July 12th: Revels

Kcal 168 Fat 7.3g Carbs 23.8g

Unfortunately for us in the UK its Big Brother time again and Revels are the latest brand this year to climb on the bandwagon with their own flavour themed 'eviction'. It indeed seems that Mars are getting rid of one of the current flavours - if you care you can cast your vote on this site 'Revels Eviction'.

For those of you who aren't from the UK and don't know what Revels are, they are balls of milk chocolate which have an assortment of flavoured centres. The flavours include: coffee, orange, chocolate, raisin, caramel and Maltesers. These came in a 35g bag, which although wern't the most hunger fulfilling made were a sufficient snack. The Packaging looked okish - not the greatest choice of colours on the wrapper all of which I think are a bit mundane. The Revels themselves were mostly pretty hard to tell apart - the Maltesers, orange, coffee and caramel are totally non distinctive....though judging by the last marketing campaign the 'roulette' nature of these are meant to be a selling point and not a frustration....I guess the little anticipation before the revelation of the flavour hit was partially interesting.

Despite the huge variation of flavours the bag smelt purely single scented...a very familiar milky cocoa aroma that wasn't to forthcoming in its strength.

Due to the nature of the different centres there were a variety of different textures and of course flavours. The milk chocolate coating was the same across all flavours - not the strongest tasting but with a nice milky flavour that allowed the different flavours of the centres to establish themselves.

Orange - Had a nice fruity taste that although sweet were just about the right strength in flavour concentration. The texture was fondant like and contrasted nicely with the smooth milk chocolate coating.

Chocolate - The most obvious shaped and flavoured exactly the same as the rest of the milk chocolate coatings. The texture was nice and smooth - although not the most exciting they were a pleasant flavour.

Coffee - My favourite of the lot. The texture had the same fondant like grainy feel of the orange though it tasted not half as sweet with a unique cappuccino like taste. Unfortunately I only got two of these in my pack :(

Caramel - Due to their name I was expecting a far softer more liquid centre..in actual fact I think these would be better described as toffee. They were soft and and chalky in the mouth and had a very awkward dry feeling agaisnt the smoothness of the milk chocolate. They weren't the most forthcoming in flavour though had a nice buttery aftertaste.

Raisin - These were not the freshest tasting Raisins I have ever had and the nature of their skins made for a pretty vile clash of smooth and leathery textures. Despite their horrible texture they had a nice sweet fruity sugary flavour that I enjoyed.

Maltesers - Well whats there to say? A nice combination of light textured honeycomb and milk chocolate but in comparison to the other flavours on offer I found myself disappointed when I came across one of these.

Overall these are a pretty standard and unspectacular collection of flavours. Personally my favourites were the orange and coffee...both of which offered a nice variable texture and flavour hit against the smooth milk chocolate coatings. The caramel, raisin and chocolate flavours offered moderately interesting alternatives, though I have to call in to question the inclusion of the Maltesers. In comparison to the other alternatives the Maltesers lack that flavour hit and personally if I was to vote to get rid of one of the flavours it would be that one...after all if you fancy Maltesers just buy a bag of them!! These aren't the most spectacular of products ever and your hardly missing out if you give these a miss...for those that like a bit of variation in their chocolate these are a nice choice for you. If you guys vote in the 'flavour eviction' leave a note of which you voted for!!

7.0 out of 10

July 12th: Cadbury Dairy Milk (Ireland)

Kcal 280 Fat 15.7g Carbs 30.5g

Firstly I would like to thank Chocolate Mission reader Saz who made this review possible by kindly sending me a delightful bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk....whats so special about this bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk!?...well it was producded in Dublin Ireland. Though beforehand I admit being rather sceptical myself about the plausability of there being a difference, I do confess now after eating it, I couldnt have been more wrong.

Saz was kind enough to send me a 55g bar...just look at the packaging above!! Retro style Cadbury packaging!! None of this all in one foil packing we have here in the UK now. This was old school - a paper sleeve with a loose gold foil wrapping...like something straight out of Charlie's Chocolate Factory! The retro packaging was superb and the bar was flawlessly presented itself - it looked gorgeous. Despite the slightly looser foil the bar still had a sensual creamy cocoa aroma....Dairy Milk has such a distinct smell, for me it evokes so many good feelings...when you smell Dairy Milk you know your tatebuds are going to be in for a treat.

So come on Jim get to the bloody point does it taste any different!?....well it does....but I have no idea how or why lol!! The bar had exactly the same ingredients list, exactly the same cocoa & milk solids levels (20%)...but believe me this was different. The texture of the Irish bar was far far thicker...for me the English bar has a near perfect texture that melts in the mouth at just the right rate into a luxuriously smooth syrup like texture. The Irish Dairy Milk was denser and did not melt as fast...once it was melted it was still tremendously thick, almost glue like in the mouth. What this made for was a far creamier taste that was certainly far richer than our English offering. Tastewise I cant say I prefer one over the other...the Irish version is creamier but the English version has a slightly sharper cocoa flavour - to be honest they are both delicious.

