June 1st: Nestle Crunch Crisp

Kcal 240 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 13.0g Carbs 32.0g

Last month I reviewed the UK Crunch bars both of which scored in the upper 6's. Today im reviewing the US 'Crisp Crunch' bar that dedicated reader Justin very nicely sent to me in his box of goodies from the US.

The Cunch Crisp has a rather elaborate seven different layers...three interwoven wafer and milk chocolate creme layers topped with a layer of rice all of which has a chocolate flavoured coating. All seven layers constituted for a large 49.3g bar which was very adequete in settling my hunger.

So the on wrapper boring stuff...you may notice above the saturated fat content of the bar! No thats not a typo it does contain a staggering 13.0g of saturated fat...honestly Ive never come across a bar that contains so much per gram...quite staggering really but the ingredients list shows why this is the case. The bar contains two different types of hydrogenated oil: kernel and coconut....hmmm yuck! Whats even more suprising is that the bar dosent actually contain any cocoa butter :( thats really disappointing to be honest and really suggests this bar could have been made with better ingredients.

Above I described the intricate composition of the bar - this made for a great look and one that looked very appertising. Unfortunately its appearance was slightly let down due to the nature of how quickly the bar melted on my fingers...it was a little greasy feeling after only a few seconds of contact with my hands and did make them feel slightly messy....despite this it still looked the part. Out of the pack the bar offered very little in ways of an aroma, an ever so slight sweet smell but overly disappointing.

The wafer layers despite being in contact with the slightly moist chocolate creme retained a nice crispness - this was further excentiated by the rice which topped the bar. As the name suggested the bar had a nice crunch to it - this with the smooth chocolate creme made for a great arrangement of contrasting textures.

The bar despite containing no real chcolate ingredients was surprisingly chocolaty in flavour. The chocolate creme had a nice creamy chocolaty taste which complimented the malty wafer flavour nicely. The puffed rice ontop made for a nice cereal tasting undertone which added just another nice component to the overall taste. The sheer variation in flavour of the layers ensured the bar avoided becoming monotomous in taste and made this bar incredibly moreish.

Overall this is a better bar than the original Crunch bars we have here in the UK. The design of the bar is on the whole a nice one - it looks good and the nature of the interwoven layers make for an intresting combination of textures and flavours. My slight reservations with this bar came with its nutritional content and ingredients...im sorry but the inclusion of the hydrogenated oils is doing no one any favours...healthwise its a thumbs down...but also just think of the potential this bar has if these were replaced by more natraul actual cocoa ingredients...it already tastes nice and chocolaty it could get even better. I definately wouldnt recommend this to anyone on a diet but to the rest of us this is a great tasting bar that I suggest you try if you get the chance.

7.8 out of 10