July 25th: Thorntons Summer Bars 2010

Lemon Smoothie - Kcal 205 Fat 14.3g Fat(sats) 8.1g Carbs 17.4g
Raspberry Burst - Kcal 195 Fat 14.1g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 14.0g

Summer is in full flow now and I have been keeping my eyes peeled for all the different summer offerings from all the UK brands. Whilst browsing the shelves of my local Thorntons last week, my eyes came across these Lemon Smoothie and Raspberry Burst bars pictured above (no prizes for guessing which is which!!).

Both these bars came in the familiar Thorntons impulse bar format, priced at 49p and both weighing 35.0g. Neither of the two really struck me as that innovative given that there have been very similar offerings from Thorntons in the past - See 'Thorntons Sicilian Lemon Truffle Bar' & 'Thorntons Winter Fruit Crumble' but in terms of packaging, presentation and product concept they both struck me as attractive and fitting with the summer season.

Lemon Smoothie - 'White chocolate bar with a lemon mousse centre'
This was certainly the better out of the two bars. I have always been an advocate of Thorntons' white chocolate so I was little surprised by my enjoyment of the creamy vanilla tones of the tones of the exterior layer here. Remembering back to my review of the Sicilian Lemon bar a few years ago I recall finding the lemon flavours over powering and dominant but thankfully Thorntons had obviously attempted to address this issue. This time around the fluffy, light mousse centre was sweeter and creamier, yet it still produced a citrusy lemon flavour offering. The centre tasted like a cream based lemon curd filling and produced a pleasant, flowing flavour experience. On the whole it was pretty delicious, and I loved all the different textures delivered by the outer chocolate, mousse and crisp chocolate base.

Raspberry Burst - 'Dark chocolate bar with a raspberry mousse centre'
I don't even know where to start with this one - it was absolutely fowl!!! Taste wise the outer dark chocolate was fine tasting, and the 60% recipe established a decent set of unsweetened cocoa flavours in the mouth. Unfortunately within seconds the dark chocolate became a complete non-factor as the gaudy looking raspberry mousse took centre stage. The mousse can be best described as totally disgusting. I don't know what happened at Thorntons HQ but whoever thought that replacing the tasty red fruit Winter Fruit Crumble filling with a artificial, lip gloss tasting 'mousse centre' needs to be fired now. I can't think of any better way of describing the taste other than cheap kiddie lipstick - it was just so fake tasting I ended up throwing it away after only a few bites.

Overall Thorntons have delivered a real mix bag of Summer offering with these bars. To be honest I'm a little dumbfounded as to how one of them could be so genuinely tasty in it's fruity flavours, whilst the other was so ridiculously bad. What really impressed me about the Lemon Smoothie bar was the way Thorntons seemed to have adapted the recipe from the Sicilian Lemon to allow the white chocolate to have more of say in the taste with the lemon being slightly less dominant. The Lemon Smoothie is a fine example of how to integrate fruit flavours in to chocolate, on the contrary the Rapsberry Burst sits on the other end of spectrum. Although the Raspberry Burst looks the part, when it comes to taste it has to be classed as one of the worst things Thorntons have served up for awhile, and of course it's not a bar I would recommend any of you buying. If you try one of the two this summer I strongly suggest you make it the Lemon Smoothie.

Lemon Smoothie - 7.9 out of 10
Raspberry Burst - 4.9 out of 10

July 24th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 49

### Jim's Corner ###

Hi All,

Just a quick update again this week as I have plenty of reviews to be getting on with. In the last week I have had some deliveries from Ritter Sport, Hotel Chocolat, Thorntons, Cadbury and Galler, so be expecting more from those guys soon.

Thank you again to everyone who entered the Heavenly Cakes competition that ended last week. The winners have been in contact with my about how pleased they were with their prizes. For those of you who didn't win be sure to keep an eye on my Twitter feed as I'm giving away various leftover samples each week (this week it was some Thornton's Pistachio chocolates!!).

Thank you for all the comments that you all continue to leave. I know the likes of Hotel Chocolat, Ritter, Zotter and Galler read them everytime so please keep them coming.

Have a great weekend!

JIM

News from the chocolate market

* American confectionery brand Mike & Ike is being supported by a big promotional push ... See HERE

* Mars are going to be running their biggest ever promotion on their bitesize range ... See HERE

* I wonder if my dedication to HobNobs will get a place in McVitie's VIP club ... See HERE

* Cadbury are already talking about their Christmas range, unbelievable ... See HERE

* Penguin biscuits look like they are up for sale ... See HERE

.... found a chocolate story I've missed? Please share it!!!

Posts from other blogs I enjoyed this week

> TheImpulsiveBuy - Kelley tried this ridiculous sounding Kellogg's Real Fruit Granola Pizza - what on earth Indeed!? ... See HERE

> Jen Ken's Kit Kat Blog - Despite the poor reviews I keep seeing about them I can't help but want to try these new Cola & Lemonade flavoured Kit Kats ... See HERE

> GiGiReviews - If you ever feel the need to be put off buying a Krispy Kreme doughnut check out Gi's review of this Lemon Cake Doughnut ... See HERE

> Foodstufffinds - Not a week goes by without me looking at this site and thinking 'I fancy trying that'. This week Pita Chips: Cinnamon Sugar ... See HERE

> Japenese Snack Reviews - It's good to see that I wasn't the only one to think these Country Ma'am cookies were surprisingly good ... See HERE

> It's all about Limited Edition - My friend Franzi from Germany has just started a new site that reviews limited edition snacks and chocolates ... See HERE

Have you seen the latest Hotel Chocolat End of Season Sales ????

July 23rd: 'Bits n Bobs' - Cereal, Chocolate, Cake & Biscuit Assortment

At the start of the year I was looking to reduce the number of posts I was making a week down to just five. You may have noticed that this hasn't become reality - I simply have too many products knocking around commanding reviews. To help me get on top of things a little I have taken the opportunity to do another 'Bits n Bobs' post - you will see some quick fire reviews below of some of the products that I have had on my radar for a while. Your comments are always welcome on any of them ...