Overall I was suprised but there genuinely was a difference between the two bars. The Irish bar is certainly richer and has a delightful creamyness. Personally I found the texture a little on the thick side...the bar needed a little more chewing than I would have liked and even when melted it was just a tad dense. Whats bugging me about all this is im still none the wiser to how these differences have come to be!? Nothing on the packaging or the net seems to be able this question...I would love to hear from anyone else who has tried both Irish and English variants...mark my words there is a difference...and personally im going to sit right bang on the middle of this lovely fence...they are both brilliant milk chocolate bars :D :D :D I really want to hear from people who have tried both...for those that havent I strongly recommend this bar....a glass and a half full of milk!?....a glass and a half full of luxury more like!

8.9 out of 10

July 11th: M&Ms White Chocolate "Pirate Pearls"

Kcal 220 Fat 10.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 29.0g

Up until a few days ago these were one limited edition candy with which I thought I had 'missed the boat' so to speak...luckily after a little crafty ebaying and some speedy delivery on the sellers part I was able to track down these illustrious (and thankfully still in date!!) M&Ms White Chocolate "Pirate Pearls".

Its amazing how long manufactures can make their chocolates shelf life now a days...these "Pirate Pearls" were tied in with the release of the last Pirates of the Carribean film 'Dead Mans Chest'....as I said dont worry I checked the best before on these before I ate them - five months left!!

These came in a 42.5g serving in a packet that was almost identically coloured to the 'Almond' variant....talk about not making it easy for people eh!? Despite their confusing choice of packet colour the M&Ms themselves came in a nice array of pastel colours...they looked nice and the extra added detail of the printed 'M's and skull and crossbones etc looked smartish. Now I normally complain about the smell of M&Ms but these took things to a new level...they smelt HORRIBLE!! Now im going to give them a 3 out of 10 for aroma as I understand these obviously being as aged as they were, were never going to be the freshest....but to be honest thats being kind...these smelt awful...like gone off milk - a look at other reviews confirms this wasnt only me who thought this.

Thankfully these tasted a little better than they smelt...though that was never going to be hard was it. The shells provided their typical initial crunch and sweet taste and were not at all suprising in their flavour. The white chocolate centers melted smoothly in the mouth, though the flavours did not really establish themselves itself until the M&Ms were chewed. The centres tasted like sweetened natrual yogurt....scratch that...very sweet natraul yogurt. In truth they wernt repulsive but I soon found the taste to become monotonous and just to sweet for me to handle...I found these so sweet infact I had to eat the 42.5g pack over two sittings.

Overall these are probably a variation of M&Ms that I should of just let pass me by. I know and understand these would not have been the freshest of products but I doubt that a fresher version could really have made that much difference. Theres no two ways about it...these smelt ridiculously bad - absolutely ghastly...and though they tasted moderately better I still found these to be overly sweet to the point that it made my throat hurt and my teeth tingle. Im not going to recommend these to anyone...unfortunately the worst of the M&Ms range I have tried...best to just leave these now I think - its time they walked the plank :)

6.1 out of 10

July 10th: Nestle Turtles Milk Chocolate

Kcal 240 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 30.0g

Yet another US import has made its way to me via the guys at CandyPirate for its Chocolate Mission ruling - todays review is the milk chocolate version of the Nestle Turtles. 'Turtles' seem to be quiet a common form of presentation for chocolates in the US - these Nestle branded turtles, although produced in Canada are still the most famous on the US marketplace....from what im aware of anyway!

On pack these 'Nestle Turtles' were described as containing 'milk chocolate, pecans, cashews and caramel'. They came in a plentiful 50g serving which amounted to three individual 'Turtles'. The packaging looked nice and had a nice foil metallic wrapping (hence the glare on the picture! Sorry!). Inside another cardboard protector was included...a nice addition that I always like but unfortunately there wasnt much to protect lol! Now im told these 'Turtles' are called 'Turtles' for the reason that they theoretically are supposed to look like them....hmmm im sorry but take a look at the picture above - you can vaguelly make out the positioning of the head, tail and legs etc but really I think more effort could be put in here....arent these meant to be iconic after all? Upon opening the packaging these offered a sweet milky smell which had a slight maltyness...not the most alluring ever but ok nonetheless.

The coating of these Turtles were formed of milk chocolate which were of a pretty standard Nestle quality with quite a one dimensional sweet milk based flavour. It lacked the cocoa flavour depth of the better milk chocolates on the market but as always it did a resonable job in this regard. The caramel was proportioned quite generously and had a thick texture. Its flavour wasnt overly sweet and had a nice mapley taste which was very pleasant. The base of the 'Turtles' were formed of a layer of both chopped pecan and cashew nuts. Unfortunately due to their chopped nature they didnt quite add the crunch I was hoping for...they were too soft to the bite for my liking and due to the thickness of the caramel their flavours were all but lost...their chopped nature also meant I was finding small bits of nuts in my teeth for hours after - not good!

