February 14th: Guylian Heart Belgian Chocolates

Kcal 68 Fat 4.5g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 6.6g (per chocolate)

Happy Valentines Day to all ChocolateMission readers!! What better way to spend your loved up Sunday than by reading about yet another chocolate product especially crafted for this very day!? ... hmmm I think I will let you decide the answer to that one :D The product I am of course talking about are these Guylian Heart Belgium Chocolates which I bought (for myself .. so so sad I know!) in Tesco for the nifty price of £1.10. These 110 British pennies brought me the prospect of 'Belgian chocolate heart shapes filled with praline' which didn't sound all that bad to me given my positive experiences with Guylian pralines before.

These Heart Belgian Chocolates came in a pack that weighed 50.0g which was split into 4 x 12.5g chocolates. Presentation wise the package was altogether well put together with the design work of the outer box maintaining the premium feel of the Guylian brand whilst also communicating the lighter natured Valentines Day messagw well (a certain British manufacturer might want to take a closer look at this!). In line with this the actual chocolates looked really rather good aswell with the golden foil wrappers maintaining both the glossy surfaces and fine chocolate and hazelnut scents that became apparent once unwrapped.

With each of the heart shapes being on the large size these chocolates were eaten in two mouthfuls which meant that they required being bitten into. When doing this the first that became apparent was the crispness of the outer the shell which broke with a pleasant snap to reveal the softer truffle centre that lay below. In terms of taste the early parts were dominated by the outer chocolate which had a relatively strong cocoa backbone amongst all the sweet milky flavours that soothed and ebbed away as it melted. Given the nature of the quick melting chocolate it wasn't long before the inner truffle centres were revealed and as I had come to expect from Guylian the praline centre was divine. It was slightly gritty in texture though this was probably due to the grounded nature of the hazelnuts which came through powerfully with a strong wave of added sweetness. A single heart piece at a time nicely complimented an after dinner coffee though I could easily envisage someone people getting through the box in a single sitting.

Overall it may be a little too late for me to be telling you this but these are a good last minute option to buy if you are cutting it (extremely!!!) fine buying your Valentines Day chocolates this year. In regards to price, packaging and taste these have to get a ChocolateMission thumbs up and if we compare these Belguim made truffles to a relatively similar British made product I reviewed two weeks ago there is only one clear winner. As I expect (and hope!) for most of you this review will probably come a little too late to gift this year but in any case you might want to look out for these being sold off for knock down prices in the supermarkets in the coming weeks. As far as praline truffles go they aren't quite as good as some of the best I have tasted on ChocolateMission but anyone who has tasted Guylian Seashell chocolates before will be well aware that Guylian are no mugs when it comes to pralines. Happy Valentines Day again to you all - I will just assume all your cards to me got lost in the post yeah ;)

8.1 out 0f 10

February 13th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 33

### Jim's Corner ###

Hi All,

Please excuse the abrupt '7DOCR' post today it has been a hectic week. If you look below today you will an updated version of my original Cadbury Boost review back from 2008. You will see some glossy new pics + an additional section looking at the Irish comparative Moro bar - See BELOW.

What else went down this week ... well just the usual swooning at Hotel Chocolat's latest creation (See HERE), BATTLE OF THE BUNNIES - was immense if I say so myself (See HERE), aswell as a first look at Werther's latest line of chocolate caramel products (See HERE).

Coming up this week I have a real treat for you all coming this Monday, some more crazy Japanese products aswell as a special Valentines post for you all tomorrow from the chaps at Guylian.

I hope this all sounds good - Be sure to check out the site Monday where I hopefully have yet another ChocolateMission exclusive in the pipeline!

Have great weeks

JIM


News from the Chocolate Market:

* Terry's chocolate Orange have teamed up with a wine partner this Valentines day .. See HERE

* Cadbury are launching a new line of bars this week (thanks to Lottie/Phil/Alan) for the tip off ... See HERE

* According to The Grocer Waitrose make the best chocolate cream eclairs ... See HERE

* Reaction here to Kraft going back on their promise not to close the Cadbury Keynsham factory ... See HERE


Post from other blogs I enjoyed this week:

* GiGi Reviews - reviewed some amazing looking Tim Hornton's Doughnuts ... See HERE

* Impulsive Buy - Marvo took a look at the latest Ben & Jerrie's Boston Cream Pie flavour ... See HERE

* ChocaBlog - Dom found a white chocolate that he 'actually liked' according to his Twitter feed ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - was contemplating what part of the large sized Munchies Mini Bites were actually Mini .. See HERE

* YumYucky - Josie got stuck in to the awesome sounding Special K Chocolatey Pretzel bars ... See HERE


***STARS & THEIR BARS***

Audley Harrison - Olympic Gold Medalist Heavyweight Boxing

Imogen Heap - Recording Artist

March 7th: Cadbury Boost / *UPDATED* Cadbury Moro (Ireland)

Kcal 305 Fat 17.2g Fat(sats) 12.2g Carbs 34.3g

What the 'eck is going on ere Jim!? Well ChocolateMission readers you get a BOGOF today!! If you look below I have gone to the effort of updating my old Cadbury Boost review with some spiffing new pictures, whilst at the same time I have also written my thoughts on the equivalent bar available in Ireland the Cadbury Moro. Having reviewed carnations of this bar from places as widespread as Australia (See Here) it was with great excitement that I read an e-mail from ChocolateMission reader Alan who offered me the chance of trying this Irish version.

