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As you will have seen on my last review I was pretty impressed with the standard of presentation and the effort that Chocri put in to making my bars look presentable and appetising. It is worth noting that each of the bars made by Chocri are handmade - they don't yet have a machine that can pump out these customised bars you know ;) I say they are all the better for it - look at how magnificent and colourful both my 'Fruit & Nut' and 'American' creations looked.
Chocri 'Jim's Fruit & Nut Creation'
'Jim's Fruit & Nut Creation': Milk chocolate with banana chips, hazelnut brittle, mango cubes, pistachios and Goji berries.PRICE - £6.00
I was really excited about trying this bar in particular as it included several ingredients that both me and the rest of my family loved (banana, pistachio and mango in particular!). Speaking firstly about the milk chocolate, my thoughts about it were very similar to the conclusion I came to about Chocri dark chocolate. It's sweet milky taste was very undefinable and not particularly special in an manner, but it did the job of carrying the ingredients to a sound if uninspiring standard. As you will see in my photograph Chocri did a great job of dispersing my added ingredients across my bar, making sure that each portion got a suitable amount of each enhancer. What with their size, it probably wont surprise to hear that the banana chips came through strongly in the taste, adding a pleasant crunchiness to the blocks where present. Both the Goji Berries and mango cubes were similarly flavoursome, but these flavours only really came through once they had been chewed in the mouth after they had been left as remnants by the chocolate. The disappointing elements were unfortunately the hazelnut brittle and the pistachio nuts, as neither managed to stamp any sort of nuttiness on the taste. Ultimately this rendered my 'Fruit & Nut Creation' more a very sweet fruity milk chocolate lacking in nutty credentials. Overall this was nice enough, but not quite the full experience I was hoping for.
7.5 out of 10
Chocri 'Jim's American Creation'
'Jim's American Creation': White chocolate with organic salt pretzels, sprinkles, gummy bears, peanut butter drops and soy bacon.PRICE - £5.10
"Soy Bacon? ... Soy Bacon???? ... are you serious??" Haha that is exactly what my family said when I showed them this one :D I've been accused of taking chocolate a little too seriously with my reviews so I thought I would have a little fun with my 'American Creation' here. To be honest I wish I hadn't of tried to 'liven' up my chocolate by taking a page out of Mr Zotter's (See HERE) book and adding the bacon in. As amazing as the chocolate looked decorated with it's gummy bears, sprinkles and pretzels, I knew I had made a terrible mistake as soon as I took the thing out of it's plastic packet. Upon doing so my senses were immediately met with the most fowl of scents that I later likened to a pet store (think dog treats!) ... yep that bad. With one hand pinching my nose I did brave tasting the chocolate, but it unfortunately tasted every bit as bad as it smelt. Whilst the combination of the white chocolate, gummy bear, sprinkle elements made for an immediate rush of dairy based sugar flavours, the taste was almost straight away dominated by a fowl, smokey, reconstituted meat fake taste. Quite frankly the soy bacon totally ruined this bar and I had to throw more than two thirds of it away. I think it was best summed up by my father who said 'one block was enough' ... indeed!
4.5 out of 10
Have any of you tried Chocri yet? What would creations would you make?
Posts
50 comments:
LMAO!!! Amazing reviews today Jim :-) Best ever I think.
What were you thinking with the bacon? I saw that they had it up on their site when I looked but I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to put it in their chocolate. Advice taken lol.
I like the look of your fruit and nut mix but I don't think I would be brave enough to try your American lol.
Its a shame you don't have better things to say about their actual chocolate. By the sounds of it they rely on their gimmick of 'make your own' a lot to sell their products. Still I will be trying at some point in the future. Thanks Jim.
Your first bar looks amaze. I think I might just copy it and see if I like it.
I have just one question - what are goji berries? Are they american or something? I've not see them on sale in the shops or anything.
Dx
The more I see them the more I get intrigued by Chocri. I'm still a bit hesitant when it comes to the price but I think I might just give them a try anyway.