Overall I think these are a pretty good concept which Nestle have delievered to a resonable standard - but with a few slight flaws. For starters the design of the Turtles themselves are disappointing...they look poor for what could potentially be a fun and unique look. The chocolate and caramel layers are delivered to a reasonably high standard but in contrast the pecan and cashew nuts are poor...again a unique idea including these type of nuts - not many other bars do..but the way they were chopped so finely gave them a relatively flavourless meaningless presence. These are a pretty standard and fair product which are worth trying if you get the chance...at the end of the day though I just cant help but feel theres room for improvement.

7.3 out of 10

Want to try these Nestle Turtles for yourself? Head over to Candy Pirate for these and more American Candy & foods

July 9th: Cadbury Buzz (NZ)

Kcal 85 Fat 2.6g Fat(sats) 1.8g Carbs 14.3g

A mini review for a mini product. I imported this little bar (20g!) as a means of rounding up my last order from http://www.sanza.co.uk/ to a round £10 ... by telling you that Im trying to get across the point that this wasnt a bar I was very much aware of before I ordered it - I solely bought it on impulse and had never heard of it before.

The 'Buzz' bar is made in New Zealand and distributed in Australia - it described itself as 'Dairy Milk Chocolate covered marshmallow and caramel' - it sounded fair enough.

Although I wasnt expecting much from such a small bar even before I tasted it I was extremely disappointed. The bar didnt look anything special out the packet...there was a sticky residue covering the top of the bar which made my fingers feel horrible and messy - Unfortunately its smell was even worse. It had a slightly sour aroma...like gone off milk - hardly appertising!

Tasting the bar things didnt get much better - frankly it tasted horrible and cheap. The milk chocolate layer (supposedly Dairy Milk!! err I think not!) was extremely thin which made for a relatively flavourless element. The caramel was nothing like the standard in taste of any other Cadbury bar I have tasted; its flavour was sickeningly sweet and a quick glance at the ingredients showed that it was actually 'golden syrup'...im sorry but last time I checked caramel was not golden syrup. The final element - the marshmallow, was fine in texture but just horrible in taste. It had a spongy sticky feel which was at least a little unique. Despite this its presence in the bar was ruined by its cheap flavour...im normally a big fan of marshmallow but this was frankly terrible...horribly artifical in taste - disgusting!

Overall this bar has to be one of the worst I have eaten on Chocolate Mission. Cadbury's normal high standards completely deserted them here and its really no where near the standard of 99% of their portfolio. The chocolate was insignificant in proportion aswell as flavourless..the caramel was horrible and the marshmallow was not much better. Im going to stop here as I really dont want to waste much more time on this bar...take my word for it - avoid..this is one New Zealand can keep!

4.2 out of 10

July 8th: Lily O'Briens Milk Chocolate / Organic

Milk Chocolate - Kcal 533 Fat 31.5g Fat(sats) 19.0g Carbs 55.2g
Organic Milk Chocolate - Kcal 537 Fat 34.1g Fat(sats) 20.4g Carbs 56.1g

Last week the Irish folks at Lily O'Briens sent me a selection of bars from their range - included in this selection were both an original and organic version of their milk chocolate bar. For those that arent aware Lily O'Brien are an Irish based brand - their products can be found in over nine countries worldwide and they are most famed for their 'Sticky Toffee' chocolates which I reviewed last week.

I thought best to review these bars at the same time...based on the reasoning I thought surely they couldnt be that different...im not gonna lie they wern't. The only difference in the ingredients list were that the ingredients used in the organic bar had a star (*) next to them highlighting that they were made from 'organic ingredients'...what was a little confusing was that the original milk chocolate bar comprised of 30% cocoa whislt the organic contained 32%...who knows eh!? The ingredients themselves were pretty fair...usual suspects..'Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter' etc etc.

These came in 80g bars both of which I ate over the course of two days (four servings). Each 40g occasion was adequete...no more..no less. Both bars came packaged in a paper outer covering with an inside foil layer. The outside wrappings were fair enough - they didnt shout out 'premiuim' chocolate but they hardly looked tacky either...theres definite room for improvement though. The bars themselves could not have looked more boring...look at the pictures above - no patterns, no branding..to be honest no effort. The only slight defence I can give the pedestrian appearances were that the bars were sectioned quite nicely and split up with relative ease. Aromawise the bars smelt pleasant, it reminded me more of a dark chocolate offering than a milk chocolate one - their scent was very cocoa heavy and lacked the usual sweet smell of milk chocolate...both smelt nice.

I tasted these bars side by side and im not going to lie I would have been stretched to guess which was which in a blind test. Both were very similar to that of Thorntons milk chocolate - a very smooth textured chocolate with a stronger cocoa flavour than milky one. The only slight discrepency I could make bar from bar was the organic variant had a slightly longer aftertaste than the original...in truth it really wasnt that noticeable. Both the bars had a fairly rich taste and their texture once melted in the mouth remained reltively thick which meant for a long flavour...the taste wasnt very complex and didnt develop much, if at all over the course of its time in my mouth, though pretty one dimensional their flavour was pleasant.

