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Ask and you shall receive ChocolateMission fanatics :D If you have been checking out the site for the last few weeks you will not doubt have seen that the Hotel Chocolat Monday's have been in full flow. Feedback in those reviews has often come in the form of further requests - a notable sum of them being calls for me to review the rest of the Knickerbocker Glory range. The first variant I reviewed from this range did very well on the ChocolateMission rating system (See Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Neopolitan review HERE), so further joys were expected from both these Peach Melba and Mint Choc Chips flavours.
Just as with the Neopolitans, both of these came in 110.0g packets that comprised of ten truffles in each. I'm sure you will agree, the presentation of both was very impressive. The Peach Melba truffles aesthetically caught the eye with their vivid bright pink outer shells. The Mint Choc Chip ones were more notable for their forthcoming minty scents that emerged as the plastic packet was split.
Below are my thoughts on each - my taste testing helper panel this time consisted of various family members.
Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Mint Choc Chip - 'Mint ganache covered in dark chocolate with dark chocolate chips'. For some reason or other (i.e. I have no idea why!?), Hotel Chocolat don't seem to offer the broadest selection of chocolate mint products. Their Hotel Chocolat Midnight Mint Collection impressed in the past, however if you think about just how many truffle collections of their's I have tried, it is a little puzzling why their seems to be such a limited amount. Believe me, this all becomes increasingly more puzzling when they prove they can make truffles like these, which were simply nothing short of outstanding. The 70.0% dark chocolate which coated each truffle substantiated coffee noted unsweetened cocoa flavours from the outset and these shells were the perfect foil for the utterly gorgeous minty fillings below. Exceeding all expectations, the peppermint ganache was smooth on the tongue, creamy and had just about the right level of mintyness. These two contrasting elements made for an altogether sensational flavour experience which was loved by one and all. Chocolate mint fans - this is your ecstasy!!
9.1 out of 10
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Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Peach Melba - 'Peach ganache in white chocolate, coated in raspberry powder and icing sugar'. Whenever the words Hotel Chocolat and any sort of fruit get mentioned in our household there is always a great deal of interest shown. Being a lover of peaches ("the flesh not the skin" so she tells me at every given opportunity :D), my mother was hugely keen on trying these so I didn't deny her the pleasure. To be honest it's lucky for Hotel Chocolat that I did draft her in to help me here, as I personally didn't find these to my taste. Personally I wasn't keen on the make up of the outer shells, as I thought the icing sugar and raspberry dusting were somewhat uncessary. Indeed they added colour to the truffles, but for me they changed the usual taste of Hotel Chocolat white chocolate which I thought this time was more intensely sugary. My mother was undeterred by this of course and was more focused on the peach filling which by all means was very tasty. It delivered contributions of peachy fruit and cream in equal measures - the minor tartness of the peach was highlight and didn't at least temper the sweetness of the chocolate partially.
8.2 out of 10
Overall these were both good standard truffles, though for me the Mint Choc Chip really stood out as something special. All three of these Hotel Chocolat Knickbocker Glory flavours have been pretty good and I would suggest you give them a try if any of the flavours whet the appetite. I'm now heading off to hide the rest of the Mint Choc Chips ones from wondering hands :D
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61 comments:
Jim my man! Could those truffles look any nicer if you tried. Lol you always do such a nice job of making them look so stunning in your photos. Good work m8.
Cor you don't hang around with these requests do you. I swear I only saw people asking you for these to be reviewed last week. Good work Jim, im not too sure either of these are for me though. They aren't two flavours that appeal to me all that much.
I know I always say this but drool drool drool over that pic of the peppermit truffle. That just looks so delicious. I just want to reach into my screen and scoop out that mint cream. Amaze.
Dx
Omg im so glad I waited to see the reviews of these. Lol I nearly put in an order the other night without putting myself down for any of the mint choc chips. I convinced myself they weren't going to be that nice but im so glad I decided to wait it out until I saw them here. Thanks so much for such an excellent review of them.
Awesome. Anything that gets a nine off you has to be something special. If I see those mint choc chip next time im in HC im going to be all over them. I might see if I can get a cheeky sampler from the person at the till lol.
Well done for taking our advice and getting someone to help you out with your white chocolate reviews. I think me and your mum must like the same sort of chocolates because everytime you make reference to her I always agree with what she says. She obviously knows what she is talking about ;)
Rxxx
These are both going to be some of the first things on my next order. I hope they still have stock by the time I next get paid.