It does sound way too much fun making my own bar. I have been experimenting with different combinations on their site and I think I'm going to make a few white chocolate bars. I will have to leave you a comment with what I think of them when they post them to me.
I soy bacon fake bacon then? Its not that awful stuff that is actually edible for veggies is it? My friend tried feeding me that once and I remember retching.
It sounds like a fast track way to ruin a decent chocolate bar. The rest of that American mix looks superb, especially putting pretzels with gummys. Thats an inspired combo.
Smells likie dog treats? Omg how off putting can you get lol.
I dont think the people at Chocri will be happy with you giving them an atrocious score like that Jim. Dont you think that it is your fault putting bacon in your bar?
The FandN bar sounds like it was pretty decent.
£6 for one bar of chocolate? Are they having a laugh with us? I thought someone said you went for the most expensive combination you could get last time.
Pretty bars, pretty pictures :-)
Thank you for posting up your reviews Jim. It was always going to be interesting seeing what you followed up the coffee dream with. It's great seeing you at least attempted to put together some different sorts of chocolates (forget the bacon next time though lol)
Rxxx
Are you going to be reviewing any more Chocri bars lol these reviews are mental.
You know when they put ingrdients on the top, do they pile them all on top of each other or do they space them out to just one layer? If they space it out it probably isn't worth buying all that many toppings is it.
Soy Bacon? ... Soy Bacon???? ... are you serious??" Haha that is exactly what my family said when I showed them this one
Forget your family that is exactly what I was shouting when I read your topping list lol.
Quite frankly the soy bacon totally ruined this bar and I had to throw more than two thirds of it away
Tut tut you shouldn't be so wasteful boy. I'm sure some homeless person might have been able to stomach two chunks of it lol.
I'm not down with the soy bacon stuff but it does show that chocri offer the most amazing variety. Say they offer over 100 different things to flavour it with ...... and four different bases!! I think if you calculated it up you cold make well over a million different mixes.
Now that is wicked.
I can't resist any longer I got to do my own chocri :) How long does it take them to send the bars along? I'm so impatient I haven't ever bought chocolate off the internet before.
Lol any tips aside from not putting bacon on there?
I was puzzled by you putting pretzels in there let alone soya bacon.
I think your fruit and creation looks marvellous. You did a much better job putting together that one mate. Its a shame that you say that the milk choc isn't that amazing but it sounds like it is good enough if you know what I mean. When I get my paycheck in I think I might treat myself to a few of my own bars.
If you would take those big ass banana bits out the fruit and nut I would buy that chocolate. I'm loving your inclusion of pistachios with the fruit. I bet the mixture of sweet and salt is terrific.
Thank you for the review hunny.
Haha I thought those were mixed peppers on top of your first bar =)
I get they are the berries, mango and pistachio nuts now though lol, it took a moment for me to match them all up.
You'e done a great job raising my intrigue Jim. I can only resist making my own bars for so long, I just wish it wasn't so bloody expensive. I would feel so ripped off if I paid £6 a bar and ended up with a soy bacon type chocolate you got lol.
Jim can you put instructions on the bars that you buy to put one topping on one half of the bar and then a different one on the other half?
I don't think I can afford making all the combos I want to, but if they could make bars that are half and half that would nip that problem in the bud. Can you ask please?
I genuinely lol'd when I saw the bacon mix. Poor old chocri, how can you give them a score of 4 when it was your own stupidity (sorry if that sounds harsh) that made the chocolate bad :)
Out of all the ones you have made so far the coffee one is still winning it. I would love to see what you go for next. I don't think you can get much weirder than the american bar lol.
I haven't made an order yet but I plan to do so very soon. I think you just got to be careful with the stuff you choose to put on top of it. It could be very much the case that your experience with Chocri is what you make of it. If you put together a disgusting mixture of stuff the likelyhood is that its going to be rubbish. Simples.
Dog treats? Pretzels? Bacon?
