SPECIAL FEATURE: 'Say it with Celebrations'

Today we have a special feature on the site courtesy of our friends from Mars UK.

These guys recently got in contact with me regarding a special service they have just launched called 'Say it with Celebrations'. In a nutshell, this service allows you to send a personalised chocolate gift box featuring your own custom meassage and selected Mars Celebration chocolates - cool idea huh!?

In just three easy steps you can create an awesome little (or large) assortment of chocolates, complete with your own personalised message for yourself or a special someone:

Step 1 - Choose a Box - This involves you choosing between the three sizes ...
- 'Little message' (5 chocolates + message) - £2.49 plus p&p (£1)
- 'Small wallet' (5 chocolates + message + photo) - £3.99 plus p&p (£1.25)
- 'Double wallet' (10 chocolates + photo + message) - £5.49 plus p&p (£1.50)

Step 2 - Choose your Celebrations Mix - You have three options here again ...
- 'Favourite Bar Minatures' - 1 x Malteser truffle, 1 x Galaxy Caramel, 1 x MilkyWay, 1 x Galaxy, 1 x Galaxy Truffle
- 'Everyone's Favourite Minatures' - 1 x Mars, 1 x Twix, 1 x Snickers, 1 x Galaxy, 1 x Bounty
- 'Lucky Dip' - Can't handle the pressure of picking one of the above? Choose this option to hand the responsibility back to Mars to choose one of the two options above.

Step 3 - Personalise - This is where everything gets very cool ...
- First you choose one of the greetings to appear on the front (Happy Birthday etc)
- Then, if your box size allows it, you can add your very own photo
- Finally, you can add your own message to the inside of your box

The creation process can be carried out either online (See HERE) or through the use of the Mars 'Say it with Celebrations' mobile application (available for free from the Itunes store).

This might be coming across as nothing more than a glorified advert, but I genuinely think its a cool idea, as do some of my fellow bloggers like Liz at Foodstufffinds. With Mothers Day and Easter coming up soon this may well be a gifting option you may wish to consider. I think it's an ideal option if you are looking to make your chocolate gift just that little bit more special.

March 11th: Zotter Plum Brandy / Zotter Oral Choco Shot

ChocolateMission is doing a two for the price of one on Austrian chocolate reviews! I have been promising readers in my last few Zotter reviews that I would feature some alternative products to their standard Handscooped bar range, so in an attempt to please everyone I today feature one of their quirkier products as well as a mini review of yet another Zotter flavour.


Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Not so long ago I featured a review of the Zotter Coffee, Plum & Caramelised Bacon (8.6 out of 10 - See HERE). Most of the feedback from that post was that the majority of you fancied trying the plum and chocolate combination, but were put off by the bacon aspect - step up the Zotter Plum Brandy. Consisting of 'dark chocolate filled with plum brandy cream' this sounded like the answer for those of you who were put off by the previous bar's meant content - that still sounds wrong even now doesn't it :D

Presentation wise I was again not to pleased with seeing a random black line running down the one side of my wrapper (exactly like the one I mentioned in my Zotter Ginger review!). That minor annoyance aside, the bar smelt delightful when released from it's inner gold foil wrap, and it radiated an enticing mixture of fruity dark chocolate scents. These aromas proved to be highly indicative of the taste, with the 70% exterior dark chocolate layer establishing a bitter set of cocoa flavours from the outset of it's smooth melt. Akin to a lot of other Zotter bars, the truffle layer below was exquisitely soft, and packed full of flavour. The centre cream was far sweeter in taste than the outer chocolate, and delivered a delicious creamy fruityness set as soon as it came in to contact with my tongue. The brandy element was also interestingly implemented, coming through not so strongly in the taste, but giving a kind warmth to each mouthful.

Overall I really enjoyed this Zotter flavour and would happily recommend it as one of their nicer plainer options. As good as the dark chocolate was, the plum brandy cream was the shining star of the product. It had a luxurious mouth feel and importantly didn't over do it when it came to the brandy element. On the whole it wasn't one of the Zotter bars that pushed the boundaries of uniqueness in the flavour combination department, but it was still exceedingly tasty and one that can be considered a 'safer option' if you are unsure about the plum bar with the bacon in.

8.0 out of 10



Now on to the bizarre ....

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Well if I was going to be featuring the 'safe option' Zotter Plum Brandy the only way balance things up was to include a feature on one of Zotter's weirder products - step up the Zotter Oral Choco Shot!

