&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=14&tc=d4d4cc&it=gif&c=round&bgt=gradient&bgc=ad6807&ebgc=d98807&be=on&w=125&h=30){kind=small}
Kcal 144 Fat 6.5g Fat(sats) 3.3g Carbs 20.1g (per 3 sweets)
After trying my luck with the dismal scoring Nestle Dairy Box last month (See HERE), a number of ChocolateMission readers suggested that Nestle's Black Magic Classic Favourites might be a little more to my liking. Despite having never tried this selection box before, a little research (notably from the Nestle website HERE), revealed that it was first produced back in 1933 and the product gained such a loyal fan base that there was high demand for it's return when it got taken out of distribution during the early 2000's. A full history of the product can be read HERE if you are interested - for the sake of the length of the review I will move on to the more important matters at hand.
This selection box cost me £3.75 from my local Tesco and contained 18 chocolate pieces split by six varieties, including a 'selection of caramels, wholenuts and fruit cremes'. The outer packaging was ... well ... sensible given the name of the product, which is more than can be said for the relaunch of the product during the mid 2000's when Nestle chose to do so with a white coloured box!? What were they thinking!? Inside a clear menu showcased the chocolates, which have to be said looked reasonably differentiated from one another.
Summing up the chocolates below wont take me long for reasons that will soon become apparent. One thing I can say, which was applicable to all of them was the terrible quality of the chocolate. To be frank it was bland, tasteless and devoid of flavour. Now I'm fully used to mass produced 'dark chocolates' not being as fully flavoured, or renowned for their high quality ingredients versus higher end market offerings, but this dark chocolate was simply awful. It smelt of little, tasted of less and was basically just unsatisfactory .... I bet you can tell these ratings below are going to be great :D
Raspberry Parafait - We might as well start off with the worst of the lot. Unless I'm forgetting something anything obvious, this is the worst individual chocolate I have ever tasted in my life. In addition to the awful chocolate, the raspberry fondant was disgustingly fake and artificial tasting, and had no 'real' sense of raspberry flavouring about it. Awful.
Almond Crunch - This piece wasn't helped by the fact that it was mostly constituted of the dark chocolate. The almond pieces were so small they failed to generate and sense of nutty flavours of note, which altogether just made this a bland tasting, rough textured chocolate. Very Poor.
Orange Sensation - This wasn't a particularly great tasting chocolate, but it was far nicer than the inedible raspberry fondant piece. Compared to the Fry's Orange bar the fruity flavours weren't quite as juicy and the chocolate was even poorer quality. That said it was one of the passable ones of a bad selection. Standard.
Whole Hazelnut Praline - Seriously someone has to look into how these manufactures are getting away with their labelling of praline! The softer filled centre was just as flavourless as the chocolate that surrounded it, though this chocolate had one redeeming feature in it's whole hazelnut that sat in the middle. The nut flavours generated were still minimal but compared to some of the others this was at least palatable. Poor.
Dreamy Fudge - The best of a bad selection! The chocolate surrounding this piece was thankfully at it's thinnest so the fudge was the main focus of the taste. It wasn't the best quality fudge I have ever tasted, but it was fair and the buttery, cream hinted taste created was the nicest thing about the whole selection. Standard.
Caramel Caress - I have tried many great caramel flavoured chocolates in my lifetime but this certainly wasn't one of them. The caramel felt adequately soft and runny in the mouth, but it offered very little taste wise aside from a sharp burst of sugary flavours. It had no butter or salt flavours to offer, which in my book made it more of a syrup than it did a caramel. Very Poor.
Overall this review isn't going to be help me out dispelling the myth that I'm secretly anti-Nestle, but I have to tell it like it is, and this was nothing other than an extremely poor box of chocolates. Perhaps I'm just living on a completely different planet to the loyal fan base, but from what I tasted this was simply just a collection of poorly flavoured pieces that had some seriously bad dark chocolate coating them. The one piece that really stood out to me was the Raspberry Parafait - I can't see how anyone alive (or dead!) could get any sort of enjoyment from such a fowl, artificial tasting fondant. I don't want to write too much more because I would rather spend time writing reviews about products that I enjoy. If you have your own views on the Nestle Black Magic Classic Favourites I would love to hear them - don't be afraid to argue your point if you think differently.
4.6 out of 10
Posts
34 comments:
Oh Jim you are so anti nestle ;)
Lol only kidding with you. I'm in agreement with you here. I remember my mum almost spitting out one of the chocolates she tried from this box. She said they were nothing like they used to make them.
This is one of those chocolate boxes I have always seen around but have always avoided. Judging by your review this is probably a wise decision on my part. These do sound incredibly bad, I wont ever buy them now. Thanks for the warning.
Rxxx
Great review Jim this is a harsh but overall fair summary I think of what is on offer here. This is one of those things that is living off past glories.
I never had the chance to try it 'back in the day' but from what my parents have told me this used to be as iconic as the cadburys roses. Not anymore lol.
