September 19th: Mars Rocks (Aus)

Kcal 230 Fat 8.4g Fat(sats) 5.1g Carbs 35.5g

The original UK Mars bar is one of my personal favourite bars of all time, suffice to say I was pretty excited when I came across this Australian variant, the 'Mars Rocks': a bar containing all the original elements of the Mars, but with added 'Crunchy Crisps' in the outer milk chocolate layer.

The bar came in a standard 50g serving, complete with a fantastic looking silver foil wrapper. Splitting the bar revealed a pretty interesting cross section, the crispy pieces gave the chocolate a substantial studded look, whilst the nougat and caramel layers were well separated and defined ... it certainly looked the part. The product offered quite little in the way of an aroma, it had a milky smell though it was quite faint - surprising really considering the foil packaging which gave the bar a fresh appeal... aesthetically anyway.

The outer chocolate was nice in it's taste. It had a nice milky flavour that was just about on the right side of its sweetness. It was a lot thicker than the chocolate you get in an original Mars though this was of course due to the presence of the crispy pieces. In theory the idea of the crispy pieces sounded like a reasonable idea, though it was certainly flawed in its implementation. The crunchy texture that the pieces should have added was negated by the chewy caramel and nougat layers ... when chewed the dense nature of the caramel and nougat elements over powered the presence of the crispy pieces and simply stopped them being crunchy. In addition to this the nougat layer varied in its constituents from the original Mars; it was heavier and didn't have the lightness of the original - it felt a little grainy in the mouth and just simply didn't have the same creaminess. The caramel layer didn't seem to vary at all from the original - still delicious and silky smooth - it was just a shame about the nougat as it was far greater in its proportion.

Overall this bar for me was a bit of a letdown. The added crispy pieces just didn't work - their flavour had a nice malty edge however their real point for inclusion was to bring an added crunch element, something that was sadly lacking. The chocolate and caramel elements were of a high standard though struggled for flavour presence against what was really a poor nougat layer. To be honest I wouldn't recommend this bar, simply due to the original being so superior. Fans of the Nestle Crunch may have an interest in this bar, but for the rest of you outside Australia its probably not worth the cost of importing.

7.1 out of 10

September 18th: Pretzel Flipz White Fudge

Kcal 130 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 4.5g Carbs 20.0g (per 28.0g / 7 pieces)

Way back in April CandyPirate re-ignited my love for Nestle Flipz by sending me a pack of the milk chocolate flavour. Though I thorougly enjoyed them, a little part of me was desperately calling out for a pack of my former favourite White fudge flavour. Thankfully CandyPirate sent me through a pack with their latest delivery, they inform me that these are one of their best selling items!! Now I know these don't contain cocoa (nor do most Hershey's bars nowadays haha!!)... but they are close enough - and considering they were one of my childhood favourites I couldn't help but review these.

Fortunately CandyPirate sent me through a large pack (141g) which went some way to curing the problem that these were so incredibly moreish - a handful soon turned into two ... before I knew it half the pack had gone ... lol oh dear oh dear! The product came in a foil pouch, it would have been useful if it was resealable, though as you will have gathered this wasn't too much of an issue for me. The pretzels themselves looked nice, they had a nice thick coating, which was evenly spread across all the pretzels. Once opened the pouch released a delicious creamy sweet smell that had the slightest of savoury hints ... these smelt great but I hardly savoured the aroma for that long ... I just dug right in.

So what is white fudge!? Well looking at the ingredients it doesn't sound good ... a mix of sugar, hydrogenated oils, milk and artificial flavours. Despite the uninspiring constiteunts the coating of the pretzels was delicious. It tasted milky and creamy with a slight vanilla note, it was very sweet but this contrasted extremely well with the saltiness of the crunchy pretzel. The mixture of sweet and salty flavours, like in the milk chocolate variant made for an incredibly moreish taste. The aftertaste wasn't that long, which probably made these all the more addictive, the flavour hit was intense and delicious, just unfortunately short lived.

Overall these were every bit as enjoyable as I remember them. They are by no means a masterpiece in crafted confectionary but there is simply no doubting their ridiculously great and tasty snacking potential ... they are one of the most addictive products I have tried this year - and I simply just couldn't put the pack down. I think Nestle are really missing a trick having delisted these from the UK, if they were a product I could buy as part of my staple weekly shopping they would be. These are well worth tracking down, the nostalgia appeal is endless ... I fully recommend them if these take your fancy.

8.3 out of 10

Interested in trying Pretzel Flipz for yourself? Find this bar and many more American candy & foods delivered directly from the UK at CandyPirate!!

