March 12th: Duncans Ginger

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

Following on from yesterdays Original Hazelnut bar from Duncans today I sampled another of their offerings - the 'Ginger' variant in their range.

Again this came in the form of a 58g and was split into 12 equal sized chunks, this is where the similarities stop though as the chocolate and more obviously the flavour differed.

Unlinke yesterday upon opening the aroma and subsequent flavour of the bar was all too apparent. The bar had a distinct ginger smell which was certainly more appertising than yesterdays less fragrent offering.

This bar uses 'plain' chocolate with 55% Cocoa solids instead of the milk variant as with the Hazelnut bar yesterday. The chocolate had a very rich taste yet moreish taste, Im not the greatest connisseur of plain/dark chocolate but this was amongst the finest I have ever tasted; I did also detect an undertone flavour similar to coffee, wether this was just my tastebuds or this was intentional im unsure. Do not be mistaken this chocolate is divine and definately some of the best tasted on chocolate mission thus far.

Despite the chocolate being delicous the strongest flavour of the bar is of course the ginger. Flavourwise the ginger tastes very natraul and not at all artifical like you find with some of the more obscure flavoured bars. The disperion of ginger is generous and even throghout, it is neither too intense or weak tasting - a god job done here by Duncans.

There is just one slight problem with this bar - and its the texture. The combination of the heavy coca laden chocolate and sometimes spicy flavoured ginger meant the bar became quite dry. At times the texture became almost grainy and dare I say it similar to the 'sawdust' like texture I found with the 'Divine Fairtrade White Chocolate'.

Overall theres no two ways about it this bar has some extraordinary flavours, the proportions of glorious chocolate and well proportioned intresting flavoured ginger is nothing short of superb. Unfortunately it is a combination of the two which brings about its downfall, as they both contribute towards the bar having a poor texture which to a degree ruins the experience. If you ever come across this bar I would definately urge you to give it a try - its a pleasent bar which is great if your looking for a chocolatey flavour hit that is different to the norm.

8.1 out of 10

March 11th: Duncans Original Hazelnut

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

This range is little known outside of Scotland but was reccomended to me by a reader of Chocolate Mission, so of course being the devoted man I am I immediately obliged and put some of their bars on order.

The bar I sampled today was the 'Original Hazelnut'; its simply milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts dispersed generously troughout. The bar came in a 58g serving split into 12 bite-sized blocks as shown above. Although the packaging is smart, it did as you can see above lack nutritional information which isnt the greatest advert - oh well.

The bar itself had a slight nutty smell - always a nice start with a bar with nuts in ;) The chunks broke away nicely despite the presence of whole hazelnuts and each chunk was equally proportioned - no mean feat when you are dealing with large chunks of whole nuts as experienced with other similar bars.

The chocolate itself was extremely creamy, it had a stong coca taste and genuinely tasted like a high standard chocolate you would find in the more specialist of chocolate outlets like Thorntons. The nuts also also had a pleasent taste; unlike in some bars I have tried where the nuts are glazed to give them a sweeter taste (Galaxy Promises Hazelnut) these were left natraul which allowed a organic nutty flavour to come through. The fact the hazelnuts are completely untampered with means generally they are found whole within the bar rather than chopped. Not only does this benefit the bar texture wise adding real crunch, but it also stops small annoying bits of nut getting stuck between your teeth.

Overall this is a great tasting bar and one of the better whole nut bars I have tasted. I would definately reccomend giving this bar a try if you enjoy nutty chocolate bars, this could be your new favourite chocolate bar...just remember where you read the review first ;) A decent score for a nice tasting chocolate bar, more from this range tommorow.

8.0 out of 10

March 10th: Cadburys Double Decker

Kcal 275 Fat 11.3g Carbs 41g

I hadn't had a Double Decker for years but by popular demand and many requests today I bucked that trend and purchased one on my way to work.

The Double Decker is one of the bigger bars you will find in your local newsagents. It weighs in at a hefty 60g (slightly less than your average Snickers at 62.5g) - its interesting to note that although not the highest in fat per 100g in comparison to other bars it certainly packs a punch in Carbs; over 41g which I can tell you without looking will mostly be sugar.

Despite its size the bar was distinctly lacking in smell when opened. It had a faint sweet chocolately smell but that aside the lack of aroma was surprising and hardly whet the appetite.

