March 16th: Oreo Chocolate Bars - Caramel Coffee & Dark Bitter

My friends at J-ListJapanese Snack Reviews? Of course it has to be from J-List!! Indeed both of these bars today were recently sent to me by my favourite Japanese pal Peter @Jlist (Twitter feed HERE). You may recall me having reviewed a few of these Japanese Oreo Chocolate Bars before (See Green Tea, Milk Chocolate & Strawberry flavours) to varied success. Well apparently in the Far East they must have been recieved pretty well, as there have been two new flavours added to the range in the past few months. Today I take a look at the Caramel Coffee & Dark Bitter offerings ...

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Oreo Chocolate Bar Caramel Coffee

Kcal 173 Fat 9.5g Carbs 19.5g

Despite not being the the most aesthetically pleasing bar on the eye, when cross-sectioned it was nice seeing the fragments of Oreo biscuits generously dispersed throughout it's entirety. Taking a whiff from inside the foil wrapper the bar was pretty forthcoming in it's aromas, with the strong biscuity smells enhanced pleasantly by some nice cappuccino like scents.

If you have taken the time to study my photograph you will probably know the criticism I'm going to throw in the direction of the chocolate - yes indeed it was a little lacklustre in presence. The sweet mild cocoa flavours it did develop were enough to register a chocolate hit for each mouthful, but I would have liked the chocolate to have had a little more say in the taste. Speaking more positively, the centre mish-mash of Oreo biscuit and caramel, coffee flavoured icing was terrific, with the sweetness of the toffee element nicely playing off the saltiness of the cookie bits. The suggestion of coffee to the taste was ... well ... exactly that! It was more just a mild suggestion, but it was there nonetheless, and gave the bar a nicely progressive taste and sweet coffee end note.

Overall this wasn't exactly a groundbreaking chocolate bar by any means but it was nice, and one that I would have again if it was readily accessible. I'm a little bemused why they couldn't just be done with it and have fully coated the the thing in chocolate, but that aside it was a tasty little coffee number. I still dream of the day that some coffee creme double stuffed Oreos make it to market, come on Nabisco you know you want to :D

8.0 out of 10



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Oreo Chocolate Bar Dark Bitter

Kcal 216 Fat 13.4g Carbs 20.9g

Save the best until last??? ... Well no ... I haven't today :D haha I must have chaught someone out with that. This Dark Bitter variant was slightly different in composition to the bar above and other crazier flavours in the range, in that it was a simpler proposition ('dark chocolate with Oreo cookie pieces') and ever so slightly larger in term of size (38.0g vs 32.0g').

On the eye the bar wasn't as visually striking as some of the other Orero Chocolate Bar alternatives, though when it came to the taste I felt it more than held it's own. As you probably could have guessed, this wasn't the grandioso dark chocolate experience of a Galler or Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate, but rather more the case of a less sugary focused chocolate creating a mass consumer friendly dark chocolate experience. With the attention drawn away from the underlying sweetness of the chocolate base, the saltyness and vanilla creme influences from the cookie pieces became more accentuated, making for a taste that had increased emphasis on it's Oreo cookie influence.

Overall this wasn't the most exciting flavour variation I have tried in this Oreo Chocolate Bar range, but it was more satisfying than some of the other options given it's larger size. Those looking for a rich dark chocolate will in all likelyhood be disappointed by it, though I doubt very much that your average person would be looking for that sort of experience from a bar such as this to begin with. If you come across it don't be put off by the dark chocolate billing.

7.5 out of 10

March 14th: Hotel Chocolat Liquid Chocolat Caramel & Caramel Smudge

I've decided to kick off this week of chocolate reviews with the return of Hotel Chocolat Monday!! Today I will cover off a few out standing reader requests before the busy Easter and Mothers Day periods sneak up on us. I've recently been sent enough samples of these products to feed a small army so you can expect the Hotel Chocolat coverage to be extensive again this year - did you really expect it to be any other way?

Before we look at anything egg shaped, or cheesey mother tribute paying chocolates though, I thought you might all like to see the fun I have been having with some of Hotel Chocolat's Caramel flavour themed products. Upon request of several readers below you will find my thoughts on Hotel Chocolat's Liquid Chocolat Caramel, and Hotel Chocolate's Caramel Smudge. I needn't remind you that both of these products can be bought either online or in all Hotel Chocolat highstreet stores.

Hotel Chocolat Liquid Chocolat Caramel

Last month I concluded my investigations of the current hot chocolate market with my reviews of the Hotel Chocolat Liuquid Chocolat Milk & Dark variants (See HERE). I say concluded, however I simply couldn't ignore the amount of reader feedback asking me to take a look at some of the flavoured options - so I asked my contacts at HC if I could give their caramel variant a try. One special delivery later, and a 275.0g tub full of 'hot chocolate flakes made from caramel, milk and dark chocolate, interspersed with white chocolate hearts' was sitting on my kitchen counter begging me to get my backside in gear to start the rather arduous task of it's creation. Having now conducted this slow melting process a few times now, I have to admit I haven't been overly impressed with this mixture thus far (I still have half a tub left!). Compared to the Dark chocolate Liquid Chocolat I've found this Caramel one to be a too sweet for my taste. Being a regular black coffee drinker my palette is possibly a bit more used to stronger, hot drinks. Personally I found this caramel mix too dominant in it's sugaryness, would have preferred a flavour influence with more of butterscotch emphasis such as it's aromas suggested. This isn't a bad quality hot chocolate mix by any stretch of the imagination, however it just isn't really to my own taste. Both my mother and sister swear blind it's the nicest hot chocolate around (hence the more rounded score), but for the moment I will be sticking with the Dark Liquid Chocolat mix.

7.7 out of 10



Hotel Chocolat Caramel Smudge

Hotel Chocolat get a lot of praise on this website, too much in the opinion of some haha. One thing no one can deny however is the fact that these guys listen to what their consumers are saying. No greater evidence of that is the way this review has come about. It had been fleetingly mentioned by a few readers on a previous review that they wanted my opinions on this Caramel Smudge product. Before I knew it there was a pot of this chocolate spread with me ready to devour before even send them an e-mail asking for it - efficient huh!? As you will see in the photo above (Yes photos taken by my Old Man before you ask :D ), I have been trying out this 'Caramel flavoured hazelnut and chocolate spead' on toast in the mornings, aswell as various other ways such as with ice cream and in cereal etc. To cut to the chase, this Caramel Smudge may not look one of HC's fanciest products ever, but boy is it tasty. Your own enjoyment of this spread will be largely dependant on whether you like hazelnut spreads. Though the product is named 'Caramel Smudge', the caramel is actually more of a background enhancer rather than at the flavour forefront, with the woddy hazelnut having a far greater emphasis in the taste. Being a hazelnut lover, I absolutely loved it. The sweet toffee notes of the caramel are just about balanced - on white thick bread it tastes absolutely divine. If you like spread like Nutella this might just send you in to a world of unparalleled pleasure - highly recommended.

8.6 out of 10

Fancy trying these yourself? Visit Hotel Chocolat

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