June 18th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint Bubbly

Kcal 542 Fat 31.2g Fat(sats) 19.6g Carbs 56.9g (per 100.0g)

A few days ago I brought you all my reviews of both the original and white chocolate varieties from Cadbury Australia's Bubbly range (missed it!? See HERE). Within that double review you may have noticed me mention that there was a third variant included within the selection of bars sent to me by ShopenZed. I can now make the grand reveal that the third bar in the range is this Mint option. Had this been any other flavour I would have just rolled it in to the previous review, however given my families disposition for all things mint chocolate flavoured, I felt the need to hang on to it until I next visited - if you have already peeked at the score you will probably agree this was a good idea.

As with the other Aussie Bubbly variants this bar came in a 175.0g size, and came described as 'Dairy Milk milk chocolate with an mint flavoured aerated centre'. In terms of packaging the outer box was nicely aligned to the rest of the Bubbly range, with the predominant Cadbury Purple colour scheme nicely decorated with an appropriate splash of peppermint green. Despite the green secondary colours on the exterior box, nothing quite prepared me for the krpytonite green colouring of the inner filling within the chocolate. Personally it didn't bother me all that much, but admittedly it was a little fake and artificial looking, and some of my family did find it a little off putting.

After there had been much discussion around the startling green coloured centres, the next thing I took notice of were the fresh smelling minty scents that were being offered, and they were a nice distraction from the garish aesthetics. The most obvious thing of course that I am going to have to compare this Mint Bubbly to, is of course the Nestle Aero Mint (See HERE), which is a long standing family favourite in our household. Cutting the long story short, it was unanimously thought that this Mint Bubbly was on par with the Aero equivalent in the mint flavour delivery, but superior in terms of the quality of the chocolate. This Mint Bubbly was somewhat backwards in terms of taste, with the mint element coming through first before the chocolate which constituted the outer coating. The peppermint centres had a nice balance, and brought refreshing, sweet minty flavours to the party as soon as each block was placed in the mouth. As the chocolate melted and fizzed away with it's pleasant aerated texture, the chocolate hit came through later in the taste and nicely finished each mouthful with a end note of creamy sweet, cocoa flavours. The progression from the initial raft of mint flavours, to the rich chocolatey finish made for a satisfying chocolate that was very much enjoyed by all that tried it.

Overall this was one of the nicest Cadbury chocolates that I have ever tried from outside the UK, and the rest of my family seemingly agreed, as every last piece had been eaten within 24 hours of it being opened. Although I have mentioned that the Aussie Dairy Milk recipe is marginally less to my preference compared to the UK version, this mattered very little here as it was really more about the quality of the mint filling which took up the majority of the taste. Thankfully the mint flavoured centres were pretty superb, and delivered a friendly peppermint edge to each and every block. The high quality mint element coupled with the creamy Dairy Milk chocolate finish was a real match made in heaven, and the culmination was a product that was as delicious as it was moreish. If you are a fan of the Nestle Aero Mint I would very much suggest that you give this bar a try sometime in the near future. If mint chocolate is your thing you are seriously missing out if you deny yourself the opportunity. As for Cadbury UK ... do the right thing guys ... bring back the Cadbury Wispa Mint!!!

8.7 out of 10

June 17th: Lindt Lindor Giandujas

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

Cast you minds back a week or so ago, and you may recall me informing you all that ChocolateMission reader Lauren had contacted me, asking if I could review the three new Lindt Lindor truffle flavours. Not only was Lauren kind enough to break the news of these new varieties to me, but she was also generous enough to send some my way in the post. Last week I kicked off these reviews by firstly casting my words of wisdom over the Stracciatella flavour, which managed to obtain the a decent 8.1 out of 10 score. Today I will be checking out the second of the new flavours, these Lindt Lindor Giandujas.

Given the quality of some of the previous gianduja products that have made it on to the site (need I say more than Hotel Chocolat Gianduja Cubes), it was going to be interesting to see what sort of quality Lindt were going to provide. Looking at the packaging and presentation I was filled with confidence that this was going to be yet another wonderful Lindt offering. The green colour may not have necessarily been my own personal choice to communicate the gianduja flavour (I was thinking more bronze!), but they still looked smart nonetheless and it was at least nice to see Lindt state the variety on the wrapper. The truffles themselves looked no different to the Lindt Lindor Dark which was no bad thing, but what was surprising was that they didn't offer anything that suggested they were nut flavoured when it came to aromas.

Although I was a little bemused by the lack of nutty scents, I didn't let this concern me that much as I have come to learn that Lindor truffles are never the most forthcoming when it comes to revealing their taste through their fragrances. Having not been put off in the slightest I bit into the first truffle and experienced the usual wonderful contrast in textures from the crisp, fresh outer chocolate shell to the smooth, velvety inner filling. The feel of the truffle filling on the tongue was as gloriously soft as ever, however some part of me was a little surprised that it did not feel a little rougher given the gianduja proposition. In regards to taste, if I was to have to bet my house on the chocolate being a certain strength, I would feel pretty confident in saying that it was Lindt's 50% recipe. It was very forthcoming in it's clean, unsweetened cocoa flavours, but it never verged on any type of bitterness due to a consistent note of brown sugar present throughout. Of course the key determinant of this product was going to be the delivery of the gianduja filling, and to be honest I was underwhelmed by what I experienced. Firstly I was a little surprised that the nut influence didn't come to the party until the latter stages of the truffle filling melt. More importantly, not only did the nut element seem late, but it also tasted a little odd. It is hard to describe but it tasted a little artificial, and the woody, buttery flavours of the hazelnuts didn't really come through, with only an awkward savoury note offered.

Overall these were not awful truffles by any means, but they certainly didn't deliver on either my expectations or what I have come to expect from Lindt quality wise. One thing that saved these truffles from being really under par was the the dark chocolate, which actually made up quite a bit for the poorness of the hazelnut gianduja filling with it's full bodied taste. Having tried previous Lindt Gianduja bars to great success (See HERE), I was a little annoyed at how poorly Lindt implemented the gianduja element here. I can excuse the lack of gianduja texture given the melty smooth Lindor proposition, however what I cannot look past is the lack of quality in the taste in regards to the hazelnuts. There is no doubt that fans of Lindt Lindor truffles will want to try these, but I would certainly wouldn't want you guys to build up your expectations. When it comes to Lindors, there are far more flavours in the range that warrant your purchase before these gianduja flavoured ones do.

6.8 out of 10

June 16th: Cadbury Old Gold Liqueur Flavoured Selection

Kcal 466 Fat 20.7g Fat(sats) 13.0g Carbs 65.2g (per 100.0g)

My next foray in to Cadbury's range from the land down under sees me cast my eye over this Cadbury Old Gold Liqueur Flavoured Selection. This was yet another bar crafted by the folk at Cadbury Australia, and was sent to me in the latest box of goodies from my pals over at ShopenZed. Comprising of 'Old Gold dark chocolate with a selection of liqueur centres: coffee, Irish creme, hazelnut and orange', it sounded like a nicely varied collection of different flavoured fondants. Despite my scepticism at this chocolate actually containing any alcoholic content, a quick glance at the ingredients list revealed the word 'ethanol'. Before you all get too excited it came pretty far down the list - I don't think anyone will be getting merry from this chocolate :D

The bar came in a 220.0g size that was split into nicely formatted blocks. How can a chocolate bar be nicely formatted!? Well, the bar ran four blocks across, and eight down - in a 4x8 grid with the flavours segregated length ways. This may not sound anything special, but it made very easy to tell which of the four centres was which. If you look at the photographs closely above you may also notice that each flavour also had a small indicative image etched in to the surface of each block - doubly handy! Just like I said about the Old Gold bar the other week, the outer box looked pretty sophisticated for a Cadbury product, though I perhaps might not have chosen the purple colour as the secondary colour as I don't think it quite matched the gold.

