November 25th: Lindt Magical Milk

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

Unbelievably it is already just one month until Christmas and the festive themed reviews are coming thick and fast. Last year thanks to my pals at Dean-German-Grocery I tried several Lindt Christmas products and this year they seemed to have come up with a few new bits and pieces. I have been demanding that Lindt produce more smaller convenience sized products for awhile now as the two I tried previously (Nociolatte & Wafer bars HERE) were pretty disappointing compared to usual Lindt quality. As you can imagine when I saw this 'Magical Milk' bar sitting with the rest of the Christmas products in Tesco I was hopeful for a lot better from a product that came billed as 'milk chocolate with a creamy milk filling'.

Weighing 40.0g this was an unusual looking bar in that it was about 15cm long but really very thin in terms of thickness. The outer packaging looked fantastic and the simple addition of a few sparkly silver stars brought the blue background colour to life and gave it a nice festive glow. Inside the bar itself was split into very streamlined blocks which looked very appetising with each sporting a Lindt brand logo and a nice serving of white, fluffy looking cream filling. Thanks to the foil fresh seal of the wrapper the chocolate maintained a lovely dairy cream smell that was evident when the bar was smelt up close. Presentation is often the one thing that Lindt can never be pulled up on and they certainly did themselves justice here.

The milk chocolate used here wasn't one of Lindt's primary recipes though there was no denying the quality of the taste. The outer milk chocolate was more forthcoming in its cocoa flavours than I was expecting and substantiated a good degree of chocolatyness as soon as the chocolate entered the mouth. As the thick, smooth melt of the chocolate progressed the taste took a turn for the sweeter as the milk flavours really started to come to the party. The transition from the outer chocolate to the inner cream filling was as seamless as it could of been and the texture of the inner filling was noticeably even smoother and just a touch lighter. The taste of the filling wasn't the most spectacular thing I have ever tasted but it further compounded the milk flavours of the milk chocolate and brought a double cream like flavour influence that made for a wonderfully smooth, slowing taste. With the taste being so smooth I didn't need any encouragement to devour the whole bar in one sitting which made for a satisfying amount.

Overall Lindt have finally managed to take the quality of one of their bigger 100.0g products and translate it into a smaller product that cane be consumed out of the home. The milk chocolate prehaps wasn't quite up to scratch with their Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy milk chocolate recipe but that said it was still very good and delivered the all important chocolate flavour hit. The thing that still pleasantly surprises me when I taste these type of bars from Lindt is the smoothness in which their chocolate melts in the mouth and I have to say the sensuous feel of the melt was simply wonderful here yet again. The creamy filling may not have been the most distinctive filling ever but it added a fantastic cream element to the overall taste which I am sure would be a hit amongst most consumers. I personally hope Lindt don't discontinue this bar straight after Christmas - I think it is worthy of a permanent place on our confectionery shelves.

8.4 out of 10

November 24th: McVitie's Christmas Irish Cream Bars

Kcal 114 Fat 5.9g Fat(sats) 2.9g Carbs 14.1g (per bar)

The cake bar reviews have been coming thick and fast for the last two months but todays has a special Christmas twist to make it all the more interesting. McVitie's cake bars have already had a few cracks at the ChocolateMission rating system with their Galaxy bars proving a lot more successful than their Penguin offering. Over the last few weeks a few seasonal cake bar varieties have been popping up on the supermarket shelves and it was these Christmas Irish Cream Bars that really caught my eye during my last outing in Sainsbury's. I think most of us are partial to the odd Bailey's at Christmas so the concept of combining Irish Creme Liqueur with chocolate cake and milk chocolate sounded like a grand idea to me.

£1 of my hard earned money bought a five pack of five cakes which were all of course individually wrapped. To pass comment on the packaging I have to say the outer wrapper looked a little generic and I think McVitie's could possibly have done a slightly better job with the communicating the Irish Creme theme. If you look across McVitie's Christmas range you will see that many of the products look very similar - I think a little differentiation is never a bad thing. More positively the bar itself looked pretty gorgeous when cross-sectioned with a fluffy white filling nestled nicely above the cake. The aroma of the chocolate was hardly over powering but when closer inspection was taken I could detect a fine smelling Irish brandy like hint.

Biting into the cake bar I was unsurprised that the milk chocolate on offer was the same as the one implemented on the Penguin Cake Bars. Facing facts this of course meant the quality wasn't all the high but having had it a few times now I am starting to get used to the sweet dried milk like taste that it consistently delivered. The melt of the chocolate was fairly well paced if a tad rough and grainy but it ultimately led nicely into the firmer cake that lay below. As I have found all too often with cake bars over the last two months the quality of the cake wasn't particularly great, however it did maintain a degree of appeal with it's sweet chocolaty, vanilla taste that was partially seasoned with a touch of salt. The ultimate quality of this product was of course going to lie in the standard of the Irish Creme filling and it was unfortunately not what I was hoping for. As I probably should have guessed the actual strength of the liqueur element was embarrassingly weak, thus resulting in little more than a sugary white gloop that offered very little in terms of flavour. I think had I not been aware these were meant to be Irish Creme flavoured I would have seriously struggled to find the flavours in the taste and I was resultingly left pretty unsatisfied with what I had just eaten.

Overall the execution of this product was such a shame because the actual concept of it was excellent. As written above I probably should had been more realistic in my expectations but I was truly surprised by the lack of Irish Creme kick in the filling which just made for a really disappointing overall experience. I guess in a way it was pretty lucky I was aware of McVitie's limitations with their milk chocolate as I probably would have been even more disappointed from what was on offer here. On reflection I would love to see a more competent manufacture give this combination a try as I think there is real potential behind the idea. Having tried many a cake bar recently this was neither the best, nor the worst but just disappointingly pretty average. The filling added the desired amount of moistness to the texture but failed to deliver the important thing which was of course Irish Cream flavours to the party. Possibly one for Bailey's fans to try but I would urge you not to get your hopes up.

7.4 out of 10

November 23rd: Hotel Chocolat Sparkling Stars Caramels

Over the past few weeks I have munching my way through Hotel Chocolat's finest Christmas offerings this year (with the help of my family!) and today bring you my review of their Sparkling Stars Caramels selection box. Described as 'a collection of caramel filled stars sure to bring a sparkle into the festive season' the selection was formed of 14 different chocolates - with one portioned twice constituting the full box of 15.

Looking at the packaging I have to admit I felt like I wasn't quite filled with the same festive spirit as was with some the Christmas Slabs that will be appearing on the site soon. Don't get me wrong the golden coloured box and the inner chocolates looked well presented and neat, but in comparison I felt it wasn't quite there with its Christmas credentials.

Another thing that bothered me ever so slightly about this box was that the menu that was included was a little inaccurate with not all the pictures matching up with the chocolates themselves. Although in a way this does sort of prove they aren't rolling off a factory conveyor belt in their thousands identically it took a little more effort than it should have done matching them up.

In the interest of keeping this review a reasonable I will keep my comments on each pretty brief - below I will be working from left to right in each picture:


Salted Caramel - I always like to start off a positive note and this one was one of the best in the box. The outer milk chocolate was of the usual superb quality and the sweetness of the chocolate nicely transcended into a soft butterscotch caramel centre which melted with ultimate ease. The salt note was prevalent in aftertaste and left a delicious set of flavours in the mouth. Superb.