Nestle Animal Bar

Kcal 98 Fat 5.0g Carbs 12.3g

For some reason or other my workplace has just started stocking these in our staff shop - aren't these meant to be for kids and not middle aged working professionals!?? Hmmm anyway ... I do have vague memories of being given Animal Bars as treats when I was younger which isn't all that surprising given they have been around since 1963. I can still see why the packaging and size of the bar are still relevant for kids, but personally I didn't particularly enjoy the actual milk chocolate all that much. Not surprisingly it was weak tasting and mostly sugar led with its non-threatening cocoa flavours. Best left for the smaller people of this world.

5.6 out of 10

Fox's Echo Milk & White Chocolate

Kcal 126 Fat 6.6g Fat(sats) 4.0g Carbs 14.9g

Again I remember eating these when I was younger - I used to have them now and again during my school lunchbox days. In the supermarket Echos sit alongside the likes of the Kit Kats, Twixs, CLUB biscuits etc, and they come described as 'milk & white chocolate with a crunchy biscuit base'. In comparison to some of the aforementioned products I have always thought that Echos look nice on the eye. Both the packaging and bars look attractive in comparison to other chocolate biscuit alternatives and to be fair to them they also hold up their end of the bargain in the taste. For my liking both the milk and white chocolates are a little passive in their flavours, though the combination of them both deliver a decent sweet chocolate flavour hit. I have always thought the texture of the chocolate is a little waxy, though I can't complain with the crunchy contribution from the slightly salty flavoured biscuit base at the bottom of each bar. If you are looking for a Kit Kat alternative you cant go far wrong treating yourself to an Echo.

7.1 out of 10

McVitie's Medley Digestives Hazelnuts & Milk Chocolate

Kcal 140 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 1.9g Carbs 19.2g

A few weeks ago I posted my first review from McVitie's new Medley range in the form of their Hobnob Medley bar (See HERE). After a bit of searching around the supermarket shelves I managed to locate the other variety in the range - these Digestive Hazelnut & Milk Chocolate. In essence these were very much the same as the Hobnob Medley, apart from the substitution of the Hobnobs biscuit pieces for the Digestive biscuit pieces, and the swapping of the raisins for the hazelnuts. To be frank only one of these two change ups work for me. The Digestive biscuits weren't half as forthcoming in the taste in comparison to the Hobnobs, but on the flipside the hazelnuts were more welcome than the raisins as they were more detectable with their wooden nut flavour enhancements. I would find it hard recommending one of these Medley bars over the other as to be honest neither are perfect. I still believe McVitie's could have done a better job with these bars.

7.2 out of 10

Bahlsen Messino Edlehreb

Kcal 140 Fat 4.9g Fat(sats) 2.8g Carbs 23.0g (per 3 cakes)

Not long ago I read an article on TalkingRetail.com that stated that a brand called Bahlsen were going to be turning up the heat on McVitie's in the Jaffa Cake tablestakes. Whilst I have been critical in the past of companies like Cadbury entering in to this part of the market with weak price cut led offerings (See HERE), I have always been open to seeing how other manufacturers could play the Jaffa Cakes game. Cutting the long story short, these looked the part in terms of their presentation with both the outer packaging and inner cakes looking like a nice premium proposition. Unfortunately when it came to the taste the size of the cakes were a real issue for me as they were so small and thin they didn't create the same sort of flavour impact that McVitie's Jaffa Cakes do. The dark chocolate was noticeably more flavoursome and not as laboured in melt, however the other cake and orange jelly filling layers were so insignificant and minimal they failed to create lasting flavour impacts. Quite simply I wouldn't buy purchase these over the McVitie's originals at the moment, but if they made them a little bigger they would be serious competition.

6.9 out of 10

If you have any feedback on these products please feel free to discuss them by dropping a comment.

July 22nd: Lindt Nocciola

Kcal 574 Fat 37.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

One week on from my Lindt Eiscafe escapades, I today had the delight of trying yet another of Lindt's 2010 summer range collection. The flavour I'm showcasing today is this Nocciola variety (say Nocciola out loud it sounds beautiful don't you think!?), which came described as 'white chocolate with a hazelnut cream centre, and sugared hazelnut pieces'. Talk about me being slow, but I've only just noticed that all of the variants in Lindt's latest summer range are based on well known ice cream flavours. The integration of chocolate and hazelnuts wasn't exactly new to me, but I was hoping that this combination was going to make for a tasty, refreshing summer offering.

Just as the other flavours from the range, this came in a 100.0g tafel (tablet) form, which was split in to ten large sized blocks that were similar in stature to Lindt's Mousse range. Again the packaging and presentation looked first class, with the decorative silver panels located at the top and bottom of the box establishing both a sense of premiuimness as well as a vibrant summer feel. Another good thing to see aesthetically was that in reality the chocolate looked accurate in construct to what was featured on the outer box. Cutting in to one of the pieces revealed that the white chocolate was just as thick as depicted, whilst the small fragments of hazelnut were also visible dispersed throughout. Whilst the product made a good impression on me visually, the scents on offer were a little less remarkable with just mild sweet dairy and nut aromas detectable when closely inspected.

For those of you that have read the site for an extended time you will likely be aware that I'm a big advocate of Lindt's white chocolate and their cream laden, vanilla noted chocolate didn't fail to impress yet again. Just as I have experienced in the past the taste was delightfully smooth flowing in it's milky flavours, with the vanilla bourbon secondary flavour increasingly growing in prevalence as the melt developed. The white chocolate was supposed to be just the beginning of the flavour experience, and I was really expecting some strong nutty influences from hazelnut cream and sugared hazelnut elements. Reality was that both these constituents were a little more passive than my prior expectations, with the strength of the hazelnut flavours considerably varying from piece-to-piece. In some blocks the woody hazelnut element came through strongly, and nicely enhanced the initial creamy flavour base. On the contrary, some other blocks were far milder in terms of their nutty contributions to the taste. This at times left me a little frustrated with the volume of flavours on offer, and didn't leave me feeling as satisfied as I would have done had it been more consistent in it's hazelnut delivery.