Looking at the nutritional guff on the packaging and taking in the scents emanating from the chocolate, I was fully prepared for a very sweet tasting fondant experience. At this point I think it is worth congratulating Cadbury for their choice of dark chocolate over their Dairy Milk recipe, as I think the latter would have been way too sweet if paired with these centres. The Old Gold here was well matched to the fondants, and it's unsweetened cocoa flavours brought a bit of balance on the sweetness front. In terms of the different flavoured centres here are my thoughts, in brackets are where they are placed in the photograph above:

Coffee (top left) - As I ate my way through the bar I got used to the sweetness of the coffee flavours. It was very reminiscent of the Coffee Creme chocolates that you used to get in Cadbury Roses. The coffee delivery wasn't the finest ever, but it was decent enough. This was my second favourite.

Irish Creme (top right) - Again the more I ate of this flavour, the more I grew to like it. The Bailey's like influence came through very late amongst the sugary fondant flavours and was only really detectable when fully concentrating on the taste. This was my third favourite.

Hazelnut (bottom left) - This was really disappointing. I don't think I have ever come across a hazelnut fondant before, and having tasted this one I hope it is a while before I do so again. The fondant was completely sugar dominated with no nut influence. This was the worst out of the four.

Orange (bottom right) - Definitely the best in the selection. The unsweetened flavours of the plain chocolate complimented the fruity flavours of the sweet centre very nicely indeed, and there was a longing refreshing note of orange left in the mouth. It reminded my of the Fry's Orange Cream, but in a manageable mouth-sized portions. This was my favourite.

Overall these centres were really mixed in terms of quality, with one very good flavour, two average and one very poor flavour. To be honest if it is the liqueur billing of this chocolate that is putting you off potentially trying it, then I wouldn't worry as it was only the Irish Creme centre where I could detect the remotest amount of alcohol present in the taste. In that sense you might say the bar didn't deliver, but to be honest I think you would have to be pretty naive to think that a Cadbury product was going to deliver an alcohol kick with any great ferocity. If you do end up buying this chocolate to share with others, I would strongly suggest you make a beeline for the orange flavoured centres, as it will soon become apparent to all that those are by the tastiest blocks out of the lot. What with the variety of quality amongst the different flavoured centres this was a hard bar to rate, though I think an average mark of 7.0 out of 10 for taste is a good compromise. It wasn't the finest bar of chocolate I have ever tasted and I'm not sure I would buy it again, but it was certainly interesting trying out all the different flavoured centres.

7.5 out of 10

June 15th: Aero 70% Cocoa

Kcal 250 Fat 16.0g Fat(sats) 10.0g Carbs 21.0g

Now I am not going to start out this review by boldly claiming that I have a great understanding of the Canadian confectionery market because I simply just don't. Being all the way over the pond, it is a market I feel quite removed from, however one thing I have noticed is that dark chocolate is becoming increasingly more popular in Canada if their NPD (new product development) is anything to go by. If you look at the latest products to be released by Nestle you will see that all of them follow quite a consistent theme, and this dark chocolate Aero is a perfect example of what is now on offer. After pulling a few strings I was able to track down a sample to try for myself and I was intrigued as to what sort of quality this dark chocolate was going to be.

On the face of things this Aero 70% cocoa looked no different to either the original or mint variants that are readily available here in the UK and it weighed exactly the same at 42.0g. Indeed even the packaging was remarkably similar with only the bold looking 70% gold logo providing an aspect of differentiation from the other two flavours in this medium bar range. Conversely the actual chocolate itself was slightly different and the patterns etched into the surface of the bar indicated that the chocolate should be consumed in smaller blocks. Given this was a dark chocolate bar this did make sense, however the bar wasn't easy to split up into the sizes indicated which was more than a little annoying.

Once I had mastered the task of breaking the chocolate up I took a smell of the chocolate and it was at this point I started taking its potential seriously. In terms of aromas the chocolate smelt far stronger than I expected and it really gave an insight in to the taste that I was about to experience. Getting straight to crux of things this chocolate really surprised me in the quality of the flavours I experienced. The taste was far deeper than I was expecting and whilst it didn't provide the progressiveness of flavours of some of the more premium chocolates it was still relatively tasty nonetheless. Far removed from the mass consumer friendly experience I was expecting the taste had a fair volume of unsweetened cocoa flavours with notes of coffee, smoke and a dash of sugar to round of the taste nicely. In terms of the aerated texture it really delivered in line with expectations and it provided the desired bubbly experience to further spicen things up a bit. All in all, despite the quick melting nature of the chocolate it still served to be a satisfying snack - one might want to check out the nutritional values though as they don't happen to make happy reading for dieters.

Overall I have to admit before I ate this chocolate that I was very sceptical indeed as to what sort of quality Nestle were going to produce here. If you look at some of the products currently on the global market there isn't much to inspire confidence in a mass produced dark chocolate. More often than not these products end up simply being unsweetened versions of milk chocolate predecessors but thankfully Nestle didn't hold back in terms of flavour strength half as much as what I expected and to my surprise they have produced a good dark chocolate. As I described above the taste was far more complex and rich than I thought it would be and it was so much the better for it. There isn't much in the way of true innovation or 'new news' here, but if this 70% bar is price aligned with the rest of the Aero range (which I think it is!) I would strongly suggest you give it a try.

8.3 out of 10

June 14th: Zotter Organic Beer

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

The brand Zotter has really been making waves with ChocolateMission readers lately, as no sooner does one review get published, I received vasts amounts of requests asking me to check out some of the other crazy flavours from their range. Following my review of the Muscat Wine & Grape Hand-Scooped bar (See HERE), one of the most commonly mentioned bars was this Zotter's Organic Beer offering. Sad though it may seem, a large proportion of my alcohol consumption nowadays seems to come from Zotter chocolates. Indeed, that may be a bit of an overstatement, but when you consider the last three products I have reviewed from Zotter have included wine, whisky and now beer, you do start to wonder whether Mr Zotter is a tad partial to the odd drink.

This Hand-Scooped (still don't get what that means!) bar came in a 2.47 Oz size (I thought I would try something different than my usual 70.0g sentence haha!), which I ate across the course of two sittings. The on-pack artistry was as always lovely looking on the eye, though again I wasn't too sure about the relevance of a stripey shirted fellow on a bike - regardless it looked classy as ever anyway! Something some readers have started mentioning on previous reviews is how many of Zotter's chocolates look the same, and I have to agree that I am starting to see what they mean. Aesthetically I don't think I would have been able to tell this bar apart from the likes of the Scotch Whisky etc, it looked finely crafted in form but there was nothing that differentiated it from many others in the range.

