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Before we launch into the taste tests let me first bring you all up to date with who and what William Curley are (credit: WIKI)
"William Curley is a UK based luxury Patissier Chocolatier with stores in both Richmond and Belgravia. The company is owned by William Curley and his wife Suzue Curley. William has won a variety of awards including ‘The Craft Guild Pastry Chef of the Year’, ‘The Caterer’s Acorn Award,’ ‘The Academy of Culinary Arts Award of Excellence’ and ‘British Dessert of the Year.’ Both William and Suzue have represented Scotland in international culinary events, winning Gold medals in Chicago and Basle, and at the Culinary Olympics in Germany in 2004. In 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 William Curley was named ‘Best British Chocolatier."
Those are all some pretty incredible achievements for such a young company/couple. Suffice to say expectations were sky high when they offered me the chance of a samples from their current collection.
As I alluded to above, today I will be showcasing their House White & House Dark 70 chocolates. Both bars came in a smallish 50.0g size and in some of the most beautiful packaging I have seen for a long time. Those of an eco-friendly disposition may want to divert their attention elsewhere for a minute, however I really must stress the beauty of the design work on the outer boxes - it made them look highly premium and only further fueled my excitement.
William Curley House WhiteWe all know that white chocolate isn't my chocolate type of preference so I roped in a few fellow taste testers to help sample this with me. Aesthetically the bar looked terrific and I loved the way it broke with a definitive fresh snap and it's pleasant vanilla scents.
Buoyed by the promising signs being displayed by all alluded to before, its unfortunate for me to have to report that the taste test ultimately felt like a let down. Although far from being the horrible sugary messes that we get from most mass produced white chocolate nowadays, this white chocolate could be best described as lacking character. All three of us that tried the bar were surprised at the lack of flavour generated by the soft melt, and I think all round we were expecting a far stronger tasting chocolate. To say it was tasteless would be a massive over reaction, however the cream and vanilla tones on offer were terribly mild and for me not all that satisfying.
7.3 out of 10
William Curley House Dark 70Back in my more comfortable area of dark chocolate I made sure I tried this one in what I deem my perfect dark chocolate tasting settings - mid afternoon with a freshly brewed black filter coffee.
Just like the white chocolate, this House Dark 70 broke with a terrific fresh snap and emanated some appetising cocoa scents that raised my expectations once again. Well what can I say about this dark chocolate!? ... I was almost tempted to cut and paste a few of the lines from the above white chocolate perspective. Indeed, unfortunately this was another chocolate lacking the desired flavour depth I was hoping for. The dark chocolate on offer here finished as it began - with little flavour development from the initial unsweetened mild cocoa flavours. Like the bar above a mild hint of vanilla was detectable in the finish of the melt, though that aside the layering of flavours was pretty limited. This bars stronger overall taste made it a more satisfying option than the white chocolate, however in the context of other higher end chocolates it did lack presence.
7.6 out of 10
Overall my first experiences with the William Curley range have to be described as somewhat underwhelming. With my expectations fueled by the historical awards, glorious packaging and recommendations from other bloggers, I guess these chocolates were facing a tough task from the outset in order to match up. Even when looking upon them from the generous point of view that they were better than OK standard chocolates, I still cannot hide my disappoint that I didn't think these were a little more special. Luckily for me these two are only the first few chocolates sent from William Curley so there is still plenty of opportunity for them to WOW me.
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58 comments:
Although these haven't scored spectacularly I would still consider trying William Culey out someday. I might try one of his flavoured chocs though, this both do sound a little unexciting. Thank you for the review Jim.
Its cool seeing somone new feature on here but its equally disappointing hearing they didn't impress you too much. I've taken a look at some of the rest of what they do on their website and it does look much more interesting than the plain bars you reviewed today. I hope they fair better for the sake of their rep.
Class photos + write up Jim. Thanks for the honest opinions.
Do they sell their chocolate anywhere apart from their shops and online? If not it sounds like the chances of me trying their chocolate are pretty slim. I still don't like ordering chocolate through the post. Im always so scared about it getting spoilt.
The packaging looks so special its only natural to assume the chocolate would be also. Its funny how rare it is that you find someone who gets both things right. TBH with you I would rather have amazing tasting chocolate and crappy packaging rather than the other way round.
I look forward to your next review from this lot. It will be interesting to see if they can improve.
Ive seen this brand featuring on other sites recently and they have been far more positive about the quality of the chocolate.
