June 24th: Cadbury Snack Shortcake

Kcal 40 Fat 1.9g Carbs 4.5 (Per biscuit - 6 in pack)

Before today I had no clue about even the actual existance of this product..I had never seen it before but came across it passing through Gatwick Airport this morning in a Cadburys branded vending machine...anyway I decided to throw caution to the wind give it a try.

The Cadbrys snack is a 43g bar that comprises of six mini Dairy Milk coated shortcake biscuits. As you can see above they are square in shape and have a slight rippled effect across their surface. In truth I thought they looked particularly boring and I was suprised and their lack of branding.

Opening the pack I could detect the magical Dairy Milk aroma - it wasnt quite as strong as with most Cadburys standard chocolate bars but that was due to the lacking of chocolate quantity which I will go into now.

The picture above shows how thin the chocolate layer is. The chocolate retains its great quality creamy Dairy Milk flavour but unfortunately the proportioning per biscuit is so poor the taste does not last long enough at all and is quickly domintaed by the bicuit.

The biscuit element was fair - it had that mixture of sweet biscuity flavour with the slightest hint of salt that most good shortbread have. Unfortunately the biscuit didn't have quite the crunchyness I was expecting though overall it still provided a satisfying taste.

Overall after tasting these im not particularly suprised that these dont get much media exposure from Cadburys. For my liking the chocolate is way too thin and thats disappointing given the fact that I think this would really benefit from having quite a thick layer of Dairy Milk coating it. The biscuit element being the main focus of the bar was also slightly disappointing - the taste was avergae at best but it suffered mostly from not having the expected crunch in texture. If your a fan of shortcake and Cadburys chocolate I would say give these a go but in honesty these really arent anything special.

6.3 out of 10

June 24th: Cadbury Freddo / Freddo Caramel

Kcal 105 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 3.7g Carbs 11.4g (Freddo Dairy Milk)
Kcal 100 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 3.0g Carbs 12.1g (Freddo Dairy Milk Caramel)

Im quite puzzled as to why this has been one of the most frequent requests to be reviewed but the Cadbury Freddo seems to strike quite a chord with a number of Chocolate Mission readers - so heres my review on the original Freddo Dairy Milk and his froggy friend the Freddo Dairy Milk Caramel.Just for a little background geek knowledge the 'Freddo' was first manafactured in the 1930s by MacRobertson's Chocolates (who were later sold to Cadbury in 1967) in Australia and was at first designed into the mould of a mouse. MacRobertson's feared that this wouldnt sell as they believed woman/children were afraid of mice so they quickly changed the shape to a frog....hence the 'Freddo' was born....Wonderful thing Wiki ;) Currently in the UK the Freddo is only readily distributed in the original and caramel varities im reviewing here - though in Australia it is avalible in many more guises including white chocolate , rice crisp, strawberry , peppermint , "Rainbow Crunch" and "Milky Top" (aka. Top Deck ).

The Freddo's both came in 20g serving which is far less than your standard Dairy Milk bar - both came in colourful plastic packets which did appear to be a tad thinner and less protective than the standard Cadbury foil wrapping. The Freddo's had a nice Milky smell though it was no where near as fragrant as the Cadbury bars that come in the foil packages. The scent was slightly musty and I think they wernt the freshest of chocolates. The pattern work on the Freddos themselves I guess was quite swish and detailed for the size of the product...'Freddo' was etched nicely and cleanly onto a smooth surface...the damn frog was pulling a rather stupid face though...which made biting his head off all the more enjoyable haha :)

Lets not beat around the bush - both these products tasted awesome...why wouldnt they!?...they are Dairy Milk and Cadbury caramel. Ive described the taste of the Cadbury Dairy Milk too many times on Chocolate Mission already but heck why not one more time...a luxuriously smooth cocoa flavour with a deliciously creamy taste..just delicious in every which way. The caramel element was also implemented nicely in the Freddo 'Caramel' adding a slightly more intresting chewy texture and devilishly sweet aftertaste - gorgeous.

Unfortunately Ive got a few gripes with our friend Freddo - for one his size isnt substantial enough to cure even the smallest stomach rumble...I wasnt satisfied after eating both of these at the same time...I guess some of this goes down to how good they both tasted but the majority was that I was hungry and these just didnt do a job in this respect. Another slight problem was with the texture of the 'Freddo'...the chocolate was thinner in places than others which made for a bit of an inconsistant bite and texture - if it retained the same thickness throughout the product this wouldnt be a problem.