September 18th: Nilla Cakesters

Kcal 110 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 1.0g Carbs 16.0g (per Cakester)

Where is the chocolate in these Jim!?? ... short answer there isn't any :) but having reviewed the rest of the 'Cakesters' range in the form of the Oero Cakesters, **I SHOP 4 YOU II** thought it would only be right of me to complete a full range review. As far as I can tell 'Nilla' is a brand owned by Nabisco (Kraft) and is most closely associated with its line of wafer cookies, which are supposed to be 'crisp and light, and have a hint of real vanilla flavour' *Wiki*!!

These 'Nilla Cakesters' followed much the same premise as both 'Oreo Cakesters' variants - two pieces of soft sponge cake, which had a layer of vanilla frosting in the middle. The packet as you can see above contained three of these cakes, which was a little too much to eat in one sitting (which I duly attempted to do and felt quite ill afterwards for doing so haha!). The packaging was nicely presented in a foil pack with enclosed cardboard sleeve that protected the fragile nature of the cakes. The Cakes themselves didn't quite have the contrasting colours of the 'Oreo Cakesters' yet looked very enticing. The smell was very sweet and one I would alike to being like maple syrup, personally I found it quite alluring.

Before eating these I chilled them in the fridge, this made them certainly more enjoyable, and less messy to eat than at room temperature. The outer cake pieces had a moist, almost greasy texture. They didn't have a light sponge feel and were more alike a brownie with their dense weighting. Despite their heavy constituents they offered quite little aside from a very sweet honey like taste, I could detect the odd note of vanilla but the flavour was sparing. Between the two cake pieces lay the devilishly tasty inner frosting. It was hugely sweet in its flavour, but both creamy and moreish at the same time ... it was a bit like eating the icing round a birthday cake - so very tasty, but ever so sugary and sickly ... by the time you realise you have eaten too much you have that awful feeling in your stomach - you must know the one. After eating these I had a nice sweet vanilla taste in my mouth for long after, these were certainly a filling snack - though they were always going to be with the three cakes instead of the standard two.

Overall these are a nice little variation from the 'Cakesters' range, I wouldn't quite say they were as tasty as the Oreo Chocolate Creme Cakesters but they had a similar moreishness to them. The sponge cake pieces could have done with being a little more flavoursome, I guess the real flavour hit is supposed to come from the inner creme layer, but a tastier more vanilla flavoured cake element would have been pleasant. These are hardly man's greatest creation but they are certainly a nice product to have as a snack ... serve them up with some vanilla ice cream and now your're talking!

7.4 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

September 17th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Cranberry & Granola

Kcal 500 Fat 25.7g Fat(sats) 15.5g Carbs 60.3g (per 100g)

Having enjoyed yesterdays 'Apricot Crumble Crunch' I was hoping for much the same from the second of the two new Cadbury Fruit and Nut themed bars. Personally I thought this one sounded the more appetising out of the two - the 'Cranberry and Granola' sounded like a better combination of ingredients and certainly a little less gimmicky than the 'Crumble Crunch'.

Sampling the bar again in the 200g form, unlike the Apricot bar from yesterday it took me more than two servings to eat ... the overall taste and weighting of the ingredients made this bar the more substantial out of the two. I had much the same perception of the packaging than with the 'Apricot Crumble Crunch' - the foil wrapper had an impressive looking matted appeal, the dark rouge colour gave both a contemporary and stylish look. The bar itself also looked impressive; the large cranberry pieces provided a nice interesting look and were spread evenly throughout the chunks. The granola was also relatively well spread and gave the surface a textured quality. The smell of the bar was unsurprisingly milk based; it smelt a bit sweeter than a standard Dairy Milk bar with a minor but detectable biscuity element to its aroma. 

The Dairy Milk retained its standard delicious taste, but had it's texture was spoilt somewhat but the rough sharpness of the granola pieces. By the time I had finished the bar the roof of my mouth felt quite sore; sucking on the chocolate whilst it melted meant that the granola pieces had an almost sandpaper like effect, the melt of the chocolate was smooth but the texture of the granola was not favourable in the slightest. When the granola was bitten into it did release a nice oat centred flavour, definitely more flavoursome than the added 'Crumble Crunch' of yesterdays bar - overall it was a nice addition to the taste. The dried cranberries were not quite as pronounced in their taste as the dried apricot of yesterday, they more reminded me of the raisins used in a standard 'Cadbury Fruit & Nut' - they had an obvious chewy texture but were very limited in their flavour. In this case the cranberries only added the slightest of sweet berry burts that was largely overshadowed by the more dominant chocolate. The aftertaste of the product was far longer in comparison to the 'Apricot Crumble Crunch', it had a nice creamy taste with a note of sugary wheaty oats that stayed in the mouth for a nice duration, this made for a pretty satisfying chocolate.