Do you think you are judging it with too higher standards? You have been trying a lot of hotel chocolat recently. Perhaps that is clouding your judgement or something.
What disappointing scores. I don't for one minute think this chocolate is going to come cheap either is it :-)
I would look it up myself but I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for @Richard to come and fill us all in with the facts. That guy is a legend on the pricing, he hasn't been around for a while though :-( Come back Richard.
Not the best first showing for a brand I have seen on here hey!? Oh well it sounds like there is some potential in there. I hope for the sake of the reputation of our British chocolatiers he comes good. Great review mate.
Jim have you heard of a brand called Sir Hans Sloane? If you are looking for some more small time Uk chocolatiers I would say they are worth a look. I got some nice pralines from them not long ago.
Willie willie willie!!!!!! Come on William you aren't doing the reputation of our british chocolate makers any good with efforts like these on JCM.
Is this the same guy that had that programme on channel 4? Im surprised to see you haven't thought much of his choc. I have heard from other quarters that it is supposed to be very good.
Ooooh look at you and your fancy new way of photographing your chocolates :P Have you hired someone to make them look all posher now :P
W Curley might not be too happy with what you are saying about his chocs but at least you took some nice photos from him lol.
Those boxes are so pretty =) I think they must have spent more time on them than they did do on the chocolate lol.
You can tell these guys are pretty small time. According to google they only have two of their own shops in richmond and Belgravia and they are both in London.
They sound like they are too fancy pants to do anything up north :( Its so annoying that all of these smaller British companies start in London. I can't think of a decent northern based brand.
These chocolates sound like they didn't cut the mustard at all, how disappointing.
I hope this is a case of you just getting the average/poor stuff out the way first before revealing all of the good stuff he does.
Looking at what they make I want to see some of the chocolate nibbles scored on here. The cinder toffee, caramelised walnuts and gianduja walnuts sound excellent.
You should of bypassed the plain chocolates and just gone for the flavourd versions.
You post so infrequently these says its a double shame when you post about chocolates that aren't worth of our time. You should start prioritising ones that you think are exceptional rather than just putting up anything you get sent.
Hey Jim, great seeing you get a new make of chocolate up on here. Its always nice to see new things and people I haven't heard of before. Thanks so much for the review but it doesn't look like our willie is up to hotel chocolat standards is he lol.
Nice packaging can only get you so far huh!? It does look pretty spectacular but I'm thinking that might just be your photography skills making it look uber better than it really is.
William Curley isn't best of british then huh!? Doesn't patissier mean pastry chef anyway? That could be his first line of trade and chocolates his second? Is that a good enough excuse for you to try some of his cakes lol :)
Rxxx
Well this is hardly the most inspiring start to JCM life is it :( Poor William Curley. I almost feel sorry for them for getting such average marks.
Lol aren't people over reaction. It's hardly like Jim is saying that these chocolate are bad.
The way some of you have reacted to these scores you would have thought they got 4/10 or something.
I see William Curley has a similar thing to Hotel Chocolat with a tasting club. In actual fact if you look at all the details it sounds EXACTLY the same lol. You sign up for a set fee and each month they send you a set of chocolates to taste.
It sounds all good but its a bit pricey for an unknown brand. I would feel much more confident signing up to the HC programme.
I still might give some of their chocolate a try if I see it in a shop. I have seen other reviews on some other websites and they talk a lot more favourably about some of the other bits and pieces they do. If they are anything to go by I think we might see some improved scoring for the next lot we see.
This is why I never like spending that much money on chocolates. Its almost impossible knowing just how good they really are going to be.
When you buy some crappy disappointing chocolate its always annoying but its doubly so if you have to spend a lot to get it in the first place.
The photography is very professional today Jimbo. Are these your own work or just stock photos send to you by William Curley. Congrats if they are yours.
Lmao :) So much for expensive chocolates always being better quality than cheaper ones.
A bar of dairy milk sounds better to me than both these two. I would love to see the £ per kg workings out.
Seeing reviews such as this one are just as good as seeing the ones where you give exceptionally high scores.
Every once and ahwile its just good to see you don't have any 'agendas' to push with certain companies. I haven't ever had any issues with your reviews before but still, the reassurance is a good thing. Keep up the great work.
Do you have a photo of William Curley lol I want to see what the guy looks like :) :)
Hey J,
Cool review man. I think I will just be sticking with my galaxy and snickers bars thanks. Lol I know they are crappy and cheap but at least you know what you are getting with them. The problem with posh chocs is that you end up paying ten times the amount and dont have the assurance of what you are getting.