Overall the Freddo's a nice premise...its a child targeted product, its got a fun look and theres no doubt they both taste great. The Chocolate and caramel both being Dairy Milk standard are obviously great tasting so 'Freddo' cannot be faltered in this respect. Unfortunately due to the margin constraints placed on the bar the packagaing dosent allow for the freshest products and its size is just pittiful... it simply dosent even qualify as worthy of a 'snack' in my eyes...any which way your still gonna hungry. It was a hard product to rate though I think that on the scale of things the scores of 6.7 and 6.9 are justified on the grounds stated...I would recommend these to any Dairy Milk fans...though bear in mind this recommendation also comes with the advice to buy a few...which begs the question why not just buy a standard bar of Dairy Milk / Dairy Milk with Caramel ....shhhh! A product for when you want the lightest of snacks!

6.7 out of 10
6.9 out of 10

June 23rd: Milky Way Midnight Dark

Kcal 230 Fat 8.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 36.0g

I think it must be one of the greatet wonders of the world....one that no philosopher has quite managed to pin down....no not 'what came first the chicken or the egg!!'...but simply why is there a difference in the branding of the Milky Way and the Mars bar in the US and UK!? Why!? Someone answer me that!!

Excuse my mini rant! Todays review is the Milky Way Midnight Magic....to my UK readers thats the 'Dark Mars Bar' to you!

The bar came in a pretty standard 49.9g serving...it wasnt the most filling bar ever due to the lightness of the nougat but I was neither left really wanting more. On the wrapper were the words 'Rich, Dark Chocolate', 'Golden Caramel' and 'Vanilla Nougat' ...the packaging was nice in design though it was the look of bar itself that I particularly liked...the colours of the dark chocolate, white nougat and golden caramel (which you can see in the cross section above!) looked pretty appertising - this coupled with a fairly nice dark cocoa aroma made for a pretty enticing proposition.

The outside coating of dark chocolate was suprisingly thick, much more so than in any Mars/Milky Way bar I had consumed before. Its flavour wasnt too bad - it was certiainly richer and more bitter than the standard milk chocolate but it lacked the depth of flavour compared to the higher end dark chocolate brands. Its texture was also slightly disappointing...it didnt quite melt in the mouth the same way as other Mars chocolate does...it melted extremely slowly and into a grainy feeling constituants.

Much like in similar bars the nougat and caramel layers added a nice contrast in textures. The nougat was quite light and not overly chewy whilst the caramel was smooth and had just about the right dexterity. As you can see in the cross section above the caramel was pretty plentiful in proportion - it had a nice buttery flavour and wasnt overly sweet. Unfortunately I found the nougat to be slightly lacking in flavour...on pack it was described as vanilla flavoured but I could detect nothing more than a slight sweet taste...it hardly ruined the taste of the bar but it did mean that flavourwise it was pretty dull and unexciting.

Overall this isnt a bad variation of a great original but it was one that did seem to pass me by a bit. The main selling point of the bar is the variation of the chocolate - with the use of Dark chocolate instead of milk...personally I just dont think it worked that well here. The dark chocolate lacked the flavour and texture credentials of other higher quality dark chocolate...thats not to say it was bad though...it just wasnt great. The type of nougat also did the bar no favours...sure it made the bar pretty to look at but in truth it was devoid of flavour. I would recommend this to Mars/Milky Way fans if only to try out a different variation...I cant promise you wont be pining for the original bars though.

7.7 out of 10

June 22nd: Hotel Chocolat 85% Dark Chocolate

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

Until now Hotel Chocolat had been one of those specialist brands I had simply never tried. Recommended by all…but simply a brand I had never gone out my way to purchase...all I can say now is thank god to Chocolate Mission reader Maxine who most recently went to the trouble of ordering me some herself...this wasn’t just good...this was damn good!!

Today I ventured into my first taste of the Hotel Chocolat world sampling their 85% Dark chocolate which came in the form of two 62.5g slabs. Despite only intending to eat one today (which is plenty!!) as you may later come to understand it was no surprise that by time of writing both are now gone.

Hotel Chocolat seem to be a company that pride themselves on presentation this was ever so evident with the sheer stylishness of both wrapping and bar. Both slabs were not only contained in an elegant looking cardboard covering but also sealed in another softer packaging...im not quite sure what this packaging material was but once opened an absolutely gorgeous cocoa smell was released...you could literally taste the richness of the bar before even placing it in the mouth...it smelt amazing. The bars themselves also had a certain chic-ness...bold in stature in that they were thick slabs but also sleek in presentation with a nice looking Hotel Chocolat logo inscribed. My only slight gripe was that this slab style made it nigh on impossible to split into even chunks...admittedly this wasn't the biggest of deals and its presentation overall was very good.

