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I have to admit that I've been chomping at the bit to review these for absolutely ages. Until now Hotel Chocolat have puzzlingly not had a product offering solely dedicated to their Salted Caramels available in their online store, however the recent launch of a new range called 'Spotlight On' has recently seen one come to market. As you can imagine, this was right at the top of my request list that I sent along to Hotel Chocolat when asked about new samples. The promise of 'smooth liquid caramel with a pinch of sea salt in milk chocolate shells' sounded familiar and given my previous encounters with said combination I knew I was in for a marvellous treat.The new 'Spotlight On' range consists of some of Hotel Chocolat's most popular individual chocolates and are line priced at £13.00 a box (See HERE). That investment there will buy you a box of 21 chocolates that collectively amass to 150.0g - enough to share but honestly you wont want to be doing any of that nonsense :D The packaging and presentation of this new 'Spotlight On' range is relatively consistent across the different offerings, and I personally think it looks very classy with it's combination of the typical white on black branding and simple communication imagery of the chocolates in question.
Although I've already referred to the idea of sharing of these being a nonsense, the Old Man and Mother were at hand to provide second and third opinions due to their photography skills being called in to action. After a period of refrigeration and painstakingly tempting time spent photographing these chocolates we all finally got to dig in and I'm glad to say Hotel Chocolat didn't fall below expectations. The outer milk chocolate was crisp in it's cream and sweet cocoa flavours and the base melted away on the tongue like a dream with it's tremendous smoothness. Sat at the heart of each piece the cool liquid caramel slowly oozed it's way out of the chocolate and soon took a hold of the taste. It's buttery, sweet toasted sugar butterscotch notes were elegantly balanced by just the finest suggestion of salt. The only words I need use to describe this are delicious, sweet caramel heaven.
Overall I don't care how predictable this all sounds, these were quite simple outstanding. The simple, yet classic combination of the milk chocolate and caramel was executed to near perfection with one and the other combining to create a tremendous synergy. The rating I've given these I think reflects the total package. Do I think they taste better than the Cadbury Caramel and Galaxy Caramel - yeah sure they do. Do they cost more than the aforementioned offerings - you betcha! A level rating with these products is what I believe to be the fairest thing to do. We would probably all love these to be able to afford Hotel Chocolat everyday, but for 90.0% of us this just isn't reality. For special occasions though I can't recommend these enough. If you love milk chocolate and caramel combinations you needn't look further for a special treat. Hotel Chocolat fully deliver here, I will leave you with the word 'Excellence'.
9.4 out of 10
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68 comments:
Yikes I thought we had a new JCM winner for the minute there. 9.4!?!? Man you must have thought these were incredible, I've never logged on the site before and seen you giving something that much kudos.
Well done Jim. Fantastic review, the best in a while.
This review just convinced me to make my first ever hotel chocolat purchase. If this is a letdown I know who I'm coming after Jim.
I don't know what i'm more jealous of. 1. You get to eat chocolates like this all the time or 2. That you can write such beautiful reviews. This is the best review ever.
Dx
Oh my these look sensational. I don't consider chocolate caramel one of my favourite things but if you are telling me these are as good as you say they then I need to get myself aqcauinted with some.
Hey hun. Don't you worry about being told your predictable I think we can all tell that these are of the highest order. I'm loving how simple they are for the main part. They aren't claiming they have super special ingrdients from fancy places, or contain antioxidants or other just as crummy claims. These just sound like chocolates of the highest order. I want some.
Rxxx
God we've seen HC love ins before but this is just taking things to whole new levels.
Has anyone else tried these? Are they as good as he's promoting.
We were so close to getting a new Chocolate Mission leader. So close!!!
I'm starting to wonder whether you are ever going to have that 85% stuff beaten. Is it still the best after all this time Jim?
I didn't mind the reviews we've had for the last two weeks but I do like seeing HC back on my monday mornings. I often end up promising myself to whatever you review at the end of the week. In a small way it helps me power through my monotomous week. I hate my job so much :( I want to review chocolate for a living.
Man U winning and eating chocolates like these. You sure have had it hard the last few days haven't you Jim ;)
The logic you've applied here to relate these to the cadbury and galaxy caramels is really sensible. I like the fact you acknowledge that these are going to taste nicer but hit you harder in the pocket.
