March 26th: Cadbury Dairy Milk with Crunchie Bits

Kcal 500 Fat 24.6g Fat(sats) 15.3g Carbs 64.0g (per 100.0g)

Well its taken me long enough to get around to this one hasn't it!? Despite trying bars from as far away as New Zealand and Japan this Cadbury Dairy Milk with Crunchie Bits has managed to escape my attention for over two years and has dodged the bullet many a time when it has come to receiving its all important ChocolateMission review. To be honest I really don't know why it hasn't been done before today - the Cadbury Crunchie is one of my favourite bars of all time and I remember as a kid I used to eat a very similar version of this bar all the time (who can name that bar?? Cadbury Blast was it!?). Anyway, this bar could elude me no more and I today got around to finally rating this bar on the ChocolateMission rating system.

In the UK this bar is only available in its 230.0g format ... no don't worry this isn't going to be one of those reviews where I start ranting about how we have been cheated out of 20.0g of chocolate :) What with all the different bars I have to review this was again another product I brought into my work office, though I managed to tuck into my fair share during its short lived life once it was opened. Do I have to comment on Cadbury packaging again!? Probably not but I will ... I personally love it. The matted appearance gave it a nice shiny, premium look whilst also maintaining the chocolate below in fine condition. Cadbury packaging is designed to be anything over elaborate but you have to love it for the strength of its branding which is reassuring of quality but over the top or in your face. The chocolate itself also looked pretty stunning with the blocks a sensible size to be consumed in one mouthful each. I needn't probably tell you how great the chocolate smelt as I opened the packaging - it was stunning with its usual chocolaty scents mixed with just the slightest bit of extra sweetness emanating from the golden honeycomb pieces that glistened in each block.

The Cadbury Crunchie was one of the first ever products I reviewed on this site and it is still one of my favourite products that I have every now and then on days when I am not reviewing anything else. Personally I think the one minor flaw with the original Crunchie is the thickness of the outer chocolate - I think it could be just a touch thicker. With this product the roles were obviously reversed with the chocolate far outweighing the inner honeycomb pieces (16.0%) and I have to say it was still every bit as good as the original bar. The Cadbury Dairy Milk was its usual wonderful self - thick and smooth in melt and with a level of creamy, cocoa flavours to die for ... utterly fantastic. What I liked so much about this chocolate was that the eating experience involved two stages. The first - letting the chocolate melt away on the tongue which led nicely on to stage two - the remainder honeycomb pieces. Crunching and chewing the honeycomb made for a nice change up in textures and brought lovely sweet, caramel like honey bursts to the taste that was in a word delicious. Like most Cadbury Dairy Milk products just a few blocks made for a wonderfully satisfying treat that I savoured from the very first piece to the very last.

Overall this is yet another Cadbury product that gets two thumbs up from me, though I am still undecided as to whether I would prefer it to a normal Crunchie. On reflection I guess the comparison is a little silly ... you would have the Cadbury Crunchie if you were 'on the go', whilst you would probably choose this bar in the instance of a sharing occasion or in home consumption. Is it as good as the Cadbury Dairy Milk Honeycomb Crisp from Ireland!? There is such little between them they are probably just as good as each other, though I would probably choose the Irish bar as the thicker melting chocolate made the flavours last just that little bit longer in the mouth and the honeycomb was just a little bit softer. Whatever lets stopping comparing this chocolate to other things as by its own merits its a great tasting bar that I immensely enjoyed - yet another tick in the box for Cadbury.

8.7 out of 10

March 25th: Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Egg Box Selection - Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this review I suggest you scroll down to yesterdays post before you spoil the surprise of the final score big reveal.

Today I firstly bring you my thoughts on the last five flavours from this selection box - as yesterday working left to right, and using the Awful-to-Superb scoring system. At the end I will sum up my thoughts and give you the overall score.


Orange Truffle Egg - This egg was formed of a white chocolate outer coating with a Valencia orange essential oil centre that had a splash of Cointreau. Woops .. when I say a splash I really mean a throat burning shot! The white chocolate was creamy and sweet, and the orange element was suitably juicey and natraul tasting. Unfortunately this solid foundation was somewhat spoilt by the overwhelming alcohol hit - I would have much preferred it without. Poor.

Caramel Egg - This without question was my favourite from the entire selection. This egg was amazing in every sense - everything from the super creamy outer milk chocolate, to the runny salted caramel centre was nothing short of phenomenal. You see those Cadbury and Galaxy bars on the leader board!? Well they should be quaking in their boots if Hotel Chocolat finally pull their fingers out and make a box full of these. Super-Duper Superb.

Zesty Praline Egg - This is egg was pretty much the same as the white chocolate orange truffle above, but obviously with a dark chocolate coating and thankfully no Cointreau kick. The combination was simply superb - the chocolate was rich tasting and full of cocoa flavour, whilst the centre had a delightful juicy orange fruit taste. Both my mother and sister really loved this one. Very Good.



Caramel Praline Egg - This egg combined hazelnut praline and caramel for the inner truffle filling and just as I expected it was delicious. I perhaps would have liked the outer chocolate to have been dark, but there was still no denying that the milk chocolate did more than adequate job. The praline and caramel played off each other nicely with the nut element coming through the stronger out of the two. This egg wasn't as good as the praline or caramel eggs separately but it was still extremely tasty. Very Good.

Amaretto Truffle Egg - Out of all the liqueur egg truffles this was the best out of the three. The milk chocolate again did it's job nicely melting smoothly into the soft ganache that lay below. Compared with the other liqueur truffles the hit of the alcohol was far less jolting and this allowed the taste to maintain it's soothing nature. Whilst this was of course favourable, again the Amaretto spirit flavour wasn't that obvious and it could of really been billed as any liqueur as it was quite a generic alcohol taste. Standard.


