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Hi All,
It's been another really great week for the site with record amounts of visitors and some really good chit chat on the reviews. If you are one of my readers who doesn't look at the comment threads on the reviews I would strongly suggest you start doing so. There are a great bunch of regulars and the discussions can get very lively.
Whats gone on in my world this week!? Well not that much to be honest with you folks. I have recieved deliveries from Thorntons and Ritter Sport, but apart from that it has been all rather quiet.
Next week you can expect to see more Hotel Chocolat, Lucky's Cakes and AmericanSoda. Make sure you are signed up to the ChocolateMission Twitter feed HERE. You never know I might have the sudden urge to hold another competition if I get the chance. As ever if you have any products you want to see reviewd please just leave them on the request page.
Have great weekends and remember to visit the NEWS PAGE.
JIM
SNACK OF THE WEEK ..... a new part of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' which will feature any manner of snacking product I have been products munching on in the week
Hands up if you have seen these doing the rounds on the Chocosphere this week :D .... Yeah, you and me both! There I was thinking I was all special this week after recieving these 'Academy of Chocolate 2011 award winning chocolates' through the post from my pals at Thorntons.
As part of their attempts to reshape their somewhat troubled brand image it appears that Thorntons are attempting to remind people just how good some of their chocolates are by sending out some PR samples to us so called 'chocolate experts'. Included in these packs Thorntons included three of their chocolates that won awards at the latest Academy of Chocolate awards ... here are my thoughts on them.
Crunchy Praline - This was a great chocolate that combined a soft yielding hazelnut filling with small crunchy rice cereal pieces dispersed throughout. In terms of taste the woody nut flavours were forthcoming and the outer chocolate had a pleasant creamy sweetness. The rice cereal specs offered little flavourwise, though they brought pleasant addictions texturally. Good.
Raspberry & Rose - This piece was suitably coated with a less sugar intensive dark chocolate which I thought matched the highly sweet centre well. Once again the mouthfeel of the soft filling was pleasant against the crisp outer chocolate, though I wasn't all that taken by raspberry and rose flavours. Though distinctive I thought they were highly reminiscent of Thorntons' standard Turkish Delight bar which didn't make it feel like an altogether 'special' award worthy chocolate. More could have been done with the raspberry. Standard.
Vanilla Caramel - Given the amount of caramels I have tried in my time this was probably the one they were going to have most problems impressing me with - to my surprise they did! This was a delightful caramel that had both a wonderful mouthfeel and a terrific flavour delivery. The filling was soft and slightly viscous in texture, whilst the taste had elements of butter, salt, vanilla and cream all in one. It wasn't the best ever caramel, but it was still highly enjoyable. I wouldn't mind a box of these. Superb.So where can you get some of these 'award winners' yourself? Well you can head over to Thorntons HERE and keep an eye out for the £100 'Wonder box' that these will be included in to celebrate their 100 year Jubilee year. Here's hoping they also come out with a more realistically priced offering eh!? :D
8.3 out of 10
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30 comments:
If this is a genuine attempt by thorntons to improve their quality perception then I really welcome it. Its about time they cut the crap and just focused on producing the better quality chocolate.
The reviews this week were all top notch Jim. Thanks so much for them all, have a good weekend.
More and more stunning choccie photos, this site is such a tease. Do you do this on purpose with all these lovely looking caramel photos all the time.
Dx
Thank heavens thorntons have started to see the light. I was getting worried about them, if they had just continued marching down the road they were going on it wouldn't have been too long before people started giving up on them. Their chocolate had taken a noticeable dip in quality in the last few years. They seem to just be content in releasing cheaper and cheaper products.
Awesome stuff this week Jim. Your news page could do with an update though ;)
I thought the whole idea of your snack of the week feature was so that you posted about things that weren't just chocolate?
This is leading me to believe that chocolate is the only food you eat/drink now lol. There are other foods you know.
When is the next twitter competition going to happen. I've been watching your feed all week but you haven't said anything yet.
I have faith in Thorntons. I think they are going to turn over a new leaf and surprise us all. I hope they do.
Hey J,
You must have been happy with united sealing up Ashely Young. I think he was one of the best players in the league last season. Hes so under rated its ridiculous, I would have loved it if liverpool had got him.
Its funny you should have a thorntons review up today becuase I plan on going there later to get my sister her birthday present. I don't think I will be stretching as far as the £100 mark for her but I will take a look out at the counter to see if they are selling any of these as individual chocs. I think its much better putting together your own selection because then you can 100% match it to the persons tastes.
Cheers
N
Impressive pics again Jim. You should really start watermarking them though. These companies might realise your photos are better than their own and start nicking them off you lol.