Overall this was another fair to good Lindt offering, however just like I thought about the Eiscafe variety the other day I felt like it was a bar they could have executed a little better. Totally in line with what I experienced with the Eiscafe, the packaging, presentation and quality of the white chocolate was absolutely superb. Unfortunately it was just the filling that was lacking a little in prestige and didn't live up to the standards set by the aforementioned attributes. Speaking of the filling in more detail, the obvious issue for me was the nature in which the nuts were implemented. The hazelnut cream itself wasn't that bad, as it just built upon the milky flavours generated by the white chocolate, whilst also bringing the first minor suggestions of hazelnut to the taste. Where I think the filling failed somewhat was with the decision to incorporate small fragments of hazelnut as opposed to wholenuts. Personally I think the nut flavours would have come through far more strongly had they been implemented in this fashion - I even think just one solus hazelnut piece to each block would have done a better job of creating a flavour impact as opposed to the scattering of tiny hazelnut fragments as done for this Nocciola bar. My witterings on here may sound like I had a negative experience bar but that couldn't be further from the truth. At the heart of the matter this was still a delicious white chocolate offering, however it's minor shortcomings stand out as things that could easily improve it with a few minor refinements.

7.5 out of 10

July 21st: Ritter Sport Espresso

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

Having reviewed over 50+ Ritter Sport products in the last three years, you would of thought it would be impossible for me to be as excited as I was about trying one of their new flavours, but ever since I received the e-mail from my contacts at Ritter offering me the chance to get a sneak peak of their latest 'Espresso' flavour, I have literally been running to my door everytime the postman has dared venture anywhere near my postbox. Last week a big box of samples (more on that below!!) finally made it's way to me from Germany, included in which were several bars of this new Espresso variety. Unfortunately it wasn't me that signed for my package, so the rest of my family were well aware of the large Ritter branded parcel that had been sent my way :) As much as I selfishly wanted to keep these bars of 'milk chocolate with coffee cream' all to my greedy self I of course did the decent thing and shared - expect some second opinions floating about this review :D

I'm not sure you will have taken as much notice of the packaging as I did but the first thing that caught my eye was the word 'Neu' (translation: New) on the top left of the wrapper. By the looks of it, rather than being a limited edition flavour, this Espresso seems to be a permanent addition to the 100.0g Ritter range. You may be thinking that my photo of the wrapper looks slightly odd - well thats because the packs sent to me by Ritter were pre-sale samples, so they were mock-ups of what will actually be in market in a few months. Although the exterior packaging was made up off stickers stuck on to a generic white film packet, the chocolate itself was presented as it would be for the final product. The surface area of the chocolate looked smooth and dark in colour, and the bar broke with a pleasant snapping sound. Sandwiched between the two layers of outer chocolate, the filling looked nicely portioned and was evidently lighter in colour and noticeably differentiated in terms of appearance.

In 99% of cases the smell of a food is highly indicative of what it tastes like, so you can probably imagine that I was extremely receptive of the glorious coffee scents that were offered by the chocolate. These coffee smells were present everytime I went to eat a piece of this chocolate, and provided more than sufficient insight to the taste that I was to be treated to. As suggested by it's aesthetic appearance the chocolate melted with a delightfully soft smoothness and delivered the usual array of sweet, milky cocoa flavours that I have come so accustom to with Ritter Sport milk chocolate. As the soft melted developed the inner coffee cream filling started coming through slowly in the taste, and peaked in it's flavour delivery during the middle stage of each block melting on my tongue. To be put this in the frankest terms the coffee cream element of this chocolate tasted absolutely delicious. The centre filling gave a well strengthened, roasted coffee flavour burst that tasted both real and fresh. Various members of my family take their coffee in certain ways - ranging from milky white, to double espressos, yet all four of us agreed that this was pretty much spot on in strength. What has sometimes spoilt other brand's coffee chocolates before (See Green & Black's Espresso) is their tendency to have slightly bitter aftertastes. This Ritter offering thankfully balanced the end note of coffee with the sweetness of the base layer of milk chocolate. As a lover of coffee chocolate it was a bar I found very moreish, yet felt it had a satisfying richness to it due to the volume of flavour delivered with each block.

Overall this is one of ... if not THE best Ritter Sport flavour I believe the brand has to offer, and I simply can't wait for you guys to give me your own views on it. I have looked back across all my other Ritter Sport reviews, looking at the likes of the Karamell-Nuss, White Hazelnuts etc, and whilst those bars have got similarly high ratings, I think if I was told I could only have one Ritter Sport bar for the rest of time this probably be my bar of choice. Whilst in the past I have happily settled for the Ritter Sport Cappuiccino bar satisfying my Ritter chocolate coffee cravings, this bar blows it out the water. In the context of my other favourite coffee chocolates I would rank it up there with likes of Lindt's Excellence Coffee Intense - I think it is that good! This may not be a chocolate that is to everyones tastes, but if you like coffee flavoured chocolates I think this should be near the top of your 'must try' lists. I will happily concede that there is very, very marginal room for improvement in the milk chocolate, but when it comes to the quality of the coffee cream Ritter have metaphorically speaking 'hit the nail on the head' with this one. I needn't bother writing whether or not I recommend this bar - I think you all know the answer to that!

9.0 out of 10

Fancy winning one of these Ritter Sport Espresso bars for yourself? Take a look at my Twitter feed as I will be running a competition!!!

July 20th: Jacob's CLUB Biscuit Bars

I have always tried to stay clear of reviewing milk chocolate biscuits, but after last months Kit Kat Orange & Mint bars I couldn't ignore the reader requests for any longer. Due to popular demand I have binned my no chocolate biscuit rule for today, and have brought you some short, succinct reviews of Jacob's CLUB range.

Whenever I think of CLUB biscuits the first thing that pops into my mind is the old CLUB biscuit advert 'If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our club' ... legendary stuff (See HERE). Despite not having a CLUB biscuit for what must be nearing ten years, I felt instantly at home with the wrappers, which didn't appear to have changed all that much from my childhood. As iconic as they are I couldn't possibly given them anything more than 7.0 out of 10 - put it this way they do a functional job without raising all that much anticipation or excitement.

Below are my brief thoughts on the three different Chocolate, Mint and Orange variants - scores given at the end.



Kcal 123 Fat 6.2g Carbs 14.9g

Jacob's CLUB Chocolate - 'milk chocolate with chocolate cream and biscuit'

This variant was obviously the least exciting out of all three variants and it proved this way when it came to the taste. The outer milk chocolate was of a fair standard - it did little aside from register a very mild milk lead chocolatey taste, but it did melt with a pleasant soft smoothness. The inner biscuit was pleasant with it's buttery shortbread flavours, however the chocolate cream layer was neither any different in taste or texture to the outer chocolate portion.