The Double Decker consists of 3 main components: an outer layer coating of Cadburys Milk Chocolate, a thick layer of nougat and a crispy cereal like base. The Nougat is intresting, it has a flavour that it hard to pin down; it has a dominating chocolate flavour but with a hint of coffee. Unfortunately the flavour of the nougat is particularly sweet tasting and due to the sheer amount packed into the bar it was unsurprising that the taste became rather sickly by the end of the whole bar. Texture wise the nougat avoided being overly chewy and was quite light in comparison to other alternatives.

The outside coating of the bar is your typical great tasting Dairy Milk, unfortunately the thickness of the coating was not substantial enough and its flavour was quickly engulfed by the aforementioned plentiful nougat. This is something that Cadburys should really address.

The cereal base is where this bar really shines. It is absolutely delicious and is remarkably similar in taste to rice crispy cakes - you know the ones you used to make when you were little ;) The base provides a nice crunchy element to the bar and is fused well together by a small, but greatly proportioned helping of caramels. This ensures the layer doesn't simply crumble away but still avoided being overly sweet. This element of the bar could, and certainly should be applied to other parts of the Cadburys range; I could see this working particularly well replacing the wafer element in the Cadburys Picnic!

Overall a filling bar that just needs a slight adjustment in its ingredients proportions to make it a top 5 contender. The nougat for me is too dominant and makes the bar ever so slightly too sweet tasting by the time you have finished it. The soft nougat texture against the crisp cereal base works particularly well, and as mentioned above the cereal base element is certainly something that greatly helps this bar achieve a greater than average score. Its a story of nearly but not quite for the Double Decker...The Chocolate Mission continues :)

8.5 out of 10

March 9th: Reese's Nutrageous (US)

Kcal 280 Fat 16g Fat(sats) 5g Carbs 27g

This is one of only a few Reese's products that are widely avalible in the UK; so natraully I decided to sample the US version as shown above :) dont ask me why; the only difference I am aware of between the two products is that UK version is the King sized US version. To clarify I sampled the 51g bar; which was by all means sufficent enough to curb my hunger.

The bar is similar in build to the Baby Ruth but with a peanut butter centre replacing the nougat. The coating is pleasent enough - the whole peanuts provide a nice crunch but seemed to lack flavour compared to the coating found in the Baby Ruth. The chocolate was lacking in the flavour department - this has something I have found to be uncommon in Reese's products; to my taste the chocolate generally used in their poducts is lacking in taste and slightly waxy in texture: its by no means unpleasent - far from it infact but this is certainly an area the bar could be improved.

The peanut butter centre was typical Reese's just the right creamy smoothness with a slight saltyness. Its consistency is also a thing to note - its sturdy and dosent crumble - avoiding being too thick, chewy and nougat-like. The smooth of the centre works particularly well with the crunchyness of the whole nuts in the coating. Another nice addition to the bar is the presence of caramel between the coating and peanut butter centre. The caramel is unlike the one used in the previously reviewed caramel cups and is far from being as sickly. It plays a nice role of making sure the coating sticks to the centre whilst providing a nice sweet tasting moistness which is delivered in the perfect amount.

Overall a mixed bag - some elements of this bar are genious. As ever with Reese's you cannot fault the peanut butter they use in their products. It is always delivered in the right quantity and with a great mix of creamy saltyness - a flavor that dosent leave your mouth for long afterwards. The inclusion of caramel as mentioned above is an idea that works well and prevents the outside coating from simply falling away from the centre. Unfortunately the bar lets itself down in the coating department. Whilst the nuts deliver a nice crunchy texture they lack the flavour of other alternatives I have reviewed; also not bucking the trend in my reviews of Reese's products the chocolate is again sadly lacking an immersive taste. Despite my minor criticisms this is a nice tasting bar and im sure the majority of people would enjoy it - give it a go.

8.3 out of 10

March 8th: Thorntons White Chocolate

Kcal 250 Fat 15.7g Fat(sats) 10g Carbs 29.8g

The last week I have been sampling and reviewing some of the UK's most popular and common bars so today I thought I would break the trend and go for a more upper class stylish plain bar.

I have tried a few different brands of White Chocolate thus far on Chocolate Mission and have had mixed results: some have been overly sweet whilst others (most notably Milkybar) have performed well and scored in the Mid 8's.

Todays offering came from Thorntons - a simple 50g solid white bar of chocolate split into 6 chunky blocks. The wrapper told me that it was made from full cream milk and upon opening there was a strong milky poignant aroma.

The chunks broke off easily and cleanly and despite lacking any design work on the chocolate it looked clean cut with no scuff marks and ultimately professional.

