chocolate. The aroma of the chocolates wasn't half bad either. Once released from their foil packets some pleasant cocoa and nut hints could be detected.

Having admired both their look and smell there was only really one thing left to do and that was to tuck in. Each chocolate could be eaten in two bites which I thought worked well as it allowed the consumer to see the inner contents of the truffle whilst not being all that fiddly. My first reaction to the chocolate coating was that I couldn't detect a dual dark and milk chocolate layering - frankly the taste seemed to morph into quite a mild, unsweetened and unexciting cocoa led taste. Where the chocolate failed the inner contents soon picked up the quality. Although the two disparate marzipans were not hugely different in terms of their flavours, together they brought some delicious nutty, buttery elements to the taste. The hazelnut praline splodge that sat in the middle of the chocolate was really what made these chocolates so tasty. It not only added moisture to the slightly dry marzipans, but also brought an extra wave of cocoa and woody nut flavours to the mix. The density of the marzipan meant that these were best enjoyed as a one off chocolate enjoyed with a nice black coffee. I can imagine the taste becoming quite monotonous had I eaten more than one at a time.

Overall these were a nice pack of chocolates that I would recommend to people depending on a few important factors. Consumers looking for a rich chocolate hit would probably be disappointed with these - in my opinion the chocolate was the weakest part of the product. If it is style and decent marzipan flavours your looking for though, these could really be a range of chocolates for you. They combined a near flawless range with some good standard marzipan centres that were nearing the quality of Niederegger. If you like the sound of these I would give them a go.

8.5 out of 10

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June 26th: Lindt Vollmilch Feinschmelzend Vollmilch

2009-06-26T07:00:00.002+01:00

Kcal 572 Fat 39.0g Carbs 49.0g (per 100.0g)

What with the all the different flavour variants available in the European market nowadays, it isn't all that often I get the chance to review a simple milk chocolate bar. Courtesy of Dean-German-Grocery today I had a rare oppertunity to do just that and chanced my luck with the final variant in the Lindt Vollmilch Feinschmelzend range (soft melting milk chocolate) with this aptly named Vollmilch bar. Just in case you were wondering the title of this review contained no typo - it is really called Lindt Milk Chocolate Soft Melting Milk Chocolate.

Just like the other variants in the Feinschmelzend product range this bar came in a 100.0g size that was split into 5x2 blocks. The soft melting nature of the product was well communicated through the liquid chocolate illustration, whilst the nice looking branded blocks maintained a pristine condition kept within a silver foil layer. Most notably the chocolate smelt wonderful - it had a predominantly led cocoa set of scents though I could also detects hints of sweet honey and toffee.

Although I admired the smell of the bar for a while it wasn't long before I tucked in. Just as expected the texture of the bar was amazingly soft and melted like an absolute dream in the mouth. It was smooth, silky and had a luxurious feel as it slipped down the throat with ease. My only gripe with this was that the melt was all over too quickly and wasn't really one that I was able to enjoy for the desired length of time. The flavours were unsurprising yet delicious. The 30% recipe had a stronger cocoa flavour hit than expected, though these flavours were only really present towards the end of the taste. The initial flavours were slightly weaker with the dairy milk elements very much coming to the fore of the taste. The aftertaste of the chocolate had a special sweetness to it, with the end taste noted with a pleasant vanilla influence. Despite consuming this bar rather quickly a 50.0g serving left me feeling relatively fulfilled.

Overall I wouldn't rate this bar quite as highly as the Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy but it was still a tasty milk chocolate. The main problem for me with this bar was the short duration of time that each block lasted in the mouth. If anything it sort of felt like the chocolate was rushed in releasing its flavours and would have been better off forgetting the soft melting texture and letting me savour the taste a while longer. I wouldn't say this is a must try milk chocolate but if you come across it you would hardly be doing wrong giving it a whirl.

8.2 out of 10

Visit Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy and Chocolate Needs

June 25th: Ritter Sport Ramazzotti

2009-06-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

My relentless progress through Ritter Sport's seemingly never ending product range continued today with me trying the Ritter Sport Ramazotti. Although Dean-German-Grocery recently sent me Ritter's new summer variants (See HERE), this bar was actually part of their Spring collection as was indicated on the wrapper. Before I had seen this bar I had never actually heard of Ramazzotti - a little bit of research revealed that it was a tonic liqueur that is normally enjoyed as an aperitif or an after dinner drink (more HERE).