Can I just ask if you were drinking when you dreamt that one up? I'm impressed they even sent you it to review. It was never going to end well lol.
Chocri sound brill. I will have to give it a go now.
I was with you for your attempt at fruit and nut but you lost me with your american chocolate. Lol I'm not sure you can accuse any american of eating bacon and gummy bears together Jim :-) I think that might be stereotyping just a bit :-)
Any more chocri reviews on the way? I hope so.
Hey mate.
I have seen many bizzare things on this website but I think you outdid yourself with your bacon, pretzels and peanut butter mixture. There I was at first thinking yuck white chocolate .... lol then I read the rest of it.
What you think of your chances against wolves tongiht then? I cant believe they are making you play again so soon.
Thank heavens your reviews are better than your chocolate making. I thought you would of had enough experience to know what works and what doesn't :)
I dont know what is more insane. You putting bacon in a chocolate bar or them asking for over five quid for each one?
If I was to make one it would have peanuts, banana and orange mmmmm that sounds well nice.
Omg freaky. I made up a chocolate exactly like that fruit and nut one when I was playing around the other day. I think I had everything on it apart from the pistachio nuts lol I hate them yuck.
Thank's for a fun review, Jim! ;-) It must be hard so review something like chocri, since you aren't only rating other people's work but also your own creating skills, which don't seem to be the best at times. ;-)
Pretzels and chocolate? Sure, why not? You can actually buy chocolate covered pretzels. Just not sure if I would put them on white chocolate. ;-) And even bacon might not be such a bad idea (you give Zotter as a good example yourself). So the question is, was the bar inedible because you found the bacon a bad combinantion in general with teh other stuff or because the bacon itself wasn't great? I mean soy bacon? C'mon that is just one horrible oxymoron!
And from my own experience I have to agree with you on your view on chocri's milk chocolate. It carries the toppings well (though I find it is too sweet for toppings which are in themselves already pretty sweet) but isn't anything special.
@Daisy - Goij berries are small red berries growing in asia. You can buy them dried here in the UK. Health shops have them and also some supermarket chains. They are claimed to be superhealthy:
Many published studies discussed the benefits of goji berries, including its antioxidant properties etc. Researchers have found that goji contains many nutrients including 11 essential elements, 22 trace dietary minerals, 18 amino acids, 6 essential vitamins, 8 polysaccharides, and 6 monosaccharidesm.
These reviews are great but they aren't that useful.
What is the quality of the white chocolate actually like? Is it any good or couldn't you tell because of the horrid bacon.
If you are doing anymore reviews please can you make the mixes more sensible.
I had to laugh when I saw the bacon included in the second one. Sorry Jim but I have to ask what you were up to there?
Sorry but I don't think I would be much of a fan of the fruit and nut bar you made either. If I had my way I would have chosen less acidic fruits (i.e. not mango lol). Any fruit that is even slightly acidic I get terrible heartburn.
Oh dear I recently created a bar on their site for a friends birthday present and thought it would be fun to include the bacon in the mix , bad move it seems.If anyone is interested in buying anything off their site type in 'chocriuk' and you will get £5 off your purchase.
I'm still struggling to justify spending this sort of money on chocolate for myself but I'm getting to the point that I really want to try chocri out to see if they are any good.
If I was making some bars for myself I don't think I would be putting as many different bits and pieces on top. If you choose to do that do they give you more of what you have chosen or do you get a set amount regardless of how many you choose?
Soy bacon, what were you thinking? Haha. Bacon of any description shouldn't be allowed near chocolate.
The fruit and nut one at least sounds edible. And I like the sound of pretzels and white chocolate.
I think I'll be sticking with Hotel Chocolat, I trust them more than myself to make a good bar lol.
Your chocolate makings are most interesting. Why did you make such chocolates?
Ritter Sport also enable people to make chocolate of their choosing in Ritter shops.