7.0 out of 10

Kcal 124 Fat 6.5g Carbs 14.9g

Jacob's CLUB Mint - 'milk chocolate with a cool mint cream and biscuit filling'

Similarly to the Chocolate variant above the outer portion of this bar established a sweet chocolate flavour hit from the outset. I was expecting a very stark, forthcoming mint flavour hit but I was met with a very tasty creamy peppermint fondant. The mint cream was neither overly sweet or dominant and it took the taste of the chocolate and biscuit elements nicely onwards in terms of progression. This was my favourite out of all three flavours.

7.6 out of 10


Kcal 125 Fat 6.5g Carbs 14.9g

Jacob's CLUB Orange - 'milk chocolate with an orange flavoured cream and biscuit'

Despite already revealing to you that the Mint flavour was my favourite I have to say these Orange CLUB weren't exactly far behind. As with the Mint variant, the orange cream was similarly well balanced in the taste and the fruity influence came through nicely as suggested by the promising orange scents. The added orange cream made these a more attractive proposition than the plain Chocolate variety and I can't argue that it didn't liven up the taste somewhat.

7.2 out of 10


Overall it was nice to reacquaint myself with these CLUB biscuits, but just like I like I always thought about them when I was younger they hardly set my world alight. Compared to the Kit Kat Mint biscuits I reviewed the other day it was a pleasant surprise to see a cheaper mint biscuit flavour done so well. To be honest all three of these CLUB bars did a fair job as a mid-afternoon chocolate snack, and it wasn't as if one was anymore fulfilling than another. In terms of taste, my preference was with the two flavoured options, the mint variant would be my CLUB of choice if given the option between all three. So there they you are ChocolateMission readers - you now have my CLUB biscuit recommendations. Be sure to let me know your own fond memories/favourite CLUB bar flavours.

July 19th: Hotel Chocolat Purist Range 2010

Back in September 2008, some of the first ever Hotel Chocolat reviews I wrote were about bars from one of their ranges named 'The Purist'. The original Purist range consisted of seven different single origin chocolates. If you wish to remind yourself of some of those reviews, I would suggest looking at the 52% Salt & Caramel and 72% Rabot Estate which were both certainly highlights.

Here we are now in 2010 and the Purist range has had somewhat of makeover. The range has now been expanded with several more variants (See HERE on the Hotel Chocolat site) and thanks to my chums at Hotel Chocolat HQ I today got the chance to try several of the new chocolates they have to offer. On their website, Hotel Chocolat describe these chocolates as being formed of the 'rarest, most sought after cocoa'. Having tasted some of their superb chocolates from their specialist cocoa plantations before, I was very excited when these arrived on my doorstep.

If you have read any of my previous 'Purist' reviews you will have noticed that I frequently commented on how enjoyable it was reading the 'bean to bar story' that came detailed on the inside of the packaging of each of the chocolates. As you can see in my photo below these new 2010 Purist bars came not only with the stories of how each of the chocolates came to be made, but also some pretty pictures to look at. The presentation was nothing short of first class, and the chocolates themselves came uniquely encased in a layer of greaseproof material giving each a very rustic look, and kept them all smelling very fresh.

Below are the tasting notes and scores of each of the four different variants of the new varieties I tried. Apologies if my descriptions sound a little pretentious - trust me I don't believe I'm a cocoa connoisseur :D

65% Island Growers (96 hour conch) - The chocolate was slow paced in melt and took a while to generate a substantial flavour base. The mid point of transition was where the taste peaked with the cocoa flavours striking me as earthy, and with notes of soil. The aftertaste wasn't particularly strong but had a touch more sweetness to it than the flavours generated at the peak of the melt. 8.3 out of 10.

70% Rabot Estate - This was the least enjoyable from the selection. I found that the chocolate felt instantly chalky and dry in the mouth, and the start of the melt felt delayed and lazy. Once the melt of the chocolate begun the chocolate still felt overwhelmingly dry in the mouth, which certainly hampered my enjoyment of the taste. The notes of smokey tobacco amongst the cocoa base flavours made for an edgier taste than some of the others, but the texture very much hampered my enjoyment of this one. 7.5 out of 10.

70% Chuao - This was nowhere near as chalky feeling in the mouth as the 70% Rabot Estate, though it was still a little dry when it came to the melt. In comparison to the aforementioned there wasn't so much cloying or stickiness, but the flavour delivery was again hampered by the quality of the mouth feel. The taste wasn't as bitter as Rabot, and had a kinder focus of flavours with hints of toffee and sweet dried fruits. This was the most mellow of all four - perhaps suited for someone who doesn't like intensely flavoured dark chocolates. 7.9 out of 10

65% Island Growers (120 hour conch) - Behold ... my favourite of the lot. Whereas I felt some of the other varieties struggled in their pace and quality of melt, this chocolate was almost spot on and the smoother transition certainly helped the delivery of the taste. The flavours were of course similar to the 96 hour conch bar above, with strong earthy notes. The smoother flow of flavours meant I could detect additional layers of cream and red fruits which further added intrigue. The taste was long lasting and finished strongly with a suggestion of creamy cocoa. 8.9 out of 10


Overall these bars provided a wonderful flavour experience and I enjoyed trying each and every one of them in at least some manner. As you will have seen above there were bars in the range that I rated more highly than others, but to be honest you guys needn't bother looking at my own scores as it is probably more down to personal preference. Some of the chocolates that I have showcased today may not have perhaps scored as well as some of the variants in 2008, but one thing that is for sure is that Hotel Chocolat have kept the quality of this range supremely high. The presentation of these chocolates is nothing short of fantastic and I can assure you they make you feel like a professional chocolate tasting expert once you have clued yourself up on the information that the each of the packaging contains. Suffice to say Hotel Chocolat's updated Purist range gets a ChocolateMission thumbs up.

