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Hi All,
I hope you have all survived 'THE BIG FREEZE' this week if you are UK based. I've never seen snow like this before in Surrey, it's hard to believe we are only at the start of the winter.
You might not have thought it possible, but the adverse weather conditions managed to affect the running of the site this week. Forget school and road closures ... this latest bout of white stuff brought a delay to my latest Heavenly Cakes delivery! Fingers crossed next week I will receive my delivery safe and sound. In better news, one package that did make its way to me earlier in the week though, was one from my friends at J-List. Believe it or not some of the items delivered are the weirdest from Japan yet! Reviews will of course start appearing next week - keep your eyes peeled.
Thanks again for all the comments and feedback this week - in case you missed any of the ones this week please see below:
Chocri 'Jim's Nutty Delight Creation' ... See HERE
Berry Scrumptious Mulled Berry Chocolate ... See HERE
'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar Special ... See HERE
Nestle Coffee Crisp (Original Post - October 17th 2009) ... See HERE
Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol ... See HERE
The Christmas themed reviews are going to keep coming this week. Lets hope this snow doesn't hamper us anymore.
JIM
News from the Chocolate Market:
* Kraft reveal their plans for Cadbury here in the UK - I hope the majority of this is true ... See HERE
* This happened a while ago but Cadbury has redesigned their Starbar and Picnic wrappers ... See HERE
* Muller have come out with some new festive themed 'Corner' yogurts, including one chocolatey one ... See HERE
* Kraft brand hurt by Cadbury takeover? ... See HERE
* This is an interesting article documenting the most successful product launches for convenience stores in 2010 ... See HERE
* Pure chocolate? No such thing according to the EU ... See HERE
###EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT###
I've got two more Hotel Chocolat goodies to show you guys this week. Indeed, in my generously filled sampling package this year, both these 'Tiddly' themed festive chocolate moulds were included.
Having lauded over both of these chocolate recipes for the best part of three years now, I don't think I could spin out a whole review on them, so I thought I would just post up some pictures for you to look at, as well as some obligatory scoring charts.
Both of these 'Tiddly Santas' and 'Tiddly Reindeers' come in 85.0g packs and are one of the cheaper priced Hotel Chocolat options available this Christmas priced at £5.00 each. In terms of presentation and packaging both look very impressive with their intricate detailed surface moulds. I was told by a friend that the reindeers looked especially cute, but I personally thought the santas looked the coolest. Tastewise my preference also sat with the caramel chocolate santas as they offered the same cream based cocoa experience, just with an extra touch of buttery, salted toffee in the latter stages of the melt.
Overall both of these would make fantastic little gifts this Christmas if you are looking to gift Hotel Chocolat on a budget. You really can't go wrong with either of these.
Hotel Chocolat Tiddly Reindeers - 8.5 out of 10
Hotel Chocolat Tiddly Santas - 8.7 out of 10
Posts
32 comments:
The chocs today look like they are a bit kiddie. They aren't the sort of thing that I would like bought for me from Hotel Chocolat given the choice they have with other things. They could be good for people with plainer tastes though.
Lol sorry to hear about your cakes Jim. I was hoping to see more heavenly cakes this week but you cant help the weather. Thanks for all the reviews again this week. The christmas cake bar one was the best.
No way the reindeers looks much cooler than the santas ..... they got scarves on jim come on mate :)
For five quid thats not a lot of chocolate. Thats not even the equivalent of two cadbury bars of chocolate so it doesn't work out that economical. The chocolate may be good but you do have to factor money in somewhere.
Thank your again for your hard work this week Jim. You are doing a great job showing us the light of where to buy our presents this year. You are going to need to do a round up soon though, Im starting to forget everything you wrote about when you first started doing it all ages ago. I hope you enjoy your weekend and warm up. Its still really cold here in the west country.