The taste of the bar was quite similar to Milkybar in that instead of going down the over powering vanilla tasting route, the dominanting flavour was milky and resultingly pleasent. The texture was smooth and avoided being grainy which I had found in other variaties of white chocolate (Divine).

Overall this is a great white chocolate offering and I would say the best white chocolate I have had to date. The taste avoids being overly sugar rooted meaning that the texture is smooth and the taste flavoursome whilst avoiding being too sickly or artifically vanilla flavoured. I would whole heartidly recommend this if your a fan of white chocolate.

8.6 out of 10

March 5th: Galaxy Raisin, Almond & Hazelnut

Kcal 251 Fat 15.5g Carbs 24.1g

Although I have enjoyed other fruit and nut bars I have been constantly coming to the conlusion that almonds are superior in taste to hazelnuts. Galaxy go about this selection predicament in a slightly different manner to most by well..including both...surely they are onto something special here?!

The bar comes in a hefty 47g bar and of course with the inclusion of nuts comes with quite a high fat content in comparison to other bars - dieters be aware! The bar is typically split into 6 equalled sized chunks which are nicely shaped (supposedly to provide a smoother taste). I was rather hungry before eating this bar but after consuming I was more than satisfied hunger-wise.

In regards to taste the chocolate in the bar is your typical galaxy quality; creamy, velvety and just overly pleasent; not many bars ever manage to top it.

The fruit in the bar is similar to the Cadburys offering-for me it dosent add much interms of flavour, pretty non descript in taste - I would struggle to establish an argument for its inclusion if it was up for debate.

The nuts are pleasent and I could certainly taste the almond flavour coming through with the occasional bit of hazelnut. Unfortunately the nuts in this bar are quite finely chopped and not as generously dispersed as one would hope meaning that despite their pleasent flavor they did have a tendency to be lost in the overpowering chocolate.

Overall a great tasting bar but still not that amazing flavour im wanting to find from a fruit and nut bar. I would definately urge you to give it a try as you will still be hard pressed to find chocolate better than galaxy and its hardly as if the raisin and nut combo detract from the bar in anyway; its more the case they dont add as much flavour as you would hope for. I think with the added inclusion of whole nuts and maybe a different alternative of dried fruit than raisins Galaxy could really have something special: for the time being though this isnt threatening the upper tier of Chocolate Mission.

8.3 out of 10

March 4th: Baby Ruth

Kcal 280 Fat 14g Fat(sats) 8g Carbs 39g

This bar is similar in appearance to that of the Cadburys picnic and Lion;it is a long thick bar with peanuts jagging out sporadically. 

The bar comes in a hefty 60g bar that would satisfy the hungriest person. The bar constitutes a thick middle layer of fudge flavoured nougat which is covered in milk chocolate with whole peanuts randomly disperesed throughout. 

The outer layer of chocolate peanuts is glorious and avoids being overly salty like in other bars which contain whole nuts (payday). Avoiding adding a salty flavour, the peanuts actually provide a nutty creamy taste whilst providing a nice crunchy texture at the same time. The chocolate flavour is not the strongest though it does its job nicely and adds a nice smooth texture. The nougat provides the bulk of the bar and unfortunately I found this to be very disappointing in terms of taste and texture. I found the 'fudge' flavoured nougat to taste very artifical and very unlike any fudge i have ever had. Texture wise I found it to be overly chewy, to the point that my jaw actually rather hurt after eating it. 

Overall I was expecting more from a bar that comes with such high acclaim. The outer coating is particularly pleasent and I could see a Reese's peanut based centre working extremely well with it. Unfortunately for the Baby Ruth its extremely let down by the poor nougat at the heart of the bar.

7.6 out of 10

March 3rd Sickness Strikes Chocolate Mission

Sorry for the lack of update today folks, unfortunately I have been struck down with illness and will not be reviewing a bar today due to my tastebuds being pretty much nullified.

...hopefully ChocolateMission will be back running tommorow. For the minute please Admire the sites new banner...courtesy of our good friend 'LAG' from Gamesradar forums.

Jim

March 2nd: Lion Bar

******UPDATE 23.02.10**********

Kcal 269 Fat 12.7g Carbs 35.3g

If you look at the new photos above you will see the words 'new and improved' printed on the wrapper. Having tucked in to one of these 'improved' bars I have to say I couldn't detect much of difference aside from the chocolate tasting a tad sweeter.

Looking at the ingredients of the old bar vs this 'improved' one it looks as if 'sweetened condensed milk' has been added in to the fold and I am guessing this came the expense of some of the cocoa butter given the impact on the fat and carbohydrate contents. As I said above the impact on the taste was pretty minimal and not being an avid Lion bar consumer I couldn't really tell the difference. It would be good to hear whether any more frequent consumers have something to say about this?