As you can see above the product came in the usual 100.0g Ritter form. I thought the packaging was well executed with the red and white colour theme making the wrapper stand out nicely along with the added illustrations. Although the chocolate itself looked very similar to other bars in the Ritter range, the smell of the product really made it stand out as it emanated a strong mix of liqueur and boozy scents once opened.

To be honest I really did not enjoy the first couple of blocks I had of this chocolate. As with 90% of Ritter bars the chocolate took a back seat to the additional filling and this unfortunately wasn't a good thing. The Ramazzotti took a really firm grasp on the taste from the outset and frankly tasted like the cheap bottle of booze kept at the back of most families liqueur cabinets. The mild and creamy cocoa flavours soon paled in comparison to the herby, slightly bitter alcohol flavours of the softer centre. As I ate the bar I must admit that my taste buds adapted to the harshness of the filling and it certainly became more bearable. The later pieces I had did seem to bringe pleasant elements of orange fruit and notes of honey to the party but I still wasn't left feeling like I wanted to eat more.

Overall this bar was far from being one of the best Ritter Sport flavours I have tried. Although I did become more accustom the taste of the Ramazzotti I never got to the point of actually thoroughly enjoying the chocolate. This is another one of those Ritter bars that I think you can either love or hate - if your a regular drinker of Ramazzotti chances are that you will really quite like this bar as the milk chocolate allows the flavours to be expressed well and makes for a lovely smooth melting texture. This is probably a bar I would neither have again or recommend, though if your a fan of the drink it would great to hear your views on it.

6.7 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy & Chocolate Need s

June 24th: Kit Kat Caramel Chunky

2009-06-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

Kcal 327 Fat 16.7g Fat(sats) 10.8g Carbs 39.8g

Shopenzed have sent me some fantastic things from New Zealand and Australia but this product without question has been the best. For some reason unknown to man Nestle have decided not to include a caramel variant in their Kit Kat Chunky range over here in the UK. Apart from a slightly dodgy Hershey version available in America, the only place that you can currently get a Kit Kat Chunky Caramel is in the Southern Hemisphere - boy are we missing out!

Like the rest of the Kit Kat Chunky range down under this bar came in a pretty huge 65.0g size and came described as 'crunchy wafer with a caramel layer coated in milk chocolate'. I thought the packaging looked rather good with a golden gooey caramel like background covering the usual symbolic red and white Kit Kat colours. The bar itself didn't fail to look magnificent either - the caramel layer was very visual above the thick wafer and just like the packaging had a wonderful golden complexion. As if the caramel lingering out the bar wasn't enough to entice the smell of the product certainly tempted me even more. The cocoa and biscuit scents were further built upon by the terrific sweet scents of the caramel - this was going to be one to savour.

Nestle milk chocolate has come in for quite a bashing on this blog recently but it did a more than adequate job in providing the chocolate hit for this bar. Unlike the plain milk chocolate Nestle bar I had last month the melt of the chocolate was smooth and had less of a sugar intensive taste. The flavours were predominantly milk though the cocoa flavours were enhanced by the thin layers of cocoa creme that sat between the malty tasting wafers. Whilst the wafers provided a delicious crunch to the textures the real star of the show was the caramel. Surprisingly the caramel was simply superb on all levels and had a stunning sweet butterscotch and toffee influence on the taste. It was smooth yet a little chewy and the flavours lingered in the mouth so the taste could be fully savoured. This was one of those bars that I just had to eat all in one sitting, I literally couldn't get enough of it.

Overall this is without a doubt the finest variant in the Kit Kat Chunky range and it pains me that we don't get it here in the UK. The combination of the creamy milk chocolate, biscuit like wafer and sweet flavours of the caramel combined for a taste that was as delicious as it was moreish. The large size of the bar doesn't fail in satisfying even the greatest of hunger pangs and it does so without ever getting close to being sickly or monotonous in its flavours. If I had the choice this would probably be a bar that I would frequent often if it was widely available to me. If your a fan of the Kit Kat Chunky range I seriously suggest you get your hands on one of these.

