August 6th: Dove Caramel Waves

Kcal 482 Fat 24.2g Fat(sats) 14.2g Carbs 60.5g

Before I rattle on with todays review I must thank eagle-eyed Zeddy who spotted these in his local discounter 'B&M Bargains', and was kind enough to send a pack along for me to review! It was only last week I was discussing with frequent Chocolate Mission contributor Justin the differences (if any!?) between Dove chocolate and its branding equivalent here in the UK - Galaxy...thanks to Zeddy I could make this comparison today.

As far as I could decipher these Dove Caramel Waves were producded in the Netherlands and seem to be distributed throughout Austria and Belguim. The Caramel Waves were slightly larger than 'mini egg' type equivalents we have here in the UK and each simply contained a plentiful helping of caramel encased in a thick milk chocolate shell....imagine the Galaxy temptations egg I reviewed at easter but with each being about a quarter of the size. Each 'Wave' made for a very substantial mouthful and for my liking could probably have done with being just a little bit smaller, as this would have made them more comfortable to eat. The waves came in a 180g pack of sixteen...six of which I ate this evening: this provided me with a very sensible and satisfying portion.

The Waves outer packaging looked nice and had the design of a standard Galaxy product with the only obvious difference being the rebranding of the Dove logo. The 'Waves' themselves were nicely presented, though the foil wrappers did prove to be slightly loose, and thus did not keep the freshest of chocolates; they had a slightly dusty surface and the aroma wasn't quite the usual fresh smelling milkyness as found with the 'Temptations egg' or original Galaxy Caramel bar - they just had a less fragrant sweet smell.

Tastewise the Waves were slightly different to their Galaxy cousins. The milk chocolate seemed slightly less sweet, still extremely creamy, but with more of an cocoa sharpness to their taste - it was equally just as tasty as Galaxy milk chocolate but certainly different in its flavour compisition. The caramel centre was more plentiful than in a standard Galaxy Caramel block though it still had the same luxurious smoothness. The flavour of the caramel was still wonderfully balanced...very sweet but with a delicious salty hint in its aftertaste that made it so incredibly moreish. Personally I found the proportioning of caramel to milk chocolate better than the 'Temptations egg' but not quite as balanced as in the Galaxy Caramel bar...I just feel the slightly smaller blocks in the bar form make for an easier mouthful than the rather largish nature of the Waves.

Overall if your lucky enough to happen across a pack of these I simply urge you to buy them - they are excellent chocolate caramels and well worthy of a purchase. If you find normal Galaxy chocolate overly sweet these will go some way to helping this problem, as despite containing the usual creamyness of Galaxy, the Dove chocolate seemed to have a slighty more purposeful cocoa flavour with less of an initial sweetness. The caramel was simply delicious as with every Mars product...very sweet but wonderfully smooth - extremely enjoyable. For fans of caramel and milk chocolate combinations these are a simple must have purchase. So today the question has been answered: is there any difference between Dove and Galaxy chocolate?? In my opinion a slight variation in taste...but same magnificent quality, especially for the price.

8.6 out of 10