Overall if you look across the two days of this review, I think you will understand my reasoning for giving this selection such high marks. Starting with the 'gimmes' that come with the majority of Hotel Chocolat products the presentation and concept was first class. The idea of using eggs as the theme isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it was well executed and the eggs were well crafted and were a great size to consume in two bites. Selection wise, like many selection boxes that have gone before the variety wasn't perfect, but it offered a great amount of assortment and all four members of my family had their favourite flavours represented. The real standout chocolate for me from this collection was the Caramel Egg, but there must be notable mentions for the Milk/Dark Praline, plus the Berry Mousse flavours. If you are looking for a box of chocolates that has a varied and great tasting selection, I would suggest these as a terrific option for you this Easter. Hotel Chocolat are quickly establishing themselves as kings of the selection box sector.

8.9 out of 10

Fancy trying this Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Egg Box Selection for yourself? Click HERE.

March 24th: Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Egg Box Selection - Part 1

It wouldn't be a proper holiday season without a Hotel Chocolat Sleekster selection box would it now? This Easter Hotel Chocolat are offering us this Egg box, which offers us all 'a cracking collection of irresistible filled mini eggs'. I have to admit that doing the photography for the review like this is a real pain in the backside with all the different pieces that need photos done. Although it is a little painstaking, previous evidence from the White, Dark and Valentines Sleekster collections would suggest that the effort is well worth, so I shan't grumble too much :)

This Egg Box selection included ten different flavoured eggs, each of which were portioned three times. As I have come to expect from Hotel Chocolat Sleekster collections, the quality of the packaging and presentation was first class. The outer box looked very cool indeed and didn't go over the top with it's Easter connotations, whilst the inner eggs were easily identifiable thanks to the menu road map and well crafted egg pieces.

Due to there being so many flavours I decided to space the review over two days. Below are my brief thoughts on the first five pieces based on the usual Awful-to-Superb rating scale. I shared these with my family so they have added their input where necessary. Below I will be working from left to right.

Milk Egg Praline - This egg was formed of a 40% outer coating and smooth hazelnut praline centre. This seemed like a chocolate I had tasted many times before from Hotel Chocolat, but that was very much a good thing. The outer chocolate was creamy and melted like a dream in the mouth to reveal the slightly grittier praline centre. The hazelnut came through superbly in the taste making for a delightful woody finish. Superb.

Banana Split Egg - This was hard one to rate as the 40% outer milk chocolate again melted gloriously to reveal a caramel like centre that was simply outstanding. The inner centre was amazingly buttery and provided an amazing toffee taste that I couldn't get enough. Unfortunately the banana element in all three truffles was AWOL, which was massively disappointing for my banana mad mum. For that reason I have to downgrade it. Very Good.

Advocaat Truffle Egg - Whenever Christmas comes round in my family we are always pretty partial to a few 'Snowballs', so we actually fought over who was going to try this one. The milk chocolate casing was of a great standard and the centre was suitably soft in the mouth. Despite the alcohol hit being favourably more mild than previous experiences with Hotel Chocolat truffles, I would have struggled to have placed the liqueur as Advocaat, thus it didn't quite deliver the experience I hoped for. Standard.

Dark Praline Egg - This piece was pretty much the same as the milk praline egg above, however it had the obvious difference that it had an outer shell of 70% dark chocolate. For dark chocolate lovers this was nothing short of a dream - the chocolate was rich in taste and inflated in cocoa volume, whilst the hazelnut still had great cut through in the taste providing an even longer presence in the mouth. Superb.

Berry Mousse Egg - This egg was formed of white chocolate with a strawberry and raspberry flavoured mousse centre. Both my mum and my sister demanded I give this a superb and I needed very little convincing. The white chocolate was amazingly sweet and creamy, whilst the centre was tremendously forthcoming in red fruit flavours which were delivered with a strong, natural tasting tartness that contrasted wonderfully with the sweeter chocolate. Superb.

A pretty good start for this Hotel Chocolate The Sleekster Egg Box Selection huh!? Be sure to check the site out tomorrow to see how the other flavours get on, and of course the all important scoring chart.

March 23rd: Oreo Cakesters Peanut Butter

Kcal 110 Fat 4.5g Fat(sats) 1.0g Carbs 15.0g (per 1 cake)

It is a matter of fact that ... I love Oreos, I love Peanut Butter and I love Oreo Cakesters (See HERE). Suffice to say when I first heard about this flavour of Cakesters I literally couldn't wait to try them, and despite reading some disappointing reviews from the likes of Marvo at the Impulsive Buy I was extremelly excited when a friend of mine managed to bring some back from a recent trip to the US. Reading the on-pack description of chocolate cake and peanut butter filling I was sure these Oreo Cakesters Peanut Butter were going to be a match made in heaven!? Seriously what could be better than combining two of my favourite junk food ingredients in one single product ... read on and find out!

My friend gave me two packs of 75.0g Cakesters which both included three individual Cakesters inside. Just as I have thought with the other Oreo Cakesters packaging I thought the presentation was very good and I liked the combination of the foil fresh wrapper and inner cardboard tray which kept everything in very good condition. If you look at the picture above I hope you will agree that the Cakesters themselves looked very appetising and I especially thought the orangey creme filling looked particularly tempting sandwiched between the cake pieces.

Having finished admiring the appearance of the Cakesters one thing I did pick up on was the lack of a differentiated smell for these Peanut Butter Cakesters vs the Original ones I reviewed almost a year back. The sweet cookie like smell that emanated was by no means horrible but at the same time I was wary at the lacking nut influence. Unfortunately these early signs were much indicative of the actual taste and my greatest fears were soon realised upon biting into the first Cakester. Indeed just the smell suggested these Cakesters retained some very familiar Oreo like flavours in the taste of the outer cake pieces but disappointingly the centre filling was almost completely devoid of a peanut influence. There were minor notes of nut buried below the dominant sugar flavours, however the overall taste was more like a peanut fondant rather than a peanut butter filling ... sigh ... what a shame - these sucked!