When I read the packaging (which wasn't in English I may add!), the description of 'one chocolate shot of whisky' didn't really prepare me for what I found inside the box. Yes you really can believe your eyes ... that really is a syringe filled with chocolate you are seeing above. Indeed, awaiting me inside, a plastic sealed syringe tube contained a 12ml 'shot'. As you can probably of guessed this wasn't a product I took to work to 'share with colleagues' :D I consumed my 'hit' of chocolate whisky after an evening meal by squeezing out the contents on to spoon. Being the alcohol wimp I am, I spread the contents out in to two helpings. After wolfing down the first one I was very glad I did - BOY was it strong. The chocolate flavours were forthcoming initially, but they were soon well and truly dominated by a very strong whisky hit that heated the back of my throat the instant I swallowed. Not being a whisky expert I wont comment on the quality of the whisky flavour hit - believe me though, it well and truly came to the party :D

Overall this was an almost impossible product to rate so I wouldn't take any notice of the score. This was one of the bizzarest chocolate products I think I have ever reviewed for the site - it was certainly an experience put it that way! The novelty and fun factor behind the product is simply unquestionable, I haven't seen anything like it before. In regards to the actual chocolate content and satisfaction delivery - well if you are after a whisky fuelled dosage of chocolate it delivers that in abundance, even if the method is somewhat odd. I don't feel that comfortable recommending syringes filled with brown liquid on this website :D but give this a try if you see one. Its an experience like no other.

7.0 out of 10

March 9th: 'Bits n Bobs' 2011 New Product Misc

The 'Bits n Bobs' post this week consists of a few 'New' product launches that we have seen here in the UK in the past few months.

You may have seen on the site already this week that I have recently tried out the reformulated Ferrero Kinder Bueno White and was none to please with what I found (See HERE). Would these products fair better on the ChocolateMission rating system? Take a look ....
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McVitie's Penguin Caramel Wafer
Kcal 106 Fat 5.4g Fat(sats) 3.8g Carbs 10.2g (per bar)
'Milk chocolate covered wafer bars filled with caramel and chocolate cream'

The latest product line extension of the McVitie's Penguin brand was announced HERE back in the middle of January. I found this pack of nine bars on an introductory £0.85 deal in my local Sainsbury's store - it was lucky I was keeping my eye out for them as the exterior packaging looked none to disimmilar from the standard Penguin Wafer bars.

You may have noticed from my photo and the descriptor given above that these were a none to dissimlar proposition to the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Biscuit (See HERE), a product I am very familiar with :D . Comparing one with the other, these Penguin Caramel Wafers simply didn't match up. Although the chocolate was of a similar quality and thickness, the wafer and caramel layers weren't as flavoursome and lacked the wheat biscuit and buttery caramel charms of the aforementioned. At two thrids the size I also didn't find them as satisfying. These wont offend anyone, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them absent from our shelves within a year what with the stiff and superior competition.

6.6 out of 10


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Cadbury Bournville Biscuits
Kcal 85 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 3.1g Carbs 9.9g (per biscuits)
'Cadbury classic dark chocolate with a chocolate covered cream centre'

Anyone who has read my Cadbury Bournville review (See HERE) will be aware that it isn't one of my favourite dark chocolates ... bit of an understatement there :D . Being the dedicated guy I am though, I simply can't ignore reader requests - if you guys are sick of my moaning then you can all blame ChocolateMission reader Thea haha :D I found these new Cadbury Bournville Biscuits on sale in Waitrose where surprise, surprise they were on a £1.00 introductory offer.

To cut to the chase, as I expected, I didn't get much enjoyment from these biscuits. Perhaps this is me just be stubborn, but I simply just didn't enjoy the taste of the chocolate, which I felt was as overly sugary, one dimensional and lazy in it's melt. The biscuit element did at least bring some sort of appeal to the overall taste, however I didn't detect any differentiation from the outer chocolate to the inner chocolate cream apart from the softer texture. I've always maintained that Cadbury Bournville chocolate might be a nice option for those who don't like their dark chocolate all that strong and wish to ease themselves into the dark side. Speaking from a personal point of view however, I think we all know it just isn't to my taste. Not even the added biscuit has made it score that much better.

6.0 out of 10


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Kit Kat Pop Choc
Kcal 108 Fat 6.3g Fat(sats) 3.8g Carbs 11.4g (per 9 pieces)
'Crispy wafer pieces covered in milk chocolate'

I wont spend to long on this one, as these Kit Kat Pop Chocs are rather self-explanatory. These Pop Chocs have been described by Nestle as a product "to move the Megabrand to a whole new arena" in their PR statement (See HERE). I'm not sure about that, though I'm sure a number of you will be well aware they have been doing the rounds in most European countries for a fair while now - they have often been spotted in shops such as Poundland/Home Bargains etc. I found these on sale in Tesco last week at the RRP price of £1.49 for a 140.0g.

Essentially these Pop Chocs are Malteser sized bites of regular milk chocolate Kit Kat - what could be bad about that? ... Well ... nothing ... they are delicious as you would expect :D Quite simply, if you love your Kit Kats then there would be no logical reason why you wouldn't love these. It would of perhaps have been nice of Nestle to have been a little more adventurous, and given us some of the crazier flavours like they get in Japan (Caramel Salted HERE, Chilli Powder HERE), but this is the UK we are talking about it :D Recommended for you Kit Kat lovers.