*******

Kcal 278 Fat 13.7g Carbs 34.7g

Continuing on from yesterdays delight courtesy of the well known Mars bar I decided to review another favourite currently on the UK market.

The Lion bar encapsulates several different ingredients and comes in a hefty 55g bar which certainly left my hunger fulfilled after eating it

The bar in build has a crispy wafer filled with a nice cream filling, surrounded by chewy caramel and coated in a thick layer of milk chocolate with puffed rice dispersed throughout.

All these different elements provide the bar with a number of textures, which do make it particularly interesting. The wafer is crispy and quite light yet the thick caramel and chocolate add a nice substantial chewyness to the mix. The two different textures work really well and the added element of the puffed rice in the thick chocolate adds a melt on the tongue element, which is always pleasant.

Tastewise this bar is also really impressive. Each element has a specific role, the wafer provides a great biscuit like base to the bar and the crème contained inside adds bit of moistness to the wafer meaning its flavour comes through more. The Caramel layer is pleasant and the chewyness means its flavour lasts for longer than some less viscous alternatives. The only slight disappointment with the bar comes in the form of the chocolate coating. The chocolate isn’t the best tasting and I would say compared to the other elements in the bar it does add very little tastewise. What is pleasant about the chocolate as I have already mentioned is the inclusion of puffed rice which definitely makes for a more interesting offering than just plain chocolate.

Overall this is a bar that manages and mixes several ingredients particularly well. In similar bars like the Cadburys Starbar/Picnic I have felt the inclusion of so many ingredients overly busy and have come to the conclusion 'less is more'. The Lion bar manages to dispell this hypothesis and I can genuinely say that each component in this bar plays its part. If the chocolate quality was improved in the coating this would be challenging for first place - but for the minute it will have to settle for joint 5th.

8.6 out of 10

March 1st: Mars Bar

Kcal 284 Fat 11.1g Carbs 43g

The Mars bar is arguably the best known chocolate bar in the UK and its amazing how long I have managed to progress through this project without reviewing it.

For those of you who have never sampled one of these delicacies the Mars bar incorporates a thick layer of chocolate flavour nougat covered with a generous lashing of caramel, coated in Milk Chocolate.

Near the beginning of the Chocolate Mission I reviewed Mars Planets in what turned out to be an under whelming experience. To be honest they were especially uninspiring and rather put me off reviewing the original bar but today I put that to one side and boy am I glad.

Upon opening the bar I was met with the sweet smell of sweet chocolate and caramel. It smelt absolutely delicious. You will know if you have read my previous reviews I like to divide my bars into bite size chunks so I can really sample the flavour of the bar - the mars bar divided beautifully and with such little mess...a great start indeed!

Taste wise, simply put it was sublime. The first flavour that struck me was the absolutely delicious sweet and creamy tasting chocolate. I was surprised that such a mass-produced bar had such high quality chocolate - this was probably the best I have tasted so far chocolate wise. The next flavour hit was the caramel, which was really quite pleasant as well. Its not quite there in standards of the Dairy Milk or Galaxy bar but its certainly close and does not get overly sweet and sickly (the trap most bars with caramel fall into).

The nougat is the final component of the bar and it doesn’t let it down. The nougat is very flavoursome and light compared to most other nougat bars; its only real competition in the nougat stakes is the 3 musketeers which is just as creamy and light.

Overall it’s understandable why the Mars bar is renowned for being one of the true greats in chocolate bars. In combines its three components brilliantly and together they form one amazingly moreish taste. This is definitely one of the best bars I have reviewed yet and definitely worthy of its place in the top 3.

9.3 out of 10

All Change on The Chocolate Mission

Just to bring to the attention of everyone that this will be a weekend of change for the Chocolate Mission...and I am pleased to announce that it is change for the better!! :D :D by the end of the weekend I aim to have -

• Updated/Improved January Reviews
• A newly implemented Scoring system and scoring chart for each bar
• A new scoreboard to keep track of the Top 5 bars on Chocolate Mission
• A requests page
• A groovy banner/better graphics

This is exciting times for the site and I would welcome any feedback oh how I can improve things. Would anyone be intrested in the chance to win some free chocolate goodies if I ran a competition?

Let me know - Just hit the comments button.

