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I know I have been feeding you all one Ritter Sport review a week for the past month or so, but today I bring you quite a special Ritter post.
Recently Ritter opened a new chocolate themed shop in Berlin, Germany, and to celebrate their grand opening they held an auction for 11 custom made bars that had been crafted by some German celeb VIPs. All proceeds of this auction went to the childrens charity organisation 'Children for a better world', so not only was there the opportunity to try some unique Ritter Sport chocolates, but at the same time there was the chance to help a really worthwhile cause(More details HERE).
Being the Ritter Sport fan I am, I couldn't let such an opportunity pass me by - so I threw my ChocolateMission hat in the ring and went about bidding on three bars via my German friends over at Candyholics (See HERE).
Below are the bars that I managed win - one crafted by Michaela May (German actress - See HERE), another by Caroline Link (German film director - See HERE), and last but not least Amelie Fried (German TV presenter & writer - See HERE). To be honest I had never heard of any of these people before, but I am sure they must be famous enough in Germany. They even went to the trouble of signing each of the 100.0g bars!
Ritter Sport - Michaela May
'Cranberry, orange nuggets and almond'
This was a milk chocolate bar crammed full of fruit and nut pieces. The chocolate was it's usual good standard, and simply just let the inner contents do the talking in the overall taste. The nuts were plentiful and crunchy, whilst both fruits were forthcoming in their juicy sweet flavours (the cranberries were especially tasty!). I have had many good fruit and nut chocolates in my time, but this one was very nice indeed. I can see Ritter Sport releasing a bar very similar to this in the near future for their permanent range - I for one wouldn't be disappointed if that was the case.
Ritter Sport - Amelie Fried
'Chilli, orange & ginger'
Ginger is not an ingredient that I have experienced with Ritter Sport before, but if this chocolate is anything to go by, we could soon have something very special lighting up the ChocolateMission rating system. As you can imagine, with both the ginger and chilli elements this was a quite a spicy chocolate, though the sweet orange oil made sure the heat generated never became too much. The aftertaste was long and warm and really left a lasting impression in the mouth. It is funny to say, but this reminded me a lot of the Christmas chocolates you get in Germany.
Ritter Sport - Caroline Link'Ground chilli, shredded coconut and cocoa nibs'
Boy oh boy, Caroline must be a fan of spicy food ... well either that or the Ritter chocolatier got a little happy with the chilli flakes :D This was the bar I was most looking forward to trying, as I had never had the opportunity to try a flavour combination anything like this before. As I said the chilli was at times a little overwhelming (blow your head off levels of hotness!!), however there was a delicious, cooling effect generated by the milky, sweet nutty coconut that was spread generously throughout. The cocoa nibs took a bit of a back seat in terms of featuring in the taste, though they added a nice degree of crunchiness alongside the coconut bits.
Overall you guys may have noticed that there is one (or three!) things missing from today's post - the scoring charts of course!! Well, I have decided not to put a score on these bars - who am I to critique charity work!? The crux of the matter is these bars were crafted with good intentions, and it was a pleasure for me to get to feature them on this site. Ritter Sport claim to be a 'family company', and I can do little to dispute this when they are doing good deeds like this. I hope you enjoyed the post.
JIM
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30 comments:
Wow, these are completely new to me. The first one is the tempting one for me as I can't stand chili.
I've also discovered something new from Ritter Sport Sommersorte this weekend :D Two yogurt bars (mango and something else, I didn't care much since I can't stand yogurt) and this Stracciatella bar (which I will be trying this week :D ).
PS - Congratulations for passing the 1000 mark :)
This was a really nice review/post. I think you were right not to score them as that would have been a bit harsh on the people that made them.
How have you not heard of Caroline Link she is quite famous I would say.
Michaela's bar sounds the nicest to me. I love the idea of those two different fruits in there together.
OMG I read about these months ago.
Out of interest how much did you have to pay for them? I didn't know how to go about trying to buy them for myself. I think they got auctioned over German eBay didn't they.
Rxxx
When you throw in the mix that you have reviewed over 40 different ritter chocolates Jim it is a little surprising that you haven't come across any with ginger, cranberry, orange or chilli in isn't it? As you wrote in the write up I bet it wont be too long before we see them in the future.
When will your reviews of the summer chocolates be up? I want to see what the ice cream flavour is like.
It's not at all surprising to see another manufacture climb on the chilli spice bandwagon. I have never got this fascination myself.
I hate chilli on savoury food, and I hate it even more when in chocolate. I don't understand why everyone raves about how well they go together.
Jim it was a nice thing for you to do for charity, but who on earth are these people. Lol are you actually sure they are celebrities =>
I really like the look of that new shop and when I am in Berlin that will be a place to visit... especially as ANYONE can make their own version of Ritter Sport there it seems! Will there be a Jim version at some point? ;)
The orange and cranberry one sounds delicious. I hope they bring it out as a normal flavour soon.
If you look on the link that you posted about the new shop in Berlin it seems that you can now create your own Ritter bar. How brilliant would that be?
Before I could say what I would mix I would have to know what you can add but I am envisaging something with caramel, peanuts and praline. I hope they bring one of these shops to London.
@Gareth - 'create your own Ritter Sport' sounds terrific. Is there any way we can order them online.
I've never heard of the people either but the bars are intriguing. The first one appeals to me most as I don't like chilli full stop (I agree with Steven - I don't understand the fascinatuion with chilli with everything at the mo). I think it's a really cool idea, doing these bars for charity and I think they should be congratulated on creating such interesting, tasty sounding and unique bars :)
I would make a white chocolate with hazelnuts, fudge and some sort of cereal. I am really in to trying to eat lots of high protein foods at present.
have you ever tried reviewing any protein chocolate bars Jim?