9.2 out of 10

June 23rd: Milka Alpenzauber

2009-06-23T06:00:00.000+01:00

Kcal 555 Fat 33.5g Fat(sats) 18.5g Carbs 55.0g (per 100.0g)

There is no denying that fruit flavoured yogurt bars have dominated the European market of chocolate innovation this summer. Over the past few weeks thanks to Dean-German-Grocery I have had the opportunity to cast my eye over several new products from Lindt, Ritter Sport and of course Milka. The Milka brand again came under the microscope today as I went about trying the Milka Alpenzauber bar. This product came billed as 'Alpine Milk Chocolate with a lime yogurt filling and popping candy' .... yes you read that correctly the dreaded popping candy!

This bar is one of the newest additions to the standard Milka range and came in the usual 100.0g serving size. The outer wrapping incorporated the usual purple Milka colour scheme as well as including some lime fruit pictures to communicate the flavour. The chocolate itself look rather pleasant as well with the pale yogurt filling appearing plentiful wedged between the chocolate. I have to admit I didn't stand around looking at the bar all that long as the wonderful aromas of zesty lime smelt absolutely gorgeous - I simply had to tuck in.

This bar was really a story of two different factors and these were the taste and the texture. Flavourwise the product was simply first class. The outer Alpine Milk did its usual sterling job of providing a cream based tasting sweet chocolate that maintained its delightful hazelnut note. The inner yogurt filling also tasted superb - it had tangy milky yogurt base flavours from which the citrus lime flavours built upon nicely to provide a flavoursome, fresh taste. Despite thoroughly enjoying the taste the experience for me was somewhat ruined by the blasted popping candy. I wish Milka would really stop putting this stuff in there bars as it gave the usual benign crackling feeling at the back of my throat. To be honest I thought it was hugely disappointing as the popping candy not only managed to ruin the textures but also my enjoyment of the product on the whole.

Overall this was a frustrating product for me as I truly enjoyed the taste but felt the whole product was ruined by the inclusion of the popping candy. As a milk chocolate lime yogurt bar this Milka offering ticks all the boxes - why on earth they thought they had to include the popping candy at all is completely beyond me. I guess this is a case of personal taste - maybe some of you guys actually like the stuff!? For me though, despite thoroughly enjoying some aspects of this bar it probably won't be one I will have again. I swear if I ever come across popping candy again it will be to soon!

7.8 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy & Groceries

June 22nd: Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Strawberry

2009-06-22T07:00:00.003+01:00

Kcal 536 Fat 32.7g Fat(sats) 19.7g Carbs 53.5g (per 100.0g)

What with Wimbledon kicking off today I thought it rather fitting that we start the week with a strawberry based chocolate. As I mentioned yesterday in the '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' news section, Thorntons have just released a new line of bars to add to their already quite expansive 'blocks range'. Included in this new selection was this Milk Chocolate with Strawberry variant which was formed of '32% milk chocolate with dried strawberry pieces'.

One of the first things I noticed about the new bars I received from Thorntons was that some of them didn't conform to the usual 90.0g size that I have mostly commonly seen across the range. This bar for instance only weighed 80.0g, I guess this was down to the nature of the light yet largish dried strawberries. In regards to presentation I was all round pretty impressed. Again I thought that the outer packaging could have done with a little jazzing up, however I did like the look of the chocolate which had distinct red berry pieces dispersed evenly throughout. The only thing that tempted me more than the look of the chocolate was the smell. A divine plethora of sweet fruit and milk really set the mood for the taste and provided a nice insight to the chocolate at hand.