8.1 out of 10

March 7th: Lindt Excellence White & Dark 2011

This time last year Lindt took their Excellence range here in the UK and gave it somewhat of a makeover. The first part of this 'relaunch' saw them redesign their wrappers, updating and modernising the entire range. The second change was the introduction of two milk chocolate offerings - the reviews of which you can see HERE.

One year on, Lindt have introduced a further two new variants to their Excellence range. This time however, they have decided to expand the breadth of their range by making the inclusion to their dark and white chocolate parts of their portfolio. I found both of these Lindt Excellence White A Touch of Vanilla and Lindt Excellence Dark 70% Cocoa Mild bars in my local Sainsburys supermarket, where they were priced on a 2 for £2.50 promotion.

As ever, the Lindt Excellence presentation standards were phenomenally high, though I had issues taking the photos of the white bar due to just how bright both the chocolate and outer box were. Below are my thoughts on each of the two new offerings.


Lindt Excellence White A Touch of Vanilla
Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

This bar came described as 'Extra fine white chocolate with natural Madagascan vanilla aroma'. As far as I'm aware this is actually the first ever Lindt Excellence white chocolate bar to get distribution here in the UK. Luckily for me I have previously managed to get hold of some bars from Germany - the Coconut and Stracciatella both fine white chocolate in their own right. With these positives experiences, I have to say I was expecting a bit more from this 'Touch of Vanilla' offering. Texture wise the mouth feel and melt was still wonderful, however when it came to the taste I was a little underwhelmed by the very light flavours on offer. Thankfully it wasn't a cheap tasting white chocolate, dominated by a heavy sugar rooted contextt. Unfortunately, neither did it have the depth of cream or vanilla flavours desired. Strangely, for a Lindt chocolate I was left feeling underwhelmed. This was far from being a poor white chocolate, but the Coconut & Stracciatella Lindt offerings deliver a much more interesting experience.

7.9 out of 10


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Lindt Excellence Dark 70% Cocoa Mild
Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

I did debate even bothering to review this bar, as I thought there was no way I was ever going to like it more than I did the original Lindt Excellence Dark 70% Cocoa. The bar came described as simply 'Extra fine dark chocolate' - nothing more, nothing less. According to the packaging, the mildness of the chocolate is driven by the 'extremely careful selection of mild cocoa beans'. There is no mention of where these beans come from, to be honest I'm still confused as to how they determine a normal cocoa bean to a 'mild' one!? ... I will leave that for you guys to answer! Anyway, as expressed by it's name this chocolate was indeed much lighter in taste compared to the original 70%. It still retained the myriad of earthy, coffee hints flavour notes, however in comparison they were less raw and intense. From a personal point of view this wasn't preferable as I prefer the stronger tasting chocolate. Those looking for a high level cocoa content chocolate with a lighter taste may be interested in what is on offer here though.

7.7 out of 10

March 5/6th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 67

### Site Update ###

Hi All,

I had two days out the office earlier this week and I came back to the biggest mountain of parcels on my work desk ever :D Hotel Chocolat, Thorntons, Luckys, Ritter, Cadbury, Booja-Booja and J-List .... these next few weeks are going to be busy :D

One of these parcels contained some samples of the new flavours that will be added to Thorntons' square bar range later this year to celebrate their Centenary Year (See HERE). I will wait until they are released and I write full reviews to give my full comments, but having tried the Cloudy Lemonade and Bakewell Tart flavours I'm at least willing to say that they deliver on their names :D

If you haven't visited the site recently you might have missed the launch of the ChocolateMission News Page - See HERE. I'm doing my best to keep the page up to date, however if you spot something I have missed please feel free to contact me via comment or e-mail.

Thanks for all the feedback/opinions this week. Have great weekends.

JIM


Feature: Rice Krispies Squares in Comic relief partnership

The kind people at Kellogg's recently sent me a package full of Chocolate Rice Krispy Squares so it is only fair I bring your attention to their current partnership with Comic Relief.

To save you wading through all of the PR guff (See HERE), let me succinctly summarise for you that for the time being (January to the end of March), for every Rice Krispy Square sold, Kellogg's will be donating £0.03 to Comic Relief. This promotion will be running across the entire Rice Krispy Squares range, including the Limited Edition Comic Relief themed 'Red Nose Day Totally Chocolatey Square' pictured above. This Square isn't any different to the original 'Totally Chocolatey Square', but the red noses are a nice touch in my opinion. I wish all charity work was as easy as eating Rice Krispy Squares all day :D


Posts from Other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Foodstufffinds - I've heard of having a 'beer & a burger' ... but putting beer on your burger is a new thing to me :D Guiness HP Sauce ... See HERE

