April 14th: Galaxy Counters Competition Winner

*** COMPETITION RESULTS ***

Hi All,

Today was the deadline day for entries in to my Galaxy Counters competition, and I can reveal that the winner is .........

.....

...

..

Jane Willis from Hampshire!!!

Congratulations to Jane - your Counters are on the way.

So I am guessing the rest of you are disappointed huh!? Of course you are, but fear not!!

A far bigger competition will be up on the site very soon, as I will soon will be celebrating my 1000th post on this site! I will give an update with further details this Saturday!!

JIM

April 14th: Cadbury Dream / Bournville Fingers

As I am sure you are all well aware, one of my favourite everyday milk chocolates is Cadbury Dairy Milk. If you are a regular visitor to the site you may also know that my love for Cadbury UK begins and ends with their milk chocolate - my reviews of the Cadbury Dream and Cadbury Bournville are evidence that I really don't think all that much about their capabilities in the arts of white and dark chocolate.

Despite me having previously poor experiences with the Dream and Bournville sub-brands, I couldn't help myself when I saw these Cadbury Dream & Bournville Fingers, as it was my turn to bring some biscuits into my work office this week. On the packaging both the boxes claim these are new, though anyone with any common sense will know that they are just the old dark and white fingers rebranded.

As I said above I bought these 125.0g packs to bring in to work, and co-workers were more than happy to share their views.


Cadbury Dream Fingers


Kcal 120 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 3.2g Carbs 12.8g (per 4 fingers)

'Crisp biscuits covered with white chocolate'.

Had you asked me which of the two I was least looking forward to trying, these Dream Fingers would have been my answer. In my opinion Cadbury's Dream white chocolate is god awful - it is a sugary, bland substance that I'm not even sure deserves to be called chocolate. Now having said all that I quickly have to retract it all, as to my own surprise I actually really liked these. The outer chocolate wasn't great, but it benefited massively from being so thinly implemented. The taste generated was sweet and sugary, but it had a nice milkiness and allowed the crisp, buttery flavours of the shortbread biscuit centres to shine through. I didn't think they were incredibly satisfying, but they had a real moreishness about them and were nice to eat in small amounts with a coffee.

7.9 out of 10



Cadbury Bournville Fingers

Kcal 100 Fat 5.6g Fat(sats) 3.2g Carbs 12.4g (per 4 fingers)

'Crisp biscuit covered in dark chocolate'

The words Cadbury Bournville always send a shiver down my spine. Not everyone will agree with me, but I think the Bournville chocolate we get here in the UK really isn't that good - the only Bournville bar I have ever liked was actually produced in France (See HERE). Still I was hoping that like the Dream Fingers, these Bournville Fingers would prove to be better than the original chocolate. Getting straight to the matter, I did enjoy these Fingers more so than a standard Bournville bar, but the quality of the chocolate still hampered the overall product. The outer chocolate was devoid of real flavour and just generated a meagre offering of musty, unsweetened cocoa flavours with it's waxy and laboured melt. The biscuit element still produced the goods, however it was general consensus that they weren't as good as either normal milk chocolate or Dream Fingers.

6.6 out of 10



Overall I was half expecting to write a review saying how I didn't like either of these two offerings, but the Dream Fingers pulled it out the bag and proved themselves to be far superior product to the original Cadbury Dream bar. The office environment always offers a great opportunity to test if one product is superior to another, and this comes mainly from the ability to observe 'which gets finished first'. Well judging by the fact the Dream Fingers box was finished at the time the Bournville Fingers box was still half full, it gives you some idea which one was preferred. Out of the two I would definitely buy the Dream Fingers again, but the Bournville Fingers probably not.

Have any of you tried either of these yet? Which did you prefer?

April 13th: Paynes Poppets Choc Chip Cookie

Kcal 130 Fat 5.6g Fat(sats) 2.9g Carbs 19.7g

It has been over two years since I last reviewed a Paynes Poppets product and if you look back at the some of the scores I gave some of the flavours then it is debatable whether that is such a bad thing. Truth be told Paynes Poppets have never been a favourite of mine though I must say I was rather intrigued by this new Choc Chip Cookie flavour when I read Cin's review over at Foodstufffinds last year. Having finally tracked down a pack for myself I was actually relatively looking forward to the prospect of 'chocolate chip cookie pieces covered in milk chocolate'

These Choc Chip Cookie flavour Poppets came in a 28.0g pack that held several round ball pieces that were about twice the size as your average chocolate covered raisin/peanut. One thing I definitely have to comment on positively about these is the fact that Paynes have really upped their game in regards to their packaging and I liked the new Poppets logo and realistic visualisation on the front of the pack. Conversely one thing that hasn't changed about Poppets in the last two years is the fact that they still don't offer much in the way of an aroma though I did find the inner look of the cookie centres quite appetising when I went to the effort of cross-sectioning one.

Frankly given my previous experiences with Poppets I really wasn't expecting much and having now tasted these that was probably a good thing. Much like I have experienced in the past the outer milk chocolate was pretty non-descript in terms of flavours and only offered quite a mild sugary taste that lingered as the waxy melt developed. The chocolate wasn't horrible in any manner but neither was it particularly taste or left me wanting more. Of course what was at real interest here were the inner cookie centres and just like the milk chocolate they were similarly bland and flavourless. In their defence they did have the crunchy texture of cookies but unfortunately they didn't bring anything of note to the taste apart from the odd hint of wheat and brown sugar. In regards to nutrition and fulfilment it is worth noting that these were pretty light on the calorie side of things though it wasn't as if they provided much satisfaction for their 130 calories.

Overall this was pretty much a story of same-old, same-old with Paynes Poppets here. Much like I found with several of the other variants from the range these Choc Chip Cookie Poppets lacked flavour and were frankly pretty bland and limp when it came to the taste. Reflecting on this now I guess this it is all the more disappointing considering that the centres both looked and felt like cookies, but just didn't bring any sort of cookie flavours to the party. I was expecting these to taste like chocolate covered Maryland Cookies but the cookie element was just AWOL which sorta begs the question 'were these really worth eating in the first place?'. I will leave you to ponder that question but if I were to suggest a suitable replacement I would suggest some of the flavours from the Taste of Nature Cookie Dough Bites range as a great alternative. Having said that given that these are as cheap as chips it won't be like you will lose too much sleep if you buy a pack and decide you don't like them.

