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Kcal 210 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 23.0g (per pack)As we all know in the US they don't shy away when it comes to releasing limited edition products. Snickers, M&M's, Reese's all tend to release at least a few a year, and more often than not they usually get linked in to the latest blockbuster movie releases. If you cast your minds back to the 2008 Batman film 'The Dark Knight', you may recall that it was the Reese's Dark Bats which were the candy to get tied in to the film. If you haven't ever seen my reviews of either the Reese's Dark Bats Minis, or later on the large sized Reese's Dark Bat you can see both HERE. One thing that we don't commonly see from these limited edition movie themed candy is them become a part of the original ranges, but this is where these Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups bucked the trend. Released later in 2009 these Dark Cups emerged not long after the flow through of the Dark Bats, and it was my task today to see if they were just as good.
From the outset the Dark Cups immediately chalked up a victory over the previous Bats formats as they were larger in size and weighed in at 42.0g. In regards to packaging the dark chocolate theme was communicated well by the subtle on pack sub branding, but the wrapper still maintained the usual Reese's glory with the orange colour background prominent amongst some of the bolder looking black coloured fonts. The cups themselves were typically well crafted and were kept nicely protected by the inner cardboard sleeve that accompanied them. Aesthetically the chocolate was noticeably darker in tone, though it still had little say in the aromas on offer. To be honest I wouldn't want it any other way - I don't think there is anything quite like the tempting nutty smells you get from Reese's products.
At this point there were ticks in two very important boxes - Did they still look as good as the Dark Bats? ... Yep! Did they still smell just as good as the Dark Bats? ... Yep! The only question that remained was did they taste just as good? ... and I'm glad to report that Yep - they did! Just as I reported with the Dark Chocolate Bats the chocolate on offer was far more flavoursome than the standard milk chocolate we are all used to getting from Reese's. The nature of the 'dark chocolate' was as expected very mass consumer friendly (i.e. it didn't really ramp up the volume of the cocoa to a great extent), but the unsweetened chocolatey flavours it contributed to each bite far outstripped the passive, waxy taste and texture of original Reese's milk chocolate. The relaxed sugar emphasis in the taste of the dark chocolate, nicely contrasted with the peanut butter, which delivered all the usual Reese's pleasantries. It was buttery, creamy and delightfully finished with a lick of salt and sugar. What with the chocolate contributing more to the taste, the two cups felt like an extremely satisfying amount to eat in one sitting - there was no way I was going to able to eat one and leave the other.
Overall these Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are up there amongst my all time favourite Reese's products and were every bit as good as the limited edition Dark Chocolate Bats I tasted a few years ago. In fact if you look at the scoring chart below they have even managed to notch up a few more points on the scores I gave those Batman limited editions a few years ago, as they were bigger in size and thus more satisfying when it came to fulfilling my hunger. What is slightly annoying is that we aren't likely to see these Dark Chocolate Cups appear in the UK anytime soon, which means that whenever I have an impulse desire to buy a Reese's chocolate I will have to settle for a milk chocolate product that I know is inferior. These Dark Chocolate Cups don't deliver the grandest of dark chocolate experiences, but in comparison to the quality of the pretty rubbish milk chocolate you get from Reese's normally, they are no doubt in my mind suprior. If you then factor in to the equation the deliciousness that is Reese's peanut butter you hopefully start to understand where I am coming from with my high rating. It would be great to hear some opinions from my US readership as to which they prefer.
8.9 out of 10
Want to try these for yourself? Head to Yankee Soda & Candy - CLICK HERE
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31 comments:
I love Reese's nutsrageous bar I can't stop buying them at the minute.
I really wish they would start bringing more of the different flavours across to the uk.
In your picture they don't look any different in colour to the normal kind of reeses cups. I would have thought they would have made them jet black to give the dark chocolate effect. I do adore reeses pb cups. I'm gonna buy some today. Great review Jim.
Rxxx
Ever since nestle made that ridiculous decision to get rid of their peanut butter bar I have been gagging for a decent peanut butter chocolate.
I haven't ever tried a reese's bar because I have been put off by the hershey thing. I might have to invest in some cups. Thanks.
I aint surprised to hear that it isn't proper dark chocolate. None of the dark chocolates that these companies pump out of their factories ever taste like decent dark chocolate. Its good to hear that it is better than their milk chocolate but that was never going to be hard was it lol.
I am going to buy some of these for my birthday. I got a gift voucher for cybercandy from a friend yays =) I hope they stock them.