* Rodzilla Reviews - Beer in your HP Sauce not enough for you? How about crisps (potato chips) in your ice cream? According to Roddy this is the ultimate Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack ... See HERE

* The Impulsive Buy - Speaking of ice cream Häagen-Dazs Limited Edition Caramel Apple Pie
doesn't sound half bad either does it? ... See HERE

* Candyblog - Cybele's latest Candy Tease reveals that aerated chocolate is in the 'In Thing' in the States this year. A way of cutting down the costs? Or companies just trying to innovate? Hmmm you decide ... See HERE

* Chocablog - Dom and Co at Chocablog turned 5 years old this week. Well done guys/gals. Keep up the great work. Check out their review of the Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Banana ... See HERE

* Gone Chocco - These guys managed to get hold of some Fry’s Chocolate Cream and Peppermint Cream bars all the way 'Daaaaaaaaan Unnnnnnda' ... See HERE

March 4th: Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate 50% Cocoa

Back in July 2010 I made the sweeping statement that I had fully covered the Ritter Sport range, with only the now out of distribution Cocos (Coconut) bar my only admission. Thankfully for me, ChocolateMission reader David was on the ball, and just a few weeks ago he e-mailed me informing me that there was one last bar missing from my review archive. David had noticed that I hadn't reviewed Ritter's 50% dark chocolate, whats more, I hadn't reviewed the 'Diet' bar either - shame on me Eh? Haha!

After this startling revelation had been made :D I sent a cheeky little e-mail to my pals at Ritter HQ Germany. Before I knew it, I had the two 100.0g bars sitting on my kitchen table-top, prime and ready for taste testing. With the coffee on the boil, and my fellow family gathered round ready to offer their 'expert' opinions, we gave both a try after a light lunch.

Before we get in to the detail on how they tasted it is worth noting the tangible differences between the two offerings. Aesthetically the bars could be told apart by the shape of the blocks, with the standard offering having deeper cut grooves in between each piece. Calorie wise you can see the differences between the two bars below. Roughly speaking the Diet bar had 100kcal less per 100.0g compared with the standard offering, something which no doubt would have been driven the by substitution of the sugar in the original with artificial sweeteners.

Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate 50% Cocoa
Kcal 525 Fat 33.0g Carbs 51.0g (per 100.0g)

We all tried this one first as we drawn by the more modern looking packaging and non-diet proposition appealing to us more. Placing the first block in my mouth the melt was a little slow to develop, however once it did it the flow was smooth and felt nice in the mouth as it transitioned from solid to liquid. Like the melt, the taste was initially quite slow to register, and the full breadth of flavours didn't come to the party until midway through the development. Once they did arrive, we were greeted with a sweet dark chocolate experience, that although remained 'friendly' due to it being grounded by a rooting of sugar, was still interesting enough, offering minor red fruit hints. The lasting mouth impression was impressive.

7.3 out of 10



Ritter Sport Diet Dark Chocolate 50% Cocoa
Kcal 412 Fat 30.0g Carbs 44.0g (per 100.0g)

I have to admit my excitement for trying this Diet variant was considerably lower than it was for the standard bar above. I'm no organic food junkie, but the idea of artificial sweeteners being included in my foodstuffs isn't one that appeals to me all that much. In the name of being a Ritter Sport completionist (right word!?), I put those concerns aside and gave the diet bar it's fair run. No doubt you have peeked at the score already ... did I get the scores the wrong way around!? Nope!! It was a shared opinion that this diet bar was infact the better tasting out of the two. The flatter block shape not only meant it melted faster, but it was also advantageous in that the release of flavours was quicker and thus longer sustained. Speaking of the taste, compared to the standard 50% offering, this bar was far less sweet which allowed a deeper depth of cocoa flavours to be appreciated. The taste had different stages and layers of flavours, with notes of red wine, soil and coffee all intermittently detectable.

7.8 out of 10



Overall whilst neither of these were the greatest of dark chocolates in the world, they would more than hold their own against any of their mass manufactured brand dark chocolate offerings. Admiteddly it was a complete surprise that the Diet version was the better out of the two, though this is something that I would like to hear second opnions on before I went recommending one over the other.

So .... I can finally say it with validity ... I have reviewed every Ritter Sport flavour out on the market :D

March 2nd: 'Bits n Bobs' Thorntons Selection

I was recently the lucky recipient of a big box of Thorntons goodies sent my way by one of their PR agencies. Below are three of the products they included - one from their mass market range, one of their new 'Melts' offerings and lastly one of their more classical products.

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Thorntons Chunky Chocolatey Jumbles
Kcal 378 Fat 18.1g Carbs 49.9g (per bag)
'Vanilla fudge, raisins and pieces of toffee, generously coated in Thorntons milk chocolate'

These eccentrically named Chunky Chocolatey Jumbles came in a 180.0g pouch. As you can see from the photo, the pouch design work was Thorntons's more mass marketed packaging style (an avenue I don't think Thorntons should be pursuing!!). I took comfort from the look of the inner chocolates, which looked very appetising and made the contents easily identifiable by their size - small raisins, medium sized fudge bits, and large toffee pieces.