An all too common downfall when mixing milk chocolate and strawberry is that it is often a little on the sweet side. Indeed having survived a few throat burning over sweetened strawberry chocolates in my time I was hoping that Thorntons would get the balance right here. One thing that you can often be assured of with Thorntons is that generally their base chocolates are pretty good. The milk chocolate here was exactly that and had a very smooth melt with an eccentric set of flavours. A constant cream flavoured undertone lined the soft cocoa taste though there were intermittent acidic tones that were doused well by small notes of honey. The constant development of the taste of the milk chocolate was only to be outdone by the dried strawberries which brought some tangy berry flavours to most bites. Although the strawberry flavours were on the whole very short lived their acidic nature meant they left a lasting impression in the mouth. As noted already the fruit pieces were evenly distributed throughout the entire block with most chunks at least having one strawberry piece - personally I regarded this as quite important as it made the experience consistent. Although I admittedly would have happily eaten more the 40.0g servings I ate this in were both pretty satisfying.

Overall the area of milk chocolate and strawberries is often a haphazard one but Thorntons can be very proud of their efforts here. The milk chocolate was of a great standard with a really clean cut and variable taste. The dried freeze strawberries were a little unsubstantial though their tasty red berry flavour credentials were definitely up there as one of the better fruit implementations in chocolate I have tried over the last few months. As far as summer chocolates go I would recommend this one highly - it provided a fresh, light tasting fruity chocolate in what I found to be a pretty satisfying manner. I have had my ups and downs with Thorntons but I am pleased to say this was an obvious high and certainly worth tucking into the Wimbledon hamper along with the champagne!

8.5 out of 10

June 21st: 7Days of Chocolate Reviews - Edition 2

2009-06-21T07:00:00.007+01:00

Welcome to Edition numero 2 of the new 7Days of Chocolate Reviews - again if you have any feedback on the structure or content just drop me a comment:

The Chocolate Mission Omnibus:

The week started off with me taking a look at a few of Lindt's new summer products. First I got stuck into a few variants from the Fioretto range, then on Tuesday a bar from the new 'soft melting' product line the Hazelnut Gianduja. Feedback on both products were resoundingly positive though the folks at Hotel Chocolat may wish to note there were demands made by Gemma & Lottie to bring back their own Gianduja squares.

Another review of great interest this week was the Cadbury Dairy Milk Desserts Triamisu. No one seemed overly impressed with this Cadbury effort however Heidi & Susanne suggested I get myself involved with a brand named Schgotten who they proclaim offer a better chocolate and coffee combination ... I will have to see about that now :)

Lastly I got my behind around to sorting out a Facebook page for ChocolateMission! Be sure to add me :D :D Please do so by clicking HERE ... or if your more a Twitter person .. add me by clicking HERE

News from the Chocolate Market:

* ChocolateMission reader Alan popped up with a few newsworthy items this week...

The first was an article that announced the discontinuation of Toffos (see HERE).

He also spotted some old school TV advertising currently being ran for Milky Way See HERE.

* Thorntons have released some new award winning bars - Venezuelna Milk, Dominican Dark with Salted Caramelised Macadamia & Venezuela Milk with Tonka Beans (See HERE) ... Thorntons were so excited they decided to send me these bars along with a few new limited editions ... reviews will start appearing very soon!

* Cadbury announced some strong financials despite the credit crunch (See HERE)

Have I missed some big news?? Why not tell everyone about it by leaving a comment!

Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* GiGi Reviews - I was astounded to see that the US has only just realised the potential of honey coated corn flakes!! See HERE

* Japanese Snack Reviews - Japanese Kit Kats rock my socks! This is one I would love to try - Ramune flavour! See HERE

* Candy Pirate - Not so much a post but a restock! These guys have just sent me a whole new batch of samples - included in which are the new M&M's Transformers and different flavoured Taste of Nature Cookie Dough bites! Be sure to check them out HERE

* Candyblog - Not a week goes by without Cybele writing a post that leaves drool on my keyboard! Take a look at here review of the new Snickers Nougabot (Transformers themed!) See HERE

Question of the Week:

'If you could bring back one discontinued chocolate product what would it be?'

June 20th: Ritter Sport Apricot Brandy

2009-06-20T08:00:00.006+01:00

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

I am getting pretty close to hitting the number forty mark with my Ritter Sport reviews - this brand seems to know innovation like no other. As you all probably are aware by now Ritter like to release new flavours all year round in line with the seasons and once again Dean-German-Grocery didn't fail in supplying me with their latest creation. Todays bar was released as part of their Fruhlings-sorte (spring collection) and came described as 'milk chocolate with an apricot liqueur truffle centre'. Maybe its just me but the words apricot brandy remind me of the cheap tasting liqueurs that you get in restaurants in Mediterranean countries after having a meal out.