Coffee Caramel - This was one of the harder ones to identify as it looked nothing like the picture in the menu. The outer chocolate was thick melting and creamy, however it dominated the inner coffee caramel which was a little weak for my taste buds. This was more your mocha flavoured caramel than your espresso. A nice tasting chocolate but I was a little disappointed. Good.

Caramel & Golden Rum - My sister tried this one as she is a big fan of boozy chocolates. Like many liqueur filled Hotel Chocolat truffles that have gone before she thought that the rum innards over powered the chocolate making it a little redundant and a little too booze focused in taste.... and this comes from a girl that likes her alcohol! Standard.

Caramel Praline - The keen eyed of you may have noticed in the picture that this was the piece that was portioned twice. Simply put it was absolutely delicious. The combination of the white and milk chocolate made for a creamy, vanilla noted outer coating and held a delicious tasting praline truffle filling inside. The praline was too die for its hazelnut paste taste enhanced with a note of toffee caramel to make it all the desirable. I could have eaten a box full of these. Superb.

Apricot Brandy & Caramel - This was another impossible piece to identify but it was eventually consumed by my mother who is a big fan of apricot. Unfortunately for her she felt that that the fruit flavours of the apricot didn't quite come through in taste enough with the dark chocolate dominating the main stay of the taste and the brandy the latter stages. She did say the dark chocolate was rather good but that is perhaps missing the point just a little bit. Good.

Toffee Apple - This was another bagged by my mother who was a little intrigued by the garish green colour on the top of the piece - I thought it looked a little fake/artificial myself. She was surprised to find that this was another boozy chocolate though this one was little more expressive with its added flavours in comparison to some of the others. My mother described it as creamy milk chocolate with a sweet apple schnapps and caramel flavoured centre and was one of the pieces she enjoyed more out of the lot. Very Good.

Blood Orange Caramel - This piece was consumed by my sister who is a big fan of orange flavoured chocolates. I was expecting the combination of the sweet orange fruit and caramel to possibly be a little on the sugar overkill side however she really enjoyed this one and described the transition of the melt into soft fruity caramel centre as absolutely sensational. This was of the surprises in the selection - maybe I should get around to trying some of Hotel Chocolat's orange flavoured slabs. Very Good.

Caramel & Whiskey - The more I write this review the more I realise how little of these I got myself :) ... this one was eaten by my father who is rather partial to whiskey truffles to say the least. He described the milk chocolate was very high quality and loved the inner whiskey centre which is said provided a fiery malt flavoured toffee like taste. I was kinda expecting him to like this one and he did. Very Good.

Balsamic Caramel - Wahey one I ate :) Just like the majority of the selection box this was coated in milk chocolate which wonderfully clean in taste and sensually creamy. What lay below in this was piece was certainly a little different in comparison to the other pieces from the selection and provided a sweet chocolaty tasting caramel that had a unique acidic edge. It was a tasting experience though I can't say I would go for a box full of them. Good.


Caramel & Salted Almond - This was yet another piece that looked a little different than it did on the menu but it was instantly recognisable as soon as I tasted it. The almonds nuts in their chopped state were not the most forthcoming in flavour but were accentuated nicely by the hint of salt that was present in each bite. Just as with the salted caramel piece the hint of rock salt nicely played into the hands of the sweetness of the caramel and livened up the nutty undertones. Very Good.

Orange Liqueur & Toffee - Surprise surprise this was bagged by my sister who again really enjoyed this one. In addition to the citrus and orange and caramel flavours in the blood orange piece she felt the added element of the booze brought a nice warming element to the the textures in the mouth. She said that she would happily of had a box full of these and handpicked this as her favourite from the selection that she tried. She demanded I give this a Superb.

Caramel Crunch - This was one of the first pieces I had from the box and it turned out to be one of my favourites. The milk chocolate was creamy and delicious, the inner caramel was sweet and salty and small cookie pieces placed on top were crunchy with hints of butter and brown sugar. Imagine what everyone wants the Nestle Munchies to taste like and this was it. Superb.


Banana Caramel - The rest of family were told by my mother "eat this and die" :) this was strictly off limits given her love for banana flavoured chocolates and I am glad to report it was every bit as good as she hoped. She said like the cream flavours of the milk chocolate were hinted nicely with banana with the fruit flavours becoming further accentuated when the sweet caramel was hit below. She said the velvety soft feel of the caramel was luxurious and melted with ultimate ease. Superb.

Caramel Cherry - I was surprised to see that this was not one of the liqueur based chocolates in the selection though it was a rarity in that it was one of the few coated in dark chocolate. I think this swap was a positive thing as the unsweetened taste of the dark chocolate subsided the tartness of the red fruit flavours somewhat which made for a more natural taste. It was my favourite from the selection but it was a nice variation on the recipe nonetheless. Good.

Overall these were a good selection of caramel truffles with a five out of the fourteen obtaining a Superb rating. The standouts from the box for me personally had to be the Crunch and Praline pieces, though particular members of my family really loved the Banana, Orange Liqueur and Whiskey Caramels. Unfortunately though this wasn't a selection box that got me excited as other Hotel Chocolat chocolate boxes have gone before, as it seemed to just not quite have the same prestigious aire about it. Firstly I have to say the Christmas theme wasn't quite there in the packaging or the selection of flavours in the box - why were there not any Christmassy flavoured caramels e.g. Cinnamon Caramel? Also as I have referred to above the menu that was included wasn't always that helpful which made for a marginally frustrating and confusing experience at times. This will no doubt be seen as nit picking but from a brand that prides itself of the highest qualities I think that these were minor oversights. The long story cut short is that these are a high quality box of chocolates, but just not the best Hotel Chocolat have ever offered.

8.1 out of 10

November 22nd: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 24

*SHORTENED EDITION*

Hi All,

7Days of Chocolate Reviews is being cut short this week as I have so many reviews to get in before Christmas I am posting another today ... see below for the review of Green & Black's Cherry bar.

Question of the week is - 'What Christmas chocolates have you bought yet? Any you can recommend?' ... this question comes after a comment from David on the Cadbury Snowballs review yesterday who said that Cadbury had distributed them too early meaning that his eyes anyway they lost their Christmas sparkle! See that review for my own comments.

It has been slow for news on the chocolate market this week .... Ferrero announced a big spend media campaign for Christmas (HERE). Following on from the news I broke last week about battle of the Cadbury & Nestle bunnies things have been gearing up (HERE), and finally could Hershey and Ferrero being plotting a joint venture for Cadbury? The Telegraph thinks so (HERE).

As for Blogs I enjoyed this week -

GiGi wrote a fantastic review of Heinz's Treacle Sponge ... she just didn't have the custard to back it up :) (HERE)

Marvo at the Impulsive Buy reviewed the latest limited edition mint fudge Oreos (HERE)

Cybele wrote a few reviews on some Fannie May products this week. She didn't like them as much as I did mind you (HERE)

Rosa at ZOMG Candy absolutey loved the Milka Joghurt bar and gave it one of their special ZOMG ratings (HERE)

I hope you all have great weeks - don't forget to look at the review below :D

JIM

November 22nd: Green & Black's Cherry

Kcal 477 Fat 28.2g Carbs 48.0g (per 100.0g)

Over the last week or so I have been sampling a few more variants from the Green & Black's range - some of which have been great, others of which have been not so great. For this very reason I have to admit that Green & Black's isn't one of my favourite brands as it often doesn't live up to it's premium proposition. The G&B price isn't what I would call expensive but at the same time it is more expensive than brands like Dairy Milk or Galaxy who just so happen to be a lot more consistent. Today the bar at hand was this 'Cherry' variant, which came described as 'organic dark chocolate with whole cherries'.