Can you post a picture of yourself jim! I'm intrigued to put a face to the name.
Have you seen this story about Kit Kat launching in Brazil now Jim?
http://www.nestle.com/Media/NewsAndFeatures/Pages/Kit-Kat-arrives-in-Brazil.aspx?WT.mc_id=KitKatBrazil_twitter_nf_24062011 It wont be long before they are everywhere.
I thought snack of the week was just meant to be a short review lol. It's been getting longer and longer since you started it man. You should just make it like the others now lol.
I was thinking about this the other day J. What has been your favourite chocolate thing of 2011 so far. We are past half way in the year now. What do you think is going to win the award at the end of the year?
It pains me to think what thorntons have done to what was once an awesome reputation.
I've no idea why they decided to shoot themselves in the foot by making all those silly cheapo products. If they had just stayed true to what they were at the start they would be in a far better position than they are now.
I would like to believe this about Thorntons but it was only yesterday I saw that they had a new big box of chocolates knocked down to half price in Sainsburys. That made £3 which is hardly what you would expect to be paying for a classy box of chocolates is it. No one is going to be made to feel special recieving them now are they!?
Lol I wouldn't want any of those three chocolates that have won awards. I don't like turkish delight, nuts or caramel :) if anything they picked the perfect combination of chocolates I normally stick well away from.
Jim i've picked out a few products I want to see you review on HC and american soda. Where abouts do you want me to leave the list. I can post it directly on here if you wish?
I don't think you understand the influence you have on the chocolate world now Jim. Don't ask why but I was searching google for 'Kit Kat Senses Caramel' the other day and your site was the first results it picked out.
I then tried it for loads of other chocolates and the same thing happened :) Its remarkable, these companies are going to be after you if you start saying their chocolates are rubbish lol.
Its about time thorntons bucked up their ideas. Some of their products recently have just been embarassing.
Thorntons have that cloudy lemonade white chocolate on their website now J. When is the review coming again? Sorry if you have said already hun.
Rxxx
Jim I saw this new countline of mcvitie's chocolate biscuits yesterday. I thought they might be of interest to your dear self my friend.
They are listed on tesco http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=268726474 but it doesn't have any details about them im afraid. They are called 'Quirks'.
This extra thorntons review is a real treat Jim. The photos aren't as good as the Curley ones yesterday bbut boy they still look mega tasty man.
The one standing out to me in this lot is the raspberry rose one. The other two aren't exactly chocolates we have never seen b4. I swear it was in the last Hotel Choclat selection you did that you reviewed two chocolates that were exactly the same as the caramel and crispy praline. I know you rated these highly but compared to them what did you think?
About time Thorntons woke up and started making decent chocolates again instead of that pushing their god-awful 'continentals'c**p.
These look nice, although I think they could be better. They do at least look nice! I think that was the box I was talking about before Jim, the £100 one, very expensive isnt it! I was puzzled though when I clicked you Thorntons link and nothing came up - then I realised it had taken me to Hotel Chocolat :P lol
I'm intrigued by this Ritter Sport delivery. What did they send you J?
Fingers crossed Thorntons follow this promise through and do show they are going to concentrate on their product quality more going forward. Lol if some of the stuff they are doing gets any worse then they might aswell just give up now imo.
Hi All,
I agree with what a lot of you are saying here. It is nice to see Thorntons seemingly look like they are back focusing on quality again. Lets hope they take a single-minded approach and keep this as their key focus going forwards.
RYAN - I'll make sure next weeks SOTW isn't conventional chocolate.
MYSTERIO - I'm not completely sure when the next comp is going ahead. I have some things t give away minf you.
NIGEL - Indeed Young is a great signing for United. Indeed I agree that its always best to create your own selections. Unfortunately its not always possible though is it.
JO - Good advice. I will get some watermarking software to sort me out!
ANDREW - I hadn't seen that chap. I wonder what a Kit Kat Chunky 3 is!? Hmmm sounds intriguing.
LUCY - Send them to my e-mail or leave them on the request page please.
RACHEL - They should be sending over some more samples to. I just need to do the photos. I've already written the reviews :D
HENRY - Honestly!? If we are talking about the same chocolates here then I think the Hotel Chocolat ones were better myself.
ALAN - Thanks for telling me about the broken link chap. I will fix that when I have a minute.
BAZ - The new cookies and creme bar! Review coming soon.
Thanks everyone - I hope you guys had great weekends.
JIM
Tried to buy some of these but I was told they are not making them anymore. Looks like they have given up making anything decent, what a pity, its no wonder thorntons are going down the pan.
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