Overall these are a pretty standard milk chocolate offering. They both offer a nice tasting experience and have a generally nice smooth texture....at the end of the day though their flavours wernt quite as distinctive as other bars - including some mass confection bars like Dairy Milk and Galaxy. The presentation of these bars really let them down...they are simply just boring and indistinctive - theres work to be done there. These are pretty standard milk chocolate bars and in all honestly I couldnt recommend one over the other apart from giving a nudge in the direction of the prices (the organic bar costs more!!!). Nice enough milk chocolate but theres better out their! See Hotel Chocolat 40% ;)

7.7 out of 10

July 8th: Cadbury Boost Totally Nuts (Aus)

Kcal 326 Fat 19.6g Fat(sats) 10.1g Carbs 31.4g

Australia plays host to many wonderful things that we are all pretty aware of...Koala bears, Kangeroos, Fosters, good cricket players etc etc...what you may not have been aware of...(until now that is) is that Australia also plays host to this rather special Cadbury bar...the "Boost Totally Nuts" ...what a corny name ;)

Like the original Boost we have here in the UK this bar isnt for the light hearted or those watching their weight. This bar plays includes a 'chocolate flavoured centre, packed full of nuts, surrounded in caramel, all covered in Dairy Milk chocolate'....all this results in a 60g bar that includes nearly 20.0g of fat (28% GDA!) and 10.0g of saturated fat (42% GDA)...as I said you do not wanting to be encorporating this into any weight loss plan...this bar is a literally a meal - after eating and placing my slight twinge of guilt to aside I did indeed feel wholly satisfied.

The bar came in a nice looking foil package - indeed the name is pure cheese but at least the outlandish glucose claim of our Boost bar was no where to be seen...I think this bar knows its naughty...naughty but you love it :P The look of the bar really suprised me!!! It was literally half the size of the standard Boost!?? How can this be with them both being 60g? Well the bar was crammed to brim with peanuts but still it did look rather pathetic compared to the sheer butchness of our original variant. The bar smelt pretty nice, no indication of any nuts ... just a sweet slightly cocoa noted smell...not quite the milkyness of the UK Dairy Milk but it smelt fair nonetheless.

My main gripe with the UK Boost was the sweetness of the bar....well this was no problem here. Though the Dairy Milk wasnt quite the same as our UK brand though it still had a nice creamy flavour with the same melt in the mouth smoothness...it provided a delicious thick coating. As you can see above in the cross section the next layer in was the caramel which ran the whole way round the bar forming an inner coating of sorts. It tasted simply divine! Like in the UK Boost it held a thicker texture to normal Cadbury Caramel and had a nice chewy texture. Unlike in our original Boost though its flavour was not as half as sweet and was far more subtle with a lovely syrupy flavour. Obviously the real distinguishable ingredient of this bar were the peanuts...and boy were there alot of them! They accounted for 25% of the total bar...quick maths thats 15g - thats alot for a bar that contained so many other substantial layers. The nuts had a nice fresh crunchyness to them and benefitted greatily from being implemented in a whole state rather than chopped. The truffle like chocolate favour centre was the weakest of all the layers though it added a nice smooth texture which contrasted nicely with the crunchyness of the nuts. The nuts more than made up for the relatively weak taste of the flavoured centre with a deliciously buttery salty roasted flavour.

Overall this bar really was an absolute treat - it looked small but it packed a hell of alot of flavours in a balanced plentiful textured bar. The flavour of the nuts with their slight saltyness balanced the sweetness of the bar perfectly and the more subtle flavoured caramel layer further added to the stability of the taste. I saw Amanda at Chokolit said this bar was once avalible in the UK? I cant recall it myself but as ever im sure someone will spread some light on this for me. I really did enjoy this bar and would really recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to try it - naughty!?...definately! delicious and worth it!?...oh hell yes!!

8.7 out of 10

July 7th: Milka Alpine Milk Chocolate Cream

Kcal 605 Fat 44.5g Carbs 45.5g (per 100.0g)

I've been impressed so far with Milka chocolate so my expectations for this bar were high to say the least. This 'Cream' edition combined the original 'Alpine milk chocolate' with an additional soft cream filling which ran through the middle of the solid milk chocolate accounting for 50% of its constituants.

As with all the Milka bars I have reviewed so far I sampled this in a 100g bar - I actually ate the whole bar in one sitting...I wasnt particularly hungry but this bar just simply didnt fill me up as I ate it. The bar came nicely presented in the standard Milka packaging - a nice paper sleeve with a foil under layer. The bar itself looked very appertising and once split into the soft cream centre gently oozed out...not making a mess but looking deliciously truffle like. The bar smelt almost identical to the 'Alpine Milk' - sweet and very creamy...as ever Milka delivered with the presentation of their product.

As with the original bar itself the Alpine Milk chocolate outer layer again delivered a pleasant creamy flavour. The aftertaste again had a slight note of nuttyness that distinguished itself from being more than a simple one dimenstional milky taste. The middle cream layer added a nice slightly softer texture to the middle of the bar and gave it a truffle like smoothness. Though I enjoyed the difference in texture I felt the cream layer really lacked flavour...it just didnt do anything for me...it wasnt unpleasant...but it just literally made the texture lighter, and all that meant was that the overall taste was weaker and less satisfying.