The milk chocolate that coated each of the three different constituents was of a 30% recipe and did a better than fair job of establishing a creamy, chocolatey taste to each piece. In terms of texture the chocolate was also just a little bit better quality than your average offering, and had a smoother melt than most mass produced chocolates. Out of the three different inner 'Bits and Bobs, the fudge pieces were definitely my favourite, followed by the toffee and then the raisins. Typically the order in which they were portioned most, was flipped reversed to my order of preference. Indeed, there was an abundance of the rather bland tasting raisins, quite a few toffee bits, but then annoyingly very few pieces of fudge.

Overall this wasn't the best bag of treats I have ever had from Thorntons, but this was mostly down to the portioning of the mix rather than the quality of the actual chocolates. Suffice to say, if the contents had been more weighted towards the fudge rather than the raisins, then I probably would have enjoyed this product more than I did. If you are after a Thorntons offering with a little bit of selection then I think you would ultimately be happy with these.

7.8 out of 10


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Thorntons Melts Caramel
Kcal 51 Fat 2.6g Fat(sats) 1.6g Carbs 6.4g (per chocolate)
'Milk and white chocolates with caramel fillings'

My first look at the the Thorntons Melts range was in February 2010 in the form of their 'Praline Melts' - See HERE. Nearly exactly a year on, Thorntons have released these new Caramel Melts, a product I was very keen indeed on trying. Now whereas I was criticising the look of the packaging style above, the aesthetic appearance of this Melts product was a lot more to my liking. The outer packaging and foil wrappers created a premium, yet inviting feel, and the chocolates looked very decorative with their swirled milk and white chocolate shells.

Despite appearing the more visually sophisticated product, the chocolate used for these Melts Caramel was actually the same as the Jumbles above. This was no bad thing of course, the 30% cocoa recipe contributed more than it's fair share to the taste, and the creamy sweet cocoa flavours were once again fully adequate. I wish I could have as much praise for the caramel fillings, however they just weren't quite as flavoursome as I had hoped. Their liquidy viscosity had a soft, pleasant mouth feel, but flavour wise they didn't match up to several similar products I have tried. Lacking any sort of salt or strong butter tones, the taste created was more notable for it's accentuated sweetness. The lack of definitive flavours from the caramel meant these weren't the most satisfying chocolates ever.

Overall these Melts Caramel weren't bad in any sense, but in a market where competition is fierce they did little to suggest that they should be considered up there with the best of them. In a nutshell what I'm trying to say is these are fair standard chocolate caramels, but there are better alternatives out there which are just as readily available. For that reason I can't be giving a ChocolateMission recommendation.

7.4 out of 10


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Thorntons Chocolate Smothered Fudge
Kcal 129 Fat 6.6g Fat(sats) 3.8g Carbs 16.4g (per 25.0g)
'Soft fudge smothered in milk chocolate'

Last but by no means least, this 380.0g pack of Thorntons Chocolate Smothered Fudge was definitely my favourite of all the three I have shown you today. As you can see from the photograph, the box packaging had more of a classical, traditional feel about it compared to the two offerings above. Whilst I was more approving of this, I was less impressed by the fudge pieces which had dusty, scuffed surfaces that gave the impression that the chocolate wasn't particularly fresh. This was something also picked up on by relatives who also got a chance to try these.

Scuffed surfaces weren't enough to put either myself or anyone else off sampling these, so the taste test commenced without a moments hesitation. I needn't repeat what I have to say about the taste of the 30% milk chocolate, but the melt was noticeably a touch grainier compared to the two products above. This was all about the fudge though, and boy was it good. Each piece was bursting with brown sugar, butter and vanilla flavours which were bedded in a consistent undercurrent taste of creamy sweet condensed milk. The 380.0g bag was considered excessive to begin with, but by the time all four of us had tasted our first few pieces we were delighted there was plenty to go around.

Overall you obviously have to enjoy the sweeter things in life to enjoy these Thorntons Chocolate Smothered Fudge, but if you fall within that category I'm sure you would love these. Previous experiences with Thorntons's fudge products made me aware that they were very capable in this area, and this offering only went further to cement this in my mind. ChocolateMission recommends!

8.2 out of 10

February 28th: Hershey Kit Kat (US)

If you are one of my dedicated readers you will be aware that I really enjoy looking at how one bar of chocolate can differ from country-to-country. Down the years I have done this with the likes of the Snickers bar, ongoingly with Cadbury Dairy Milk and of course with the renowned Nestle Kit Kat.