This G&B bar came in the normal 100.0g format that was separated into the tiny sized blocks that I have ranted about way too many times before to go into detail again. The outer wrapper was predominantly coloured with the horrible looking G&B brown colour - one can only hope they will be flipping the placement of the primary and secondary colours soon like they have done on a few other variants from their range. More positively the chocolate itself was covered in a great looking layer of gold G&B branded foil and exhibited a fair amount of chocolaty, fruity smells when broken into. As you can see in the picture above the cherry pieces were generously dispersed throughout the chocolate with most blocks gracing at least one cherry piece.

I can't honestly think of another range where the quality of chocolate swings from one extreme to another quite like G&B's dark chocolate does. Their 70% dark chocolate is absolutely fantastic with its rich, non-bitter cocoa taste that has notes of coffee and red wine. Their 60% dark chocolate (the stuff used here unfortunately!) just so happens to be the polar opposite. The chocolate was just like I had experienced before in that it was fair paced and smooth in melt but utterly lifeless and limp in terms of flavour impact. Where the chocolate was just unexciting the cherry pieces were completely repulsive and the polar opposite of what I was hoping for. The cherries were tart, sour and bitter and frankly tasted like fruit that had past its best before date. Just to cap off a really bad showing for the cherries here they also felt horrible in the mouth and had waxy thick skins that just didn't blend with the melting chocolate in any manner. You can probably guess already that this wasn't a chocolate I consumed in any great quantity. I never like to admit this but over half of it ended up in the bin.

Overall this chocolate has really put me off trying another Green & Black's bar for a long time. It was simply dismal in nearly every which way - from the boring looking packaging (which I have rated way too highly), the bland tasting chocolate and the awful tasting cherries there was no real redeeming feature of this chocolate that I really care to mention. G&B have never managed to blow my socks off with any of their chocolates but there is a certain level of quality that you come to expect when you pay over a certain price point for a chocolate. Unfortunately it is just an all too common experience for me that G&B don't reach the levels that they should be and this bar failed miserably to get anywhere near tolerable standards. I normally try ending my reviews with at least something positive to say about the chocolate bar at hand but I am really struggling with this one. It would be interesting to hear from others who have also tried this Cherry variant as I am wondering if it just wasn't to my own taste or if it really is awful.

4.6 out of 10

November 21st: Cadbury Snow Bites

Kcal 240 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 6.9g Carbs 33.3g (per 50.0g)

With just over a month to go Christmas 2009 reviews are officially go on ChocolateMission this year. A few Christmas products have slipped through the net already and made an appearance but from now until the 25th of December you can expect at least few Christmas themed products a week. Getting us started this year I today bring you my review of Cadbury's latest new product Cadbury Snow Bites which got announced in the press way back in July (HERE). These Snow Bites looked exactly the same in proposition to a Marks & Spencer's product I reviewed last year and came described as 'milk chocolate balls in a crisp sugar shell, dusted with icing sugar'. Could Cadbury trump M&S?

These Snow Bites came in a standard sized 100.0g bag that I found in my local Tesco Superstore. Aesthetically speaking I really liked the look of the outer portion of the bag and thought that Cadbury had done well incorporating a festive looking theme with the very clear Snow Bites branding. What surprised me slightly was the small size of the Cadbury logo and had I not been clued up beforehand it would have all to easy to overlook that this was actually a Cadbury product. Inside the packet it was nice to see that the inner portion of the wrapper was foil based which meant that the pieces were maintained with a great deal of freshness. Unsurprisingly despite the foil fresh seal the chocolates inside lacked an aroma of great note but this has been quite a common thing with a lot of other sugar coated products I have reviewed in the past.

Being a sceptical old so-and-so I thought the outer icing sugar that lined each Snow Bite was merely there for decoration though as soon as I placed the first piece in my mouth I realised that it actually had an important role to play. The icing sugar layer was actually very well implemented and was portioned correctly with just a light sprinkle on the outer shell of each piece. To my surprise the icing sugar brought a wonderful cooling sensation on the tongue which meant that the melt felt all that more exciting in the mouth. Whilst the cooling tingle lasted only a matter of seconds it nicely set up the crunchy texture of the thin crisp sugar shell that lay below which was best enjoyed when sucked on to melt the chocolate inside. The inner chocolate!? ... well it was your standard Cadbury's quality. It wasn't quite Dairy Milk but it was nicely milk rooted in flavour and had a sweet chocolaty taste that had me reaching back into the bag time after time. Despite the bag stating that half (50.0g) at a time constituted a serving I was more than happy just enjoying a few handfuls each sitting.

Overall I didn't think these sounded like the most exciting new product that was ever going to grace the UK but having tasted them I have to say I was pleased with what they delivered. As I have written about above I was really thrilled to see that the icing sugar actually had more of a role in the product than I first thought and it was great that it contributed in terms of the interplay of the textures. The transition of the cooling sensation of the melting icing sugar to the crisp outer sugar shell was simply delightful and the chocolate that lay below was of a slightly better than average quality. Of course it would have been nice if the chocolate had been Dairy Milk but for some reason Cadbury seem to be pulling it's most famous chocolate recipe from most of it's secondary products. On reflection I have to say that these Cadbury Snow Bites were just a little better than the Marks & Spencer's Snowy Balls I reviewed last year. I wouldn't say these are one of Cadbury's greatest products ever but if you see them around this Christmas and fancy some Cadbury themed Christmas cheer they could be worth a look at.

7.9 out of 10

November 20th: Lion Bar (Poland)

Kcal 209 Fat 9.8g Fat(sats) 6.4g Carbs 27.9g

They don't come more manly than the Lion Bar now do they? ... ok maybe the Yorkie! If you have read my review of the UK's Lion Bar that I wrote way back in March 2008 you will be more than aware that it is one of my all time favourite Nestle bars. Combining both its great taste and masculine brand positioning the Lion Bar is a product that I feel suits me down to the ground so it was with great excitement that I received this Polish version from ChocolateMission reader Alan. If you are unaware of the constituents of a Lion Bar it is a product formed of a wafer centre, covered in caramel, rice cereal and milk chocolate. Over the last year I have tried a white chocolate variation from Germany (See HERE) which wasn't quite as good as the original milk chocolate - the question today was whether the Polish bar could match up to the UK equivalent.

At first glance something was immediately evident and it was that Polish bar was considerably smaller than the UK 55.0g bar. At 43.0g this bar didn't quite have the same 'this is a huge manly chocolate bar' feel and obviously didn't prove to be as satisfying. I guess an upside of this was that it had considerably less calories but I can't think of many Lion Bar consumers who probably care about that. Appearance wise apart from the obvious size differences it aesthetically looked no different to our UK bar with the distinct Lion branding on the outer packaging. The actual bar itself also looked no different with each of the layers of chocolate, rice, caramel and wafer all clearly visible when cross-sectioned. In regards to smell the bar didn't quite seem to smell as fresh or inviting as the UK equivalent but I'm sure this was down to the extensive travel of the product.