Rxxx
Thank your again for your hard work this week Jim. You are doing a great job showing us the light of where to buy our presents this year. You are going to need to do a round up soon though, Im starting to forget everything you wrote about when you first started doing it all ages ago. I hope you enjoy your weekend and warm up. Its still really cold here in the west country.
Rxxx
=> the chocolate santas and animals look v cute. Finally something that doesn't contain nuts.
Cheers jim. I like the news article about krafts plans with cadbury but I fear we have heard all those reassurances before. They said they wouldn't take jobs away from people in the factories and they have already shut one down. Its going to be a case of sitting it out and seeing what they do I think.
I dont see why people are giving kraft such a bad rep. Since they took over Cadburys they haven't done anything wrong at all.
There haven't been any changes made to the quality of the chocolate or anything and they are still releasing new products. I haven't noticed any changes.
Those are some high ratings for just some small packs of plain chocolates. I think @Steven says something really important about the price. They are well expensive for what they are, especially when you put them next to those boxed chocolates yesterday which you said were just £11.
I wouldn't buy them for me, maybe for someone who is ultra fussy.
You eat too much Hotel Chocolate for you to be healthy. Doesn't it just make all the normal chocolate you eat seem rather pants? If I ate it everday I wouldn't be able to go back to mars bars and stuff.
Thank you for the round up I had missed a few of those posts earlier in the week. I like the one about the coffee crisp, good on you for admitting you weren't right about something and giving it another try. Bloggers can be so ignorant sometimes thinking that what they right should be treated as some sort of gospel. I hope your weather gets better.
You all just wait. Kraft are gonna change cadburys in the long term. They will end up just like hershey, cheap fake chocolate.
Im liking the sound of caramel choc santas but the reindeer sound a bit pointless if they are just plain chocolates.
Hotel chocolat have pushed the boat out this year covering off every angle haven't they? They seem like they have got something for everyone this year. I swear their range is like twice as big.
Your pictures are beautiful. I hope I can make ones as good as you some day.
It is about time they showed a bit of love to the Picnic bar. I always thought it looked out of place with the rest of what Cadbury make because the wrapper look well outdated. Im a bit more surprised they have bothered to change the starbar because they only just did it a few years ago. I dont think it is going to encourage to many people to start buying them but they do look better imo.
Thanks for the reviews and the extra helping of hotel chocolat again this week jim. I think I need to seriosuly start thinking about my xmas shopping this weekend. Im running out of time to do it all fast.
Where is the chocolate is healthy article jim? You have forgotten it again!
I know you said you were going to be reviewing a lot of Hotel chocoalt stuff but I didn't realise you were going to be reviewing EVERYTHING lol. You are one lucky man getting to sample it all. Your family must love what you do. I wish my stupid brother had a chocolate blog.
Well, the article from Kraft does sound reassuring but I still find it hard to believe they wont make some changes down the line. We'll just have to wait and see I think.
I never knew that the new look Starbar wrapper harked back to the early 80's version until I found one for sale lol its virtually identical except in colour (it was brown and yellow!). I like it and the new Picnic wrapper.
@Kevin - its been donkeys years since they altered the Starbar wrapper, it seemed to miss out on any revamps they did of the other wrappers, but they seem to have to decided to now lol.
I am puzzled by the fact they cant decide on which Cadbury logo to use, they seem to be using at least 3 different versions on various things now lol
Thanks for the week's reviews. Nice to read that Kraft seem to be aware of the potential backlash if they try messing with Cadbury too much. Also, the Starbar finally looks a bit jazzed up! I used to always ignore it because of it's rather plain wrapper. As for the tiddlies, they look amazingly detailed but if I bought them I'd feel guilty about eating them and so would be a waste of money.
Thanks for the reviews this week Jim, they've been particularly good.
Your comment about Heavenly Cakes made me laugh haha. I've been waiting all week for something to arrive myself and it gets frustrating after a while.