Overall I can't recall having been as disappointed with a product in long than I was with these Oreo Cakesters Peanut Butter. If you have read the paragraph above it doesn't take a genius to work out what my fundamental problem with the product was and 100% of the blame lies with the idiot who decided to make the peanut butter filling so ridiculously weak in it's peanut flavours. Annoyingly the packaging doesn't actually state what percentage of the product is made up by actual peanuts but I would hazard guess at it being substantially low. With the products such as this I always think that the taste has so outweigh the sin (these are pretty high calorie/fat wise!), and these Oreo Cakesters Peanut Butter just don't do that in any manner. As much as I would have loved to I just can't recommend these on any basis. Someone send me the address of the guy who screwed these up ... he deserves to hear how much these blow :)

5.8 out of 10

March 22nd: Cadbury Turkish Biscuits

Kcal 70 Fat 3.3g Fat(sats) 1.9g Carbs 10.2g (per biscuit)

For some reason unbeknown to myself and the rest of civilisation, for the first few weeks of their launch these Cadbury Turkish Biscuits could not be found for love nor money (distribution issues perhaps?). Just a few weeks later after tracking down the Caramel and Crunchie variants though, I did eventually stumble across a pack in my local Tesco at their full wack price. In my endeavour to get you all clued up as soon as possible, I shelled out just under £3 (£2.94 if we are being precise!) to buy myself two packs to take into my work office. On the front of the wrapper these were described as 'Cadbury milk chocolate biscuits with a turkish delight flavoured jam filling' - any one wanting to get themselves familiar with my thoughts on the original Cadbury Dairy Milk Turkish Delight bar will want to look HERE.

These Turkish biscuits came in the same 130.0g size pack as both the Caramel and Crunchie variants, and comprised of 8 separate pieces. Much like I thought of the aforementioned variants I similarly thought the packaging and presentation was pretty damn good. The pink colours of the original Turkish bar were nicely carried over and I thought they gave the wrapper good stand out - especially with the shiny nature of the foil material. The biscuits themselves at first glance looked no different to the Caramel variety, however the sweet fruity smell and red jam colouring that became apparent when they were bitten in to soon revealed they were a completely different prospect altogether.

If we first deal with the chocolate coating it will not surprise you to hear that it was nothing out of the ordinary and delivered the same old Cadbury experience that I am sure all of us in the UK have experienced countless times. It had a sharp sweetness to it's milky taste and provided a chocolate flavour hit that was more than acceptable. It is a shame that Cadbury decided not to treat consumers to the full effect creaminess of their Dairy Milk recipe but lets not get our knickers in a twist about that yet again :D The shortcake bases were no different to what I experienced with the Caramel variety - buttery with a burst of brown sugar, but lacking a touch of salt to classify as top quality shortbread. The most prominent aspect in the taste was of course the all important Turkish Delight flavoured jam, which I have to unfortunately announce wasn't as good as I hoped it to be. The jam substance was terribly sticky and the most dominating flavour influence it brought to the party was disappointingly one of raw sugar. The rosewater element was very much in the background of the experience and had very little say in the resulting taste. On reflection the jam filling wasn't horrible, but the Turkish experience wasn't completely delivered as well as it could of been. With the biscuits being so sweet I never felt comfortable consuming more than one in a single sitting, however this didn't seem to stop most my colleagues demolishing both packs in a single afternoon.

Overall whilst it is worth noting that there was nothing horrible about these biscuits whatsoever, I have to admit there was nothing about them that left me wanting to either buy or consume more. When put in the context of both Caramel and the Crunchie variants, they are both light years ahead of these Turkish Biscuits as the fillings just worked so much better the sweet milk chocolate and inner shortbread constituents. The jam filling in these Turkish biscuits was just a tad on the sugary side for my liking, and whilst it didn't bring that horrible burning sensation to the back of my throat, at times it was verging on it, and it was disappointing that the Turkish Delight rosewater flavours were lost in culmination of the chocolate, biscuit and jam constituents. Unless you are a real Cadbury nutjob I wouldn't recommend these as being worthy of pennies given that there are far more accomplished flavours out there on the market already. Cadbury hit the nail on the head with their Caramel and Crunchie variants but these were a little flawed in their execution. They aren't bad by any means but they certainly aren't a 'must try'.

7.3 out of 10

March 21st: The Fabulous Bakin' Boys Chocolate Cupcake

Kcal 123 Fat 5.9g Fat(sats) 2.4g Carbs 16.2g (per cupcake)

As soon as I started reviewing all those cake bar products (Cadbury Mini Rolls etc) last year, I was immediately inundated with requests for me to review some other cake based products. One of the more popular requests was for me to take a look at some of the offerings from The Fabulous Bakin' Boys product range which boasts products such as flapjacks, brownies and of course these Chocolate Cupcakes. Described as 'moist vanilla sponge with a chocolate flavour topping' they seemed like a pretty simple proposition though obviously had quite the cult following given the amount of people asking for a ChocolateMission review. Given the demand I could hardly turn down the opportunity of a £1 a pack offer in my local OneStop.

The Cupcakes came in a 192.0g box that contained 6 individually wrapped cakes inside. To be honest I didn't really form an overall opinion on the presentation of the product as it neither struck me as being all that appealing or anything to the contrary. The cupcakes themselves were reasonably nice looking with the chocolate topping catching the eye with a noticeably glossy looking finish. As already mentioned each cupcake was contained within a plastic packet which kept each reasonably fresh and released a pleasant sweet cake smell when opened. One thing that was a slight annoyance though was that a large majority of the cake and outer chocolate topping rim stuck to paper cupcake wrapper when I tried removed it.

Before I ate these I have to hold my hands up and admit that I hadn't ever tried a Fabulous Bakin' Boys product so I wasn't quite know what to expecting. Like any normal person would (I use this term loosely) I decided to eat the Cupcakes in two parts - first eating the bottom layer of sponge and then the chocolate coating that lay on top. My initial impression of these thanks to the sponge was that they were pretty taste, and I really enjoyed the sweet cake that had a buttery taste that came off as being surprisingly fresh with a nice note of vanilla essence in the aftertaste. Where these cupcakes unfortunately fell down was in the quality of the chocolate topping ... or the 'chocolate flavoured topping' I should more correctly state. Quite frankly the chocolate element to these cupcakes was woeful - it was waxy and slow melting in texture and added hardly anything in regards to taste. Of course it did bring a mild chocolate influence to the mix but the flavours were predominantly sugar based and the texture just left an awful greasy feel in the mouth that pretty much spoilt the experience completely. Out of the six cupcakes I could only stomach two in total which left the rest resigned for the bin.

