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Kcal 549 Fat 32.9g Fat(sats) 19.7g Carbs 55.3g (per 100.0g)Before I launch onwards with the review today, I must first thank ChocolateMission reader Rosa who sent me this bar just before Christmas 2010. What with the wealth of samples I get, I always feel awfully guilty taking chocolate from readers but it has to be said this was a very pleasant surprise considering I hadn't clocked it's release. Indeed, this Milk Chocolate with Banana bar wasn't one that I hadn't seen in my local Thorntons shop. As a lover of all banana flavoured things, whether it be sweets, tea, milkshakes or chocolate, I was looking forward to trying this 'organic milk chocolate with dried banana'. Those of you who have concerns for this sort of thing may also wish to know that the bananas used are Fairtrade - a point Thorntons felt they needed to mention on more than ten occasions on the packaging :D
This banana flavoured bar came in a 80.0g form that I ate over the course of two sittings. Aside from the over the top communication of the Fairtrade and organic contents, the packaging was suitably coloured, whilst the chocolate was kept in a silver foil packet which assured a nice freshness. On the eye the chocolate looked attractive, with the darkened spots of dried fruit seemingly well dispersed. When attempting to break the chocolate in to smaller chunks, it broke with a fresh sounding snap and radiated some fragrant fruity scents.
If you have read any of my several Thorntons reviews of this square bar range you will have seen that the majority of the milk chocolate bars have used a 35-40% cocoa recipe (See HERE). Just as I found with those offerings, the milk chocolate here was again of a decent quality and generated a friendly creamy cocoa taste that grew in character as it's melt developed. Just as it appeared looking at the bar, the additional banana pieces were well portioned and dispersed throughout the chunks. These fruit pieces had a nice caramel like fruitiness to them, and created a very true, real banana taste with their chewy texture. The end note of the chocolate melt was a delicious hint of vanilla, which further added a positive complexity of flavour development. As a whole the taste was very sweet, but the half bar serving size felt like a sensible size and settled my chocolate needs.
Overall this was a delightful chocolate that I took great pleasure eating from the very first piece to the last. The pairing of milk chocolate and a sweet fruit like banana I guess didn't come without risk, but the greater emphasis on the cream flavours in chocolate as opposed to the the sugar content meant this wasn't a problem in the slightest. With that said I would love to know what a darker chocolate could do with the quality of the banana constituents displayed in this bar. I think the combination of the sweet fruit and a really earthy cocoa chocolate could be really quite special - lets just hope it is something they will put together in the future. For the minute, if bananas are your thing then you will be wanting to check out this bar for sure. It certainly gets a ChocolateMission recommendation and thumbs up for sure.
8.0 out of 10
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47 comments:
I've only had Valor's dark chocolate with banana before! Having loved and been disappointed by Thorntons before, I'd love to try this and see how it compared to Valor's :)
Apart from the wrapper being a slightly odd colour the rest of this little number sounds lovely. I will have to get one to try.
I dont often eat bananas but I like the way you describe the way that this one has a lot of 'real' fruit content in it. If they ever do that deal where you can buy several bars at a discount I might well give this flavour a go.
What happened to bits and bobs this week Jim? You said the other day that we would get one a week.
Oh god no! Not Banana! Sorry for being pathetic but bananas are one of those foods that make my skin crawl. I think I must have had a bad experience with them when I was small because for as long as I can remember I haven't liked them. Lol just the thought of their mushyness sends tingles up my spine.
Rxxx
What have you got planned for this weekend Jim? A review? A news post? We haven't had a news post for ages. Tell me the latest gossip lad.
Lol Jim have you seen this? They are doing buy ONE get TWO free on Easter eggs in Tesco now. Lol they will be giving them away next. How do you make money selling 3 eggs for the price of 1? They must be taking a big hit on that.
Go Thorntons. They are on a bit of a Chocolate misshy role at the moment arent they. I love the look of the continental selection you reviewed the other day. Some of the pieces in it look uber classy.
Dx
Im loving all the time you are giving to the UK brands at the moment Jim. Nice work, this is another chocolate that has done us proud.
Jim I got inspired by some of your latest thorntons chocolate box reviews and bought one of their premium selection last weekend. After one greedy evening (wine filled of course my love) my friends and I were left very disappointed. We wouldn't consider ourselves experts like yourself but we thought they were cheap and too similarly tasting. Lol what was funny was that there were quite a few left over which no one wanted to have a second go at. The needn't have bothered putting turkish delight in there for a start. Anyways I think we will have to splash out on a better box next time, reading your site has made me extra fussy these days lol.