Fab review man. Have you asked Hotel Chocolat about doing us a competition in the near future. You normally do a few a year and we haven't had one yet.
If they needed flavours for this knickebocker truffles they should have made a banana split one. I would have much rather of had them and not the peach.
Im not a fan of peaches so I will do without those ones. The mint chocolate chip are a different story altogether though. Now you have bigged them up this much I can't possibly let them pass me by without trying them. Cheers for the tip off mate. I hope they live up to me expectations now lol.
These knickbockers chocolates sound brilliant. Im contemplating popping down HC at lunch to treat myself now, I don't think I will be able to resist if I look at those choccies much longer lol.
These Hotel Chocolat mondays are what make my monday mornings half bearable. Lol I hate coming into work knowing there is a full week ahead but the first thing I always do is log on here and see what you have put up.
These are the first 'MUST BUY' chocolates I have seen on here for a few weeks now. I think I will get some of the neopolitans whilst I'm at it. If only they had done a mixed selection of these Knickerbockers
Are those the best scoring chocolates this year? I don't remember anything scoring better! They look stunning.
Lol the weekly advertisement for Hotel Chocolat is up again this week I see =)
Im going to wait until they put some sort of deal on these knickers ones. Im hoping they will do like a 2 for 3 so then I can try all of the flavours and not just a few of them. If I had to choose the three I think it would be these two I would go for ....... but then I would be missing the neopolitan ones. Oh please don't make me choose between them lol.
£8 for ten truffles sounds bad doesn't it? I don't know if I consider that expensive or not myself. I guess not if they are as good as you say the mint ones are.. Thank you for the reviews today.
As I don't like mint the neopolitans still sound best to me.
It was still nice seeing the other two flavours get posted though. Thanks for letting us know how good they are J.
Its nice to hear of a fruit chocolate that tastes like it is supposed to. It's too often these days that you come across these generic tasting fruity chocs. A perfect example are some of the new ones in the latest Thorntons summer box. Im talking about this one here http://www.thorntons.co.uk/p/auntie/3445.html
Honestly some of the new ones they have in there are just so same old same old. You can hardly tell the difference between a blueberry and a strawberry chocolate.
Grrr I've just noticed I didn't win the twitter competition last week. I retweeted so much I thought I had to win. DOH!
More awesome reviews Jim. I don't expect any less from you now.
Killing two birds with one stone on Hotel chocolate monday! I like your thinking here!
I was interested in those peach melba ones for awhile but now I think either of the other two are going to be more my thing.
When you think about it there are hardly any mint chocolates available for the everyday buy. Even these are only going to be only bought for special occasions. I still think there is an opportunity there for someone like cadburys or mars to get stuck in and create something half decent.
I just love looking at your truffle photos. They always looks soooo good.
Did anyone ever find out what the heck knickbocker means? I asked on the last review but no one ever got back to me on it. Is it just a random work or summit?
Im not going to be able to put in any online buys through for a few weeks now because im about to go on holiday for two weeks. I hope they still have these on sale when I get back. Lol they better do anyways.
Out of interest Jim what did your mum say you should rate the peach ones? Is your score dragging the one she would have given them down?
Hey J
See the U21 football last night? Jesus what a letdown those guys were. Conceding the two goals in the last minute was harsh but it wasn't as of they looked convincing at all anyway.
Loving your HC work again today btw. I don't like mint chocolates but im always open to any fruit ones they do. Peaches aren't my favorite either but I still think those sound nice with the raspberry in them.
Cheers
N
Oh no I don't know what to get now. The lemonade slab or these mint truffles. Ack I can't afford both so its going to have to be either/or? :-S :-S Somone choose for me. I fancy both equally now.
What a fabulous start to the week for JCM. Hopefully the rest are going to be this good.
Its almost as if Hotel Chocolat can do no wrong these days. Im not denying they don't deserve the acclaim. It's just tremendous to see that one company scores so consistently. We can only congratulate them I suppose.
They need to do a dark chocolate slab with mint. It wouldn't be too hard just making one that has peppermint oil or something in it. If they did a dark chocolate one im sure it would be brilliant.
well well I find this astounding. Hotel Chocolat on a good score? This I didn't believe I would ever see on this site ... :-P
lol im not in the slightest surprised to see these were recieved well. You must love it when your readership requests you review these things. It must be such a pleasure.