Although the bar wasn't particularly striking visually, the smells that emanated from the chocolate suggested the taste was going to nothing short of compelling. The actual aromas weren't the most enticing ever, but there were interesting hints of booze and toasted bread, which nicely set expectations of the remarkable experience that was to follow. Speaking firstly of the chocolate, the base constituent of the bar was Zotter's 70% dark chocolate recipe, and it as ever provided a perfectly balanced taste that was full or rich, tasting cocoa flavours, yet still allowed expression of the enhancing beer element. The Organic Beer influence itself came to the party as the chocolate progressed from it's solid to liquid state during the melt, and it brought a wonderfully unique set of flavours. Indeed, notes of malt, wheat, and caramel, all became detectable and made for a taste that was terrifically variable and very progressive. One minor area of disappointment was the slightly bitter alcohol aftertaste left in the mouth, though even that to a degree added to the 'beer' flavour experience.

Overall chocolate and beer are not two things I would immediately think of pairing together, but Zotter somehow crafted yet another fine tasting dark chocolate combination. Now I think about it, I would never even contemplate of eating chocolate with beer, as previous experiences have told me that they two just don't mix. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure how!? Mr Zotter and co have managed to craft a bar that combines both these fantastic ingredients superbly. The progression of the taste from the rich dark chocolate, to the beer flavours generated by the soft centre was nothing short of delicious and totally unique. Looking at the ingredients list, the organic beer used is one called 'Lava Rossa'. I think it would be great experiment to try the actual beer to see how well the taste has been translated through to the chocolate - any excuse eh? :D. I don't think this is a chocolate that would be enjoyed by everyone, but for beer lovers this is one you should try first-hand to appreciate the beer and chocolate synergy Zotter have created.

8.1 out of 10

June 13th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate / White Bubbly

What with the re-emergence of the Cadbury Wispa, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly (reviewed back in February 2008 - See HERE) has taken somewhat of a backseat in Cadbury's way of thinking here in the UK.

Conversely, in the Southern Hemisphere (where the Cadbury Wispa doesn't exist I must add) the Bubbly sub-brand is being heralded as big 'new news', and has been recently brought to market in three different varieties. Today, thanks to ShopenZed I will be doing you all a two-for-one review looking at the original chocolate and white chocolate Bubbly offerings.

Both of these bars came in 175.0g sizes, and were produced in Australia. Packaging and presentation wise these both looked very nice and incorporated the usual purple Cadbury colours with some appealing on-pack pictures and branding to communicate Bubbly theme suitably. Out of the two, the white chocolate Bubbly did look the more exciting with it's uniquely coloured centre, though to be fair both variants looked pretty appetising with the bubbly textural effect on full show when the blocks were bitten in to.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bubbly

Kcal 533 Fat 29.5g Fat(sats) 18.2g Carbs 57.9g (per 100.0g)

'Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate with an aerated chocolate centre'

In proposition this was no different to the UK Bubbly bar, but like I have mentioned in previous Cadbury reviews on products from the Southern Hemisphere, there were noticeable differences in the taste of Dairy Milk chocolate. Starting with what was similar, the aerated texture was just as well implemented as in the UK bar and it created a pleasant sensation when melting on the tongue. In terms of the differences I detected in the chocolate, in comparison to what I am used to from the UK Dairy Milk, the taste was a little less creamy, and had a slight hint of yogurt amongst the latter stages of the melt. The cocoa volume was totally comparable from UK to Aussie recipe, though the Australian flavours were sustained less as the melt was noticeably a little thinner.

7.6 out of 10

Cadbury Dairy Milk White Bubbly

Kcal 545 Fat 31.3g Fat(sats) 19.4g Carbs 56.9g (per 100.0g)

'Dairy Milk milk chocolate with an aerated Dream centre'

I have to admit I did shudder when I saw this bar included Cadbury Dream chocolate - you may recall it is not one of my favourite white chocolates - See HERE. Despite my scepticism it came as a pleasant surprise to me that this Bubbly bar actually benefited from the presence of the Dream chocolate - one day I will learn not to judge a chocolate by it's wrapper. In terms of proportions the Dairy Milk outweighed the Dream chocolate 64%:36%, so as you can imagine the milk chocolate was by far dominant in terms of the taste. With the Dream element constituting the Bubbly part of each block it actually only had a very fleeting say in the taste due to the fast melting texture. The condensed milk like flavours contributed were super sweet, but they gave the taste a little extra depth without being over bearing like Dream chocolate normally is. It wasn't a chocolate I wanted to eat in great quantities, but I actually ended up preferring it to the original variant due to the extra interest brought to the party by the white chocolate - I never expected to say that!

8.1 out of 10

Overall I am going to give up trying to predict what chocolates I am going to prefer over others, because once again I was proven totally wrong when it came to these two. Speaking of the original Chocolate variant first, in comparison to the UK Dairy Milk Bubbly chocolate it was slightly less to my preference due to there being a touch less creaminess in the taste and it having a thinner melting texture. In regards to the White variant, it seems a little funny to say how having less of something can actually be beneficial, but this was very much the case with the Dream white chocoalte in this Bubbly format. It is going to be interesting to see what I make of the third flavour from the Aussie Bubbly range - expect that review in the coming weeks.

Fancy trying the Australian Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly range for yourself? Head to ShopenZed - CLICK HERE

June 12th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 45

COME ON ENGLAND

Hi All,

I'm currently revelling in World Cup fever - so please excuse the short nature of this update today!

To bring you all up to speed on things I have recently recieved packages from Heavenly Cakes, Hotel Chocolat, Zotter, Galler and one from Germany which has several of the latest Milka and Lindt flavours. Be sure to watch out for all the reviews coming up on the site - remember I am always open to your requests.

The question(s) of the week: 'which is your favourite world cup themed advert? Are you getting annoyed by them all?'

Personally a lot of them are starting to grate on me, but from a marketing perspective the Carlsberg ad we have here in the UK has been brilliant. It would be interesting to hear from countries other than the UK to see if things have gone quite as mad.

Have great weeks .... COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

JIM


News from the chocolate market:

* Twix are bringing out a new bar called the 'Fino' (credit goes to Nick for finding this) - See HERE

* Cadbury Flake has a new advertisment ... personally I think it is absolutely terrible - See HERE

* Hershey have created a new create your own chocolate bar attraction - See HERE

* Chocolate is good for you ... post excercise this time :D - See HERE


Posts from other blogs I enjoyed this week:

* GiGi Reviews - Booooo Hissssss American (jokes!!) GiGi reviewed my favourite biscuits ever (chocolate covered HobNobs!) ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Cin somehow found this curious looking Kit Kat Pop Choc Dessert. The Kit Kat bits look like they are similar to the Kit Kat Minis you get in Japan ... See HERE

* ImpulsiveBuy - Boooo Hissss American :D ... Marvo reviewed this awesome sounding Ritz Cheese & Bacon crackerfuls ... See HERE

* CandyBlog - Cybele has been reviewing many awesome things from the Candy Expo 2010, but these really chaught the eye ... Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis ... See HERE

* SugarPressure - This got me drooling - Snickers Peanut Butter Squared. I'm going to need to get me one of these soon ... See HERE


Updated Reviews:

Thanks to Yankee Soda & Candy I have been able to update some of my reviews of old. Be sure to check them out.

