&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=14&tc=d4d4cc&it=gif&c=round&bgt=gradient&bgc=ad6807&ebgc=d98807&be=on&w=125&h=30){kind=small}
Kcal 220 Fat 11.8g Fat(sats) 7.3g Carbs 26.6gThis bar is commonly regarded as a 'dark chocolate for beginners'... because of this from the start I was hardly expecting a rich 70% cocoa Lindt like experience. My only previous experience with the Bournville range only went as far as my childhood memories of the small Bournville squares always being the last ones to go from the christmas Cadbury 'Roses' assortment tin...not all that favourable then!
The bar came in an adequately substantial six block 49g serving. It was enclosed in a nice looking red foil wrapper with gold writing; unfortunately the bar itself wasnt as smartish in appearance and had alot of scratches and 'blooming' which you can see represented in the above picture. The foil wrapper ensured the bar retained a freshness meaning that its aroma was quite strong upon opening. The smell itself was pretty poor and not all the appertising - at first an resonable cocoa emerged, though unfortunately it transformed into a rather off putting stagnant milk smell...oh dear...not nice.
Putting the first block in my mouth the first thing I detected was the the texture was slightly grainy. The block didnt melt in the mouth and disappointingly stayed as a solid lump until bitten into. The texture wasnt the best and was akin to the lower end of the market cheaper chocolates.
Looking at the ingredients on the back of pack the first two components read as sugar and cocoa. Upon tasting it was very obvious that the sugar ingredient was far more prevalent as the flavour was very sweet for dark chocolate. The cocoa solids level in the bar are indicated as 39% which is significantly lower than you get in most dark chocolate bars. Thats not to say a cocoa note wasnt detectable...it was...but was overshadowed by a more dominant sweet sugary taste which unfortunately left the overall flavour in a musky, non specific poor middle ground.
Overall it seems as if Cadbury have held back from making the bar overly dark and cocoa rooted inorder to avoid the product being too niche. Unfortunately what they seem to have amalgamated here is a particulalry bland and weak tasting chocolate that would neither appeal to a dark chocolate or milk chocolate consumer. This offering falls well below the high standards Cadbury sets itself...if they are going to cater for the dark chocolate consumer they should be braver with their product positioning and offer a product that genuinely can be credited as dark chocolate. I wouldnt really recommend this to anyone - particularly not as a starting place for the world of dark chocolate as its a poor representation of the market.
5.3 out of 10
5.3 out of 10
Posts
13 comments:
From your review it sounds like Cadbury tried to please too many conflicted preferences and in doing so failed everyone.
The stale milk smell would be enough for me to develop an opinino before even tasting it. Thanks for the review man.
Justin That sums it up raher nicely Justin...they aimed for a middle ground and didnt even hit that. I dont know if you have ever had it before but if you havent I wouldnt bother tracking this down. The smell really was really horrible and as I said really didnt set my expectations high. Cheers for the input Justin.
Jim
I quite like dark chocolate, but I agree there's far better bars on the market.
off topic but will you review milka chocolate?
ps: loving your work - keep it up :)
Gemma LOL thanks god there are better dark chocolate bar avalible to us is all I can say :D :D
Heidi thanks you for compliment its always nice to know people are enjoying the blog and are continuing to read. Regarding try Milka chocolate I keep seeing it in the shops and have to stop myself from buying it...I simply have way too much of a backlog of bars to review already..I think I have over 100+ chocolate bits and bobs in my 'awaiting review box'
...however since you asked so nicely I will try my hardest to get one of the bars from the range done this week :D
Thanks for reading and the comments everyone.
Jim :D
I have to say i totally disagree - i think Bournville has a lovely taste, just the right of dark without it being too strong or bitter. Its prob one of the most well known and liked bars, and has been around many many years which must say something? It's also one of my mums favourite chocolates, as she prefers dark to milk.
Alan This bar just wasn't to my taste - like you say though I am obviously not in the majority as the bar has been around for decades!! It obviously has a fan base of sorts.
Personally it just didn't give me the dark chocolate hit I was wanting. I am absolutely love Cadbury Dairy Milk so I guess that just made this look all the poorer in my eyes.
