December 3rd: Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol

When I posted my review of the original Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Christmas Selection a few weeks ago (See HERE), a number of you commented that you didn't like seeing the liqueur flavoured chocolates in the box. Well the chaps over Hotel Chocolat picked up on this and wanted to make you all aware that there is currently an existing product in their range that includes several of the original pieces, but with the alcohol filled ones substitute out for some non-alcoholic alternatives.

Included in this Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol box you can find the Cinnamon Praline (portioned twice!), Milk Liquid Caramel Egg, Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut paste, Dark Liquid Caramel Egg, Caramel Chocolate, Gingerbread Truffle, Milk House Praline, Crunchy Praline and Mousse au Chocolat pieces - if you wish to see my thoughts on these I suggest you head HERE.

In addition to these original chocolates there were also three new ones - see my thoughts below with ratings Awful-to-Superb.

Orange & Almond Crunches - This was an attractive looking pieces that consisted of a milk chocolate baste with added whole roasted almonds and candied orange pieces. The combination of zesty fruit and buttery almond nuts made for a delicious taste that complimented the creamy chocolate nicely. My only thought was whether it might have been nicer with a dark chocolate base? Hmmm! Very Good.

Peanut Passion - When I read the description of this one I was tremendously excited at the prospect of 'praline bursting with freshly milled peanuts'. The outer shell of fused milk and white chocolate was of course delicious, but when it came to the praline centre I was a little disappointed. Compared to the hazelnut pralines I thought it lacked flavour, as it only registered some minor peanut notes. It didn't deliver the contrasting salt element I was hoping for unfortunately. Standard.

Brownie - I've reviewed this one a few times before but I had to test it again for quality control purposes Haha :D Well you will all be glad to know that this was as good as always. The exterior milk chocolate was an exquisite match for the inner pecan and rice crispie truffle filled centre. It was nearly perfect in both taste and texture - make sure you make a bee-line for this one if you are sharing. Superb.


Overall for those of you demanding a Hotel Chocolat selection box con (as opposed to sans!) alcoholic content this is obviously an ideal offering for you. Whilst I wouldn't say some of the decision making behind the chocolates included in this selection was the best (why are there two cinnamon pralines?), the variety on offer is still pretty good and covers a wide range of caramel, nut and spiced alternatives. One area of weakness for this box, and all the other Hotel Chocolat Christmas Selection boxes now we mention it, is that if you don't like nuts then you are in a bit of trouble. Indeed a lot of the chocolates in all the different boxes contain hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds or pecans - if these interest you little then there is an argument that there isn't much there for you. Alternatively you could just be like me and enjoy each and every one of them. If that is the case then I suggest you seriously consider gifting one of these Hotel Chocolate boxes this year. They come with a glowing ChocolateMission recommendation whatever your tastes.

8.4 out of 10

December 2nd: Nestle Coffee Crisp (Original Post - October 17th 2009)

I'm sure that many of you are scratching your heads but please let me explain :D What with this site containing thousands of reviews for chocolates from all over the globe you can probably imagine that I get my fair share of e-mails and comments telling me that my views on a particular product are 'wrong'.

My response to 99.0% of these e-mails (if they are courteous enough to warrant one!), normally goes along the lines of "this is just my opinion" ... "there isn't the time in the world to re-review products" ... "they only get the one shot" etc.

There is one product however, that has managed to justify a second look at given the sheer amount of contact I have received about it's original review - see below. One ChocolateMission reader in particular (by the name of Patrick), felt so strongly that my original review was so wide off the mark, that he sent me a box (yes a box!) of these Nestle Coffee Crisp to give another try .... I had to oblige.

Since I last reviewed the product over a year ago, the packaging and presentation hadn't really changed. Aside from a tweaks to the on-pack graphics the bar looked no different from the last time I saw it - no differences there.

Piercing the film wrapper the smells of biscuity chocolate immediately suggested that a finer proposition may be at hand. Indeed, whilst the outer layer of milk chocolate was still criminally thin, it was at least fresher tasting and more forthcoming with it's sweet, milk based flavours. Breaking the bar in to pieces, the crisper, snapping sound of the wafer was evidence enough that this bar was in fact in ten times better condition than the one I tried for my last review. In addition to being superior in texture, the wheaty biscuit flavours were far more Kit Kat like, and obviously all the better for it. The coffee cream, whilst still underpowered for my taste, also offered a more in it's contribution to the taste with it's creamy cappuccino like influence. The bar in totality still wasn't the satisfying thing ever, but the greater flavour contribution certainly made it more fulfilling than the last time I reviewed it.

Overall this isn't the best chocolate bar in the world, but in life you sometimes just have to hold your hands up and say you got something wrong, and this is one of those instances for myself :D This bar was never worthy of the rating it originally received and I would now like to rescind that and replace it with the far more reflective score of 7.3 out of 10. Whilst I would say there is room for improvement with almost every component of the Coffee Crisp, the combination of them all do make for a tasty tasting wafer bar that is certainly worth a look at if you are a fan of Kit Kats and the such. So there you have it ChocolateMission readers :D you were all right .... now quit it with the e-mails :D about the damn Coffee Crisp haha!

7.3 out of 10



Original Post - October 17th 2009
Kcal 260 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 34.0g

This has been a bar that has managed to allude me for quite a while though I kindly had one sent to me by ChocolateMission reader Eric last week. The Nestle Coffee Crisp is a product that doesn't come with any formal description on the wrapper though as you probably ascertained it is a wafer based bar with coffee creme filling, covered in milk chocolate. What the packaging did state was that the bar was produced in Switzerland which didn't surprise me all that much given that Nestle have such a strong presence in the country. Given my love for coffee flavoured chocolates I was well and truly looking forward to this one and devoured it during a mid morning coffee break.