5.6 out of 10

April 12th: Snickers Cruncher

Kcal 206 Fat 11.4g Carbs 21.8g

Over the past two years I must have tried nearly ten different Snickers Limited Edition bars and they have all apart from one (Snickers More Nuts) hailed from outside the UK. Indeed todays Snickers Cruncher bar was produced by Masterfoods in Holland, though having googled it this variant seems to have graced the US market at some time during the mid-Noughties (See Cybele's review HERE). As I am sure you are aware the Snickers Cruncher is a variation on the original bar and it replaces the usual milk chocolate nougat with crispy rice cereal. Given how integral I believe the nougat is to the original bar I wasn't quite sure how this was going to sit with me, though of course I was more than willing to give it a try.

This bar came in a 40.0g size that you wont be surprised to hear wasn't as satisfying as a normal Snickers yet was still a sufficiently adequate snack. The outer wrapper wasn't quite as cool looking as the American Cruncher though I liked the clear communication of the rice cereal contents and consitent branding. In addition I also thought it still looked relatively appetising when cross-sectioned as the innards had a golden/bronze glint due to the plentiful caramel. As I have come to expect with Snickers bars the aromas that emanated from the foil wrapper were suitably enticing and there was a strong peanut influence amongst the milder chocolate scents.

Biting into the bar for the first time it was immediatedly evident that the milk chocolate coating wasn't quite as thick as on standard Snickers. That said it had just as much say in the taste due to the inner contents being less viscous without the nougat so I shan't complain too much. The milk chocolate was pretty standard Mars stuff - it was milk led in taste and was more sugary that it was cocoa focused - it was fine by anyones standards! Due to me not being the greatest fan of rice cereal I wasn't expecting all that much from the centre, however I was surprised to find that it was pretty damn good. The peanuts took a firm hold of the taste providing a wonderful savoury salt kick and the caramel and cereal elements contrasted nicely providing notes of honey and malt. Additionally all three components of the centre combined nicely to provide some variable textures with the nuts and cereal proving to be fresh and crunchy and the caramel adding a degree of chewiness which subsequently helped the flavour longevity for each bite. The 40.0g was finished a little too quickly for my liking but as I have mentioned above it left me feeling adequately fulfilled.

Overall I wouldn't rate this as being in the same league as the iconic original Snickers but at the same time I think if it were available to me more readily I would probably choose to have it over the standard bar every now and then. I feel I can quite comfortably say that as it is quite often that I choose to consume another snack over a Snickers bar because I don't always want the full on experience that the original offers. Despite it being marginally reduced in size recently the standard Snickers is still a pretty hefty bar which is something that doesn't always match up to my needs. This Snickers Cruncher fits such occasions nicely in that brings the majority of the taste to the party but just not in such a full on manner. Personally I think it is about time that Mars UK took notice of how other countries in their organisation play the game with the Snickers brand. The UK market is calling out for it's own proper Snickers limited edition but I won't be holding my breath. Snickers lovers this Cruncher variant is well worth giving a try despite it not being the best the brand has to offer.

8.1 out of 10

April 11th: Boyer Smoothie Peanut Buttercups

Kcal 250 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 9.0g Carbs 26.0g

When I think peanut butter cups of course the first thing that springs in to mind is Hershey's, Reese's brand. I think I can safely say that for the majority of people this would be mostly consistent, though one other brand hailing from Pennsylvania may have a little something to say about that. According to their website, Boyer were the first American company to produce a 'cup candy' in the form of their 'Mallo Cups' (review by Cybele at Candyblog HERE). As the company grew Boyer added further products to their portfolio, including these Smoothie Peanut Buttercups that I have reviewed today. On pack these came described as 'butterscotch flavoured candy cups filled with peanut butter and chopped nuts' - take a look below and see how they measured up to Reese's.

For the purpose of this review I ate a pack of two individual cups which netted out at a weight of 45.3g. The packaging was retro looking in design which I think gave the product a bit of personality whilst communicating the heritage of the brand well (Boyer was established way back in 1936!!) Inside the cups looked no different in size or shape to what you get from Reese's, and the cups were kept in great condition thanks to a combination of the paper cup sleeves and inner cardboard layer. Aroma wise the smells that emanated from the packet were just as strong as Reese's, however they were a little less nut potent and there was a slightly odd artificial sweetness lingering in the background which dampened my excitement somewhat.

Not being put off at all by the smell I wasted little time in getting acquainted with the taste. I have to say that my overall enjoyment of the product improved drastically over time but admittedly the outer 'butterscotch candy' did take a little getting used to. If you have read any of my reviews before you will know that I don't think too much of Reese's milk chocolate so I prior to eating this I really hopeful that this butterscotch layer could do things a little better. A look at the ingredients would have suggested not with the words hydrogenated and oil featuring heavily. Given that I have glossed over that issue many a time before I wont hold that against Boyer here, and I will focus more on taste which I personally think got better the more I ate. Initially the sense of artificial sweetness that I got from the aroma shone through in the taste, however after the first few bites I could sense underlying fudge and maple syrup like hints amongst all the sugar. The melt of the candy was a little on the sluggish side of things and was similar to Reese's in it's waxiness, but I did enjoy the extra crunch that was delivered by the chopped nuts which did at least bring some nice variation. In terms of the quality of the peanut butter it wasn't quite on a par with Reese's as the salt lick didn't cut through quite as cleanly, though it was still relatively tasty none the less and left lasting notes of butter and nuts in the mouth for a good duration after each mouthful.

Overall I did feel that these Boyer Smoothie Peanut Butter Cups failed to live up to Reese's own, but it wasn't as if they were epically bad in any way shape or form. One thing that you do get from Boyer when you eat these is a nice sense to retroness and I did like the way that the packaging and presentation managed to get across the brand heritage. The peanut butter within the cups didn't match up in terms of flavours, though they still managed to establish a really nuttiness and long lasting taste thanks to additional chopped nuts that were also present in the outer coating. Speaking of the outer coating it is something that really bugs me!? Why can no US manufacture bite the bullet and make a peanut butter cup with a really high quality chocolate!? Similarly to the milk chocolate of Reese's the butterscotch candy coating was lazy and waxy in melt and it took quite a bit of work for the underlying flavours to shine through all the sugar. Being a UK resident I doubt I will have these again the near future, but if Boyer products are a little more readily available to you then I would suggest you try them at least once in place of your usual Reese's.

