July 22nd: Charleston Chew 'Chocolatey' (US)

Kcal 230 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 4.5g Carbs 43.0g

Last week CandyPirate were yet again kind enough to send me another bar to sample - this time another of one of the US's best selling candy bars the 'Charleston Chew Chocolatey'....'Chocolatey' why not chocolate? Well folks further research has revealed that Tootsie Roll Ind have had to name this variant 'Chocolatey' and not chocolate due to the coating being formulated using vegetable fats and not cocoa butter!....oh....oh indeed! Though I sampled the original sized variant, the Charleston Chew has recently become avalible in a 'mini' format which Cybele at Candy Blog has cast her eye across...well worth checking out her review as she battles her 'mockolate' fears.

The wrapper described this as 'chewy flavoured nougat with a deliciously chocolatey flavoured coating'. the wrapper itself was very similarly styled to that of the Tootsie Roll I reviewed last week. Classic and retro in look but still with the TLC touch of an inside cardboard sleeve to protect the bar. The bar itself look pretty plain in appearance...it simply looked like a longer, thinner less detailed Milky Way...not particularly imposing or unique to be honest. This bar came in a huge sinlge serving finger shape that weighed in at a mighty 53.2g - it was not only the size of the bar that made it so fufiling but its nature, the extra chewy texture made it a pretty satisfying and substantial eating experience.

Taking the bar from the sleeve and cutting it into sizeable chunks the bar emanated a subtle vanilla essence like aroma. The chocolatey coating did not seem to have a distinct smell, though the vanilla scent was pleasant enough.

On the wrapper the bar suggested to 'Try me frozen'....so I did. As I said above I sectioned the bar into several bitesized pieces and then let it sit in my freezer for a good few hours. Obviously placing the first piece in my mouth the chocolatey coating took a while to meet its melting point. It must be said the coating really lacked a definitive flavour and was little more than I can describe as sweet tasting with the slightest...and I mean slightest cocoa undercurrant. Its texture was pleasant enough despite the lack of cocoa butter - once at melting point in my mouth it smoothly melted away to reveal the nougat centre.

The nougat/taffy like centre was where this product really came into its own...it tasted delicious and whats more was great fun to eat. As you can imagine when in its frozen state the centre had a hard texture though once warmed in the mouth was enjoyably sticky and chewy. It was tougher than standard nougat but not jaw destroying at the same time. By far and away the best way to eat it was to warm the nougat on the tongue, then slightly chew it to release the flavour and then suck on the remnants till all but melted away. In flavour it was very similar to that of the nougat in a UK Milky Way...deliciously creamy and milky with the slightest essence of vanilla - awesome stuff and incredibly enjoyable.

Overall this is another prouct from the US that like the Tootsie Roll has both brilliant and poor attributes. Lets not beat around the bush...the chocolatey coating is poor! It offered very little in taste and though despite not having an unenjoyable texture, there's just no doubt that it could just be delivered so much better with the implementation of actual higher quality real chocolate! The nougat centre is delightfully tasty, its flavoured sweetly but not overly so and its texture has just the right about of resistance to provide a long but enjoyable creamy vanilla tasting experience. Im going to recommend this product as its something thats slightly different from your average candy bar (especially for us in the UK!)...theres no doubting that with a slight tweaking of the ingredients and delivery of the chocolate this could really be a bar to behold - certainly a bar worth checking out if you like your nougat.

7.4 out of 10

Want to try out the Charleston Chew Chocolatey for yourself? Head to CandyPirate to find American Candy & Foods all directly in the UK!