Now I would love to make this all a bit more exciting than it really was but unfortunately packaging aside there were no differences whatsoever between the Boost and the Moro when it came to looks, smell and taste. Just as I had experienced with the Cadbury Boost several times down the years this Irish Moro was packed to the brim with sugar and the taste was hellaciously sweet although delightfully creamy and full of interesting textures.

Overall drawing upon my conclusion of the Boost I stand by my original review and can only reiterate the same point I made back in 2008. This is a bar with several fantastic ideas and nice to have every now and then, however the overly sugar laden taste inhibits it from being one that I would choose to have frequently.

8.5 out of 10

*****

Kcal 305 Fat 17.2g Fat(sats) 12.2g Carbs 34.3g

I'm sorry but with the Cadbury Boost there is no other place start other than with the bar's on-pack blurb ... 'charged with glucose' and describes itself as 'milk chocolate with caramel and biscuit filling'. Now I'm a marketing guy and understand the need for a bit of self proclamation on packaging but surely this is ridiculous...'Charged with glucose'...surely that just means 'Contains a load of sugar' - a ridiculous claim if you ask me. ***update 11.02.2010 ... on-pack claim changed to 'GET BOOSTED' ... not as bad in my opinion!

Packing a mighty 310 calories and nearly 18g of fat in its total 60g constituents this is by no means a lightweight bar you grab when you feel a little peckish! The Cadbury Boost is more like a full meal - and after eating it I certainly didn't feel like I could stomach another anytime soon. Enough about the packaging :) when I finally stopped examining the pretty foil covering and opened the bar I was greeted with a sweet smelling chocolatey biscuit aroma - yum yum!

The milk chocolate coating was your standard Cadburys Dairy Milk. I hadn't had a Cadburys bar for a few days so this was most welcome and tasted as good as always. Under the milk chocolate coating was a layer of chewy caramel. Unfortunately this caramel was no where near the standard that you get in a standard Cadburys Dairy Milk with Caramel bar. I thought t was far far more sweet and I can only assume this was due to the 'added glucose'. This part of the bar was disappointing to say the least.

The centre of the bar was truffle like in texture and had a smooth chocolatey taste. Also included in the truffle centre were small biscuit pieces, which whilst being pleasant in terms of taste, also provided a great contrast in texture adding a crunchy bite to the smooth filling.

Overall there is no doubting this is a tasty bar but I cant help but feel that it lets itself down a tad with it's OTT glucose claim and sugary taste. The caramel in the bar is a real let down as it is just to overly sweet - by the end of the bar I did feel that the taste was becoming rather sickly and I can solely pin point this down to the caramel. The idea of the smooth truffle centre with biscuit pieces is a great idea and is certainly more original than just the inclusion of nougat that too many bars include. If Cadburys could sort out the overly sweet caramel and perhaps alter the proportion of sugar in the bar slightly then I'm sure this would be challenging the top of the Chocolate Mission leaderboard...now if you don't mind I'm off for a run to burn off all this Glucose :D :D

8.5 out of 10

February 12th: Montezuma's Bam Bam

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

We are now over two months into a new year but I am still on the same ChocolateMission and making nearly their 20th appearance on the site I tried yet another Montezuma's product today. Montezuma's has been a brand that I have never quite hit it off with with their quality ranging from the superb to the utterly woeful ... take a look HERE to see what I mean. One thing I can't fault the people at Monte's for though is the willingness to send me freebies which of course are always gratefully received. Sitting in the latest batch of bars they sent me was this 'Bam Bam' chocolate which constituted of 'dark chocolate with crunchy peppermint'.

As evident from the photo above this was a product from the Montezuma's Speciality Bars range and came in a 45.0g size that was split into 6 blocks pieces. Looking at the packaging the design work was fair though I must say the colours weren't all that differentiated from some of the other variants which did have me double checking that I hadn't reviewed this one before. As is always a source for complaint with Montezuma's products the inner plastic packet was clumsy looking and the unbranded block pieces looked dull and lacking in character. Opening the plastic packet I immediately noticed that the chocolate was not the most forthcoming in smell and lacked an aroma that grabbed my attention - in truth I was expecting more of a minty fresh smell but this was not what was offered.

To be fair I hate being critical about products and can normally find at least one thing positive to say about each and everyone I try. With that I will tell you about the things I liked about this chocolate before I get to the nitty gritty annoyances that stopped it being the great quality that it should have been. One of things that I did like enjoy about this chocolate was the initial flavours it generated in the mouth with its smooth flowing, unintimidating cocoa flavours that were smooth to the taste, reasonably strong tasting but yet still nonthreatening. Whats more although the melt of the chocolate was a little slow initially for my liking, the texture was at first nicely smooth, though this soon changed with the introduction of the granulated sugar pieces which were embedded running through the middle of the bar. Constituting the 'crunchy' element of the peppermint flavouring the sugar pieces felt rough in the mouth, whilst the peppermint element was dull and lacking in life delivering no sort of freshness or cooling sensation to the mouth. In all the peppermint was just lacklustre and quickly dominated the taste of the dark chocolate making the experience one dimensional and lacking the desired cutting edge.

Overall I was left feeling disappointed by another Montezuma's offering and felt they really missed out on an opportunity to take hold of a niche that is actually sparse in offerings when you think about it. Off the top of my head I cannot think of a mint flavoured dark chocolate bar that dominates that particular sector - of course there are products like the Nestle After Eight, Bendick's Bittermint, Fry's Peppermint Creme etc but those are mint fondant products which are a little different to what was on offer here with this bar. This chocolate today was meant to deliver a high quality dark chocolate with a dose of peppermint, but what was actually here was an Ok-ish dark chocolate with a pretty monotonous tasting mint influence. Please remember that this is just my own opinion and others may vary, but I personally wont be recommending this to anyone apart from chocolate mint lovers.