* 3 Musketeers
* Reese's Fast Break
* Hershey's Zero Bar

June 11th: Zotter Scotch Whisky

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

My tireless investigation of Zotter's Handscooped bars range continued today with me checking out their Scotch Whisky chocolate. You may recall that it was only few weeks ago that I reviewed Zotter's Muscat Wine with Grapes bar, and it managed to score pretty well on the ChocolateMission rating system (See HERE). As I stated in that last review, I am no big drinker but even I was curious to see what Zotter could do with a bar combining 'dark chocolate filled with whisky cream'. Looking at the ingredients list, the 6% whisky content came across as plentiful to me, so I was expecting it to really be brought to life in the filling.

Aligned with the rest of the Handscooped range this came in a 70.0g bar, and I shared it with my father who just to happens to enjoy the odd drop of fine whisky. In terms of the wrapper, the bar still looked like a premium proposition, but I don't think the artwork was the best looking I have ever seen. My main issue was that colours were all very similar, thus I wouldn't say the packaging stood out particularly strongly in any manner. When it came to the actual chocolate the usual lack of branding was again noteworthy, though the distinction between the outer layer of chocolate and smooth looking truffle filling did manage to ignite my excitement to a reasonable degree.

Taking in the smells on offer this was obviously going to be a very rich tasting chocolate as the cocoa scents emanated were very forthcoming. Biting into the chocolate the visual presentation of the chocolate was nicely indicative of the textures on offer, with the outer layer breaking with a nice crispness to reveal the softer truffle layer below. Just as promised from the aromas, the 70% chocolate was indeed very flavoursome and it straightaway brought strong unsweetened cocoa flavours to the party with it's smooth flowing taste. Having read about the plentiful contents of the scotch whisky in the ingredients, I was expecting the filling to bring a strong set of malty alcohol fueled flavours to the taste, and a pleasurable warming sensation to the mouth. As is often the case what I expected, and what was reality were two very different things. Whilst there was an undeniable alcohol element detectable it never came through with any great strength, and it more lingered in the background as an odd sweet, fruity tasting undercurrent. On the whole this added flavour dimension wasn't bad tasting, but it certainly wasn't what I expected, and thus it didn't particularly satisfy my expectations - neither my Father's.

Overall this Zotter Scotch Whisky bar was really saved by one thing, and that was the undeniable high quality Zotter dark chocolate. If this was a product just to be viewed in a light of being a dark chocolate bar, the scores would be a lot more favourable because the chocolate was both rich tasting and very flavoursome. Unfortunately though this came billed as a scotch whisky flavoured chocolate, and when looked upon in this regard it has to be said that it failed to deliver on what it promised. I'm no experienced whisky drinker, but even I could tell that the flavours on offer from the Whisky Cream centre were not what you would expect. One of the other glaring errors for me with this chocolate was that it was also lacked the warming heat feeling that you get from drinking whisky. It wasn't like I wanted a throat burning sensation, but I personally see it as a key part of the whisky experience and this was sadly lacking. Having tried so many really high quality Zotter products previously I would suggest you are best off looking at another one of their offerings. I can't imagine even the fondest of whisky drinkers would enjoy this all that much.

6.5 out of 10

June 9th: Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Kcal 210 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 23.0g (per pack)

As we all know in the US they don't shy away when it comes to releasing limited edition products. Snickers, M&M's, Reese's all tend to release at least a few a year, and more often than not they usually get linked in to the latest blockbuster movie releases. If you cast your minds back to the 2008 Batman film 'The Dark Knight', you may recall that it was the Reese's Dark Bats which were the candy to get tied in to the film. If you haven't ever seen my reviews of either the Reese's Dark Bats Minis, or later on the large sized Reese's Dark Bat you can see both HERE. One thing that we don't commonly see from these limited edition movie themed candy is them become a part of the original ranges, but this is where these Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups bucked the trend. Released later in 2009 these Dark Cups emerged not long after the flow through of the Dark Bats, and it was my task today to see if they were just as good.

From the outset the Dark Cups immediately chalked up a victory over the previous Bats formats as they were larger in size and weighed in at 42.0g. In regards to packaging the dark chocolate theme was communicated well by the subtle on pack sub branding, but the wrapper still maintained the usual Reese's glory with the orange colour background prominent amongst some of the bolder looking black coloured fonts. The cups themselves were typically well crafted and were kept nicely protected by the inner cardboard sleeve that accompanied them. Aesthetically the chocolate was noticeably darker in tone, though it still had little say in the aromas on offer. To be honest I wouldn't want it any other way - I don't think there is anything quite like the tempting nutty smells you get from Reese's products.

At this point there were ticks in two very important boxes - Did they still look as good as the Dark Bats? ... Yep! Did they still smell just as good as the Dark Bats? ... Yep! The only question that remained was did they taste just as good? ... and I'm glad to report that Yep - they did! Just as I reported with the Dark Chocolate Bats the chocolate on offer was far more flavoursome than the standard milk chocolate we are all used to getting from Reese's. The nature of the 'dark chocolate' was as expected very mass consumer friendly (i.e. it didn't really ramp up the volume of the cocoa to a great extent), but the unsweetened chocolatey flavours it contributed to each bite far outstripped the passive, waxy taste and texture of original Reese's milk chocolate. The relaxed sugar emphasis in the taste of the dark chocolate, nicely contrasted with the peanut butter, which delivered all the usual Reese's pleasantries. It was buttery, creamy and delightfully finished with a lick of salt and sugar. What with the chocolate contributing more to the taste, the two cups felt like an extremely satisfying amount to eat in one sitting - there was no way I was going to able to eat one and leave the other.

Overall these Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are up there amongst my all time favourite Reese's products and were every bit as good as the limited edition Dark Chocolate Bats I tasted a few years ago. In fact if you look at the scoring chart below they have even managed to notch up a few more points on the scores I gave those Batman limited editions a few years ago, as they were bigger in size and thus more satisfying when it came to fulfilling my hunger. What is slightly annoying is that we aren't likely to see these Dark Chocolate Cups appear in the UK anytime soon, which means that whenever I have an impulse desire to buy a Reese's chocolate I will have to settle for a milk chocolate product that I know is inferior. These Dark Chocolate Cups don't deliver the grandest of dark chocolate experiences, but in comparison to the quality of the pretty rubbish milk chocolate you get from Reese's normally, they are no doubt in my mind suprior. If you then factor in to the equation the deliciousness that is Reese's peanut butter you hopefully start to understand where I am coming from with my high rating. It would be great to hear some opinions from my US readership as to which they prefer.