The pack described the bar as 'healthy cocoa solids with the tiniest amount of sugar whilst retaining a surprising mellowness and superb mouth melt'. Im not going to disagree with that!!…the texture was super smooth...I mean Lindt Lindor truffle centre smooth...YES THAT SMOOTH!! As with every chocolate I taste I let each piece melt slowly on my tongue allowing the flavour to develop. The bar had an initial dark cocoa flavour which as it melted developed to having a slight vanilla note...it had a long sweet aftertaste which was surprising due to its high solids content. I would say its flavour was smoother than the Lindt 70% I tried a few weeks back...and despite its higher cocoa content it actually tasted a tad sweeter. There are no other words to describe it other than smooth, rich, luxurious and just delicious.

Overall this is bar is just simply oozing quality in every which way. It’s presented amazingly, smells massively enticing and tastes just simply gorgeous. I simply couldn’t get enough of the super smooth texture and sensual taste...I just cant recommend this enough. Ladies and gentlemen it looks like we have a new leader of Chocolate Mission.

9.5 out of 10

June 21st: Hannah's Jazzles White

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

I must have of the grandest and expensive collection of chocolate bars at the momment...all sitting in a delightful box all waiting their turn to be reviewed...so why on earth did I pick up a packet of these today you ask....one word - nostalgia!! These were my second to none favourite pick-a-mix item when I was young - I used to eat them by the truck load but before tonight I hadn't had them for years..how did they stand against the ultimate test of time??...read on and found out.

These 'Jazzles' (they are 'Jazzies' to me dammit!!) came in a brightly coloured 45g serving - there no was on pack nutritional information though which was slightly annoying - the packaging was however kind enough to list the ingredients. Upon closer inspection these of course turned out not to be chocolate at all but infact 'white chocolate flavour candy with non pareil topping' .... right whatever that means. Closer inspection of the ingredients list confirmed that this product neither contained cocoa or milk solids...so what did it include!? well it had sugar (of course), vegetable fat and a list of E-numbers as long as your arm...not a pretty state of affairs.

Out of pack these looked slightly duller in appearance as I remembered them though they still looked interesting and colourful. Opening the packet a nice aroma eminated...a very vanilla rooted smell quickly filled the air and was actually quite appertising.

The added inclusion of the topping on the 'Jazzles' made for a nice crunchy texture when bitten into. The topping was very sweet in flavour as you can imagine with it being 99% sugar.

The texture of the 'white chocolate flavour candy' was pretty grainy and once melted in the mouth held together in a lumpy clump. - not nice at all. Its flavour was milky with a slight vanilla note but it was devilishly sweet...it was just too much for me...after a few mouthfuls I could only describe the flavour as sugary...I didnt finish the pack :(

Overall it was a pretty desperate far fetched hope that these would be a good as I remembered - in truth they were pretty horrible. Sure the appearance and presentation of these could be worse but the taste was purely sugar based and monotomous - just overly sweet for even my immature taste buds. Sure the 'Jazzles' have that magic nostalgia factor but somethings are best kept in the past; if you fancy a trip down memory lane then please by all means go ahead....just dont be suprised if you turn back halway down that lane though.

5.7 out of 10

June 20th: Cadbury Tempo (SA)

Kcal 276 Fat 16.3g Fat(sats) 13.3g Carbs 32.2g

The guys (& girls) at Sweetstall yet again came up trumps for me and provided me with a sample of the South African Cadbury 'Tempo' bar.

The bar came in a very substantial and large 53g serving and the on pack information told me it inhibited 'a double chocolate hit with biscuit and caramel'. It came in a very nice foil package which not only looked impressive but ensured for a fresh looking and smelling bar. As you can see in the cross section above it came in a whole bar form with no sectioning or easily seperable blocks...this was its only real design flaw.

The bar was constituated by a large array of different layers. Surrounding the bar was a thick layer of milk chocolate...it wasnt quite Dairy Milk and was more cocoa based than the milkyness of Dairy Milk....personally as a slight tweak I would have preferred the use of Dairy Milk, but this was still good and had a nice smooth texture.

At the centre of the bar was another layer of chocolate which though wasnt quite light enough to be described as a 'truffle centre' was slightly more moist in texture than solid milk chocolate...it also had the added element of the shortcake pieces. The chocolate flavour was again slightly more concentrated in cocoa than normal Dairy Milk though the sugary sweetness of the shortcake pieces meant its flavour was just as sweet. The combination of the smoothness of the chocolate and crunchy biscuit made for a nice mixture of textures. The biscuit pieces avoided being a bland soggy ingredient as seen with other biscuit including bars (ahem Terrys 3D!) and had a nice crispy malty taste.

Ontop of this lay a thick layer of caramel. It wasnt like most caramel layers though and had a solid texture...much like the caramel surrounding Cadbury Eclairs!! This meant for a distinctly chewy yet enjoyable taste and made a nice difference from the usual soft liquid caramel. Its flavour was just as good as the standard Cadbury Caramel and was sweet, rich and just ever so tasty. Its solid texture meant that it was fun nibbling around it and then slowly sucking on it savouring the flavour.

