&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 ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???Today we have the ChocolateMission debut for a company called Berry Scrumptious. According to their website 'Berry Scrumptious is the brain child of husband and wife team Claire and Ross Rennie', and their 'small, innovative' company hails from a family farm based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Berry Scrumptious produce a whole host of different confectionery products, all of which are based around their famous berries that they grow on this very farm. Out of the blue, last week I was contacted by Claire, who offered me the chance to try their new Mulled Berry Chocolate. What with Christmas coming up, I simply couldn't turn down this fantastic opportunity - for further detail on Berry Scrumptious you can see their website HERE.
For the purpose of this review, Claire sent along an 85.0g packet of this Mulled Berry chocolate, which served me and a friend well for a satisfying afternoon snack. What with the small nature of their company, the simplicity of the cellophane packet was somewhat understandable, though the authentic design of the chocolate was a nice surprise. As you can see from the photo above, the chocolate was presented in what looked like shards of bark, and had visible red berry ingredients portioned nicely throughout. In terms of aromas the packet released a wonderful array of spiced fruit and chocolate scents when I opened it - it was the unmistakable smell of Christmas :D
Placing the chocolate on my tongue for the first time, any fears that the mulled berry flavour influence wouldn't be delivered vanished within seconds. From the outset the flavour journey created by this chocolate was nothing other than incredible, and the taste took twist and turns with almost every second. At the heart of every piece, a decent sweet creamy chocolate held the experience together, though it was hard to really pull out any definitive chocolatey flavours given the business of the other added elements. As I have said the taste was very interchangeable, but in most instances and mouthfuls it was the red berry and orange flavour influences that came through strongest. These fruity twists were compelling, 'real' tasting, and of course most importantly delicious - I guess that is what you would expect from farm fresh ingredients. Behind these fruity flavour twists, the notes of three different spices gave the chocolate warmth and it's distinct Christmas themed taste. I enjoyed the hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, but the suggestion of cloves in the aftertaste, whilst understandable in it's inclusion, was not to my own to my personal taste (it didn't bother my fellow tastee in the slightest!).
Overall this was an absolutely delicious chocolate that left me and my friend both well and truly satisfied and in a jolly festive mood :D The combination of the spices and the fruits were terrifically matched, with neither take precedence over each other or the chocolate. Whilst it wouldn't be fair to comment to much on the true quality of the base milk chocolate used, what I do feel comfortable lavishing in praise is the balance struck between the orange, raspberry, blueberry, cinnamon and nutmeg flavour influences. All of these were well portioned throughout all the pieces of in the packet, and together they created an epic, variable flavour journey that was immensely enjoyable. If you are looking for a special, unique chocolate to gift this Christmas then I suggest you take Berry Scrumptious in to your consideration - I would fully recommend this Mulled Berry Chocolate.
8.3 out of 10
Posts
41 comments:
Cool its always so great seeing a make of chocolate that I have never seen before. I think this would be a dream chocolate for my mum. Lol I think if she were to describe her ideal flavour this wouldn't be far off what she would say. Thanks for the review Jim. Im going to look in to buying some now.
Lol I had to laugh at your line about it smelling like christmas in chocolate form. I think I know what you are getting at there. The smells of cinnamon and orange always remind me of Christmas time and all the sweet foods you get during it. Fantastic review. This chocolate sounds gorgeous.
Rxxx
Its a bit of a shame they didn't bother tasrting up the packaging a bit more. I think it would look a bit cheap and tacky giving away as a present.
I think I would get a few funny looks if I gave away packets of chocolates with labels on. It almost looks like you bought a normal box or packet and then split it out in to smaller bags at home lol.
Stunning review Jim. This company sound like a small one worthy of our backing, thank you for introducing me to them and their glorious sounding chocolate.
I don't like mulled wine much myself but my parents love it. They even go to the effort of making it some years. I don't know if they will have time this year but they could always just buy some of this choc to compensate. Thank you for the review.
Are you sure this isn't something that Zotter have made? All those different fruit and spices make it sound mental enough for it to be made by them :-)
Its so good to see you finally review some local produce Jim congrats.