It's a v good way to bring everything on to a level playing field. You could buy about 23 cadbury caramels for just one box of these btw. That gives some perspective doesn't it.
FoooooooodPoooooooorn alert!!!!!
The caramel seeping out looks amaze nom nom nom!!!
I have a new box of chocolates topping my wishlist now =) These just look and sound the sex. I think you should have included a little competition for us to win a box at the end =) That would have just gone down a storm.
If you have any leftovers you know you can send them to me right ;)
Hey J
First off I'm loving the review today. It's always good to read the ones where you really get in to it. It must be tiresome having to write about some of those average chocs you have to do. Today it's pretty obvious you were well in to giving these a good report. Congrats.
Secondly did you enjoy the football yesterday lol :-) I know you went!
Cheers
N
Jim can we see some reviews of the following pls:
- Rum Truffles
- Marzipan
- Midnight mints
Whovever devised this new spotlight on set of chocolates needs to be awarded some kind of medal. IT should mean no that we can buy eton mess chocolates all year round. How cool is that going to be :) :) Loving that.
Another A+++ review Jim. Congratulations.
Am I right in thinking this is the best rated product in 2011? I'm expecting it to clean up the awards at the end of the year lol. The only other chocolate I remember doing half as well is the Valrohna one you did two weeks ago. I didn't think we would see that one getting beat anytime soon.
Some of the other chocolate makers could do worse than look at what is going on here. Focus on making top quality produce and reap the rewards. Simple really. It's hardly entering the realms of rocket science.
I've had similar from Hotel Chocolat b4 when they did those filled eggs for Easter time. One of the varieties they had in there was salted caramel and that one did come with a dark chocolate outer shell. The day they make them in a box is the day I think we will see you give out a mark that beats the 85%.
One day its going to happen I know it ..... lol it has to or everything after the first 3 months of your reviewing will have just been a waste of time.
Yo man you sure know how to turn a brother green. Sick review G.
The break from Hotel Choc wasn't that painful but it's great seeing them back.
I'm so impressed by these, I love caramels (salted ones in particular) so these are just sounding like they are newar perfection for me. I can't imagine I will have the willpower to turn them down when I see them.
Jim you will be happy to know I've listened to every word you've said and I've just ordered some of these off the Hotel Choc store. You'll be even more pleased to hear that I did so clicking through one of your sneaky link so you should get credited with some monies ;)
The only thing wrong with this review is that you haven't given them 10/10.
I don't like caramels that taste salty. I prefer sweet things just to taste sweet. It confuses my taste buds too much when the chuck stuff like salt in the mix.
Anyone else here starting to think they need to start chocolate reviewing :-)
I know not everything is this good but man, it can't be a bad life getting stuff like this to eat and only having to write about how good it is.
Just go work for hotel chocolate you are obviously in love with them. They can't do anything wrong in your eyes.
I should've learnt to avoid this place on Mondays by now. My poor credift card I can hear it whimpering in my bag now lol. My partner is going to kill me when the box of these arrive lol. I have ordered from them so often now he know when one is from hotel chocolat. He can tell by the gift message thing they put on top of the box. I might see if they can leave it off.
I'm all excited now I've never seen something getting score that high. I'm loving that picture of them you did. Just looking at that caramel in the middle sends a little shiver down my spine. I need to be getting me some of these asap.
Eugh, why oh why does this stuff have to be so expensive. I wish they did them in smaller batches so pennyless people like me can afford them. I wouldn't be able to fork out for this size box but if they did mini packs of say 3 for £2 I would buy one in an instant.
x
x
Err you might want to update your leaderboard m8. It's well outdated now.
You need to get yourself an assistant or something.
I saw the photo of Wemberly on your twitter feed Jim. Look like you had some great seats.
I guess you must have been loving that result. I didn't see it coming at half time I will give you that man.
Are you going to running any Hotel Chocolat competitions soon? You used to do them all the time but now you haven't had one for almost a year (lol I went back and checked!!!!!!!!)
Are you not getting as much from them now or are you just keeping it all for yourself. Lol I wouldn't blame you if they are as good as these lol.
I thought these would have cost at the least £15. I think £13 is a little bit of a steal myself. Heres hoping they do some epic £20 for 2 packs one day. That would just be wicked.
You should become a critic of some sort Jim. You ways of describing foods is wasted on just doing chocolates and snacks.