For a wafer based bar I was surprised to see that it actually weighed 50.0g and amassed a rather large 260 calories and 13.0g of fat which kinda contradicted the on pack slogan of 'makes a nice light snack'. In regards to looks the product on the whole was presented pretty well. I didn't care much for the yellow film wrapper but at the same time it was distinctly Nestle like with its bold red branding. On closer inspection the bar itself had distinct layers of chocolate, wafer and inner creme, though it noticeably lacked a real aroma of real note apart from a very minor biscuit scent.

From the photo above you will be able to see the thinness of the outer chocolate layer so I guess it really wont surprise you to hear that it was really not that impactful in regards to flavour. The milk chocolate was pretty quick in its melt and it's milk chocolaty flavours felt like they were sucked up by the drier wafer as soon as they transcended into a liquor state. Where the chocolate was poor the wafer element was even worse - it was almost flavourless aside from a minor malt note and had a very stale like texture that yielded with very little crispness when bitten into. Had it not been for the relatively tasty coffee creme this bar would have been an absolute disaster but even that wasn't anything that special. Looking on the positive side of things the inner creme added a degree of welcome moistness to the reservoir dry wafer, as well as bringing a mild coffee influence to what on the whole was product severely lacking in flavour. Despite consuming the whole bar in one sitting I neither found that it fulfilled my hunger or left me wanting more - what a disappointment!

Overall I guess it says it all that I was reaching for the wrapper to check the best before date after only my first bite. Frankly I couldn't believe that Nestle could get a wafer based bar so wrong what with them being the kings of the sector with their glorious Kit Kat range. Conversely to the Kit Kat model this bar had a wafer thin layer of outer chocolate and criminally poor inner wafer that was not only horrible in terms of texture but also devoid of flavour almost completely. As I said in the paragraph above without the sound quality coffee creme layer this bar would have been an absolute car crash ... and we are talking pile up proportions here!! As you can probably tell this is not a bar I would have again in the near future and it is not one I would recommend you get involved with anytime soon. Even though I am a huge fan of coffee flavoured chocolate I can't defend this bar on any level, it is simply just really poor.

4.8 out of 10

December 1st: 'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar Special

What better way to really get in the festive mindset than by kicking off December with a 'Bits n Bobs' post focused on all the different Christmas themed cakes available to us in the UK supermarkets this year. Indeed, for the last few weeks I have been doing some very thorough research looking at the quality of the Christmas Cake offerings from both Cadbury and McVitie's for 2010.

Below are my thoughts on four different products. These have each been given mini reviews based on my own thoughts and input from some of my work colleagues who I shared them with. If you have tried any of them for yourself I would really welcome your views so drop me a comment.

McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Orange & Cranberry Cake Bars

Kcal 95 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 1.8g Carbs 10.1g (per bar)
'Bittersweet dark chocolate, light sponge and a orange and cranberry centre'

Breaking the Cadbury monopoly today I found these McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Orange & Cranberry Cake Bars on a £1 deal in my local Sainsbury's supermarket. In terms of their packaging and presentation they looked none to different to the standard Jaffa Cake Bars, though McVitie's at least went to the effort of placing some snowflakes on the wrappers. When it came to the taste there was no differentiation from the normal bars in regards to the outer 'dark' chocolate or sponger layers. When it came to the filling however there were some noticeable, yet pretty minor changes, with the usual zingy orange taste of the originals taking more of a sweeter flavour stance. The filling in these bars had a forthcoming red berry flavour note that took the edge away from the more acidic orange. The panel were when it came to these - some prefered them, some didn't and some thought they were just equally as nice as the originals.

7.5 out of 10



Cadbury Merry Mini Rolls Sweet Cranberry & Vanilla

Kcal 120 Fat 5.6g Fat(sats) 2.8g Carbs 13.3g (per Mini Roll)
'Golden sponge with cranberry jam and a vanilla flavour filling, covered with milk chocolate'

The second of our two cranberry flavoured cakes came in the form of these Cadbury Merry Mini Rolls which I found on sale in Tesco. £1.50 of my pennies bought me a multi-pack of 6 wrapped rolls that I shared amongst another load of workmates. First impression from my panel were that they were confused by the packaging. With the 'Merry' wording aside there wasn't really anything else to give these any sort of festive feel!? What happened here Cadbury!? Moving on, when it came to the taste test these were more to the approval of my panel. You may recall that the blackcurrant limited edition flavour from Halloween have gone down as my favourite Cadbury Mini Rolls to date. Well in my opinion these Cranberry flavour rolls weren't as good as those, but they were at least a step up from the Strawberry Mini Rolls which I later tried and found excessively sweet. To be honest the cranberry jam filling here was a bit of a half way house between those two aforementioned variants. The sweet red currant flavours weren't quite as fruity or 'real' tasting as the blackcurrant, though they at least avoided the sickening sweetness of the strawberry. Fair but not the best.

7.0 out of 10



Cadbury Frosty Snow Star Cakes

Kcal 140 Fat 7.3g Fat(sats) 4.5g Carbs 14.2g (Per cake)
'Chocolate flavoured sponge layered with vanilla flavoured buttercream, covered in milk chocolate, decorated with a white chocolate star and a sweet dusting'

Phew what a long product description :D These were the most expensive of all the cakes I bought for the reviews today, and they cost me £2.00 from Tescos. Once again I tried these out with the help of some handy taste testers, who were all very approving of the very festive looking packaging and appetising look of the cakes. Fundamentally these were large slices of Cadbury chocolate roll, dusted with icing sugar and filled with buttercream. Two out of these three components got the seal of approval all round from everyone, the chocolate cake was tasty and the dusting of icing sugar was a nice touch to create a cooling mouth sensation with every bite. Unfortunately a lot of of people felt that the vanilla buttercream was overly sweet and it's combination with the horrible Cadbury Dream star on top created an overly dominant sugar led taste in the bites where it was most present. It was a shame that these didn't quite live up to expectations - they were the most disappointing out of all the cakes featured for this 'Bits n Bobs'.