I sometimes think you are too quick to look at chocolates from abroad. They are great to see but when they aren't easy to buy it can be equally annoying! I want more posts like this please.
Oh my god this chocolate sounds/looks totally scrummy!!!!! Where can I buy it from? Anywhere in a shop or just from them online?
It sounds like the perfect little gift to give someone I know. They love that sort of thing.
This is the sort of company I want to be giving my $$$ to, not these big cheese companies like mars and cadbury who don't give a damn about us consumers.
I admire people like this who set their own businesses up and try to genuinely be different. Lol three cheers for Berry Scrumptions hip hip hooooooray! Lol sorry I couldn't help myself there.
What a brilliant flavour to attempt. It's very clever on their part given the sort of produce they make on their farm.
I was sad enough to look at their website a bit more and they make a whole host of different sweets and goodies on their farm. I love organic producers like them. I will be placing an order with them before Xmas. Thanks for showing us them Jim.
Did you see el clasico last night mate? The look on mourinho's face was an absolute picture! 5-0!
This chocolate isn't my kind of thing but I can see some people are lauding over it. It sounds a complicated thing for such a small company to attempt to make. Good on them.
I can only wish the best of luck to brands like this. It must be so hard competing with the bigger companies and trying to break through.
By the sounds of things they make some really nice chocolate so they shouldn't have any problems with succeeding. If I ever got the chance I would give some of this a try. It sounds v nice.
This isn't my sort of chocolate at all but I have a funny feeling my mum would or sister would snap your hand off if you offered them it lol.
If it was easy to buy i would probably be a nice son/brother and get them some but I really cant be bothered ordering online.
I like the way you can see the berries in the choc. That makes it looks very nice and real. Im sick of all these strawberry chocolates that just take really fake.
Oh yes I do like the sound of this very much. I agree with what some of the guys have put above Jim. I think you need to take more notice of the small UK producers like Berry Scrumptious. You do to many mainstream reviews I think - show some love for some smaller british based people.
I like the sound of all those spices and fruits. I think it might do a job of warming me up in this cold snap lol.
Do they make this all year round or is it a special one created just for Christmas? The latter would make more sense.
This would never be a chocolate I would buy for myself but it looks like THE best chocolate I have seen for giving for Christmas yet. I know all the Hotel Chocolat stuff tastes well nice yadda yadda but the thing is everyone in the whole country is going to be thinking of giving that stuff away.
I cant imagine there are going to be too many people giving away berry scrumptious. It will just come across as a more thoughtful present I think. Awesome Jim thanks.
You must love it when people contact you 'out of the blue' and offer to give you some free choc.
You have like my dream job of being a chocolate taster. I used to joke about it not existing but you do actually live the dream. You're so lucky.
Now this is the sort of chocolate I love! I love anything with fruit flavours but I ADORE any chocolate that bothers to put in real fruit pieces. I have to try this now, I love mulled wine ;) Thanks Jim amazing review today. Watch your intake of boozie chocolates though, Im seeing you 'hit the bottle' via chocolate more and more these days.
Berry Scrumptious chocolate looks lush. I see the point golden is making about the wrapper but personally I think it makes it all look more authentic and stuff.
They might have been able to do something a little better than a clear cling film pack and a label but its not going to put me off buying some. I will be making my purchase when I get to my computer at work. Thanks Jim.
What a lovely sounding company. Only two people to make all that chocolate? They must have some sort of help on their farm? They make some lush looking chocolate strawberries if you look at their site. Try reviewing some of them Jimbo.
ps. lets not make mention of the cricket lol. How embarassing.
Perfect!!! Just perfect! I need to try some of this chocolate right now.
I think my partner would love this aswell. That is my excuse for buying some. I might just have to try some myself while Im at it ;) for quality assurance purposes of course.
Is this for real or is it just another company will to pay you money to say their chocolate is nice?
Its still hard to tell these days.
This sounds to delicious for words.
What a lovely sounding chocolate. I love that they have tried to be unique and offer something we haven't seen before from any other UK company.
To often nowadays these smaller companies play it safe and just create chocolates you can buy from anywhere. This sounds brilliant though. Well done Berry Scrum :)
If this company is so reliant on it's strawberries and raspberries what do they do for the rest of the year when they aren't able to grow them? I cant imagine there would be too many strawberries growing in their fields with frosty weather like today lol.