8.9 out of 10

Want to try these for yourself? Head to Yankee Soda & Candy - CLICK HERE

June 8th: Thorntons Continental Cappuccino Truffles / Classic Coffee Creams

As you may have guessed from the title I have a two-for-one Thorntons review for you today, with both the Thorntons Continental Cappucino Truffles and the Thorntons Classic Coffee Creams facing the ChocolateMission rating system. If you have been reading the site for any time whatsoever you will be well aware that coffee and chocolate is one of my favourite combinations - lets see which I rated better out of the two.

Thorntons Continental Cappuccino Truffles:


Kcal 68 Fat 4.5g Carbs 6.4g (per chocolate)

'white chocolate with a coffee mousse centre finished with a sprinkle of chocolate powder'

Who remembers me reviewing the Thorntons Continental Cappuccino Bar before?? If you do ... get out more :D ... See HERE! These truffles came in a 95.0g bag that I purchased for a mere £1.69. The plastic packet packaging was nothing too spectacular, but the truffles themselves certainly looked the more appetising out of the two of view today.

It isn't often you find that a chocolate that's description doesn't do it justice, but these truffles were a little more intricate than I was first led to believe. As expected the outer white chocolate was of a good standard and had a pleasant vanilla hinted taste that made for a creamy experience from the outset. Inside the mousse filling was soft in texture and had a fine coffee hinted taste that led nicely onwards from the white chocolate exterior. What the on-pack description failed to state, and what I was talking about earlier, was the fact that each truffle had a small disc of dark chocolate that sat under the mousse filling - it is just visible in the photo above! What this did nicely was ensure a pleasant unsweetened cocoa flavour hit to the latter stages of the melt of each truffle. It perhaps did overshadow the coffee flavours a little, but it was a nice touch to finish off each piece.

8.1 out of 10



Thorntons Classic Coffee Creams:

Kcal 61 Fat 2.9g Carbs 8.3g (per chocolate)

'Milk chocolates with white chocolate decoration and a creamy coffee centre'

If someone had presented me with both these packets of chocolates without telling me the price, I don't think I would have been alone in thinking that the above Continental truffles would have been the more expensive. Well I would have been wrong!! Seemingly we all have to pay a little extra for the 'Classics' as these Coffee Creams set me back £2.49 for a 109.0g bag.

My experience of Coffee Cream chocolates in the past have been limited to the coffee chocolates we used to get in Cadbury Roses tins, though now even they have been cruelly taken away from all us coffee lovers. If I had to describe the taste I would say that these were a lot less complicated in terms of flavours than the Continental Cappuccino truffles, and were certainly less progressive. Despite being made with 'real double cream' (as the packaging cared to tell me), the taste was a whole sweeter and more sugar routed than the creamier Continental chocolates. The outer milk chocolate was nice tasting with it's sweet cocoa taste, and it let nicely into a drier, whipped fondant like centre. The filling was very sugary, but the coffee note was detectable and made for a decent enough experience.

7.0 out of 10

Overall I wouldn't say either of these chocolates provided the killer coffee truffle I was really after, but both of them were fine for what they were. Taking the Coffee Creams first I would like to think that this sort of chocolate is more classic than just appearing in Roses Tins in the past. If they do have deeper history in British confectionery than I am giving them credit for then I guess someone else might get more nostalgic pleasure than I did from the sugary coffee chocolate experience that these offered. My favourite out of the two was obviously the Continental Cappuccino Truffles - they didn't have the espresso strength flavour dosage of coffee that I desired, but that was obviously never going to be on the table. If it is a mild and creamy flavoured coffee chocolate you want then they are a good option to look at.

YOU CAN BUY THORNTONS CHOCOLATES BY CLICKING HERE

June 7th: Hershey's Heath

Kcal 210 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 24.0g

As I reported a few weeks ago, my pals at Yankee Soda & Candy recently sent me package containing a whole variety of American sourced products for me to review for the site. One of the smaller, daintier products included in this selection was the Hershey's Heath, which came described as a 'milk chocolate English toffee bar'. In terms of comparator products, the Heath sits in a competitive part of the market, which is also inhabited by another Hershey's bar the SKOR (See HERE), and of course Kraft's Daim bar (See HERE). Having done some brief research via Google, and cutting a long story short - the Heath was first to market produced in 1921, with the SKOR coming in later in 1983. For a while the Heath bar directly competed with the SKOR, however in 1996 Hershey acquired a company called Leaf, which saw the integration of the Heath in to their portfolio.

History lessons now to one side, this bar in a 39.0g which is the same size as the SKOR, but significantly bigger than the average Daim bar we get here in the UK. In terms of the wrapper, I can see what Hershey are trying to do with the old school look, but personally I think the wrapper is teetering on looking dated rather than retro. US citizens may get more nostalgic pleasure from the design than us oblivious Brits!? - it would be good to hear some views from across the pond on this. Inside the bar cut a more appetising look, with the chocolate's clean, shiny complexion and the golden coloured inner toffee both looking nicely presented. Smell wise the bar didn't offer much aside from a standard set of sweet chocolate scents.

Apologies for constantly referring back to the SKOR and Daim bars, but comparisons were always going to be drawn given the similar propositions. In terms of the outer milk chocolate the layer was sweet and milky in taste, and melted at a decent pace and nice fluidity. Those of you wondering if there was any sense of the Hershey sour aftertaste lingering around, will feel comforted to know that there was nothing of the sort detectable, with the majority of the taste occupied by the generic sweet milk chocolate flavours. On the wrapper, the 'finest quality English toffee' was communicated as being on offer, but being an English lad I can tell you the centre was nothing like English toffee whatsoever. Toffee in the UK is normally more of a chewy, softer confection, but the lines between fudge, caramel and toffee are all so blurred nowadays I will resist a good old rant. Focusing more on what was, rather than what wasn't, the centre was actually pretty delicious so I can excuse the rather loose 'toffee' description. In comparison to the SKOR and Daim bars it had the same brittle texture, but was smoother to suck on, and had a more friendly, butter rooted caramel like set of flavours on offer. The less intense sweetness of these flavours, went nicely with the already quite sugary chocolate, which made consuming this bar in a single sitting a pretty easy and altogether satisfying task. As a little side note it was excellent after it had been left in the freezer for an hour or so - this made the toffee no more brittle, but the chocolate longer lasting in melt.

Overall if I had to pick a favourite out of all three big brand offerings I would have to go for this Heath bar. I think out of all three, it's balance in relation to both flavours and textures are superior to the other two, and with a little smartening up of the packaging and presentation it could really be up there as one of the better mass produced chocolates from the US. In terms of superior textures, the melt of the chocolate was better paced and smoother compared to what I can remember about the SKOR bar, whilst the inner toffee brittle thankfully didn't have the same roughness as the Daim. In terms of chocolate quality, it has to be said I would be very hard pushed to pick a favourite between all three as all of them offer pretty much the same experience. However, when it comes to the toffee filling, for me the Heath bar does manage to stand a little apart from the others with it's taste more rooted in butter and cream rather than the startling burnt sugar flavours offered by the other two. If you are fan of either the SKOR or Daim and haven't yet tried a Heath yet, I recommend you do so in the near future. You could well have a new favourite on your hands.