6.7 out of 10



Cadbury Mini Yule Logs

Kcal 130 Fat 6.5g Fat(sats) 4.0g Carbs 13.0g (per Yule Log)
'Chocolate flavoured sponge with chocolate flavoured buttercream, covered with milk chocolate and sprinkled with light dusting'

Last but not least these Cadbury Mini Yule Logs were promising a triple chocolate experience - expectations were high :D By putting them last out of all four I have probably given the game away already so I can indeed confirm they were mine and panel's favourite from the selection posted today. Just like most of the others I bought these in my local Tesco for £1.50 - a sum which bought me six cakes. The presentation of the packaging and cakes were both very attractive looking - my only slight annoyance being with the fact they didn't come in individual wrappers, so consumption outside of the home wasn't possible. Forgetting that minor negative, these got a big thumbs up from everybody that tasted them. The outer chocolate layer was fantastic, and far ticker and crisper than standard Cadbury Mini Rolls. The cake inside was rich and chocolatey, whilst the chocolate flavoured buttercream was far superior to the vanilla variety in the cakes above, and provided an additional raft of Cadbury chocolatey flavours aswell as a much needed sense of moistness to every bite. Following me bringing an initial pack of these into the office they have already been repurchased by some of the people that tried them. That is always the ultimate test for any product - I have no qualms recommending them.

8.0 out of 10

November 30th: Berry Scrumptious Mulled Berry Chocolate

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

Today we have the ChocolateMission debut for a company called Berry Scrumptious. According to their website 'Berry Scrumptious is the brain child of husband and wife team Claire and Ross Rennie', and their 'small, innovative' company hails from a family farm based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Berry Scrumptious produce a whole host of different confectionery products, all of which are based around their famous berries that they grow on this very farm. Out of the blue, last week I was contacted by Claire, who offered me the chance to try their new Mulled Berry Chocolate. What with Christmas coming up, I simply couldn't turn down this fantastic opportunity - for further detail on Berry Scrumptious you can see their website HERE.

For the purpose of this review, Claire sent along an 85.0g packet of this Mulled Berry chocolate, which served me and a friend well for a satisfying afternoon snack. What with the small nature of their company, the simplicity of the cellophane packet was somewhat understandable, though the authentic design of the chocolate was a nice surprise. As you can see from the photo above, the chocolate was presented in what looked like shards of bark, and had visible red berry ingredients portioned nicely throughout. In terms of aromas the packet released a wonderful array of spiced fruit and chocolate scents when I opened it - it was the unmistakable smell of Christmas :D

Placing the chocolate on my tongue for the first time, any fears that the mulled berry flavour influence wouldn't be delivered vanished within seconds. From the outset the flavour journey created by this chocolate was nothing other than incredible, and the taste took twist and turns with almost every second. At the heart of every piece, a decent sweet creamy chocolate held the experience together, though it was hard to really pull out any definitive chocolatey flavours given the business of the other added elements. As I have said the taste was very interchangeable, but in most instances and mouthfuls it was the red berry and orange flavour influences that came through strongest. These fruity twists were compelling, 'real' tasting, and of course most importantly delicious - I guess that is what you would expect from farm fresh ingredients. Behind these fruity flavour twists, the notes of three different spices gave the chocolate warmth and it's distinct Christmas themed taste. I enjoyed the hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, but the suggestion of cloves in the aftertaste, whilst understandable in it's inclusion, was not to my own to my personal taste (it didn't bother my fellow tastee in the slightest!).

Overall this was an absolutely delicious chocolate that left me and my friend both well and truly satisfied and in a jolly festive mood :D The combination of the spices and the fruits were terrifically matched, with neither take precedence over each other or the chocolate. Whilst it wouldn't be fair to comment to much on the true quality of the base milk chocolate used, what I do feel comfortable lavishing in praise is the balance struck between the orange, raspberry, blueberry, cinnamon and nutmeg flavour influences. All of these were well portioned throughout all the pieces of in the packet, and together they created an epic, variable flavour journey that was immensely enjoyable. If you are looking for a special, unique chocolate to gift this Christmas then I suggest you take Berry Scrumptious in to your consideration - I would fully recommend this Mulled Berry Chocolate.

8.3 out of 10

November 29th: Chocri 'Jim's Nutty Delight Creation'

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

It's been a few weeks now since the famous 'Soy Bacon' incident (See HERE), but I'm glad to say that Chocri return to ChocolateMission today. Indeed, even a score of 4.5 out of 10 for my 'Jim's American Creation didn't put off the guys at Chocri featuring on the website again, and they were more than willing for me to create three new bars which they kindly sent along to me this week. The first one I will be showing you today is a bar I have dubbed as 'Jim's Nutty Delight Creation'. I'm sure many of you will be glad to hear that Soy Bacon was not on the menu for this one :D I went for the far more sensible sounding combined milk and white chocolate base with roasted peanuts, honey wheat flakes, nougat, toffee and peanut butter drops.