Overall these were an odd product in that in one way they were excellent, yet in another utterly awful. As you many have gathered from the above paragraph the cake element to these cupcakes was really well executed and I loved the sweet, light taste on the sponge. What I found so utterly incredible about these cupcakes was that the fact Bakin Boy had the cheek to stick the slogan 'contains no artificial colours or flavours' on the front of the cardboard packaging box! What this should actually say is 'contains no real chocolate'! Formed of the appetising concoction of 'sugar, vegetable oil and reduced fat cocoa powder' it was little surprise that the chocolate element to these cupcakes was carried off rather poorly. The topping lacked lacked a chocolate flavour hit and felt horrible in the mouth with an awkward wax like texture. I personally wont be having these again and unless you already a fan I wouldn't recommend them either.

5.9 out of 10

March 20th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 36

### Jim's Corner ###

Hi All,

The post today is a little rushed I am afraid as I heading off for a few days holiday.

For this reason I envisage I wont be able to answer any e-mails or posts until Thursday, but upon my arrival back into the country I will be sure to catch up with everything that has been sent my way. Despite me not being around there will be posts appearing on the site (wonders of technology eh!?), so you probably wont even notice my absence.

Sorry to keep things short this week, coming up in the next few days you will be seeing more Hotel Chocolat reviews, Cadbury Turkish Biscuits and some products sent my way all the way from Australia.

Have great weeks - catch up with you all soon.

JIM


**** COMPETITION WINNER ****

I had thousands (yes thousands!!) of entries for this latest competition, thanks to all who entered!

Congratulations to the winner of the Hotel Chocolat Easter Scrambled Egg winner .....

...
....
....... Emily Hutchinson

I have sent your address to the guys at Hotel Chocolat who kindly sponsored this competition. Your prize is on the way.


Posts from other blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Foodstufffinds - Cin did an investigation looking at the change of recipe for Cadbury Mini Eggs - I added my own two cents on my own review in the form of an update - See HERE

* GiGiReviews - GiGi stuck it to the Girl Scouts with a review of their Dulce de Leche cookies - See HERE

* ImpulsiveBuy - I love peanut butter ... but I have never tried almond butter before! Sounds awesome - See HERE

* FoodetteReviews - This post by Jess gave me a real hankering for some pretzels. Why do we no get those big fresh ones here in the UK? See HERE

* Snackspot - People are seemingly already hunting down the new Magnum Gold - Magnum coated in Caramac white chocolate ... must have!! See HERE


** Updated Reviews **

Same old reviews but new pictures ...

Fry's Chocolate Cream - See HERE
Cadbury Double Decker - See HERE
Cadbury Chomp - See HERE
Cadbury Mini Eggs - See HERE
Daim Bar - See HERE

March 19th: Mikado White Chocolate

Kcal 11 Fat 0.5g Fat(sats) 0.3g Carbs 1.5g (per biscuit stick)

Back last April Kraft brought Mikado to the UK market, at which point I was literally inundated with requests to give them a ChocolateMission review. Although they were new to most UK residents, I had actually had Mikado many times before during my holidays to Europe when I was younger. Just as I had experienced back in the day I found the original Mikado to be 'Utterly delicious' (See HERE), and seemingly the majority of the UK population must have agreed with me given that we now have some new variants gracing our supermarket shelves. Although they were released just a few weeks ago, I have already tried these Mikado White Chocolate several times as my work colleagues have gone mad for them. Take a look at my review below to see how they stacked up on the scoring system.

As I stated above my workplace has been been consuming 70.0g packets of these faster than you can say Mikado. In terms of presentation this white chocolate variant stays very closely aligned to the original milk chocolate which is obviously no bad thing whatsoever. Personally I think the outer cardboard box is cleanly branded and communicates the white chocolate flavour well, whilst most importantly keeping the fragile stick pieces in good condition. Inside a nice set of sweet, dairy smells emanated once the bright silver foil packet was pierced revealing the very cool looking white coated biscuit sticks.

When I wasn't fighting my work colleagues off the several packets I brought in to the office, I eventually got around to trying a fair number of these for myself. Starting off with the biscuit constituents much like I expected the sticks held up their end of the bargain, providing a wheaty, buttery, brown sugar noted taste which was delivered with a satisfying fresh crunchiness with every bite. The white chocolate that coated them, melted at a similar pace to the milk chocolate of the originals, and was enjoyable to suck on before crunching down on the inner biscuit centres. It must be said that I generally find that great quality white chocolate is very rare to come across and I can tell you now that it wasn't the best quality used here. Whilst I can say it wasn't fantastic, on the other hand it wasn't awful at all, and luckily the combination of the biscuit and the chocolate made it taste an heck of a lot better than it would of done had it been eaten solus. In terms of flavours the white chocolate was very sugary, but at the same time it did have a friendly well rounded whole milk undertone which was present throughout the duration in the mouth. Just as I found with the original Mikado these were incredibly moreish but I found as I consumed them they became less and less pleasurable as the overall taste was incredibly sweet, thus they quickly got a little sickly.

Overall I know these have a strong following already so I am sure there are going to be a lot of you that will be less than happy with them scoring less than the original Mikado milk chocolate. To those people I apologise, but I have to call it as I see it, and for me personally I just didn't enjoy them as much as the originals. Whilst I could still appreciate the combination of the sweet, creamy chocolate and the enjoyable biscuit bases, the taste was just a touch sugary for me. This made them not so pleasant to eat on mass and often left me feeling quite unsatisfied in terms of fulfilling my hunger. Many of the people I ate these with said the white chocolate reminds them of Nestle's Milkybar which I would somewhat agree with. For me personally it didn't evoke as many nostalgic feelings as the aforementioned does, but it is probably a fair description given the dominance of the sugar in the taste, which makes it a reasonable comparator. This may read like a none to positive review but I will willingly concede that the synergy the chocolate has with the biscuit bases makes these a product that I have no qualms recommending to white chocolate fans, however myself I would pick the milk chocolate variant every time. Let me know your views on these white chocolates ones it would be great to hear your views. Has anyone spotted the dark chocolate version that is supposed to be coming out yet?

