*** FREE COMPETITION ***

Once again I feel the need to treat you all to a FREE ... yes FREE COMPETITION :D :D

So what is up for grabs this time???

Well courtesy of the great people at Dean-German-Grocery - up for grabs are seven .... yes SEVEN Nestle White Lion Bars (Click for Review!!)

So How do I win? ... Answer these Following Questions:

Q.1 Name Four brands of Chocolate that are available to buy from Dean-German-Grocery

Q.2 Name these products:To enter send your answers to Jim@Chocolatemission.net

Please include your address for your prize to be sent to if you should be so lucky to win, and please make your subject 'Competition Answers'

Entries close at 10pm 12.11.2008 - 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
This is a competition for seven individual winners to win one Nestle White Lion Bar each!!

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 12.11.2008.
3. Only one entry per person4. Rules/Prizes of the competition may be changed at any time to my discrection..there are blatantly details I have forgotten
4. As it says above this is only open to the UK & Ireland
5. My say on anything to do with this competition is FINAL

*******************************************

RESULTS!!!

Congratulations to:

Heidi, Jamie, Sally, James, Rachel, Ibbs & Tilly ..... You have all won a Nestle White Lion Bar!! I hope you enjoy them! 

Please share your thoughts on the bar once you have tried it!

Thanks for all the entries!!

Jim

October 29th: Kinder Country

Kcal 130 Fat 7.9g Carbs 12.5g

Kinder Country is yet another Ferrero product that doesn't seem to make it to UK shores all to often. I have seen it sporadically appear and disappear from our shelves over the years ... as you have probably guessed already my opportunity to review this came via Dean-German-Grocery. So what does the Kinder Country consist of? ... well it contains 'milk chocolate, with a milk flavoured centre with puffed cereal pieces'.

Dean-German-Grocery were kind enough to send a box of nine 23.5g bars. I ate six for the purpose of this review, though I have saved some with the intention of using them as prizes for the upcoming ChocolateMission competition ;) .... (Keep an eye out for that one folks!!). The packaging took that of a typical Kinder product - a friendly mixture of red and white colours. The outer packaging was nice enough, though the great aesthetic look of the bar itself was the determinant for its high 8.5 score in that criteria. The inner centre had great appeal with the fluffy white filling interspersed with cereal pieces, whilst the chocolate had a unblemished and fresh looking surface. The product had a sweet dairy aroma that had hints of malt, the smell wasn't all that strong, but was quite enticing when searched for.

Due to the diversity of the ingredients the Kinder country had a varying set of textures that came into play at different times of the eating experience. Simply letting the pieces melt in the mouth allowed the initial outer chocolate to briefly impose itself. The milk chocolate was unfortunately thin and melted too fast for my liking, however it did provide a nice initial chocolaty context to the taste. The cocoa flavours were quickly dominated by the milk filling; the texture of the milky centre felt light and whipped; the creamy flavours were strong and extremely tasty. Interspersed throughout this milky centre were the cereal pieces ... anyone who has had the cereal 'Sugar puffs' will know the flavours that these pieces added. You will be unsurprised to hear they added an extra crunchiness to the texture and an extra injection of sweet brown sugar, wheaty flavours. Although the ingredients and composition of the bar was relatively diverse , the longevity of the flavours was relatively short, and I found myself reaching for the third bar in a row all too easily. The flavours were almost too smoothly delivered and could have done with being intensified more to create a greater richness.

Overall this is another relatively good Ferrero offering, though is one that falls down a fairly common pitfall that a lot of Kinder products succumb to. You only have to look as far as the 'Happy Hippos', 'Maxxi' and 'Bueno' to some extent to see that Ferrero rarely produce bad tasting products. The common problem they all share is that they all lack substantially. The chocolate, milk filling and cereal ingredients were all delicious, but unfortunately lacked richness. Personally I think an extra thickness to the milk chocolate coating would do absolutely wonders for the product. If your a fan of Kinder products, it is very likely this would be a product you would enjoy. This is certainly a tasty product, I just suggest you buy a multi-pack if you want total satisfaction.