Jim

February 29th: Snickers Almond

Kcal 230 Fat 11g Fat(sats) 4g Carbs 32g

Its amazing how many more varieties of our favourite brands you get over the pond in the US and today I bring you yet another variant from the Snickers range. On the wrapper this bar comes described as 'nougat with caramel, whole almonds, covered in a milk chocolate coating'.

In terms of the packaging I liked how the Snickers branding was kept the main point of focus, and I was pleased with the creme colours that surrounded it, as it made it nicely differentiated from the Snickers norm. When I cut in to the bar the size of the almond pieces were noticeably large amongst the caramel, and I was met with a strong smell of nuts, which is always a good sign when opening a nut-flavoured bar.

Biting in to the bar, the chocolate coating was of course the first thing to register on the taste buds, and is fast established a decent amount of creamy cocoa flavours. Unlike most variants of Snickers, the nougat in this bar was not the dominating ingredient. As the picture shows above the nougat layer was actually rather thin in comparison to the standard Snickers. To be honest this was really quite fortunate, as the taste of the nougat was forgettable in almost ever sense. Fortunately this bar really came into it's own in the caramel and whole almonds layer, which was spread generously above the nougat. The caramel was sweet and buttery in taste, and contrasted nicely with the more savoury nuts. The almonds themselves benefitted hugely from being implemented whole instead of in a chopped fashion, as it helped them establish their mild nutty flavours in more concentrated fashion. Despite being slightly smaller than the standard Snickers, I thought this was decently sized snack, though it obviously wasn't quite as satisfying as the normal bar.

Overall I wouldn't ever make habit of buying this almond variant over my original Snickers bar, but this that is predominantly a consequence of my general preference of peanuts over almonds. Amongst the core constituents, the caramel, almond and chocolate elements of this bar were superb, with the only slight let down being the flavourless nougat. The poor quality nougat was a little puzzling given that Mars make the very tasty 3 Musketeers, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really spoil the bar for me in any manner. If you look at the ChocolateMission leaderboard you will see that the original Snickers is amongst my all time favourites. I wouldn't say this Almond is quite as accomplished as that bar, but it is definitely a nice option to have if you something a little different.

8.4 out of 10

February 28th: Galaxy Promises Caramel

Kcal 215 Fat 12.2g Carbs 22.1g

This bar was certainly tricky tracking down and as far as im aware it is now out of distribution so good luck finding it folks...you will have to take my word for it :)

The Galaxy Promises Caramel follows the same premise as its hazelnut variant I reviewed a few weeks ago. The bar is compromised of Galaxy dark chocolate beneath a layer of Galaxy milk chocolate; this caramel version contained crystallised caramel flavoured bits similar to the Green & Blacks bar I reviewed a few days ago. These were distributed amongst the upper milk chocolate layer.

The bar came in a standard 40g size and split into 8 handy triangle shaped parts. Upon opening the bar I was met with the great aroma of Galaxy chocolate yum yum!

The chocolate being galaxy was inevitably sublime: as with the hazelnut variety the fusion of the dark and milk chocolate is managed excellently, the balance is just right and it provides an ultimately splendid variety of flavours.

Despite the excellence of the chocolate the actual flavouring of the bar is where it lets itself down. The caramel bits are a nice addition and are actually more flavoursome than the ones found in the similar Green & Blacks bar. The problem is that Mars were not generous enough with the caramel specks and as a result they are overpowered and lost in the rich chocolate.

Overall there is no doubt this is one great tasting bar. As I have said the chocolate is excellent however the actual flavouring of the bar is certainly a let down. If the Caramel element were more prominent this definitely would have been up there with the best of them. Unfortunately this doesn’t look like an issue that will ever be sorted and it seems Mars have pulled this bar from the market :( ... disappointing in a product that has such potential.

7.6 out of 10

February 27th: Hersheys with Almonds

Kcal 230 Fat 13.2g Fat(sats) 6.6g Carbs 21.4g

This is one of the very few Hershey's bars you can buy here in the UK, though as far as I am aware, packaging aside it is no different to its US equivalent. I did some further research and have actually found that currently this bar is out of distribution in the US at present, and is only available in Europe and Canada :S rather puzzling to say the least.

The bar came in a standard 40g serving. The bar divided up easily into ten handy chunks as you can see above. Upon opening the bar I did not get anything more than small sweet chocolate aroma that you would expect from opening any sort of chocolate bar - not slight smell of nuttyness; never a good sign.

