&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=14&tc=d4d4cc&it=gif&c=round&bgt=gradient&bgc=ad6807&ebgc=d98807&be=on&w=125&h=30){kind=small}
You may have noticed that the Hotel Chocolat summer range grew considerably this year with them adding several new products to their 2011 portfolio. With the newer offerings like the Knickerbocker Glory chocolates taking centre stage, it would have been all to easy to just forget some of the better products of yesteryear. Someone at Hotel Chocolat HQ obviously had the thinking the cap on though - I present to you todays selection box offering, the Hotel Chocolat The Essential Holiday Kit.
This wonderfully presented collection of treats included products I had reviewed in both 2009 and 2010. The selection was made up of Sticky Toffee Minidome Chocolates, Gemstones and a Tiddly Pot full of Raspberry Ripple Puddles - a collective 170.0g of chocolate. As aforementioned I thought the bundle was put together quite phenomenally in terms of it's appearance. All three of the products were contained within a cardboard box that was decorated with a very cool, retro British Summer holiday suitcase theme. Inside all three of the different chocolate offerings had their own packaging style which gave a nice sense of individuality.
Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Gemstones - 'Pieces of fused white & dark chocolate'.
I first reviewed these back in May 2010 (See HERE). To be frank they weren't a product I particularly liked then, and I didn't feel any different about them now a year on. Still a year on I felt bad chewing on the chocolate that I normally liked to just let melt on my tongue. This of course still wasn't a possibility as the waxy glazing agent layer around the pieces meant they wouldn't melt otherwise. On the contrary my Sister and Mother absolutely loved them, and described them as a 'posh persons M&MS'.
Hotel Chocolat Tiddly Pots Raspberry Ripple Puddles - 'White chocolate blended with raspberry crispies'.I first reviewed these back in 2009 (See HERE). Back then I gave them a big ChocolateMission thumbs up and I'm glad to report I would still do the same thing today. Just as I found last time, the creamy, vanilla noted white chocolate hosted a superb, real tasting set of dried raspberry crisp pieces. These puddles were once again a brilliant exhibition of how to match ingredients to create delicious combinations. The only drawback was that the Tiddly Pots container was by no means big enough - it did look cute mind you!! :D
Hotel Chocolat Sticky Toffee Minidomes - 'Milk chocolate shell with sticky toffee sauce, decorated with whit chocolate'These hadn't officially had their own review before, however if you check several of the older selection box reviews (HERE) you will notice that I had previously sampled many different variants in different shapes and sizes. What can I say about these that hasn't been said before!? ... well not much apart from the fact they were as outstanding as I expected. The 40% milk chocolate shells provided all the typical fresh creamy cocoa flavours, whilst the sticky toffee fillings offered equal measures of sweet butter and tempered brown sugar. They could have done with a hint of salt, however this didn't stop all eight of these disappearing within minutes of them being opened.
Overall this was lovely little package that included some of Hotel Chocolat's best summer offerings. As I said at the start of the post, with so many new products out this year its easy to forget some of the better ones that had been released previously. This Hotel Chocolat 'The Essential Holiday Kit' is a great way of making sure that some of the past year products aren't forgotten, whats better is that when bought collectively the package works out much cheaper than buying them individually as well :D For my own personal taste it doesn't contain the optimum mix of products with the Gemstones in there. I would take that all with a pinch of salt mind you considering it was the Gemstones that were my Mother and Sister's favourites. This collection showcases some of Hotel Chocolat's greatest strengths with their caramel and fruit chocolates, it would make a terrific gift for someone this summer.
8.4 out of 10
Posts
55 comments:
Hold the back pages we have a story here don't we folks. Who is this hotel chocolat company eh? Its not like we have seen them before on here he he.
Are you sure it's called the holiday essentials kit?
The box calls itself 'The Carry On' if you look at it.
I know this is said every week but I need to reiterate it again. The photos are so beautiful. You can tell they are staged but they just make the chocolates look so pretty. Give your old dad a pat on the back J.
Rxxx
I'm starting to believe we want differen't things from chocolate now Jim. Lol my favourites out of all of them would likely be those gemstones, closely followed by the puddles if they are exactly how described. Posh m+ms sound like the way forward.
Does it ever get boring saying the same thing week in week out about one company. They must pay well for you to write so much about how great one company is.
This would be a conveniet little package to go halves on with my little sis. I could distract her with those silly puddle things and then nick all of the sticky toffees.