If anyone is liking the look of the mint choc chip ones you should just try their full on selection of minty chocolates from. I think jim has a review of them somewhere.
ahh found it http://www.chocolatemission.net/2010/10/october-28th-hotel-chocolat-midnight.html The only problem is that its not featuring on their website at the mo. I hope they haven't stopped doing them. I planned on buying them for my mums birthday coming up.
Sensational review Jim. Amazing pics, the ganache fillings just look stunning.
£8 is perhaps a little pricey but if they are as good as you say they are then you could probably justify it to an extent.
Personally im always keen on trying minty chocolates so the mint choc chips ones are shouting out to me that I need try them. We will see, I might wait to the sales and chance it.
Wow, both of these sound fantastic to me. I'm not a big fan of mint chocolates but these sound great. And the peach sounds even better, right up my street.
@Golden_Touch - I know what you mean, I've had Thorntons fruit cremes before and even though they were supposed to be different flavours, they all tasted pretty much the same.
Ha ha I don't think you could have made my roll pack of after eights look any more crappy now Jim thanks so much lol. They sound so unworthy next to your photo of that mint truffle. I think I would give up my whole pack of these after eights just for one half of the hotel chocolat ones.
Well, whatever the ratings may say, I still don't like mint :)) My mother called me yesterday to tell me about a new summer range from a local chocolate maker and I told her to just buy the lemon and the cherry chocolates and leave the mint version out.
But the Peach Melba chocolates look and sound lovely. Perhaps I'd like them to have a thinner shell and more filling, but other than that... they seem perfect to me.
PS - Is there any chance you could review the Hotel Chocolat Summer Desserts Choc 8?
Ooh I do like a qualidee mint chocolate...infact I'm even happy with a simple After Eight so these HC truffles sound awesome!! Wicked review dude x
I am not usually a big fan of mint flavored chocolate either, but those chocolates look amazing! Plus, with a rating like 9.1 out of 10 they can't be too short of amazing. I will have to try and find those!
-Alyssa Steffes- CoolProducts.com
Hi All,
This wasn't at all predictable this review was it haha :D Yes indeed Hotel Chocolat strike gold again. What can I say!? I can only write about what I taste now.
I still can't rate the Mint Choc Chip ones highly enough. Unfortunately I've now run out of them - sad times.
Thanks for all the nice comments about the photography today. As you can probably guess these were done by my old man. I'm sure he will be smarting to me later on about all your kind words etc.
DAVID - I believe they are sampling the Rocky Road slab in their stores this week. That is what they tweeted earlier.
RACHEL - Are you insinuating that I don't appear to know what I'm talking about regarding white chocolate now? Cheeky!
ANON - I will enquire about a competition for you.
JUSTIN - I hope they live up to your expectations to. I hate it when people say that to me. I don't want them to be disappointed.
ANON - Check the tag marked 9 on the left hand side nav. They are indeed one of the best scorers for the year.
RICHARD - Are you saying you would rather £8.00 for a ten truffles than £9.00 for a single cake. I can't think what would make you think that now haha :D
GOLDEN - I was considering reviewing that until your comment. I think I might put it off for the time being now.
GANESH - I think you make a good point there. There is certainly a gap in the market for one of the companies to swoop in. The Aero mint is a good option mind you.
LUCY - According to the packaging, Knickerbockers are a type of trouser!???
HAZEL - The score given for the Peach ones are an average of both my score and my mothers. I thought that was the fairest way to do it.
NIGEL - The U21s were abysmal weren't they. England going home early in a competition ... haha that is about as predictable as me giving Hotel Chocolat a high mark on a monday morning.
PHIL - It sounds to me like you might have to do some Hotel Chocolat investing then chap. Given your tastes I would suggest you prioritise trying the peach ones if you have to choose between them.
HENRY - Haha sorry about that. I hope they still satisfied.
ANA - Request noted!
ALYSSA - Please don't advertise on my site without asking!!
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm currently compiling Bits n Bobs for Wednesday! It should be a good one!
Cheers
JIM
Yummy. I hadn't spotted either of these on their website before (probably because I haven't looked for ages lol). I think they are going to have to be bought at some point now though. The rating of the mint chocolate chip ones has me exceptionally interested now. We don't really get that many mint truffles aside from after eights etc. Its nice just to have another option if anything.