The prices still put me off but the thought of creating my own chocolate does fill me with a tingling of excitement. One thing I know for sure is that I wont be putting any bacon anywhere near my chocolates if I do take a chance on making some. Is the rating of 4 for chocri or is it for yourself for being so silly including it in the first place :P
Wow, just wow at your bravery at adding soy bacon to your American bar! I certainly didn't predict that ingredient when I read the title. It's a shame you had to throw most of it away as it looks stunning. Your fruit & nut bar also looks great, pity it didn't have a more nutty taste.
This is the sort of thing I might try as novelty Christmas gifts. Thanks for another interesting review.
Wow these sound fun! lol Although some were less successful mixes than others they do sound alot of fun to make, and receive. Even if some don't taste so good I'd happily be given one for a present. I'm still not sure about the cost, that is a bit of a sticking point for me. But if you pick well it would be worth it I think.
Haha this made my day. I love your father's understatement :D Mango and chocolate is a brilliant idea, as is pb+choc+pretzels. I wouldn't eat either one though tbh - I'm too used to salted banana chips, and pretzels + Gummi bears is just wrong lol, that's worse than soy bacon (and I've had it once) Wow I did not know Chocri is handmade. Low rating nothing, they should be thrilled because they got an unforgettable review!
This is one of your funnest reviews ever lol. Sorry jim but I have to ask the question? Bacon? What on earth were you thinking boy?
Chocri make amazing chocolates you should all make your own chocolate bars. Its so much fun.
Hi All,
Its good seeing you all engage with Chocri so openly once again. Thanks to everyone ripping me to shreads about the bacon issue I experienced :D I admit I deserve all the banter ... anyways ...onwards and upwards responding to you guys ....
Nick / Joel / Lauren / James / Katie / Steven / Ben / Kevin / Phil / Diane / Christopher - Re: BACON
Issue of the day for sure haha :D
My inspiration around the back was born out my love for the Zotter Bacon Bits bar, but yes it was mostly done for a laugh. Some of my favourite combinations I try are all based around mixing sweet and salt ... I probably should've just settled for getting that effect from the pretzels :D Oh well at least it provided some comic relief for you all.
David - Re:'Its a shame you don't have better things to say about their actual chocolate'
Lets get this straight, the chocolate they use is of a fair to decent standard. It's not amazingly special nor is it anywhere near being poor ... it literally 'does the job'.
Golden - Re:' soy bacon fake bacon then? Its not that awful stuff that is actually edible for veggies is it?'
It is I'm afraid. Great stuff .... haha maybe not.
Steven / Lauren / Diane - Re: four out of ten
Yeah of course it is my fault choosing those toppings that I did. That is the score I thought worthy of that particular bar though.
Anon / Richard / Ben - Re: PRICE
The price is still a little high for my personal liking but you are buying the ability to customise your own chocolate. It's unique to Chocri so I can see the grounds they have to charge that price. This isn't your usual chocolate experience after all.
Robert / Simon - Re:'Are you going to be reviewing any more Chocri bars'
Yes. More reviews inbound during November and December.
Paul - Re:'How long does it take them to send the bars along? I'm so impatient I haven't ever bought chocolate off the internet before'
Only a few days at most. It really depends on what delivery options you choose.
Sam - Re:'Jim can you put instructions on the bars that you buy to put one topping on one half of the bar and then a different one on the other half?'
I don't have a clue to be honest. I will have to leave that question to them.
Nigel - Re:'What you think of your chances against wolves tongiht then?
Both teams will make a load of changes. I expect we will win 3-1.
Julie - Re:'Omg freaky. I made up a chocolate exactly like that fruit and nut one when I was playing around the other day.'
Lets leave that at great minds think alike :D
Anne - Re: Your comment
Pretzels and chocolate are a fine mix! Have you not ever seen Nestle Pretzel Flipz? They are superb.
The bar was inedible because of the bacon, from what I could tell the rest of it was fine :D
Thanks so much for answering Daisy regarding the Goji berries. They sound like they are a superfood like blueberries. I bet they are expensive.