Good to see you doing your bit for charity Jim. Lol If all charity work was for eating chocolate I am sure a lot more people would do it.
@Louise
From the website it seems you need to be there in person, but they have a special fun creating area for children as well as the normal adult bit - and a cafe where the cakes are in the same shape as Ritter Sport!
Ritter Sport were really good doing this for charity. It did get them some good PR and advertisement for themselves, but it does go to prove that they are a caring company.
I appreciate you don't want to score them jim but what sort of scores do you think they would have got? By the sounds of it I think the two orange ones would have got around 8 and the red on about 7?
It appears the chef went OTT with the chilli if you found it too hot.
Great review Jim it is nice to see a company make a genuine ethical gesture isn't it.
Looking at all three the one that I would have liked to have tried the most is the carlone link flavour. Out of the selection it looks like the one which has some sort of 'new news' about it i.e. something we have never seen before.
I am so jealous you got to try some of these limited editions. I did hear that Ritter were making some one off celebrity chocolates but I never got the chance to bid on any myself. I am glad to hear they went to a worthwhile person.
Ack I hate chilli. For the love of god people stop saying that it goes well with chocolate. it doesn't at all stop be so stupid. Grrrrr.
I would have liked an actual rating on them. I don't think that the charity angle should mean that we shouldn't expect a quality product. (I agree that we can kind of guess from the description & your reaction.) I don't think there are free passes just because a celebrity endorses something for a cause.
Brilliant reviews Jim. It is always interesting to read about all these different Ritter Sport chocolates. Great work.
You kept this one quiet :D we could have all had a good auction :D.
Thats a good idea, next time you get sent something special should auction it off on this site could get something kinda sweet then :P or a donation to chairty :D.
Also Jim have you tried a Cadbury Mr Big Bar?
I like the sound of the orange and cranberry and chilli and ginger ones, the last one not so much. I don't like chilli chocolate if it's too hot.
PART 1
Ana
I am surprised you never heard about what Ritter Sport were doing with these VIP bars. I have the Summer Sorte en route to me as we speak! I look forward to trying them.
David
Thanks chap. I just didn't think it was right scoring chocolate that had crafted for charity. They deserve 10 out of 10 for social responsibility alone.
Lauren
Nope I had never heard of any of them! I had to use Wikipedia to look them up :D
Rachel
I spent about 40 euros on these three (most of that was the shipping mind you!). It felt nice knowing that my money was going somewhere good and not some fatcats pocket.
Nick
It is a little surprising they haven't used these ingridients before. Like you say I doubt it will be long before we see them on offer.
Anon #1
They are on their way to me. Expect them up in a few weeks.
Steven
Personally I think chilli does go well with chocolate. Each to their own I guess. Not everyone like mint chocolates, not everyone like chilli chocolates ....go figure I guess.
Golden
Haha I am sure they are yes :D They are famous in Germany at least.
Gareth
I have been in contact with Ritter about getting my own bar made. Currently they don't do mail/web orders so unless you physically go to the shop they wont make them.
I am working on the Ritter Sport brand team to sort me out though :D ... more on that when I have it!
Estelle
I wouldn't be surprised if they do. It was delicious.
Justin
The idea of creating your own Ritter bar is exciting isn't it. I wont reveal what I would make mine up of ... I don't want to spoil the surprise if I do get the chance to make one.
Louise
See what I said to Gareth above.
Alan
They should get a pat on the back shouldn't they. I think it is a really inspired idea. I think somone like thorntons or Hotel Chocolat could easily carry off something like this. Now I think of it, Thorntons would be ideal wouldn't it!
Duncan
I haven't actually ... do you have any suggestion which ones I should do? Pop me a note in the request page chap!
Paul
I think you could be right there. I would definitely encourage more charity stuff like this to be done by manufacturers.
Resph
They are a nice company aren't they. Well they come across as a nice one anyway! All the correspondence I have had with them has always been very friendly.
Chloe
You probably aren't far off the mark with your guesses. None of them were the best Ritter bars ever but the two orange wrapper ones were pretty good. I imagine 8s would be about write.
Richard
Glad to see you enjoyed the review. Ritter Sport are obviously quite socially aware.
PART 2
Federic
These weren't limited editions chap! They were 'one of a kind' as far as I am aware.
Anon #2
See what I said to Steven above ... I guess chilli is like any other ingredient. There will always be lovers and haters.
Cybele
I just didn't feel all that comfortable scoring something that hadn't been created for profit.
Part of the idea behind scoring something is so it stimulates other people to disagree/agree with what I have written - since these were one of a kind it seemed a little silly doing that.
I do see your point though - I was probably being overly sensitive.
Tricky
Thanks - these Ritter reviews will keep on coming as long as they provide the ammunition to write the reviews :D
Matutu
Sorry it all came about very spur of the moment a few weeks ago.
RE: Mr Big Bar ... I haven't reviewed one yet I am afraid. For some reason or other it has often escaped me.
Thanks everyone. Glad you enjoyed the reviews. More Japanese products tomorrow I believe.
JIM
Ah damn, I missed the comment storm! The second and third seems nice, I love spicy food! Never had a chili chocolate before though, these seem like a promising introduction.
Ah damn, I missed the comment storm! The second and third seems nice, I love spicy food! Never had a chili chocolate before though, these seem like a promising introduction.
Wow, what a great idea. This is a nice one of a kind post to mark the 1000th or so with, it is one of my favorites. I like that these reviews didn't have ratings; if they become mass produced that can always change :D
Hopefully Ritter Sport will set up an online pick and mix. I know "Chocomize" does, though I haven't tried them. Customized and limited/special editions chocolate would be another great thing to have in the CM shop.
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