Up to this point apart from the size aside the bar appeared almost identical to what we have here in the UK but when it came to taste there were some very obvious differences. Again I am aware this may be down to the extensive air miles clocked up by the product but the melt of the chocolate felt slightly rougher in the mouth and not quite as smooth flowing. In regards to the flavours of the chocolate the taste had just a touch more emphasis on its sugar credentials than normal and played less to the very familiar dried milk sweet taste that I am all to familiar with UK Nestle products. On the balance of things this wasn't too much of an issue for me, however I must say I didn't enjoy the wafer element as much as I normally did with the UK bar. I often complain that wafers lack flavour here in the UK but the wafer on offer here was slightly over powering with it's strong malt rooted taste. This bar retained the appeal of the variable textures from the UK bar but the stronger tasting wafer somewhat took the cereal and caramel elements out of the equation and it was all too often that the strong malt flavours dominated the taste. The wafer by no means tasted horrible in any manner but the fact that it prohibited the other elements coming through as strongly came at detriment to the resulting taste.

Overall just like with the Mars Dark I have to conclude that the UK variant of this bar is the superior out of the two. Of course you may think this may just be home bias but I genuinely I have come to this conclusion for a few reasons I have gone into extensively above. The first reason of course has to be the size. For the product positioning the last thing you would want to do with this bar is it a smaller size as I am sure this would never be a favourable thing in the eyes of a typical Lion Bar consumer. Secondly I thought the dominance of the wafer in the taste came at detriment to the caramel and cereal elements which simply meant that this Polish bar didn't quite pull off the same classical combinations that the UK bar does so well. Personally I would say that the UK is the better bar out of the two but I would be willing to bet that a Polish person would say the opposite. I think preference is most likely down to what you 'know and trust' as a consumer; it would certainly be interesting to hear views from other people who have tried both to get their opinions.

7.9 out of 10

November 19th: Green & Black's Mint

Kcal 478 Fat 27.3g Carbs 50.5g (per 100.0g)

It has taken me a while but I am a slowly making my through Green & Black's extensive range and this week I have been trying out their 'Mint' variant. Described as 'dark chocolate with a mint fondant centre' this bar didn't exactly sound like a new proposition - especially since it was only a week or so ago I was trying a very similar product from Bendicks. Taking a look back at the scores of some similar sounding products, with only a few aside this combination is one that can generally be quite unremarkable e.g. Nestle After Eight. In fact a little dig through the archives shows that the only manufactures to have scored over 7.5 for this combo are Ghiradelli and Bendicks - no pressure then!

Despite the bar coming in the usual 100.0g Green & Black's size it was split into different shaped blocks to normal. Instead of the standard tiny sized flat blocks this bar was formed of some bigger filled pieces which held a nice serving of mint fondant within each. Personally I thought this did wonders for the presentation of the product and at last I was really pleased to see something a little different from the Green & Black's brand. Just as I noted on the 'Ginger' review last week G&B's have started flipping the placement of their primary brown and secondary flavour indicative colours on their wrappers. Again I thought the greater presence of the dark green made the product have more stand out on shelf and just made the product look more interesting - I can only hope G&B's plan to do this across their entire range. One thing I have never had a problem with is the inner gold foil wrapper which kept the chocolate both looking and smelling fresh releasing some fragrant mint and cocoa scents as soon as I broke the seal.

One thing that I did find quite humorous about this bar was the ingredients list as it had the word 'organic' in it no fewer than twelve times. I understand pushing the organic credentials of the bar but surely a simply 'made with organic ingredients' line would have sufficed. Putting this to a side having not had such a great time with G&B's last dark chocolate variant I was pleased to see that they ramped up the strength somewhat and used their 70% recipe instead of their 60% formulation with this bar. Although this may only seem like a number the actual difference in the taste was very noticeable and the chocolate tasted far stronger with coffee and red wine notes complimenting the underlying cocoa flavours nicely, leaving a lasting impression in the mouth. Admittedly the chocolate wasn't the most rounded in terms of taste and was about to verge on what I would describe as bitter until the mint fondant came to the party. The mint fondant itself was of a pretty good quality and it blended nicely into the melt of the chocolate without a grainy texture like many fondants I have had before. The fondant was sweet but never poweringly so and delivered a fresh tasting peppermint flavour element that complimented the dark chocolate nicely. This was a chocolate best eaten in small quantities and was a nice to eat just a few blocks at a time after an evening meal.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this Green & Black's bar and I am pleased I can finally write something positive about a bar from their range. I guess the best way to sum this bar up would be to describe it as a posher version of Nestle After Eight. I would say that in comparison both the dark chocolate and mint fondant were of a better quality and combined made for a nicely rounded overall taste. One of the things I was most pleased to see was that the 70% dark chocolate was far greater in terms of taste in comparison to some of the milder G&B's dark chocolates that I have reviewed recently. As I have commented above this was a chocolate that was best enjoyed in small portions and I would not recommend it as one that should be eaten in vast quantities at a time. In comparison to some of the dark chocolate and mint fondant combinations I mentioned at the start of the review this wasn't the best out of the lot but I would certainly say it was in the same league and worthy of a try if it takes your fancy.

8.0 out of 10

November 18th: Montezuma's Acid Zest

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

With scores ranging from 6.6 to 8.6 you wouldn't be far off the mark describing Montezuma's chocolate as variable at the best of times. Whereas some of their offerings like their 'Surf Nut' and 'Culture Shock' bars have been fantastic they have almost always followed these up with a chocolate that has been no better than average or worse (e.g. 'Space Hopper' etc). With really no idea what to expect the day came for me to try yet another from their 'Speciality Range' - the 'Acid Zest' bar. The 'Acid Zest' was described on pack as 'white chocolate with orange nibs and lemon' and offered up a pretty unique sounding proposition. Unique sounding it may have been, but more importantly was it any good?

If your already 99% sure how much this bar weighs chances are you read this site a little too much :) As expected the 45.0g bar split into six separate blocks which I shared out between a few members of my family during a mid afternoon coffee. Aesthetically all was well with the outer packaging with its bright vivid colours, though once again I have to pass comment on the cheap looking inner plastic wrapper that spoilt the effect of the premiumness somewhat. Despite my hatred of the plastic packet one part of me makes me wish I didn't open it and that was the god awful smell that was revealed once opened. With the fruit completely lacking presence I would personally have described the smell as 'slightly gone off milk' but one of my family went for the slightly more vulgar 'baby sick' description. With the smell proving more than a little unsettling the clean cut nature of the blocks provided little in the way of piece of mind.

The bar thankfully tasted better then it smelt ... but truth be told it was still pretty poor. With name 'Acid Zest' I was really expecting something very strongly flavoured but this just sadly wasn't the case. I have had Montezuma's white chocolate before but never have I perceived it to be lacking flavour to this degree. As soon as the piece entered the mouth I was instantly alarmed at the lack of flavour the chocolate was delivering as it melted on my tongue. To be honest it is very hard to describe the taste as it is wasn't almost non-existent due to the fruit influences adding very little aside from a subtle lemony background note throughout. The white chocolate itself was unfortunately no better and offered a dried milk like sweet taste that never generated any telling or lasting impact. Although I didn't enjoy the dry, lacklustre melt of the chocolate all that much I did enjoy the texture brought to the party by the chewy orange nib like pieces which at least brought some interest to what was a dull taste. A 45.0g bar shared between a few of us was never intended to make for a fulfilling but it also failed in its job of offering a small indulgent chocolate flavour hit.