If anyone reading this has never tried the Tonka Bean bar from this lot then you are in for a right treat. Do yourself a favour and get to your nearest Thorntons and buy yourself one. In my unimportant opinion its the best chocolate that Thorntons make.
I just looked at their sale page and they are still selling off chocolates from Christmas. How disgusting is that, they must be so far past their best before date.
I've tried this bar and I thought it was delicious aswell. I know you say that Thorntons have ripped Ritter off Jim but I think thats its cool they have created a range like this where they can swap the flavours around with ease. When you think about it, its not like there is anyone else doing this is the Uk is there. Good on Thorntons I say.
No, just no. Bananas are the most evil fruit in the world.
You are packing the Thorntons in this year aren't you Jimbo. We can't seem to go a single week without them on the site :) That must suck for your readers that dont come from the UK. They must be bewildered to who the hell Thorntons are.
The smaller versions of these bigger bars are the best idea that Thorntons have come up with for ages. I got about five of them to try recently and found a new favourite chocolate of mine, the pistachio one. I don't think I would have ever risked buying a big version of it without having that small one first. Theres nothing worse than splashing out on a big bar of chocoalte and realising you dont actually like it after just a small nibble.
I can't promise you will like it but they do a wonderful antioxidant berry flavour in this line of bars. I would recommend you give it a try, its the one that comes in a purple box and black writing.
Bananas are disgusting. I wouldn't touch this chocolate ever.
double post :) here is the choc I was talking about earlier http://www.thorntons.co.uk/p/Chocolate%20Collections_Chocolate%20Blocks/7132.html
Looks nice to me. Banana chocolate isn't something im ever going to go to go to to much hassle trying but you never know I might give a look at if I ever find myself in that mood.
These fruit pieces had a nice caramel like fruitiness to them, and created a very true, real banana taste with their chewy texture. The end note of the chocolate melt was a delicious hint of vanilla, which further added a positive complexity of flavour development.
That does sound v nice indeedy.
With that said I would love to know what a darker chocolate could do with the quality of the banana constituents displayed in this bar. I think the combination of the sweet fruit and a really earthy cocoa chocolate could be really quite special - lets just hope it is something they will put together in the future.
Do you just think anything would be better if it was dark choc :P If you prefer it what is the point of you even reviewing milk choccies?
I've not seen this flavour yet, though I shall give it a try though if you say that it is worthy of it mate. You haven't failed me with one of your recommendations yet, so I will take your advice here and heed your advice again.
.......................... your thorntons love in continues then. *sigh*
I got all excited for a minute thinking you had posted the review of the cloudy lemonade flavour. Are they still planning on making it or have they canned it?
Instead of buying people easter eggs this year I was considering getting them a bundle of these chocolate bars each. If you go to a thorntons shop they let you pick out the flavours you want and then they giftwrap them for free, I think thats a cool way of making things a bit more personalised. After a while easter eggs seem so generic and thoughtless.
The minute I think Thorntons are turning a corner I see all these crap looking mothers days gifts they are flogging in my local copoperative store.
Why do they feel the need to pump that rubbish out? They had the most cheesey looking 'I love mum' chocolates for mothers day on sale. It just looks so cheap and horrible you would of thought it was just a joke. They do frustrate me sorry.
I have said it before and I apologise for repeating myself but I reckon £1.79 a bar is pretty dear. Some of the chocolates like the tonka bean and macadamia must be far more expensive to produce, but they are all the same price which I find bizarre. You would of thought that ones like the mint would be cheaper and they could offer them at a lower price.
Hey J,
Before you start I know we were rubbish last night, you needn't tell me :P :P
Im not a big of fruit, especially not bananas. On that basis I can tell you now I wont ever be purchasing this lol. I will drop off my weekend predictions later mate.
Cheers
N
Ive always thought that these square shaped bars they make are really reasonably priced and I love the way that they update the flavours regularly. Another you may want to consider trying is the orange and carddomin spice flavour. From the lot I have tried I thought it was one of the best.
Since when have those minis been around? Are they online only or can they be bought in shops. They are such a swell idea. I think a great idea would be to do them in a gift pack sort of thing, a bit like the Green & Blacks ones you can buy.
To all the people saying that thorntons are copying ritter with these chocolates why dont you ask yourselves if ritter do a banna flavour themselves.
I think you will find they don't.
Jim can you do me a favour and stop reviewing so many yummy chocolates. I could concieveably see myself buying everything that you have written about this week. The only one I feel I wouldn't be missing anything out on was that coffee oreo thing. The rest I think I will be have to try at some time.