7.8 out of 10

March 18th: Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Pistachio

Kcal 551 Fat 35.7g Fat(sats) 19.2g Carbs 49.3g (per 100.0g)

If you think back about a month or so to the end of last year you may remember that the Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean bar won a lot of praise in the end of year ChocolateMission 2009 Awards, picking up 3rd place for overall product of the year. Well the folk over at Thorntons were obviously pretty happy about this so they sent me along another chocolate from their award winning range, this time their Milk Chocolate with Pistachio offering. As a recent pistachio nut convert I was looking forward to seeing what Thorntons could do with this combination - surely they couldn't go wrong with a recipe of 'milk chocolate with roasted, salted pistachio nuts'.

Like all of the 'award winning' bars from this range Thorntons felt it ok to strip away 10.0g leaving us with 80.0g of chocolate (not quite as cheeky as the Tonka where they only give you 70.0g!). A quick glance at the packaging tells you that Thorntons appear to be running out of colours to use when it comes to this Square Bars range and with branding aside the outer box looked ridiculously similar to both the Tonka and Mint chocolates ... perhaps Thorntons could have done a 'premiuim line' with different packaging for the award winners!? Inside the chocolate looked and smelt good with the green coloured pistachios bringing a lovely savoury nutty smell and bit of interest in terms of aesthetic appeal.

Unfortunately for Thorntons all milk chocolate I taste from them from now on will be compared to the Tonka Bean bar. This 32% recipe was still tasty but it noticeably lacked the strength in the taste of the aforementioned with a slightly less pronounced cocoa edginess and honey influence. In the effort of trying not to be completely condescending the vanilla undertones were still pretty prominent and the lack of strength of the chocolate was somewhat made up for by the added pistachios. Much as the packaging suggested the nuts themselves brought hints of salt and savoury nut to the experience, though I do have again have to somewhat question the decision to chop them in to smaller pieces rather than keeping them as wholenuts. They were not as clumsy or annoying as hazelnuts can be when chopped (no bits getting stuck in teeth etc!) but I still feel the crunchy effect and savoury nut flavours explosions would have been grander had had they been implemented whole. Together the combination of sweet and salt worked very nicely but I had that nagging feeling it could have been executed just a little better.

Overall I would rate this as another pretty high standard offering from Thorntons but at the same time I wouldn't say it was one of the finest they have produced. Pistachio nuts themselves are not the strongest tasting nuts so I think their chopped nature in this bar came at detriment to the overall product. Perhaps manufactures think that consumers are of the mindset that 'more small bits' look like more in totality than 'fewer bigger bits', but I for one would rather see the latter if given the option of either/or. Criticisms aside pistachio chocolates aren't one of the most common flavours around so if you fancy trying it out for yourself you can do very little wrong opting to give this Thorntons offering a try. I don't think 2010 will quite be the year of the pistachio, like 2008 was for Chili but it would be interesting to see a few more manufactures give this nut a crack.

8.2 out of 10

March 17th: Hotel Chocolat Less Sweet Selection

In and amongst all the Easter goodies Hotel Chocolat sent my way this year they were also nice enough to include this Less Sweet Selection Box. Described as a collection of 'less sweet recipes so that the authentic flavours of cocoa and praline shine through' it sounded like a decent enough proposition to me, and I eagerly read the handy menu included inside which handily identified the chocolates inside.

The collection comprised of 21 pieces - milk and dark batons, gianduja cubes, mellow caramel truffles, hazelnut praline truffles and lastly some orange praline truffles. The presentation was was pretty familiar looking in style, and combined sleek and sophisticated outer packaging with several protective inner layers that ensured the freshness and high maintenance of each of the different pieces. As you will see from the chocolates below all of them looked pretty appetising, but it was the caramel piece that really stood out with some intricate swirls on the surface of each chocolate.

Below are my thoughts on each of the different chocolates rated from Awful-to-Superb ...



Milk & Dark Chocolate Batons - These were both excellent as I expected, with the milk chocolate batons formed of the 50% house recipe and the dark chocolate batons formed of the 74% house recipe. The milk chocolate was noticeably a little less sweet than the normal 40% cocoa recipe used across the majority of Hotel Chocolat products, though the dark batons really stood out taking the depth of flavour that stage further and had a richer, longer lasting taste. Both chocolates melted with infinite ease into their liquor states and provided an experience that was not only luxurious in taste but also wonderful feeling in the mouth. They were a real joy to eat. Superb.


Mellow Caramel - This pieces was the best looking in the selection and was the one that I was really looking forward to trying. Much like the dark chocolate batons the outer chocolate was superb and had a nice long, rich taste that grew in flavour volume as it melted. The inner caramel praline centre did bring a small notes of sweet toffee and butter to the party, however I was expecting more and would have really welcomed a minor hint of salt to play off the sweetness of the caramel flavours which would have made it truly outstanding. Good.

Hazelnut Praline - The outer 50% chocolate was super smooth in melt and established a creamy, rich cocoa taste as soon as it was placed on the tongue. Sitting below this glorious outer chocolate layer a drier filling of hazelnut praline provided strong woody hazelnuts which further reaffirmed the fresh tasting, crunchy whole hazelnut pieces that lined the top of each truffle. As hazelnut chocolates go this was absolutely fantastic, so much so I made a point of swagging all three before my family could nab them :D Superb.


Orange Praline - out of everything in the selection this piece appealed to me the least, however I am glad to say it wasn't out of place amongst the other fantastic chocolates. The outer 74% dark chocolate brought strong, unsweetened cocoa flavours to the party straight away and melted with a pleasant smoothness to reveal the soft, smooth filling below. Conversely to the outer chocolate the orange filling was sweet tasting, with some zingy citrus flavours that contrasted well with the dark chocolate. Orange chocolates are never my first choice but this was up there with the best of them. Very Good.