Given that I was given a free license to create a bar containing as little or as many ingredients as I wish, I obviously went for the no expenses spared approach :D This bar if you wish to recreate it will set you back £7.10 per 100.0g - you can do this quite easily by entering the code '49t621' where prompted on the Chocri site. In regards to the packaging and presentation, Chocri sent this bar in their new Christmas themed wrappers which I think look very good indeed. As you will be able to see from my photograph, my bar was brimming full of my chosen ingredients - there was hardly space to see the chocolate below which I guess was unsurprising given that I loaded it up with the full five added toppings.

Taking my bar out of it's plastic sleeve, a lovely selection of nutty, chocolate scents wafted over my senses. As I mentioned above I chose to go for the mixture of milk and white chocolate for the base which proved to be a good decision. Like I said in my previous Chocri reviews, the quality of the chocolate wasn't anything out of this world, but the sweet cocoa flavours of the milk chocolate were nicely enhanced by the creamier tasting white chocolate, which itself offered a definitive tasting note of vanilla in the latter stages of it's melt. When it came to the toppings, there were so many of them jumbled together it was more of a 'take each bite' as it comes experience rather than a consistent taste. Ultimately the concoction of toppings made for an exciting and variable flavour extravaganza, though the roasted peanuts, toffee and peanut drops were easily the most definable out of all five when it came to the taste. With that said, it wasn't like the cereal or nougat were lost in the mix, as both added variety to the texture with their contrasting crunchy and soft textures. Although some of my colleagues were a little apprehensive about sampling another Jim's Creation :D the majority of them really enjoyed the nutty sweetness of this latest bar.

Overall this latest creation of mine just goes to prove that when you keep the topping combinations sensible, then Chocri do have a lot to offer aside from their customisation selling point. I thought the blend of the milk and white chocolate in the base was effective, and I would suggest you use this one if you are a fan of both the chocolate types. When it comes to the toppings, out of the ones featured today I would be more than happy recommending the roasted peanuts and peanut butter drops if you are after a nut element in your chocolate. The roasted nuts especially were absolutely superb and were both fresh tasting and crunchy - perfect nuts if you ask me! I don't wish to blow my own trumpet :D but this was definitely the best Chocri creation I have made thus far. The good news for you guys is that there are another two more to come in the next few weeks. I won't reveal exactly what they are, but I will tell you that both are Christmas themed - Chocri have just added some extra special Christmas toppings on their site. More Chocri and Jim's Creations next week.

8.0 out of 10

CREATE YOUR OWN CHOCRI BARS HERE

November 27/28th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 61

### Site Update & Competition Winners ###

Hi All,

7Days of Chocolate Reviews returns this week and there is all sorts to get through.

First off congratulations to the winners of my Ritter Sport Winter Kreation competition (See HERE). The random number generator picked out commenters Richard, Andrew and Hollie. I hope you guys view the site this weekend - you have one week to send me your addresses to claim your prizes.

Those of you who didn't win, don't worry ... there are a few more competitions coming to the site before Christmas soon!

Speaking of Christmas I'm currently beavering away writing tons of reviews for the site in the coming weeks. On my tasting deck at the moment I have Hotel Chocolat, Heavenly Cakes, Chocri and various Christmas themed chocolate cakes. Suffice to say there are some exciting things to come :D

Have great weekends and please feel free to get in contact.

JIM


News from the Chocolate Market:

* There are further details on Nestle's upcoming lines for Easter 2011 ... See HERE

* If you are interested in the new Cadbury Cocoa Houses you can see their Christmas menu ... See HERE

* You can see the new Terry's Chocolate Orange TV advert ... See HERE

* Anyone fancy some chocolate covered liquorice ... See HERE

* Mars have a new range called 'Shake n Snack' ... See HERE

* Divine have announced their Valentines Day 2011 line up ... See HERE

* Feeling tired? Then eat some chocolate :D It's good for us you know haha! ... See HERE

If I have missed anything please inform me via a comment and share the news.


***EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT***

Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection

Last week '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' got put aside to make room for my review of the Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection. Within my review of that fantastic selection I passed comment that it was available in several different sizes and formats. Well the people dishing out the samples at Hotel Chocolat were extra kind to me this year because they also sent me a Hotel Chocolate The H-Box Christmas Selection box to make my way through.

This 150.0g box contained 13 of the original 17 pieces I reviewed last week - Cranberry & Apple, Cinnamon Praline, Milk Liquid Caramel, Milk Chocolate Christmas Bauble, Dark Liquid Caramel, Caramel Chocolate Christmas Tree, Mulled Wine, Champagne Star, Red Berry Mousse, House Praline, Florentine Dream, Crunchy Praline and Rum Ingot. If you missed out on my review from last weekend then I suggest you take a look HERE. Priced at £11.00 vs the £20.00 for the original sized collection, this is a great option for anyone looking for the Hotel Chocolat Christmas experience on a budget.

8.6 out of 10

November 26th: Zotter Ginger

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

I think lasts weeks review of the Coffee Plum with Caramelised Bacon left a few readers feeling slightly disturbed, so I thought it best to review a more conventional Zotter offering this week. The flavour I picked out from my sampling box that matched my 'sensible flavour' criteria, was this Zotter Ginger bar. On the wrapper it came described as 'dark chocolate filled with ginger' - it's not like it comes more sensible than that. Dedicated ChocolateMission readers will be aware that dark chocolate and ginger combinations are a favourite of my father, so you can rest assured that his 'expert' (so he claims haha!) views will feature somewhere down the line in the coming four paragraphs.