Overall this is by far and away the best bar I have had from South Africa. Every element adds something to the overall texture and flavour and each plays a vital role at the heart of what is a great bar. The chocolate coating and inner layer both vary in texture and though debatable whether they would benefit from being Cadbury Dairy Milk they are both still great tasting. The biscuit element is also nicely done, crunchy and and full of flavour...yum. The real winner of this bar has to be the caramel layer...not only is it divine in taste but its more solid than usual viscosity made it the real stand out aspect of this bar. Unfortunately us Brits have recently had the Cadbury Dairy Milk with Biscuit brought out of dstribution...if you were a fan of that and missing it your simply going to love this bar....this product comes with a whole hearted Chocolate Mission seal of approval..outstanding and worthy of its high Chocolate Mission rating.

8.7 out of 10

Fancy trying the Cadbury Tempo or other South African bars? Head over to Sweetstall.com

June 19th: M&Ms Mint Crisp

Kcal 380 Fat 17.0g Fat(sats) 10.0g Carbs 52.0g

Dedicated reader Justin was kind enough to include a pack of these limted edition M&Ms in his package to me last month and after a few days of nibbling away at them i feel in a position to write a review. You may recall that I reviewed the Snickers Adventure bar last month...well these 'Mint Crisp' M&Ms were also part of the recent Indiana Jones movie tie in.

These limited edition M&Ms incorporated the same premise as the 'M&Ms Crispy' with a few minor differences...these retained the crispy puffed rice centres but were covered with a layer of semisweet chocolate with a mint flavour.

These came in a 76.5g bag which I ate over two periods as a snack...they did a good job in that respect. The packaging was similar in format to the standard M&M flavours...an unsuprising predominantly green coloured plastic wrapper...it looked nice but as ever with the cheap quality plastic wrapper they failed to capture anything in the way of an overly appertising aroma- a slight hint of mint but as ever with M&Ms nothing to convincing or appealing. The M&Ms themselves took a different guise to the original variants and as you can see above were presented in three chalky green colours - personally this didnt fuss me to much but I do prefer the variety of different colours with the standard varities.

I ate these two or three at a time sometimes letting them slowly melt on my tongue though other times crunching them straight away - I found both methods equally as pleasurable. Letting them slowly melt accentuated the smooth texture of the outside shells and chocolate elements whilst biting into them directly obviously gave a nice crunchy feeling of the crisp rice. The contrasting methods of eating allowed for an interesting and diverse array of textures which I definately enjoyed.

As with all M&Ms the outer candy shells provided a sweet sugary initial taste. The ever so slightly more rich deeper cocoa flavour of the semi sweet chocolate worked favourably agaisnt quite a strong peppermint taste...I think the original milk chocolate implemented in most M&Ms would not have gone down as well here, the slightly more concentrated cocoa of the semisweet chocolate paid dividends. The combination of the chocolate and mint was balanced nicely and gave a creamy yet refreshing minty taste. The crispy rice added a minor malty flavour though it was obvious that its inclusion was purely to give the product a superior texture.

Overall I enjoyed these M&Ms and would definately recommend these to any mint chocolate fans. The flavours of the mint and chocolate are balanced nicely with neither being too strong or weak compared to the other...its just about right. The puffed rice and smooth chocolate layers make for a nice blend of different textures and make for an incredibly moreish perfect snacking option. Unfortunately as with all the M&Ms scores this products Chocolate Mission rating is slightly hindered due to the poorness of the aroma...a shame really but its something Mars need to adress with their packaging. Sometimes limited edition flavours can seem to be a little random and lacking thought but these Mint Crisp M&Ms are definately worth a try if you like the sound of them...the Indiana Jones wave has been and gone so grab a bag of these while you still can.

7.8 out 10

June 18th: Cocoa Deli Rocky Road Clusters

Kcal 236 Fat 11.1g Fat(sats) 6.5g Carbs 31.0g

I couldnt say that before today I had even heard of 'Cocoa Deli' let alone tried any of their products - well I can tell you that they manafacture their goods in the UK and as far as I can tell sell their products as far away as Australia. Today I sampled a pack of 'Rocky Road Clusters'...which on pack are described as '3 clusters of soft marshamallows, moist raisins & caramelised hazelnut pieces smothered in smooth Belgian milk chocolate'.

The pack was split nicely into 3 'clusters' which combined weighed in at a plentiful 45g - the combination of heavy fruit and nuts made for a pretty substantial product. The product came in a nicely presented plastic wrapped package with an inside cardboard sleeve for extra protection. The packaging certainly did its job in that respect but the lack of foil packaging made the clusters have an unspectacular musky cocoa scent. The clusters in appearance looked a tad disinteresting in their whole state, though once split open the different marshmallow and nut colours gave them an interesting look.