7.6 out of 10

Head to Yankee Soda & Candy for all your American Candy needs - CLICK HERE

June 6th: Nestle Blue Riband Milk / Dark

As a kid I was always pretty set in my ways when in came to asking my parents for chocolate snacks for my packed lunchbox. As long as I had either a Kit Kat or Twix I was happy, to be honest Nestle's Blue Riband bar never really made it on the radar. What with the brand also sitting in the 'chocolate biscuits' part of the supermarket, I until recently never even contemplated giving it a review on the site. One thing I simply couldn't continue to ignore though is the raft of reader requests asking me to review the new 'Blue Riband Dark' which was launched a few months ago. Whilst I was at it I thought I might as well give you my thoughts on the original milk variety as well, so today you get two for the price of one :D For those wondering I bought both these variants in 9 bar multi packs in my local Tesco - both on £1 deals!

I guess one of the reasons I was never drawn to the Blue Riband brand as youngster was because of the packaging. If you look below at the photos of both the variants you will see that both have pretty generic looking wrappers, and it can't really be said that either stand out in the visual stakes. Don't get me wrong I don't think there is anything wrong with either variety aesthetically, but lets face it they hardly inspire any great excitement.

Nestle Blue Riband Milk


Kcal 99 Fat 4.9g Fat(sats) 3.1g Carbs 12.9g (per bar)

'Crisp wafer biscuits covered in real milk chocolate'

This was the first of the two I tried, and I ate it like I did the dark with an afternoon cup of coffee. When handled the chocolate was noticeably quicker to melt my fingers and not surprisingly this was the case when it was in the mouth. In terms of taste both the chocolate and wafer offered exactly the experience I was expecting. The milk chocolate was thin in nature, but quickly established a sound typical Nestle, sugary, milky cocoa taste. Below, the wafer was crisp in texture and mild in terms of it's wheaty, brown sugar flavours. The layers of creme between the wafer didn't offer much in relation to the taste, however they provided a much needed moistness to the dry wafer constituents. The 99 calorie bar was reasonably satisfying for what it was.

7.0 out of 10



Nestle Blue Riband Dark

Kcal 99 Fat 5.2g Fat(sats) 2.9g Carbs 11.8g (per bar)

'Crisp wafer biscuits covered in dark chocolate'

To honest I could pretty much cut and paste a lot of what I wrote above to cover off the majority of what this bar offered. Focusing more on that actual differences, like I aforementioned the dark chocolate was slower paced in melt, which I personally preferred as it added a touch of longevity to the flavours in the mouth. The flavours themselves were again pretty much like I expected them to be for a mass produced 'dark chocolate' offering. The chocolate wasn't particularly ramped up in terms of it's cocoa emphasis, but it was noticeably less sweet. The lesser emphasis placed on the sugar from the chocolate was actually beneficial to wafer and inner creme constituents, as it allowed them to have more of an impact on the taste as they came through more strongly. On balance I felt the dark chocolate came across as cleaner and fresher, and just offered something a little different to the more generic tasting milk variant.

7.4 out of 10

Overall the feeling I got from the people that requested I review these bars was that the new dark variant was superior to the original - having now tasted both I would sign up to this consensus. As you will have gathered from my thoughts above the mains reasons I preferred the dark chocolate variant was because the wafer and dark chocolate complimented each other a little bit more, and the unsweetened chocolate flavours seemed to have better longevity than the milk chocolate did. To be totally straight with you, neither of these bars are going to be lighting up anyone's world, but for the price you pay they are pretty good for what they actually are. If you offered me either one of these or a Kit Kat, I would still pick the latter based on the fact the Kit Kat is visually more appealing, more exciting and plays the chocolate to wafer ratio a little better. If you do love your Blue Riband bars though and you haven't tried the dark chocolate variety yet, you should check it out - I would love to hear what you all think!

June 5th: Whittaker's Macadamia Block

My massive review backlog means you get another extra review this week - 7Days of Chocolate Reviews will definitely be back next week. Please feel free to share any chocolate news by leaving a comment though.

Head to ShopenZed to find Whittaker's chocolate that can be shipped all over the world - SEE HERE

Kcal 531 Fat 28.2g Fat(sats) 12.1g Carbs 60.3g (per 100.0g)

Looking back through all of my previous Whittaker's reviews, the brand has to be seen as one of the unsung heroes on ChocolateMission. Whittaker's products have averaged around 9.0 out of 10 on the scoring system, so it wont surprise you to hear that I requested more of their bars when Lesley at ShopenZed asked me what products I wanted sending from New Zealand. Fulfilling my request, Lesley sent me along this Whittaker's Macadamia Block, which I opened with great excitement given the 'macadamia nuts in creamy milk chocolate' billing. For those of you wanting to 'swot-up' on your knowledge of the Whittaker's brand, I suggest you head HERE.

Whittaker's make their chocolates in several sizes, from their smaller 40.0g blocks, to the larger 250.0g bars that Lesley so kindly provided me with today. In terms of the presentation of the wrapper I can't really say anything more than I have said on previous reviews, as it once again impressed with me with it's classical design and nice, clear branding. One thing that was slightly disappointing with this chocolate however, was the unrealistic on pack pictures, which gave the impression that the inner macadamias were going to be a whole lot bigger than they actually were. This was of course first noticeable when taking the chocolate out of the inner foil wrapper, and even my father who was assisting me with the photography exclaimed 'that wasn't quite what I was expecting'.

Given the wealth of success I had experienced with Whittaker's previously I didn't let this perturb to me to any great extent, and thankfully the nutty hints detectable in the chocolatey aromas did somewhat raise my expectations again. Once I had broken the chocolate in to smaller blocks, it was noticeable that in some pieces the macadamia nuts were larger in size, though in general the nuts were mostly quite small and finely chopped. In regards to block size, each piece was just about right to eat in a single mouthful, and a sideways strip of five made for a decent sized serving which was quite handy. The milk chocolate was was of the same recipe used in my previous review of the Whittaker's Peanut Block, and it once again proved to be very fine in taste. It was majoritly dominated by sweet, double cream like dairy flavours, though there was a pleasant undercurrent of cocoa that grew in stature as the tick, soft melt progressed. My own preferred method of eating this, was to let the chocolate first melt away before then crunching down on the macadamia remnants. More often that not the leftover macadamia bits were substantial enough to generate the desired buttery savoury nut flavours, however at times the smallness at which they were chopped hampered their ability to do so. Generally this did seem like quite a rich and satisfying chocolate, but at times it did let itself down by the randomness at which the nut pieces were sized and dispersed.

Overall this was a very hard product to rate as at times it was a totally delicious, but at others it was more disappointing and not completely satisfactory. Again if I refer back to my Whittaker's Peanut Block review I remember that peanuts took up a very large constituency in the ingredients at 25%. Looking at the macadamia content of this bar it was only 13% would probably explain why the macadamias at times failed create the desired impact on the taste. Luckily for Whittaker's they had a very good milk chocolate at heart of this product, so it was hardly lacking in taste department even when the nuts failed to cut through. Thinking about it now, this chocolate was always going to have a hard time living up to the Hotel Chocolat Macadamias that I covered a few weeks back, so it is worth bearing in mind that this bar came up against a pretty hard comparator. This was a chocolate of a better than reasonable quality, but in my mind Whittaker's do some better ones so I would suggest you try some of them out first.