July 18th: Cadbury Picnic Roast Almond Feast

Kcal 242 Fat 14.9 Fat(sats) 5.3g Carbs 22.9g (per 100.0g)

Last week I was contacted by my friends at ShopenZed (an online merchant based in New Zealand who exports goods globally - See HERE) who informed me that they had come across a 'Special Edition' Cadbury bar whilst on their weekly shopping trip. Being the ever giving, jolly people they are, they offered me the chance to try it for myself and kindly sent me across a few bars to review for the site. Back last year I reviewed the Cadbury Picnic that they get in Australia (See HERE) and I remember giving it a high scoring mark compared to the rather poor UK equivalent we get in this country (See HERE). Given my preference for the Aussie made Picnic, I was rather excited by this Roast Almond Feast limited edition, which came billed as 'almonds, wafer and caramel covered in Cadbury milk chocolate'.

This bar came in a 46.0g serving size making it totally comparable to the original Aussie Picnic which was equally as plentiful. Speaking of the wrapper, I thought the jet black colour scheme looked very cool, and I liked the way the branding was kept consistent from the original red coloured Picnic variant. Despite travelling from across the other side of the globe the bar was maintained in immaculate condition and looked similarly impressive in stature to a UK Lion bar when undressed. The only real difference between the two were almond nut pieces that lined the outer chocolate. Most positively they emanated some tempting nutty scents amongst the sweeter smelling chocolate and wafer smells.

The first thing of this bar that really caught my attention was the feel of the chocolate and nut exterior as it yielded with a crisp snap and pleasant crunchiness when bit into. This bar came off as remarkably fresh when it came to the textures of each the chocolate, nuts and wafer constituents. When you think about it, that is a bit of an odd thing to say really when you consider how far the thing travelled from production in Asutralia. Thankfully it isn't just the textures that are worth mentioning - the flavours and resulting taste were every bit as wonderful. As with any Cadbury bar the chocolate was sweet and milky and provided a flowing chocolatey base taste with each and every mouthful. The almond pieces that lined the outer chocolate were thankfully largish in their chunked size, which gave them ample opportunity to have good cut through in the taste with their savoury buttery flavours. Sitting at the centre of the bar both the caramel and wafer constituents progressed the chocolate and nut flavours nicely, adding strong influences of toffee, salt, brown sugar and wheat to the taste. Despite the heavy presence of the wafer element, the entire bar proved to be a plentiful snack and very satisfying - it must be the low GI nuts that did the trick :D

Overall each mouthful of this Cadbury Picnic Roast Almond Feast was varied, progressive and packed full of flavour - I could have really asked for little more. Anyone who has been reading this site for any sort of extended period will probably be sick to death of me complaining about chocolates that implement nuts in tiny, fragmented pieces, but this bar just goes to prove how much better these things can taste when the nuts are implemented in either a whole or sizeable fashion. Obviously the entire concept of this product was to deliver the usual Picnic experience, but with a Almond nut slant of the taste and this was done very well with the integration of the nuts into the outer portion of the bar. The almond nuts not only established themselves early in the taste, but they had good longevity due to their large size. It's a shame that Cadbury here in the UK don't treat the Picnic with as much love as they do in Australia. The boys and girls 'Daaaaaaaan Unda' are being treated to a fabulous limited edition that sadly not many of us Brits will ever see.

8.5 out of 10

Buy this bar HERE from ShopenZed - CLICK HERE

July 17th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 48

*** COMPETITION WINNERS ***

Hi All,

It's finally time to announce the winners of the recent Heavenly Cakes Competition and I can reveal that the winners of the three Heavenly Cakes Giftpacks (of their own choice!!!!) ..... are ....

*drumroll*
.......
...
..

Debbie Andrioli (Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Sara Macey (Chatham)
Chris Sulzdorf (Nunhaed)

..... and the winner of the special bonus prize is .....

... Stephanie Meyer-Scott (Farnborough), who submitted the following suggestion for Betty ...

"Completely Irresistible!? Why, thank you!"

Thank You to all that submitted answer there was a tremendous response. Please pass on your congratulations to the winners and look out for more competitions on ChocolateMission very soon. Remember to sign up to my twitter feed for the weekly competition.

JIM


Post from other blogs I enjoyed this week

* TheImpulsiveBuy - Marvo has been checking out these 'Pillsbury Sweet Moments Chocolate Fudge Molten Lava Brownies' - they certainly win the award for longest name ever ... SEE HERE

* Foodstufffinds - The world cup may be over (boooo!), but Cin is still mopping up the last of the Walker's limited edition world cup flavours. This week it was 'Welsh Rarebit' ... wait a minute ... Wales didn't even qualify for the world cup ... SEE HERE

* CandyBlog - Cybele posted her review of the Aero 70% Dark and gave it a good score of 8/10 ... SEE HERE

* SugarPressure - There was a nice review of the Green & Black's Mint Dark Chocolate Bar posted on their site. It's not one we seen that commonly here in the UK ... SEE HERE

* GiGiReviews - Why are Burritos so popular in the US but not here in the UK? This Barbacoa Burrito doesn't sound anything special, but I still would welcome a decent Burrito outlet here in the UK ... SEE HERE

* YumYucky - Try reading these stories of food/drink horrors by Josie without smiling. Those stories remind of the time I took a swig of cooking oil rather than my drink when I was making a stir fry ... embarrassingly that was only last week :D ... See HERE


I haven't had time to collate all the stories from the chocolate market this week. Please feel free to leave a comment with any news that has caught your eye this week!!

July 16th: M&M's Pretzel

Kcal 150 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 3.0g Carbs 24.0g

When I looked back through the ChocolateMission archive looking for my last M&M's review it came to my surprise that it's nearly been a whole year since I last wrote about the brand (See HERE). In previous years we have all come to expect several limited edition movie themed tie-ins (See Strawberried Peanut Butter, Pirate Pearls etc), but 2010 has been relatively sparse for new M&M's flavours. Well M&M's fans fear not, as Mars have finally launched these Pretzel flavoured M&M's and they were kind enough to send me a few sample bags all the way from the US. On the pack they came described as 'chocolate candy coated pretzels', and boasted about their 'less than 30% fat content'. I have to admit I was pretty startled when I looked at the nutritional information - it was remarkably low for such a product.