As ever I slightly chilled this product before eating it..this made for the milk chocolate having a nice fresh crispness to it...it was thick in its proportion and had a nice milky smooth taste; it also had an initial smoothness once melting in the mouth..overall I would say the milk chocolate was a pretty good standard.

The combination of the different elements gave this product a nice mix of textures...the raisins were plentiful (over 20% of the overall bar content) and were second only behind the milk chocolate in flavour strength. They had a strong sweet fruit taste and gave a nice chewiness to the bite. The hazelnuts were pretty much the opposite...only consistng of 2% of the bar, adding very little in flavour or texture...very poor in comparison. The marshmallow element was also slightly lacking in content at only 7%...were it was evident though the marshmallow added a nice sugary taste and soft texture.

Overall this is a pretty unique product and though not the easiest to find in the shops, its a nice option to have if your looking for something slightly different. Its nice to find a bar that contains raisins in that actually have a nice fruity fresh taste and which provide more than just a bland chewiness. The Belgian milk chocolate was also of a pretty good standard - it had a nice smooth texture and creamy taste...the bar slightly faltered in that the hazelnut and marshmallow elements wernt the strongest and were little more than just filler...in truth if both were implemented properly this could be an outstanding product. I would recommend this product to anyone who fancies something slightly different from the norm...theres not many products like this one out there so why not give it a go.

7.5 out of 10

June 17th: Hershey's Caramel Kisses

Kcal 190 Fat 9.0g Fat(sats) 5.0g Carbs 24.0g (per 8 pieces 39.0g)

Its taken me a while to munch my way through the huge 450g bag Candy Pirate so kindly sent my way, but today finally sees the Chocolate Mission ruling over the Hershey's Caramel Kisses.

These are pretty simple in build - 'soft caramel centres covered in a milk chocolate outer shell'. The back of pack information informed me that a single serving should compromise of around eight kisses (39.0g!) ...personally I found that to be a bit excessive and tended to just eat about four or five at a time - they did nicely as a small snack.

The 'Kisses' brand always have a nice appearance. They are just about the right size to eat individually and each comes foil wrapped with a handy paper tag that makes unwrapping each effortless. Each Kiss had a pleasant yet unspectacular sweet smell that was more so honey-like than cocoa based.

My prefferred method of eating these was placing them whole in my mouth and letting them melt on my tongue. The milk chocolate melted at a nice rate and the caramel filling had a nice consistency to it - neither too runny or to thick...just about right. Each Kiss was proportioned nicely with a nice balance of the milk chocolate and caramel...both elements were wonderfully smooth in texture.

The milk chocolate was standard Hershey's...the flavour being more milk than cocoa rooted. Hershey's chocolate generally seems to fall into one of two categories..utterly repulsive or actually quite good....luckily this was more the later and though it was extremely sweet in flavour due to the nature of the small dosages it avoided being sickly. The caramel element unfortunately wasnt the best I have tasted...it lacked any real sort of flavour depth in what I can only really describe as sugary; it was to the extent at which after about four I had that burning sensation at the back of my mouth..I hope you know what I mean.

Overall these are a solid offering from Hershey's with just a few tweaks needed on the flavour of the caramel to make them a strong product. The Kisses are presented nicely and have a nice smooth texture though unfortunately slightly falter when it comes to the actual overall taste. The milk chocolate is very sweet but even that pales in comparison to the overly sugar based caramel centre which at large is disappointing. Despite their overly sweet nature these are a nice product to grab a handful of from time-to-time and are a good choice to have as a snacking option. If your a fan of milk chocolate caramel combos these are worth a look at - just dont expect the excellence of the Cadbury/Galaxy caramel bars though.

7.3 out of 10

Like the look of the Hershey's Caramel Kisses? Check out CandyPirate for all your Amrican Candy & Foods needs!

June 16th: Lindt Lindor Hazelnut Truffles

Kcal 79 Fat 6.1g Fat(sats) 4.1 Carbs 5.1g (per truffle!)

Today saw me take yet another dip into the Lindt Lindor truffle world. Having sampled and reviewed the milk chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter and coffee flavoured variants all to relative success I had pretty high hopes for these.

I guess when you think hazelnut truffles you straight away think Ferrero Rocher...well Lindt have tried playing Ferrero at their own game here and have used elements of the Rocher and combined them with their standard Lindor constituants. These Lindor Hazelnuts truffles combine a milk chocolate outer shell, a smooth milk chocolate truffle centre with very fine chopped hazelnuts disperesed thoughout.

As with the rest of the Lindor range there was no effort saved on presentation - they came in smart wrappers that were a slightly darker shade of brown than the peanut butter variant. On the outside they looked no different to the standard milk chocolate variant but once bitten into the small chopped nuts were glaringly evident. These hazelnut truffles had a rather suprising slightly fruity sweet smell...as far as im aware they didnt have any fruit in them but it was interesting aroma nonetheless.