7.0 out of 10

April 10th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 39

### Jim's Corner ###

Hi All,

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter that was full of chocolate. If you were one of the unlucky few that didn't quite get what they wanted then I suggest you go take a peak at the Hotel Chocolat Spring sale (See HERE) - they seem to have some tidy bargains that are worth checking out.

I hope you all enjoyed my review (or rant whichever way you look at it!!) of the Galaxy Counters this week. Remember there is still time to enter the competition to win your own pack (FREE of course!!) - you can enter by clicking HERE.

Coming up this week we have another review from the Nestle Wonka range, more Ritter Sport spring varieties, and lastly some reviews on some Cadbury bars from the Southern Hemisphere.

I hope you all had great weeks!

JIM


News from the chocolate market:

* Cadbury are launching some coffee shop type stores - sounds interesting!! ... See HERE

* Nestle have been having a few problems with Facebook this week (thanks to Phil for sending this through!) ... See HERE

* Nestle are launching some new impulse Animal bars ... See HERE

* The Times discusses the health benefits of chocolate :D ... See HERE

* This made me laugh .... toddler steals 2ft Easter bunny from shop display ... See HERE

* Did you see Heston's Charlie & The Chocolate Factory themed feast? Catch up with it online it was awesome ... See HERE

* The Guardian looks at why we are so obsessed with chocolate here in the UK ... See HERE

* I don't like Amy Winehouse ... but damn I wish I was one of her friends ... See HERE


Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week

* CandyBlog - Cybele did one of her famous Candy Tease posts looking at all the NPD that will be hitting the shelves in the US in April ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Cin got hold of a Mr Tom chocolate variety bar. I woudl love to try one of these ... See HERE

* ImpulsiveBuy - Walkers have just announced their biggest flavour promotion here in the UK (See HERE), and Marvo's review of these awesome sounding Parmesan & Tuscan Herb Lay chips have really got me in the mood to try them ... See HERE

* GiGiReviews - GiGi has been treated to a trip to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory in Vermont this week! She has still had time to publish this Ritter Sport Wildberry Yogurt review though!! ... See HERE

* YumYucky - Damn this roast beef sub looked ugly, but according to Josie it actually tasted pretty damn good ... See HERE


*** Updated Reviews ***

* Milka with Daim (UK Update) - See HERE
* Galaxy Minstrels - See HERE
* Yorkie Raisin & Biscuit - See HERE
* M&M's Peanut - See HERE
* Mars Planets - See HERE

April 9th: Ritter Sport Haselnuss Krokant

Kcal 563 Fat 37.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Last week I brought to you the first of three new Ritter limited editions, the Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille (See HERE). Well guess what!? Today I bring you numero dos from this new spring collection - the Haselnuss Krokant variety. On the back of the wrapper this offering was described as 'milk chocolate with a hazelnut creme, hazelnut & almond brittle and rice cereal'. As I have stated in many of my previous reviews Ritter Sport are renowned for the prestige of their fillings, and it isn't very often that they let us consumers down - this bar had real potential.

Prepared in the same style packaging as the Bourbon Vanille flavour, this Haselnuss Krokant variant similarly struck a fresh and appealing look. The pastel colours again struck me as bright and welcoming, whilst the pictures of the hazelnut and almonds communicated the flavour of theme of the bar and in an non-overly elaborate manner. Unzipping the 100.0g bar from it's resealable packaging, the 4x4 quadrants broke up with relative ease, and the beige coloured centre filling looked very appealing and plentiful in it's implementation. Inspecting the chocolate more closely the nutty smells that emanated from the chocolate weren't the strongest but they did a sound job in maintaining my interest.

What more is there to say about Ritter Sport milk chocolate that I haven't said in the previous 40+ Ritter Sport reviews I have written before!? To be honest there isn't, it just did the same average job of carrying the inner filling with little fuss and delivered the usual chocolate flavour hit that I have come to used to. Moving on to more important matters, I have the bad news of telling you that the inner nut filling wasn't quite up to scratch. Starting off with the positives the smoothness of the creme contrasted nicely with the crunchy nut and cereal elements which did at least bring a degree of interest in the textures. Unfortunately though the taste just wasn't up to scratch with Ritter's previous showings. I found that the creme and nut brittle constituents didn't deliver the desired nut flavours, whilst the rice cereal was unsurprisingly very mild and didn't contribute anything in terms of flavours. What really surprised me was that neither the hazelnut or almond came to the fore of the taste. The nut brittle pieces offered little apart from minor bursts of brown sugar, with the nutty influences were very much in the background of the taste. The totality of this all was that the flavour longevity was pretty limited, thus I didn't find that chocolate all that satisfying.

Overall my conclusions about this bar are very similar to my thoughts around the Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille in that whilst it was hardly a bad tasting chocolate, but it was disappointing nonetheless. Disappointing is exactly the word that describes this bar best - when you think about what the bar promised (hazelnut creme, hazelnut & almond brittle) I bet you were thinking that this was going to be yet another review with me raving about how well Ritter Sport produce nutty chocolates. This assumption couldn't have been further off the mark as the nuts played such a minor part in the overall taste. To be honest I think someone with a nut allergy would barely get a rash eating this chocolate (joke!!) - it was that underpowered. Nipping all my criticism in the bud this still wasn't a disaster of a chocolate - yes it was poor in the light of the implementation of the nuts, but the chocolate and variable textures from the creme, cereal, brittle still offered some interest. Long story cut short - not a Ritter bar I would recommend but you could do worse.

6.8 out of 10

April 8th: Wonka Exceptionals Chocolate Waterfall Bar

Kcal 210 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 23.0g (per 40.0g serving)

Despite Charlie and the Chocolate Factory being widely recognised as one of the most loved children's book of all time, the Wonka confectionery brand currently has a very limited presence here in the UK. Back in 2005 Nestle did seemingly bring the brand to UK shores for a brief period (See HERE), however those bars appear to be long gone. Conversely the brand in America is still quite strong, and recently three new flavours got introduced under a sub-brand named 'Exceptionals'. Luckily for me (and all you of course!!) my pals at Yankee Soda & Candy managed to obtain a limited stock (See HERE), and today I will be taking a look at the Chocolate Waterfall flavour. On pack the wrapper this chocolate was described as 'a combination of swirled milk and white chocolate' that was 'truly amazing, and made with all natural ingredients'.