Overall this was another interesting and tasty bar from Cadbury, however after sampling both new variants I now can't help but feel that instead of creating two bars they should have just gone for the one. Despite the granola having a pretty ragged and rough texture, its overall taste was more substantial and meaningful than the 'crumble crunch'. On the other hand, the apricot of yesterdays bar was more flavoursome than the cranberries of this bar ... you can probably see where im going with this .... YEP .... the 'Cadbury Dairy Milk Apricot & Granola'. Well unfortunately this isn't what we have, so focusing on reality - they are both pretty good bars, far from perfect, but good nonetheless. What I did enjoy about todays bar was that like yesterdays, this 'Cranberry & Granola' was at least something a little different and pretty tasty to boot. Again Dairy Milk and 'Fruit & Nut' fans, this definitely worth you taking a gander at.  

8.3 out of 10

September 16th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Apricot Crumble Crunch

Kcal 455 Fat 23.2g Fat(sats) 14.1g Carbs 54.4g (per 100g)

The widely anticipated new fruit and nut variants from Cadbury finally made their way to me today. Ever since the 'Apricot Crumble Crunch' and 'Cranberry & Granola' were announced earlier this year, I had really been looking forward to trying them ... finally something a little different from Cadbury! Today I sampled the 'Apricot Crumble Crunch'.

I sampled this bar in it's beastly 200g form - I say beastly yet I easily ate this bar over two sittings ... It definitely wasn't a filling bar despite its chunky and largish appearance. The packaging looked nice and varied in comparison to the normal bars from the Dairy Milk range, the yellow glossy foil wrapper looked both modern and aesthetically pleasing, whilst doing a great job keeping the bar fresh. The freshness was no more evident than through the smell of the bar, it had the usual creamy smelling Dairy Milk smell that had the slightest of fruity tinges - yummy! The bar itself looked mightily impressive, the apricot pieces were large and seemed nicely dispersed throughout the chocolate. The crumble pieces provided a nice variation of colour ... the bar actually looked like the picture on the front of pack ... lol its all too often bars come with the promise of massive generous fillings but in reality are a letdown ... this wasn't the case here! 

I wont waste much of your time with describing the taste of the chocolate...surprise surprise ... the Dairy Milk was sublime; rich, thick and smooth in it's melt and all this with a delicious long creamy taste (See HERE for more detail!). 

The fillings were both quite generously portioned, the 'dusted dried apricots' made up 16% of the bar and were present in almost ever single small chunk. The pieces had a nice sweet fruity taste, not the strongest, though dried apricot never really is that full of flavour. The apricot was strongly flavoured enough to give a nice fruity tang, and had an enjoyable soft chewy texture. The 'crumbly crumble pieces' were not quite as generously portioned at only 6% of the total ingredients. The pieces added a nice crunchiness that contrasted nicely with the softer apricot. Personally I thought the crumble pieces lacked flavour, they could have done with having a little bit of salt, which would have made their sweet wheaty flavour more impactful. Truth be told the crumble was all but lost in the chocolate and struggled for presence.

Overall this was a product that ticked more boxes than it didn't. The chocolate was of course delicious, and the apricot pieces added a nice change up in fruity flavours in comparison to the raisins of the original Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut. The crumble lacked presence ... in my opinion, the use of a nut might have been more suited to the product; failing that a stronger flavoured biscuit would probably have just sufficed. The heavy presence of the fillings meant this bar was not the most fulfilling of propositions, as the richness of the chocolate was somewhat toned down. As I said above it's nice to see Cadbury at least attempt something a bit more original - it is definitely not the best product ever, but it's one definitely worth checking out if you like Fruit and Nut combinations - bring on the 'Cranberry & Granola'.

8.2 out of 10

September 15th: Hotel Chocolat Dark 72% Rabot Estate

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

Having already reviewed the Hotel Chocolat 72% Dark Chocolate from the Dark Peepster Box, I was rather unsure to what degree this bar could really vary. This offering from 'The Purist' library collection differed in that it was supposed to offer a purer version of the original ... it ridded of both the vanilla and soya lecithin ingredients and was simply comprised of 'cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cane sugar'. The on-pack blurb informed me the cocoa came from Hotel Chocolat's own cocoa plantation in the volcanic soil of Rabot Estate in St Lucia, West Indies ... all very fancy but how did it fare in the Chocolate Mission stakes?