Gianduja Cubes - Well I have reviewed these on their own before (See HERE) so I need say very little apart from refer you that previous review. These are among the very best of all the great things that Hotel Chocolat make, if you haven't tried these already and love praline you really need to do yourself a favour and buy some. Superb.


Overall this Less Sweet Selection provides a good insight into some of Hotel Chocolat's capabilities, however I wouldn't rank it alongside some of their other finer selection boxes. The quality of the chocolate involved here is unquestionable - the 50% milk chocolate and 74% dark chocolate are amongst the best out there and I think it is a very safe bet to say you will get undoubtedly get a lot of pleasure out of the plain chocolate batons. The Gianduja Cubes are quite simply in a league of their own - I can't say anything more positive about them than that, you simply need to try them for yourself to really understand how good they are. Personally I think the truffles are what hold this selection back somewhat. Although I have classified all of them as Good or above, you have to consider the fact that if someone doesn't like orange, nuts or caramel the options are a little limited. This collection isn't the most varied that Hotel Chocolat offer but if you are looking for a small selection of fine chocolates you do well looking at this Less Sweet Selection.

8.3 out of 10

Fancy trying these for yourself? Click HERE

March 16th: L'Artisan du Chocolat 72% Bali / Jamaica / Congo

Rewind a few days and you will remember that it wasn't long ago that I was revelling in the gloriousness of L'Artisan du Chocolat's No.1 Salted Caramels (HERE). What I failed to mention in that review then was that L'Artisan had also sent me three of their latest Limited Edition dark chocolates, all of which I have been sampling with some fellow dark chocolate lovers.

These Jamaica, Bali and Congo are were all 72% cocoa recipes, and were formed using cocoa that were farmed and and fermented from these locations (more info on the website).

Looking at the net weight of the bars on the packaging I was surprised to see that each of the bars only weighed 45.0g, despite being packaged in boxes big enough to fit your average 100.0g chocolate bar. Given the premium nature of the brand and the chocolate, the size wasn't so much a surprise to me, and that said I did appreciate the clean graphics on the outer cardboard and liked it for it's simplicity. Unfortunately what I didn't think was so great was the style of the inner wrapping and design work on all three of the variants. I thought the plastic packets didn't really carry through the sophisticated brand positioning, and I felt that it cheapened the presentation considerably. Similarly the lack of branding and pattern work on the chocolate was something that was sorely missed and I felt this was also a missed opportunity to add some uniqueness to each bar.

Below are some collective tasting notes on each variant that I sampled with a group of friends. Apologies if the terminology comes across as pretentious, trust me I think I am no expert. It has been written in this manner to try and give you the best understanding of how each tasted.


L'Artisan du Chocolat 72% Bali

This flavour had pretty neutral, yet strong cocoa smell which was nicely indicative of the taste. This variant in particular broke with a wonderful snap sound which suggested that it was as fresh as they come. The taste was very smooth and had strong hints of fruit and banana which gave the cocoa flavours a consistent sweetness. The aftertaste had a little element of spice to it and generated a minor note of chilli in the mouth which further added interest to the overall experience. It was unanimously voted the favourite amongst the group with the main reason cited being it's non-bitterness and moreish sweetened cocoa stance.

8.4 out of 10

L'Artisan du Chocolat 72% Jamaica


Again here the smell was very indicative of the taste, and the bar emanated a smokey set of cocoa scents. The chocolate was similarly fresh to break apart but this chocolate seemed to melt at a slower rate to the others. As the smells suggested the taste was dominated by an undercurrent of tobacco like influences, with hints of woodiness and red fruits also coming through in the latter stages. The aftertaste was noticeably stronger than the other two variants and was the most bitter out of all three. The taste of this chocolate didn't suit everyone in the group and it did really divide opinion more so than the others.

7.2 out of 10



L'Artisan du Chocolat 72% Congo



This smelt similar to the Bali variant, though on balance was just slightly less pungent. In terms of taste this chocolate was screaming out Lindt 72% as soon as I placed the first piece on my tongue. The cocoa taste was less distinctive than the other two variants and maintained a familiar milky undertone throughout the entire experience. Whilst it wasn't quite as sweet or as variable as the Bali, it wasn't as harsh as the Jamaica and had a relatively nice, fresh cocoa taste. Both the feel and the flavours were smooth, whilst the melt was well paced. In all it was a solid, but safe dark chocolate.

7.8 out of 10

Overall these were some good quality dark chocolates, and me and fellow taste testers really enjoyed tasting the different experiences that all three offered. A look at the scores would suggest that probably only the Bali could be deemed as 'better than average' but if you look closely all three were hampered by the average score of 7 for presentation. The reason I gave them that score was because I didn't get the same feel of classiness from these bars as I did from the wonderful presented No.1 Salted Caramels a few days ago. If you compare them like-for-like I think you will agree that those Caramels look a class above these bars, though granted that is more about the quality of presentation of the Caramels. Presentation aside the quality of the chocolate here on the whole pretty good and it was really interesting the way that each offered up a different sort of taste. There was a clear favourite amongst the group in the form of the sweeter Bali variant, though this could be down to our personal preference and it is likely your own opinion would differ. To sum up I think L'Artisan du Chocolat could work a little on the packaging to align themselves in terms of quality with some of their other brand offerings. As far as chocolate quality goes though, they need do very little work there.

On a unrelated note what really surprised about reviewing these chocolates was how fun it was to do it amongst a group. Three of us enjoyed these over a few drinks and it was great comparing thoughts on how we thought the flavours developed. I would seriously suggest you guys grab a few of friends and try something similar in the near future - it is a lot of fun.

March 15th: Hotel Chocolat The Tipsy Scrambled Egg

Just in case you haven't seen my hundreds of tweets, posts or facebook messages in the last week or so I would briefly like to draw your attention to the ChocolateMission Easter 2010 competition (See HERE) - the prize being a Hotel Chocolat Milk Chocolate Scrambled Egg.

To whet your appetite for the competition I today bring you my review of one of the other eggs in the Scrambled range, the Alcoholics Anonymous favourite 'Tipsy' variant.