7.9 out of 10

Fancy trying the Kinder Country for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 29th: Lindt '1001 Nights' Chocolate Dream Candle Holder

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

As I have already brought to your attention, Dean-German-Grocery recently sent me through another load of samples, this time containing many of the most popular German brands Christmas offerings. One item that straight away stood out to me was this Lindt one. This product forms part of the Lindt '1001 Nights' range, and included 125g of mini milk chocolate truffles.

As you may have gathered from the title, this was not your standard chocolate offering. The tin packaging doubled up as quite a nice looking candle holder. I doubt I will get much use out of it myself, but this was really a nice unique touch. Onto the more important issue at hand, the chocolates, were wrapped in nice individual looking sparkly wrappers and despite their small size had nicely detailed logo imprinted surfaces. Releasing the chocolates from the wrappers, they had a nice smell that had a strong vanilla essence to it. As ever, the presentation of this Lindt product was brilliant.

For such small chocolates the number of flavour dimensions was incredible. The milk chocolate had a creamy taste that intensified as the piece melted. Inside the outer chocolate layer was a wonderfully smooth tasting praline type filling, which had a sweet hazelnut taste. The longer the praline filling was exposed, the greater the underlying vanilla flavour grew in its intensity. This vanilla flavour heavily noted the creamy chocolaty aftertaste, leaving a lovely lasting impression. These were extremely moreish chocolates, the only downside to them being that even half of the tin was a pretty unfulfilling experience.

Overall not only did this product provide a classy looking candle holder, but it actually had some pretty awesome chocolates as well :) !! The chocolates though small, and pretty unfulfilling were full of flavour. I would love to see these flavours incorporated into a Lindor truffle. The nutty flavours of the hazelnuts, and subtle but lasting vanilla flavours would be perfect for the Lindor format - I guess we can only cross our fingers. A good start to what will be a very extensive look over the Lindt Christmas range.

8.2 out of 10

Fancy gifting this Lindt '1001 Nights' Chocolate Dream Candle Holder this Xmas!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 28th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Black Forest

Kcal 242 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 7.1g Carbs 29.8g

The last bar I reviewed from Cadbury that was manufactured in New Zealand was the simply dismal Cadbury Buzz... I was really hoping todays bar the Cadbury Dairy Milk Black Forest was going to be a hell of a lot better..thankfully it was!

The Black Forest incorporates 'Dairy Milk milk chocolate with cherry flavoured jellies and biscuit pieces', all in a single serving 45g bar. The packaging looked nice...pretty typical Cadbury with a snazzy looking foil wrapper...the bar was split into eight chunks as shown above and had a nice look with the Cadbury logo cleanly scribed into each block. The bar had a familiar Dairy Milk creamy smell though had a slight scent of very sweet artificial fruitiness...the aroma was nice but I was a little curious with regard to the sweet fruity smell.

Further adding to the conundrum of the formulation of Cadbury Dairy Milk (see CDM Irish!), this New Zealand sourced variation of the recipe comprised of 27% cocoa solids and 25% milk solids. It had a similar taste to our English version though had a stronger cocoa edginess in the aftertaste. Its flavour was no where near the creaminess of the Irish though I must say I preferred the thinner texture with this bar as it allowed the other elements of the bar to express their flavours and not be lost in a overly dense chocolate.

The biscuit component was not the strongest in flavour but did add a pleasant crunchiness to the smooth chocolate....as I said it wasn't the strongest in taste and offered no more than the slightest wheaty flavour. The jelly pieces were really the distinctive element of the bar and I very much enjoyed their inclusion. They had a gummy bear like texture and provided a unique chewiness against the other smooth and crunchy textures. Like their smell suggested they were artificially sweet but lets face it...who do sent enjoy the occasional fruit flavoured gummy!?...well I do anyway! The jelly pieces were spread nicely throughout the bar and were present in nearly every block.

Overall I really enjoyed this bar and found it very refreshing in the way that it was a unique combination of flavours and ingredients...there just isn't currently anything else like it on the market. The combination of great tasting Dairy Milk chocolate and jelly pieces is executed brilliantly and I particularly enjoyed the experience of letting the smooth chocolate melt away in my mouth and then sucking on the remaining cherry jelly pieces. If your a fan of Haribo sweets or Maynards Wine Gums this would definitely be a bar you would enjoy. Its a real wonder why this bar doesn't have worldwide distribution and is only being sold in the New Zealand...that said its worth tracking down if you can find it - highly recommended!