The outer milk chocolate shells had a nice fresh crispness to them - with Lindor truffles I like nibbling away on the outside before indulging on the smooth inside. The outer milk chocolate was as ever creamy and smooth to taste - I know most people immediately think of dark chocolate when they think Lindt but they have to make some of the best milk chocolate aswell (watch this space for a review soon!).

The inside truffle didnt have quite the 'Kinder Bueno' hazelnut filling I was expecting....infact it was actually the same as the milk chocolate variant filling but with the added inclusion of chopped nuts. Of course it was still delicious...a creamy chocolaty buttery taste - absolutely glorious. Unfortunately the chopped hazelnuts didnt quite work out as I would have hoped; they added a nice fresh nutty edge but unfortunately were chopped so finely that they lacked crunch and rather just disrupted the smoothness of the truffle and made it slightly grainy. The fineness of the nuts deprived them from being luxuriously silky as is the norm with Lindor truffles.

Overall these are another great addition to the range and one that are well worth trying if you get the chance. The hazelnut flavour is pretty strong despite the majority of the truffles being comprised of milk chocolate. To be honest I think Lindt have a trick to learn off the Rocher here and that is to use a whole hazelnut at the centre of their truffle and just rid of the chopped hazelnuts...this way the hazelnut element wouldnt detriment the overall smoothness of the truffle yet its flavour would be just as strong. These are still another great Lindt product...not the best in the Lindor range but definately worth trying.

8.0 out of 10

June 15th: Milka 'Choco Swing' Biscuit

Kcal 555 Fat 34.5g Carbs 54.0g

After the success I had with the Milka 'Alpine Milk' the other day I just couldnt waite to try another variant in the Milka range....so I didnt :) Today I sampled the creatively named 'Choco Swing' bar...can anyone fill me in as to why its called 'Choco Swing'?? All a bit random if you ask me! The 'Choco Swing' is formed of 'Alpine Milk chocolate with chocolate flavour filling, cream filling and a layer of biscuit'...sounds yummy.

Due to the amount of layers, the bar came in a thicker pack to that of your normal 100g bar. It was nicely packaged in both a light cardboard sleeve and foil wrapping and had a nice creamy milk aroma - much like the original 'Alpine Milk'. As you can see above breaking the bar up was a bit random...the chunks broke off in all sort of shapes and sizes which was a tad annoying. Putting that small gripe to aside though I must admit the bar looked awesome and the different layers made for a very interesting asthetic look.

The number of varying textures and flavours this bar has was quite remarkable....that being said some were executed better than others.

Coating the bar was the 'Alpine Milk' chocolate layer. Though quite thinly portioned on the top, the base of the bar was thick and provided a nice flavour foundation. As I found with the 'Alpine Milk' I tried the other day its flavour was creamy and its texture smooth...very good milk chocolate.

Placed amid the upper Milk chocolate coating layer and middle biscuit layer was a very thin 'cream filling' layer. It didnt have the strongest flavour though when tasted in isolation it had a slightly sour (in a good way!) yoghurt flavour. It was a fair addition but needed to implemented in a great portion so its flavour was more forthcoming.

Between the base coating and middle layer was a layer of 'chocolate cream'...this comoponent was truffle like in the texture though very similar in taste to the milk chocolate coating. Its softer texture was nice in isolation but unfortunately came at detriment to the biscuit layer.

The biscuit layer was at the centre of the bar and im sorry to say it was a bit of a let down. Its flavour was ok...shortbread like with a slightly sugary wheaty taste - it was nice but could have been stronger. The texture of the biscuit was slightly disappointing - its contact with the 'chocolate cream' below meant that half of it had become slightly soft and didnt have the full crunchy texture you would expect from a biscuit...this is probably also the reason why it broke up into random sized pieces.

Overall this is a great bar and I did very much enjoy it. Its packed full of different ingredients and definately makes for a very tasty hunger killing option. It looks great and is presented both in pack and out of pack very well. The different number of layers and ingredients makes for an interesting proposition but dosent quite pull off an optimum mix. Individually each layer is brilliant, though when mixed in the one bar they dont quite compliment each other perfectly....no better example is the way the yummy truffle like chocolate cream layer makes the biscuit slightly moist and lacking a bit of crunch. Despite these small reservations this bar is still a great choice in the range...a very commendable score and I would definately recommend you try this if your a fan of Milka.

7.9 out of 10

June 14th: Mars Caramel (Can)

Kcal 210 Fat 9.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 31.0g

This bar came all the way from Canada and was released Febraury this year. The bar is a direct spin off from the original Mars bar we have here in the UK and is simply just the original milk chocolate coated bar with the nougat removed and it replaced with a more plentiful helping of caramel.