I know how her mind works, she would be straight after the white chocolate the idiot :-)
Fair play to them here. I have thought some of the more recent hc stuff we have been seeing has been a bit dull but they have put together a good mixture of different chocolates with this one.
I would consider buying it as a present for a friend maybe not for myself.
Nooooooo they are sold out on the HC site. This is so unfair, you need to start reviewing things earlier so the seasonal stock doesn't get sold before we get a chance to read the review + buy it. I know we should just presume its going to be good and worth ordering if we fancy it, but I always want to see a review before I buy. Sorry if this sounds like I'm ranting at you, is more of a plea than anything.
I need to get me some of those sticky toffee chocs. Do they do them in packs on their own? It's not the price thats putting me off btw, I would happily pay that. Its just the other two things don't interest me and I would rather have a bigger pack of just the toffee ones.
I like 2/3 of what I see here but I wouldn't want those Gemstones. They sound like a waste of a thing to have in there if they don't get the best out of Hotel Chocolat chocolate.
Are there any similar packages that have different bits and pieces in them? The idea of doing bundles of their smaller things is a gr8 idea.
This is another review you can be v proud of Jim. Top grade photos and writing yet again. You have real flair as a blogger. Have you ever thought of being a journalist and writing about serious stuff or does that not interest you.
Well done Hotel chocolate. They came up with another home run by the looks of this all.
Well this dosen't help matter. I set myself £15 aside to buy some nice chocolates for myself this month. Everything you have reviewed in the last few weeks have all looked and sounded fab. It's the hardest thing ever knowing what to buy now. Lol everything seems to get a choc mission recommendation. You don't make it any easier for us you know =)
I'm loving that suitcase design its tres funky.
Its nice seeing a manufacture putting some effort into their packaging for once. HC can be as lazy as the best of them at times (thinking about all the cellophane packets lol) but they look like they made a real effort here. I think it was worth it myself.
What season of chocolates do they do after this summer lot? I recall them putting up all their christmas chocolates horrendously early last year but not being able to order them for 2 months. I think it spoils the surprise of what they are going to have if they advertise them too early.
I'm loving the looks of the raspberry puddles. The best ones they ever did though were the rhubarb and custard ones which they did like 3 yrs ago. Does anyone remember those?
So you didn't like a thrid of the whole package yet you still give it a mahooooosive score.
8.4 is pretty special stuff, I don't get how you have rated this like that when you hated on the gems. Whats your rationale for that.
Nom nom toffee truffles sounds amazing. I'm still yet to see a review of Hotel Chocs salted caramels Jim. I thought you would have been all over them like a rash knowing how much you love your caramels and stuff. You got to think they have the beating on the cadburys.
Looks all good apart from those puddle things. Not my cup of tea at all.
Awesome. This does look like you get a sweet amount of variety here. This is definitely going to be one of the ones I look for when the sales start up. Thanks for another top review Jim. You are the king of the hotel chocolat reviews aren't you.
No nuts in sight here :)
These look perfect for the little ones. They are getting too used to this hotel chocolate chocolate for my liking. I keep buying it for 'them' so I can get try it all myself lol. The bad thing is that they are starting to notice the difference between good choc and bad choc. This could be an expensive mistake for the future lol
£12 for your lot here. Even I admit that is one heck of a bargain. All that and you get it sewn up in a nice cool briefcase lol :) It would look a random mix of things if you bought them seperately but like this it works for some reason. Top work Jim mate.
Hey J
You see Pools result at the weekend? 6-3 vs a Malaysia XI lol. Charlie adam even scored (we wont mention it was a pen lol). They must have been a bit rubbish if Ngog managed to score two aswell lol. When are you united next playing in America? They are funny these tours they do aren't they. They have to be the most counter productive things ever for their fitness. It must all be about the marketing gains.
Very nice little group of chocolate you get here btw. I would do what a few people have mentioned and use the gemstones and some of the puddles to keep the wandering hands of the rest of my family at bay lol. The tofffee minidomes are gonna be out of this world aren't they :)
Cheers
N
Just how many hotel chocolat reviews are you up to now? It must be nearing the hundred mark. You have one every week at the moment. 3 years and 52 weeks adds up to an awful lot of reviews lol. Keep them coming I say. They are always a good read, even if you do come across a little biased every so often.