6.1 out of 10

February 11th: Werther's Original Chocolate Milk

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Right at the back end of last year Storck announced that the Werther's Original brand was going to be extended with the release of three new chocolate products for it's portfolio (See HERE). Roll out of these three new obviously seemingly took very little time at all, as just over a month on from that press release I am in a position to start publishing my reviews having now tasted all three. Starting off my look at the new range I today bring you the Werther's Original Chocolate Milk which on the back of pack were described as 'milk chocolate marbled with caramel flavoured white chocolate'.

As with every Storck product these chocolates were produced in Germany and came individually wrapped in a 125.0g bag. The pouch format packaging looked pleasing on the eye although there were some very obvious similarities with a certain British manufacturer with the purple colouring and matted material striking me as not to unlike Cadbury. Appearances aside one thing that I definitely need to comment on is the wonderful smell that greeted me when I first split the bag open. Without even needing to unwrap the chocolates a glorious set of caramel scents emerged setting expectations sky high - they smelt fantastic.

Once I had stopped marvelling at the glorious smells that I was being treated to I finally went about unwrapping my first piece and I was instantly taken aback by the cool marble like patterns that decorated each chocolate. Each of the pieces were a great size for consuming in one mouthful so I straight away went about placing one on my tongue and waited for the melt to unfold. I did exactly that ... I waited ... I waited ... I waited a little longer ... but the melt never developed and neither did the flavours. These chocolates really had an odd texture in that they felt waxy in the mouth and simply didn't melt. At this point I realised that these chocolates needed chewing and once I did this my mouth was literally bursting full of flavours with both the caramel and chocolate elements contributing. In terms of the chocolate the volume of cocoa was probably not as great as I would have wanted but it still provided a creamy undertone to the caramel flavours which very much took centre stage bringing delightful butterscotch and salt elements to the taste. Unfortunately what with these chocolates needing to be chewed to release flavour they didn't last as long as I hoped they would in the mouth and the flavour longevity was surprisingly poor which left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied even after eating quite a few.

Overall I didn't know quite what to expect from this new range given that Storck aren't universally known for their chocolate and what I got was a real mixed bag. What I experienced was a product that very much worked in one manner but not another - these chocolates tasted great but they were really let down by their awkward texture which as you can see really hampered them when it came to the ChocolateMission scoring chart. As you will have read above the odd waxy textures meant that these wouldn't melt in the mouth without chewing which if you think about it is really a far cry from the original Werther's which are best enjoyed when sucked on. When I shared these amongst some workmates most said they really enjoyed them though some of the feedback was that they did feel like a bit of an odd halfway house between hard boiled sweets and normal chocolate. I am looking forward to trying the other two variants in the range - reviews coming soon.

7.4 out of 10

February 10th: Easter Super Post - Battle of the Bunnies

Ladies and Gentlemen ....... LETS GET READDDDDDDY TO RUMMMMMMMBLE!!!!!!

Today I bring you the first of my Easter Super Posts for 2010 and we are starting off with BATTLE OF THE BUNNIES!

In the Red Corner weighing in at 29.0g we have the 2009 Chocolate Bunny Champion .... Mars Malteser MaltEaster Bunny!!!!!



Maltesers MaltEaster - See HERE

In the Blue Corner - weighing 26.0g we have the Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Bunny

Kcal 138 Fat 7.6g Carbs 15.9g (per bar)

The first challenger to the MaltEaster crown we have Nestle's Bunny. This Kit Kat Chunky Bunny cost me 49p from Tesco and was priced at 6p cheaper than the original Chunky bar.

If you look at the cross-section above the only difference between this bar and the normal Chunky was the Bunny design printed on the top and the significantly thinner base of milk chocolate. Tastewise this was absolutely no different to what you get from a normal Kit Kat - the milk chocolate was sweet, whilst the wafer was slightly malty and wheaty in taste. To be honest the 26.0g didn't fufill me and I felt a little begrudged that I had parted with the amount of money I did for satisfaction I didn't get in return - hey at least it tasted damn nice.

7.6 out of 10

In the .... other colour corner .... weighing in at 40.0g ... we have the Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Bunnies

Kcal 100 Fat 5.3g Fat(sats) 3.2g Carbs 11.7g (per bunny)

Now considering that Cadbury Caramel is one of my favourite chocolates ever these Cadbury Caramel Bunnies were really going to have to do something spectacularly wrong to get a ChocolateMission thumbs down.

These Cadbury Caramel Bunnies cost me 50p (Tesco again) which was cheaper than the MaltEaster but a whole 1p more expensive than the above Kit Kat Bunny product. Speaking of the taste it was exactly as I expected - absolutely delicious! I have written many a review before on different Cadbury Caramel products (HERE) speaking highly of the classical combination of the creamy milk chocolate and sweet nectar caramel so I will point you in the direction of those reviews for a full rundown. All you need to know here was that these Cadbury Caramel Bunnies incorporated all the goodness of the bar in some novelty shaped bunny pieces. The only disapointing attributes for me was that I didn't find the bunny shapes as practical to eat or quite as fulfilling as the normal block bar.

8.7 out of 10

Ladies and Gentlemen after several rounds of non-stop tasting we go to the scorecards ....

... and the winner ...

.... and NEWWWWWWW Chocolate Bunny Champion of the UK .....

........ Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Bunnies!!!!!

