June 22nd: 'Bits n Bobs' American Soda Selection

It's been a while since we last had a proper 'Bits n Bobs' review but today I have the pleasure of showcasing you all a number of goodies sent to me by my pals at AmericanSoda (Website See HERE). Despite the name, these chaps also import all kinds of American foodstuffs. You will no doubt have seen many of my 'Snack of the Week' products have come from these guys lately - namely the Oreo Golden Double Stuff Cookies being a particular highlight (See HERE).

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Goldenberg's Chew-ets Original / Milk Chocolate Peanut Chews

Original - Kcal 270 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 35.0g (per 6 pieces)
Milk Chocolate - Kcal 270 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 33.0g (per 6 pieces)

I have to admit that I was dreading having to both eat and review these when the guys at AmericanSoda told me they were sending them across. Having read up on them on other American review websites such as Candyblog (Cybele's review HERE), the prospect of fake chocolate and even fake caramel didn't sound an altogether desirable mix. Factor in the vague on-pack descriptors 'Bite-size chewy pieces loaded with peanuts' and the inclusion of the much dread trans fats, things didn't sound very promising.

Well consider me pleasantly surprised! These weren't half bad you know :D The so called 'chocolate' on both was ...errr.... pointless considering that both variants were relatively flavourless. The milk variant was a little sweeter, though frankly the chocolate was a complete non-factor by the time the inner molasses and peanuts were encountered. This may sound negative but I guess if they weren't going to bother with decent chocolate then it made sense for them to let the peanuts take centre stage. Thankfully this was something they did rather nicely, and their roasted, salty flavours played off nicely against the sugary, treacle like fillings. The chewy textures made their mouth longevity a decent long while, I genuinely couldn't pull a favourite out of the two. I wouldn't count them as an essential purchase, but if you are looking for a basket filler you could do a lot worse.

Original - 7.2 out of 10
Milk Chocolate -7.2 out of 10


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Hershey's Milk Chocolate Drops

Kcal 200 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 25.0g) (per 15 pieces - 41.0g)

My initial reaction when I saw these was that we had yet another Galaxy Counters product at hand. To be fair to Hershey's I don't think Galaxy (or Dove as they are known in the US) actually have these out over there, so one might forgive them for just plugging an existing gap in their current market. As you can probably tell from my photos these were pretty simple in proposition and build 'milk chocolate drops - no shell, no mess' was what was promised on the front of the wrapper.

Now normally this type of candy and chocolate don't smell of much when their packets are opened. Well I wish this had been true about these guys - the Hershey's disgusting wrank milk smell was unfortunately evident here, even my old man winced when taking the photographs. Not allowing myself not to be perturbed I just got on with things and at the end of the day just enjoyed a decently average bag of chocolate. Glazing agent shell coatings aren't my favourite thing in the world, but they were at least very thin here and didn't inhibit the release of the flavours to a great degree. The chocolate was everything I expected it to be with it's sweet milky cocoa flavour set later followed by the unique Herhsey's yoghurty like after taste. Hershey chocolate sits fine with me so I got an average amount of enjoyment from these. They didn't offer anything I hadn't experienced before but they still made for a decent enough snack.

7.0 out of 10


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Kellogg's Pop Tarts Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Kcal 190 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 19.0g (per pastry)

Kellogg's Pop Tarts aren't one of my favourite products in the world, however they have featured on ChocolateMission previously when I took a look at the 'Chocotastic' flavour we have available here in the UK (See HERE). Anyone who knows their American foods will know that Pop Tarts are 'serious business' in America! Kellogg's have a pretty extensive range of different flavours to offer - I think I counted around 30 last time I cared to look on their website.

As I said above they may not be my favourite things ever but I was hardly going to turn down the opportunity of trying these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavoured ones. Replacing my usual bran flakes and fruit, I tried eating two of these this morning, however failed miserabley when I just couldn't take the sugar overload that I got from just the one. Aromas wise it has to be said that these pastries smelt very pleasant and the fresh baked pastry smells gave signs of real promise. Once toasted the surrounding pastry was a little dry and flavourless but it at least wasn't quite the sugar onslaught of the upper topping of frosting and inner filling. Taste wise the filling wasn't bad - it wasn't quite the full on effect chocolate cookie dough experience desired (ala Ben & Jerry's), but for a limited duration at the start of each bite I did get hints of cookie and chocolate before the sugar took over. My big issue with these was that I didn't they didn't to provide much in the way of sustenance. By 11.00am I was hit with with a severe case of the hunger pangs! Pop Tarts fan might want to take a look but I think I will be sticking to my usual cereal for the time being.