This Zotter Ginger bar came in the traditional Handscooped bar size of 70.0g (I've lost count how many times I have written that now! haha!). This was of course enough to share with my old man over a nice fresh roasted cup of coffee - which was the only occasion we saw as suitable for consumption of this chocolate combination. I normally lavish praise on Zotter for the quality of their presentation, but the standards of this bar weren't at their highest. Firstly, I again couldn't work out the humour behind the wrapper - nothing changes there! Secondly the wrapper itself contained a misprinted black like down the right hand side (see photo above), which I thought looked rather sloppy. The bar itself was also a little disappointing when it came to it's aesthetic prominence. The chocolate smelt nice with it's heavy cocoa aromas, but wooringly there were no obvious signs of the candied ginger either visually or aromatically.

Although the quality of the product in regards to it's presentation wasn't at usual Zotter standards, this was never going to deter us from the taste test in prospect :D Just as I had experienced many a time previously, the 70% dark chocolate exterior was simply superb, and both my father and I noticed that it was a touch thicker and crisper to the bite than other dark chocolate Zotter bars we had tried previously. Whilst the outer chocolate offered a delightful initial set of roasted cocoa flavours, it wasn't long before the inner truffle creme took hold of the taste due to it's heavy portioning. At this point I would love to say the filling contributed incrementally to the experience, however this frankly wasn't the case. In contrast to the outer chocolate, the centre portion was sweet in it's flavour contribution and added heavy notes of honey and sugar to the taste. Most disappointingly, the ginger was all but absent from the majority of the bar, with only a few small crunchy pieces portioned across it's entirety. When come across, they did bring a fiery spicy note of ginger to the party, but even these were doused somewhat by the sweetness of the rest of the truffle.

Overall both my father and I were left severely disappointed at the quality of this chocolate, especially considering the brand in question. Zotter are normally known for their attention to detail and their ability to fuse some of the most obscure ingredients in to the finest tasting chocolates. Unfortunately these principles seemed to desert them here, as the presentation was sloppy and the flavour theme executed poorly due to the ginger portioning being lacklustre to say the least. On a positive side note the dark chocolate that coated this bar was still of a good standard, but to be totally honest that wasn't too much of a parachute as we had come to expect this from Zotter already. It would be interesting to hear from anyone else who has tried this bar as it could be the case that I got a 'duff' one from the Zotter factory. If the quality is consistent I would suggest looking elsewhere for your chocolate and ginger combination.

6.9 out of 10

November 25th: 'Bits n Bobs' Japanese Special

Unfortunately there aren't any points or prizes for guessing the sole supplier of all the products featured in 'Bits n Bobs' today - of course they have all come from our favourite Japanese goods and snacks importer J-List (Cheap plug wahey!!!). Indeed, everytime I get a sampling package from those guys they always 'top-up' my package with several smaller items to make the most of the shipping weight limitations. Such products never feel like they justify fully fleshed out ChocolateMission reviews, but luckily for them we now have 'Bits n Bobs' to solve that problem.

I hope you enjoy the mini-reviews below, always thoughts, recommendations and requests are most welcome.

Morinaga Bake (Baked Chocolate)
Kcal 230 Fat 15.0g Fat(sats) ??? Carbs 21.0g (per 40.0g pack)

You may have noticed that during the months of May to September, J-list doesn't feature on the site as much as it does during months either side. This is primarily because of the extremely hot summer period that they have in the Far East. Whilst J-List continue to trade in their other wacky product categories (they stock all sorts of weird Japanese stuff!!), chocolate items are mostly taken off the menu for awhile, as they simply wouldn't survive the searing heat in the post. One of the few remaining chocolate products they did continue to stock this year however, were these Morinaga Bake (Baked Chocolate), which come desrcibed on J-List as simply 'baked pieces of crumbly milk chocolate'.

What with the rather loose description I didn't know quite what to expect from these, but thankfully they turned out to be pretty tasty. Inside the bright pink foil wrapper (love it!!), the pack contained several bite-sized chocolate biscuit pieces. Texture wise they were crunchy on the outside, yet had soft innards - the mouth feel was really quite unique. Flavour wise they were initially came across as pretty rich and chocolatey, however due their miniscule size and short mouth longevity they weren't the richest or fufilling of snacks. I wouldn't go over the top and say they are a must try product, but if you are looking for a smaller, unique product to 'top-up' you J-List order you can't go far wrong with these.

7.0 out of 10



Morinaga Chocolate Caramel
Kcal 21 Fat 0.5g Fat(sats) ??? Carbs 3.8g (per 4.9g piece)

Just like with the above Morinaga Bake, these were another one of the few products that J-List continued to stock during the long chocolate drought summer. In Japan, Morinaga are a brand well known for their hard caramel sweets - if you are one of those people that tries to keep an eye on all of the flavours out in Japan you will have noticed that they bring out several varieties each year. Hard caramels aren't the sort of product I would traditionally feature on the site, but my pal Peter at J-List suggested I try these chocolate flavoured ones, so he sent on a very cute looking matchstick sized box that was filled with them.

Contained within cubed foil wrappers, the caramels offered little in regards to aromas but this was unsurprising given the product. Once placed in the mouth the buttery flavours were intially very weak, but as the pieces rose to mouth temperature they softened and offered a greater toffee led taste that was noted with a minor hint of chocolate. To be honest, like the Morinaga Bake these ultimately weren't the most unique of products I have ever tasted, but at the same time I wouldn't like to give the perception they were bad in anyway shape or form. Again they would be a product worth looking at if you wish to add a smaller item to a J-List order.