These are a nightmare product for me. I don't like dark chocolate and I don't like peanuts lol there isn't much here for me is there.
Nice photograph Jim it nicely shows off the peanut butter. I like the fact you always get loads of pb compares to chocolate with Reeses cups. I think they know where their strengths lie.
Why do you complain about reese's normal chocolate I think you're hating on it too much.
I don't think it is any better/worse than any other hershey or nestle chocolate bar you buy. You're probably just comparing it to the peanut butter which is 100% amazing.
Damn I so wanna try these dark chocolate cups now. I'm pretty astounded by your rating. I know you like your peanut butter but I thought scores like that were exclusive to only Hotel Chocolat chocolates :P
I like the packaging but then again I always say that about reese's. I wonder whoever came up with the idea of making 'cups' as opposed to normal bars. I once bought the reeses chocolate bar they made for a while but it just wasnt the same as the cups. It's part of whole reeses experience I think.
I would consider myself to be a reeses fan but these dark chocolate cup have managed to completely pass me by. Thanks for the heads up Jim they sound great. I'm going to have to buy some soon.
David - your talking about the Kit Kat Peanut yeah? I can't believe they chose to get rid of it aswell. It was such an idiotic thing to do.
I don't like dark chocolate that much but these sound safe enough for me. I can't be the only one that likes dark chocolate weak lol
Dx
I was disappointed to read that Hershey didn't announce any new limited editions for reeses at the latest candy expo. Normally they at least do one a year, I hope they aren't going to stop doing them.
Thats one high rating. You must really have liked these.
It's apity we wont be likely to see these in the UK as, much as I don't like normal Reeses stuff atall (and the chocolate is waxy disgusting gloop!)and I'm no fan of the peranut filling either really, but these sound a little bit better even if just to try lol
You should try toasting white bread and them smothering it in peanut butter and nutella. Omg it is sooooooooooo good.
I'd love to try these. I do like Reeses cups but agree the quality of the chocolate is poor. There's a shop near me that imports various Reeses products but they don't have these, they have the white ones though.
You guys should count yourselves lucky. I didn't used to be able to get any Reeses chocolate products when I lived in New Zealand. It was such a pain having to buy them from the internet as they always got melted no matter what time of year I would buy them.
I used to get called peanut butter boy at school because I always used to have peanut butter sandwiches for lunch :) I've only ever tried reeses smarties before. They were wicked.
Reese's cups are the best thing to come out of America. Thats a fact :-)
Why must you be tempting me with these peanut butter cups of sin Jim lad?
I would do some pretty crazy things for peanut butter cups. I have a friend on holiday in the US at the moment. She better bring me back some or there is gonna be trouble lol.
Thanks for the review. If she fails me I will have to buy some online. Its good knowing that there is always that option.
How weird about the Zero Bar :P, great minds and all i think it comes down to hehe.
Im going to have to admit i have a weight relationship with these salty/sweet snacks, when i think of them i hate them but when i actually eat them i really enjoy them haha, dunno think its the just the thought of Peanuts in my chocolate i dont like. At the moment im loving the white peanut butter cups, gonna have tog et some of these though.
As long as the peanut butter is smooth and not crunchy I fancy these. I'm weird in that I like nuts normally, but I don't like my peanut butter to have any bits in it. I think it just feels really unnatural.
I still can't get my head around why all these UK manufactures refuse to embrace peanut butter as something that goes well with chocolate.
I would of thought we would have seen Cadbury or Mars at least may a token play in this part of the market with a limited edition or something.
@Paul I'm surprised Mars havent since they use peanuts quite alot and it would seem something that would naturally fit into their portfolio I wouldve thought. I guess Cadbury's offering is the Star Bar, which although not peanut butter itself is at least peanutty :P lol
PART 1
Nick
The Nutsrageous bar is pretty special isn't it. It was annoying they stopped shipping the Canadian version of it to the UK though. I always thought it was a bit better than the US one.
Rachel
I get your point but I think they looked darker than in real life than they do in the photos their. They were noticeably darker than normal reese's cups.
David
I think one day we will see it return. It was a pretty poor choice of bar to get rid of. The thing that replaced it was what was most disappointing for me. The caramel chunky isn't even in the same league.
Golden
Too right most of the dark chocolate variant things we get from the likes of Cadbury, Mars and Nestle are never 'proper' dark chocolate. They are normally just unsweetned versions of their milk chocolate recipes.