One thing I can't fault Nestle for on these Wonka bars is attention to detail - this was not a 100.0g bar of chocolate .. oh no ... this was a 99.2g bar of chocolate :D As awful as my picture looks above (sorry!) the wrapper did actually look pretty cool, and appeared zany and distinctive enough to be believable that it had come from a factory of one Mr Wonka. Not to be outdone by it's foil exterior, the chocolate also looked damn sharp, with the swirled milk and white chocolate proving to be almost hypnotic with it's eye catching patterning. Once I had managed to snap out of my swirled chocolate trance, the forthcoming sweet dairy smells were the next thing to hit my senses, raising my anticipation even further.

Having never tasted Wonka chocolate before I was really unaware of what to expect. Would this be a company creating cheap chocolate to cash in on an idealistic brand name? Or would the quality of the product actually prove to be ok? Thankfully I can say it was more the latter, and it probably deserves more than just being labelled 'ok'. As you can see above the block sizes were a bit on the large side, but it was no real hassle breaking them into smaller pieces. When doing so the chocolate broke with a satisfying snap which is always a good thing as it indicates the chocolate is relatively fresh. Taste wise the chocolate was pretty unique in it's flavours, which is something I have to admit I wasn't expecting from a Nestle product as a lot of them tend to just taste the same. The chocolate was what I would describe as sweet, yet it never had a sugary sharpness, as a fudgey cocoa influence occupied the majority of the taste. From what I could detect the white chocolate influence came to the party in the form of some slightly yogurty, cream flavour bursts that were apparent every now and then in certain stages of the melt. Speaking of the textures the chocolate melted at a fine rate, and with a real softness and elegance that I would rank above that of your average mass produced chocolate. I didn't think this was the most satisfying of chocolates I have eaten, but this predominantly driven by the moreishness of the taste.

Overall this was a great first experience to have with the Wonka brand and it has really got me excited about trying the other two variants from the range. As you might have been able to tell above I did have some preconceived fears before tasting this chocolate that it might be a product that relies on it's brand name alone to generate interest. Having now tasted it I can confirm that the quality of the product very much matches up to the standards I was hoping for, and if I was to place the quality of the chocolate in the context of the total mass produced market I put it up there with the likes of Milka etc. I thought this Chocolate Waterfall bar was going to have a hard time living up to the excitement that the wrapper and overall presentation created, but I felt the chocolate more than held it's own. The taste wasn't as distinctive as the likes of Dairy Milk, but the smooth, fudge noted cocoa taste was certainly compelling enough to hold my interest. If you are after a second opinion why not check out Cybele's review on Candy Blog (See HERE). I personally really liked this bar, and would have it again in the future if given the chance - more Wonka chocolate coming next week!

8.0 out of 10

Fancy trying this bar for yourself? Buy it HERE

April 7th: Galaxy Counters *** Competition ***

Kcal 185 Fat 10.2g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 20.8g (per 35.0g portion)

Last week, just like every other chocolate blogger in the UK I was contacted by a PR agency on behalf of Mars and was offered the opportunity to sample these new Galaxy Counters. Of course I said 'send them right over', but I did insist that they give my readers the opportunity to also try them aswell (See Below!!).

So what are Galaxy Counters??? Why of course you will have read the article I posted a few weeks ago in my '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' post so you already know that ;) - (See HERE). For those who have forgotten I can reveal they come described as 'smooth and creamy milk chocolate pieces', and are about the size of a 2p coin. To put it another way they are simply Galaxy Minstrels, but just without the hard sugar coating (i.e. the things that have been in Revels since like forever!).

These new Galaxy Counters came in a 140.0g pouch that I managed to demolish in one sitting with the help of a few hungry work colleagues. As you will see above the packaging is 100% aligned to the rest of the Galaxy range and incorporates the usual cream and brown colours. The only exception is the pink coloured 'Counters' branding, which I think we can safely attribute to Mars going after a female demographic. Please before all you WI members starting reaching for the e-mail button, Mars have said that this is the marketing policy for their latest 'innovations' - I still think it looks pretty modern and cool anyway :P

So what did these Galaxy Counters bring to the party that Galaxy chocolate hasn't already!? Well to be honest absolutely nothing. These Counters retained exactly the same sweet, creamy flavours that you get from a normal bar of Galaxy, but obviously just in a different shaped format. That may sound like a bit of a negative thing but believe me this isn't so. These Counters tasted utterly delicious and delivered a sweet and creamy cocoa taste that became ever increasingly moreish with each handful. Compared with the Galaxy Minstrels that suffer at the hands of those dastardly sugar coated shells (See HERE), these Counters were much to my preference. One thing I do feel the need to mention though is that compared to a standard bar I didn't feel these Counters were as satisfying, as the smaller disc pieces didn't have the longevity or the presence in the mouth compared to the blocks.

Overall I would still on the balance of things give these Galaxy Counters a thumbs up, but it would certainly be a hugely tentative one. Given that Counters are just another format of original Galaxy chocolate I was never going to have a problem with the actual product itself. To my tastebuds, Galaxy is becoming increasingly sugary and sweet (could just be me or it could be a recipe change!?), however I still perceive the taste to be pleasantly creamy and the way it melts with it's distinct smooth thickness, still makes it superior to many of the other mass produced options on the UK market. What I do have a problem with however is the lack of true innovation we are getting from the way of Mars Inc ... do these Counters taste nice? ... well yes!! .... was there ever a consumer need for them? ..... errr no!! What I find painstakingly bad about these is that there is probably a whole division of people at Mars who work on R&D and innovation. Unless the long term plan is to rid of the Minstrels and replace them with Counters then these are just another 'innovation' that we all don't need. First Treets and now Counters!? Come on Mars step up your innovation game.

8.1 out of 10

*** COMPETITION ***

Having just read the above review/rant why not reward yourself by entering this Galaxy Counters competition. The winner will be chosen randomly by all entries sent to Jim{@}Chocolatemission.net and will be notified by the 14th of April.

The question is ...

'What size pouch/packet do Galaxy Counters come in?'

a) 14.0g
b) 140.0g
c) 240.0g

(usual competition rules apply 1. Only UK, 2. One entry per person 3. Anything I say goes etc etc)

April 6th: Galler Blended Sao Tome - Tanzanie

Kcal 529 Fat 41.4g Carbs 29.2g (per 100.0g)

Following the several requests I received from readers in regards to getting some Galler chocolates reviewed on the site, I last week brought you my review of the Galler Piemontais. As much as I enjoyed that milk chocolate offering, what I was really keen to try was one of Galler's dark chocolates so I requested they send me a sample of one of the most popular dark chocolate bars they have in their range. My contacts at Galler willingly obliged and sent me this Blended Sao Tome - Tanzanie tablet which comprised of a 70% cocoa recipe derived from two separate cocoa beans from two regions of Africa - Sao Tome & Tanzania (Website - See HERE).