The bar was an addition to the standard Ritter Sport range so it came in the usual 100.0g block. Presentation was again nicely done with the wrapper having a clean and clear cut set of pictures and fonts that detailed the contents of the bar well. The chocolate itself didn't have any remarkable aesthetic features about it and looked almost identical to others bars from the range. Although its looks didn't suggest this bar was anyting out of the ordinary its smell suggested otherwise. The chocolate had a variety of elements in its aroma and had different degrees of dairy, floral and fruity hints.

As in most milk chocolate Ritter Sport bars the outer coating did its job adequately of supplying a reasonably well flavoured sweet chocolaty base set of flavours to the taste. The melt was smooth and relatively thick and played nicely with the lighter and more liquid feeling truffle centre. Just as expected the truffle filling was indeed where the flavours mostly expressed themselves. Much like in the smell the floral, sweet fruity notes of the apricot where quite dominant and provided a reasonably pleasant experience. Just as the chocolate reached the pinnacle of its melt the liqueur factor came into play with the warming feel and malt flavours of the brandy kicking in strongly during the aftertaste. The integration of all these separate factors - chocolate, fruit and liqueur, made for quite a rich tasting chocolate and one that had to be eaten one block at a time for all the flavours to truly be savoured.

Overall my impressions on this bar were rather mixed. The taste was certainly packing the flavour strength but it wasn't all to my taste. I am not a big liqueur fan and I probably would have preferred this bar without the brandy as it really had a strong say in the aftertaste. Fans of liqueur flavoured chocolates will probably enjoy this bar a lot more than I did so on that basis I would probably recommend it to those people. Personally though having tried so many different variants from the Ritter range I can't say I will probably be having this one again - In my opinion there are far better options to choose from.

7.6 out of 10

Visit Dean-German-Grocery to find this product and many more German Foods & Grocerie s

June 19th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Desserts Tiramisu

2009-06-19T08:00:00.005+01:00

Kcal 566 Fat 36.7g Fat(sats) 21.0g Carbs 52.1g (per 100.0g)

A few months ago I had the pleasure of reviewing the Cadbury Dairy Milk Desserts Creme Brulee bar all the way from New Zealand. As I enjoyed that bar so much Shopenzed sent over another flavour from the Desserts range in the form of this Tiramisu variant. As far as I am aware this bar is exclusive to New Zealand and it came described as Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate with a coffee flavoured creme centre.

Just as with the Creme Brulee I was lucky enough to be sent a gigantic 235.0g bar that as you can imagine took me a fair few days to eat. The outer packaging was well designed as it kept consistency with the 'Desserts' branding yet communicated the tiramisu flavour well. The chocolate itself look remarkably similar to the Creme Brulee bar with the blocks being the same mouthful size - the only difference came in the slightly darker colour of the inner creme. I couldn't quite decide whether I liked the smell of the bar - the aroma contained the usual diary scents of the chocolate but also had a rather odd smokey coffee smell.

With Dairy Milk bars unless something is drastically wrong you can always bank on the base milk chocolate always being of a high quality. This was again the case here with the Dairy Milk providing its standard creamy chocolaty flavours with its effortless thick smooth melt. Of course the tale of the taste was largely affected by the inner tiramisu creme and I will tell you now that it wasn't as good as it could have been. Much like the smell suggested the coffee flavours weren't quite right - rather than the desired fresh coffee bean flavour hit they cut more of a musky and artificial type coffee influence. The resulting taste was like a dull flavoured mocha and just didn't grab me as anything more than a mild coffee flavoured sugary fondant centre. It was by no means repulsive, though at the same time it didn't quite bring the tiramisu experience I was hoping for.

