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Kcal 550 Fat 34.0g Carbs 51.0g (per 100.0g) Today we complete the full circle of Ritter Sport 2010 Spring limited editions with this review of the Cashew Milk Chocolate offering. Over the past few weeks you may recall that both the Bourbon Vanilla and Hazelnut Krokant bars failed to leave up to the usual impeccable Ritter Sport standards, however I was hoping for much more from this Cashew Milk Chocolate variety. On pack this offering came described as 'Alpine milk chocolate with chopped cashew nuts', which struck me as yet another no frills, but appetising proposition from our friends in Deutschland.
Who wants to have a guess at what size this bar came in!? DING DING we have a winner ... indeed it was yet another 100.0g square block that was divided into the usual 16 chunks. Take a look at the packaging shot above and you will see that this variant incorporated the same cool looking spring themed wrapper as the other vanilla and hazelnut variants, though the cashew flavouring was also well communicated with the subtle nut pictures. Unsealing the plastic wrapper a pleasant array of nutty, chocolatey scents emerged ... all was good up until this point at least.
Who wants me to talk about Ritter Sport milk chocolate again :D Haha I thought not. Suffice to say the taste was pretty much the same as normal, though I did sense a slight change in the pace of the melt and overall texture. Flavour wise it was possibly a touch creamier than other Ritter Sport milk chocolate bars, but this may have just been a consequence of the softer, smoother texture which obviously came about due to the oil being released from the nuts. Whilst the chocolate was faster paced in melt, the nuts were fresh to the bite and despite yielding more easily than your normal hazelnut etc, they still maintained a satisfying crunch. I am glad to say that after the disappointment of the last Bourbon Vanilla and Hazelnut Krokant chocolates, the inner cashew nuts proved to be a far better additive to the chocolate, and they brought a delicious buttery, savoury nut dimension to the chocolate. Due to the melt being a touch on the faster side this wasn't the most satisfying or fulfilling Ritter Sport chocolate ever but I thought that a quadrant of blocks was a decent amount serving size to accompany an after dinner coffee.
Overall I actually didn't do this on purpose this time, but it seems like I saved the best until last in regards to the flavours on offer from the Ritter Sport Spring 2010 collection. It wont surprise you to read that where this bar excelled was in the enhancing additive flavour, the chocolate was as usual of a sound quality but it was the cashew nuts that made this bar what it was. The extra dimension the cashews brought to the softer texture was only outshone but the tasty nutty flavours they brought to the taste. I am not quite sure I would say the cashews proved to be preferable versus the Ritter whole hazelnut bars (of which I rate extremelly highly - See HERE), but this bar does back up my view that cashews are criminally under utilised by chocolate manufacturers, and that more should try using them in the future. If I was to suggest you try one flavour from the Spring 2010 range from Ritter this year it would have to be this Cashew Milk Chocolate flavour.
8.0 out of 10
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23 comments:
There are so many different Ritter Sport flavours. If you look on their website half of them don't even come up.
Cashews are my choice of snack food at the moment I am a bit addicted to them.
Normally I am not a lover of nuts as I don't like how hard they are, but cashews are different and are a bit softer. Salt and pepper cashews are the best.
Rxxx
I don't think I can think of another cashew chocolate so this is nicely innovative.
For some reason the manufacturers always choose to add hazelnuts or almonds. I am not sure why they don't go for cashews some of the time. I think they are just as nice.
They do like their chocolates with nuts in don't they? I would like to see them try something a bit different.
One thing they don't do enough of is white chocolate bars. If you think about how good some of their white chocolates are I am sure you will find it hard to disagree that they don't have enough flavours.
Ritter Sport are amazing at treating their fans to new and interesting products. I wish the likes of cadburys and galaxy would copy their business model and have a range of consistent flavours, and then a few limited editions that they update throughout the year. It is the way forward I think.
Oh damn I have just seen that I didn't win the Galaxy Counters competition :-( Boo. I like the sound of this new competition though. What are the prizes?
Daggnabbit this chocolate sounds brilliant. I just looked at your reviews last week of the other flavours and people were complaining that they couldn't buy these.
If you look on the ritter website you can actually order them.
You have reviewed over 40 different Ritter Sport varieties, that is pretty amazing for just one make of chocolate. Goood work keep it up.
This sounds like the best of the bunch although it seems to be the 'safest'. I expect they are more expensive than other nuts so are probably used less for that reason. I don't really like cashew nuts myself so tend to steer clear. Didn't Cadbury use them in that Bar Of Plenty?
Hi jim. Nice review today but haven't ritter sport already done this flavour before? If you look at the three reviews that get linked in below there is a cashew and raisin milk chocolate that you already reviewed last year.
I understand this one doesn't contain raisins but they are pretty much the same thing. By the looks of it the do 'replay' flavours over and over again.