7.4 out of 10

June 4th: Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate

Kcal 559 Fat 36.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Is it me or does it seem like years ago since I last reviewed a pure milk chocolate bar? Everything I review nowadays seems to be filled with some sort of flavour enhancing filling - bacon, caramel, nuts ... you name it I have covered it. One of the key perpetrators (for loss of a better word!) when it comes to adding flavours and extra ingredients to their chocolates has to be Ritter Sport. Those with outstanding memories may recall that at the front end of 2009 I took a look at their entire plain milk chocolate range, which included a Alpine Milk, Organic and Diet offering - See HERE. Since then Ritter Sport have provided endless amounts of limited edition flavours, but more recently they have taken the time to adapt their core milk chocolate offering and have released a new bar for 2010 which I will be looking at today.

This new milk chocolate bar was sent to me in the standard 100.0g size from my contacts at Ritter in Germany and I ate it across a few sittings over the last week. On the face of things the wrapper wasn't that different to previous Ritter milk chocolate variants, with the only obvious differences being the minor changes in the blue colouring and picture placement. On closer inspection, there was some additional communication around the reformulation of the chocolate, which I will go in to in more detail later. Opening the wrapper up, the chocolate inside cut a very clean cut look, and it must be said the surface looked sharper and more shiny compared to other Ritter bars I have tried previously. In relation to aromas, the dairy scents on offer weren't anything I would say were a step change from the norm, though they did a pleasant job nonetheless of setting the mood.

I really hope Google translate is going to do me justice here, but from what I can tell the new 35% cocoa recipe combines Ritter's traditionally sourced West African cocoa with a new type of cocoa hailing from Ecuador. I'm no cocoa buff, but from the on-pack blurb and Ritter's website this was supposed to be really high quality produce, so it was always going to be interesting if this translated through to the taste. As soon as I placed the first piece in my mouth there some immediate noticeable differences from the standard milk chocolate experience that Ritter Sport deliver. The most apparent difference was the quality and pacing of the melt, which was a touch slower and thicker in viscosity, which resultingly helped the development of the flavours in the mouth. In terms of the taste the strength of both the cocoa and cream flavours seemed dialled up and most importantly increased in volume as the melt progressed. In terms of sweetness, compared to what I was used to from Ritter Sport there was less of a generic sugar emphasis, with more room given for the development of both the cocoa and cream elements. What I especially liked about this chocolate was that at the real latter stages of the melt development, the taste ended with a strong note of natural tasting vanilla, which importantly gave the chocolate a very distinctive finish.

Overall I know I say this a lot, but this really was a product that pleasantly surprised me as to how good it was. You will have seen across my many Ritter Sport reviews in the past that I have always labelled their milk chocolate as being generic tasting, and good at doing a no frills standard job. This chocolate here is evidence that the brand is really moving away from this, and are really moving in the right direction in regards to taking their milk chocolate to a new level. The better quality delivery of both flavours and textures of this new recipe, far superseeded any milk chocolate offering I have tried from them before, and I can only hope that they take this chocolate and apply it across the rest of the milk chocolate bars in their range. Being a guy that has tried hundreds (yes hundreds!) of different milk chocolates, what I always look for are ones that stand out and are distinctive in taste. Cadbury, Milka, Galaxy, Hershey, Hotel Chocolat, Zotter etc all meet that criteria (with varying success admittedly!) whereas Ritter isn't a brand I would previously have included in that category. This new recipe has opened that door for Ritter, and they deserve credit for not just settling at being average in class.

8.5 out of 10

June 3rd: Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Just Desserts

Rounding off my summer sesaon of Hotel Chocolat reviews this year, I bring you my thoughts and photos of their 'The H-Box Just Desserts' selection. Hotel Chocolat describe this box of chocolates as a 'heavenly collection of classic summer desserts - perfect for a touch of summer hedonism' .... riiiight!

This selection box comprised of 8 different varieties, which you can see in my top-down photograph above. What you will also notice is that some of the pieces were portioned three times, whilst others only once - it didn't make much sense to me either!? That aside the packaging and presentation was first class as ever. The outer box was bright and vibrant, which was in keeping with the summer theme, whilst the inner menu was accurate and described each of the chocolate accurately.

The chocolate pieces on the whole looked very well crafted - I hope my cross-sections do them justice. On that note lets get down to business ... same scale as usual from Terrible to Superb.




Eton Mess - Need I say anything more about this chocolate than what I have done already HERE? No probably not. Yet again it was a deliciously creamy, fruity chocolate that was bursting with genuine red berry flavours. It is probably Hotel Chocolat's finest individual chocolate that they make - for that reason I can excuse it for being the piece portioned three times. Superb.

Key Lime Pie - The lime fruit delivery wasn't quite as strong as some of the other fruit influences in the other chocolates, however it was still very flavoursome and the the combination of the crunchy base and creamy ganache topping was delightful texture wise. If the citrus flavours were dialled up a bit more this could be a really special chocolate. Good.

Summer Pudding - This piece looked beautiful when bitten in to, and it was very nice to see all the different wildberry bits amongst the inner cream filling. With the outer white chocolate being as thick as it was, the main stay of the taste was cream based, but as the filling melted on the tongue there were strong red fruit influences in the form of some very refreshing raspberry, strawberry and blueberry notes. Very Good.

Mango & Peach Cheesecake - If the Eton Mess chocolate is the best individual chocolate Hotel Chocolat do, then this piece seriously isn't far off. This was an absolutely delicious chocolate, which dealt out lashings of peach and cream flavours as soon as it was bit in to. The crunchy caramel base provided a delightful sweetness with its delicate crisp crunchiness, whilst the dried mango on top provided a fitting sweet fruity finish ... very, very good ... Superb even :D

Banana Creme Caramel - I have reviewed this piece in previous reviews, and my thoughts were very similar in regards to it's plus points and it's limitations. The milk chocolate and inner sticky toffee were nothing less than first class. The sticky toffee filling was especially delicious with its buttery, burnt sugar flavours. Unfortunately the strength of the banana influence still wasn't as strong as I desired it to be, which just stops it being in the same league as the likes of the Eton Mess. Very Good.

Orange Torte - This piece comprised of a classic combination, with orange hinted praline coated with a dark chocolate shell. As I was expecting the dark chocolate was fuller flavoured and richer than some of the white chocolates, and set the tone nicely for the sweeter innards which was similarly full of flavour. The praline filling was lacking in nutty flavours, however the grittier texture meant the orange flavours had greater longevity in the mouth, which made for a very refreshing finish. Very Good.

Chocolate Brownie - This was probably the least exciting looking piece on the menu, but it was actually one of the richest chocolates in the box. The outer chocolate layer was extremely thick, though it held a very viscous filling within. The reason for the dense filling was that it contained cocoa nibs and small bits of pecan nuts, both of which didn't add much to the rich chocolatey taste, but spruced up the feel of the filling no end. Very Good.

Chocolate Mousse - The inclusion of this piece was a little puzzling to me as it quite simply tasted liked a toned down version of the above chocolate brownie. The 40% milk chocolate shell was obviosuly pleasant enough, but the promised hazelnut influence in the inner filling (as billed in the menu!) just didn't come through in the taste which was somewhat disappointing. Standard.