Your mum has great taste in chocolates jim ;-P I think she should do a guest review for the next white chocolate cause you obviously don't appreciate them as much as she does.
For me the peach melba are the more fancyable out of the two. I hope you didn't underscore them.
I think I can just about resist these for the time being. Lol If they are still around by the time i go to one of their stores for a present or something I can't promise I will leave without the mint ones lol.
Im going to buy 2 out of the 3 of these Knickerbockers when I can. The neopolitan and the mint truffles are marked men :-) Lol Im so excited about trying them now.
Its about time we saw a proper chocolate product get a 9 rating. I just looked back and a few cakes have got the elusive score, not any truffles or chocolate bars for ages though. Well done HC.
Ewww mint is not something Iike my chocs flavoured with. I've zero interest in that one at all though the peach ones would be ones I would consider if I couldn't get the neopolitans.
Im trying to think of some better flavours of ice cream they could have done. Perhaps just a sorbet themed one would have been nice? Cookie dough would have been so good but I think thats to americanised for HC.
Terrific review thanks J. I do hate Mondays but you always put a smile on my face when I see you enjoying hotel chocolat goodies each week. Lucky you.
Fanatic? How, how dare you...oh all right :D Whoever thought of putting peach and chocolate together deserves a medal, a chocolate one. (And so does your father, for those photos!) I wonder why they call those knickerbockers. Maybe cause they're colorful? I always think of golf ones: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.aolnews.com/media/2009/07/john-daly-reality-television-show.jpg
PS Jim have you seen these? They could be a hot chocolate candidate. They're much better eaten as is though :D
http://girliegossip.com/cadbury-creates-%E2%80%98hot-choc-chunks%E2%80%99-to-melt-in-your-mug/
Jim,
I tried to email you through your contact tab but that link doesn't seem to be working if you want to take a look at it.
I am sorry that it came off like that and did not mean for it to. It is basically just a way that I find to relate to others out there in the social media community.
I am interested in your blog and will continue to keep up with it as much as I can and definitely want to respect you as the blogger.
Happy posting!
-Alyssa Steffes
Your mother must have far better taste than you Jim :P They have made similar sounding chocolates to those peach melbas in the past in other chocolate boxes they have had. I have always thought they have been great so I would expect the same of these.
I didn't need much convincing after I had looked at the photos but your words have really sold those mint ones to me. I don't think I am going to be able to resist them next time I go in to hotel chocolate. Lol I might actively avoid their shop just to save my credit card the extra woe.
Jim thanks for getting this reviewed so quickly. Had they sent them to you already or something? I only mentioned them on the review last monday lol.
I have to agree with what someone said above about your pictures of truffles btw. They are just way too nice looking. I really shouldn't allow myself on here when im feeling hungry.
You've clearly been totally spoilt these last few weeks Jim. You've had some amazing chocolates to eat lately. Count yourself lucky that such an amazing company are willing to send you their chocolates.
Why didn't they make the filling of the mint choc chip ones green like all traditional mint ice cream is :) That will be my only complaint by the looks of these today.
You've set them up nicely for my own ruling now Jim. Im expecting a lot from these now lol. No pressure Hotel Chocolat.
I swear they used to do a chocolate mint slab. Don't hold me to that, im not 100% certain. One thing I do know for sure is that they should bloody do!!!!!!!! It doesn't make any sense at all that they don't. I would guess that mint chocolates are one of the most popular flavour combos around.
I like your description of the peach ones. I like my chocolate super sweet (big time milkybar lover here) so that doesn't bother me in the slightest. One of my fave desserts is tinned peaches in syrup, I have them all the time with custard and cream. These chocs could be just the ticket.
boy you can tell what company pays the most for advertisment when a hotel chocolate is reviewed
JULIE - If my mother reads that she wont let me hear the end of it :D Oh well its good to hear that the 2nd opinions are worthwhile giving.
THEA - I have indeed seen those. When the cold winter nights return im sure the hot chocolate reviews will too. Thanks for the suggestion.
LISA - No problem. You know I like doing reader requests. Its how I keep my content relevant :D
COLIN - I think they probably wanted to keep the colourings out of their. I personally don't care about that myself but I think they have to state on the packaging if they use them.
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