These M&M's Pretzels came in a 32.3g bag that contained around 20 or so M&M's pieces. Packaging and presentation wise this was your bog standard M&M's variant. It was slightly disappointing to see Mars use the same blue coloured background as their 'Crispy' variant, but it looked relatively cool nonetheless and the Pretzel theme was communicated relatively effectively. The M&M's themselves were middling in size in that they were smaller than Peanut M&M's, yet twice the size as the standard milk chocolate ones. Again it was somewhat odd to see that these only came in four different colours (blue, orange, brown and green) but this didn't bother me all that much. M&M's have never been the strongest smelling candies, but these Pretzel ones did emanate some minor biscuity scents.

As anyone who has ever tried M&M's before will be aware, the standard of the milk chocolate isn't the greatest, though they always manage to deliver a relatively sound chocolate flavour hit. The sweet sugary flavours of the milk chocolate were again forthcoming and quickly established as soon as the thin candy coatings were breached. Just as the outer shells were, the pretzel centres were equally as crunchy, and the savoury wheat and flour flavours soon surged over that of the chocolate. To be honest at this point these M&M's felt more 'cookie centered' as opposed to 'pretzel centered', but towards the latter stages of chewing my first mouthful I noticed the intermittent salt hints come to the party. These salty flavour bursts made for a nicely contrasting taste that featured both sweet and salt influences. The salty element to the taste made these especially moreish, and it took no time at all for me to finish the single serve bag. The entriety of one bag delivered a a degree of satisfaction, but like I have found with previous M&M's flavours, these weren't the most satisfying of snacks ever and I could have easily eaten more.

Overall as a big fan of pretzels I was really looking forward to trying these, so I'm glad to report that Mars did a pretty decent job. As you may have noticed from my copious reviews of chocolates that have salty enhancing flavours (think Reese's, caramels etc) I'm a real fan of products that have sweet and salt flavour combinations, and these have to go down as another that do it pretty well. The quality of the milk chocolate was again far from sparkling, but lets be honest none of us would expect anything different from the M&M's brand. I guess what was most important with these was how well the inner pretzel constituents was executed, and reality was that they did it pretty well. Perhaps this is me being greedy (or me me being a genius more like!), but wouldn't it be great to see some M&M's Peanut Butter Pretzels!? I think that would be a fantastic synergy of two products that they already make, and it would probably make these Pretzel M&M's all that much better. I would be very interested to hear what my American readers think of these - please share your thoughts.

7.6 out of 10

July 15th: Lindt Eiscafe

Kcal 580 Fat 39.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Ever since my friends over at Dean-German-Grocery vanished off the planet I have had a little difficulty getting hold of the latest products to be hitting the German marketplace. After pulling a few strings with some German pals via Twitter I have luckily been able to find myself a source - so panic has thankfully been averted! One of the biggest product launches this summer in Germany has come from Lindt, who have recently brought a new line of 100.0g tafel summer variants into their portfolio. This new range consists of eight different flavours which you can view on the Lindt site - See HERE. I wont be able to review of all of them, but I have managed to get some samples of the flavours that appealed to me most - one of these being the 'Eiscafe' variety that I am reviewing today.

As I have mentioned above this bar in a 100.0g tablet form that was split into the same style blocks as the Lindt Mousse au Chocolat range. The bar came described as 'white chocolate with a coffee cream filling' and this was communicated nicely by the on pack visuals which gave the sense that coffee ice cream type experience was at hand. Whilst on the topic of the packaging it's worth noting just how brilliantly the product was presented. Lindt normally do a very good job with their wrappers, but it has to be said they have excelled themselves with this new range. On another positive note the inner chocolate looked remarkably like the picture on the front, which I always think is a good thing.

What with my love for coffee chocolates I was exceedingly excited about getting trying this bar, and my hopes were risen even further when a gorgeous set of milky coffee scents revealed themselves when I peeled away the foil that was hugging the chocolate. The size of the blocks meant they were a little too big to eat in one mouthful, though eating half a piece one at a time was a nice mouthful. Before I ate this bar I felt it best to chill it in the fridge for a few hours before eating it, and this proved to be a good decision. In it's chilled nature the outer white chocolate had a delightful crispness when bitten in to, and it allowed the smooth cream based flavours to be savoured all that much longer as the melt was slowed a little in pace. The milky, vanilla hinted flavours of the exterior chocolate nicely led in to the softer feeling centre, which was similarly cream based in taste. Sat in the middle of the truffle like centre there were small particles of coffee beans which when encountered brought short bursts of coffee to taste. These coffee bursts were admittedly a little on the sharp and bitter side for my liking, and it would have been nicer if the coffee element was delivered in a more flowing fashion through the inner creme. I don't usually find white chocolates all that satisfying, but a few blocks of this more than enough to subside my afternoon stomach rumbling.

Overall the quality of the white chocolate in this bar was exceptionally high, however the coffee element really wasn't optimised. The milky sweetness of the white chocolate did on the whole balance the forceful nature of the coffee, but I was certainly surprised to see the manner in which the coffee given how it was described on the packaging and Lindt website. Billed as a 'coffee cream centre' I was hoping for a Ritter Sport Cappuccino type filling, but what I got was a high quality white chocolate and cream centre with a somewhat lazy portioning of coffee bean chips. Because I'm such a big fan of coffee chocolate I probably judge them a little harshly when they don't come off quite as well as I hoped for. Quite simply though, I feel Lindt didn't make the best of the opportunity they had with this particular flavour combination. They got the vanilla ice cream effect spot on with their white chocolate, but the coffee delivery was really lacking the same level of prestige.

7.6 out of 10

July 14th: Milka Kakao Genuss

Kcal 580 Fat 40.5g Fat(sats) 23.0g Carbs 46.5g (per 100.0g)

Ever since the Kraft takeover of Cadbury was announced it has felt like Milka has gone from strength to strength here in the UK. With the Milka UK range expanding by the minute with new impulse options such as the Milka with Daim bar, consumer awareness of the brand seems to be slowly ever increasing. Whilst UK consumers are slowly getting to grips with the basic Milka offerings, back in Germany there seems to be no let up with the amount of 'new' flavours being brought to market. One of the latest Milka varieties to hit the shelves in Germany is this Kakao Genuss, which translates into English as 'Chocolate Pleasure'. On the back of the wrapper the bar came described as 'Alpine milk chocolate with a chocolate raspberry creme filling', which was self evident from the wrapper.