Hi All,
Its good seeing you all engage with Chocri so openly once again. Thanks to everyone ripping me to shreads about the bacon issue I experienced :D I admit I deserve all the banter ... anyways ...onwards and upwards responding to you guys ....
Nick / Joel / Lauren / James / Katie / Steven / Ben / Kevin / Phil / Diane / Christopher - Re: BACON
Issue of the day for sure haha :D
My inspiration around the back was born out my love for the Zotter Bacon Bits bar, but yes it was mostly done for a laugh. Some of my favourite combinations I try are all based around mixing sweet and salt ... I probably should've just settled for getting that effect from the pretzels :D Oh well at least it provided some comic relief for you all.
David - Re:'Its a shame you don't have better things to say about their actual chocolate'
Lets get this straight, the chocolate they use is of a fair to decent standard. It's not amazingly special nor is it anywhere near being poor ... it literally 'does the job'.
Golden - Re:' soy bacon fake bacon then? Its not that awful stuff that is actually edible for veggies is it?'
It is I'm afraid. Great stuff .... haha maybe not.
Steven / Lauren / Diane - Re: four out of ten
Yeah of course it is my fault choosing those toppings that I did. That is the score I thought worthy of that particular bar though.
Anon / Richard / Ben - Re: PRICE
The price is still a little high for my personal liking but you are buying the ability to customise your own chocolate. It's unique to Chocri so I can see the grounds they have to charge that price. This isn't your usual chocolate experience after all.
Robert / Simon - Re:'Are you going to be reviewing any more Chocri bars'
Yes. More reviews inbound during November and December.
Paul - Re:'How long does it take them to send the bars along? I'm so impatient I haven't ever bought chocolate off the internet before'
Only a few days at most. It really depends on what delivery options you choose.
Sam - Re:'Jim can you put instructions on the bars that you buy to put one topping on one half of the bar and then a different one on the other half?'
I don't have a clue to be honest. I will have to leave that question to them.
Nigel - Re:'What you think of your chances against wolves tongiht then?
Both teams will make a load of changes. I expect we will win 3-1.
Julie - Re:'Omg freaky. I made up a chocolate exactly like that fruit and nut one when I was playing around the other day.'
Lets leave that at great minds think alike :D
Anne - Re: Your comment
Pretzels and chocolate are a fine mix! Have you not ever seen Nestle Pretzel Flipz? They are superb.
The bar was inedible because of the bacon, from what I could tell the rest of it was fine :D
Thanks so much for answering Daisy regarding the Goji berries. They sound like they are a superfood like blueberries. I bet they are expensive.
Anon - Re:'What is the quality of the white chocolate actually like?'
As I said above several times the standard of the chocolate is of a good to fair quality. Not amazing, not poor.
Emily - Re:'buying anything off their site type in 'chocriuk' and you will get £5 off your purchase'
Im currently working on getting us a special ChocolateMission discount code :D watch this space.
Duncan - Re:'If I was making some bars for myself I don't think I would be putting as many different bits and pieces on top. If you choose to do that do they give you more of what you have chosen or do you get a set amount regardless of how many you choose?'
Again I can't provide an answer for this. I will ask them to log on the site to respond to the more specific questions.
Phil - Re: Your comment
Stick with Hotel Chocolat? Well it's hardly like you are going to lose out there 99% of the time :D Experts are experts for a reason aren't they.
Ria - Your comment
Bravery or stupidity :D I would have a hard case arguing against the latter I tell you. I think Chocri would be an awesome gift for Christmas, it shows real thought put in to someones present.
Alan - Re: Your comment
Indeed I think you just have to be careful when picking the sort of creations you make. If you go for anyting too stupid (like I did haha!) you could end up wasting a big chunk of change quite easily.
Thea - Re: Your comment
Shocking :D you wouldn't try either :D haha well I can't say I'm surprised regarding the bacon. I'm glad you still enjoyed the review. I don't think Chocri will be mad at all about what I have said about their chocolates today. One of the terms that these companies have to agree with to appear on the site is that I get to say what I like of course.