Disagree? Why not drop a comment with which you feel is superior! I personally would choose the Cadbury Caramel Bunnies if given the choice between the three, but that said I really do rate the Maltesers MaltEaster as a close second. Please don't accuse me of Nestle bashing but I simply can't find a reason to buy the Kit Kat product given the fact that for another 6p you can get a full-on Chunky! This does beg the question why didn't they just stick the bunny pattern on top of the regular Chunky and save on having to design the new sized wrappers etc :S ho hum!! The Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Bunny wins for me!

February 9th: Moser Roth Mousse au Chocolat Classic

Kcal 215 Fat 17.4g Fat(sats) 11.0g Carbs 11.9g (per 37.5g tablet)

At the back of 2009 I was sent a package of chocolates from Germany from ChocolateMission reader Susie. In the selection she was so kind enough to include several Moser Roth Mousse bars, the first of which I reviewed in January the Moser Roth Mousse au Lait Noisette (See HERE). A few weeks on and I have been trying another variant from the range in the form of this Mousse au Chocolat Classic which on pack is described as 'Edel-Bitterschockolade mit Mousse au Chocolat-Fullung' ... that is dark chocolate with a chocolate mousse filling to us English speaking. This all sounded pretty grand to me but this chocolate had a lot to live up to given the quality of the closest equivalent Lindt Mousse au Chocolat Dark bar I reviewed back in 2008 (see HERE).

Like the Mousse au Lait Noisette last month this bar came in a 187.5g form that was split into five mini bar servings. I often compliment Moser Roth on the attention they pay to detail with their presentation and I was once again very impressed by the quality of their packaging and their chocolate crafting. Indeed, both the outer box and inner chocolate looked very good and far more stylish than you would expect from a discounter brand. Inside the box, sleeved packets separated the chocolate in to handy serving sizes which also kept the chocolate both looking and smelling fresh emanating some fragrant cocoa scents.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph this chocolate was always going to have a tough time given that it was going up against one of the finest Lindt products I have ever tasted. I did however get a little optimistic when I read further into the details on the packaging which stated that the bar was coated in 85% cocoa dark chocolate at which point hopes were raised that this bar was going to be full of flavour with some fine mousse textures. Well If I am honest this chocolate fulfilled one of these two desires - it did indeed have the variable textures from crisp outer chocolate to fluffy mousse innards but it sadly lacked the depth of flavour I was hoping for. The outer chocolate did substantiate a reasonable unsweetened cocoa taste but it never went above or beyond what you expect from say a mass produced dark chocolate confection. It wasn't quite as ill flavoured as Cadbury Bournville but at the same time I wouldn't say it was as tasty as either Ritter Sport or Galaxy's dark offerings. The other thing that mildly disappointed me was the lack of progression shown in the taste from the outer chocolate to the inner mousse the change up in textures was nice but it would have been lovely if the inner mousse actually brought the taste forward.

Overall it was always going to be a bit of an unfair comparison but ultimately this Moser Roth Mousse au Chocolat Classic didn't reach the standards of it's Lindt comparator. Despite it's 85% cocoa min solids billing the chocolate simply wasn't strong or flavoursome enough and it lacked the quality in terms of taste that other mass produced dark chocolates offer. It wasn't all bad mind you - just like the Mousse au Lait Noisette the textures displayed by the chocolate were superb and I loved the crispness of the outer chocolate moving into the softer mousse filling ... it was just a pity that the mousse didn't offer anything to the taste. What I think this chocolate could have done with is an added flavour in the mousse, which I guess leads me on to trying the dark chocolate mousse with chilli bar nicely next week :) As far this bar goes I wouldn't recommend it if you like you dark chocolate strong and flavoursome. By no means a disaster but just treat yourself to the Lindt.

7.3 out of 10

February 8th: Hotel Chocolat The Magnificent Chocolate Heart

Spend £15 @ Hotel Chocolat and get 10% with the code JIMVAL10

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Rounding off the Hotel Chocolat Valentines Day chocolate reviews this year I today bring you my views on their 'Magnificent Heart - Fruit & Nut Bliss' product. This monster chocolate heart was similar in stature to the 'Heart Strings' chocolate that I reviewed last year (See Here) and came described as a 'dark chocolate heart with raisins, cherries, hazelnuts and pecans'. Given that this hefty heart retails for £28 in the Hotel Chocolat store (See HERE) it was going to have to be something pretty special to prove worthy of its price. On that note please remember that all you ChocolateMission readers can get 10% off any Hotel Chocolat order when spending more than £15 by entering the code JIMVAL10 ... reading this site was going to pay off eventually huh!?

With the name 'The Magnificent Heart' this product appeared pretty cocksure of itself but I can do little to dispute that given that it looked fantastic in its 650.0g stature. The packaging and presentation was simply superb and I loved everything from the decorations on the heart itself to the smaller touches like the branded stamp seal which gave a real sense of it being a grand reveal when opened. This Magnificent Heart was yet another one of those chocolates that I felt guilty breaking up into smaller bits - it felt such a shame when I had to snap off a section for the photo above. As mesmerising as the product was aesthetically, what was also striking was the smell that emanated from the box when the seal was first broken. Wafts of coffee, dark chocolate, fruit and nut were all very evident and were highly indicative of the taste that followed.