These people just send you these chocolates without you paying? Good god I need this job. What a genius you are for setting up a site like this one. I can tell by the attention to detail you give everything you must have to work a little hard at it, but still mate, life can't be hard if you are just reviewing chocolate you are sent for free. Was it always like this or when you started up did you buy everything? I'm intrigued to hear more about how you run this site. DO you get paid to write about any of these? If you do I think I might just bow down and kiss your feet. Anyone that can pull off getting paid for chocolate writing is the man.
In case anyone is wondering this is the highest thing Jim's rated this year. I can't say I blame him. I would have given them over a 9 to. The similar hotel chocolate toffee chocolates I got for my birthday looked well similar and they were just OOTW. Class review Jim.
Jim i've recently seen that Hotel Chocolat have now added a box of turkish delight to their line up. Would you be prepared to do us a review of it? Is this allowed within the JCM rules or does absolutely everything have to contain choc? I would appreciate seeing your thoughts about it man. If it is against your rules you could bend them just this one time nudge nudge.
You should submit your photos for competitions!!!! That one with the caramel coming out is just incredible. DO WANT.
Ps. Jim I forgot to say thank you for starting that competition. I know you said you didn't want peeps commenting at the weekend so I didn't. I just wanted to make sure I said thank you though.
Personally I would have rated these ten times higher than cadburys and galaxy caramels. These taste of so much more than those sugary messes.
If I were given the option of 10 of either of them or just one box of HC caramels I wouldn't hesitate for a second picking the Hotel Chocolat. I think that would be applicable to the vast majority.
I've never ordered chocolate online but these has me seriously rethinking things here.
The whole idea just doesn't seem right to me :S I think it's just a bit crazy getting something sent through the mail when you can buy it just down the road at your local shop :S
I guess that isn't something you can say about hotel chocolat though, they will be my exception lol.
I hadn't clocked they had brought out this new set of boxed chocolates they look all good to me. I think I'm right in thinking you've reviewed most of what the have there - all but the coffee truffles which I'm sure you will have lined up already. If you have given these 9.4 I can't wait to see what you are going to award them. We all know how much you love your coffee chocs now ;)
What a cruel tease you are Mr Jim. Tempting doesn't begin to describe this here.
Sooooooooooo close! How are these not the new leaders then Jimbob??
What could they change to make them overtake that damn 85% dark?
85% dark + the caramel?
I 100% endorse this review. I've been waiting for it for a long time as they have have been out in the main shops for years now (catch up Jim lol)
If you take the time to let them sit in the fridge b4 you eat them its so worth it. The way the caramel feels so cool on your throat vs the warmth of the melted chocolate is just undescribable. I don't think jim is overstating anything here. I would have made them top of the pile.
Thirteen pound aint cheap but by the sounds of things if anything is going to be worth it, its prob gonna be these. Cracking review btw Jim.
I'm sure one day we will find out you work for these people. I've not ever seen a blogger be so biased to one brand with their being something shifty going on in the background.
HOTEL CHOCOLAT FTW!!!!!
Simply the best - END.
You're rating these the same as cadburys and galaxy? What a stupid decision. The whole point of a review site is that you don't sit on the fence about stuff like this. If you can't advise us what to buy whats the point in writing about it in the first place?
Why are Hotel Chocolat still not doing any adverts or anything?
They must be large enough to have the budgets to do some now. They need to get out there and tell peeps how delicious their chocolate is. They can't expect people who haven't heard of them to be buying their chocs. It's simple marketing.
Jim, I'm wondering how long do you refrigerate them and why?
Also, any thoughts on a higher quality chocolate company like HC not providing percentages?
Hi All,
So many positive (mostly!) comments on the review today it's great to see.
Those of you having a pop at me for being Hotel Chocolat biased!? Really ..... REALLY!? I think everyone is aware by now that I rate Hotel Chocolat highly and hold them in high regard, but I can assure you that I judge everything by it's merits and I just so happened to think these were extremely good. I won't ever be changing by point of view on anything just because I think I've given out too many high marks to one particular brand. That just defeats the whole point of this website.
All I can say is that I urge anyone to try these and tell me what they think. I'm not saying all of you will like them as much as I did, but from my own perspective I saw fit to give them a mark like this.
GOLDEN - Yes the 85% is still my favourite chocolate.
NIGEL - I was at the football yesterday. It was fantastic one hell of a game.