The bar describes itself as 'creamy milk chocolate with Almonds' - and upon tasting the bar you could tell it was certainly different from your standard Hershey's chocolate. Although I understand standard Hershey's chocolate isn’t to everyone’s taste, unfortunately the different type they use in this bar is pretty poor. The chocolate is actually rather flavourless which is really quite a stark contrast to the uniqueness you normally experience in terms of taste with Hershey's. I would personally much prefer the standard Hershey's milk chocolate rather than this 'creamy' variant.

Moving onto the almonds in the bar I must unfortunately report these were also rather a disappointment. The almonds offered very little aside from a light crunch, and similar to the chocolate offered next to nothing in taste. Like most chocolate bars with almonds I cant help but feel it would have been more suitable using the more unique tasting hazelnuts.

Overall a bar you could certainly miss out on - it offers little in terms of strong flavours and it has to be said by Hershey's high standards this is rather poor.

5.0 out of 10

February 25th: Green & Black's Butterscotch

Kcal 212 Fat 12.4g Fat(sats) 7.5g Carbs 21.4g

In the UK Green & Blacks are positioned as a brand that is a slightly premium offering to the likes of Cadbury, Galaxy etc. The wrappers have recently undergone a change to a more colourful representation (2010 update) so I will spare you my thoughts on the brown coloured horrid thing you see above. On the wrapper this bar came billed as 'milk chocolate with crunchy toffee pieces' which sounded like a wonderful proposition to me. For the purpose of this review I sampled this handy 35.0g serving bar that was split into several small squares. I consumed the bar over a single sitting alongside a nice cup of coffee.

Upon opening the bar I was met with a mixture of sweet cocoa and caramel scents that provided an alluring and realistic expectation of the taste to follow. Despite the toffee pieces spread throughout the bar still broke quite evenly - the mini sized blocks weren't perfect, but about two provided a comfortable mouthful.

The 34% milk chocolate was decent enough flavour wise and fast established a sweet concoction of milk and cocoa flavours in my mouth. It wasn't remarkable in any sense, but it was of a decent enough quality and allowed expression of the toffee pieces that dispersed throughout. Speaking of the butterscotch flavour integration, like the chocolate it was good yet unspectacular. The toffee pieces weren't all that visible to the naked eye but they certainly could be felt texture wise as they provided a crunchy element to each mouthful. The sweet caramel flavours were tasty, but were unfortunately short lived and they failed to leave a lasting flavour impression in my mouth.

Overall this was a nice tasting chocolate but it had a frustrating moreishness about that didn't leave me feeling at that satisfied. Green & Black's milk chocolate is no doubt of a slightly better than average quality, but at the same time I wouldn't say there is anything so special about that makes it stand out as offering significantly more taste wise for it to justify it's premium price. The butterscotch element to this bar was very taste, however compared to a toffee bar like the Daim bar it lacked the longevity and flavour impact to make it a truly special offering. I would happily have this bar again if I was offered, but I'm not too sure I would go out and buy it again so soon.

7.6 out of 10

February 24th: Reese's Crispy Crunch

Kcal 260 Fat 15g Fat(sats) 5g Carbs 26g

According to some of the US candy websites I read this Crispy Crunch bar is Reese's answer to the Nestle Butterfinger which I reviewed a few weeks back. In terms of size the bar looks much smaller than it's Nestle equivalent, though it still weighed in at generous sounding 48.0g. Looks wise the bar looks similar in appearance to the Cadbury Picnic, with nuts prominently sticking out the chocolate coating. On the wrapper the bar is billed as consisting of a 'crispy peanut butter wafer, topped with peanut butter and coated in chocolate and nuts' - this sounded like a winning combination to me.

From the very first bite this bar was bursting with nutty flavours, and was evidently not half as sweet tasting as the Butterfinger. The peanut butter flavours that came through in this bar far outclassed that of the sugary centered Butterfinger, and the usual Reese's sweet and salty peanut flavours created a marvellous taste. Combined, the upper peanut butter layer and whole nuts in the chocolate coating also add some interesting contrasting textures to the mix - the smoothness of the salty peanut butter layer blended well the crunchiness of the wholenuts delivering a variety of different mouthfeel sensations, whilst also leaving a strong nutty taste in the mouth. As ever with Reese's products the chocolate wasn't the strong point of the product, but this bar was really more about the peanut constituents so this slight blemish can as ever been excused.

Overall I probably shouldn't have been given my love for Reese's products, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this bar. When I read that it was Reese's version of the Buterfinger I was worried the same overly sweet type experience awaited me, but this bar has such distinctive nutty flavours it took the experience to levels that the Butterfinger only wished it could. If you like your Reese's products this is yet another offering of theirs I would highly recommend.