Lets not kid ourselves, with the sheer volume of products I have to review for this site there was no way I was going to be eat the entire thing myself so not for the first time this year I had some very willing taste assistants in the form of the rest of my family. Now I probably needn't even tell you this but as I am sure you would guessed the dark chocolate that made up the base of this heart was simply fantastic. Hotel Chocolat's 70% recipe is among one of my favourite chocolates ever and this heart delivered exactly the taste I was expecting with it's rich and deep cocoa flavours. With the chocolate aftertaste lined with a friendly note of bourbon vanilla the additional fruit and nut elements were allowed access to the party and both were distributed nicely throughout the entire heart shape. In line with the quality of the chocolate the cherries, raisins, hazelnuts and pecans were of a very high quality and they all tasted fresh and flavour enhancing. The cherries brought a lovely juicy tangyness, whilst the raisins were sweeter which contrasted with the chocolate nicely. Out of the two nuts the hazelnuts were my favourite with their woody flavour influence though the pecans were similarly crunchy and brought a nice savoury, buttery influence where implemented.

Overall I have come to the conclusion that 'The Magnificent Chocolate Heart' is well worthy of it's name as it was a product that was enjoyed by one and all that tried it. To look as visually stunning as it did was exceptional, but to taste just about as impressive was certainly impressive. When it comes to dark chocolate I have come to expect nothing but the highest quality with Hotel Chocolat and this was yet another product that met those standards. With the dark chocolate tasting so good the added fruit and nut pieces had to be equally as good and I am glad to say they most definitely were. Having had previous issues with soured cherries *ahem* Green & Blacks *ahem* I was surprised at how much I appreciated them implemented here and I particularly liked the way they brought a tarty edge to the taste. As I have mentioned the raisins and both types of nuts were similarly impressive and combined they made for a delicious and progressive taste. If I was to have one criticism about the product it was that at times it was awkward to break up and needed a lot of force for that to be achieved. This small gripe aside if price is no issue for you this Valentines Day I would strongly suggest this Magnificent Chocolate Heart as both the presentation and taste bring the sort of WOW factor that I am sure will be appreciated by any lucky recipient.

9.0 out of 10

February 7th: Mr Bunbury Biscuit Cakes

Kcal 180 Fat 11.8g Fat(sats) 6.7g Carbs 16.6g (per cake)

Poor old Mr Bunbury has taken a bit of a beating on ChocolateMission in the past few weeks but that hasn't stopped me parting with yet more of my hard earned pennies to try the last of the three offerings from his range. Having tried the Mr Bunbury Millionaire Shortbread's and Madagascan Brownies I today took on his 'Biscuit Cakes' which just like the rest are also produced not too far from me in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. These Biscuit Cakes came described on-pack as 'digestive biscuit cakes crammed with raisins and positively bathed in rich Belgian chocolate' .... positively bathed?? Of all the on-pack blurbs I have never heard that one before!

You may have noticed that since I reviewed the Millionaire Shortbreads and Madagascan Brownies they have both changed from being portioned in packs of 5 to smaller 12 pack pieces. Unlike those variants these Biscuit Cakes are still portioned in the five serving format and I ate them across the course of one week. Styled in the same format as the rest of the range I kinda liked the look of the outer packaging and I suddenly clicked that it looked like the sort of artwork you would find in an old school childrens book. Although the outer packaging looked pretty good my thoughts on the inner content was less positive. Just as I have commented in the other variant reviews the inner plastic packets looked cheap and the inner cakes for me lacked personality and appeared unappetising on the eye (especially when they crumbled all over the place when I opened each wrapper grrr!). In terms of aroma each cake piece offered a reasonable plethora of chocolaty, biscuit scents but it wasn't like they struck me as being remarkably fresh or forthcoming in smell.

Personally I had never had a 'Biscuit Cake' before but these didn't quite live up to expectations in what they actually were. In terms of taste I was expecting a far richer chocolate flavour hit, however this was never really delivered on given the limitation of the textures I experienced. With dark Belgian chocolate compromising of 35% of the total constituents it wasn't as if the chocolate taste wasn't there, it was more of a case that the taste on the whole wasn't sustained as each bite melted in the mouth ridiculously fast and before the flavours could really be sustained. The dark chocolate itself wasn't the strongest though like I perceived with the Madagascan Brownies the unsweetened cocoa flavours were not too harsh for mass consumer taste buds and established a darker than average, yet friendly chocolate experience. Unfortunately the less flavoursome and quick melting constituents were in actual fact the majority of each cake and came in the form of the biscuit pieces. Unlike your average digestive biscuit they lacked the mish mash flavours of the sugar, salt and butter influences and ultimately proved to be little more than filler. On a more positive note the raisins were plump, fruity and provided a little bit of density to the surprisingly light textured biscuit pieces but for me this wasn't enough to really satisfy my hunger to any great degree - especially when you take into consideration the nutritional contents.

Overall I am afraid the axe has come down again on poor Mr Bunbury who has once again copped it so speak on the ChocolateMission rating system. I think I have gone into enough detail above on where the problems of this product lay so I will save repeating myself and provide you with some more sweeping conclusions for the brand as whole! The Mr Bunbury company is somewhat of a rarity nowadays ... coming from nowhere the brand has on-shelf presence in at least one (maybe more!?) of the UK's biggest supermarkets but for me it isn't offering the consumer the right proposition. The Mr Bunbury brands retails for £1.99 which is a price premium when compared to the other products sitting next to it on-shelf!? If the products offered something a little more special than say the Cadbury, McVitie's Cake Bars etc then this premuimality would be justified - but I personally haven't seen any evidence across any of the three variants to back this up. I would love to be able to support a local brand but I just can't recommend any of the three Mr Bunbury products to my readers - he either needs to give a little more (better product), or take a little less (lower price!).

5.8 out of 10

February 6th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews - Edition 32

### Jim's Corner & QOTW ###

Hi All,

I hope you are all doing well. I seemingly say this every week but it has been a very busy week on the site with a certain Valentines range attracting quite a lot of attention.

