September 27th: Milka Limited Editions 2010

Forget Hotel Chocolat Mondays - More recently it has been more like 'New Product Mondays'! Today I have another three for you to feast your eyes on. These Milka bars you see below were sent to me by ChocolateMission reader Franzi, who last week was kind enough to ship these three new 2010 Limited Edition flavours to me from Germany. Franzi has also reviewed these bars herself - See HERE.

Over the last seven days I (and my family & friends) have been sampling all three of the 100.0g bars. The packaging and presentation of all three new flavours was aligned with the rest of the standard Milka range with distinctive white on purple branding, and the flavour variety communicated with the use of on-pack pictures. Before anyone asks I have no clue what the significance of the cow pictures on the front of the wrappers is all about - hopefully Franzi will stop by the review and indulge us with this information.

Here are my thoughts on the three flavours - one thing that I can confirm was consistent across all three was the experience delivered by the Alpine milk chocolate which coated each all of the bars. As with every bar of it's kind, the Alpine milk chocolate established a familiar set of sweet cocoa, hazelnut noted flavours from the outset, and melted at a pleasant rate and with a kind smoothness. Milka chocolate is sweet, but I have always liked that it does have it's own uniqueness in it's flavours with small hint of nuttiness.

Milka Chocolate Creme and Mint

Kcal 590 Fat 41.5g Carbs 45.5g (per 100.0g)
'Alpine milk chocolate with a mint flavoured chocolate creme filling'

What with the hundreds of Milka flavours that have been created it is somewhat surprising that this was the first ever mint chocolate I had seen from them. Aesthetically the chocolate looked little different to many of the other Milka chocolate cream bars I had tried previously. The aromas emanating from the plastic sealed packet however did offer a mild note of peppermint, which suitably set expectations for the taste.

Sat the below the Alpine milk chocolate, the chocolate creme filling had an even softer textured feel, and it melted at a very hasty rate in the mouth. In terms of taste the chocolate cream wasn't really differentiated from the outer milk chocolate, and more just further went to build on the initial set of flavours established by the Alpine milk. To my surprise the integration of the mint wasn't as strong as expected, with only minor suggestions of peppermint on offer at intermittent times. When it comes to their flavourings, Milka are normally a lot bolder than they have been with this mint offering. It was in no way a bad tasting bar, but I think the mint deserved to be more prominent. This bar could of been better than it turned out, I think some chocolate mint fans might be left wanting a stronger minty taste.

7.4 out of 10



Milka Milk Cream & Pop Rocks

Kcal 560 Fat 34.5g Carbs 56.5g (per 100.0g)
'Alpine milk chocolate with a milk cream filling and popping candy'

The dreaded 'Knister' - that's 'Popping Candy' to us English speaking folk! You may recall that I have reviewed a few Milka products last year that contained this horrid stuff (See HERE & HERE). Like all of those previous products, this bar looked similarly innocent on the face of things, with the milk cream filling cutting a tempting looking appearance nestled between the milk chocolate exterior.

Given I knew I this flavour wasn't going to be to my own taste I enlisted the help of some work colleagues in order to give it a fair run out. Out of the four people that tried it, it was unanimously agreed that the the chocolate tasted nice, and there were several positive comments about the creaminess of the milk filling taking the dairy flavours of the chocolate a positive stage further. In regards to the crackly texture created by the copious amounts of popping candy, the panel was more split in it's views. Two of the four thought it was fun and liked it, whilst the other two were, well ... 'less inclined' to put it politely haha! From a personal point of view I just don't like the pop rocks sensation. On the other hand if you do like it then this will be a chocolate you will probably enjoy - it's as simple as that.

6.7 out of 10



Milka Milk Cream & Choco-Biscuits

Kcal 570 Fat 36.0g Carbs 54.0g (per 100.0g)
'Alpine milk chocolate with a milk cream filling and chocolate flavoured biscuit pieces'

Save the the best until last? Why of course I have :D Of all the three flavours Franzi so kindly sent my way, this was the one I had the highest expectations for. This Mika Milk Cream & Choco-Biscuits is Milka's attempt at producing an equivalent offering to Hershey's Cookies n' Chocolate bar (See HERE). From the outset I loved the look of the chocolate as it's gold tinged milk creme filling looked very appetising studded with a heavy portioning of cookie pieces.

Unlike the popping candy chocolate, this wasn't a bar I dished out amongst my work colleagues - I greedily ate it to myself over a few separate occasions. The main reason for this selfishness was because it was quite simply delicious. Like so many of the other Milka bars, the the milk creme filling did a fantastic job of building on on the existing sweet dairy flavours of the outer chocolate, and it added a fine dose of creamy goodness. Sat in the creme, the biscuits bits proved themselves to be a similarly fantastic addition to the overall experience and they came to the party at the end of each mouthful once the chocolate had melted away. Taste wise they added delicious buttery, chocolate biscuit flavours and retained a nice degree of crunchiness despite the moistness of the melting chocolate. Personally I thought this bar was easily the best out of the three latest limited edition offerings - I wish I knew what all these cows were about though :D

8.5 out of 10