Cheers
N
P.s. The william curley caramels seem to have won lots of awards? I assume these are in the review line yeh?
Have you managed to find yourself a Flake Allure yet Jim?
I bought one in co-op last night and just ate it. If you haven't got one yet I will happilly send you one. Just let me know and I will e-mail you.
I saw a William Curley stall at one of the latest Choc Festivals in London. I couldnt get anywhere near the stand so I didn't get a chance to buy or try anything unfortunately. Judging by this I didn't miss out on anything that special lol.
Wonderful review J. The standard of your writing has improved markedley in the last few weeks. I was starting to worry you weren't enjoying your reviewing lately. Your effort with the latest few would suggest not so.
Oh dear unless these scores improve I don't think I will ever bother buying anything from these guys. If the chocolate is just average then I wont be paying over the odds for just nice looking wrappers.
Dx
These just sound so average.
Why did you not review their milk chocolate whilst you were at it? Sorry I just think it would have made more sense to cover off the most popular chocolate type rather than the two polar opposites.
I hope you are just holding it back because its going to be awesome. Come on Curley pull it out the bag.
Where would I be without you eh Jim? This is exactly the sort of brand I would have just assumed was really high quality. Everything about the name, way it looks, way it presents itself, lol it looks posher than Hotel Chocolat if you ask me.
These don't sound particularly great. I would have expected the quality to be far better based on the look of the packaging etc. It will be cool seeing what you think of some of their flavoured chocolates if you get around to doing them. They might surprise you in a better way next time, you never know do you :)
It's always a bit of a bummer when you have high expectations for a chocolate product you've not tried before (which you would of multi award winning chocolatiers!) & your expectations aren't met. Always even worse when it's pricey so am glad that we have your reviews to help us avoid such perils haha! ;). Am still looking forward to reading your reviews of the other products they're sent ya Jim to see if any of those impress :) x
Hi All,
Thank you for all the feedback today guys. I'm sure Mr Curley and co will be along at some point to take a look at what you have had to say.
Some of you have mentioned that it might be hard for me writing reviews where I have been disappointed by samples that have been sent to me. Whilst that may be true to an extent, I would like to just clarify that any samples or chocolates that do get sent to me are only done so on the agreement that I get to say what I like about them.
This is a site you can trust 100.0% - I will never be bought in to expressing an opinion on something that I don't believe. I hope you all fully trust my reviews and only take them at face value anyway (I'm only one bloke after all!!!).
KIM - I'm not sure to be honest with you. I had a quick check on their website and they don't appear to do so.
GOLDEN - If anything they are positioned in the same sector as Hotel Chocolat so they should be parity at least. The pricing would suggest they should be anyway.
DUNCAN - No it wasn't the best but there is some underlying potential :D
ESTELLE - I haven't actually. Let me look them up and see if I can get some samples off them :D
GANESH - No that was Willie Harcout Cooze. Totally unrelated chap :D
BRIAN - Indeed packaging can only get you so far. Lets be frank for the majority of people it is all about the chocolate anyway.
RACHEL - Patissier does mean pastry yes. I believe his chocolates are his first line of business nowadays though.
FRANCESCA - I can think of far worse things to have to sign up to haha :D
ANDREW - Well hopefully this is where I help you out a bit :D I hope my reviews provide some clarity for you.
SAM - Thanks its reassuring to know you enjoy these reviews just as much as the ones where the scores are higher.
ANON - Check his website for photo :D
NIGEL - Now you mention a Snickers I fancy one myself :D Make it a Duo bar for me please :D
NICK - Indeed I will be reviewing some of his caramels at some point.
RYAN - Review upcoming ... I wont say anything more than that for the minute :D
BUMBLEBEELOVER - Is this your first comment? I don't recall seeing your username before. If it is welcome to the blog :D Stick around, most folk round here are pretty friendly.
JOEL - They didn't send me a plain milk chocolate bar I'm afraid. If they are after some more reviews I will make sure they include one next time.
LEE - Just remember this is only the POV of one person. Other people might think completely different to me.
ROXY - I think you have good reason to look forward to the next ones. I don't want to reveal too much but things do go on an up.
Thanks for all the nice commets about the review and the photos etc guys & girls. With any luck I'm going to try and get a comment from Mr Curley himself to see what he has to say about things.