Overall this was yet another hard bar to score. The real selling point of this bar was supposed to be the cream layer - which from my point of view actually came at detriment to the overall taste. Sure it added a nice soft smooth texture but it only diluted the flavour and was probably why I easily tucked away 100g in one sitting. Dont get me wrong its still a nice tasting chocolate bar but in my opinion your best off tucking into 50g of the Alpine Milk - if only so you consume less calories . If your a massive fan of Milka this is worth having a look at - but for the rest you might aswell stick to the Alpine Milk.

7.4 out of 10

July 6th: Hotel Chocolat 72% Chilli & Orange

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

Today im reviewing the first of four flavoured bars from current Chocolate Mission leading manufacturer Hotel Chocolat. I must once again express my thanks to Maxine who was kind of to send me the 'Peepster Box' which contained the four different flavoured slabs - today I sampled the Chilli & Orange flavour.

The Peepster Box includes 4 different flavoured offerings all of which are indivdually cellophane wapped. The presentation of the box is nice though I couldnt help but feel the plastic wrappers were a bit of a step down from the boxed presentation of the house slabs I had previously reviewed. The chocolate once again came in the famous Hotel Chocolat presentation of slabs...again no doubting their chicness but they seriously arent the most practical way of eating chocolate. This particular flavour came split into two 62.5g slabs - for reasons I will go into they wernt quite the fully satisfying offering of the house slabs but eaten individually they were still extremely fulfilling.

The Chilli & Orange flavour was contained within 72% dark chocolate. Opening the wrapper the strength of the chocolate was quite evident, the slabs had a strong cocoa aroma that smelt delicious....what was slightly puzzling was the lack of orange or chilli....if it was a blind test based on smell I wouldnt of said the bar was enhanced by any flavours.

Though slightly weaker in cocoa than the 85% bar the dark chocolate retained much of the richness of flavour. It wasnt quite as strong and the aftertaste was slightly weaker, though it retained a very similar deep but slightly sweet vanilla noted taste. The chocolate had an extremely smooth texture much like the 85% and literally melted on the tongue into a thick but silky syrup like form. The texture of the bar was further enhanced by the chilli element which added an interesting warmth to the aftertaste - the chilli didnt seem to add anything of note to the taste but it certainly provided an distinct aspect to the texture. Like many of the other chocolate orange bars I have reviewed the flavour of the orange in this offering was achieved using orange oil and not orange pieces. The orange flavour itself was suprisingly anonymous in this bar which initially suprised me...I thought that maybe the flavour would develop as I ate more of the bar but unfortunately this was not the case - I even double checked the wrapper to make sure I had picked the right slabs out the box...to be honest I was disappointed.

Overall its hard scoring this bar as although its a great tasting chocolate offering it just fails to deliver the flavour it promises. The dark chocolate is glorious in its own right but if your paying up to £3.50 for a particular flavour you expect it to really be quite evident...the orange flavour in this bar was hardly detectable. As I have said its hard criticising this bar as the dark chocolate although not quite as rich and flavoursome as the 85% was still divine and the chilli certainly added a nice warmth to the texture...unfortunately the lack of orange really held back the score of this bar. If your a fan of dark chocolate and chilli this will float your boat - but if your looking for a chocolate orange flavour hit theres genuinely better there...to be honest your better off buying a Terry's Chocolate Orange and still having £3.10 in your pocket. Delicious yet disappointing.

7.9 out of 10

July 6th: Rolo

Kcal 247 Fat 10.4g Fat(sats) 6.7g Carbs 36.7g (per tube)

Rolos have been around since 1938 and are now producded by Neslte in all areas across the globe but for the US...where no suprises the Hershey Company hold the licence....do they even exist in the US?

A Rolo consists of a toffee centre and milk chocolate coating, and are most commonly found in 52.0g roll tubes like the one I consumed for the purpose of this review. In this roll there were 12 individual chocolates. If the marketing slogan is to be believed 11 are meant to be consumed by oneself and the last Rolo for the person you love :) haha well I deem it important to love yourself so I ate all 12 lol :D I couldnt stop eating these once I had opened them and the whole roll was gone within 20 minutes woops :P Very moreish but still quite filling at the same time.

The Rolos came packaged in a fairly nice looking and convenient roll packet. They definately benefitted from the foil layer that covered them as it meant they were tightly packed and released a nice sweet smell as the packet was unravelled. I liked the design of the Rolos themselves they had a nice shape and were just the right mouthful size. Simply put they combine a nice look with a functional design - not too many products can claim to do that now.

Personally I think theres only one way to eat a Rolo - letting it slowly melt on the tongue. The milk chocolate coating was almost identical in taste to all other Nestle milk chocolate products...sweet and not the strongest in taste but with a nice milky root flavour....its not going to win any awards for divine chocolate but its fair tasting. The chocolate melted at a nice rate in the mouth eventually revealing the toffee centre. The toffee centre was thicker than I was expecting and provided a nice texture that was quite resiliant. Sucking on the toffe centre released the flavour slowly - it tasted sweet though not overly so and it had a long honey like taste rather than an overly sugarly based one. The textures of the soft chocolate and silky toffee made for a delightful combination and allowed the flavours to be released slowly but in a manner in which they could be savoured.