Last week in my opening review from the 'The Purist' range I raved about the presentation of the bar - and of course this was no different here. It was again beautifully presented in an informative and stylish cardboard sleeve, with inner foil packaging for freshness - stunning! Opening the foil package I immediately detected a massively impactful cocoa scent, the smell indicated that this was going to be one rich, deeply flavoured experience.

Placing the first piece on my tongue I was literally overwhelmed by the strength of flavour. It had a raw burnt initial taste that really shocked my taste buds, it wasn't all that pleasant if im honest. Thankfully the experience went all uphill from there ... by the third piece my taste buds seemed to adjust to the initial intense flavour, the taste not only started to mellow but also revealed it's true attributes. It was extremely cocoa rooted, and was heavily noted with coffee, nutty, earthy elements - this all made for a fantastically rich but smooth taste. The texture was sublime, it felt thicker in its melt than the original 72% bar and was extremely soft and smooth. The aftertaste seemed to last that bit longer with the added intensification of cocoa, it was an extremely satisfying, indulgent experience.

Overall this was yet another offering from Hotel Chocolat packed full of pure delicious flavours. The purer constituents of the bar simply increased the intensification of the cocoa, making the taste even more raw and longer in its duration. Truth be told, it could simply be too intense for some, the buffer of the sweetness from the vanilla has been taken away, people wary of dark chocolate should beware this is probably not a bar for them. This is yet another stunning and quite frankly delicious offering from Hotel Chocolat, who are simply starting to dominate the 'top rated bars' section ... changes are soon to be made ... suggestions are more than welcome!!

9.2 out of 10

September 14th: Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses

Kcal 230 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 24.0g (per 9 Kisses)

Having only reviewed the one variant of Hershey's Kisses before ... the 'Caramel Kisses', when asked by **I SHOP 4 YOU II** what products I wanted sending over from the US, I only thought it right I started to make my way through the range. **I SHOP 4 YOU II** kindly obliged with my request and have sent a truck load of different flavours from the 'Kisses' range. No better place to start than the original Milk Chocolate flavour I guess.

I must admit to be a fan of the look of 'Kisses'. They have both a unique and symbolic look that is presented nicely. The foil wrappers ensured they kept a relative freshness, and the paper tag that allowed them to be undressed (ooooh kinky!) was a nice little touch. I wasn't overly fond of the smell of the bag - it was rather like the aftertaste of the chocolate - yoghurty and tart ... just not the same appealing smell you get with most chocolate.

The size and shape of the 'Kisses' have a nice bitesized feel to them. I was eating these whole one at a time, simply letting them melt in my mouth. The melt was reasonably paced, the flavours did develop as the chocolate melted - so chewing them made little sense. The texture wasn't the smoothest and was by no means the luxuriously silkiness of say Galaxy or Dairy Milk - but was hardly unappealing. The flavour was of course very similar to the bar version of the Hershey's Milk chocolate I reviewed a few weeks ago. It had a very milky sweet taste that was neither amazingly good or bad whatsoever - just a real middle of the road milk chocolate offering. I found the aftertaste again slightly acidic and yoghurty in its taste, as I said with the bar version it neither bothered me or added anything to the experience, however I would definitely have preferred a creamier flavour left in the mouth.

Overall these are a pretty solid milk chocolate offering - far from a luxurious Hotel Chocolat gourmet experience - but just nice as a proposition to snack on once and awhile. I wouldn't recommend these as a chocolate to indulge in for personal satisfaction, though I can see they have a great appeal in situations where just a minor chocolaty hit is needed, a perfect item for the cinema or sharing with friends etc. A bit of a mediocre kick-off to my range review of Hershey's Kisses - I'm hoping for more from some of the more extravagant flavours.

7.1 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

**Competition Time - Name These Bars**

1.
2.
3.
4.

It's about time Chocolate Mission gave some more chocolate!!

What Can you win? By answering Correctly you will be placed in a random draw to win one of the following:

• Current Chocolate Mission Leader: Hotel Chocolat 85% Dark Chocolate 125g Slab
  
• Hotel Chocolat Orange& Chilli Dark Chocolate 125g Slab
• M&M's Peanut Butter Flavour (US) 49g 
• M&M's Milk Chocolate Flavour (US) 49g

WHAT IS THE COST? ZERO, ZIP, NOTHING, NADA

HOW DO I ENTER? SIMPLY LOOK AT THE ABOVE PICTURES AND NAME THOSE BARS!!