Enjoy your evening
JIM
Hi
Sorry it took me so long to comment. If you look at www.williamcurley.co.uk it says that these bars are £3.75. That doesn't sound too bad but then you factor in they are only 50 grams each and that does make them hella expensive.
I wouldn't be chaught paying anything like these prices for the standard that Jim talks about, no way. I would save you ££££s if I were you.
Richard
Thanks for the honest review hun. I know this curley blokey wont be pleased with you in the short term but in the long run he might well thank you :) It doesn't sound like he needs to improve anything to drastically. His chocolate hardly sounds like it is bad or anything. Im hoping that you are going to say to us that when these chocolates get paired with other gubbins and flavours that they come to life. We will have to wait and see what you have to say about that.
Can you confirm whether or not you will be reviewing their nostalgia bars? I want to see what the jaffa cake one is all about.
Knowing you Jim I think you would have requested one of the tea cakes correct?
If you need an extensive list of things that would be cool to see reviewed you only have to say. I will happily oblige for you :D
Not another brand that doesn't put any markings on its chocolate. Sorry I know its not the most important thing in the world but I always think it is a good touch. Imagine if someone got given some without the original cardboard sleeve!!! They wouldn't have a clue as to who made it. Tell me that is a good thing for a small company like these guys. I think not.
I wouldn't have been so harsh in my wording but I sorta agree with @Joel about it being sensible to have reviewed their milk chocolate at the same time. I know they must have plenty of different chocolate strengths but it would have just been good to hear what you thought about it thats all. Im sure you will come to it at some point lol ;)
Mr Curley if you are reading this you really need to sort out your website.
Its impossible to tell what is a link and what isn't. I know this is me being a tech geek but small companies like this need to have superb websites if they are ever got a chance of making anything of themselves. Poor website, poor chance of succeeding imo
Thanks for introducing me to this new brand Jim. I cannot wait to see what you make of some of the more interesting and unique choccies they have.
So these guys are even more expensive than HC but don't make as nice chocolate. Theres only one word for this and thats fail.
That Willian Curley nostalgia range looks like a wicked idea. It would be excellent seeing if he has managed to create the marathon bar of old. The Snickers bar you get these days is loads different to the ones back in the day when it was called a marathon. Lol I wouldn't be surprised at all if you thought more of them than just these plain chocolates.. They at least seem to be trying something different.
You must have been unlucky with these or something. There is no way they would have won all those awards with 'OK standard' chocolate as you put it. They must have some other fantastic chocolates that you just haven't gotten around to yet.
Sometimes I wish I hadn't of found this website =) I now have such high standards I don't like so many of chocs that I used to. 6 months ago I would have said that milkybar was the best white chocolate ever, yet now I can't stomach it for all its sugaryness. The point Im trying to make is that If my standards can change that quickly I've no doubt that yours must have shifted aswell Jim. These probably aren't as average as you think.
What a contrast between all that design work on the boxes and then the just plain blocked chocolate bars. You could say the chocolates look no different to the 39p stuff you buy in the supermarkets. lol it wouldn't be a lie would it!
@Richard you make a bloody good point m8. £3.75 for 50g is mega mega expensive. I don't think you will be catching me paying that anytime soon.
What happened to Wednesdays being bits and bobs day? This doesn't look like a bits and bobs post to me :(
I wont complaing too much ;) At least you gave us a perspective on two chocolates. Im looking forward to seeing what you have for us friday already.
Yet another high quality review. You have been on fire lately, they are such good reads. All your photography + write ups have all been first class man, keep chipping away at the massive world of chocolate.
RICHARD - I admit they do come across as expensive considering they are only 50.0g. I didn't realise they cost that much when I wrote the reviews.
COLIN - I can indeed confirm I will be reviewing the Nostalgia range :D I didn't get the tea cake one though.
DOM - That is a good point. Smaller brands shouldn't ever turn down a branding opportunity.
STU - I don't think the website is hard to use at all. I'm no web designer though :D Just look at the state of this site haha!
LISA - I don't think my standards have changed to be honest with you. I still love chocolates like Dairy Milk and Galaxy every bit as much as I always did. Its the rest of my family that perceive Hotel Chocolat as run of the mill now haha!
LAUREN - Sorry about there being no B&B this week. It will come back next don't you worry about that :D
JUSTIN - Thanks for the kind words chap I really appreciate them. I do try my best :D
JIM
When you are trumpeting how great you are you had better deliver and when you are charging outrageous prices even more so.
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