It's great that Kraft are keeping Starbar, as I recall there was talk of them stopping production of the smaller selling bars earlier in the year. I must admit I haven't bought one in a while but I do enjoy them.
Incase you missed my post yesterday Jim, could you review the Mr Kipling rum & raisin slices?
@Alan Are you sure? Maybe I am thinking of the Boost bar? That has definitely changed a lot in recent times.
Whatever I think they do look better for the change. They have altered a load of them recently when you think about the Timeout change etc.
Tiddly santas have been done before Jim lol. The Reindeers are new though. They could be good for giving to people who are fussy with their chocs.
Package from J-List containing weird items, eh? Something (maybe a Twitter post ;-) tells me that we will find out what a cheesy KitKat tastes like....
I do not agree with Müller's politics so I avoid buying their stuff. Sometimes I really hate them for making those tasty sounding yoghurts though... Oh well, will indulge in some nice seasonal flavours from other companies instead or just mix my own *adds speculatius biscuits to cinnamon flavoured natural yoghurt* :)
Interesting article about the product launches. Would be even more interesting to see an article this time next year to see which of those products are still around...
Bigger pictures of the 2011 chocolate of the year by Ritter which I mailed you about yesterday:
http://www.ritter-sport.de/blog/?p=5723
And HC caramel chocolate is rather delicious. :)
More Hotel Chocolat? Man you are so spoilt its unreal. Good on you for taking advantage if you can though :) Ignore me and my jealousy lol.
I think Hotel Chocolat have a lot of other Christmas products that are more interesting than these. They do look cute, especially the reindeers (tastewise, the Santas seem the more interesting option though), but there are eight identical ones in a box and I usually want as many different things as possible in a box. If the box included for example a caramel chocolate figurine, a 40% milk chocolate one, a dark chocolate with crunchy caramel one, a white chocolate with cocoa nibs one, a lime favoured milk chocolate one, a tiny version of this, a tiny version of this and a tiny version of this it would be something truly interesting.
That new picnic wrapper doesn't look any different to me.
@Kevin, yeah thats probably what your thinking of, you're right the Boost wrapper has changed several times, the last one to the current one seemed to stick around quite a while. I have a vague recollectio of oen looking like a battery with a + and - design on it.
Interesting the Starbar was renamed Peanut Boost (along with another called Coconut Boost) for s while back in the 80's then reverted back to Starbar!
@Annonymous - it hasnt changed loads but it is clearer and theyve tweaked the lettering and logo and - thankfully - changed the background border around the letters so it no longer looks like a great rush of blood (meant to be caramel??) rushing from the Cadbury logo along the name! lol I always hated that bit of it haha
Need I say anything about the price of those chocolates? I know you love their chocolate Jim but you seriously have to start considering it more.
£5 for 85g come on mate.
Hi All,
I hope you have all started to warm up a bit - the snow is melting here in Surrey so normal service should be resumed here this week. I hope the rest of you are starting to be able to feel your toes again :D
Harry - Re: They aren't the sort of thing that I would like bought for me from Hotel Chocolat given the choice they have with other things
A few people have said that and I totally see your point. They have so many varieties of flavours it does seems almost silly to just choose their plain chocolate products.
David - Re: sorry to hear about your cakes Jim. I was hoping to see more heavenly cakes this week but you cant help the weather.
Hmmm I'm just worried as to what sort of state they are in now. They might have been in transit for over a week :S They are probably frozen solid haha.
Steven - Re: Price
Agreed. I think for £5 they don't represent as good as value as some of their other products do.
Rachel - Re: You are doing a great job showing us the light of where to buy our presents this year. You are going to need to do a round up soon though, Im starting to forget everything you wrote about when you first started doing it all ages ago
Don't you worry this was always in the plan. I start writing my Christmas reviews weeks ago - I can't expect you all to remember that far back. I'm glad to hear its proving useful for you.