8.6 out of 10

October 28th: Milka Caramel

Kcal 540 Fat 33.0g Carbs 56.0g

Similar to the case of the Milka Fruit and Nut of a few days ago, this Milka Caramel certainly had a lot to live up to considering that the Cadbury and Galaxy Caramel bars are still taking pride of place at number two on the overall Chocolate Mission leader board. As far as I am aware Milka Caramel is not available here in the UK ... not that I have seen anyway. Thankfully this bar is just one of many that comprises Dean-German-Grocery's extensive collection ... so I suggest you head there if this bar tickles your fancy.

As you can see in the above picture, this bar took a bit of a different angle to the market norm in regard to it's caramel centre. The bar was coated in the standard Milka Alpine milk chocolate, though the middle contained both a caramel flavoured cream centre as well as a more typical gooey caramel layer. This was a concept communicated well through the presentation of the product. The picture looked enticing and the cross section revealed the distinctive layering. The bar had a fantastically sweet, honey like smell that I would have savoured for longer had I not been so eager to taste the product.

Both the flavours and textures I got from this bar were superb. The inner caramel centre was absolutely divine - combining a delicious mixture of dairy flavours from the cream filling and sweet toffee notes from the more liquid gooey layer. Initially the distinction between the two components was quite evident, though once the super smooth melt had progressed they merged into a fantastic sweet, creamy taste. The outer Alpine Milk chocolate for my liking was a little thin in it's proportioning, it's flavour never really stamped its authority on the taste as it's melty nature made it all but disappear to quickly. Had the chocolate been that bit more prominent, the longevity of the flavours in the mouth would no doubt have increased. The flavours were fantastic, though a bit short in terms of their lifespan.

Overall I have big respect for Milka trying something a little different in terms of their caramel centre. It would have been all too easy for them to follow the typical route of filling the bar with any old golden coloured, sweet syrup and being done with that. Milka stretched themselves by incorporating the extra caramel cream layer, and have really created a product that brings something new to the caramel bar table. The taste of the caramel filling was delicious, I would say it even surpasses the caramel from the Cadbury and Galaxy bars. The only slight issue is that the level of chocolate isn't sufficient enough to really stamp it's presence on the taste ... a problem that could so easily be solved by increasing the proportioning of the Alpine Milk. This is both a unique and fantastic offering in the caramel market and one that I really whole heartidly recommend - my favourite Milka bar to date.

8.7 out of 10

Fancy trying the Milka Caramel for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 27th: Lindt Christmas Punch

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

When sifting through the vast bunch of Christmas samples that Dean-German-Grocery sent me, this Lindt offering immediately caught my eye. Now I have never heard of 'Christmas Punch' before but according to Lindt it involves a concoction of cinnamon and rum ... sounds interesting huh!? Well this bar incorporated these 'punch' elements in the form of a liquid filling sitting inside milk chocolate ... I was intrigued!!

I am one for rattling on about how classy Lindt present their products, and this product did little to change my mind on this. The outer packaging had a lovely shiny golden effect - one that my camera really didn't do justice for as you will see above. As well as beautiful outer packaging the bar itself didn't look half bad either. The liquid 'Punch' filling was contained within several pods, each of which were impressively branded with the Lindt logo. The smell of the bar was what I can only describe as very forthcoming. Releasing the bar from its inner foil packaging I was met with an almost overpowering smell of rum - as you will learn later when I describe the taste this wasn't entirely preferable.

To really asses the quality of the chocolate I really had to tune myself into looking past the amazingly dominant rum flavours. The chocolate was quite a weak formulation for Lindt, containing only 30% cocoa solids. When tasted in isolation from the filling it had a smooth milky taste, and was heavily noted with cinnamon - to be honest I find it almost pointless describing the taste of the chocolate as this was a product about one thing, and one thing only ... the rum!! According for only 6% of the total constituents this was never going to be a situation where eating a whole bar would result in the consumer seeing double and having a sudden urge for Karaoke :) ... saying that I must say it was bloody strong and completely dominated all the other flavours of the bar. Now I am no rum expert but even I could tell this wasn't good quality rum. I'm a poor student who has drank some god damn awful spirits in my time, but to be honest this ranked up there with the Tesco Value stuff ... paint stripper anyone!?? The rum element smelt bad, tasted bad and even manged to ruin the smooth melt of the chocolate with its coarse crystallised texture ... need I say more??