The bar came in a 45g serving which is certainly alot smaller than the 62.5g original version we get here in the UK....because of light nature of the ingredients it didnt make for the most substantial of bars. In appearance it looked the same as any other Mars bar...just a whole lot smaller and more feeble :( I was left rather puzzled by the packaging which had a 'nut free zone' sign on it...err since when has a Mars bar had nuts anyway!??...isnt that called a Snickers :) lol. The bar had a pleasant yet un-remarkable smell...its aroma was sweet and chocolaty but was no more appertising than any other average bar on the market.

Most other chocolate caramel combo bars generally come in a block design (see no further than current Chocolate Mission leaders Cadbury / Galaxy Caramel bars!) ....however this stayed in its original Mars design...this made for a very messy bar...after each bite the caramel oozed out as it clung to my teeth...messy messy messy!!

If im being truthful the bar wasnt the best of experiences flavourwise. The reason I think the original Mars bar works so well is due to the way each of the chocolate, caramel and nougat elements contrast and vary in both taste and texture. The caramel in this Mars Caramel isnt the most flavoursome and lacks the depth of taste that the better caramel bars have...it has a sweet syrupy taste but beyond that its really quite bland and overly sugar based. The chocolate element is fair but as you may gather with most the mass confection bars the chocolate is often little more than average tasting and this is the case here...its flavour has a nice milky smooth taste but its slightly lacking in cocoa strength.

Overall this really isnt the best variation your going to see on what is truly a great original offering. Taking away the nougat seems to strip the bar of both flavour and texture variations and rather exposes the weakneses of the chocolate and caramel ingredients. If you want my advice I would say stick to an original Mars...I guess if you can get hold of this bar cheapely you might be interested in trying it but to be honest the original is far far superior.

6.9 out of 10

June 13th: Milka Alpine Milk

Kcal 530 Fat 29.5g Carbs 58.5g

It seems like im a bit slow getting off the mark with Milka. Just in the last few weeks Ive seen reviews on Choklit, Chocolate Review and German Candy World all recommending different parts of the range....so today where better to start than with the Milka 'Alpine Milk'.

The 'Alpine Milk' is Milka's standard milk chocolate bar. On pack its described itself as simply 'Milk chocolate with Alpine milk'...the ingredients list read pretty cleanly and the bar had a relatively high 30% cocoa solids (thats pretty high for mass confection milk chocolate anyway!).

I bought this in a 100g bar and had no problems of finishing it within a day - I wouldnt say it was the most hunger fufiling bar ever but it was certainly moreish and easy to consume in high quantities....two sittings of 50g a time did for me.

The packaging was quite simplistic but nice on the eye, the bar came foil wrapped which made for a fresh looking and smelling bar. The bar had a sweet dairy aroma with a hint of cocoa....it was an overly nice smell. The picture above shows you the bar was split into several small blocks each with the Milka logo neatly enscribed onto the service...the surface of the bar was nicely maintained and smooth - it looked appertising.

Letting the first block melt on my tongue it was quickly apparent that the texture was extremely smooth; it melted at a nice rate and had a luxuriously silky feel. As the name suggests the flavour is very dairy based; the milk taste is very apparent though this is not at detriment to the cocoa and it is not overly dominated. On my taste notes I did write down 'hint of nut' which brought a smile to my face when I later looked at the ingredients and saw hazelnut listed...my pallet is obviously coming on. In all the flavour of the bar wasnt the strongest but had a nice creamy taste, I would say its comparable to a slightly less creamy version of galaxy but with a slight nutty edge.

Overall this is a real great tasting chocolate bar that has got me excited about what the rest of the range can offer. Though the flavour isnt quite as distinctive as say Dairy Milk, it still tastes great and is an incredibly moreish proposition. This bar looks great, has a pretty clean ingredients list and has a creamy moreish taste - it sure gets the Chocolate Mission seal of approval. I would recommend this bar to any milk chocolate fans...it maybe to creamy and sweet for people that prefer dark chocolate but for anyone else you can go little wrong here - a nice tasting bar.

8.1 out of 10

June 12th: Drifter

Kcal 264 Fat 12.4g Carbs 35.8g

Well its back!!....Anyone else not notice it even disappear? Well according to Nestle in order to 'ride the wave of consumer demand for nostalgia inspiring bars' (like the Cadbury Wispa) the Drifter is now back in distribution.

Personally I have a few problems with what Ive just 'informed' you of. First of all since when did the Drifter become such an iconic brand!? To some extent I can see why Cadbury have very cleverly brought the Wispa in and out of distribution...the bar has a history with consumers - they have a connection with it...can we really say the Drifter has the same brand power to evoke similar feelings!?...for me no! Secondly theres a few rumours going around that more to the point say the Drifter was brought out of distribution in the first place due to it having a very high transfats content....so its not really a relaunch its just been taken from the market and reformulated....well the pack gives nothing away on transfats content so whether that is true or not is unclear.