8.1 out of 10

February 23rd: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Caramel

Kcal 190 Fat 10g Fat(sats) 5g Carbs 24g

This variant of the Reese's range incorporates your standard Reese's cups with a layer of caramel beneath the peanut butter. Anyone who has been reading this blog will b aware that the Dairy Milk/Galaxy Caramel bars are leading the way at present; this variant should at least be challenging them then right!?

The chocolate was the same you find in any Reese's product - not the best and a tad on the waxy side but overall passable in a bar that really focuses on the flavour beneath the chocolate.

The caramel was similar in appearance and texture to the caramel you get in Dairy Milk/Galaxy bars however the taste fell well below their standard. The caramel has far less taste and rather than adding a distinctive caramel flavour it just makes the bar overly sweet tasting to the point where even the slight saltyness of Peanut Butter is overwhelmed.

Overall the caramel makes this way way too sweet and I cant say I would reccomend going out your way to get hold of this variant in the range. This is probaby the weakest in the Resse's Cups range and I would urge you to think twice before choosing it over any of the others. Disappointing.

7.0 out of 10

*Thanks to www.typetive.com/candyblog for the pictures

February 22nd: Twix Java

Kcal 280 Fat 15g Fat(sats) 11g Carbs 36g

If your anything like me you like to start each morning with a black coffee to get the day off to a good start - for some its even a necessity.

Coffee in chocolate though??? Until now I would have been hard pushed to name any sort of coffee flavoured chocolate bar - let alone a good standard one. But don't worry the good people at Mars have saved the day in the form of the limited edition Twix Java. The Java replaces your conventional Twix caramel layer with a good lashing of coffee flavoured caramel. Similar to the Twix PB I reviewed earlier this month the bar does not have the standard Twix shortbread biscuit but has the 'cookie' base which is basically the same but just chocolate flavoured.

Before opening the bar I was a tad worried; I was expecting a strong aroma of Coffee but this was not the case. The bar had a slight sweet smell from the chocolate but that aside there no indication of coffee whatsoever. Upon biting into the bar this all changed and the coffee flavor comes through strongly against the delicious chocolate and cookie base. The coffee flavour is distinctive yet manages to remain sweet and not bitter like I think some people would expect it to. Simply delicious!

Its a hard decision but im going to rate this just below the Caramel bars which are currently winning on the chocolate mission. The reason for this is down to the chocolate. Although the coffee flavour is absolutely genious the chocolate coating isnt the best chocolate around - if this was a bar coated in Dairy Milk or Galaxy we would be having a new leader right now!

Overall this is a great tasting bar that I cant compliment enough; I urge you to get hold of one its that good. It takes pride of place in the top bars.

8.9 out of 10

February 21st: Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter

Kcal 269 Fat 15.8g Carbs 27.5g

I generally avoid Kit Kats as they are a tad heavy on the wafer side, and anyones who read my blog before will know im really no big fan of wafers. This bar is your standad Kit Kat Chunky with a layer of peanut butter running along the top between the wafer and chocolate coating.

Upon opening the bar I got a really strong aroma of peanut butter which was really quite pleasent. Of Course though the taste was what was important here ;)

The chocolate was standard Nestle quality and was actually quite nice in that it was not overly sweet and generally just nice tasting. The peanut butter itself wasnt half bad either; it was a bit more gooey and smooth than the peanut butter you get in Reese's. On the balance of things I would at a push have to say I prefer the latter, though this is more down to personal preference rather than quality ... rest assured the Kit Kat Peanut butter was still resoundingly pleasent. It must also be considered that although I do prefer the Reese's peanut butter, the chocolate you get from the Nestle product is a better standard than you get with any Reese's product. 

Overall this was a tasty bar and is one that I would really reccommend you try. It is one of the better bars I have had tried on Chocolate Mission so far, however it dosent still quite hit the level of the Dairy Milk & Galaxy Caramel bars.

8.5 out of 10

*Thanks to www.chocablog.com for the pictures

February 20th: Fry's Chocolate Cream

Kcal 210 Fat 7g Carbs 35g

This bar has a rich heritage and is considered an all time classic due it first being producded in the 1866 (thanks Alan :D ). Despite being branded as Fry's these bars are actually part of the Cadburys portfolio. The bar describes itself as dark chocolate with a fondant centre and weighs in at a hefty 50g.

The Chocolate is described as 'Dark' and is indeed a bit more bitter than your standard Milk chocolate. Unfortunately I found that it wasn't that distinctive, and eventually rather forgettable. The white fondant centre was extremely sickly as it tasted so so sweet. Honestly the fondant had a taste that I can only describe as sugary, which eventually became quite unpleasent after only a few mouthfulls.