Overall the novelty factor of this bar is high, however at the heart of the matter, it is just a really poor tasting bar. The rum is frankly awful - and its dominance of every other element of the bar pretty much spoils the product. Lindt as ever presented this product beautifully, given as a 'joke' gift it would actually look pretty classy ... unfortunately the laughs would soon stop upon tasting the thing. I may be well off on my own on this one ... but imagine that cheap bottle of booze at the back of your parents liquor cupboard that probably hasn't seen light of day for 30 odd years!?? ... well this is it in chocolate bar form!

5.6 out of 10

Fancy trying the Lindt Christmas Punch for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 27th: Hotel Chocolat Bells & Baubles / Chilli Penguins

Following on from Hotel Chocolat's Kissing Mistletoe/ Little Angels reviews, I have this week been sampling their milk chocolate 'Bells & Baubles' and spiced dark chocolate 'Chilli Penguins'.

These came in exactly the same nice looking packaging as last weeks products, in two separate festive looking boxes with plenty of inner wrapping for protection and freshness. The 110.0g boxes contained ten chocolates. Ten chocolates were more than enough to last me two servings, though I warn you now I wouldn't leave these lieing around your house opened ... I am sure they will be eaten in a matter of seconds :)

In essence, the only thing that differed the 'Bells & Baubles' from last weeks 'Kissing Mistletoe' was the design. Personally I much preferred the size and shape of the 'Bells & Baubles' ... but I will go into that in a minute. As for the 'Chilli Penguins', well again as with many of the products from this impulse range, I liked the design but they just weren't all that practical.

Hotel Chocolat Bells & Baubles:

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

As I have explained above these differed to the 'Kissing Mistletoe' only in their design shape. Comprised of the same 40% house milk chocolate, I was met with the same sweet cocoa scents when I opened the box.

You will be unsurprised to learn that the chocolate retained the creamy, clean milky flavours, which again provided a wonderfully long, lasting taste. The 40% Hotel Chocolat milk chocolate is one of my favourite formulations. I think the firm but friendly cocoa base tones are complimented perfectly by the crisp dairy flavours ... all of which are delivered superbly through the wonderfully thick, smooth melt.

So why did these score slightly better than the 'Kissing Mistletoe' ... well it was purely down to the shape. These 'Bells & Baubles' chocolates were smaller, but thicker. Though they were still too large to eat in one mouthful, the greater thickness meant that the nature of the melt was much more enjoyable in the two thicker bites, and meant that each bite lasted that bit longer in the mouth. Of course this was a very minor difference, but it was noticeable nonetheless.

A highly enjoyable milk chocolate offering, and one that I would highly recommend for Christmas this year. To be honest though its not as if were expecting anything less were we!?

8.9 out of 10


Hotel Chocolat Chilli Penguins:

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

'Hotel Chocolat 74% Dark Chocolate with a little warming chilli' .... and not a peppercorn in sight ... thank god :) The first thing I noticed about these 'Penguins' was the fact the dark chocolate was comprised of 74% cocoa and not the standard 72% ... this was noticeable on the packaging, though I honestly wouldn't of been able to tell had it been a blind taste test.

Opening the box I was met with a barrage of rich cocoa scents. The chilli element wasn't all too evident at this point in time, however this was soon to change. Placing the chocolate on the tongue, the rich cocoa flavours quickly made their presence felt creating a fantastically strong overall taste. Despite the cocoa flavours being very impactful, they were never too intense and the chocolate had a nice smooth milkiness to it. The texture was absolutely superb, the nature of the melt was wonderfully thick and progressed at a nice rate. I didn't care too much for the shape of the 'Penuguins', like the 'Little Angels' from the previous week I found their size somewhat awkward, in that they had to be eaten in the three mouthfuls rather than the favourable two. So ... the chilli element - despite not being all that noticeable in a single piece, when eating a few of these at a time the warmth from the chilli was very evident. It created a nice new dynamic to the chocolate - it didn't alter the delicious flavours, but created an extra dimension to the texture delivering a tingle in the aftertaste.