Thanks for all the comments everyone. I hope at some point of the represenatives from Chocri will swing by again to provide you with some answers for your more direct questions.
JIM
Yes, but if the bacon would have been real bacon (i.e. tastier stuff than tofu trying to be bacon), would it have been better?
Your go at making a fruit and nut chocolate is brilliant. It's a bit of a pity you weren't more sensible with your second one though, I would have liked to have seen what their white chocolate is like in a fairer circumstance.
Hey guys ;) This is Julian from chocri. I really enjoyed reading all of your comments. We are very thankful for your feedback.. after all, that's the best way for us to improve..
Thanks to all the people, that want to give a try.. We'd be very happy if you try it out for yourself and tell us how you liked your little chocolate masterpieces and what you think we could do to get better.
Jim, your second combo was really brave ;) The soy bacon itself is quite an unusual topping, but in combination with the other toppings... urghh. We introduced soy bacon, when we launched in the US earlier this year. We are currently testing REAL BACON. Looks good so far.. I myself am not a great fan of bacon, but I did try the real bacon on milk chocolate and I was really suprised. If it passes our quality test, it will be available on our website soon. So stay tuned.
I just want to answer a couple of questions to clear stuff up:
@ Paul: As soon as your order comes in, we handmake your chocolate bars and usually send them out the next day. Standard delivery time is max. 7 days. We are currently working on offering expedited delivery as well.
@ Sam: At the moment you can't choose to do half-half. But we are thinking about offering smaller bars, so that you feel more comfortable experimenting with different flavours.
@ Lauren: Thanks for your support;) We do encourage people to try crazy combinations.. but this one was a little over the top (but at least it made for a funny review)
@ Mark: If you are unsure about what to combine: We have a recommendation tool that tells you which flavours go together.
@ Ben: The price really depends on what you put on your bar. For your combo (banana chips, peanuts, and orange bits) for example it would be £3.70. Thats reasonable, don't you think?
@ Duncan: Our chocolatiers try to put always put the same amount of any topping on the bar, no matter how many you choose. This means that sometimes it can get really crowded, if you actually choose 5 toppings.
Thanks Jim, for a funny review and thanks to all the people that commented for giving us tipps to improve and feedback & showed interest in our company.
That is so unfair on chocri giving them such a low score for something that was your fault. Everyone is going to think that their chocolate is crap now you have given them that. Totally uncalled for.
@Julian thank you for a swift reply that is great to know. I am very interested in what you had to say about making smaller bars. Im guessing you would have to limit the ammount of toppings you could have on them but it still sounds like a brill idea.
Hi Chocri,
Thanks so much for posting :) I just wanted to comment on the soy bacon vegetarian/kosher option, I think it is so great that you give everyone the chance to try the flavor; it can be really frustrating when companies don't offer alternatives. Also I think it is fantastic that you allow every topping to be mixed with each other so customers can use their full imagination like Jim did -- I know some flavors might be commonly recommended to go together but one person's 'urggh' can just as easily be another's 'yummm' right?!
Thank you for answering our question Julian it was awfully nice of you to take the time to do that.
I like the sound of the small bars idea? Do you have any clue as to when you might be doing that? Before Christmas or after?
Wow thank you for talking to us Mr Chocri person :) Do you guys at Chocri have any favourite combinations? What is your own personal favourite bar?
@ Nick: We won't get it done before Christmas... probably early next year.
@ Colin: All of us working at chocri have their favourites... we organise taste sessions where everybody gets to say his opinion, and we really get into passionate discussions about different flavours. My personal favourite is dark chocolate with blueberries, candied lilac, toasted hazelnut, orange bits and bourbon vanilla
Thank you for the advice Julian I will have another look at the site later tonight. I can't believe how excited I am about making my own bar lol. Thank you for the advice.
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