This hotel chocolate summer competition still hasn't arrived matey. When and what platform is it going to happen on? Im not signed up to twitter yet but I still watch your page so you don't sneak one in under the radar.
Just amaing photos again J. You got to be spending so long doing them. What package do you use to edit them? They are touched up you can tell lol. Nothing looks that perfect.
Ever since I tried their salted caramel puddles and felt v disappointed with them I haven't bought anything like them.
I just stick with the truffles and the slabs now. You know that you are getting something special with them. I see these as more kids things now.
Jim did you have any luck getting any of the things I sent you on my request list? I didn't hear back from you m8?
Jim I have to thank you so much.
I bought my mum some of those dark chocolate mint creams you talked about so brilliantly a few mondays back.
She absolutely adored them and having nicked a few myself I have to say your review couldn't have been any more on the money. If anyone reading this loves mint chocolates then you have to buy yourself some.
Are you crazy man? Those chocolate gemstones are fit as. I must have bought them like ten times already.
What a perfect set of different chocolates. I know some people will say that it doesn't have any dark chocolate in there, but I personally don't mind that one little bit. It's milk or white all the way for me :)
Dx
I hadn't seen that gemstones review b4. Lol maybe you don't like everything HC make then :p
Im quickly concluding that the day Hotel Chocolat come to Australia it will be the second coming =) Seeing you lot gush over how brilliant it all is so often doesn't half make a girl jealous.
@Andy lol a comment about Christmas chocolates ;-) bit early don't you think.
Saying that I wouldn't be half surprised to walk into a supermarket next week and seeing them have them out. Its starting to get so ridiculous you think it would be worth them having a section put aside in the stores just for them to sell all year long lol.
I saw your tweets about the apprentice Jim. Did you think the right person won lol? It wasn't your fault but you actually spoilt the ending for me. I was travelling back last night and had it on record but saw your tweet about the winner. Just to clarify I'm not blaming you btw. I shouldn't have been so stupid to log on to twitter, its obvious it would of had people talking about it.
It was odd seeing Tom win for me. I thought Helen was odds on.
Whats your beef with the gemstones? You rate normal M and Ms higher than them. Thats just ridiculous.
I think the toffee minidomes and raspberry puddles are two perfect choices but I don't think it would have hurt to have put something with dark chocolate in there. I would have thought something like dark chocolate mint batons (cool ski holiday) or something with dark chocolate and chilli (summer heat) would have made perfect sense to have in there.
Lol we are fussy us lot aren't we :) I should just be ignored I'm sure this is just perfect for what it is.
Lol once again your photos are better looking than Hotel Chocolat's own ones. They should get you doing the ones for their site.
Holiday essential kit? I am going to America next week and their chocolate sucks lol.
Perhaps I should buy one of these travel kits to tie me over during the time I'm out there. It's either that or live off reese's for two weeks. Its the only chocolate from the US I can stand and thats only because of the pb involved.
Jim I have a big recommendation for you! You HAVE to try the new banana slab they have. Honest man it's one of their best IMO. I've tried a fair few of their chocolates as I used to be on the tasting panel so I should know what I'm talking about .... so I claim lol.
I'm well impressed by this one. It was obviously one i had seen on the site before but I didn't bother looking into the detail of it. I'm not all that keen on the puddles but the other two work for me big time.
I really like the idea of this, its very cool! Im curious as to who it is aimed at though.. is it adults wanting a nostalgia trip or a fun things for kids? It seems a bit too grown up for the kids lol
@Carl.. he doesnt touch the pics up but he does have a good camera.. its amazing what you can do with a decent camera!
Hi All,
Apologies for my abrupt reply but this week has started with a right old band at my day job. I'm going to be here all night by the looks of things.
Again thank you for all the kind words that you send the way of myself and my old man. We are becoming quite the team with these Hotel Chocolat reviews aren't we.
The best thing is I should have a new bunch of chocolates coming this week for him to get photographing.
NICK - Haha very funny :D
DAVID - That's what it's listed under on the website.
RACHEL - Staged? I would say more carefully arranged :D
STEVEN - If you sister likes white chocolate I'm sure she probably thinks she's doing the same to you with the Puddles.
ED - I try get the reviews up as quick and as conveniently as possible. With so many things to review it can often be very hard to balance it all chap.
DARREN - They will do separate lots of the toffee minidomes in their stores I should think.
HENRY - This is the only one left in stock on the site at present I think. There were multiple different packages they put together though.