The range I am talking about above would just so happen to be the Thorntons' Feb 14th goodies I reviewed HERE & HERE. In addition to those Valentines Day products I also reviewed the Hotel Chocolat Melting Hearts ... See HERE ...thankfully they were an awful lot better. Also featured on the site this week the Galaxy Bubbles made its internet review debut ... See HERE ... please be sure to add your own thoughts to the review as and when you get the chance to try it.

Now on to question of the week ... Having labelled the Thorntons Lovebirds as 'ridiculously tacky' I got thinking ...

'what do you think makes a good looking chocolate product? What is the best looking one on the market?'

Drop me a line and let me know ...

Coming this week we have the long awaited BATTLE OF THE EASTER BUNNIES, more Mr Bunbury and of course more Hotel Chocolat Valentines Day products.

I hope you all have great weeks.

JIM

News from the Chocolate Market:

* Mars has reduced the fat content of several of its bars ... See HERE

* Kellogg's have brought out a new chocolate cereal ... See HERE

* Green & Black's entire range is now completely Fairtrade ... See HERE

* Thorntons are bringing out some very familiar sounding Mothers Day products ... See HERE

* Kschocolat have gone bust - I never liked their stuff anyway ... See HERE

Posts from other blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Foodstufffinds - Tried some lovely sounding sweet potatoe crisps from a new brand called Velvet Sky ... See HERE

* Impulsive Buy - Marvo reviewed the only consumer good you need consider buying the mane in your life this Valentines Day ...NEW Dove Men +Care shower gel range (also available in deodorant!!!)... See HERE

* GiGi Reviews - Gi was lucky enough to review some more of the awesome sounding Q Bel Crispy Wafer range - See HERE

* Japanese Snack Reviews - These guys tried the delightful sound Maple flavoured Kit Kats ...See HERE

* Hotel Chocolat - Make sure you get over to their site and order your loved one their Valentines Day gift! Remember to use the ChocolateMission code for 10% off JIMVAL10 ... See HERE

***STARS & THEIR BARS ***

Jenni Falconer - BBC TV personality (National Lottery!)

Matt Dawson - Ex England Rugby Union International / BBC TV personality

February 5th: Thorntons Lovebirdsxx

Kcal 538 Fat 32.6g Fat(sats) 19.7g Carbs 53.6g (per 100.0g)

First off I would like to apologise to all the readers who logged on to the site today expecting to read yet another light hearted and informative chocolate review ... I am afraid today you get more of half review, half rant! At heart of matters today this Thorntons Lovebirdsxx offering takes centre stage and it can billed as a product constituting of 'two milk chocolate lovebirds decorated with dark and white chocolate with a smooth chocolate heart truffle'.

Together the birds and single truffle piece weighed in at 170.0g and would set you back £5.99 if bought in your local Thorntons shop. Speaking about the presentation ... boy where do I start!? As if the transparent plastic box wasn't cheap looking enough Thorntons sure did a job of making the inner bird shapes look ridiculously tacky which is something I think completely out of kilter with their premium brand positioning. Upon unsealing the plastic case of pure tackiness I was met with some standard chocolaty smells which did little to detract my attention from the perfectly formed yet gaudy looking birds.

Sigh - now where do I begin with the chocolate!? Frankly the 30% milk chocolate delivered nothing more than your run-of-the-mill sugary milky taste and just had nothing about it that made it stand out as good quality milk chocolate. The white and dark chocolate that 'decorated' the birds did little more than just that ...'decorate'. The dark chocolate in particular had no cut through in regards to the taste whatsoever, whilst the white chocolate did nothing apart from bring a cheap sugar rush to already sweet milk chocolate base taste. In fact the only redeeming thing in regards to chocolate for this Lovebirdsxx package was the single chocolate truffle which actually brought some additional notes of butter and caramel to the party in and amongst it's soft truffle centre. It wasn't the highest quality truffle I have had recently but it was a damn sight better than the birds.

Overall I don't think I need summarise my thoughts on this product as think they are laid bare in the above paragraphs. What with current affairs with Britain losing one of it's most renowned chocolate brands it is with great regret that I have to keep banging on about how I think Thorntons are in continuous decline. This product summed up everything that I think is wrong with Thorntons at the moment - they are producing way too many substandard chocolate products and are trying to play in parts of the market that don't fit their brand. Personally I used to to think that Thorntons held very prestigious brand equity - they were a brand that commanded a price premium because they produced high quality, sophisticated chocolates. These Thorntons Lovebirdsxx were neither high quality chocolate or sophisticated and it is products like this that I think are destroying what is left of Thorntons premium brand position in the eyes of consumers. For the love of god Thorntons we don't have many British chocolate producers left ... get your house in order!!!

6.2 out of 10

February 4th: Rocky Caramel

Kcal 102 Fat 4.9g Fat(sats) 2.9g Carbs 13.1g (per bar)

Fox's Rocky bars are a staple for many a lunch box here in the UK and they are one of the best selling chocolate biscuit bars of all time. Rocky bars are available in two different flavours - Original and Caramel and are distributed in most supermarkets and food retails outlets. I normally stay a away from the chocolate biscuit bar sector as they are a slightly different proposition to your normal chocolate bar, but for todays review I decided to give the Rocky Caramel bar a crack at the ChocolateMission rating system. The Rocky Caramel is a bar constituting of a biscuit base, topped with caramel and covered in milk chocolate.