This Kakao Genuss flavour came in a 100.0g format that was split into the stand 3x5 branded block format. Nothing about the wrapper particularly stood out to me in the context of the rest of Milka's range, though the raspberry element was at least communicated well with a decent amount of the on pack visuals indicating the fruity twist. Upon unsealing the plastic packet a very forthcoming set of sweet red fruit smells made their presence felt. To be honest they weren't the most genuine of fruit smells ever, but they did grab my attention, and they at least made the chocolate feel a little more exciting given it's placid look.

Without the raspberry fruit smells this bar would have appeared to be no different to a standard Milka Chocolate Cream bar, as aesthetically there was no indication whatsoever of the raspberry influence. Despite it's lacking visual impact the same couldn't be said for the taste, as the fruit established itself as soon as the chocolate entered the mouth. Although the raspberry flavouring was contained mostly in the creme filling, it didn't hang about and the flavours were partially detectable within the milky sweet cocoa flavours of the exterior Alpine milk chocolate. In terms of taste there was little differentiation between the chocolatey flavours of the outer chocolate to the inner creme filling, however as the smoother melting centre melted away the raspberry element became louder and louder taking a firmer grip on the taste. Against my expectations the raspberry fruit flavours were pretty nicely balanced and came across as more red fruit sharp than sugary sweet. Due to the fast paced melt this wasn't the most satisfying chocolate bar ever, Milka bars seldom are though.

Overall this wasn't perhaps the most 'genuine' tasting fruit flavoured chocolate ever, but I enjoyed it for what it was nonetheless. To be honest this wasn't a flavour that excited me all that much given how there have been so many similar bars coming out of Germany recently, but it did a more than adequate job of delivering on it's promised enhancing flavour. When I first smelt the aromas emanating from the wrapper when I unsealed it, I was a little wary that this was going to be one of those ghastly, sweet tasting cheap chocolates. To my pleasant surprise the chocolate tasted better than it smelt - again I will reiterate the point it wasn't the 'realest' fruit influence, but it wasn't half as sugary as I thought it was going to be. If you are a raspberry lover then this is a chocolate well worth you taking a look at. If you are more just a fan of Milka chocolate then I would suggest you take a look at some of their other offerings before getting stuck in to this one as a matter of urgency.

7.5 out of 10

July 13th: Heavenly Cakes Rocky Road

Kcal 449 Fat 26.0g Fat(sats) 14.5g Carbs 53.6g (per single serving)

First off I must start by bringing your attention to the Heavenly Cakes competition - as announced on Saturday the deadline has been extended by one week due to the mini heatwave we are experiencing! In the mean time be sure to familiarise yourself with some of my latest Heavenly Cakes reviews: if you have missed out on them be sure to check out my Toffee Crisp, Milk Chocolate Brownie or Lumpy Bumpy Brownie posts HERE. To round off my latest batch of reviews from my most recent sampling package I had this Rocky Road cake to try. On the Heavenly website the Rocky Road is described as 'Belgian chocolate mixed with squishy marshmallows, pistachio nuts, natural cherries and crunchy biscuit' - seemingly the less is more approach was out the window for this one :D

Despite coming in a single serve form this was beastily sized portion. Inside it's plastic wrapper the thick outer coating of chocolate made the cake look innocent enough (if a little on the bumpy deranged side!), however when it was cut in to things got very interesting indeed. Take a look at my photograph and judge for yourself - does that look appetising!? Well I thought so! The cross-section revealed a total mish-mash of colours, ingredients, and smells. The things that stood out aesthetically were of course the cherries, the green pistachios, the huge chunks of biscuit and of course the marshmallows. Compared to some of the brownie products I have eaten recently the aromas radiated weren't half as strong in their chocolatey impact, though they were still relatively tempting nonetheless.

Putting my aesthetic admiration to one side it was time for the taste test. Starting with the quality of the chocolate flavours, the Belgian chocolate was a prominent feature in each bite as it had been generously coated across the whole piece. Compared to some of the chocolate constituents on other Heavenly products this Belgian recipe wasn't quite as sweet and was marginally louder in it's cocoa volume. Given the sweetness delivered by the marshmallow and biscuit elements, this switch to an unsweetened chocolate was a welcome change as it maintained a nice sweetness balance. Speaking of the marshmallow and biscuit pieces, both were nothing short of fantastic in regards to the variation they brought to the experience in terms of textures. The marshmallows had a far grander presence than I was expecting, and were far chewier and dense than I was expecting. The biscuit chunks constituted a large part of the total cake, and contributed nicely with their light, crunchy explosion of salty digestive biscuit flavours. Just as I wrote in the Lumpy Bumpy Brownie review I wasn't all that excited by the presence of the cherries, however they again were pleasant addition and added fine juicy, fruity bursts of red berry flavours when encountered. The only disappointment with this cake for me were the pistachios, as once again yet another nut type failed to cut through in the taste as they weren't as generously portioned as the other elements.

Overall I have never been a great lover of Rocky Road cakes, but I have to say these were very much to my liking. Sometimes in the past with Rocky Road cakes I have found that manufactures have included some of the ingredients as token gestures, with little thought given about how they combine with one another. With the exception of the pistachio nuts, it felt to me like Heavenly were very particular in their selection of ingredients, with the choice of chocolate recipe being a fine example. The Belgian chocolate coating on these wasn't 'dark' chocolate, but it was noticeably less sweet than the milk chocolate used in some of their other cakes. This recipe of chocolate was key in allowing the marshmallows, cherries and biscuit elements have a grander say in the taste - so a big thumbs up there. If I was to improve these Rocky Road cakes, I would again offer similar recommendations to what I said in my Lumpy Bump Review - more nuts please! Rocky Road fans will no doubt love these - I suggest you try eating a slice with a spoonful of ice cream as the biscuit chunks nicely suck up the ice cream as it melts - trust me its really something special!

8.5 out of 10

Buy Heavenly Cakes online - See HERE

July 12th: Hotel Chocolat Marbles

It seems to me like the days are getting hotter and hotter - Summer must finally be with us!!