Lol how can these taste so bad when the pictures of them look so yummy? I don't think I have ever seen you award a chocolate and awful tag before. It must have been really disgusting lol.
This review made me laugh because this is exactly the box of chocolates that one of my old boyfriends got me once for my birthday. Bless him I think he was trying to be nice, I told him I liked dark chocolate and he got me a box of these lol.
I'm not with him anymore. It was a sign of things to come I think.
Great review Jim. I had tried the milk chocolate dairy box before but because I thought so little of that I have stayed well away from these. I think it is a safe assumption to make that if I don't like the milk chocolate version stuff of what they make I'm really not going to be happy with their so called dark chocolate.
I don't get it. If Nestle are honest with themselves they must know that they are horrible so why do they bother releasing them at all?
Theres no point releasing products like this because will get disenchanted and just never buy from you again. Its very silly of them.
Dx
That raspberry parafait chocolate looks so pretty, I've never seen anything quite like it at all. Lol it's funny seeing the rating you gave it though. Thats managed to put me off it a bit. 'disgustingly fake and artifical tasting' doesn't sound very nice lol.
Great review Jim. It's always interesting to see selection boxes. I like the fact you cut the chocolates in half aswell so we can see the middle bits lol that's very important to be able to see cause you can tell a lot more about them.
It's a shame Nestle have changed this so much from what it used to be. From what I understand it used to be a real classic.
This sounds horrid. Thank you for the warning I wont be eating these any time in the future.
I wouldn't ever trust a box of chocolates which you can for 2 for £5. Lol you must know your in trouble if they are giving you two for just a fiver. I don't see how they can be making any money out of that. Pay monkeys and peanuts is what I say lol.
I think this review is a little over the top with such a bad score but yeah it isn't the best I admit.
When I bought one a few months ago the only really horrid one I thought was the caramel one which I thought was pretty wrank. Apart from that I thought they were passable.
Cracking review Jimbo!! I love it when you have something you get your teeth stuck in to and just let rip lol I think you should do it more often ;)
I haven't ever tried these myself and I don't think I will be now :-)
Omg I was so close to buying these for a friend the other day I'm so glad I didn't now. I thought the price of 3.50 was pretty attractive but then I remembered what you had to say about the dairy box and I luckily baulked at the thought. Phew!
Is this one of the worst things you have ever reviewed? I lol'd at this bit
'Perhaps I'm just living on a completely different planet to the loyal fan base, but from what I tasted this was simply just a collection of poorly flavoured pieces that had some seriously bad dark chocolate coating them'
It's so true. These are really crappy.
@Richard can you really buy two box for five pounds? Where the hell did you see that? I might go stock up for presents for people I don't actually like lol.
It is a bit of a shame that this isn't better. I can't think of a decent alternative if you want some fruity fondant chocolates nowadays. I will have to ask my mum if she ever tried these before, it would be interesting to hear whether it was really nice before or whether its just Nestle making up the whole consumer demand thing.
Thanks for the upshot on these Jim I will make sure I never buy them for anyone I like lol. It must suck for you when you have to review something this bad but believe me we all find it just as useful as your glowing recommendations. Thanks mate.
I think the score you gave this is pretty harsh because your not comparing apples with apples. I think you have rated it vs something like a thorntons box of chocolates. It's never going to be as decent as that so you can't compare it with them. The price difference is so varied it's not right.
They should have just left these for the memories by the looks of it. Some of those chocs sound disgusting bleugh.
Two interesting reviews this week. One to buy (bliss) and one to avoid like the plague (this one) I got ya Jim :-)
Thanks for this review Jim. I don't think I have seen a review where you collectively rate a group of chocolates as being as bad as this. Is that raspberry one the worst chocolate you have ever tasted? It sure sounds like it is lol.
Wow nothings been nailed like this for a long time Jim you really went after this one.
I think its to be expected that this isn't going to be anything like people remember it being. Things like this never are.
Aww lol theyre not THAT bad. I thought they were really nice and dad certainly likes them :P I didnt like the fudge though, it was the wierdest tasting fudge I've ever eaten haha
Theyre prob not as good as they were before the awful relaunch, but they were never taken out of distribution, just changed.
I'm intrigued about you thinking they were in a white box though, theyve never been in a white box, they were all black (although they changed the bottom to blue at one stage for 'stand out'! lol) were you looking at the photo of the girl and the open box? that was the grease proof paper on the top! :P
I remember these back in the day. They were always considered an ok chocolate assortment but I dont understand (or believe) how Nestle can say that people would have been rioting about them being taken out of market. I think most people wouldn't have been that fussed tbh. They were never that special.
I've tried these before and I thought they were rubbish.
The fruit sweets taste having nothing fruity about them. The caramel and fudge are both bland and horrible.
I don't like nuts so I cant tell you about them.
2/10
I knew we were in trouble as soon as I saw the image of the box. Nestle should stick to bars. The raspberry parfait review had me laughing.