Overall this selection box wasn't quite as perfect as some of the other Hotel Chocolat collections I have reviewed in the past, but there were still some stand out pieces. I probably needn't tell you about how amazing the Eton Mess chocolate is again - I have lauded about it many a time in reviews in the past, but it is so good that I think it deserves to be heralded once more. The Peach & Mango Cheesecake was another delicious chocolate that can at least claim to be in the same league as the Eton. The combination of the fruit and cream flavours and contrasting textures are really out of this world - you have to taste one to understand how great they are. As for some of the others, the only truly disappointing piece was the Chocolate Mousse, which I personally feel could have been left out altogether. Hotel Chocolat put together a fine mixture of different fruit flavoured dessert chocolate to capture the summer vibe nicely here, but I think they should possibly have gone for another solely nut based chocolate to add just a little bit more variety. Minor nit-picking aside this was another accomplished collection of chocolates - just make sure you get to the Eton Mess and Cheesecake pieces before others realise how amazing they are.

8.1 out of 10

Want to try these for yourself? Head to Hotel Chocolat - CLICK HERE

June 2nd: Galler Ballotin of Pralines

If we are talking about newly discovered brands making an impression on ChocolateMission this year, Galler (See website HERE) have to be considered as standing out from the crowd when it comes to the higher end of the chocolate market. Previous reviews of chocolates like their Piemontais bar have proven that sometimes quality really is worth paying that little bit extra for, so you can imagine my excitement when they my contact at Galler informed me that she was sending me a Ballotin of Pralines.

Of course the first thing I did when I read that was Google the word 'Ballontin', at which point I learnt that it meant 'traditional packaging for fresh chocolate assortments. The concept and the name are Belgian in origin'. When my special delivery arrived the name sure lived up to it's Ballontin description, and the outer box was beautifully decorated with bows and classy looking branded material.

Upon opening the box and discarding of the copious amounts of inner padding, a delightful array of fresh cocoa and nut scents emerged. Inside a wonderful assortment of thirteen different chocolates were included - all of which were easily identifiable by a very neat looking inner menu. Below are some brief thoughts on each of the chocolates, ratings are given from Terrible to Superb, working from left to right in the pictures.

Mazagran (Dark Chocolate Heart) - This chocolate combined an outer shell of dark chocolate with a disappointingly weak flavoured coffee caramel centre. The piece was hardly lacking flavour due to the richness of the cocoa heavy chocolate, but the filling was disappointingly lacking depth in terms of it's coffee delivery. Standard.

Palet Blanc (White Chocolate Square) - This was one of the finest tasting white chocolates I have ever had in my life. The outer white chocolate shell was delightfully cream based in taste and left a strong note of vanilla on the tongue when melting. The inner milk chocolate ganache was similarly creamy and soft melting. Superb.

Gianduja (Gold Foil Wrapped) - This was the only piece in the collection that came in a wrapper and the reason why became evident as soon as it entered the mouth. The chocolate melted with the softest of melts very rapidly, and released a sudden burst of buttery almond flavours which were a nice change up from the traditional hazelnut Gianduja experience. Very Good.


Nappe (Milk Chocolate Rectangle) - This piece combined a milk chocolate exterior with a caramel flavoured ganache. The outer milk chocolate created a high level of cream based cocoa flavours in the mouth, though the caramel element didn't come through quite as powerfully in the quick melting ganache as I would have hoped. Good.

Chiba (Dark Chocolate Diamond) - This was a very fine tasting dark chocolate almond praline. The outer dark chocolate created great impact with it's unsweetened cocoa taste, though it didn't upset the delivery of the inner buttery nut flavours of the slightly rough inner praline. One of my favourites from this selection. Superb.

Oasienne (Milk Chocolate Cube) - Again this was another scintillating chocolate that combined a milk chocolate exterior with an orange flavoured almond praline centre. The milk chocolate was swift in it's creamy flavour delivery, but led nicely into the stronger tasting almond nut centre. The orange element didn't come through until the very last few seconds of the melt, but it created a lovely fruity impression. Very Good.


Secret (Milk Chocolate Heart) - This piece looked like it was going to be an innocently soft flavoured ganache due to it's shape, but inside the milk chocolate shell there was a rough layer of delicious hazelnut praline. The hazelnut filling stayed with me a long time after the melt - nothing short of divine. Superb.

Extreme (Dark Chocolate Square) - This was the richest tasting chocolate in the selection which was surprising given that it's rapid melt didn't last all that long. Combining an outer shell of 70% dark chocolate with an inner dark chocolate ganache the unsweetened roasted cocoa flavour delivery was sharp, yet long lasting. Very Good.

The Noir (Dark Chocolate Rectanlge) - This was the first chocolate I picked out from the box, and it admittedly wasn't one of my favourites. This piece constituted of an outer layer of tasty dark chocolate with a very floral noted Earl Grey tea ganache. The herby nature of the filling just didn't work with the dark chocolate for me. Poor.


Balazane (White Chocolate Rectangle) - I really wish they had put more white chocolates in this box because this was another delicious chocolate. The exterior white chocolate layer created a delicious cream flavour base and it's soft melt wonderfully revealed a finely grounded almond praline centre. The textures were really something to savour. Very Good.

Cote D'Ivoire (Dark Chocolate Cube Front) - This was yet another stand out piece which constituted of a hazelnut praline centre, coated with a layer of dark chocolate made from Ivory Coast beans. In relation to the other dark chocolate pieces the cocoa had a noticeable fruity hint amongst it's flavour generation. The hazelnut praline centre was wonderfully forthcoming bringing woody nut influence to the taste. Superb.

Carre (Milk Chocolate Cube Back) - This was a very dark looking milk chocolate that held a praline flavoured ganache at it's centre. In comparison to the pure praline pieces in the selection, the nut flavours were very short lasting in longevity and didn't cut through the creaminess of the outer chocolate as well. Standard.

Amazone (Milk Chocolate Diamond) - This was a very well crafted piece that had a dual layer of praline at it's centre. The creamy chocolate flavours provided a pleasant starting point for the taste, though it soon became all about the praline. The nut flavours had great cut through, whilst the distinction between the two layers with one being soft and the other slightly rougher, was a great playful touch. Very Good.


Overall this was a delicious collection of chocolates with some really stand out pieces. Getting the only minor negatives out the way first, you will see from my ratings above I wasn't all that enamoured by some of the flavoured ganache pieces because of their short flavour longevity, and the Earl Grey tea chocolate just wasn't to my taste. Putting those to one side, the rest of the chocolates were very fine indeed, and I would go as far saying that some were amongst the best chocolates I have ever tasted. Picking my favourites amongst each chocolate type - for the white chocolate I would say the Palet Blanc, milk chocolate I would go for the Secret and finally the dark chocolate I would pick the Chiba. If you know someone that is mad about pralines I would strongly suggest this as a great gift if you are willing to part with a pretty reasonable sounding £8.50. By my reckoning both the taste and the presentation more than account for the expense.

8.4 out of 10