Not only are we being treated to some glorious weather at the moment here in the UK, but the likes of Hotel Chocolat are us treating us to their summer ranges. Over the past few months I have brought you all several reviews of their summer offerings - including their fantastic Eton Mess and Banoffee Slabs (See HERE). After those initial reviews, several of you asked me if I could take a look Hotel Chocolat's Marbles range, and my contacts obliged by quickly sending some along. See Hotel Chocolat's site HERE

Both these Marbles varieties came in 140.0g servings bags which I would say included around 20-30 pieces within each. Whenever there are Hotel Chocolat products around, the rest of my family seem to never be far away - you can expect some of their opinions in my write ups below :D


Hotel Chocolat Blueberry & Apple Marbles



'Blueberry chocolate and apple flavoured white chocolate balls'

These looked the more visually striking out the two and looked wonderful with half light and half dark coloured layers. Their fruity sweet scents were a little less to my liking compared to the Caramel & Praline marbles, though they still provided good insight in to the taste that followed. Speaking of the taste, these marbles started off very cream rotted with a smooth milky set of flavours. As the nicely sized ball melted softly in the mouth, the red berry elements came through with increasing strength, fast establishing a fresh and fruity flavour base. My only slight disappointment with these was that the apple element didn't come to the party. When I fed these to my other family members in a blind taste test none of them managed to pick the apple flavours out. Despite this they were still very much enjoyed by all that tried them - Hotel Chocolat sure do make some fantastic white chocolate.

8.4 out of 10



Hotel Chocolat Salted Caramel & Praline



'Salted caramel chocolate and milk chocolate praline balls'

The packet of these lasted a matter of minutes once opened - we loved them! Formed half of 40% house milk chocolate and half caramel chocolate it wasn't like they were ever not going to go down well was it!? Although these weren't as interesting aesthetically, the aromas of cocoa and toffee that emanated from the packet were simply divine. Upon placing the first piece in my mouth I was instantly impressed by the instant cocoa and cream flavours that came to the fore. As these flavours developed the taste took several turns with notes of caramel, hazelnut and butter all taking the opportunity to make an impression. The melt of the lighter coloured chocolate was noticeably faster than that of the darker side, the latter of which left a deliciously moreish salt lick in the mouth with each finish. These were insanely tasty, but not the richest of chocolates ever - a very dangerous combination.

8.5 out of 10

Overall these aren't the most innovative of products that Hotel Chocolat have come up with recently but they were both still very tasty. In terms of taste my preference would fall with the Salted Caramel & Praline, however I would happily concede that the Blueberry & Apple are slightly more suitable for the summer season as they are a tad more refreshing. One slight issue that I had with the Blueberry & Apple Marbles was the fact that the apple element was somewhat missing from the taste. Looking at the at the back of the packaging this seems to be somewhat explained by the lack of apple listed in the ingredients list!? I wonder if they just forgot :D Regardless, both of these are worth a look at if you fancy buying some summer themed chocolates. If you have tried them be sure to let me know what you think.

See Hotel Chocolat's Website - See HERE

July 11th: McVitie's Hobnobs Medley Milk Chocolate & Raisin

Kcal 131 Fat 4.1g Fat(sats) 1.6g Carbs 21.5g (per bar)

Back in May when I read this press announcement from United Biscuits, I was pleased to hear that they were going to be launching a new range of on-the-go chocolate snacking bars' utilising my all time favourite biscuit, the Hobnob. Although the article also revealed the name 'Medley', further details were pretty sketchy, and it wasn't until more recently when I was able to track them down that I learnt more. On the wrapper these bars came described as 'biscuit and cereal bars with raisins and milk chocolate'. This didn't sound like the groundbreaking product I was really hoping for, but they showed promise nonetheless, so I duly obliged and forked out £1.49 for a multipack in my local Co-Op.

My multipack contained six individually wrapped bars that each weighed in at 30.0g. In terms of size they weren't the largest looking bars ever, but they did nicely as an afternoon snack and they were easy to transport and eat on-the-go at work as they intended to be. When it came to the wrappers and packaging I have to say that there was nothing about it that stood out as being different from any other cereal bar. In fact, if you compare them to the Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal bars they look no different at all, aesthetically this isn't a bad thing by any means, but in the name of differentiation it has to be regarded as poor. Luckily the bars themselves looked pretty appetising with chunks of biscuit and plump looking raisins clearly visible amongst the oats.

Each of the bars came in foil based wrappers so they were all maintained in good condition and radiated reasonably nice aromas of biscuit and honey. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, Hobnobs are up there as amongst my all time favourite biscuits so I was hoping that this bar delivered the usual Hobnob experience, but with an added chocolate and fruit twist. Biting in to the bar I was pleased to find that the texture was somewhat denser and chewier compared to an average cereal bar, with the golden syrup binding and raisins providing a greater than average resistance to normal. As I chewed the different cereal constituents came to the party intermittently - the oats were obviously the strongest tasting due to their greater portioning, but there were also sporadic hints of toasted cornflakes and rice that came through. Although the cereals dominated the majority of the initial flavour delivery, later on in the taste the chocolate, and Hobnob biscuit elements also added further interest. The milk chocolate didn't offer anything other than an average quality, sweet milky cocoa flavour burst, but it was at least there which was the main thing. During the latter stages of chewing, the Hobnob flavours were also detectable with suggestions of butter, brown sugar and a further compounding of the oats influencing the taste. In it's entirety the bar was about about right as a suitable sized snack, at a push I could probably have eaten another though.

Overall after eating these Medley bars I was disappointed, but content with what McVitie's had to offer. My disappointment with these was chiefly born out of what was I was initially hoping for. Prior to seeing the actual product I was hoping for a chocolate bar that had an added Hobnob influence - that it was I ascertained from the press release anyway! Of course what we got in reality was the product I have described above - a cereal based bar with a chocolate and Hobnob influence. That may sound like I'm saying that from a negative view point, and I guess in one way I am, and in another I'm not. In the vast spectrum of the cereal bars market this is a pretty decent offering, and one that I would recommend to Hobnob fans who wish to enjoy their favourite biscuits whilst out of home. On the other hand though, I can't help but think how great it would be to try a proper normal chocolate bar flavoured with Hobnob biscuit. I think Mars and McVitie's need to get their heads together and make it happen.

7.3 out of 10