Anyway....on to the important stuff.

For anyone thats forgotten the Drifter contains a 'crispy wafer dipped in chewy caramel and covered in milk chocolate'. The bar came in a 52g serving that despite its size was hardly the most fufiling bar.

Now from what I remember of the Drifter they used to come in a foil wrapper? Not anymore it seems - it came in a standard plastic wrapper with a very plain design. The lack of finesse and glitz on the 'on-pack' design work transpired to the actual bar aswell...its was pretty boring in my opinion just two long fingers with a very subtle wripple effect...really not exciting. Despite the lack of foil wrapping the smell of the bar wasnt bad - it had a sweet cocoa smell that had a hint of a honey-like scent to it...not bad at all.

I sightly chilled this bar and this made for a nice variation of textures. The slighlty chilled outside layer although lacking a tad in thickness had a nice thickness to it and had a nice 'crack' to the bite. The chocolate was pretty standard Nestle quality...I have remarked on it several times already but I will reiterate the point again its sweet tasting and slightly milky...its not bad for chocolate that is massed producded.

The caramel and wafer layers are interspersed throughout the bar. The wafer didnt have the crunch I was expecting and was slightly soft and stale like in texture - compared to say the wafer of a Kit Kat it was poor in contrast. Its flavour was also lacking...largely flavourless though it had a slight note of wheat.

The caramel layer was described as chewy and that it was - it was very thick and unfortunately clung to my teeth. Its flavour was sweet but lacked an edge that the better caramel based bars establish.

Overall I cant see to many people getting excited about the re-emmergence of this bar. The chocolates ok..but its nothing you cant get with any other Nestle bar. The caramel element isnt bad either its flavour is ok but its partially spoilt by an overly thick texture. What really let this bar down was the wafer which was largely lacking in flavour with a below par texture. I guess if you enjoy a Kit Kat and can deal with a slightly less accomplished wafer then you may enjoy this bar...for the rest its probably just another relaunch you can let pass you by.

6.7 out of 10

June 11th: Kit Kat Chunky Cookie Dough (Aus)

Kcal 345 Fat 18.3g Fat(sats) 11.3g Carbs 39.5g

Now im not going to beat around the bush...how good does this bar sound!? Kit Kat Chunky....awesome....Cookie Dough....oh yes.....combined....Kit Kat Chunky Cookie Dough *drools* .... surely a match made in heaven....surely!???

This was a mammoth of a bar and weighed in at a huge 65g!! Take a look at the nutritional stuff above...you do not want to be eating this bar on a diet thats for sure. You can see above the bar came in a nice looking blue foil wrapper...on pack this bar was described as a 'Cookie dough & caramel layer over a crunchy wafer finger covered in milk chocolate'. The cross section picture above shows you that in appearance this bar was no different to the standard Kit Kat Chunky though you will be able to see the additional cookie dough layer siting between the wafer and thin caramel layer. Despite the foil wrapping the bar lacked any sort of real aroma - it offered a vague sweet smell though this was hard to detect - terribly uninspiring in truth.

My first bite into the bar revealed a very thick milk chocolate layer....like with the original KK chunky it was thicker at the base. The milk chocolate was your standard Neslte milk chocolate...very sweet with a creamy milky flavour..its pretty good for a mass confection bar. The wafer element was also its usual high standard...the two crispy layers that cover the thin chocolate creme middle layer had a nice malty taste and still maintained a nice crispy texture.

Unfortunately this is where things turn a bit sour....

The Cookie Dough layer is going down as the biggest let down in Chocolate Mission history...why you ask!?...because it was completely lacking and devoid of any flavour. I tried eating the layer in isolation to the rest of the bar nibbling all other elements away..but still no forthcoming flavour of any note. It had a paste like texture that did not even have a grainy feel that you expect of cookie dough. At a massive push I would say I could detect a slight sweetness to the layer but believe me when I say it was on the whole flavourless. I guess the bar was in part saved by a rather nice tasting thin caramel layer...it had a nice light burnt sweet taste but it was lacking in proportioning and was quickly diluted by the paste like cookie dough.....*sigh* :(

Overall I really cant stress my disappointment enough....this bar promises so much...yet delivers so little. If I wanted a bar like the one I just consumed I would of had a plain Kit Kat Chunky.... at a pinch of the price...a pinch of the calories....more of the milk chocolate... and with alot less disappointment. Such a shame...a terrific idea just executed so poorly - its by far not the worst bar I have ever had...but maybe the most disappointing. Im not going to recommend this to anyone - I wouldnt want you feeling as dicontent as Im feeling right now.

6.8 out of 10

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