7.1 out of 10



Meiji Fran Matcha Green Tea Creamy Mousse Biscuit Sticks
Kcal 89 Fat 5.3g Fat(sats) ??? Carbs 9.1g (per 16.0g pack)

Blimey if we were handing out ratings based on the length of the product name you have to think that these Meiji Fran Matcha Green Tea Creamy Mousse Biscuit Sticks would be in with a great shout of being the ChocolateMission leader :D Anyone who has some knowledge about the Japanese confectionery market will be well aware that people in the Far East absolutely love their products like Pocky, Toppo etc. As you would expect there are plenty of these products on the market, one being a brand called Fran which I tried for the very first time today. On the J-List website these came described as 'chocolate biscuit sticks with a matcha green tea coating, filled with chocolate mousse' - sounds cool huh!? Well I have to say they looked very cool in real life to! When I got them out the packet I was pleased to see they looked exactly like they did on the very premium looking outer box. In size they were about quadruple the size of the normal Pocky, and contained a plentiful layer of mousse filling running done the inside of the extravagant looking outer green portion.

As well as ticking the boxes aesthetically, I'm glad to say they got my seal of approval when it came to the taste test. The biscuit sticks were pretty 'so-so' in their flavour contribution, but the green tea coating was very nicely balanced and established a green tea taste that wasn't overly bitter but still somewhat grassy and herby in it's flavour contribution. The balance of flavours was no doubt helped by the creamy, sweet taste of the chocolate mousse centre, which nicely took the edge of the green tea in the latter stages of chewing. In the past I have found green tea products can be a little hit or miss, but these Meiji Fran Matcha Green Tea were pretty spot on delivering the unique green tea experience. If you are willing to put up with the usual unsatisfying hunger fufilment issue you get with these sort of products, then these are a product worthy of your consideration.

7.1 out of 10

November 24th: Niederegger Lubeck Marzipan Classic Milk Chocolate

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

Up until last year if you had asked me what my favourite marzipan was, I would have answered with a very dead pan face 'I don't have one - it is awful stuff'. This would have been my response up until the day I tried my first Niederegger product that is. Ever since then my opinions have changed somewhat, and have done increasingly so as I have made my way through the numerous offerings in their range. If you have read most of my previous Niederegger reviews before (See HERE), you will be aware that most have gone along the lines of ... 'the chocolate isn't the best, but the marzipan is out of this world'. Please don't get me wrong, the quality of the dark chocolate isn't particularly bad or anything, but I have always felt that it has never quite the done the marzipan justice. Given this matter of fact I was delighted when I was finally able to track down this milk chocolate variety in my local Waitrose - before you all ask it was £1.49 :D

Just like it's dark chocolate coated equivalent, this bar came in a 100.0g format that I ate (with some help grrrrr!) across a few days. Keeping consistent with the rest of the Niederegger portfolio the packaging and presentation was nothing short of superb. The royal blue colour nicely differentiated it from the other varities, yet the gold foil fonts and and clear branding ensured that the prestigious aura of the Niederegger brand shone through. Inside the blocked chocolate was tightly wrapped in a thick foil sleeve that managed to maintain the chocolate in mint condition. Despite the somewhat mild aromas emanating from the bar, the branding and generous portioning of the marzipan filling more than did enough to keep my levels of anticipation high.

Starting off with the marzipan I have to say that it was god awful ... just absolutely, 100% terrible .... haha only joking :D What can I say about Niederegger marzipan that I haven't already!? The doughy, sweet nutty flavours have made me a marzipan convert - if you had told me that a year ago I would never have believed you. Niederegger marzipan has a cookie dough like appeal - it is very sweet, but the buttery, bread like flavours make for an incredibly seductive and moreish taste that just keep you wanting to come back for more. So what was the chocolate like I hear you ask? Well I would say it still wasn't of the highest standard, but it was definitely more to my liking than Niederegger's dark chocolate. Comparing like-for-like, the milk chocolate was more forthcoming with it's creamier, sweeter taste, and had more depth in comparison to the more subtle dark chocolate. Despite this greater flavour generation, the chocolate still allowed the marzipan to take centre stage, which was a positive thing given that the marzipan was supposed to be the star of the product anyway.

Overall I'm sure that it wont come to anyones surprise that I am labelling this as yet another triumph in the world of marzipan for our German friends Niederegger. As aforementioned in the previous paragraph there is probably nothing more that I can say or write to get the point across about how fantastic the quality of their marzipan is. In every single Niederegger review I write, I always bang on about the fact that I am no great fan of marzipan, but these guys continue to prove me wrong. Furthermore, this bar itself has made me think I have to reassess my preconceptions, as I actually found myself liking this milk chocolate variety more than the dark chocolate one which was not something I expected. The standard of the milk chocolate wasn't on the same level of the higher end chocolate manufacturers like Hotel Chocolat or Galler, but I found the cream based taste more exciting than the blander dark chocolate that Niederegger normally offer up. I'm probably coming off as a bit of a Niederegger 'fanboy' here, but I don't think anyone has an excuse not to at least give one of their products a try one day. This milk chocolate bar would be a cracking place to start.

8.7 out of 10

November 23rd: Heavenly Cakes Marathon Flapjack

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

Last week ChocolateMission readers saw the return of Heavenly Cakes to the website with my review of their new Lemon Meringue with White Chocolate cake (See HERE). Being the lucky chap I am, this of course wasn't the only cake that Heavenly sent along. Indeed my Betty the Baker also sent me another one of her latest creations - this Marathon Flapjack. On the Heavenly website the Marathon Flapjack comes described as a tempting concoction of 'Peanut butter added to our all-butter flapjack with caramel & Belgian milk chocolate on top'. Betty then begs the question 'does it get better than this?'. Personally I couldn't think of many things that sounded better :D but lets see how it stacked up when it came to the taste test.