Overall these were my favourite from this particular Christmas range. The dark chocolate was near perfectly flavoured, rich but not overpowering or bitter in any sense. The chilli element was perfectly managed, providing a fantastic warming effect to the aftertaste. Although I will admit the look of the 'Penguins' was cute, I did have some small reservations towards the shape and size of the chocolates. This was a product I really enjoyed and would again definitely recommend this Christmas.

9.0 out of 10
Yet again Hotel Chocolat delivered on a grand scale. I am constantly praising Hotel Chocolat, probably to the point that it is getting boring for all you guys .... the fact is though you can't argue with quality. If you are gifting chocolate this Christmas I would personally recommend any of the Kissing Mistletoe / Little Angels / Bells & Baubles / Chilli Penguins ... all are fantastic offerings that would be great gifts or chocolates to have round the house for the entire family. More Hotel Chocolat Christmas goodies next week.

October 26th: Aero Mint

*** UPDATE 04/01/11 ***

New Wrapper Added


Kcal 256 Fat 14.7g Carbs 28.4g

I think I must be the only person left in the country buying into the Aero brand at the moment. Poor Aero, I'm willing to bet that despite their best efforts of putting the brand back on TV and giving it a re-designed wrapper (not pictured!), that the recently returned Cadbury Wispa is wiping the floor with it in terms of it's market share. Despite rating the Cadbury Wispa higher than the original Aero, my review of the Aero Mint Bubbles was even more positive. Because of this I was very interested to see how the Aero mint in bar form would fair.

As I mentioned above the brand team has in actual fact given their outer packaging a re-design. It is lucky for Aero I am rating the bar on it's old design, as to be honest I prefer the old school paper and foil retro look over the new cheaper plastic looking one. The bar itself also had a fairly decent look. Some may feel the brightness of the green may be a little garish, though myself I thought it gave the bar a unique look. Relieving the bar of it's inner foil wrapper a wonderful minty smell was released. There was no getting away from the freshness of the mint aroma - it smelt pretty fantastic to me.

Last month when I reviewed the original Aero I criticised it for it's waxy outer texture. Despite this being no different with this mint variation, I must pass comment on how superb the overall texture was. The middle bubbly centre had a further coolness factor added to it, which combined to the aerated nature of the centre made for a fantastically unique feel on the tongue. As well as the bar being superb in it's texture it was also fantastically flavoured. The 'middle-ground' milk chocolate that seemed so average and boring in the original bar was a near perfect 'robin' to the mint centres 'batman'. The taste of the brightly coloured centre was fantastically fresh and prevalent with it's strong yet creamy peppermint flavours. The mint taste was extremely long lasting and stayed alive in the mouth for an extended duration.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable, satisfying bar that proved to me there is still life in the Aero brand yet. The subtleness of the milk chocolate complimented the minty filling superbly, allowing the forcefulness of the minty flavours to rightfully take centre stage. The coolness from the mint gave the melty chocolate a wonderfully unique clean, crisp texture. Mint chocolate fans this is one I am sure you no doubt already love, if you haven't tried it yet I suggest you really get a wriggle on. The Aero brand team can breath easy for now ... but with the inevitable re-release of the Wispa Mint (not yet confirmed!!) you have to believe that even this bar might have an uphill struggle.

8.6 out of 10

October 26th: M&M's Chocolate Brownie

Kcal 355 Fat 17.5g Carbs 45.9g 

This isn't the first brownie product to get a ChocolateMission review - those of you may remember the slightly disappointing Reese's Peanut Butter Brownie I reviewed a few months ago. Being generally quite happy with the M&M's brand after the recent success with their 'Premiums' line, I thought why not give their delicious looking brownie a try.

Billed as a 'chocolate brownie topped with milk chocolate and mini M&M's', the product came packaged in both an attractive plastic wrapper and plastic inner box for protection. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of M&M's content. For starters I only got the 7 which didn't equate to much, but also they were only three colours - red, green and brown ... I guess this was partially down to luck, though you would expect them to have some consistency measures in place. The brownie had a pretty desirable buttery, cakey smell that was pretty evident upon removal from the wrapper. 