ANDY - There will be some Autumn lines coming out I'm sure. They won't miss out on the chance of launching some new products now :D You know what Hotel Chocolat are like.
TOM - Even though I didn't like the Gemstones I had to consider that some other people I tried them with really like them. Balanced out it was the score I came to. What score would you have given them?
GOLDEN - From what I'm led to believe some salted caramels should be in my next package from Hotel Chocolat. I really hope they are.
LINDA - Indeed no nuts :D I think your kids would probably really like the Gemstones and the puddles aswell. I see what you mean about giving them too nicer chocolate too young though! Haha you are shooting yourself in the foot there.
DUNCAN - Briefcase? Don't you mean suitcase haha!
NIGEL - I did see the friendly results yes. The next United one is Wednesday so against Seattle. Yo are 100% right it is all about the media and marketing. Its just the game they have to play these days.
MATT - Review number 122 ... obviously within them are a few reviews where there have been multiple products. Crazy huh!?
CARL - They aren't airbrushed haha! That would just be going over the top. Everything is in it's natural state.
TERRY - Sorry I've just been so busy. I requested some of the items on your list for my latest sampling package.
SELINA - Fantastic. I'm glad she enjoyed them as much as I did.
VHARI - Could you not tell by my tweets I didn't think the right person won? To be honest with you all the business plans put forward were pants. It was all about picking the best from a bad lot which was disappointing don't you think.
TRICKY - I think those are fair enough suggestions. It's never a bad thing to suggest improvements. Manufacturers appreciate it most the time.
PETER - Request noted.
ALAN - I would lean towards saying it was for kids. The inclusion of the gemstones and puddles would suggest it was more inclined to be aimed at Children than adults fon't you think?
Thanks for the comments today everyone - highly appreciated as always.
JIM
If the sticky toffee ones are anything like the liquid caramel eggs I got at easter then you can give me some of them right now. I still can't believe you havent got an HC caramel in amongst the cadbury and glaxy ones on your leaderboard.
Don't get me wrong they are cool and everything but HC take things to new levels when it comes to chocolate and caramel. Get on it stat Jim.
The only way to get the gemstones is to buy them in this pack now. They don't sell them on their own anymore :(
Thumbs up (two of them lol) for your review today Jimbo. Exceptional photos again, give your dad a pat on the back again. Lol you better be giving him his worth of chocolate.
We are probs nit picking Jim but I agree with you that it would have been cool to see if the wrappers of all the things insider would have been themed on things you take on holiday.
The gemstones could have been in a jewlerry box type thing etc. Just an idea, it's probably unecessary.
Soz jim but I got to go with the person who says you might have overrated this one.
I also don't get how it can get such a good score from you considering you hated the gemstones and didn't think the pot of puddles you got was nearly big enough. Looking at it you even suggested that salt needed adding to the toffee thimbles to make them better. I dunno, 8.4 just looks over inflated.
All of it apart from the raspbery chocolates look right good to me.
The toffee chocolates sound especially special mmmm.
Are gemstones with popping candy in your chocolate hell Jim :-)
Now I think about it I think that they would be a pretty cool idea. I should take out the copyrights before Hotel chocolat nick the idea.
They're charging a good price for this. I think it works out about a fiver cheaper. Don't take that as gospel though I didn't do the all the proper maths, Im no geek :-P
Fab review Jim you've have been so spoilt with all the HC chocs recently. Whats say you share the love and let someone like ickle old me do you a review for you ;) I wont just take yourr chocolate and run I promise. It might not be as good as yours but I'm keen as a bean.
I know this is likely a very silly question but do these all cost less in this package or do they come out as cheaper if you bought them seperately? I'm just thinking they might charge more cause of the packaging etc.
Those gemstones look like mini marbles, they look too shiney for them to be eaten. You almost want to stick them in a clear bowl and use them as a decorative placement for a dinner table lol. Those Sticky Toffee chocs sound very yum.
ROBERT - I have some salted caramels in my possesion right now :D expect a review soon.
OLLIE - Don't you worry his chocolate pay packet is very generous.
NILS - No no! Sensible suggestion if you ask me.
YASMINE - Haha that would indeed be pretty close to chocolate hell for me yes!
FRANCESCA - I will keep this in mind but I'm happy with doing the reviews myself at the moment. Thanks for the offer.
ALEXUS - They are tasty enough not to be used as ornaments :D I don't think they are that bad.
JIM
Post a Comment