Overall despite this bar scoring a lowly 5.5 I would say I have been kind score wise. This chocolate couldn't possibly have tasted as bad as it smelt so it was never going to score as bad in taste category as it did the aroma one. To put it in perspective how 'off' this bar did smell I guess it gives a little insight when I say that had consumption not been for review purposes I probably wouldn't have even contemplated eating it. Looking at the scoring chart the only thing that saved this chocolate from getting a truly dismal score was the fact that the orange nibs added a little bit of interest to the texture, whilst the outer packaging gave it a slightly funky look. Just as I opened this review saying Montezuma's range has it good'uns and it's duds and this one just so happens to be the worst of the lot I have tried yet. Even if your the biggest white chocolate fan I would tell you to avoid this one -I can assure you that it will do nothing for you whatsoever.

5.5 out of 10

November 16th: Hotel Chocolat Orange Nice Spice

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

I am pleased to announce that from now until Christmas you will get no fewer than one Hotel Chocolat review a week thanks largely to the fact they sent me a big box full of festive samples to get stuck into. It has been a fair while since I last reviewed a Hotel Chocolat slab product so it was nice to see that the chaps in the HC innovation department come up with no less than four new flavours for Christmas this year. Starting off in no particular order I first decided to try out this Orange Nice Spice flavour which consisted of '70% dark chocolate with orange and a dash of chilli'. As I have said I was not particularly drawn to this slab over the others or anything but it sounded like quite a nice one to start this years Hotel Chocolat Christmas reviews off with.

Out of the four slabs this was the only one to come in the conventional 100.0g size and was split into two smaller 50.0g slabs. Aesthetically speaking Hotel Chocolat have done well with the outer packaging of the slab products this year and I thought that the box for this Orange Nice Spice variant looked clean in design whilst bringing a nice bit of glamour with some sparkling red and silver snowflake patterns. Inside the slabs were protected by a thick foil wrapping which further maintained the outer sophistication with another sleeking looking pattern. The slabs themselves looked and smelt as if they were fresh out the factory with some dark smelling cocoa scents that had hints of spicy fruit emanating whilst the surfaces gleamed, sharply reflecting the light with the sugar coated orange pieces also catching the eye.

As good as this chocolate looked and smelt it tasted absolutely abysmal .... only joking ;) haha it tasted delightful! The dark chocolate base incorporated everything that usually makes Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate so great and its clean tasting earthy cocoa flavours established themselves as soon as the chocolate hit my tongue. Having reviewed so many other products aside from Hotel Chocolat recently it was wonderful being reunited with the rich taste of their dark chocolate and the flavours of the ebbed and flowed with the thick, longing melt as it developed on my tongue. If I have heard one criticism of Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate before it is that it is a little on the strong side for some people but I think the critics would be hard pushed to apply generalisation here as there was ever present sweet, juicy orange undertone throughout the taste. In addition to the orange oil present in the chocolate the sugar coated orange peel pieces further brought an added fruity sweetness to the taste and were best enjoyed once the hint of chilli had developed in the mouth which unsurprisingly in the latter stages of the melt. With the orange pieces bringing a minor note of coolness to the feel in the mouth this did slightly offset the heat brought to the party by the chilli, however this would be the smallest of small criticisms and was not something that bothered me in the slightest at the time.

Overall this was a splendid way to kick off my Hotel Chocolat reviews this year and the guys there have done themselves proud once again formulating yet another delicious tasting chocolate combination. One of things I was most pleased to see when I first opened my box of goodies this year was that Hotel Chocolat have done a great job with the packaging and presentation which immediately gives their range huge gifting potential. What makes this gifting potential even grander is that fact that you get chocolates likes this one on display today. With the dark chocolate at its usual high quality and the orange and chilli flavours added in correct proportions this was always going to be a chocolate I was going to savour from beginning to end. If your a dark chocolate orange fan I can assure you that this is one you won't feel let down by if you invest in it. Cracking start ...bring on the next slab!

9.1 out of 10

December 15th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 23

### COMPEITION TIME ###

Hi,

I'm going to keep my ramblings short this week as I want to run a small competition giving you all the chance to win these fabulous prizes ....

1 x Ritter Sport Karamell Nuss
1 x Galaxy Amicelli
1 x Storck Riesen
1 x Schogetten Tiramisu

So the Question ....

'As of the 15th of November how many product reviews have there been on ChocolateMission?'

All answers that are +/-10 within the correct answer will be entered into the prize draw. Answers on e-mail to the usual Jim[@] chocolatemission.net .... the winner will be revealed in the November 29th edition of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews'. Unfortunately this competition is only open to my UK readers.

Good luck to you all and have great weekends

JIM


News from the Chocolate Market:

* Divine Chocolate is supposedly the chocolate of choice for all top chefs ... SEE HERE

* Cadbury Caramel Bunny vs Nestle Kit Kat Bunny ... lets get ready to rummmmble ... SEE HERE

* Sugar Puff chocolate cereal bars have been launched ... SEE HERE

* A closer look at the new Cadbury Flake ad ... SEE HERE


Post from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Impulsive Buy - Not only has it been Marvo's birthday this week but he has also been treating himself to some cool looking 'make-your-own' smoothie products ... SEE HERE

* GiGi Reviews - Reviewed a really unique looking chocolate bar that was made of dark chocolate, pepper, vanilla and pumpkin seeds! It got an 11 out of 10 rating so it must be good ... SEE HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Found an instant coffee that contains added antioxidants - Green Coffee! Could be worth a try! SEE HERE

* Chocablog - A guest writer from Canada got their mits on some new 70% Kit Kat and Aero products from Nestle. I hope they bring them out here in the UK... SEE HERE

* CandyBlog - Following my own G&B review this week Cybele reviewed a Peanut variant that I haven't ever seen here in the UK ... SEE HERE

November 14th: McVitie's Penguins

Kcal 113 Fat 6.1g Fat(sats) 3.4g Carbs 13.4g (per bar)

A few weeks ago during my search of the UK's best chocolate cake bar I reviewed McVitie's Penguin offering and noted that I hadn't actually given the original bar a ChocolateMission review yet. Given how often I used to have these tucked into my lunch box during my school days I felt obliged to sort this sooner rather than later, thus today is the day! For those who live outside the UK wondering what the devil a McVitie's Penguin bar is I can tell you that they are produced by McVitie's (firstly in 1932) and are formed of chocolate biscuits, with a milk chocolate creme covered in milk chocolate.

Although I was going to buy a pack anyway I managed to stumble across a these on a half price offer in my local Tesco at the price of 54p for a pack of 9 separate bars, that is 6p a unit for the mathematically challenged! One thing I have always loved about Penguin bars is the look of the product as down the years it has managed maintain a modern look yet still kept it's branding and colour schemes consistent from since I can remember. One of the first things I think about when Penguin bars pop in to mind are the insanely awful (but wonderful!!) jokes that appear on the film packaging of each bar ...'where do penguins keep their money?' .... 'in a cold bank' ....groan :) Terrible jokes aside the actual chocolate bars look rather good with the three distinct layer clearly visible when cross-sectioned. Apart from a minor sweet smelling chocolaty aroma the bars didn't offer much in the way of smell though at this point I was still more concerned with trying to figure out the on-pack joke.