Is it snowing where you guys are? Here its absolutely teeming it down.
The chocolate isnt the sort of thing I would buy for my but I agree with what some people are saying about it making a nice gift for this time of year.
Im also in agreement about the seeing more british companies point that someone has raised. I would love it if you did start reviewing a few more chocolates that are British in origin. The japanese stuff and the like are cool but we should try support our smaller firms a bit more. Especially in tough trading times like this.
I think this is one of the best things you have featured on here for a long while. It looks super scrummy by the looks of it in your photos.
Will you be reviewing any thing else from these people at all or is this just it? I would be interested in seeing what some of their other chocolates taste like. The chocolate covered strawberries sound divine.
It's always nice to see a new company on here, especially as the stuff supermarkets sell is getting increasingly limited.
I'm not sure I fancy this one but looking on their website the white chocolate stars look nice. I think berries go best with white chocolate.
I have now seen several reviews for chocolates with a mulled wine theme and have been toying with the idea to get some. Maybe this bar is the right choice as it sounds like a really nice treat for this time of the year. Also I like buying local and seasonal so something from Aberdeenshire is perfect! *g*
I think have come across the company before but thanks for brining it to my attention again! :-) (and for a very nice review!)
I bet this would be gorgeous if dipped in to a warm mug of hot chocolate. Mmmm I can imagine all the spices slowly flavouring the drink aswell. Lol I should stop dreaming of this and get back to work. It was a nice day dream for a while :-)
Dx
Actually one more thing! Do they do a white choc version? That would just be too much if they did. A must try for sure.
Dx
@Miles - it's been terrible here, we've even had thunder and lightening with the snow! That was a first for me.
This sounds very much my kind of chocolate. Thanks ever so much for showing it off to us. This cold weather does make this type of chocolate sound ideal. Its such a shame it had come a month too early for a white christmas though :(
Berry Scrumptious sound like my sort of people. I would be more than happy to give them some of my monies lol.
Wow, a local company and I'd never heard of them! Although the name does seem familiar, have they been mentioned by others on here before? Great to see another small company feature on your site and for them to score a high score 1st time round. I'll definitely check them out, it's important to support your local businesses. They may be struggling with this weather though. Constant snow since Wed, 3 days in a row we've had Thundersnow too. Not had any work for a week, I'm going mad!
This bar sounds like it would go great with a nice warm mug of hot chocolate or a gingerbread latte. Maybe even a Baileys? :D Thanks for the review Jim. Much as I love all the exotic reviews, it's been a pleasure reading about near to home
@Daisy - They dont seem to make white choc mulled berry but they do make this raspberry white chocolate that sounds good.
http://www.berryscrumptious.co.uk/Glen-Ample-Raspberry-White-chocolate-P9.aspx
Hi all, thanks for the review and comments. We went for a simple clear bag and tag packaging as this is the first year we have produced this chocolate and it is a limited edition for Christmas. Didn't want to invest in expensive packaging until we were sure the product was right but will be looking at something more glamorous for next year.
It's only available online at present but if you spend £30 on chocolate get free delivery with code FREEDEL10.
This chocolate uses fruit which we get freeze dried so it keeps for much longer than our fresh fruit but we will be sending some fresh chocolate covered strawberries for review in the New Year.
We also have a small team working with us with more help in the summer for picking - always looking for good pickers if anyone wants a working holiday!
Hi All
I'm going to have to be mega quick answering these comments today as I'm being chucked out the office as its closing down because of the snow!!!
Firstly thanks for Claire from Berry Scrumptious coming on to the site to check out the review and answer some of the questions for me. We always like hearing from the producers don't we people!!
... Commments comments comments ....
Rachel - Re: Smells of Christmas
It's the mix of cinnamon and fruits that make me think of Christmas time. There is this specific Evelyn & Crabtree room deodoriser that my mum sprays round our house called 'Noel' ... when that gets a run out we knows its Christmas :D
Golden / Selina - Re: Packaging
The packaging is minimalist because they are such a small company. believe me it gives the product more of a homemade feel. I wouldn't let it put you off in the slightest.