Having picked up on my fondest for country-on-country comparisons, ChocolateMission reader Paul sent me these Kit Kats that he sourced from the US. Before sampling them, I couldn't help myself but look at what other chocolate bloggers had said about the US Kit Kat - no surprises that Cybele's review over at CandyBlog (See HERE) was the most thorough and insightful ;) No doubt some of you may have been confused by the title of the post what with the 'Hershey' branding replacing the more commonly seen 'Nestle'. Well to clear this up in the most succinct manner let me hand over to Wikipedia ...

'Kit Kat bars in the United States are produced under licence by The Hershey Company, a Nestlé competitor, due to a prior licensing agreement with Rowntree.'

As of time of writing (February 2011), the US range currently consists of a Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Extra Crispy (Chunky) aswell as several seasonal lines. Being the generous chap he is, Paul sent me a one of each of the different bars.

As you can see by the photos the first noticeable difference from the UK bars was of course the wrappers (you can click in to the photos today to make them a little bigger!!). Aesthetically I thought they were pretty cool and I happened to think they conveyed a fresher, more modern look for the brand. Unzipped from their foil confines, both finger and chunky formats looked no different to their UK counterparts - you wouldn't have been able to tell one apart from the other.

So the taste test - how did they all fair!??


Well, unlike the UK bars where I genuinely cant pick a favourite between the Chunky & Finger format, I actually had greater fondness for the Hershey's Extra Crispy variety compared to it's finger equivalent. The main reason for this was because of the chocolate coating, as I found it was more reliant on it's sugar based flavours and wasn't as creamy as any of it's Nestle equivalents (UK, Japan, Australasia ... you name it!). Unfortunately this was something that only seemed to be more noticeable with the White Chocolate variant. Although the taste of the white chocolate had a stronger creamier taste initially, the sugar based flavours came with greater intensity as the chocolate melted. For my taste the white chocolate bar was too sweet, and not totally consumable in the one sitting without getting that throat scorching sensation. Ending on a more positive note, the Extra Crispy had a firmer, larger and ultimately more flavoursome wafer at it's heart - this format did prove to be my preferred one of them all.

Overall whilst must be stressed that Hershey have by no means taken the Kit Kat and done anything wrong with it whatsoever, I personally thought they weren't quite as their Nestle comparators. Stick the two bars in front of your average person and it is likely they wouldn't be able to tell them apart, as ultimately the differences between the two are pretty subtle. Speaking as a bit of a Kit Kat fanatic myself though, I couldn't help but pick up on the things I have gone into detail about above. To put it in to context it wouldn't be worth an American importing a UK Kit Kat based on a recommendation of superior taste, nor would make sense at all for a UK citizen to avoid these American versions because they aren't as good. Fundamentally they both provide that terrific Kit Kat experience.

Hershey Kit Kat Milk Chocolate - 42.0g
Kcal 210 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 27.0g
7.5 out of 10

Hershey Kit Kat White Chocolate - 42.0g
Kcal 220 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 27.0g
6.8 out of 10

Hershey Kit Kat Extra Crispy - 45.0g
Kcal 220 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 29.0g
8.0 out of 10

February 26/27th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 66

*** SITE UPDATE ***


Hi All,

It's been nearly a month since the last '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - it sure has been a busy start to the year huh!?

This week you may have noticed that the site has got a new 'ChocolateMission News Page .... Chocolate Matters' --> See HERE.

Rather than having to wait until the end of the week to get your Chocolate news I will now be updating the page with the latest goings on in the Chocolate World as and when the news breaks. It would be great if you guys contribute stories and your views and opinions on the news - make sure you keep checking the site as it will be updated regularly.

I hope you enjoyed the reviews this week - if you haven't seen them you can find them here:

Thorntons Dessert Gallery ... (See HERE)
'Bits n Bobs' Japanese Superpost 2011 # 3 ... (See HERE)
Cadbury SpotsVStripes The Big Race ... See HERE

Next week we will have more chocolates from Thorntons, a 'Bits n Bobs' review and a special Ritter feature.

Have a great weekend

JIM


*** Posts from other blogs I enjoyed this week ***


* The Impulsive Buy - Stephanie from the TIB team got stuck in to the awesome sounding Häagen-Dazs Limited Edition Blueberry Crumble ... See HERE

* Candyblog - Cybele posted her review of one of the most exciting candy bars coming out in America in 2011, the Twix Coconut ... See HERE

* GiGi Reviews - Chocolate pudding that gets one of GiGi's coveted '11 out of 10' ratings - Temptations by Jell-O: French Silk Pie, obviously a must try for you Yanks ... See HERE

* FoodetteReviews - Since when have Dominoes been genetically modifying poultry to not have bones :D Domino's New Boneless Chicken Wings with Mango Habanero Dipping Sauce ... See HERE

* Brand Eating - There isn't enough money in the world to make me eat one of these ready meals - Hungry Man Home-style Meatloaf ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Liz at FFF managed to come across the cheekiest flavour of crisps ever - Seabrook Jacket Potato With Creamy Butter ... See HERE

* Rodzilla Reviews - Roddy looks like he has his hands full trying out three new B&J's flavours. See his first one - Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake ... See HERE

February 25th: Thorntons Dessert Gallery

I don't think there can be any further accusations of me not reviewing enough Thorntons products - already in 2011 I have reviewed three of their selection boxes (Classic See HERE, Premium See HERE, Continental See HERE), and today sees me finally fulfil several reader requests by giving their Dessert Gallery selection a crack at the ChocolateMission rating system.