Overall Rolos are a great tasting affordable product that have mass appeal. The milk chocolate is not the greatest quality and can be found in most Nestle products...the real defining aspect are the toffee centres which are deliciously tasty and have a great texture that make for a longing taste and lasting enjoyable experience. There's probably a good chance that you have already tried these but for those that havent I strongly suggest you do....a classic product that is nicely crafted and kind on the pocket - what more can you ask for.

8.4 out of 10

July 5th: Terry's Chocolate Orange Milk

Kcal 210 Fat 12.0g Carbs 23.0g

I dont quite know why its taken me so long to get round to reviewing one of Britain's most iconic brands of chocolate...but by popular request today I went about putting that right and sampled the most famous milk chocolate and orange combination out there...yes...Terry's Chocolate Orange.

Terry's Chocolate Orange tends to really come into its own around Christmas time but during the rest of the year its also pretty readily avalible. Im basing todays review on the 40g bar which split into 6 segments...it equated to 40.0g and did a perfectly good job of setting aside my hunger at the time...by the sixth segment I felt like I had my fill of the flavour.

I was genuiney very impressed by the look of the bar. The packaging was a fair in design though hardly original and almost identical from Mcvities Jaffa Cakes (Take a look above and try tell me otherwise!!!!!). The bar itself looked great - the segment design not only looked class and unique but was a nice way to split it into sizeable mouth size pieces - good work here by Kraft.

As soon as I opened the wrapper and segmented the bar a fruity sweet orangey smell was extremely evident - it smelt refreshing and pretty appertising though a tiny bit artifical. The back of pack had a pretty bold statement in that it claimed the bar was flavoured with 'Real Orange'....in actual fact just like the Montezuma's "Orangutang" I reviewed the other day the flavour was achieved using 'orange oil'....so not real orange really.

Although solid milk chocolate the inside of the bar seemed to have a slightly softer texture. Each segment was shaped perfectly to slowly melt on the tongue and really helped achieve a nice smooth and consistant taste. The orange flavour of the bar was strong but never overbearing...it gave each segment a nice refreshing taste that for my liking was just the right strength and and concentration. The milk chocolate as I said was glorious in texture though lacked a real difinitive cocoa flavour that would have really made this bar standout. The taste of the chocolate was very sweet and by the fifth segment its flavour was starting to become overly so and and verging on sickly.

Overall this bar is a genuinely a great tasting one in moderation. This bar has scored higher than the Montezuma's "Orangutang" and costs a fraction of the price at 40p compared to £1.20 for the Montezuma's. Its orange flavour was among the best I have tried on Chocolate Mission along with the Lindor Orange. The chocolate was a bit on the sweet side and lacking in cocoa strength though the orange flavour more than made up for this as its fresh fruityness was by far and away the dominating flavour. Terry' Chocolate Orange is a brand that will stay with us a long time..its affordable, unique, great looking chocolate...a sure fire winner if your a fan of chocolate orange.

8.3 out of 10

July 5th: Tracker Chocolate Chip

Kcal 178 Fat 8.7g Carbs 21.5g

Though cereal bars have only really come into the mainstream in the last five years the Tracker bar has been around since...well...what seems like forever. I can remember having these in my lunchbox back when I was a wee nipper. Upon the request of Chocolate Mission readers I put my 10 year abstinence with the Tracker aside and tucked into one today.

The Tracker is a cereal bar that claims to combine 'Crunch, Goo & Chew'...hmmm not the best slogan ever. Its also avalible in a plain nut variant though for the purpose of Chocolate Mission I thought best to review the 'Chocolate Chip' version; its main ingredients are crisped rice, wholegrains (oats, bran etc), peanuts & chocolate chips - all fused together by syrup.

The bar came in a 37.0g serving which proved a pretty adequete mid morning snack; though it did the job in this instance I think if you wanted anything more out of the bar it might fall a little short in this respect due to the light texture of the bar.

'Tracker' is a Mars brand which explains the nice wrapper and general appearance of the bar...no money skimped in this area. The front of pack looked stylish and the aesthetic appeal of the bar was good...the whole peanuts and chocolate chips showcased the quality ingredients and really gave a good idea of the contents of the bar without having to peer over the ingredients list. Unfortuately, though nice in looks it was a little flawed in design...biting into the bar chocolate chips and peanuts went flying everywhere...it was a tad annoying that it crumbled everywhere and this isnt a bar I suggest you eat on the move.

Peanuts accounted for 10% of the bar ingredients but 100% of the aroma!! It smelt awesome! The smell was very evident as soon as I opened the bar and its roasted nutty smell soon made itself very palpable.