I don't think I've ever tried these, despite seeing them around for years. I'm sure I won't be trying them anytime soon either! It seems to me that to get decent quality these days you have to buy the likes of Lindt. The cheaper brands are just going downhill. Even the nostalgia factor isn't enough.
@Sally - the best choice for fruit fondants is Thorntons. They do a bag of various flavours. Either that or Fry's bars.
Agreed these are horrible. The last time we had a box of these in our house we just threw them away. Even the dog didn't want them lol.
@ Di - it was more that they changed them to those wierd square truffle things that people were most upset about. There was alot of outcry, because alot of people liked them, inc my mum lol (i came across countless petitions - I even signed one haha) and Nestle didn't inform anyone that they had altered them which upset many. It's no different to buying a bar of CDM caramel and finding theyve altered the caramel to a flavourless gloop.
To be honest i just wish Nestle would stop meddling with their products, why not just leave things alone. You don't see Cadbury going all 'modern' with Milk Tray. Its not the best box of chocolates but its popular and theres no real need to altar it etc
Hi All,
I see a lot of you cottoned on to the fact this wasn't my favourite selection box review ever :D The going majority here don't seem to be disagreeing with me but just remember everyone is entitled to their opinion. In regards to Nestle 'making up' the fact it is a popular product, I would write off that possibility quite as fast as some of you have. They wouldn't have brought it back to market if it wasn't in demand.
David - Oh come on they weren't spit out your mouth bad. They were edible .... most of them haha.
Steven - General consensus seems to be they were a better product previously.
Ben - I can't recall another AWFUL either. I don't think there has ever been one no.
Estelle - Haha I wouldn't ever advise buying a Nestle box of chocolates to impress someone. I would push the boat out a little more.
Daisy - I think they are probably just hoping people get some nostalgic pleasure from these. They must have known that people wouldn't think as much of them as they did previously.
Kim - Indeed, it looked cool enough but tasted totally disgusting.
Nigel - It's a right old pain doing that for every piece but I know you guys like seeing the insdie bits. I always do when I look at other peoples sites.
Richard - Yeah you have got to be a bit suspicious when you see chocolates on that sort of deal. They wouldn't run the promotion without still making money, which just tells you that the ingrdients quality has to be awful. I think you mean 'pay peanuts, get monkeys' don't you :D
Paul - It's just my opinion chap. I don't think want people to think that I believe they should take it as the final judgement. It's all about everyone contributing their views. You aren't the only one to fight their corner today.
Justin / Duncan - Personally I just prefer writing about products I like.
Anon - This was nowehere near the worst thing I have ever posted about. There have been far worse believe me.
Tricky - I still think for the price these are poor chap. I place everything in context with the rest of the market. If you compared these with say Cadbury Roses for me I would say there is only one winner. The Cadbury Rorses are a similar price, but far better in my opinion.
Ryan - Don't just take my word for it. Have a look at some of the other review sites for and other peoples comments today.
Harry - Yeah I think it might be you know. I honestly thought it was a really terrible chocolate. Poor dark chocolate and the most artifical tasting centre in the history of fondants ..... nice :D
Alan - The fudge was errr interesting :D At the time I wrote the review the website was different and mentioned the fact it was taken out of the market for a while and that it was relaunched in 2007 for a limited time only with a white box. They have made the website all flash based now so loads of the information they had before is missing.
Di - Well they must have been good enough for Nestle to get a decent consumer demand for them to be brought back. I see no reason why they would have bothered relaunching if demand wasn't there in the first place.
Becky - 2.0 out of 10 is definitely overboard :D that has to be reserved for the chocolates that contain some sort of poison or something :D
Rodzilla - I'm glad you were humoured with my misfortune chap :D I might send you a box to review ... that'll teach you :D
Phil - You are right for just a few pounds more nowadays you could probably pick something up from Lindt or Thorntons. If these are anything to go by it is well worth paying those extra few pounds.
Ganesh - Aren't you not supposed to feed chocolate to dogs anyway!? Haha I know they are always keen for it, I'm not surprised it would turn it's nose up at the parafait mind you.
Alan - I think it is ineviteable that all these change evenutally and sometimes it is just a case about getting used to the 'new'. So many times when manufacturers change the packaging of something consumers say 'I prefer the old' but given a bit of time they just get used to the newer version. Unfrotuantely it seems like Nestle have played around with these a little too much. If I'm reading peoples comments correctly today I think they just might have gone a step too far changing from the originals.
Thanks for the comments today people. Just in closing today I want to reiterate the fact that this is just my single opinion on this product today, I'm sure that there are loads of people that think entirely the opposite to myself and I'm happy (and very much wanting!) people to express their own opinions.
JIM
Yuck these chocolate sound horrid. You are a brave man for trying these. I wouldn't be seen dead buying a box of chocolates like this. Cheap doesn't begin to describe how this package looks.
I'm pleased to say I have never wasted my money on a box of these. They look just terrible.
Post a Comment