MALKEY - Best check the archives chap under the Hotel Chocolat tag. I've reviewed all of them.
LITTLEMSPERFECT - Yes it is 2011 highest rated so far.
ANON - I will update the leader board soon when I have the time.
LEWIS - Keep an eye on the site is all I will say.
KEV - Yes I do get sent samples. It's not all easy work chap. There's the photography and the reviews to write.
GAZ - Request noted - Turkish Delight.
RODZILLA - They do provide cocoa %s. I refrigerate them so I can savour the taste longer. I prefer my milk and white chocolates like that. I would never do that with dark chocolate though.
As I said thanks for all the comments and pleasantries you have all left about the review and photography. It really makes this all worth while when I get the positive feedback.
As for the people who are being nasty - well I try and ignore you for the main part but there really isn't any need. I believe in free speech but I will stop posting your comments if you continue to add nothing of value soon.
Ending on a positive note I would love to hear some more opinions on these salted caramels. Judging by the feedback given so far they are garnering thumbs up all round.
JIM
I've tried the salted caramels a few time from their tasting selection, and I concur with you, Jim, they are absolutely fabulous. I think they also have an unsalted version, which I think I prefer ever so slightly.
As much as I like them, I don't think I'd buy them in this quantity; it's just a little too much. They do do them in smaller bags though.
How are we meant to be able to resist this eh?
Your words paint a thousand flavours, your photos are drool inducing and the rating is intriguing.
There's no way I'm going to be able to avoid these now. Damn you Jim! Damn you my friend.
In the nicest possible way I think we are going to have to rename this site Jim's Hotel Chocolat Mission.
Lol I know you can't help it but those guys are slowly but surely taking over this place.
What % cocoa is the chocolate? I'm not interested if it's dark chocolate but if it's their milk stuff then I'm well up for some.
Lol this review would look like product placement to a new reader but knowing you and your tastes Jim I understand this is probably your heartfelt honest opinion on these.
You might want to start being careful though Jim. You should start reviewing a few of their chocolates you know you wont like as much so you can balance things out :) Lol that should be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Believe it or not I've still never had any chocolate made by these people. Posts like this do make me feel pretty silly lol. It appears that I missing out on some oustanding chocolate.
I take it these would be considered as good a place to start than anywhere correct?
I h8 admitting I get influenced by articles I read online but you have just 100% sold these to me :) Lol I just have to buy me some of these now. They sound absolutely amazing. Great review Jim. You better hope they live up to expectations now or I'm going to come get ya j/k.
I need to sort myself out. It must be nearly 6 months since I last had some hotel chocolat chocolate. I have no idea why I've left it so long. There shops aren't in the most convenient places for me but I'm not using that as an excuse. I will pop these on my shopping list. Thanks J.
Is you real name really Jim or is it James?
Lol soz for being so random but it's been bugging me for ages. You need to do that interview thing people were talking about.
This is the best way to start the week. Tell me of a tasty set of chocs that I can treat myself to at the end of it =]
I've just spent a good 10 minutes reading this over and over lol. I would normally count this as waste of my time for working but not today :) Its pretty obvious to me I need to get myself a pack of these bad boys asap.
They better not disappoint me now Jim. You've built them up to be the bees knees :P
BJ - Thanks for the information. I think a lot of people are along your way of thinking in that they wouldn't mind them in a smaller quantity. It's a shame they don't sell them like that online.
ANON - 40% cocoa chocolate.
SLY - I would rather stick to reviewing things I would like. People can form their own opinions as to whether I'm 'biased' in my reviews. One thing these people want to bare in mind is the ratio of commentors who are postive about Hotel Chocolat to the people that comment on them negatively.
KP - James is my real name. My friends/family call me Jim though.
Hi everyone, in light of all the events in the UK today I just want to say I hope everyone is keeping safe etc. These are crazy times we are living in huh!? If only life was as simple as chocolate reviewing :S
JIM
Jim - Fortunately I'm close to one of their stores, so I pay regular visits there.
I had my first Hotel Chocolat experience this week and must say I was impressed. The Espresso Truffle is to die for with a frothy latte.
Right now I'm a little sore at HC for offering something this good in such a costly size, especially cause my only complaint about their last caramels was that they weren't salty enough. But I couldn't let this pass without commenting on that photo, if there were a JCM leaderboard for photos this would be atop it.
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