I found these on special offer (74p) in my local OneStop shop for a multi pack of 9 bars. Although I didn't like the look of the packaging on display here I am quite aware that by the time this review gets published the new style Rocky packaging will have been rolled out. The pack shots I have taken above are the old style wrappers and I think you will agree it is lucky they have been changed because they very cheap and tacky. Personally I think the new designs are a bit cleaner and I like the direction they have gone accentuating the 'R' for the branding. The chocolate bars themselves I thought looked pretty good though I remember being a bit bigger when I was younger. The caramel looked appetising poking out between the biscuit and chocolate layers, though even when removed from its wrapper the bar failed to make an impression in regards to its aroma, registering little more than a faint biscuity smell.

As I have fleetingly mentioned above it wasn't an all too uncommon occurrence for one of these to appear in my lunch box as a nipper so I was already well aware of what I was really in for. To my surprise things had changed very little though I have to say that the cut back on the milk chocolate was very obvious compared to the bars I was having years ago. For such a cheap product per unit the milk chocolate was actually surprisingly ok and it was no worse than the quality of milk chocolate that you get on any Nestle bar. As I have mentioned above what was disappointing was the thickness of chocolate layer which I have to say was embarrassingly thin and thus lasted for only a matter of seconds in the mouth with its fast melt. The biscuit element to this bar was not exactly out of this world, yet like the chocolate it held up its part of the bargain with its wheaty, sugary taste providing a degree of sustenance. The part of this bar that I have always thought was disappointing, and still to this point do, is the caramel layer which tasted almost like a gooey sugar layer. With better quality products you get touches of butter, toffee and burnt sugar but the caramel on offer here was one dimensional and ultimately just rather poor. Like many products nowadays it is almost like someone has stuck the Rocky bar from a few years ago in the wash on a too high temperature, the bars are noticeably smaller and personally I thought it wasn't the most satisfying of snacks.

Overall I was never expecting miracles from this Rocky Caramel but I certainly thought it had potential for hitting the low 7s on the ChocolateMission rating scale. Ultimately that score proved a little out of reach for this product even though I was rather kind in the score I gave the packaging. The bar didn't quite hit the 7.0 rating because of two fairly obvious reasons - the portioning of the chocolate and the quality of the caramel. Simply put the chocolate needed to be kinder in its portioning and needed to implemented a bit thicker in order for it to have a greater say in the overall taste. Frankly the caramel in Rocky bars has always been a bit on the dodgy side so I wasn't really that surprised at the quality on offer here. On the whole I think the Rocky Caramel is far from being the best chocolate bar out there but I have to say that for the price (especially when halved!!) I don't think you can really argue with what it offers.

6.6 out of 10

February 3rd: Hotel Chocolat Melting Hearts

Spend £15 @ Hotel Chocolat and get 10% with the code JIMVAL10

If I was to say I was either disappointed or surprised when these Hotel Chocolat Melting Hearts popped through my door I would be telling a lie. Indeed when Hotel Chocolat asked me which of their Valentines Day products they should send along for me to sample this year these immediately caught the eye. The billing of a 'breathtaking collection of flavoured chocolate hearts' sounded pretty damn good to me so I made sure I requested a box to try for myself to of course give you all an idea as to whether they were good enough for your special someones ... any excuse eh ;)

Included in this Melting Hearts selection box there were nine different flavoured milk and dark chocolates - six of which were portioned twice and three that were only portioned once. In terms of presentation it won't surprise you to hear that I thought Hotel Chocolat did a pretty good job of things and I liked everything from the well designed outer box to the inner tray and padding which came complete with a nifty menu.

Below are my brief thoughts on each of the chocolates - thanks again to my family who assisted me in rating each on the scale of Very Poor to Superb.


Chocolate Mousse - This was probably the least exciting piece in the selection but it wasn't exactly disappointing in its flavours. Like all of the milk chocolates the outer coating was formed of Hotel Chocolat's 40% recipe so it immediately established a kind cream based cocoa taste in the mouth. The inner filling wasn't the most progressive in terms of flavours, however it was wonderfully smooth melting with its soft texture. Good.

Coffee Praline - This was one of the pieces that I ear marked from the menu and I made sure that I nabbed both before other wandering hands could lay claim to them. Just as I hoped the dark chocolate was simply delicious and the volume of cocoa flavours was spot on establishing a deep and rich taste. Speaking of the inner coffee filling it was just as brilliant and the roasted bean flavours cut through the chocolate wonderfully. Superb.

Milk Praline with Cocoa Crispies - Crispies!?? Really!? I couldn't believe it when I read this on the menu. Normally I associate rice cereal with manufactures looking to 'pad' out chocolate as they often take up considerable amounts of space and are a cheap ingredient. Whilst the outer chocolate was still very flavoursome the bitty and crunchy filling was neither as sensuous as the chocolate mousse truffle or as flavoursome as the majority of the others. Standard.


Sticky Toffee & Banana (Left) - The three chocolates above were only portioned once so it didn't take long my mother to lay claim to this banana flavoured piece. According to her the outer chocolate melted nicely in to the centre which was slightly drier and tacky in texture with a golden syrup like stickiness. In terms of flavours the toffee element came through strongest establishing a delicious caramel like taste although it did somewhat dominate the banana fruit influence which came as minor disappointment to her. Good.

Pistachio Praline (Back) - I don't think it will take you to long to identify this piece in the picture above with its bright green filling. As with all the rest of the milk chocolate pieces the quality of the chocolate was very high and the creamy flavours led nicely in to the nutty filling. In the past I have been disappointed by weak pistachio flavoured chocolates but this chocolate really had a powerful pistachio influence that delivered a tasty salty kick to the taste. Superb.