ALL ENTRIES TO BE SENT TO JIM@CHOCOLATEMISSION.NET

Entries close at 10pm 20.09.2008 - and the winners will be notified
Open to the UK & Ireland only - sorry folks - times are tight as a student :(
GOOD LUCK and keep tuning in to Chocolate Mission :D

Small Print:

1. None of your contact Details will be used or sold on to any 3rd party companies - this is a competition solely for fun.
2. Entries must be in by 10pm 20.09.2008.
3. Only one entry per person
4. Rules/Prizes of the competition may be changed at any time to my discrection..theres blatantly details I have forgotten
5. As it says above this is only open to the UK & Ireland
6. My say on anything to do with this competition is FINAL

September 13th: Lindt Lindor Dark Mint Truffles

Kcal 75 Fat 6.1g Fat(sats) 5.1g Carbs 4.1g (per truffle)

It has been a bit of while since my last Lindt Lindor review - I still have a few more flavours knocking around the ever-expanding 'chocolate to review box'. I believe the Lindor Coffee are currently winning the war of the Lindor truffles - today I took a look at the 'Mint' variant which comprised of a cool peppermint centre encased in dark chocolate.

As we all know Lindor truffles are one of the most incredibly moreish chocolates out there, one truffle can very soon turn into one hundred... something I guess is testament to the taste, though also an indicator of their less than satisfying hunger fulfilling credentials. The truffles looked nice - the filling as you can see had a nice creamy look to it, which certainly appealed to me. Opening the garishly coloured green wrappers released a pleasant cocoa aroma ... there was a lack of mintyness which I didn't anticipate.

The outer chocolate was definitely not the strongest of Lindt's Dark chocolate offerings - nowhere near the richness of the full flavoured '70% Dark '. Its cocoa flavour was not quite as strong or impactful, but its sweeter more subtle chocolaty favour was suited to the mild mannered truffle centre. As with the whole Lindt Lindor range the texture was fantastic, the outer chocolate was smooth in its melt, though the centre took things to another level. It had a butter like texture that melted luxuriously in the mouth - anyone who has had a Lindor truffle will understand the extent of the smoothness im talking about here. The texture of the centre was fantastic but the taste lacked the mint flavour I was both hoping for and wanted. It was very mild in its flavour, it had a butter toffee likeness that had an undertone of peppermint - it was certainly tasty but just didn't deliver a definitive minty taste.

Overall these are a fair truffle offering. The fact they are lacking in their minty taste does seem disappointing, however when comparing the quality of overall taste with other similar products like the After Eight Bitesize, the mildness doesn't seem such a bad thing ... far better than an overpowering minty taste anyway. The dark chocolate is not the most full flavoured Lindt dark offering but it still had a nice melt and smooth cocoa flavour. These are definitely not the best from the Lindor range and I would recommend other variants over these. By no means a bad product, just theres better out there.

7.8 out of 10

September 12th: Butterfinger Creme Egg

Kcal 160 Fat 8.0g Fat(sats) 3.5g Carbs 23.0g

Creme Egg??? This is no Creme Egg - There is only ONE!!? I wonder how Cadbury feel about all this Nestle?!? Small rant aside....today I sampled the 'Butterfinger Creme Egg' courtesy again of CandyPirate. This Egg came described as 'Butterfinger pieces & peanut butter creme in a milk chocolate shell'. Not being the biggest fan ever of the original Butterfinger bar I wasn't expecting much from it in egg form.

The product was a very similar size to most eggs I have reviewed on Chocolate Mission - lol lets not go into how they are getting smaller please. The product weighed in at 32.6g, not the biggest serving size when you think about it - but it was surprisingly fulfilling. The foil wrapping was extremely thin, though it provided a pretty adequate covering for the egg and looked reasonably smart. Opening the egg up it had a thickish layer of milk chocolate, the peanut butter filling took up all available space in the egg - no skimping there whatsoever; it looked a very appetising proposition. The smell wasn't anything remarkable - surprisingly the egg was pretty scentless in regard to its peanut aroma and only had a slight sweet chocolaty smell.

The milk chocolate coating as you can probably guess was nothing ground-breaking. It had a pretty standard sweet milky taste; it was nothing spectacular but did provide a respectable cocoa undertone to the overall taste. My main gripe with the original Butterfinger was that it was just way too sweet, and its crisp texture reminded me way too much of pure sugar. This egg was different, the filling was indeed more like pure peanut butter and creme-like, something that it was all the better for. It did lack the saltiness of Reese's peanut butter, but it still had a creamy roasted flavour that was extremely pleasant. Dispersed in the creme were small sugary Butterfinger pieces that added a nice crunchy contrast to the smooth textures of the chocolate and peanut butter creme. The filling left a long lasting creamy nut flavour in the mouth, as I mentioned above it was a surprisingly satisfying product for its size.