Judging by the price, this Dessert Gallery should be perceived as being on the same product quality tier as the Continental Selection. When it came to the product presentation, packaging and chocolate craft, I thought this was consistent, and I liked the aesthetic design work of both the box and chocolates, which looked suitably more premium than some of the lower priced Thorntons products featured earlier in the year on the site. The selection came described as 'a collection of dessert inspired chocolates' and 'an assortment of milk, dark & white chocolates'. All eight pieces were portioned twice within the 215.0g box and were easily identifiable through the classy menu featured in the box.

Almond Torte - On the menu this was a chocolate that promised 'shortcake pieces with in it's praline centre' though both proved to be MIA from what I tasted. Despite over promising on it's contents, the milk chocolate cream centre was still tasty, and the wholenut almond topping at least brought the nut element to the taste. It over promised, but it was still a fair tasting chocolate. Standard.

Creme Brulee - Due to their being four of us taste testing, and only two chocolates of each flavour, there were a few arguments as to who got to taste this one as it was universally regarded as the most appealing on the menu. Taste wise I personally thought it was a little disappointing as the wealth of Demera sugar placed on top was portioned too greatly and subsequently dominated the cream based flavours of the centre. Texturally it was spot on, but the flavours were unbalanced. Standard.

Lemon Meringue - Easily the best chocolate in the box. This one not only looked stunning visually, but it backed it up when it came to the taste, with the sweetness of the white chocolate beautifully contrasted by the cream and tart, sour lemon centre. Texture wise the crunchy meringue and thin biscuit layers created the dessert experience wonderfully. I could eat a whole lot of these. Superb.

Tiramisu - This was another piece that over promised and under delivered. Promising 'lashings of brandy, mascarpone, coffee and Italian amarretti', what I actually tasted would be what I would describe as milk chocolate with a very musty, light hint of coffee. This was one of the chocolates I was most looking forward to trying, but it woefully let me down. Poor.

Toffee Mousse - Being an avid toffee lover this was quickly snapped up my by father who subsequently demanded I give it a good rating. His evaluation of it was that whilst the outer dark chocolate could have been thicker, the toffee element was integrated very well with both the crunchy toffee pieces and liquid toffee centre providing a solid buttery caramel taste. I wish I had got one! Very Good.

Kirsch Torte - I don't know if it was just the colour but my mother and sister were both drawn to this chocolate so we will going by their judgement here. Although not quite as enjoyed by sister due to it's sweetness, my mother thought the layers of brittle marzipan and cherry sugar complimented the sour, boozie flavours of the Kirsch filling very well and gave it a big thumbs up. Both commented the chocolate should have been thicker - this was a common thing mentioned about all the 'cup' chocolates. Good.

Summer Fruit Pudding - Not only was this chocolate visually imposing, but it actually tasted nice to :D The red jelly topping was by all means superb as a unique mouth feel experience, though it was soft fruity filling below that delivered the delightful real tasting raspberry flavour burst taste wise. This had the look of 'gimmick' written all over it, but it was sensational chocolate. Superb.

Double Chocolate Pot - From the great to the downright average. If any chocolate in any selection could ever be accused as being a 'filler' offering this has to be it. Whilst the chocolate in my photograph above would go a long way to suggest this piece would of had dark and milk chocolate influences, the taste proved to be totally non-progressive, and it lacked any of the clever textural elements of many of the other chocolates in the box. Sometimes you get those chocolates that you wish manufactures hadn't bothered including - this was one of them. This wasn't an offensive piece, but it was an unnecessary one. Standard.


Overall this Dessert Gallery selection delivered a largely consistent sort of experience than the Continental box in that it was a mixture of both high and low quality. As you will have determined from the ratings awarded above, it was surprisingly the fruit flavoured desserts that came off best, with both the Lemon Meringue and Summer Fruit Pudding living up to stunning aesthetic appeal with their stunning real tasting fruity experiences. Unfortunately like most Thorntons selections (I'm not saying they are alone in their guilt of this!!), the Dessert Gallery also featured some pretty drab offerings, most notably the Double Chocolate Pot and Tiramisu pieces which were almost mirror images of each other flavour wise. If you were to push me towards suggesting either the Continental selection or this Dessert Gallery over one or another, I would edge towards the Continental selection as there were just one or two more chocolates in that selection that were to my liking. Having tried a fair deal of these Thorntons selections now it would appear that they can't compete with the likes of Hotel Chocolat consistently on quality, but price comparator wise, at roughly half the cost they are worth considering.