Lucy
Lucky you eh!? I hope that was a high value gift voucher :D the delivery costs alone are normally excessive enough haha
Katie
Hmmm you could be right. I don't think you would get on with these then.
Tricky
Yeh I agree they have a nice ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. I'm no fan of Reese's chocolate as you may have gathered. For that reason alone I much prefer there being more PB.
Kenny
Sorry chap but I reserve the right to an opinion just like everyone else.
I find it is a little of the waxy and flavourless side of things. I just don't like it I'm afraid.
Mark
No way are high scores exclusive to posher chocolate brands. Any product has the potential to score anything on this site ... I judge products by how they taste! Not by who makes them!
Duncan
I thought the Reese's bar was alright myself. Cups aren't exactly the easiest thing to eat out of the home are they. I would have preffered that bar they made to have been a bit smaller though - it was a bit of a hefter If I remember correctly.
Ryan
Did you never see the limited editions they made for the Dark Knight film either then? I am glad to see they made the decision to make them part of the normal range.
Daisy
Indeed I think he was talking about the old PB Chunky. It's the only Kit Kat PB we have ever had though.
Michelle
Actually they did! If you look at www.candyblog.net today you will see Cybele's review of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis ... they look pretty cool to me.
Anon
Well yeah I did :D hence the high score :D
Alan
Haha I'm not sure these would really be your thing if you don't like Reese's chocolate or their PB :D ... I'm sure there are better things for you to spend your money on chap :D
Gamer
I've never really been a big fan of Nutella myself. I always thought it was a bit on the sugary side.
Phil
The white ones are my favourites .. even though the quality of the white chocolate isn't particularly great there is just something about the enhanced creamy sweetness that blends so well with the savoury salted nut flavours! I will be updating that Reese's white review next week :D
Marshall
Ahh dammit I bet that was really annoying. I guess we are slowly but surely getting a few more Reese's products as the years pass.
Alun PB BOY :D
You mean Reese's Pieces right? They are damn tasty aren't they.
Mysterio
Haha that is very harsh on America chap. Reese's products are often pretty special though.
Steven
Sorry matey! I know they aren't the best nutritionally but as an occasional treat they are fine.
Matthew
It was odd wasn't it - indeed lets put it down to great minds :D
Salty sweet snacks are often some of my favourites. Have you ever tried chocolate covered pretzels? (Flipz)? They sound so wrong, but believe me they taste fantastic. I would give them a try.
Louise
That is a little odd I have to say :D Oh well you will be glad to hear the PB in these is smooth.
Paul
Nor can I matey. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Nestle brought back the PB Chunky soon. I think they will soon see the error of their ways. Maybe that or Cadbury/Mars will nip in with a cheeky bar soon. I sure hope so.
Alan
The Starbar doesn't really suffice though does it :D Fingers crossed Cadbury will come up with something soon. The demand is there for sure.
Thanks everyone - Glad you enjoyed the Reese's review today. It has been a while since my last one hasn't it.
JIM
Wow, it looks like it makes your dark chocolate "top rated" list (at the bottom).
I liked them, but wasn't any more enamored of them than the standard. I tend to think of the chocolate as a container for the peanut butter. As long as it doesn't distract, I'm good with white, dark or milk. (The white was too distracting & sweet.)
I just tried these and was actually pretty disappointed. First of all, I haven't seen them promoted and they were hard to find, although the regular ones in the same store were available in: single/multipack/fun/king/miniature/assortment sizes, also in the checkout aisles, besides tipping out of a huge restock box sitting atop the display shelf! They didn't have the white ones, and only had the dark in 2 large sizes, either miniatures or a multipack, when I just wanted to try a sample.
I had been excited to try these since I adore the milk chocolate ones, with their perfect balance of sweet and salty, but imho these were ruined by the imbalance, of the dark chocolate totally overpowering the peanut butter flavor, to the point where I couldn't even detect it :( I even like that dark chocolate, which I recognized as Hershey's, I'd forgotten they produce Reese's, I've always loved their 'special dark' to the point I was teased as a kid for always picking them out of the miniatures mix lol!
Cybele
Ahh I think that list will need updating. With all Reese's things I treat the chocolate as very much a carrier .. or container as you so aptly put it.
I would love to see what sort of rating I would have to give a Reese's product that had really really decent dark chocolate on it. One can dream eh!?
JIM
omg.. i so love reese's!! now they have dark choco peanut butter cups.. i'll definitely like this.. no doubt!
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