Overall I really enjoyed this egg, far more so than the original Butterfinger. The peanut butter creme, whilst not on the same level as Reese's, was still full of flavour and provided a wonderful filling. The Butterfinger crunchy pieces were not over portioned in the egg, this made sure the taste wasn't overbearingly sweet and thus avoided the sickening taste of the Butterfinger. As egg themed products go this is certainly up there competing with the best of them - not quite on par with the Cadbury Creme Egg but decent nonetheless. Definitely one for peanut butter fans!

7.8 out of 10

Want to try the Nestle Butterfinger Creme Egg for yourself!? Head over to CandyPirate for all your AmericanCandy & Sweet needs all right here in the UK

September 11th: Lindt Excellence Mint / Orange Intense

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

Having already reviewed both the Lindt Exellence '70% Cocoa Dark' and 'Extra Creamy Milk' to huge success a few months back, I was very keen at sampling these flavoured offerings from the Excellence range.

Both of these bars came in 35g handy servings - both of which provided just about the right amount in accordance to their relatively rich tastes. As with the entire Lindt range both were stunningly presented in aesthetically pleasing, sleek packaging designs. The bars themselves both looked smart, the 'Orange Intense' having a slight edge due to the added intricatness of how the added ingredients in the bar were implemented yet still managed to keep a stylish smooth surface - very impressive.

Mint Intense:

I was surprised by the lack of minty aroma that I got from the bar, itstill had a dark cocoa rooted smell, though the minty element was very subtle and had to be searched for to be distinguished.

Both the bars used 47% cocoa solids chocolate - this made sense to me as it allowed each of the additional flavours to have more of an impact on the overall taste, something that may not have been the case if a stronger formulation was used. Despite it not being as strong as the '70% Cocoa Dark', the flavour of the chocolate was very full flavoured and had a very rich taste. The mint element was present due to the inclusion of peppermint oil, I was surprised to see it only comprised of 0.1% of the bar - even more so when I tasted the bar and experienced its impact on the taste. It provided a edgy and refreshing aspect to the bar, it reminded me of the After Eight Bitesize I reviewed a while ago - only just far superior in its overall taste with a delicious tasting, smooth dark chocolate and a perfectly balanced additional minty edge. This is a bit of a different proposition to the nearly equally as good Ritter Sport Peppermint - though if you ask me this Lindt offering is marginally superior due to the extra quality of the dark chocolate.

In summary - rich, full flavoured dark chocolate with a refreshing and perfectly balanced minty freshness.

8.6 out of 10

Orange Intense:

This bar had a relatively strong pungent zesty smell when I opened the foil. The bar incorporated 'dark chocolate with added orange pieces and almond slithers'.

The chocolate provided a lovely melt on the tongue that was just the right speed at releasing the rich cocoa flavour. As found with the 'Mint Intense' the taste became smoother and sweeter as the melt progressed. The additional orange pieces gave the bar a nice fruity twang, unfortunately though the orange pieces were by far outnumbered by the bland tasting almond slithers.

The almond slithers were a quiet puzzling inclusion for me. Sure they added a crunchy element to the texture, but this was out of context due to the nature of the chocolate, which was far tastier when just left to melt in the mouth. The size of the almond slithers were annoyingly small, this not only meant they lacked flavour but also managed to wedge themselves in between my teeth.

In summary - rich, full flavoured dark chocolate, nice fruity orange but an unnecessary almond element.

7.9 out of 10

September 10th: Cadbury Snack Sandwich

Kcal 135 Fat 7.2g Carbs 15.6g

The Cadbury Snack range has already served up two pretty average offerings to the Chocolate Mission rating system; both the 'Snack Shortcake' and the 'Snack Raisin Cereal Bar' hardly went any way to setting any fires alight. Despite this I couldn't help myself when I saw this 'Snack Sandwich' - I have to cover all bases now don't I.

This 'Snack Sandwich' was described on-pack as a 'milk chocolate coated shortcake sandwich biscuit'. It came packaged in a foil wrapper that followed much the same design as the rest of the 'Snack' range. I have previously criticised the product appearance of the rest of the 'Snack' variants, though I actually liked the look of the 'Sandwich'. It had an appealing design with the Cadbury logo inscribed on the coating of the bar. The cross-section of the bar also had an impressive look with the layers being very defined in their appearance. The product had a pretty standard chocolaty aroma - it was neither strong nor overly enticing in its presence ... simply what you would expect from such a bar.