I received this bar in a standard 100.0g size that was split in to several chunky block pieces. The outer packaging was simplistic, yet very effective in giving the chocolate a premium feel, and the finer granularity of information given in the on-pack detail gave the sense that this was a really special and carefully crafted chocolate. Under the cool looking outer black wrapper the chocolate was kept within a thick gold foil which kept the blocks in immaculate condition - check out the clean cut surface and the fine detail of the branding in the photograph above! When I had finally finished admiring the chocolate for it's aesthetics I next noticed the enticing raft of cocoa scents being emanated as I further unwrapped the golden foil coating.

As I have commented above the chocolate blocks looked stunning on the eye, but I have to admit they were not the most ergonomic feeling when placed in the mouth. Personally I found them to be slightly on the large side, and I would have preferred them to have been a little less chunky as they were a bit of a mouthful to consume whole. In the grand scheme of things this was a only a minor annoyance and really did little, if anything to spoil the melt or taste of the chocolate. The melt itself was well paced and the chocolate changed into a liquor form very softly, and with a real smoothness that genuinely felt nice in the mouth. The transformation of the melt was very much like the taste, in that it was also very smooth and resultingly very friendly in it's flavours. The cocoa volume wasn't the loudest ever, but the chocolate established a strong taste as soon as it entered the mouth, and the intensity of the cocoa flavours were consistently kept in check throughout the experience thanks to an underlying buttery sweetness. The taste wasn't particularly progressive from these strong, roasted cocoa flavours, however each mouthful was left with a longing note of bourbon vanilla which nicely rounded off the each encounter.

Overall I am impressed with Galler's first dark chocolate, and whilst I wouldn't say it was the finest I have ever tasted it was no doubt a chocolate of real high quality. My minor issue of the block sizes aside, the texture and taste were both phenomenally smooth and they provided a really comfortable experience that withheld no unnecessary surprises. For the average dark chocolate consumer I think the strength of the bar is just about right, and from a consumer point of view I think the divine consistency in the way the flavours are delivered with such smoothness and with a sweet aftertaste will really strike a cord with many. Whilst I wouldn't say this chocolate had quite the variety or depth of flavours as some of the really, really high quality dark chocolates I have reviewed, I would really recommend it as really well crafted bar that has a slightly friendlier vanilla noted taste than many of the other dark chocolate bars currently on the market. This was a really good quality product from Galler - I hope to try more of their range very soon.

8.5 out of 10

April 5th: McVitie's Caramel Shortcake Slices

Kcal 146 Fat 7.7g Fat(sats) 4.3g Carbs 17.8g (per 29.0g slice)

A little over a month ago you may remember that I reviewed Thornton's Mini Caramel Shortcakes to great success with them getting a score of 9.0. Well given how good they were and my love for millionaire shortbread I could hardly resist giving these McVitie's Caramel Shortcake Slices, especially when they were reduced to half price (75p) in my local OneStop shop. McVitie's here in the UK make some phenomenal biscuits (Hobnobs the best amongst many!!!) so I was pleased to see that they had brought their own little twist to the caramel shortbread concept as it constituted of 'McVitie's digestive biscuit shortcake topped with smooth caramel and milk chocolate'.

These Caramel Shortcake Slices came in a pack of 6 x 29.0g servings. I thought the presentation of the product on the whole was pretty good with the gold colour theme nicely supporting the actual product concept and the on pack pictures giving a fair idea of the slices inside. Contained within it was nice to see that each piece had it's own individual wrapper which meant that I could easily transport these to work without creating a mess in my bag. As I have referred to already the pieces looked exactly like they did on the packet with clear distinguished layers of biscuit, caramel and chocolate looking very enticing indeed. Aswell as looking pretty tempting the slices didn't smell half bad either and they a very familiar wheaty McVitie's biscuit aroma made itself immediately known as soon as I ripped open the plastic packets.

Everything up until this point was looking great but I unfortunately have to report that the taste didn't match the build up. As you probably expected it wasn't the biscuit base that let this product down but more the chocolate and caramel layers which were pretty lacklustre. The digestive biscuit base was very comforting and unsurprisingly tasted almost identical to McVitie's digestive biscuits with a strong sweet, salt hinted malty taste. As the biscuits obviously had to be crushed the base was a bit moister than your average digestive biscuit but that aside there it was very little different. Despite the ingredients list naming caramel as the dominating element the taste did very little to suggest this was the case. Both the caramel and milk chocolate lacked telling flavour influences, the caramel more so as it only contributed a very subtle brown sugar like influence on the taste of the shortcake. The milk chocolate was equally as mild and just really failed to exert itself into the taste whatsoever. I don't know about you but when I think of Caramel Shortcake I expect a very rich tasting experience but this just wasn't it, thus one slice was a calorific but not fulfilling snack.

Overall I was pretty disappointed with these given the pedigree of McVitie's for making biscuit products. Indeed they did produce a very nice tasting biscuit base for the product but I was never doubting that this wasn't going to be of a good quality anyway. What really let these slices down though was the abysmal quality of the caramel and milk chocolate which I would say were both verging on being near flavourless and were just bland. Because these elements were so poor it made eating these slices almost entirely pointless and I think I would have got more enjoyment from just tucking into a few digestive biscuits. If your a big fan of caramel shortcake like myself I would probably just stick to the Thornton's ones, or better yet head to your local bakery to get some freshly made real stuff. Who would I love to see a caramel shortcake product produced by? I think Cadbury could have a great go at it if they used their normal Dairy Milk and Caramel recipes. I wouldn't rule out this happening at some point in the future given they have just recently moved into making flapjacks and brownies!

5.7 out of 10

April 4th: Marks & Spencer Easter Sunday Special

Happy Easter to all my readers!!! Just to be a little different today I thought I would do a 'Bit n Bobs' style post of all the chocolate goodies I picked up in my favourite food retailer last week - Marks & Spencer. As you will see below these aren't full in depth reviews, but hey!? Who wants to get too serious on a day like today.