Overall this is a bar I would really not reccommend - I have had so many better in the last few weeks and this has to go down as of the poorest. The chocolate is nothing special and the fondant centre is overly sweet and sickly. Probably best to avoid.

4.6 out of 10

February 19th: Cadbury Wispa

Kcal 210 Fat 12.9g Fat(sats) 8.1g Carbs 25g

Though now technically out of distribution again, if you look hard enough Wispas can still be found hiding on shop shelves. Avoiding the relaunch hype I only recently tracked one of these down (today) and have some strong opinions on the bar after eating it.

For those who dont know Wispas have been replaced by the Cadburys bubbly...a bar which I reviewed just over a week ago. I felt the bubbly was a good bar but just lacked a real USP...I thought it was just airated chocolate...but good chocolate at that.

To think differently about Wispa would be...well...absolute madness as its exactly the same bar just packaged and formed slightly differently.

I know this view is a tad contreversial and many people will feel that im not doing it justice but nostalgic feelings aside this is just dairy milk chocolate with bubbles in....I must stress this is neither something that should change or be scoffed at.

The Wispa is good at what it does..it gives you that chocolate hit thats ever so nice whilst providing an intresting texture to boot. Apart from this though it does very little in establishing itself as 'something special'....which is exactly what we are looking for here at 'The Chocolate Mission'.

Overall the Wispa will always be a bar that provides us all with good nostalgic feelings about our childhood whislt at the same time giving us a good chocolate hit. However I think to say it is the best chocolate bar out there is an exaggeration. Don't get me wrong I think this is a great chocolate bar, but personally I believe there are better crafted and flavour blended chocolates out there on the market.

I have had quite alo of criticism for this review, I must stress these ratings are only my opinion! This means my POV may or may not be shared with others and is not a general concensous. It would be great to get some thoughts on this...so please comment away

8.2 out of 10

February 18th: Reese's Pieces

Kcal 220 Fat 11g Fat(sats) 6g Carbs 26g

Reese's Pieces have been around for many decade. They are most famous recently due to a clever product placement marketing ploy in the ET film in the early 90s which saw a massive surge in their popularity. These were another of my imports from America costing just over £1.20 in total and are currently not available in the UK.

Reese's pieces are none to dissimilar to smarties in appearance and size, though slightly smaller than the peanut butter M&Ms I reviewed in early January. These came in a handy 43g bag which was just the right amount; anymore and these probably would have been a little sickly.

The crispy outer shell compliments the peanut butter well; the lack of chocolate certainly makes sure the flavours aren't over complicated and the two flavour dynamic works well. One of my gripes with the Peanut Butter M&Ms was that the chocolate and sugar coating over powered the peanut butter taste but this is not the case with Reese's pieces and you are left with a strong aftertaste of peanut butter... YUM YUM!! :)

Overall a great product from Reese's which I highly recommend; more so than the Peanut Buttter M&Ms which you may have gathered. These have a pride of place in the top 5 at present.

9.0 out of 10

February 17th: Cadbury Picnic

*** UPDATE *** 03/01/11

New wrapper added


Kcal 225 Fat 11.2g Carbs 27.1g

It is no exaggeration saying this bar has a bit of everything - peanuts, raisins, rice crispies and caramel all coated in Cadburys milk chocolate ... that enough for ya!?

As you can see above the bar is lumpy in appearance, as if it has been thrown together rather than being beautifully crafted. Suffice to say it wouldn't win any looks contests - in comparison to some of the Guylian bars I have been reviewing recently it does look rather embarrassing and cheap to say the least. Being a bit more positive about matters, the wrapper is at least quite exciting, and communicates the contents quite well. .

As uninspiring as the bar looked it is taste where it counts, but unfortunately the aesthetic appearance was quite insightful. The bar produced a wide range of flavours - some mouthfuls literally overwhelmed my tastebuds with nutty, fruity, caramelly flavours all coming through, however on the contrary some mouthfuls were rather dull and could be nothing more than described as chewy with little or no flavour (this was mostly where just the plain rice was involved!!).

Overall I have to say I have had nothing like the Cadburys Picnic before! Mouthfuls ranged from brilliant to mundane. This leaves me with the overriding feeling that with a bit of extra TLC and craft (and maybe the loss of the rice), this bar would benefit greatly and be better than the average rating it is getting. As I have said before as with the Cadburys Starbar...sometimes less is more.

6.2 out of 10