This Tipsy package weighed in at 220.0g and constituted of one 'milk chocolate egg, decorated with dark and white chocolate swirls', which was served alongside a 'selection of boozy chocolates'. Packaging wise aside from being a pain in the backside to photograph (reflections grr!), it looked fantastic. The egg looked suitably creative with the three different tones of chocolate, whilst the ingot pieces were similarly awesome to look at.

Taking the egg in isolation first I was pleased to see a little change up from the 40% house recipe and thought the 50% milk chocolate suited the more mature theme of the product. Whilst the 50% milk chocolate wasn't noticeably stronger in it's cocoa flavours than the aforementioned 40%, it was definitely a touch less sweet which made it richer. This just so happened to be to the preference of my father who was more than eager to help me out with this particular review :D As you can imagine the decorative dark and white chocolate patterns had very little cut through in the taste and seemed more there for aesthetic purposes.

Of course to go alongside the egg we were also treated to a wide selection of ingot shaped boozy truffles, some of which are in the photo above. Like I have found with many of the Hotel Chocolat liqueur truffles before I found the taste of the alcohol overwhelming in a few of the flavours - most notably in the martini, gin and cognac ingots where I felt the chocolate was overpowered. According to my old man I was just being a bit of pansy, as he really enjoyed all of them. I guess on reflection the milder amaretto, caramel & whisky and rum ingots were more to my liking and whilst I might not choose them out of personal preference (over say a praline or something) I would have them again if offered.

Overall this was a nice way to kick off my look at Hotel Chocolat's Scrambled Egg range, but like many of their boozy chocolates that have gone before I at times felt that the chocolatier had been a little over generous with his 'splashes' of alcohol. Taking the egg in isolation there are no two ways about it - it was perhaps a little no frills but it was really high quality milk chocolate and the swirled patterns on the exterior certainly made it look impressive. Now speaking of the ingot truffles my own feelings were a bit mixed as I didn't like the chocolate taking a back seat in the taste with some of the flavours on offer (named and shamed above). What is probably more relevant for you boozy chocolate fans to bare in mind though is that my father who enjoys spirits more than I do (not hard admittedly!) thought a lot more of them so I guess on that basis these are worthy of a recommendation for like minded people. If you are gifting to an older consumer this Easter I would say this Tipsy variant is a good option.

8.5 out of 10

BUY Hotel Chocolat's Scrambled Egg & MANY MORE HERE - CLICK

March 14th: The Chocolate Truffle Co. Noir Collection Costa Rica 64

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

Coming right off the back of my flirtation with The Chocolate Truffle Co.'s Lait Collection (See HERE) I am going to kick start things this week with a review of one of their dark chocolate bars. Similarly to the Lait Collection offering from last Wednesday, this was a bar that was produced using cocoa beans sourced from a Rainforest Alliance certified farm, which the on-pack label tells me will help protect the environment and improve the lives of cocoa growers. The cocoa here was again from Costa Rica and had been handmade in to a bar here in the UK. Having shared my feelings about the Rainforest Alliance certification last week I can only reiterate my views that it is all well and good having a chocolate that is ethically moral, but it also has to pass the taste test to make that all worthwhile.

Just like the milk chocolate bar this came in a 48.0g size which lasted me a course of three separate sittings. As you can see above in the photo the packaging was consistent from the other bar, and despite being more clued up with the knowledge that The Chocolate Truffle Co. are somewhat limited financially in this area, I still think this is an issue that need to address going forward. Inside the chocolate bar itself was again lacking personality visually but not so much aroma wise. The scents being emanated from the plastic packet were unsurprisingly very cocoa heavy but they were fresh and had a subtle red fruitiness that added a good degree of intrigue.

I always like to eat my dark chocolate with a fresh black coffee and I have to start off by saying that a few squares of this went down extremely well as an accompaniment. Letting each block slowly melt on the tongue the taste that developed wasn't anything I would describe as unique or differentiated from what I have consumed previously, but that is not to say it wasn't of a good quality. Much like the smells indicated the taste was very cocoa rooted and the unsweetened cocoa flavours were immediately established from the outset. The cocoa volume increased with the progression of the melt, though the aftertaste was somewhat of a tipping point and there was slightly sweeter milkier note left in the mouth with each block. If I was being fussy (like I am) I would say that I would have liked to have some other type of flavour influence to come to the party, like say a a minor hint of coffee, nut or tobacco etc. In reality the taste was perhaps what you would describe as slightly one dimensional, but luckily that one dimension of really fresh tasting, raw cocoa was very nice.

Overall this dark chocolate wasn't as unique tasting as the vanilla noted milk chocolate I tried last week, but it was still a good quality dark chocolate that I would was noticeably of a better quality than an average mass produced dark chocolate. Personally speaking I would have welcomed an additional depth to the taste and would possibly have liked it a touch stronger. However I think the 67% recipe will probably be about spot on for most dark chocolate fans sp I wouldn't advise them to make ammendments to their recipe there. Putting aside my usual grumbles about the packaging and claims etc, I think that The Chocolate Truffle Co. have really solid foundation of dark chocolate on which to build something special. What I would love to see is this chocolate used in some form of truffles and/or a few flavoured dark chocolates etc. I think with the added enhancement of say something like macadamia nuts or fruits sourced from these rainforests they could build a more compelling proposition, and one that might excite the average consumer more than just with the plain dark and milk chocolate bars they have currently. My own view is that this is a line of products to keep an eye on, as I can imagine special things might be round the corner.

7.7 out of 10

March 13th: Cadbury Caramel / Crunchie Biscuits

STOP PRESS ... 7Days of Chocolate Reviews has been replaced this week by an emergency NEW product review! Over the past two weeks my inbox has been overflowing (minor exaggeration) with e-mails from people requesting I review these new Cadbury Biscuits.

The sneaky people at Cadbury didn't even seem it appropriate to announce these new biscuits to the trade, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw these Caramel & Crunchie biscuits gracing the shelves of my local Sainsbury's.