Despite the small annoyance of the bar falling to pieces it had a nice array of textures. The top of the bar encoportated the chocolate chips which though lacking a real strong taste melted nicely in the mouth and gave the each bite a nice cocoa undertone. The chocolate chips slighlty moistened what would have been a dry bar without them as the saltyness of the nuts dried the other layers. The peanuts themselves were crunchy and fresh in texture...they contrasted nicely with the gooey mixture of the cereals and syrup base. The peanuts also provided the strongest of the flavours...buttery and slightly smokey with a hint of salt...very tasty. The base of the bar was formed by the chewy cereal and syrup layer and formed the main constituants of the bar. Unfortunately its flavour was pretty mundane and if anything just diluted the flavours of the nuts and chocolate chips with its quite boring subtle malt flavour.

Overall its pretty obvious why this product seems to have stuck around for so long...its because its a pretty high quality one. The bar encorporates some intresting textures and flavour though slightly lets itself down by having its weakest tasting layer being the most generously portioned. The chocolate chips are relatively weak in flavour though do add a nice background cocoa flavour and nice slight moistness to the texture. If your a fan of nuts then I could see this bar being one you really enjoy...if its a chocolate hit your after your probably best looking somewhere else - but if its a nice tasting cereal bar with a hint of chocolate you could do a lot worse.

7.3 out of 10

July 4th: Kinder Chocolate / Maxi

Kcal 117 Fat 7.1g Carbs 11.0g (per 21.0g)

This review has been one of the most requested for a long time now...its seems theres a whole lot of love out there for this Kinder snack bar. To be honest I was a little confused with the branding of this product...it seems to randomly appear under two different names...'Kinder Chocolate' & 'Kinder Maxi'....anyone know why!?

Lets get this out the way from the start...this is a small small bar....its tiny at a 21.0g...why oh why is this not bigger...it hardly even scratched the surface of my hunger...I know the bar even calls itself a 'snack bar' but for me it didnt even suffice in that respect.

Kinder products are always presented nicely and this one was no different. The bar was wrapped in a colourful plastic wrapper with an extra foil layer for freshness. The bar itself was obviously pretty small, though had a nice shimmering surface and was sectioned nicely. The chocolate was crisp to break up and had a crumbly cream white filling that looked exceedingly tasty. Despite the foil wrapping the bar lacked any sort of strong aroma, it offered little more than a sweet smell that was only detectable if smelt up close.

The bar itself had an odd claim on the front of the wrapper 'more milk, less cocoa' ..... ooooook fair enough more milk...great - but less cocoa!? Not cool!? Why even say that! Surely that needs changing to 'more milk, less sugar'.... that would a) appeal to parents more (surley the target of the brand) & b) sound more appealing to the rest of us.....oh hell im only in marketing what do I know :D :D

Looking at the ingredients the bar contained 33% milk solids with 18% cocoa solids...this made for a really distinct taste that was thankfully stronger than experienced with the Kinder Suprise egg where the same chocolate and milk flavoured layers were just too thin to really give a meaningful taste. The actual cocoa outside layer was still very thinly portioned and didnt provide too much to the overall taste. The middle creamy white filling was the main driver of the flavour and no suprises in that it had a distinct creamy milkyness with a slight hint of vanilla....it was pretty sweet but very tasty. Despite the lack of flavour depth in the chocolate layer its texture was nice and smooth, providing a nice contrast with the mild roughness of the creamy centre.

Overall although only 1.0g bigger than the Kinder Suprise Egg the blocked shaped form really comes as a benefit to this bar. The actual chocolate layer lacks flavour and thats no suprise due to the products lack of cocoa...what does make the flavour of this bar really stand out though is the smoothness and creamy nature of the middle milk layer; its sweet but ever so moreish...a taste that you will really want to savour. If your a fan of Milka or other creamier chocolate brands theres no doubt you will love this bar...just make sure you buy a few!! Note to Ferrero - make your bars bigger please!!!

7.0 out of 10

July 4th: Trader Joe's Swiss Milk Chocolate

Kcal 230 Fat 15.0g Fat(sats) 9.0g (per 42.0g)

I've been saving this bar for ages now, ever since Esther sent me the package full of Trader Joe's products a couple of months ago I'd been waiting for the right time to review this bar....with this weeks latest wave of milk chocolate bar reviews (see Hotel Chocolat 40%, Milka Alpine & Lindt Excellence Milk) I thought that there was no time like the present and it would be great to benchmark this bar agaisnt the rest.

As with all Trader Joe's products there was a real feel good feeling on the on package blurb...the bars ingredients were all fair trade and of course as with all TJ's stuff contained no artifical colours or flavours. The wrapper was nice and colourful in appearance and also included an inside foil layer. The bar itself was not branded though as you can see above was sectioned nicely and had a pattern etched into the surface that was pleasant on the eye. The bar came in 100g form which I ate across two sittings...for reasons I will go into it didnt fully satisfy me in both instances.

Looking at the back of pack the bar stated it had 33% cocoa solids and 22% milk solids...these are both relatively higher than most mass confection bars but still paled in comparison to the Hotel Chocolat bar.

Dividing the bar into its sections it had a nice fresh crisp cracking sound which is always nice. When smelt up close the bar had a cocoa scent that had a small note of nut - it wasnt overly impressive but was pleasant none the less.