Despite the massive excitement I felt before trying this cake, the huge single serving portion once again meant there was more than enough to share amongst two. Aesthetically the cake was every bit as tempting in real life as it looked on the Heavenly site. As just mentioned the cake was positively huge - the lower portion of flapjack base was substantially thick, whilst the milk chocolate, caramel and peanut butter layers looked equally as well portioned. Although there was some peanut butter spillage within the plastic wrapper, the cake was still in immaculate condition despite it's delicate constituents. As soon as the plastic wrapper was breached a gorgeous set of sweet nutty scents literally filled the room. My colleague and I were getting many an envious look from across the office :D

The chances are 90.0% of you guys have already peeked at the eventual score so I wont give this the slow build. This cake was absolutely delicious! Every mouthful was just incredibly tasty, and each different part of the cake played it's role. If I was to have the tiniest criticism it would be that the flapjack base could of offered just a little more than the syrupy oaty taste it contributed (possible room for some additional peanuts here perhaps!?). Regardless, it provided a very tasty base for the product and kept the above layers fused well together with it's firm texture. Speaking of the layers above, just as expected they combined to create the most luxurious of toppings. The saltyness of the peanut butter with the sweetness of the buttery toffee caramel was a synergy you can only dream of. The Belgian milk chocolate placed on the top provided a delicious set of creamy cocoa flavours, whilst the chopped nuts further reaffirmed the nuttyness of the peanut butter leaving a lasting roasted nut taste in the mouth. As you can probably determine this was one very rich tasting cake, though this didn't stop me and my fellow tastee polishing off each of our halves with ease.

Overall I was fully expecting to love this cake and as you can tell by the score I have attributed it with, I certainly ended up doing so. To get a score of 9.0 on ChocolateMission the product has to be something special and this Marathon Flapjack can and be considered exactly that. As you will have read above, the only area I see where this cake could be marginally improved is the flapjack base. Although it was still wonderfully tasty, the minor addition of some extra nuts or cereal could even improve it further - a taste score of 10.0 wouldn't be far off in that circumstance. That point aside the rest of the cake was absolutely luxurious. The mixture of the peanut butter, caramel and chocolate was just to die for - I don't think there is anything more I can say about how tasty it was. The work colleague who I split this with similarly thought it was delicious (I wish I hadn't offered now haha!), and had nothing but praise for the cake as a whole. If you like your peanut butter and chocolate combinations, cakes dont get better than this - very highly recommended.

9.0 out of 10

November 22nd: Galaxy Orange & Shortcake

Kcal 544 Fat 32.5g Fat(sats) 19.9g Carbs 55.1g (per 100.0g)

New product Monday returns to ChocolateMission!! The number of e-mail and comments I have recieved about this bar has been astonishing - apologies I can't mention you all by name (that would take forever!), but thanks to all the people who made me aware/requested that I take a look at this bar. After checking out last months Galaxy customer exclusive for Tesco (Smooth Truffle - See HERE), it appears that Mars have had to offer exactly the same deal to Sainsbury's (another UK supermarket for all you non-UK readers!). Indeed, along with the rearrangement of their shelves, Sainsbury's have now started stocking this Galaxy Orange & Shortcake bar, which on-pack is described as 'milk chocolate with shortcake and orange pieces'.

To my knowledge, this bar is only currently available in a 120.0g format - suffice to say there was more enough to share round my work office to get some opinions. Neither the orange foil or small on-pack picture gave the bar any great standout from the other variants on the shelf, however it still looked classy so I had little issue with it in that regard. The chocolate inside was blocked in the the shapely Galaxy form, with a multitude of biscuit pieces evident in the underside of the bar. At this point it was notable that the orange pieces seemed few and far between, but the fruity smells emanating from the foil wrapper suggested otherwise.

Galaxy milk chocolate - what more is there to be said about it on this site that I haven't already? In my opinion it's very tasty for the price you generally pay for it. It's not as flavoursome, or rich in cocoa flavours as some of the finer end market options like Hotel Chocolat, but to be fair to it the soothing cream based sweet cocoa flavours are delivered within a very definitive thick, melting smooth texture which I think gives it a very important uniqueness. As you would expect these flavours took up the majority of the taste with this bar, however I'm pleased to say that neither the orange or the biscuit got lost in the experience. As I gauged from looking at the chocolate, by far the most prominent was the shortcake biscuit. These pieces added a playful crunchy element texture wise, and also brought small bursts of buttery saltiness to the party. The orange element to this chocolate was established through what seemed like tiny pieces of orange gummy sweets. Although they were a little sparsely portioned, when come across they added a very real tasting burst of juicy orange flavours to the chocolate which has to be said was very nice. As with most Galaxy chocolates a 40.0g serving amount was comforting portion.

Overall this was never going to be a Galaxy Caramel beater, but for what it was it was enjoyable orange chocolate. It has been discussed on ChocolateMission recently that we are currently lacking in options when it comes to mass produced chocolate orange offerings - Terry's being the only real one out there from the likes of Cadbury, Kraft, Mars and Nestle. Whilst Mars haven't 'turned up any trees' with this one, it still proved itself to be a tasty orange flavoured chocolate that is certainly worth a look at if you are looking for a more subtly flavoured alternative to Terry's. The feedback from my colleagues was similar to my own in that it needed more orange bits, but on the whole this chocolate was met with a pretty positive response with a number of people claiming they would happily buy it. At times like these when manufactures seem content on releasing already made products in different formats (Galaxy Counters etc), it is nice to see Mars try something new. On that basis this bar gets a ChocolateMission thumbs up.