Chocolate content was never going to be a problem here - and boy was this one chocolaty experience. The brownie had a nice texture, that was both firm and moist. It had a sweet aftertaste, though during its time in the mouth it radiated a nice chocolaty, buttery set of flavours that I very much enjoyed. The milk chocolate layer that lined the top section of the bar was just about the right thickness and added an exta dimension of sweet milky flavours to the overall taste. The mini M&M's were really the only real letdown. Due to their size their taste was largely just sugar based due to their crispy shells. Despite their minimal portioning, the bites where they were present the extra sweetness they added felt unecessary as the cake was already sweet enough. 

Overall this was pretty satisfying snack, and delivered big time in terms of a chocolaty hit. I can't help but feel the point of the M&M's was slightly missed though, and I would have far preffered standard sized M&M's to have been used rather the smaller Mini versions. If Mars were being really clever they would integrate the M&M's into the brownie mix itself, aswell as placing them ontop ... now that sounds great to me. Despite the areas of improvement, I still think this was a pretty good product, and one I would recommend if your a fan of brownies.

8.0 out of 10

  

October 25th: Milka Alpine Milk Chocolate Raisin & Nut

Kcal 490 Fat 25.5g Fat(sats) 13.5g Carbs 57.5g (per 100.og)

Milka have thus far produced some mighty fine bars of chocolate - the 'Milka & Daim' and the original 'Alpine Milk' being no greater examples. Fruit and Nut however is a different kettle of fish altogether - many have tried with very few nailing the combination on the head completely. Cadbury, Hotel Chocolat, Toblerone and Montezumas had all scored pretty respectfully on the ChocolateMission rating system, so this Milka bar from Dean-German-Grocery had some pretty high standards to live up to. Comprising of the standard Alpine Milk chocolate, Raisins (19%) and Hazelnuts (6%) even before opening, it had already overcome the first hurdle by not containing chopped almonds.

I won't bleat on again about the high quality of Milka packaging - you all know I think it's great. One thing I will mention is the attractiveness of the bar itself - it had a unblemished appearance on the top side of the bar, though turned over the bar revealed the sheer abundance at which the raisins and nuts were portioned ... it looked impressive indeed. Despite the heavy presence in the aesthetics of the appearance, the fruit and nut element was surprisingly absent from the smell of the product. Don't get me wrong - the bar had a pretty great smelling dairy like aroma ... it was just the lack of fruit and nut element was a minor disappointment.

I ate this bar over two really satisfying, fulfilling servings eating half the 100g at a time. The chocolate retained all the fantastic attributes of the original Alpine milk bar, as well as actually being enhanced by the additional ingredients. The taste was deliciously creamy and the melt was fantastically smooth. The usual slight nutty edge to the Milka Alpine Milk chocolate was further intensified by the hazelnut pieces, this resulted in the flavours lasting even longer in the mouth. The raisins were equally as enhancing to the bar, they gave a pleasant sweet, sugary fruity element to the taste, whilst adding an extra softer, chewy variation in the texture. Raisins can sometimes be really hit or miss in such bars, but these were amongst the most flavoursome and enhancing I have tasted ... great stuff.

Overall I am glad to be able to inform you that this bar deserves it's place siting amongst the upper tier of the fruit and nut offerings. Both the raisins and the hazelnuts added unique and enhancing textures and flavours, which already given the high quality of the original Alpine Milk chocolate, it was always going to be hard pushed not to be of a good standard. Fans of Milka and Fruit and Nut products should both be satisfied by this bar. A highly enjoyable product that I would recommend to all.

8.5 out of 10

Fancy trying the Milka Raisin & Nut for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 25th: Nippon

Kcal 538 Fat 31.4g Carbs 56.0g (per 100.0g / 9 pieces)

Having reviewed the Caramel Chocolate Kellogg's Rice Krispy Square the other week, Dean-German-Grocery sent me across their German equivalent 'Nippon' to see if it would fair any better on the ChocolateMission rating system. These were delivered to me in a 200.0g packet that included 18 mini puffed rice squares that had been dipped in milk chocolate ... it took myself and a few friends a matter of minutes to munch our way through the lot.