Marks & Spencer Chicks & Bunnies


Both of these mini chocolate varieties came foil wrappers, which were packaged in 65.0g nets. The 'Bunnies' were the simpler product out of the two, and were just 'rabbit shaped milk chocolate pieces'. The 'Chicks' you see on the left had a little more to them, and were described as 'milk chocolate with a soft chocolate centre'. Given their simplicity and smallness I couldn't see the point giving them each a score out of 10. Suffice to say they were both made with 'okish' standard chocolate - i.e. not great but passable. To give you some sort of gauge on the quality they were probably just a touch more creamy than the sugar filled rubbish you get with a lot of the big, hollow Easter eggs millions will be tucking in to today.


Marks & Spencer Bubbly Bunny

What a shame I picked this Bubbly Bunny up a few months late to be included in the 2010 Battle of the Bunnies (See HERE). This 23.0g choco-wabbit came described simply as a 'aerated milk chocolate bunny', and came packaged in a small film bag. Out of it's wrapper (that had no air holes in!!! How did it survive!???) the bunny shape was pretty intricate and I was impressed by the inner constituents which still looked pretty dense despite the large array of air pockets. In terms of chocolate quality the taste seemed a touch creamier than the smaller chocolates above, however it was still very sugary and probably only for people that enjoy their chocolate quite sweet. I wouldn't rank this bunny in the same league as the Cadbury Caramel or MaltEaster bunnies, but it holds it's own and I am sure not too many would turn their noses up at the prospect of tucking into one of these this Easter weekend.

7.6 out of 10

Marks & Spencer Gorgeously Gooey Egg

Out of everything on offer today this was the one that caught my eye right away. This M&S Gorgeously Gooey Egg constituted of a 'milk chocolate egg filled with a vanilla fondant centre' and weighed a respectable 33.0g. Now I have touched on the M&S milk chocolate enough already so lets cut right to the chase of the vanilla fondant filling. Unfortunately, whilst it looked appetising with it's viscous yellow coloured look, it neither smelt or tasted all that inspiring. The centre offered nothing in relation to any sort of vanilla flavouring, which was disappointing considering it was promised. In reality it tasted rather like the Cadbury Creme Egg fondant filling i.e. pure sugar. Now when you are Cadbury and have a more distinct, nostalgic tasting outer chocolate this is a little easier to get away with, but unfortunately the chocolate on offer here was neither of them. This wasn't an awful chocolate egg, but it was very much a case of sounding better than it was.

7.2 out of 10

Marks & Spencer Rattle & Roll Egg

Who remembers the Kinnerton Shake 'ems egg I reviewed back in February!? Well some bright spark at M&S thought it would be a good idea to have a comparable product on offer in their range this year. The proposition of 'a milk chocolate egg filled with chocolate pearls' just so happened to be just as weak as Kinnerton's offering, though the milk chocolate was possibly just a touch less sugary on balance. Similarly to what I found in the Kinnerton egg the inner candy pieces simply sucked big time! I know this is a product aimed for kids, but surely even they are going to want mum and dad to buy them a Cadbury Creme Egg rather than one of these bad boys. If you happen to come in to one of the possession of these in the next few days I would try playing a sneaky bit of swapsies with your family or friends :D

5.8 out of 10

Well this wasn't the best selection of chocolates to showcase to you all on Easter Sunday but they were all at least good looking, harmless Easter offerings. Hopefully by the time you have read this post today you will be ill at the thought of eating anymore of the chocolate egg you got given this weekend :D ... let me know what you got and what you gifted.

HAPPY EASTER

JIM

April 3rd: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 38

Hi All,

The logo above is a blast from the past isn't it :D I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend. If you would like to get familiar with some of the products you may be receiving this weekend I suggest you check out my reviews of popular Easter products ...

Easter 2008 Reviews ... HERE
Easter 2009 Reviews ... HERE
Easter 2010 Reviews ... HERE

Have I really been doing this three years now!? I need a new hobby huh :D

Question of the week of course has to be ... 'What have you been giving or receiving this Easter?' ... be sure to drop me a note with what you get/give.

There are a great few weeks coming up on the site ... more Ritter Sport, Galler, Hotel Chocolat, Cadbury and Galaxy products all coming in the next few days.

Thanks for all your continued support and comments. Have a great Easter holiday.

JIM


News from the Chocolate Market:

* This weekend the average child will eat over 2.5kg of chocolate - love it :D ... See HERE

* Never read anything like this before - chocolate is good for us :D ... See HERE

* And again ... See HERE .... and again ... See HERE

* Cadbury, Nestle, Hershey and Mars are being sued for price fixing in the US ... See HERE

* In the UK it seems our Easter eggs have got smaller but our consumption has gone up ... See HERE

* An interesting article sent to me by ChocolateMission reader Thea - who won in Yahoo's battle of the Easter eggs??? ... See HERE


Post from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* YumYucky - I am not the only one to have been checking out cereal bars this week. Josie tried out Quaker's latest offering in the US ... See HERE

* ImpulsiveBuy - Only in the US would you find a product that combines Cracker + Pretzels + Butter. It sounds good to me but Kelley at IB didn't think they were great ... See HERE

* GiGiReviews - Gi has been posting some fascinating Easter food alternatives this week. These Potato Pancakes chaught my eye ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Cin found the latest Ben & Jerry's Fairtrade flavour 'Fairly Nuts' GEDDITT!??? ... See HERE

* The Bewildered Brit - If I see another bloody Peep I am going to cry!? Why do we not have Peeps in the UK!? They seem as icnonic as our Cadbury Creme Egg in the US. Great post on all things Peeps ... See HERE


*** Updated Posts of Old ***

I am still busy updating my old reviews with new pictures, and punctuation better than your average six year old :D - check them out and tell me what you think of the updates.

* Cadbury Twisted - See HERE
* Cadbury Starbar - See HERE
* Nestle Milkybar - See HERE
* Toffee Crisp - See HERE
* Nestle Yorkie Original - See HERE

April 2nd: 'Bits n Bobs' - Cereal Bars

Over the last few months I have managed to accumulate a number of different chocolate cereal bars. Rather than drag them out over four separate reviews, I thought it would be wiser to do four micro ones - in the style of the 'Bits n Bobs' format that I debuted for the first time last month.