After the first few blocks it was quite evident the bar had a nice fresh texture. Like when splitting it by hand, when bit into the chocolate had a fresh crispness and once left to melt on my tongue it melted at a nice rate. On the wrapper the bar described itself as richy, creamy milk chocolate...in truth....rich - no .... creamy - sort of. The initial flavour really wasnt that strong and it wasnt until the bar had fully melted in the mouth before it released its smooth sweet cocoa flavour. The taste was neither strong enough to be described as rich and wasn't overly creamy due to the aftertaste being slightly smokey and caramel tasting. With the smoothness of the texture and the lack of real hard hitting flavours the bar seemed to just pass me by a little.

Overall the taste of this bar was a bit of a let down. In comparison to the other milk chocolate bars I have reviewed recently its favour just seemed to lack real depth and lacked the richness of flavour in comparison to the Lindt, Hotel Chocolat etc bars. This may be slightly harsh as its not as if its a bad bar: it looked good and its taste certainly was no where near unpleasant...it just lacked the depth when compared to the real standard setters I've tried recently. This is by no means a bad milk chocolate bar...its not as if your going to throw it back in someones face if they give it to you as a gift...its just at the end of the day theres better tastier milk chocolate offerings out there.

7.1 out of 10

July 3rd: Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge Egg

Kcal 180 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 3.0g Carbs 17.0g

Todays review again comes courtesy of the team at CandyPirate who yet again provided me with another offering from the extensive Reese's range.

The Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge Egg came in a 34.0g one piece serving. Despite its thickness the egg did seem relatively small in size - I feel like it could have been made a little bigger. Despite its smaller size it still looked and smelt dreamy once cross sectioned...no second guesses what it smelt like...a deep roasted nut smell just literally left my mouth watering. The packaging was nicely presented and included a cardboard sleeve to ensure extra protection..what was lacking was the paper cup that you find with the standard Reese's range...of course this wasnt even really an issue but personally I just feel like its a nice touch.

Now anyone whos read any of my Reese's reviews before will be aware of my constant disappointment at the quality of the chocolate used in the range - in all honestly it really wasnt that much better here with the added fudge element. The chocolate as you can see above was proportioned pretty thickly, despite this though it still lacked a real standout flavour. The fudge taste wasnt all that evident apart from adding a slightly longer more sugary aftertaste, the chocolate still simply didnt do enough for me...its texture wasnt bad and it had a relatively smooth texture...its just its flavour was still little more than I can describe as milky tasting...it just lacked real flavour depth.

Overall as with every Reese's product its the same old story. The chocolate was largely disappointing - and here the fudge element was all but lost but for a slightly sugary fudge noted aftertaste...luckily the peanut butter element was as ever just delicious. It smelt divine, its texture combined both smooth and rough superbly and its taste was just absolutely sublime. Its rich, creamy , buttery, nutty goodness all round...and I just couldnt get enough of it...unfortunately I really didnt due to its rather small size lol! If you love the Reese's range this is another product you will get on with...no doubt there are better Reese's products out there but this is worth trying at least once.

8.2 out of 10

Want to try the Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge Egg yourself head to CandyPirate to find this and more American Candy & Foods

July 3rd: Cadbury Snack Raisin Cereal Bar

Kcal 150 Fat 5.4g Carbs 23.2g

Little over a week ago I hadnt even heard of the Cadbury Snack range until I stumbled across the 'Cadbury Snack Shortcake' - today I found a further two products in the range so today im bringing you my review of the 'Raisin Cereal Bar'.

This cereal bar came in a 35g serving - I ate it around 11am and it was a more than adequete at fufilling my mid morning munchies! The bar encorporated oats, bran flakes, raisins, crispies and honey in a bed of Cadbury's milk chocolate. It look relatively nice appearancewise - the wrapper had a nice vibrant look and its foil constituants ensured a pristine, nice sweet smelling bar. The aroma was strongly honey rooted though did have a minor milky cocoa element to it.

Taking the bar out the wrapper it was quickly evident at how thin the chocolate layer was. The on pack description claims it covers half the bar...which it does...just extremely thinly! Not only did this mean its flavour was all but lost in the rest of the denser elements, but due to its thiness the chocolate melted extremely quickly when handling the bar. To be honest I think I ended up with more chocolate on my fingers than in my mouth lol! The other cereal elements in the bar were pretty fair in taste - the crispy cereal was the strongest in flavour which dosent really say much for the rest as its taste was not all that strong itself...slightly malty and sugary. The oats combined with the honey added a nice consistant chewyness to the bar though both remained pretty lifeless in flavour. The raisins implemented in this bar were largely disappointing adding very little flavorwise and a bit of an uncomfortable mushy texture.

Overall this bar was a bit hit and miss across the board. It failed to deliver on the taste front - the chocolate was the tastiest element but severely lacking in portioning...the different cereals were all pretty fair but overly lifeless with none particularly outstanding from the others apart from the rice. The bar had a nice chewyness and due to the dense nature of the ingredients did a nice job of settling my hunger...its just unfortunate that its best element (the milk chocolate) was implemented both not enough and annoyingly in the design of the bar. You could do worse for a mid morning snack but if its a real chocolate hit your after you better look elsewhere - this could be done better!

7.1 out of 10