The milk chocolate comprised most of the constituents of the bar (69%). It didn't quite have the full flavoured Dairy Milk flavour, though it was still pleasant nonetheless. The milk chocolate had a strong sweet milky taste and provided a great coating to the bar. It wasn't quite the smooth texture of Dairy Milky and did clump as it melted; it had an ever so slight grainy feel in the mouth. The biscuit element had a nice buttery taste, which had just the slightest salty kick. Placed in the middle of the shortcake biscuit was a milk chocolate creme layer. Though it further added to the coating flavour, it affected the texture of the biscuit giving it a moist limp feel, which obviously wasn't preferable to the crunchy texture I was hoping for. Despite the vaguely disappointing textures, the combination of the milk chocolate and biscuit elements worked nicely to provide a pretty satisfying proposition considering its relatively small 26g size.

Overall desipte this again being nothing more than a pretty average product from Cadbury, its definitely the best in the 'Cadbury Snack' range I have tasted so far. The milk chocolate wasn't of the highest Cadbury quality, yet it was tasty enough and provided a pleasant coating to the shortcake biscuit centre. The bar could be very easily improved two ways: 1) removing the middle chocolate layer to avoid the biscuit getting moist and 2) making it double the size. I wouldn't say this should be a product you should massively go out of your way to trying, but if your looking for a cheap and quick biscuit based fix, you could do far worse.

7.4 out of 10

September 9th: Kshocolat Milk Chocolate

Kcal 530 Fat 30.5g Fat(sats) 19.2g Carbs 57.5g

What with all the wired and wonderful flavoured products I have been sampling recently, this plain milk chocolate bar from Kshocolat appeared a relatively subdued proposition. I haven't had too much luck with the Kshocolat range so far; neither the '72% Dark Chocolate' or the 'Honeycomb & Vanilla' bars left me overwhelmingly satisfied, whilst the 'Lemon and Pepper white chocolate' didn't quite push the right buttons with me ... to be frank I just wasn't expecting much from this before consuming it.

The bar came in the standard Kshocolat paper wrapping with inner foil layer. Again I had neither any great deal of affection or disposition towards it, it was just pretty standard packaging and what you would expect from a more premuim positioned brand. The bar itself had the typical Kshocolat cocoa pod pattern moulded into the chocolate - there's no doubting it does look impressive and is far superior in comparison to a lot of other manufactures who are quiet lazy with their bars aesthetics. The bar had a reasonable aroma - it had a strong cocoa based core scent that had elements of vanilla coming through sporadically.

The chocolate had a smooth butter like texture that provided a silky melt in the mouth. This must be accountable to the high amounts of cocoa butter (18%), in texture it at least felt like a more premium style product. unfortunately the same could not really be said about the taste. It had a one-dimensional milky taste; surprising considering the cocoa solids (32%) were portioned far more heavily than the milk solids (17%). It had a smooth taste, though it was just relatively bland, the flavours never developed onwards from the initial milky creaminess. The aftertaste was actually partially sour tasting and was just not the most enjoyable. The bars lack of richness meant that it wasn't a massively satisfying product. After eating half the bar at a time (40g) I was hardly yearning for more, although this was mostly due to the unexciting taste. As with the rest of the range the bar ingredients were pretty clean - there's no vegetable fats or artificial ingredients to be seen ... unfortunately this didn't make it an outstanding bar of chocolate.

Overall in a market that is so full of different flavour variations and bars sourced from fancy locations, this was a bar hard to get excited about. It was lucky that really, as at the end of the day it was far from spectacular. The texture was quite pleasurable; it had a lovely smoothness and melted like butter on the tongue. Unfortunately the taste was really just quite lacklustre and never ventured in its flavour development to ever being more than a pretty subdued milk based flavour - the lack of cocoa depth was both surprising and disappointing relative to its proportion with the milk solids. As you will see from its score this is a hard bar to really recommend due to there being so many other far cheaper and more flavoursome bars on the market, this merely just never reaches anything more than being an average milk chocolate offering.

7.3 out of 10

September 8th: Hotel Chocolat Milk 52% Salt & Caramel

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

Having polished off Hotel Chocolat's full 'Peepster Box' range , the guys from the HC marketing team were kind enough to send me this 'The Purist Library' collection box.

The collection includes seven single origin variants - todays cocoa bean originating from the Uba Budo Plantation which is in the Agua Grande region of the island nation of Sao Tome; for those that aren't aware ... (lol me included!) this is an island in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa. Todays bar was formed using cocoa beans from this island and had added 'Himalayan Salt & Caramel' ingredients.