These reviews are short, sharp snapshots ... I hope you can keep up :D


Weetabix Oaty Bars White Chocolate

Kcal 67 Fat 1.4g Fat(sats) 0.6g Carbs 11.9g (per 23.0g bar)

'White chocolate flavoured mixed cereal bar drizzled with a yogurt flavoured coating'

I love having Weetabix from time-to-time in the mornings so I had been looking forward to trying this new Weetabix branded cereal bar. Unfortunately I was really disappointed with it - not only was it tiny in size and thus totally unfulfilling, but it was also very bland and I couldn't detect any additional white chocolate or yogurt flavour influences aside from a small sugar blast on top of the mild mannered oat flavours. The base oat cereal bar wasn't at all horrible but it was still pretty disappointing and not something I would recommend.

6.2 out of 10


Weetabix Weetos

Kcal 88 Fat 2.9g Fat(sats) 1.3g Carbs 14.2g (per 20.0g bar)

'Chocolate flavour wheat hoop bar with a milk chocolate base'

I haven't ever had Weetos cereal (I was never allowed chocolate cereal as a kid!) but I was expecting a chocolate flavoured Cheerios type experience. This bar actually exceeded my expectations, and despite it's light catch weight it actually made for a relatively satisfying snack. I found the cereal constituents to be more syrupy, and sweet tasting than it was chocolatey, however the milk chocolate base gave a fair chocolate flavour hit for each bite. Not the best cereal bar ever, but you could do far worse.

7.1 out of 10

Kellogg's Fibre Plus Dark Chocolate & Almond

Kcal 116 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 1.5g Carbs 15.0g (per 28.0g bar)

'High fibre mixed cereal bar with almonds and a chocolate drizzle, dipped in a smooth dark chocolate'.

Who remembers my review of the Kellogg's Fibre Plus Milk Chocolate variant last month (See HERE). Well that milk chocolate variety was pretty tasty, but this one was even better. Some of the other bars featured today may appeal more due to them being lighter on the calories and fat content, but this bar was by far and away the most satisfying out of them all. Much like you would think the fibre cereal was a little bland tasting, though the unsweetened cocoa flavours and the buttery almonds brought a little bit of life to each and every bite. The chocolate quality isn't the greatest but it delivers a decent chocolate flavour hit for a cereal bar. I would recommend this as the best of the bunch.

8.2 out of 10

Weetabix Alpen Fruit & Nut Milk Chocolate

Kcal 125 Fat 3.9g Fat(sats) 1.7g Carbs 20.2g (per 29.0g bar)

'Mixed cereal bar with fruit & nut, dipped and drizzled with milk chocolate'

ChocolateMission reader Alan suggested I review this bar a while back, and I was more than willing due to my love of Alpen museli. Considering this bar was slightly larger than the Kellogg's Fibre Plus bars I was a little surprised I didn't find it quite as fulfilling, though I still thought it did a relatively good job tieing over my mid-afternoon munchies. Although the milk chocolate had very small cut through in the taste, I still really liked the additional fruit and nut influences from the raisins and chopped hazelnuts and almonds. I wouldn't say it was the greatest tasting cereal bar I have ever had but I would probably have another if offered given the variation that the fruit and nut brings to the cereal base.

7.4 out of 10

I am generally a little unenthused by cereal bars, but I would say the Kellogg's Fibre Plus and Alpen bars are worth a look at if you are after a chocolate option. Do you guys have a favourite cereal based chocolate snack?

April 1st: Nestle Chokito

Kcal 280 Fat 10.7g Fat(sats) 7.3g Carbs 41.9g

As I informed you all the other day, a very lucky friend of mine recently went travelling to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and being the kind soul they are they were nice enough to buy some samples of their favourite local confectionery. One of his favourite bars from SA was the Nestle Tex (reviewed a few days ago - See HERE), and it was another Nestle product that he couldn't get enough of in Australia - the Chokito. Looking on the wrapper this bar came described as 'choc-coated caramel fudge with rice crisp' and promised 'new creamier chocolate'. My friend told me that it was like a man-sized Cadbury Fudge which sounded like a damn good prospect to me.

When my friend told this was man-sized they really weren't kidding - this bar came in a huge 60.0g format that felt very large and heavy in hand. In regards to presentation I thought the wrapper was pretty generic Nestle stuff - the branding was very good and stood out well but the brown and orange colours didn't make for the most exciting looking thing ever. Inside the bar was very long and would of possibly have been better coming as two seperate smaller bars. There was no doubting that it looked appetising when cross-sectioned though and whatsmore the bar radiated a lovely sweet, toffee like smell when opened from it's foil fresh seal.

With only one thing left to do I didn't waste another second before taking my first bite. Upon doing this the first thing that really made me take notice was the lovely variance in textures offered with outer chocolate coating breaking with a nice snap, the inner rice cereal crunchy and the fudge centre proving to be wonderfully thick and viscous to the bite. Whilst all these different elements provided a nice variance in the textures, most of them also contributed well to the taste, with the chocolate coating and rice establishing a pleasant milk based sweet chocolate taste in the mouth from the outset. Whilst the coating delivered a fair standard chocolate hit, by far and away the dominant flavour influence was one of sweet condensed milk and this was only eventually superseded in the overall taste by the flavours of the fudge layer that sat below. To be honest the caramel fudge layer was a heck of a lot better than I expected. I was sure it was going to be a dry, sugary lumpy filling but it in fact it was pretty much the opposite. It was dense in texture, yet it had a good moistness to it and displayed a fine array of buttery, salt hints in an amongst all the brown sugar flavours. In addition to tasting pretty damn good I also felt this bar was extremely satisfying and I felt very fulfilled after eating it.

Overall colour me impressed, this was fantastic chocolate bar that exceeded all my expectations. After the average, run-of-the-mill offering of the Nestle Tex the other day I have to be honest and admit that I was expecting pretty much the same thing here. Luckily for me I was really surprised by this Nestle Chokito and it surpassed all preconceptions that I had made before eating it. Now when my friend told me that it was like a 'man-sized Cadbury Fudge' I have to say they really weren't far off the mark. Indeed I didn't enjoy the chocolate quite as much as the average Cadbury product (this is where personal preference comes in!) but it was still of standard Neslte quality and it did the job of covering the inner caramel fudge layer to a more than reasonable standard. Speaking of the caramel fudge centre itself I would of had great difficulty telling it apart from the stuff offered up in the Cadbury Fudge bar - it was every bit as tasty but portioned in a 60.0g format which obviously made it a lot more satisfying as a stand alone product. I always like to gauge how good a product is by asking myself question 'would I have it again?' ... my answer in regards to the Chokito would be a 'HELL YES'. This is a product really worth tracking down if you are a fan of this sort of bar.