8.2 out of 10

November 20/21st: Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection

It does seem a little silly getting this review up a full month ahead of Christmas, but I felt this fantastic selection required your immediate attention. Indeed, replacing the usual '7Days of ....' post this weekend, I bring you my review of the Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Classic Christmas Selection box. This box comes described as 'the essential collection for Christmas - brimming with a balanced array of exciting chocolates for everyone to enjoy'.

The Selection is available in several different sizes, though the one I shared with my family for this review contained 30 chocolates. Speaking briefly about the presentation, I really hope my photographs have done the selection justice because it simply looked fantastic. The outer packaging felt premium yet Christmassy (hard to pull off I tell you!!), whilst the inner chocolates were wonderfully crafted with some real standout pieces.

I hope you are sitting down with a nice cup of tea (and some chocolate of course!), because this review is a rather lengthy one due to the amount of pieces (17!!). For some of the chocolates I have been brief as you will have read my comments on them before. As usual ratings go from Awful-to-Superb.


House Praline - This piece combined an outer layer of thick, creamy milk house chocolate, with a delightfully textured hazelnut flavoured centre. Praline chocolates honestly don't get much better than this. Superb.

Cinnamon Praline - You can literally take what I said about the previous chocolate and just add in a well balanced note of spicy cinnamon. I loved the twist of the nut flavours and made sure I secured both of these pieces before they were nabbed by my fellow tasters :D Superb.


Rum Ingot - These first appeared in my review back in March 2010 of the Hotel Chocolat Boozie Scrambled Egg (See HERE). The rum was still a little too strong for my liking but it did bring a pleasant warming sensation to the mouth. Good.

Mousse au Chocolat - This was one insanely rich chocolate and was formed of an outer coating of 80% dark chocolate with a dark ganache filling. It was totally delicious despite looking like one of the more reserved pieces in the selection. You might call it a hidden gem! Superb.


Cranberry & Apple - The fruit content of this chocolate meant my mother was all over it. She reported that the cranberry tartness was evident from the outset and thought whilst it was tasty, it dominated the more subtle apple just a little too much. I myself thought she was spot on :D I think my family are getting to good at this now. Good.

Gingerbread Truffle - There were again mass fights over who was going to try this one. The mouth feel of the crisp outer milk chocolate with the smooth ganache centre was incredible, however both my father and I felt like the ginger flavours needed to be more forthcoming to overcome the strong cream based flavours of the chocolate. It was a little disappointing. Standard.


Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut Paste - This bauble shaped piece looked sensationally detailed and it's creamy, nut noted flavours ensured it tasted just as good. The flavour delivery was incredibly smooth for a nut flavoured chocolate. Very Good.

Caramel Chocolate Christmas Tree - This was one of the chocolates that I had reviewed in several different formats before but it proved every bit as tasty as a Christmas tree shape :D Creamy chocolate with hints of burnt sugar and salt. Superb.

Bell Shaped 40% Milk Chocolate - Do I really have to say anything more about the milk chocolate? No! It was a beautiful looking chocolate mind you :D Very Good.

Dark Chocolate with Chilli Penguin - I first reviewed these way back in 2008 (See HERE). I gave them a 9.0 out of 10 then and I still think the same. Superb.


Mulled Wine - There were some serious fights over who got to sample this piece :D The amount of different flavours forthcoming was quite incredible for a chocolate so small. The outer chocolate was creamy, yet the inner creme had influences of spice, cinnamon and orange. My Sister said it was like Christmas encapsulated in a chocolate. Superb.

Champagne Star - I didn't get a look in here :D Both my Mother and my Father picked out this gorgeous looking chocolate before I could try it. Judging by the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that accompanied consumption I think we can safely say they loved the combination of the white chocolate shell and creamy Marc de Chmpagne centre. The sprinkle of edible gold on top was a touch of real class. Superb.


Florentine Dream - Without doubt this was one of my favourites in the selection. The soft praline filling was expertly matched with the toffee and caramel flavours forthcoming from the crunchy almond pieces placed on top. Oh ... the milk chocolate wasn't half bad either :D Superb.

Red Berry Mousse - This was immediately set upon by sister who marvelled at how thick the outer chocolate casing was. The piece was enjoyable but she felt like the strawberry and raspberry influences in the mousse could have been stronger tasting. Good.

Crunchy Praline - The billing of praline with crispy baked pancake has us all intrigued, but reality was this piece tasted no different to the House Praline but just with a few crispy bits brought to the party texture wise. I personally thought the pancake bits were a little distracting, and would have preferred the smoother mouth feel. Standard.


Milk Liquid Caramel - This one was picked out straight away by my mother who really fancied the 50% milk chocolate and liquid caramel combination. She said the chocolate was delicious, but the caramel, whilst wonderfully soft could have done with being a bit saltier. Good.

Dark Liquid Caramel - Much like my Mother's thoughts above, I felt like the saltyness of the caramel could of just been a little more dialled up than it was. Regardless it was still one exceedingly tasty chocolate and the dark chocolate was incredible. Very Good.


Overall as you can see from the ratings this was one incredible selection of Christmas themed chocolates. As I said in my introduction, I really hope that the photos you see in front of you do the product justice, as it really was a superb looking collection of festive chocolate treats. The standout pieces judging by all the feedback from my family were the Mulled Wine, Champagne Star, Florentine Dream, House Praline and Dark Chocolate & Chilli Penguins. It's not often that you find a selection box that offers such fantastic variety, yet with no 'dud' chocolates to report of. If you are thinking of getting in a special box of Christmas themed chocolates for the household this Christmas I honestly cant recommend this selection enough. Thank you for taking the time to read my review, as ever your own thoughts are most welcome.

9.0 out of 10