On an introductory offer of £1, these 130.0g packs contained eight biscuits in each (roughly 12.5p each a biscuit if you're wondering!!) and came in foil packets that looked none to dissimilar to the actual bars their concepts originated from. Aesthetically speaking I thought that both the wrappers looked awesome, but it was the Crunchie variant that looked the more interesting comparing the inner contents ... the Crunchie took the biscuit so to speak.

With the Crunchie variant catching the eye it was now down to the taste test - below are my thoughts on the two variants ...

Cadbury Caramel Biscuits:


Kcal 70 Fat 3.8g Fat(sats) 2.2g Carbs 6.2g

'Cadbury milk chocolate biscuits with a caramel centre'.

Out of the two these were the ones I was most looking forward to trying. Now although the outer milk chocolate wasn't the Dairy Milk recipe I was hoping for, it still established a very Cadbury like sweet, milky taste as soon as soon as the biscuit entered the mouth. The shortcake biscuit base melted with ease on the tongue and displayed a fine degree of butter and brown sugar flavours. As disappointing as it was to find that this wasn't standard Cadbury chocolate per se, it was very encouraging to see that Cadbury implemented their usual caramel, and it brought all the delicious sweet toffee flavour elements that you get with the standard bar. Importantly the salt kick of the caramel was still present, and nicely contrasted the sweetness of both the sugary chocolate and biscuit base, making for a incredibly moreish overall taste.

8.5 out of 10



Cadbury Crunchie Biscuits:

Kcal 80 Fat 4.1g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 7.4g

'Cadbury chocolate biscuits with Crunchie bits'

Despite the Cadbury Caramel being a long time favourite of mine I also have a great fondness of the Crunchie so I was expecting similarly good things here. As you may have ascertained from the above the chocolate was again disappointingly not Dairy Milk but on a positive side the thickness of the chocolate was much greater here. The chocolate once again established the same milk rooted sweet chocolatey taste which lead nicely into the crisp biscuit inside. The biscuit initially had a more savoury wheaty taste, though it was soon nicely built upon by some bursts of honey and syrup which came about as a result of the honeycomb pieces when crunched. Out of the two I felt that the Crunchie biscuits were the more satisfying in regards to hunger fulfilment, as the meatier chocolate layer made each biscuit last longer in the mouth.

8.7 out of 10

Overall I am not always so positive when it comes to Cadbury diversifying into other markets and neglecting their core chocolate range, but these biscuits were so tasty they made me forget such worries. I guess the real surprise here was the fact that the Crunchie variant has scored higher given that my preference lies with the Caramel when it comes to the actual original bars. Without meaning to moan on too much I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of Dairy Milk chocolate, but the secondary recipe utilised once again more than held it's own and it just so happens that in the variant where it was implemented more prominently was the one that scored higher. In regards to taste I can't really separate the two as they were both pretty delicious. If my hand was forced and I had to choose just the one option though I would go for the Crunchie Biscuits as they provide a more satisfying option and looked a bit more interesting visually. At full price they may perhaps be a little pricey for just eight biscuits, but all Cadbury fans should at least give them a try. My review of the Turkish flavour will be up as soon as I find them - what do you all think?

March 12th: Lotte Crunky Crunch Chocolate Strawberry Tart

Kcal 271 Fat 16.9g Carbs 26.8g (per 48.0g)

I simply can't get enough of my Japanese chocolates at the moment, and I just love trying all the odd flavour combinations that manufacturers out there are willing to try on their consumers. The latest product sent my way by the fellas at J-List was this Lotte Crunky Crunch Chocolate Strawberry Tart (try saying that fast!), and it came described on the J-List website as 'strawberry flavoured white chocolate with crunchy malt puffs'. Looking across the web it seems that up until Nestle brought the Kit Kat to the Japanese market it was Lotte's Crunky brand of chocolates that were the 'in-thing' in the Far East, along with the timeless Pocky range of course. Today I had my own first flirtation with Crunky Crunch Chocolate, and this is what went down.

This Crunky variant came in a 48.0g size that was split into a 4x10 long thin bar. Like most Japanese products an outer cardboard sleeve protected the inner foil wrapped chocolate and I liked the style presentation with clear, colourful branding and on-pack pictures. Inside the chocolate was filled to the brim full of crispy cereal pieces and held a nice clean cut look with it's bright pink colour and enscribed Lotte branding. Like most fruit flavoured offerings from Japan this was not a chocolate that needed to be anywhere near the nose for the full effects of the aromas to be experienced. The strawberry scents were strong but a little on the artificial side to describe as truley alluring.

If you have similar previous experiences in mind like the Kit Kat Sparkling Strawberry I reviewed a few days ago I bet you are expecting me to say this was 'too sweet for my taste' right!? ... Well you're wrong, and believe me I was as surprised as anyone! Placing the first block my tongue I was expecting a strong explosion of sugary flavour influences but in contrast I was met with a laid back milky taste that a slightly cheesecake edge to it. Within seconds of being in the mouth the inevitable fruit flavours followed but the strawberry element in the taste was not the fake tasting kind I was expecting and it was far more juicy and pure in it's sweetness. As good as the chocolate was the main reason I thought this offering worked so well was because of the crunchy malt pieces which levelled out the sweetness of the chocolate bringing a more savoury, biscuit like influence to the party. This all combined made for a taste that was delicious as it was moreish, and I ended up eating far more of this bar in a single sitting than I thought I would want to before tasting it.

Overall I wouldn't say this is one of my favourite chocolates or products I have tried from Japan ever, but it was probably one of the ones that has surprised me the most. There was a very obvious pitfall that I expected this chocolate to fall in to and I really was expecting it to be horribly sugary in taste which you will all know is not something that I tend to enjoy. Reality though was quite contrary, with both the white chocolate and strawberry tasting far more subtle than expected and this really helped the resulting final taste. The cheesey edge to the chocolate (nicer than it sounds trust me!) and tart strawberry flavours were very well implemented and far exceeded everything I took for granted before actually tasting it. This was never going to be a combination that I personally was going to fall in love with, but it was certainly good for what it was and I would strongly suggest it to strawberry chocolate fans.

7.8 out of 10

BUY THIS BAR @ J-LIST ... CLICK HERE