8.5 out of 10

March 31st: Galler Piemontais

Kcal 571 Fat 38.3g Fat(sats) 20.5g Carbs 47.8g (per 100.0g)

You guys should know by now that if you ask for something ... I deliver ... albeit eventually some may say :D Indeed, for months now several readers have been contacting me both by e-mail and on the requests page (HERE) asking me to review some chocolates made by Galler. For those who are unsure who Galler are, I can tell you that they were founded in 1976 by a man called Jean Galler, who originated from Liege in Belguim. The brand is positioned with a premium proposition and they market their chocolate as 'all-natural and high quality', for more information I would suggest taking a look at their website (See HERE).

After dropping the kind people at Galler an e-mail recently, their PR team kindly sent me along some samples to try. Included in the box they sent me was this Piemontais chocolate bar, which came in a 70.0g ingot like form. On the packaging this bar was described as 'milk chocolate filled with a crispy filling nut centre' which sounded like a sensible way for me to introduce myself to their range. Looking at the presentation, I thought the wrapping did a very good job at getting across the premium nature of the brand with the outer layer establishing sense of sophistication with it's simplicity. Inside the inner gold foil went on to only reaffirm it's sense of classiness, and the cross-section looked very tempting with a clear distinction between the chocolate and inner filling.

Creating a chocolate that looks good and talks a good game is one thing, but making one that tastes just as good is a different matter altogether. Luckily for me (and Galler obviously!!), this chocolate didn't pull any punches when it came to the taste test and I can thankfully confirm that it very much backed up all that had gone before. Taking in the aromas of the chocolate before eating it, it was quite clear that this was going to be a creamy milk chocolate, and that was very much what came through in the taste. The outer milk chocolate broke with a delightful snap when bitten in to and it melted with a wonderful smooth, velvety texture on the tongue. In terms of flavours it was very similar to Lindt's Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate in that it was a taste heavily rooted in cream, but with a sweet edge that grew stronger in terms of cocoa volume as the melt developed in the mouth. Sitting below the milk chocolate, the filling was similarly delicious, and it delivered both the hazelnut and cereal elements to the party with great conviction. The filling was well textured due to the crispness of the rice cereal, whilst the hazelnuts really brought an extra flavour dimension with a really fresh tasting woody nut influence. This was a bar that was split into four large size blocks which I have to say wasn't ideal. I personally would have preferred smaller bite sized pieces as biting in to each block wasn't too kind on the teeth due to their firmness.

Overall my first experience with Galler chocolate has been an overwhelmingly positive one. This Piemontais bar delivered on everything I had come to expect about the Galler brand having had so many readers contact me saying how wonderful it is. The presentation was classy and the chocolate delivered the goods when it came to the taste - of course that is always a good start for any chocolate product. Judging from what I have experienced today, on the face of things Galler seem to have a lot of consistencies with Hotel Chocolat. They are high end brand that don't market their chocolate in an over the top or pretentious manner, and they use high quality ingredients to make chocolate that tastes fresh and mostly importantly great. This bar in particular should be one that praline and hazelnut fans should take note of. It might perhaps be a little stretching to say it is best in class, but I tell you what it isn't that far off. Thankfully I can say that there is more Galler coming very soon to a ChocolateMission near you!

8.5 out of 10

March 30th: Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille

Kcal 578 Fat 39.g Carbs 51.0g (100.0g)

Over the course of the last two years I have managed to review over 40 different varieties of Ritter chocolates. The last few months I have had to rely on some of my loyal readers to provide me with the latest Ritter varieties (thanks Susie, Susanne and Fran!!) what with the demise of my old pals at Dean-German-Grocery. Luckily for me now Ritter Sport themselves have discovered ChocolateMission, and have started sending me samples of the latest flavours to hit the market. Over the coming weeks I will be reviewing Ritter's latest Spring varieties, starting today with this Bourbon Vanille offering.

Anyone experienced with Ritter chocolates will know that it is very unusual for Ritter to stray away from their 100.g formant, so it wont surprise you to hear that the new Spring collection sticks to this very size. Packaging and presentation wise the wrapper struck me as very fresh feeling, and I liked how the vanilla flavouring was communicated through the simplicity of the small vanilla pod picture and yellow pastel colouring. When the resealable packet was first unzipped a prominent sweet floral smell wafted out, though it grew noticeably weaker by the day when it was left to air between sittings. Out the packet the chocolate itself looked relatively appetising with the pale yellow filling taking a nice proportion of the cross-section.

I am a huge fan of all things vanilla - so much so that when offered a choice between things like chocolate or vanilla flavoured milkshakes or ice cream, I would always go with the latter. With this knowledge in tow you can probably understand that I was massively looking forward to try this chocolate, especially when Ritter Sport have proven themselves to be good at a wide variety of different filled chocolates. The sound of 'milk chocolate with a bourbon-vanilla creme' literally had me drooling in anticipation, but I have the bad news of informing you that it wasn't quite as good as I thought it was going to be. The milk chocolate was everything you would expect from Ritter Sport and was it's usual unspectacular self. It was relatively forthcoming in cocoa flavours with a undercurrent of milk tones that made for a smooth, but average milk chocolate experience. Whilst that sounds a little uninspiring it was the vanilla filling that let it down for me, which is something I wasn't expecting to have to write. The creme initially had a strong vanilla essence impact in the mouth, but it was soon dominated by an overbearing level sweetness that made it redundant. The levels of sugar in the taste made this a chocolate that wasn't particularly nice eating in large quantities, and though I did finish the entirety of the bar eventually, it took me over 4 sittings to do so.

Overall I don't know if this was just a consequence of me expecting too much from this flavour, but I was massively disappointed with it. With all Ritter Sport varieties the chocolate is never meant to take centre stage so it is understandable that the average milk chocolate on offer acted just as a vehicle to carry the inner filling. As I stated above the real disappointment came in the execution of the vanilla filling, which for me was under par in comparison to most of the other Ritter Sport offerings that I have reviewed down the years. The bourbon vanilla was there in the first few moments of the filling being exposed, however it's longevity was cut short by the dominance of the sugar, which made it a relatively bland and one dimensional experience by Ritter Sport's standards. It would be interesting to hear what any of you readers thought of this bar, as perhaps this is me being harsh on something that I just had undeliverable expectations for. There are still two more flavours from the Spring collection to come - lets hope they are a little bit better than what was on offer here.

6.9 out of 10