Cashew nuts are mega yummy. I am not sure I like them more than macadamias though.
This isn't my sort of thing I am afraid. Someone has already touched on this above but I feel the need to make the point again. Ritter Sport make too many bars with nuts in. If you were allergic to nuts then you couldn't even think about eating one of their chocolates. It is a shame because there are more people with nut allergies than people think.
I saw on Ritter Sports twitter last night the bars they are planning to bring out in summer. They sound ace. Bring on the sunshine =>
Are you lot mad? Cashew nuts suck. I don't like they way they are soft when you bite in to them. They make me think that they are old and manky.
Remember Ritter-Sport, Ana, remember Ritter-Sport. I just saw this yesterday and I didn't buy it... again. Instead, I got 5 Lindt Gold Bunnies at the price of one. Can't break the "no holiday without Lindt" tradition - they make one of the few milk chocolates I'd buy over and over again (yes, the bunnies were all milk chocolate version - I haven't even seen the dark chocolate version in stores this year... though the dark chocolate Gold Bunny was still listed on the website).
I keep seeing the Ritter-Sport bars and I keep telling myself they'll be there next time and I'd better pick something more rare to try... or something that will be gone soon after Easter. Oh, well, I'll eventually get to try these some day...
PS - I'm not allergic to nuts, but there are all sorts of nuts, some of which I love (pecans, macadamias), some of which I hate (peanuts)... + everything in between.
Oh Jim btw did you have any luck finding a reliable source for buying chocolates from Germany. I am desperate to buy some milka and ritter.
Richard,
Do you know what the flavours are then? Tell tell :-)
I liked this one the least! I thought that you couldn't really taste any of the cashews. But then I've probably just had much better cashew chocolate, such as the Cayama one.
Jim just out of interest do Ritter make these limited editions more expensive than the normals bars? I am not sure I would pay that much more for than normal for them, as it isn't as if they are made with superior ingridients or anything.
The only chocolate with cashews I've tried is the Cadbury one, and I wasn't fussed on that but I'd be interested in trying this. I love cashews, currently addicted to the marmite ones :)
@Nick - you're so right! And because of the size of Ritter bars they're perfect for intoducing more flavours because they'd take up less space on shelves.
Come on Richard spill the beans on the summer flavours.
Steven
I don't think you are quite there chap. If you look on the English version Ritter sensibly just limit it to the bars we get here in the UK and US.
If you look on the German part you will see all the flavours.
Rachel
You and me both! I am loving my cashew nuts aswell at the moment. I would recommend you try the marmite ones or the reggae reggae sauce ones you can get in the supermarkets.
David
The new Cadbury Bar of Plenty has cashews in. They aren't quite as prominent as they are in this bar though.
Emma
You are right there actually. Some of their white chocolates are nothing short of fantastic. I think two out of the three summer flavours are white chocolate. So you should possibly waite for them.
Nick
I couldn't agree more. I think it is a great idea to have a consistent range of bars and then vary up the range with some seasonal and limited editions. Ritter have a good policy in place don't they.
Golden
Sorry you didn't win. Don't worry there is an even bigger competition coming very soon.
Martin
I wonder if they ship abroad? IF anyone knows it would be good if you could share that information.
Kim
Over forty is plenty isn't it :D I will keep going as long as they release more flavours :D
Alan
Cadbury do indeed! You aren't wrong about it being the best of the lot. I have a review of their 'flavour of the year' next week - so the Ritter reviews aren't going to be stopping anytime soon :D
Justin
I see what you mean but no they haven't done a plain cashew bar before. I don't think we can say they reuse old flavour combinations. The only one where they have done that is with the Olympia bar, which was brought back by popular demand.
Resph
I like some more the bizarre nuts as well. Eating chocolate with hazelnuts and almonds all the time can get a bit tiresome. I always enjoy the bars where they vary it a little.
Lauren
I sorta see what you mean, but I think it could be argued that there are plenty of different options for people with nut allergies out there. It is a shame that they can't try many of the Ritter bars though. You are right in that sense.
Kieran
We aren't mad chap don't worry :D Our opinions just differ somewhat :D
Ana
Haha was this a mental note for yourself? Perhaps you should write it on your hand!
When you do try them I would welcome your views.
Nick
Still working on it chap! I will be looking into it this weekend especially.
Richard / Katie / Anon
The flavours are Passion Fruit Yogurt, Wildberry Yogurt (both same as last year I think!) + a new Straticella bar! I will have reviews up soon.
Paul
They are price aligned to the normal range chap.
Phil
You too then (re: marmite cashews!). I honestly can't stop eating them! If you like them I would recommend the reggae sauce ones. I also agree that Nick was right about Ritter's range construction ... lets hope some of our local brands take a look at it.
Thanks everyone - even more Ritter Sport next week :D .... yes really :D
JIM
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