Thank you for another well gd review mate. I hope you have yourself a gd weekend. Im visiting my gran this weekend. She normally always gives me some sort of chocolate bar everytime I see her :-) Shes lovely like that.
@Richard i'm not having a pop at you m8 but seriously do ever consider anything but the price of something? Do you not ever think that somethings are worth paying extra for? Judging by your comments its almost like you just determine everything by the cost and don't pay any attention to how nice the chocolate is. Not everything tastes the same you know.
I've had this one already and the only thought I had about it was that I think it could have been better if it had been a banana cream filled bar and not just banana bits. They don't seem to do any of these bars with cream fillings. Its a bit of a shame.
Its good to see you back reviewing some of the flavours from this lot. Midway through last year I was buying them quite frequently as I kept seeing you give them some high scores. I sort of stopped buying them though when I had a bad experience with the strawberry one. Honest that was one of the worst chocolates I think I have tasted for a long time. It was only one of the limited edition ones but it was really horrible.
Gotta agree with golden-touch, thorntons tonka bar is seriously good, in fact there chcocolate bar range in general is just so much of a better quality than there other stuff.
Those mini ones are a cracking idea. Next time im in town im going to go buy a few to try out. Thanks for the heads up Jim.
You must be good at these reviews cause I dont even like bananas and it made me hungry reading this. The only thing I think that would have been cool was if they put some of their famous fudge or toffee bits in there. Then it could of been like a banoffee pie type chocolate. Know you, you would of said that it would have made it too sweet though lol :P
Fess up Jim come on. What is up with all of these thorntons reviews. You keep saying people are asking for them but I get the feeling there is more to this than just that.
It wasn't that long ago you were being highly critical of this company. Now you cant seem to write about them enough saying how marvellous they are. Either Thorntons have made a miraculous recovery in your eyes or something dodgy is going on. Fill us in with the facts.
Dammit this is one I would be more than happy to have a try a bit of but unless im being blind I dont think they have a miniture version of it.
Oh well lol I will have to convince my sister to buy it instead. Im sure she will like it and it might save me some money if I dont :)
For what its worth I would also like to add my recommendation of the toka milk chocolate that Thorntons sell. Its genuinely a very decent chocolate that I think most would enjoy. Its not the most complex in its flavours but it has the smoothest, creamiest taste of any milk chocolate I have ever tried. Its unlike anything you would have tried before.
Thorntons aren't coming up with any really new ideas or anything but I think its cool that they are at least attempting to keep things fresh and exciting. I wont be buying this banana one but seeing this review has reminded me that there are still a few more of these chocolates that I should try out. Thanks for the review J.
Although this is a blatant ritter sport rip off im with Nick, I think its class that they do it. Its a perfect way for them to consistenly offer something new without having to create whole new ranges. When you think of it there are still plenty of different flavours for them to do. The most blatant one they haven't done is a caramel variant. I thought that would have been
Hi Everyone,
Thanks again for all the comments, I know I have been reviewing a lot of Thorntons products recently but I thought I hadn't dipped into this part of their range for a while so you guys would appreciate the review.
Im going to have to be very brief in my response today but I have a good excuse :D I still haven't written up the post for tomorrows COMPETITION!!!!!!!!!!! and I only have an hour or so left at work in which to do it :P Make sure you check in the site tomorrow.
Just answering the some of your questions quickly ......
Anon - Don't fear Bits & Bobs will return next week!
Richard - I have seen Buy1Get2Free on other items in Tesco but not Easter Egss. That is amazing isn't it.
Paul - Cloudy Lemondae is still in the pipeline. As is the Cherry Bakewell. Keep your eyes peeled for them chap.
Matt - Those chocolates sound remarkably like the valentines day ones they had last year. The chocolate was just as pants as the designwork.
Alex - Another pearl of wisdom :D Your comments get funnier and funnier. Chocolate isn't serious business you know, lighten up a little!
Again apologies I can't give anymore extended thoughts but there are newspages to update and posts to write. Thanks for all the responses guys/girls. Have yourself a good weekend and be sure to check out the competition launching tomorrow.
JIM
Competition? Woop!! Awesome jim thanks so much. I hope its open to everyone.
Thanks for reviewing another one of these bars, they have the 3 for 5 offer on and it's always so hard to decide which ones to pick because they're all intriguing.
Having finally won a CM competition :D I am holding out on entering this one with difficulty to give everyone else a fair chance. I hope you all appreciate the marginally improved odds ;)
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