Each of the bars come in a 75g serving, as you can probably tell from the above paragraphs the packaging contained a fair amount of blurb. Despite the on-pack information nearly verging on pretentious I must admit it was stunningly presented. The bar came in an outer cardboard sleeve packaging that looked the definition of sleek. As I have said the on-pack information was borderline over-the-top but for those interested it was both informative and appetite whetting. Inside the cardboard box was a bar/slab that was kept amazingly fresh in a foil package. Opening the foil package I could detect an instant cocoa aroma release itself, the strength of the smell was not only enticing but indicated the incredible freshness of the product.

The bar was very easy to split, the thickness of the product was near perfect. The texture of the chocolate was incredibly soft, just handling the bar left firm thumbprints on the service which should give you an indication at the ease of its melt. On the tongue it felt amazingly smooth, this was a chocolate that under no circumstances would need or ever should be chewed.

The initial taste of the bar was quite an concentrated cocoa flavour; its taste was extremely fresh and was not overly dominant or intense. As the melt progressed so did the flavour and the caramel became increasingly evident as the chocolate started to liquidify. The caramel element was not sweet like most mass confection caramels, but rather provided a more bitter honey flavour, one I would almost describe as burnt sugar - rather creme brulee esc. Occasionally some pieces would release a fantastic subtle salty note that was fantastically balanced with the caramel flavour, giving it a very moreish and refreshing taste. Despite the bar being very full flavoured in it's duration in the mouth, I found the aftertaste slightly underwhelming in that it just didn't last very long, this meant I actually consumed this bar rather sharpish as I was increasingly wanting the delicious flavour hit it provided. This was probably the fastest I have ever eaten 75g of chocolate.

Overall after battling my way through the reams of information the packaging was shouting at me (I loved it really!!), there was really quite a great tasting bar of chocolate. Despite my moaning, the packaging looked fantastic - theres no two ways about it - presentation top notch! As I have said the taste wasn't half bad either ;) It had a deliciously balanced taste; the chocolate was full flavoured but did not overshadow the caramel undertone. The additional salty lick made the bar all the moreish, which was partially unfortunate due to the shortness of the longevity of the taste. If this combination sounds like a proposition you would like, then its a pretty safe bet this is a bar you will immensely enjoy. Me...!?... Reccomending a Hotel Chocolat product!?... Never :)

8.6 out of 10

September 7th: Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate

Kcal 240 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 9.0g Carbs 24.0g

I didn't know too much about this Hershey's Bliss range before **I SHOP 4 YOU II** kindly provided me with some samples. Doing a bit of research via Google I found out that this particular range is supposed to provide a more premuim Hershey's option for consumers:

"The launch is part of Hershey's attempts to cash in on the growth of the more upmarket chocolate sector in the US." ...full spiel HERE

There are three variants in the range - today I sampled the 'milk chocolate' variant ... was it really that much better than the original Hershey's Milk Chocolate!? Only one way to find out ...

The packaging looked nice yet had a very familiar appearance - on more than one occasion I did have to double check I wasn't consuming a Dove (Galaxy) product ... this is obviously a deliberate thing as the similarities are all to obvious. The chocolates themselves came in nice foil packages, I was slightly disappointed by there being no patterns on the chocolates, though the design shape provided a perfect fit in the mouth. The chocolates had a pretty strong smell that was very similar to Dove (Galaxy) chocolate. It was far stronger in its dairy scents than its cocoa intensiveness; my overall thoughts on the presentation of the product were resoundingly positive.

As I have already referred to, the shape of the chocolates were very well designed. Each piece was a perfect bitesize mouthful and melted longingly in the mouth due to its intelligent shape. The slow melt released the on-pack promised creamy taste; as the smell suggested its milk flavours were far stronger than its cocoa. Both the taste and texture were smoother than original Hershey's milk chocolate, the texture avoided clumping like I found with the original. I ate six of these chocolates in one sitting with real relative ease, the lack of real cocoa richness meant that overall this was not a product that was wholly satisfying. One thing the product did deliver was a pleasant aftertaste that had a nice creamy note to it; it was a pretty stark comparison to the yoghurty tangy taste of original Hershey's ... im pretty sure the majority of people will much prefer the aftertaste of the 'Bliss' offering.

Overall this is a nice tasting product that certainly delivers its on pack promise of being a creamy milk chocolate. It has super smooth milky taste that I would much compare to standard Galaxy chocolate. Its lack of real cocoa flavour hit damages the overall richness of the product, though this can be my only real complaint in what was really a pleasant tasting smooth milk chocolate. Im not to sure about the price of this product in the US - it would be interesting to know how it compares to the price of Dove chocolate, as it seems to be a very similar proposition. Personally I preferred this to Hershey's original milk chocolate - certainly worth a look at if you prefer a smoother tasting chocolate.

7.8 out of 10

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