7.8 out of 10

February 23rd: 'Bits n Bobs' Japanese Superpost 2011 # 3

Last months Meiji superpost (See HERE) went down a storm and got you guys requesting even more Japanese chocolate reviews. Being the nice guy he is, Peter from J-list didn't want to disappointment ChocolateMission readers, and he sent across another few products that myself and the rest of my family tried out this weekend. Featuring today, the highly sought after Nestle Kit Kat Strawberry Cake make an appearance alongside two more Meiji manufactured options. As requested last week, I have endeavoured to include at least one product that at least looks like it has the potential to poison me :D

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Kit Kat Strawberry Cake
Kcal 69 Fat 4.0g Carbs 7.7g (per Mini bar)

Normally I like to designate whole posts to the latest Kit Kat flavours out in Japan but todays was so similar to a previously reviewed variant I thought I should just bundle it in with the rest today. Indeed this Strawberry Cake flavoured Kit Kat came as a very similar proposition to the Kit Kat Sparkling Strawberry I reviewed back in March 2010 (See HERE). The cake proposition platform did provoke intrigue, but I wasn't naive enough to think that it was ever going to be groundbreaking.

I recieved these Kit Kat Strawberry Cake in a 'Mini' format so I was able to dish out the 12.3g bars amongst my family. Aesthetically everyone was happy with the product in hand - the on pack pictures of the cakes clearly signified the flavour variant, and the small sized bars looked cute on the eye with light pink colouring. Unfortunately this is where the praise ends. The aritifical strawberry smells were very indicative of the horrible fake tasting strawberry experience that followed. In a nutshell the taste was wholey dominated by these chemically sugar intensive flavours - not a single one person on my taste panel had a decent word to say about the strawberry element. Younger consumers may be more appreciative of these, but I wont be recommending them to anyone, anytime soon.

5.7 out of 10


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Meiji Rich Matcha Chocolate Box
Kcal 177 Fat 11.9g Carbs 15.9g (per 30.0g box)

I got sent so many products from my Bits n Bobs Meiji post last week that I had to rollover a few of the products into this weeks Bits n Bobs edition. If you are one of those people that have been reading the site for the last few years you might be aware that I have reviewed both the product format and product chocolate in some sort of guise before. It was only a few weeks ago that I reviewed another variant from this the Meiji Rich Chocolate Box format (See Meiji Rich Strawberry Chocolate Box HERE), whilst back in March 2010 I reviewed the Meiji Rich Matcha Chocolate (See HERE). Today was all about seeing what we got when we put these two things together.

Like the Kit Kats above, the box format allowed me to taste test these amongst my family so once photography was completed I again served these up to all that were willing to try. I say all that were willing, as certain family member *ahem* my wimpy sister *ahem* physically couldn't bring herself to taste the green coloured chocolate - the presentation alone was enough to 'turn her stomach'. The rest of us braved out the experience and not surprisingly the 52.0% matcha chocolate closely matched my experience with it before. The green tea taste was established from the outset and no one was doubting that the herby, grassy noted flavours weren't delivered on. There was universal dissastifaction however in the form of the aftertaste with everyone voicing displeasure at the bitter tea flavours left in the mouth. For a totally authentic Japense chocolate experience look no further - I can't promise it will give you the greatest levels of enjoyment or satisfaction though.

6.0 out of 10


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Meiji Meltykiss Rum & Raisin Chocolate
Kcal 328 Fat 21.8g Carbs 28.6g (per 60.0g box)

Making their sixth ChocolateMission appearance in little under two weeks, Meiji round off our third Japanese Superpost today with their Rum & Raisin Chocolate. Just proving the point further that Meiji are just totally random when it comes to the format and styling of their products, these thin mini chocolate bars came described as 'individually wrapped chocolate mini slabs, with rum and raisin flavor' - nothing like anything I had tried from them before. You may have picked up that Meiji have a great talent for presenting their products beautifully, as was the case here, but one thing is for sure, I have given up trying to guess what their products will look like.

Unsealing the chocolates from their mini foil packets a pleasant array of rum and sweet chocolate scents set the mood nicely for the taste that followed. These chocolates were made of three distinct layers, which each contributed an interesting textural element to consumption (god that sounds geeky!). The outer crisp shell of milk chocolate, and inner softer chocolate truffle were similar tasting and established the familiar sweet, creamy Meltykiss chocolate experience. The real explosion of flavour came from the raisins contained within, and they established a pleasant amount of mouth feel heat and short sharp burst of spiced alcohol fruit flavours. The interplay of the textures was nice, however it would have been all the better had inner truffle chocolate been infused with the rum aswell as the fruit. These chocolates would fall comfortably in that category of 'nice but not worth the import costs alone'.

7.4 out of 10