Caramel Praline (Front) - I absolutely adored this chocolate! It sounded like it was going to be Superb and it simply was! The creamy outer milk chocolate melted softly in to the caramel praline filling and brought the standard cream rooted flavour base. The centre itself was sinfully smooth on the tongue and the raw hazelnut notes blended nicely with the butterscotch flavours to deliver a long lasting delightful taste. Superb.




Macadamia & Coconut - When are manufacturers going to get the message that they just don't do enough with macadamia nuts!? The last time I tasted a macadamia flavoured Hotel Chocolat chocolate was in their Seriously Dark Selection where their Macadamia Bite got a Superb rating. Quite frankly this chocolate was equally as good - the macadamia came through in the filling with a superb buttery taste that had a delightful salt hint. The coconut element was AWOL but this didn't matter to me one little bit - I nabbed both of these ones!! :D Superb.

Orange Praline - I left these to my mother and sister so we will have to trust them with their rating! Although neither are dark chocolate lovers they both enjoyed the outer coating and felt it was just about right in terms of strength. Both commented that the filling was fantastically smooth and the orange fruit influence came through nicely providing a long lasting sweeter side to the taste. Very Good.

Gianduja - Having eaten my way through a 300.0g box of Hotel Chocolat Gianduja Cubes not long ago I knew exactly what to expect here. The milk chocolate was creamy and delicious whilst the centre was nothing short of divine with its hazelnut lead taste and butter like melt. I needn't elaborate anymore on this chocolate apart from writing the word. Superb.


Overall with every Hotel Chocolat product I review and give over 9.0 out of 10 my recommendations must be getting more and more diluted in what they mean to you all. Unfortunately I just can't do anything but recommend these products when the quality is so consistently high - yet again Hotel Chocolat put together another fine selection of chocolates that are worthy of being gifted to anyone this Valentines Day. If you look above at all the individual ratings for each of the chocolates you will see there were some real standout pieces, namely the Gianduja, Coffee Praline, Macadamia & Coconut, Caramel Praline & Pistachio Praline. I guess a criticism that I could levy at this selection would be that out of the prestigious few named above two of them were portioned only the one time, which of course came at great disappointment when it was established just how great they tasted. I better round this up now as this review is getting a little on the long side ... summing up in simple terms this is a selection box that I am sure would go down an absolute treat to anyone it was gifted to - I very highly recommend it.

9.1 out of 10

Spend £15 @ Hotel Chocolat and get 10% with the code JIMVAL10

February 2nd: Ritter Sport Olympia

Kcal 560 Fat 37.0g Fat(sats) 20.0g Carbs 49.0g

Although having received many hints from ChocolateMission reader Susanne that I should review this Ritter Sport Olympia bar, it wasn't until my dear friend Franzi from Germany was so kind to send me one along that I finally got around to trying it. The Ritter Sport Olympia was first seen on the German market as a limited edition flavour that coincided with the last Olympic Games. After much public outcry about it being taken out of distribution after the Olympics finished Ritter Sport finally saw sense and last year brought it back as permanent flavour in their portfolio. Described on pack as 'milk chocolate with a yogurt filling with honey, nuts and dextrose' it sounded like a flavour that really could be to my liking.

Forming part of the standard 100.0g range I couldn't help but finish all twenty-five pieces in only two sittings. Looking at the packaging I was immediately reminded of the Goldenschwartz flavour that I tried back in 2009 with the golden foil wrapper catching the eye for all the right reasons. The chocolate inside was split into the standard sized Ritter Sport blocks and looked particularly appetising with the white coloured filling studded with golden bits of nuts. Taking a good smell of the bar the overriding scents came from the chocolate, though there was a slight hint of floral honey.

Having been given quite the build up in terms of recommendations from my readers this was a chocolate that had a lot to live up to and I am glad to say it did exactly that. As you will have seen across my 30+ Ritter Sport reviews before the quality of Ritter's milk chocolate is not one that I would say is anywhere near top of the best ever milk chocolates but like so many of the reviews that have gone before this was very much all about the delicious filling. The chocolate was not bad by any means but the predominantly milk led taste it substantiated was soon playing second fiddle to the filling that was sandwiched in the middle. Initially the filling reminded me of a slightly tarter version of the Ritter Sport Yogurt bar, however the sourness was soon taken out of the taste by the sweetness brought to the part by the note of honey that developed as the melt progressed. Sitting within the yogurty centre, small pieces of crunchy hazelnut and dextrose (honeycomb to me and you I think) brought additional hints of woody hazelnut and golden syrup to the taste. The overall experience was varied and progressive in terms of both flavours and textures and I savoured every last piece from the very first to the very last.

Overall I was pleased that this bar was as good as it was as given all the recommendations I got sent about it before I finally got the chance to try it myself this week. If Ritter Sport could improve one thing about their range I would suggest that they try to improve the quality of their milk chocolate. Like I said above it isn't bad by any means but if it was just a little tastier I think it would take a bit of pressure off the quality of the fillings which luckily for Ritter seem to pretty much always be superb - the yogurt, honey and nut filling of the Olympia certainly was! What I enjoyed most about the bar was the variance in flavours and textures it offered whilst the melt progressed the longer it was in the mouth. The sourness of the yogurt and sweetness of the honey and dextrose was delicious and I would suggest that fans of the original Ritter Sport Yogurt bar really take a look at trying this Olympia bar if given half a chance. This was the first time I ever tried this chocolate and it sure wont be the last.

8.9 out of 10