These really were no a frills product - from the packaging to the actual squares themselves they were entirely unspectacular. The outer plastic packaging was very plain looking, though the inner plastic tray was a nice touch for the protection of the squares. Despite looking relatively boring in their looks, the squares actually had a relatively forthcoming sweet malty aroma that managed to give them some sort of appeal.

The chocolate that fused the product was was relatively decently portioned, and provided a nice creamy chocolaty base flavour. If I had to liken it to anything I would say it tasted very similar to bog standard Nestle milk chocolate (like on Kit Kats etc!) ... by all means unspectacular, but at the same time relatively pleasurable. I was somewhat disappointed with the crispness of the rice cereal, the chocolate had seemed to soften the rice somewhat meaning it lacked the desired crunch. The flavours of the cereal were also relatively sublte, they were far from the sugary 'Sugar Puffs' type of rice cereal, and added more of a wheaty, cereal undertone to the chocolate.

Overall I would say these were better than our Kellogg's Rice Krispy Square, though were still far from being a spectacular - 'must-try' product. The portioning of the chocolate was quite generous, and it did have a nice milky appeal - a real contrast from the chocolate starved Kellogg's alternative. Unfortunately though, every other aspect struggled to be little better than average, the cereal, overall presentation and hunger fufillment credentials were all nothing more than mediocre. I wouldn't really go out my way to recommend these, as there is nothing really that special about them. If you come across them though, they will provide a decent enough tasty snack.

6.5 out of 10

Fancy trying Nippon for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

October 24th: M&M's Premiums Mocha

Kcal 230 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 25.0g (per 42.0g)

Today sees me complete the final piece to the M&Ms Premiums puzzle with the review of my most eagerly anticipated flavour - 'Mocha'. As you will all probably know I love my coffee, and I have a particular soft spot for coffee flavoured chocolate ... hence why I saved these till last. Could they top the rest of the Almond' flavours, though they still had a very appealing look. Nothing quite beats the smell of freshly roasted coffee, obviously this would be entirely impossible to replicate in the form these M&M's, but they still had a strong, slightly sweet coffee aroma - enticing to the extreme.

So how did they taste? Well as the smell suggested the coffee flavour was strong and was very much the dominant flavour. As with the rest of the range, the normal hard shells had been replaced with a glaze type coating. I still preferred the use of the softer coating, however I was somewhat slightly disappointed at the texture and melt of the pieces. The flavours really didn't hit until the chocolate beneath the coating had been reached. This meant that with the slow melt of the outer coating, the 'letting them melt on the tongue' method sometimes got a bit tiring. This was somewhat excusable due to the melt being quite smooth, however I would have preferred a flavour hit as soon as the pieces entered the mouth. The milk chocolate and coffee flavours were absolutely delicious and very moreish. The milk chocolate was sweet and milky and the coffee had a wonderfully long taste that lingered in the mouth for a great deal of time. They were not the most fulfilling out of the range, a richer darker chocolate maybe could have solved this problem.

Overall these didn't quite take the crown of the best in the range like I was hoping for, however they were still a very good chocolate and coffee offering. The presentation, smell and to a great extent the taste were all absolutely fabulous ... but there were just some areas that I thought could have been executed a bit better. Despite the milk chocolate providing a nice milky background flavour to the coffee, one part of me couldn't help but think that maybe an unsweetened, darker chocolate may have been better implemented. Not only do I think it would have enhanced the taste even further, but I think it would have also made for a more fulfilling product. Regardless, this was still a pretty awesome flavour variant. The 'Chocolate Almond', 'Mint Chocolate' and 'Triple Chocolate' flavours may form the top 3 from the range - but this is still one for the chocolate and coffee fans to look out for. A special thanks to **I SHOP 4 YOU II** for giving me the chance to review the M&M's Premiums range.

8.2 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.

October 24th: Reese's Snackbarz

Kcal 120 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 16.0g

Reese's certainly aren't a brand scared of launching new products are they!? It seems almost every other week I hear about a new product of theirs! Today's review comes courtesy of Yankee Soda & Candy, who are actually the only UK distributor I have seen with these in stock as of writing!! So what have Reese's come up with this time?? ... 'crispy rice & marshmallow with Reese's peanut butter' ... an interesting mix I thought and well worthy of a quick review.