One thing that McVitie's must commended on is the fact that a few years ago they removed all the hydrogenated fat from the product. I guess the argument is they should never have been there in the first place but in 2007 United Biscuits removed them from the product entirely, I just wish a few more manufactures would do this. One thing I think we could all take from the Penguin Cake Bar review was that the standard of the chocolate wasn't all that high and I am afraid to say nothing about this bar changed my mind whatsoever. The outer milk chocolate layer was noticeably thin and failed to generate the degree of flavour of even the most standard of milk chocolates (Nestle etc) before it melted away revealing the biscuit layer. The biscuit below was thankfully more giving in terms of its flavours establishing a corn cereal taste that had touches of brown sugar and salt. Sat in the middle of the biscuit the final chocolate creme element brought a softer element to the crunchy biscuit as well as bringing a much needed touch of chocolate to the overall taste. Although I wouldn't say that these Penguin bars were the most flavoursome they were relatively good size for a mid afternoon snack.

Overall my feelings are pretty mixed about these McVitie's Penguins. One part of me wants to criticise them for their lack of telling flavours but another can't help but love the heritage of the product and the way that it is presented. One thing that I think has to be considered here is the price - for my money I would have struggled to buy even one Cadbury Dairy Milk bar for what it cost to be a nine bar multi pack of these Penguin bars. Granted these were on a half price offer but even then you would still be getting four times the amount. As far as chocolate quality goes these are certainly nothing to shout about but they do offer a relatively nice biscuit based option. Penguin bars have been around since I can remember and hope they don't go disappearing anytime soon - if only so we can still moan about the awful jokes on the wrappers.

7.2 out of 10

November 13th: Bendicks Bittermints

Kcal 80 Fat 2.9g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 12.9g (per chocolate)

This is a review that has materialised as a result of a request from ChocolateMission reader Phil who asked me to review these back in September. I am not someone who is overly keen on mint and chocolate combinations but when push comes to shove I am more than willing to give them a try. This is a first time outing for the Bendicks brand on ChocolateMission so it is probably worth telling you a little about them. Bendicks produce their goods in Winchester, Hampshire and all of their goods sport one of those fancy Royal stamps of approval (like Colman's mustard and Duchy Original products). Described as 'bitter chocolates with a firm peppermint fondant centre' these just had to be good ... especially if the queen likes them ;)

I am aware that these Bittermints chocolates come in a variety of formats but I just so happened to pick up a 100.0g tube shaped box. The presentation gets a thumbs up from me and I liked the way the product managed to pull off a sleek but non-pretentious look. The outer packaging was designed well with the black background nicely decorated with some stylish looking silver and gold fonts, whilst inside the chocolates were nicely protected with thick, branded green foil wrappers. When cross-sectioned the inner fondant felt very firm and emanated a very powerful peppermint aroma that smelt wonderfully fresh.

I have to say when I first saw how thin the dark chocolate outer layer was and how strong the inner peppermint layer smelt I was expecting the chocolate to be all but lost in the taste. What I did fail to take notice of however was that on the packaging the chocolate was actually stated as 95% cocoa minimum so it should of been of little surprise that this wasn't actually the case. These chocolates were best eaten in two bites and were just perfect for letting them sit on the tongue and melt away as they gained heat. With its 95% cocoa content the chocolate was noticeably strong from the outset and generated a really wonderful strong, unsweetened roasted coffee like flavour note in the mouth. Although the taste came across as somewhat bitter at first the flavours were soon wonderfully balanced by the sugar based peppermint fondant centre. The taste was fantastically balanced with both it's bitter and sweet influences and they provided a full spectrum of flavours in the mouth. Due to the very strong taste just two of these bittermints left me feeling satisfied and refreshed.

Overall I wouldn't ever recommend these as snacking chocolate that has a role for everyday consumption but on the contrary I would recommend them as a very suitable range of choice of chocolates for say after a dinner party or to compliment an afternoon coffee. Despite the layer being extremely thin the actual chocolate content of this product I thought was very good. These might not appeal to the mass market but for those of you who do enjoy rich tasting dark chocolate the quality on offer here was high. As I have stated above the combination of the sweet tasting peppermint centre and the bitter outer chocolate was really well executed and this is what really appealed to me about these chocolates and left me coming back for more. In my opinion I think these are a nice step up from the Nestle After Eights which offer a similar sort of proposition and eating occasion but just aren't as good in quality. I can certainly see myself buying these again at some point again in the future.

8.5 out of 10

November 12th: Green & Black's Ginger

Kcal 501 Fat 29.1g Carbs 53.0g (per 100.0g)

I think we are all aware by now that Green & Black's chocolate isn't one of my favoured ranges here in the UK. Apart from the odd bar like the Espresso, it is range that I have often found unremarkable and it has often disappointed me with it's not so special taste but over inflated price. In an effort not to be swayed by my previous experiences I thought I would give a few more of their bars a chance on the ChocolateMission rating system and picked up a few more flavours from their selection. The bar in the line of fire today was this Ginger variant which came billed as 'dark chocolate with crystallised ginger'. As previous experiences have shown dark chocolate and ginger can be a matched made in heaven when done correctly.

As you can see from the photo above this was another bar from G&B's standard 100.0g range and was split into the usual small sized blocks. Although this isn't exhibited by the wrapper above I have noticed recently that G&B's have started to change their packaging across some of their flavours - with the primary brown colour and indicative secondary flavour colour swapping round. I seem to remember writing about exactly this in a previous review so as you can imagine I view this packaging reformulation quite favourably. Unfortunately though the ugly looking, brown dominant packaging is still prominent across many of the flavours in the range, including this Ginger bar. On more of a positive note the chocolate itself smelt pretty glorious with a nice spicy ginger element evident amongst a strong current of bitter dark chocolate scents.

I will resist to rant about the ridiculously small sized G&B's blocks as I have touched upon this point so many times in the past, but even with the nature of the dark chocolate this was still a frustrating problem. If I was G&B's I would make their bars smaller in length, thicker and divided into bigger blocks. I think this would not only make the chocolate look better but it would also help the taste of the chocolate as each piece would have more time to develop flavours in the mouth. With the chocolate smelling as bitter and strong as it did I was really quite surprised when I placed the first piece in my mouth as I was met with some very languid and quite meagre cocoa flavours. To be honest I was expecting far greater strength from a chocolate billed as 60% cocoa min and I was a little disappointed with the volume of the dark chocolate taste. With the dark chocolate offering little more than a mild, unsweetened cocoa flavour set the ginger was thankfully a lot better and brought a bit of life to what was really a quite dull tasting chocolate. Unlike billed the ginger wasn't crunchy or crystallised in form but was actually quite soft and chewy when left to melt on the tongue. The ginger element wasn't particularly fiery or hot but brought a pleasant note of mild spice and warmth to the mouth. Out of all the dark chocolates I have had recently this wasn't the most satisfying but a 30.0g serving certainly did a reasonable job and went well with a cup of coffee.

Overall this was yet another G&B's offering that I would have to describe as 'nothing special'. At the heart of it's averageness the actual dark chocolate base was pretty underwhelming and didn't measure up in terms of it's 60% cocoa billing or it's strong smell that emanated out of the foil wrapping. On reflection the poor quality dark chocolate was really quite a shame given that the ginger element of this chocolate was actually pretty good. As I have described above this wasn't a really strong or hot ginger flavoured chocolate but the volume of the spice was nicely controlled with a sweet, syrup like undertone which took the edge off the normally quite harsh flavour edge. It is true that I do like the stronger flavoured dark chocolate but as previous reviews have shown I do have an appreciation for the slightly milder ones also. This was by no means a horrible bar of chocolate but having tried a fair few G&B's products now I am quickly coming to the opinion that they are too reliant on the flavours they incorporate into their bars and are not taking enough care with the actual chocolate. I have a few more G&B's bars to review in the coming weeks so time will tell whether this is a valid conclusion.