Golden / Kim / Anon - Re: Kraft / Cadbury
The whole Kraft and Cadbury thing is still very much in it's infancy. I know I keep saying this but it is very early days to say whether they are going to have a positive or negative effect on the company as a whole. For the minute we just have to sit and see how it plays out.
That's my thoughts on all of this anyway.
Nathan - Re: You eat too much Hotel Chocolate for you to be healthy. Doesn't it just make all the normal chocolate you eat seem rather pants? If I ate it everday I wouldn't be able to go back to mars bars and stuff.
Nah it's not like I eat it everyday is it. Remember a lot of these samples go to my family and friends.
Kevin / Alan - Re: Starbar & Picnic updates
It is good to see these bars get updated isn't it. It reassures us all that they probably wont be up for the chop anytime soon :D I don't have either very often but it stops the thought of their being the 'do you remember the xxxxx' conversations for a few years yet haha :D As and when I buy them in the future I will update the reviews with some new pictures.
Lauren - Re: I think I need to seriosuly start thinking about my xmas shopping this weekend. Im running out of time to do it all fast
You got ages yet! It's only the 5th :D
Katie - Re: You are one lucky man getting to sample it all. Your family must love what you do. I wish my stupid brother had a chocolate blog.
Well yes they do kind of enjoy it. They even know what the Hotel Chocolat packages look like when they turn up at home now :D so they get terribly excited. At least they do help out with the taste testing and the photographs though. They don't get a totally free ride.
Alan - Re: Your Comment
Believe it or not I responded to Golden_Touch & Kim's comments first before seeing what you wrote regarding the Cadbury situation. Sounds like we had exactly similar thoughts eh!?
Are they really using three different Cadbury logos? You got examples of them doing this? I'm a bit confused!
Ria - Re: Your Comment
Haha I sometimes feel guilty about eating the nicer looking chocolates that I get sent. It almost feels like you are ruining someone's hard work doesn't it. It's a bit stupid really but I just can't help it.
Phil - Re: Your Comment
The Royal mail are claiming that 10% of the post has been delayed/un-moveable etc ... I would hazard to suggest it's a lot more than that. I will have to get on the e-mail to HC to see whether they remembered to send out.
Don't worry I didn't miss your request. I did have a look in Tesco this weekend but I couldn't find them. I hope I do before they go out of season. They sound very nice don't they.
Craig - Re: Tiddly santas have been done before Jim lol.
Haha! More than one person noticed my mistake then :D Oh well at least I showed consistency in my scoring.
Anne - Re: Your Comment
You aren't wrong regarding the J-List stuff. I have been writing a load of the reviews this weekend.
Don't agree with Mullers politics? Hmmm I would say fill me in with the details, but I really like their yoghurts so I would rather remain oblivious to it all :D
Thanks for your mail yesterday regarding the Ritter bars. I have only just read it. The new flavours do sound interesting don't they. I will have to rattle some cages at Ritter to get some samples sent along.
Ana - RE: Your Comment
Yep I agree adding that sort of variety may make things more interesting to the majority of people, but I think they are just aimed at people who are looking for small plain chocolate gifts. In my opinion they cover off those people quite nicely.
Thanks for the comments everyone. As I said at the start of my ramblings I hope you are all warming up now - lets hope this isn't the sign of things to come for winter.
JIM
It's -5 outside as I type so I don't think we're warming up just yet haha!
Have you not noticed the different logos? On some bars like the Picnics, Fudges etc they use the smaller more simple version of the horrible swirly logo, on other products such as the Wishes they use the old logo (pre swirl, just without the 's, either in gold or whatever suitable colour) then on other things like the DM they either use the old logo in gold or a cross between the old logo and the swirly logo lol. Have a look and you'll see what i mean lol
It must make me sound awfully fussy haha I always seem to notice these things and everyone scratches their heads and wonders what i'm on about :P they did alter the actual logo tho when they created the swirly effect, the C and the A are different. so you have all sorts of variations of it now in use.
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