Kim / Nick / Karen / Steven / Lucy / Selina / Joel / Sue - Re: Review more smaller British Companies
This is a clear message that I seem to be getting from a lot of you today. I will have to make sure I start doing this - just show me who you want to see on the site and I will get in contact with them. You guys know I am always open to requests etc.
Emma - Re: This is the sort of company I want to be giving my $$$ to, not these big cheese companies like mars and cadbury who don't give a damn about us consumers.
Thats harsh on those big firms, but yeah I agree we should be supporting more companies like this. Especially when they make products as good as this.
Nigel - Re: El Classico
I did indeed watch it (in 3D infact!!). It was one of the most one sided football games I have seen for a long time. Barcelona were in a league of their own weren't they.
Warren - Re: Ordering Online
Isnt ordering online easier than going to hassle of going to a shop to buy something? I dont get your logic there chap :D
Darren - Re: Do they make this all year round or is it a special one created just for Christmas?
This Mulled flavour is especially made for Christmas.
Paul - Re: I cant imagine there are going to be too many people giving away berry scrumptious. It will just come across as a more thoughtful present I think
Indeed there wont be. If you are looking to be unique this would be a good option.
Anon - Re: You must love it when people contact you 'out of the blue' and offer to give you some free choc.
You have like my dream job of being a chocolate taster.
Its not my job ... yet :D a few more years of success on here and who knows eh!?
Lauren - Re: Watch your intake of boozie chocolates though, Im seeing you 'hit the bottle' via chocolate more and more these days.
What!? I'm guessing your making the connection of Mulled Wine and this Mulled chocolate? This is alcohol free this bar :D Sorry to disappoint but I'm still on the wagon haha!
Alex - Re: Is this for real or is it just another company will to pay you money to say their chocolate is nice?
Na - Berry Scrumptious paid me a million pounds to say their chocolate was nice. Easy to do for such a big company eh!?
Miles - Re: Your Comment
Like Claire says they can freeze dry them to preserve them throughout the year.
Is it snowing? By heck yes! Blizzard conditions here in Surrey :D
Francesca - Re: Will you be reviewing any thing else from these people at all or is this just it?
Who knows? I dont have anything else from them for the minute but who knows what the future will bring!?
Phil - Re: White Chocolate & Berries
I agree with you there. When the quality of the white chocolate is good they can create a decent strawberries and cream like experience. These guys do a raspberry and white chocolate pack - it could be worth a look at.
Your weather sounds horrible. At least we have avoided thunder and lightening here ... for the minute anyway!
Anne - Re: Your Comment
Well if you want my advice I would say this Mulled chocolate is probably as good as you are going to get, so go for it :D Thanks for the nice words about my review - You are too kind.
Ria - Your Comment
I did think you might have heard from them when I read they were from Scotland. I would love to get your opinion on them - that gingerbread latte sounds nice, I've not ever had the pleasure of one of them before. It's funny the amount of people telling me to go for more local produce today. I will have to make sure I do this in 2011.
Thanks to everyone who left comments today. I'm sure Claire is enjoying hearing your feedback etc. Lets hope they see fit to feature on ChocolateMission again in the future.
Right I best be off before I get snowed in the office!
JIM
I can give you my opnion on this, once the order arrives. Might be a bit longer considering the weather conditions but snow and freezing temperatures are perfect for this chocolate! :)
BTW have now also sampled the Ritter Sport orange marzipan from my mini selection my parents brought me over. Like that one much better than the Vanillekipferl one which I was rather disappointed with. The marzipan has a really nice orange flavour which I rather like. :)
Lovely, lovely, lovely!
+1 to what Selina had to say on the packaging. I think that the actual product looks so good that it's hard to imagine that anyone could be put off after seeing it.
So you're having snow? We haven't had any, just rain for the past two days and before that, this November had more of a September weather...
Catching up on this week's posts... This looks delicious. I like the wrapper, too (or at least the photo makes it look pretty). I don't think I've ever had a winter spice chocolate, though I add it to my cocoa all the time. It will be great to see the next Berry S review too, chocolate-dipped-strawberries are the best! I thought you were allergic though? so I've never requested a review.
Post a Comment