7.2 out of 10

November 11th: Cadbury Triple Choc Roll (UPDATE 10-08-2010: Mint Choc Roll)

Kcal 165 Fat 6.8g Fat(sats) 4.2g Carbs 24.6g (per 1/6th roll)

Back when I published my reviews of the original and caramel Cadbury cake bars loyal ChocolateMission reader Alan suggested I try this Cadbury Triple Choc Roll. This product can be found sitting in most supermarkets cakes section and costs just over the £1.50 mark. I am not going to get to hung up over this point but I think I should bring to the attention of everyone that the marketing guys at Cadbury obviously aren't quite at one with their multiples. Described as a 'Triple Choc Roll' I think it is almost natural to think that the product contains three different elements of chocolate. A quick look at the packaging suggested I was in for more than I was bargaining for and I read with great delight that this product constituted of four different chocolate formats - chocolate sponge, chocolate buttercream, chocolate sauce and lastly a milk chocolate coating.

This product failed to state and actual weight though it provided six large sized servings that each made for a fulfilling snack. Aside from the glaring inaccuracy of the 'Triple' branding (seriously this in very tongue in cheek!), I thought the product was presented well and it incorporated the purple Cadbury colour scheme to good effect giving the product a nice colourful look. Inside I was delighted to see that despite the flimsy protection of only one layer of plastic wrapping the inner cake roll was in immaculate condition. When I cut into the roll the cross-section looked appetising with each of the different layers distinctly obvious. As promising as the product looked I was further impressed by the smell which was a mixture of fresh cake and Cadbury chocolate aromas.

In previous Cadbury Cake Bar reviews I have often commented that I was disappointed Dairy Milk chocolate wasn't used, however this wasn't such an issue here due to the sheer amount of different chocolaty influences to the taste. Each an every layer was very sweet in terms of flavour but there was a consistent milky undertone that kept the sugary sweetness nicely in check. Starting with the outer milk chocolate I have to say it was little on the disappointing side and I would liked it to have just a been a bit thicker in order to give the outer portion just a little bit more crispness when bitten into. In my review of the Cadbury Cake Bars I did comment that the cake was a little on the bland side but in this instance I thought it was wonderfully complimented by the chocolate buttercream and chocolate sauce elements. Where the buttercream brought an extra dimension of buttery, sugary flavours the chocolate sauce delivered a very welcome moistness to each bite with a syrupy chocolate influence on the taste. The cake itself was dense and fulfilling yet still maintained a nice fluffiness and melted in the mouth nicely allowing the other buttercream and sauce elements to come to the party. Just as the packaging suggested I split the roll up into six servings which lasted a matter of minutes in my office environment - I was lucky I managed to grab a bit for myself!

Overall I have rated this Triple Choc Roll higher than the original Cadbury Cake Bar and on reflection the reason for this seems to lie solely at the inclusion of the chocolate sauce. I think in this cake roll the addition of the chocolate sauce brought the cake element to life and not only helped the problem of the cake being too dry but also brought an extra surge of sweet, chocolaty flavours to the taste. If I was to make this product better I would of made the outer chocolate thicker in terms of its portioning as it would have made the initial bite all that more pleasurable with the extra crispness that was only present to quite a minor degree. Personally I only tend to have products like this one at Christmas time once I have had that spoonful of Christmas cake and decided I don't like it and thus move on to the 'Christmas Log'. Those 'Christmas Log' products tend to be quite dear in terms of price though I think you would get as much pleasure out of buying one of these, sprinkling it with icing sugar and adding a decorative piece of holly on the top. Taking off my 'Martin's Money Saving Expert' cap for a minute I would also recommend this as a nice product to share between family or friends - it gets a ChocolateMission thumbs up.

8.0 out of 10

2010 UPDATE ... Here is my review of the Cadbury Mint Choc Roll that I wrote a few months after ....


Kcal 160 Fat 6.9g Fat(sats) 4.3g Carbs 16.3g (per 1/6th)

Following my review of the Cadbury Triple Choc Roll last year, I just couldn't help myself when I saw a 'Mint' version on a £1 deal in my local Tesco. Given my positive review of the Cadbury Mint Cake Bars, I was hoping that this Mint Choc Roll was going to be just as well executed and liked the sound of 'chocolate sponge filled with mint flavoured buttercream, covered in milk chocolate'. For those wondering what is behind the sudden emergence of so many cake based reviews on ChocolateMission I can reveal that it is the consequence of my work office being obsessed with any product involving the word cake - unsurprinsgly they always seem more than happy to help with the taste sampling.

Just like the Cadbury Triple Choc Roll this Mint variant came with no catch weight but was large enough to split into six amply sized servings. Aside from the addition of the mint branding and green colour the packaging looked no different to the original and incorporated the usual Cadbury Purple colour scheme to great effect with some realistic on pack illustrations. Where I felt this product looked a little more interesting than the standard Triple Choc was when it was cross-sectioned as the bright green mint buttercream glistened amongst the rolled sponge layers giving it a vibrant and colourful look. In addition to looking pretty cool I also noted that a slight minty aroma could be detected amongst the normal Cadbury chocolaty scents.

I will spare you the whole 'Waaaah this wasn't made with Dairy Milk chocolate' spiel as I am getting pretty used to it not being used across their entire portfolio. To be honest the secondary recipe isn't much worse anyway and once it again it provided a fitting coating for the inner sponge and buttercream. Just as expected the outer chocolate provided the usual sweet, milky Cadbury Milk Chocolate taste which led nicely into the milder chocolate noted buttery flavours of the inner sponge. As I have experienced with the Cadbury Cake Bar range the cake wasn't the strongest tasting but it certainly held up it's part of the deal providing a bit of viscosity and sustenance to the product. Of course the real defining part of this product was obviously going to be the mint buttercream and I can thankfully report it gets two thumbs up from me. It had a nice cool feel on the tongue and provided some subtle peppermint flavours with a delicious creamy undertone that complimented the cake and outer chocolate well. In addition to providing a cooling freshness the buttercream also brought the necessary moistness to the drier cake layer which made its presence all that more welcome. As I said in my opening paragraph my colleagues were all too willing to help me out eating this and it survived only a matter of minutes once opened.

Overall I enjoyed this Mint Choc Roll more than the original Triple Choc Roll and thought it was marginally superior due to the extra dimension brought to the product by the mint flavouring. I am always a little cautious with mint flavoured chocolate products as sometimes the mint can overpower the chocolate in the taste, however this thankfully wasn't the case here and the mint buttercream was balanced superbly with the outer chocolate coating and inner chocolate cake. I can imagine that I will be buying one of the Cadbury Choc Roll products again in the near future given how well they go down in the office and I can confidently say that it will be this Mint variant that I will look for on the shelf ahead of the Triple Choc offering. If your a fan of the Cadbury Mint Cake Bars there probably isn't quite enough here for me to say that you have to buy this product over them. At the same time though I no doubt think you would get some pleasure out of this Mint Roll - it is certainly great for sharing with others.

8.2 out of 10

November 10th: Montezuma's Hula Hula

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

In my efforts to review some more UK based chocolates I recently got in contact with local chocolate producers Montezuma's who kindly obliged in sending me some of their newest products for me to review. Over the past year or so I have reviewed around twelve different offerings from Montezuma's speciality bar range with the quality ranging from pretty poor to actually pretty good. One thing that has been consistent across Montezuma's speciality range are the odd names they have given each of their variants and todays offering was no different. I guess with the name 'Hula Hula' Montezuma's have tried to encapsulate a Caribbean sort of theme and this was little surprise given the milk chocolate and coconut constituents.