The bar came in a 25g serving and was about the same size of the Kelloggs' Rice Krispie Square I reviewed the other day. I ate this as a mid-afternoon snack, though was not left entirely satisfied - I could have easily eaten two. As you can see the bar had pretty typical Reese's styled packaging, with orange being the dominant colour. One thing that did quirk me a bit was the spelling of 'Snackbarz' ... why oh why spell it with a 'z'? It is neither cool or contemporary, and more of an insult to the consumers intelligence if anything. Small rant aside ... the product smelt wonderfully Reese's ... by the term 'Reese's' I hope you can gather it had strong nutty scents that were wonderfully enticing.

The bar was split into three main layers. The bottom layer had the smallest coating of Hershey's milk chocolate. It added very little to the overall taste, though it did a grand job at adding a moistness to the texture bar. The middle layer consisted of the rice cereal, as you can probably imagine it was not the strongest tasting or most substantial, though it gave the overall taste a wheaty, malty connotation that was to be expected. The upper layer of the bar was quite frankly absolutely gorgeous, and was formed of an amalgamation of marshmallow and peanut butter. It had a wonderfully strong creamy flavour that had brilliantly contrasting elements of sweet and salty aspects to its taste that really made the bar a pleasure to eat.

Overall this is by far not the shinning star in the Reese's portfolio, it is still a great tasting small snack, and probably one of the nicest cereal bar type items I have tried *ahem Kelloggs' Rice Krispie Square*. The bar simply isn't big enough to be a truly satisfying experience, though I would greatly welcome the implementation of the marshmallow and peanut butter layer in a grander form. If you are interested in your low calorie, small tasty snacks this could well be worth you taking a look at.

7.8 out of 10

Fancy trying the Reese's Snackbarz for yourself? Head over to Yankee Soda & Candy

October 23rd: Ritter Sport Praline

Kcal 549 Fat 33.5g Fat(sats) 15.3g Carbs 52.1g (per 100.0g)

Today's reviews is dedicated to ChocolateMission reader Lottie, who has frequently recommended this bar to me. Comprised of milk chocolate filled with a huge amount of praline (42%!!!), this was yet another Ritter Sport bar literally crammed full of the proposed filling. Given the praline context of the bar, the comparisons with Guylian were all but inevitable.

The aesthetics of this bar were quite reserved for the range in comparison to say the 'Whole Hazelnut' bars. The outer-packaging was attractive if a little understated, the cross-section of the bar confirmed the wonderful generous amount of praline filling. I was expecting more of a distinctive smell, the nutty element seemed all but overwhelmed by the dairy scents of the chocolate, which was a bit of shame as it could have really set the expectations for the fantastic taste to come.

Personally I think Ritter bars are fantastically sized and sectioned. Each little piece always seem to provide the perfect ratio of filling to chocolate. The milk chocolate played the familiar role of being a slightly better than average chocolate, taking the backseat to the added flavour. I hope people don't perceive this as criticism of the chocolate, it isn't the most flavoursome, but its milky flavours provided a suitable smooth background element to the taste that perfectly accentuated the filling. The praline was slightly denser in its thickness compared to the chocolate, and had the slightest grainy, powdery feel. The creamy, hazelnut flavour was strong and extremely tasty and provided a long lasting nutty taste that lingered in the mouth for an extended time. Half a bar per serving (50.0g) was a more than satisfying experience, and certainly provided the desired chocolaty flavour hit.

Overall this was yet another strong showing from the Ritter Sport range, which is fast becoming one of the most consistent brands I have reviewed. The milk chocolate was again unspectacular, though provided a nice base flavour before the indulgent praline filling. My personal opinion is that the praline filling here was better than that of the Guylian products I have reviewed. The texture was far superior, and was smoother in it's melt in comparison to Guylian praline. In the context of the Ritter Sport range, despite my own personal preference lieing with the 'Whole Hazelnuts' bars, the flavours in this bar were fantastically balanced and creamy, and provided a very enjoyable chocolate. I would highly recommend this bar to any Ritter Sport fans, or fans of nutty chocolate combinations. Another very well deserved score for the German brand.

8.4 out of 10

Fancy trying the Ritter Sport Praline for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!