As I always say Im only one guy -my opinions only worth as much as everyone elses - thats why I like hearing other peoples! If we all liked the same things life would be boring wouldnt it!
Thanks for shaing your opinion!
Jim
lol its interesting coming across comments and reviews from a while back, some of them i'd forgotten about lol
it made me smile coz my sister suddenly announced that she didnt like bournville much - even tho shes happily eaten for years whenever we've bought it ! lol i kept trying to detect the stagnant milk smell you mention but couldnt - try as i might lol altho sometimes i think its too do with where its been kept in the shop, like the blooming under hot lights etc
i bought a bar of something once and ate it and thought it was awful then was given a bar a week or so later froma different shop and it tasted fine - wierd huh?
Alan Granted sometimes the bar can be altered by the environment it is kept in, saying that I keep everything in A class condition!! Mostly as I need them to take the pictures!!
You got to be careful where you buy your chocolate from! Some of the lower end shops can have bars on their shelves for months before they are sold ... not nice when you think about it really is it!!
Thanks
Jim
Attention all Bournville fans --->
Cadbury broadens Bournville appeal with two new flavours
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Creating more moments of pleasure Cadbury, the UK's No1 selling confectionery manufacturer, will be launching two Bournville variants to retailers from this month - Cadbury Bournville Old Jamaica and Cadbury Bournville Orange. Both are available in 180g bars which retail at £1.65.
Bournville Old Jamaica is a raisin and rum flavoured dark chocolate, which makes its return to the Bournville range by popular demand.
Bournville Orange is a brand new variant and is the classic Bournville dark chocolate containing pieces of real orange. The packaging is in keeping with the Bournville design but with each displaying its unique ingredients, Old Jamaica featuring a blue background with a map of the Caribbean, and Orange featuring a fittingly orange background.
Dark chocolate is leading the growth in the chocolate confectionery market and has outperformed the total large block market for the last three years.
Bournville is performing extremely well and is the number one brand within everyday dark chocolate, worth 8.9m. Within the total dark chocolate category, including premium SKU's,
Bournville is the 8th biggest SKU and has a 13% share of the dark chocolate segment within the large block category.
With the category performing so well, it is the ideal time to introduce new variants that will appeal to existing dark chocolate consumers, whilst extending the reach of the category to attract new consumers. Bournville appeals to a unique consumer base of older males and it is within this core audience that Old Jamaica returns as a consumer favourite. Bournville Orange is expected to appeal to a younger female consumer.
Kate Harding, Trade Communications Manager at Cadbury, comments: "Old Jamaica will be a welcome return for the existing Bournville consumer and Bournville Orange will bring new consumers into the category, driving incremental sales for retailers."
http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/12298-cadbury-broadens-bournville-appeal-with-two-new-flavours.html
I finally found one of these to compare to the local bar that used to be one of my favorites. I thought it wasn't quite as good at that recipe, but very similar and I still liked it, although I noticed it is only two-dimensional (cocoa, sugar) with no interesting aftertastes or undertones. I also set the rest of it aside for baking (they only had the very large size) and have managed not to eat it so I guess that says something lol.
If you're in the mood for dark chocolate, this probably isn't the best bar to go for as it is not strong enough, but I still think it has merit.
Jim, you're right, one major weakness of this bar is that it does not melt, which I think make it more difficult for the flavours to come through. I do however, think that the solidness of the bar creates a nice texture, and after a couple of blocks/pieces, the taste becomes strong and is actually quite pleasant.
I'm sorry, but everyone has their own oppinions, and I'm just about to totally disagree with what you said, Jim.
I love this Bournville chocolate. It is my favourite dark chocolate (I have to admit, I haven't tried many) and, furthermore, dark chocolate on the whole is my favourite type out of white, milk and this.
I agree with you, it doesn't melt in the mouth, but I think this instead makes the bar unique.
Where do you find the small 49g bars? I can only find 200g ones in my shops. The only place I bought one was at Cadbury's World, Birmingham - if you love Cadbury, go there. (I only eat Cadbury's chocolate lol)
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