Just like every Tom, Dick and Harry from this range the bar came in a 45.0g serving that was split into six individual blocks. Again the packaging incorporated the same style Montezuma's design work and I have to say I thought the the mix of the orangey red and brown colours worked well to give the box real stand out. Inside the chocolate was wrapped in the usual Montezuma's ghastly plastic packaging, though this was soon forgotten about once I opened the packet and smelt the glorious coconut led chocolaty smell that greeted me. In addition to smelling great the chocolate also looked pretty appetising with what looked to be a great deal of coconut nicely mixed throughout the chocolate.

If you have read any of my recent Montezuma's reviews (like the 'Snackle' the other day - HERE), you will be well aware that they have a pretty good quality milk chocolate. As with so many of their other bars the milk chocolate here was formed using 34% cocoa solids and 22.5% milk solids and it unsurprisingly formed the basis of the taste. Compared to the average milk chocolate this was noticeably stronger in its cocoa than its cream based influences and it offered up a crisp, clean taste. Like I have said in previous reviews I still stand by the judgement that Montezuma's chocolate doesn't have as much personality as other more mass produced brands as it doesn't seem to have a very distinctive taste. Luckily though what this Hula Hula bar did offer up was really tasty coconut dynamic that really added a great deal to the overall taste. The coconut was simply delicious with its milky, nutty flavours and it also brought a delightful crunchy element to the texture that was best enjoyed once the chocolate had melted away. Not surprisingly I ate the entire bar of this in one sitting and I would say that given the high amount of flavour and reasonably large sized serving it was a pretty fulfilling snack.

Overall this was yet another product that has left me thinking that there is a shocking lack of coconut flavoured chocolate bars out there on the UK market. As I have said above Montezuma's have a fair standard milk chocolate but at the same time it isn't really anything that special which means that the ingredients that compliment it have to deliver if the product is to be of a great quality. What was pleasing with this bar was that the coconut element was indeed very good and I felt that it brought extra dimensions to the taste and textures of the milk chocolate. As I often do I like to say how if would ever have a product again near the end of my reviews. The answer I would give if posed that very question for this bar would be a unanimous Yes! Personally this was a chocolate bar that I really enjoyed so if you like your Bounty bars then I would really consider giving this bar a try.

8.4 out of 10

November 9th: Thorntons Metropolitan Chocolates

You have to realise that your reviewing too many chocolates when a package arrives at your house with a note saying 'as promised please find enclosed' and you have no idea you are expecting them. Hey, I'm not complaining - perks of the site and all, suffice to say I was happy to receive this Thorntons Metropolitan selection box courtesy of one of their PR agencies SALT.
As they normally do with boxes of chocolates I get sent my family were all too happy to 'help me out' tasting them and giving their input for the ratings.

Just to make things difficult we all had differing opinions when it came to the presentation of the product. Although we could all appreciate the relatively nice looking design work on the outer box there were comments about the choice of colour and decoration of the inner pieces. Indeed, I myself didn't like the fact that half the pieces had cool looking patterns printed on their surfaces, whilst others looked boring and plain ... why not all of them!?

Described as chocolates inspired by chocolatiers from cities around the world, this selection included both milk and dark chocolates and constituted of 8 different pieces. Below are my thoughts on each with the customary rating ranging from Very Poor to Superb. Words have been kept light in the interest of review length :)

Vanilla Heights:

This was one of the unloved pieces that looked really plain sitting in the box. Unfortunately it wasn't only just unremarkable in looks but also in taste. The filling had a dense mousse like feel on the tongue but failed to add anything to the sweet tasting milk chocolate apart from a minor vanilla essence note. Poor.

Praline Piazza:

I had high hopes for this chocolate with its promise of 'velvety roasted hazelnut praline' but it didn't quite deliver the quality I was hoping for. The milk chocolate was unremarkable, whilst the hazelnut flavours were pretty much lost within the strong brown sugar notes generated by the inner crunchy feuilletine. It wasn't a horrible chocolate by any means but can be best summed up as disappointing. Hey ... at least it looked pretty! Poor.

Orange Garden:

This was the other of the long finger like pieces in the box and it was thankfully a lot better than the other. My mother is a big fan of chocolate orange and really enjoyed the way the orange essence flavours established themselves in the latter stages of the melt leaving a lasting fruit note in the mouth. The intensity of the orange wasn't over bearing on the chocolate which delivered a friendly, yet full flavoured dark chocolate experience. Good.

Manhattan Melt:

I laughed out loud when I read the description of this chocolate having just eaten one. 'Equsitie Ecuador milk chocolate with a crisp fruitiness and delicate hints of flowers & herbs' ... sorry Throntons but who are you kidding!? Granted this chocolate had a smooth enough melt in the mouth but lets be honest here it offered nothing like the intricacy in flavours that it built itself up as having. The taste was predominantly milk led with the undertones of cocoa present throughout. Summed up nicely .... Standard.

Q Couture:It probably won't surprise you to read that I thought this one looked the nicest sitting in the plastic tray. Billed as filled with a ganache noted with quince I wasn't all that excited by the actual prospect but it was actually one of the more enjoyably pieces in the selection. The dark chocolate was flavoursome with its unsweetened cocoa led taste and melted nicely into a sweeter fruit noted filling. This one looked great and it delivered .... simple really! Very Good.

Cloudberry Hill:

This piece was very similar to the above Q Couture but just had an outer coating of milk chocolate rather than dark. For this very reason it just simply wasn't as good. Yes it had one of the pretty patterns on it's surface but as with the other pieces from the selection the milk chocolate wasn't a patch on the dark chocolate pieces. The cloudberry ganache had a minor blackcurrant like hint to it but it's tartness was balanced by the sweeter tasting milk chocolate. Good.

Midnight Melt:

No prizes for guessing whether this was better than the equivalent milk chocolate piece! In comparison the depth of flavour was just far greater with the taste nicely balanced with unsweetened cocoa flavours that never entered the world of bitterness. It was by no means the greatest tasting dark chocolate I have ever had but hey, given the averageness of the milk chocolate on offer here it was made to look all the better. Good.

Soho Caramel:

I immediately thought 'Uh-Oh' when I saw this one! Not only did it look exactly like Paul.A.Young's award winning salted caramels but it was billed exactly the same as 'caramel hinted with an after-hint' of saltiness'. With such a tough benchmark no surprises these came off quite poorly and frankly they didn't match up whatsoever. The chocolate was thin and lacked presence in the taste, whilst the caramel had an odd floral note that over rode the promised salt lick. I don't want to be too harsh given the standard of the obvious comparator. Standard.

Overall I think the ultimate score and individual ratings give some perspective to how disappointing this selection box was. With an RRP of £10.99 you have to expect consistent quality and this is just something Thorntons don't seem to be able to do. The milk chocolate was frankly pretty average and wasn't up to scratch with what you would expect from such a costly box of chocolates. In fairness the dark chocolate was better and there are some nice chocolates in the box such as the Q Couture and the Orange Garden. At the end of the day though, a few nice chocolates don't make a well rounded selection box and there were just way too many poor ones. I think it is a fair assumption that a lot of us will be buying chocolate selection boxes in the next few weeks to gift for Christmas and I would have to say given the price you should avoid this one.

5.8 out of 10