Overall I guess I was a little disappointed with this bar, however I think this was mostly down to the impeccably high standards I judge Cadbury bars on. The tiramisu filling at the end of the day was just a little average - it was passable with its meagre sweet coffee flavours but at the same time didn't deliver the variation or impetuous in its flavours that I wanted. The milk chocolate was of course of a good standard and to be fair packing all the flavours of tiramisu into a small filling was always going to be a huge challenge. I wouldn't whole heartily recommend this bar as I think there are better Cadbury products out there - possibly worth a try if you fancy it though.

7.6 out of 10

Visit Shopenzed for all your New Zealand & Aussie Chocolate & Candy needs

June 18th: Milka Amavel Mousse a la Birne-Mandel / l'Orange

2009-06-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

The Milka Amavel range has consistently proven itself to be fantastic with scores often in the upper 8's and low 9's. In fact one of my favourite bars I tried this year was the Milka Amavel Mousse au Cappuccino, so when I was give the opportunity to try another two variants from the range I certainly wasn't going to turn Dean-German-Grocery down.

Both these Orange and Pear & Almond variants came in the standard 160.0g Amavel size and were both split into the rather awkward triangle shaped blocks. As well as the different flavoured fillings there was differentiation in the type of chocolate used. The Mousse a l'Orange was formed with Milka dark chocolate, whilst the Mousse a la Birne-Mandel used the more traditional Alpine Milk chocolate.

Once again both proved to be very worthwhile bars - here are my thoughts on each below:

Milka Amavel Mousse a la Birne-Mandel:

Kcal 555 Fat 35.0g Fat(sats) 19.5g Carbs 53.0g (per 100.0g)

I couldn't recall having tried a peach and almond combination before so I was looking forward to seeing what this one could offer. When I broke the block in half the inner filling could be seen to have a very pale and fluffy complexion. The aroma that revealed itself when the chocolate was split into was fruity though had a strong chocolaty base tone.

The overall taste wasn't quite what was promised though it was still was very tasty indeed. The outer Alpine Milk chocolate provided the standard sweet tasting creamy chocolate that it is known for. The transition of the smooth thick melting outer chocolate to the lighter fluffier inner mousse was as wonderful as ever and the development it brought on the flavours of the outer chocolate was also something to be hold. The pear flavours took a firm grasp of the taste when the mousse was encountered and provided a sweet, fruity context. I couldn't detect the almond anywhere in the taste, however there was a small hazelnut element brought to the experience by the outer Alpine Milk chocolate.

Overall like all good fruit flavoured chocolates this bar communicated the fruit influence well and had a fresh tasting influence. Despite the almond being somewhat absent from proceedings I wasn't left disappointed as the strength of the flavours was already pretty strong. If you like your pear fruit then this would be a chocolate you should seriously think of trying.

8.7 out of 10

Milka Amavel Mousse a l'Orange:
Kcal 565 Fat 39.5g Fat(sats) 22.5g Carbs 45.0g (per 100.0g)

As I have mentioned previously this bar was a little different to the rest of the Amavel range as it used dark chocolate rather than the standard Alpine Milk chocolate. The difference was exhibited clearly by the chocolate itself as the outer chocolate was a far darker colour to the milk chocolate filling. Despite the stronger chocolate the orange ingredient was by far the dominant aspect in the smell of the bar which gave it a very fresh feel.

I am a big fan of Milka Apline Milk chocolate but I thought that the outer dark chocolate worked just as well. The melt of the chocolate was equally as luxurious and maintained the same nicely paced smoothness when changing form. Much like the Birne-Mandel bar it was pleasant that the flavours of the filling did not come to the party until the mousse filling was encountered - this allowed for a nicely progressive taste. The cocoa flavours of the outer chocolate were notably amplified and didn't have quite the sweetness of the normal milk chocolate. This worked really well with the mousse as whilst the orange flavours were zesty and juicy, they were still rather sweet which meant that the balance of the taste was maintained by the dark chocolate.

Overall having tried both bars I couldn't pick a favourite out of the Birne-Mandel or this l'Orange as both provided wonderful fruity chocolate experiences. The decision to use dark chocolate rather than the sweet milk chocolate in this bar was a good one as I think using milk chocolate would have made the resulting taste a little on the sweet side. There are plenty of orange and chocolate combinations around but I would rate this one as good as any of them - another success from the Amavel range.

8.7 out of 10

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