6.7 out of 10


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Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis

Kcal 200 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 23.0g (per 11 pieces)

HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Guys we need to come up with a new development for Reese's"
HERSHEY WORKER #2: "Hmmm I know, lets do miniature versions of the normal ones"
HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Wow that's great ... but haven't we done that before?"
HERSHEY WORKER #2: "Oh yeah ... errr

*2 minute pause*

HERSHEY WORKER #2: Eureka!!! I know!!! Lets make them even smaller!!"
HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Wow what an idea! We're the best!"


.... That's how I envisage the geniouses at Hershey's came up with these :D See my review of the original Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures HERE.

Ignoring my pessimism, and just reviewing the product at hand these were admittedly still pretty cool. Each of the mini-miniatures was about the size of a 5 pence piece - about five or so made for a comfortable mouthful at any given time. What I loved about these so much was that they were not only great when eaten by themselves, but also as when eaten alongside other foods such as cereal, ice cream etc. These didn't present anything different in terms of the chocolate being crappy and the peanut butter filling exceptional, but still I imagine they would bring a great deal of pleasure to anyone who has enjoyed Reese's products before. Recommended for Reese's nutters :D

7.9 out of 10

June 20th: Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Peach Melba & Mint Choc Chip

Ask and you shall receive ChocolateMission fanatics :D If you have been checking out the site for the last few weeks you will not doubt have seen that the Hotel Chocolat Monday's have been in full flow. Feedback in those reviews has often come in the form of further requests - a notable sum of them being calls for me to review the rest of the Knickerbocker Glory range. The first variant I reviewed from this range did very well on the ChocolateMission rating system (See Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Neopolitan review HERE), so further joys were expected from both these Peach Melba and Mint Choc Chips flavours.

Just as with the Neopolitans, both of these came in 110.0g packets that comprised of ten truffles in each. I'm sure you will agree, the presentation of both was very impressive. The Peach Melba truffles aesthetically caught the eye with their vivid bright pink outer shells. The Mint Choc Chip ones were more notable for their forthcoming minty scents that emerged as the plastic packet was split.

Below are my thoughts on each - my taste testing helper panel this time consisted of various family members.


Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Mint Choc Chip - 'Mint ganache covered in dark chocolate with dark chocolate chips'. For some reason or other (i.e. I have no idea why!?), Hotel Chocolat don't seem to offer the broadest selection of chocolate mint products. Their Hotel Chocolat Midnight Mint Collection impressed in the past, however if you think about just how many truffle collections of their's I have tried, it is a little puzzling why their seems to be such a limited amount. Believe me, this all becomes increasingly more puzzling when they prove they can make truffles like these, which were simply nothing short of outstanding. The 70.0% dark chocolate which coated each truffle substantiated coffee noted unsweetened cocoa flavours from the outset and these shells were the perfect foil for the utterly gorgeous minty fillings below. Exceeding all expectations, the peppermint ganache was smooth on the tongue, creamy and had just about the right level of mintyness. These two contrasting elements made for an altogether sensational flavour experience which was loved by one and all. Chocolate mint fans - this is your ecstasy!!

9.1 out of 10


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Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Peach Melba - 'Peach ganache in white chocolate, coated in raspberry powder and icing sugar'. Whenever the words Hotel Chocolat and any sort of fruit get mentioned in our household there is always a great deal of interest shown. Being a lover of peaches ("the flesh not the skin" so she tells me at every given opportunity :D), my mother was hugely keen on trying these so I didn't deny her the pleasure. To be honest it's lucky for Hotel Chocolat that I did draft her in to help me here, as I personally didn't find these to my taste. Personally I wasn't keen on the make up of the outer shells, as I thought the icing sugar and raspberry dusting were somewhat uncessary. Indeed they added colour to the truffles, but for me they changed the usual taste of Hotel Chocolat white chocolate which I thought this time was more intensely sugary. My mother was undeterred by this of course and was more focused on the peach filling which by all means was very tasty. It delivered contributions of peachy fruit and cream in equal measures - the minor tartness of the peach was highlight and didn't at least temper the sweetness of the chocolate partially.

8.2 out of 10



Overall these were both good standard truffles, though for me the Mint Choc Chip really stood out as something special. All three of these Hotel Chocolat Knickbocker Glory flavours have been pretty good and I would suggest you give them a try if any of the flavours whet the appetite. I'm now heading off to hide the rest of the Mint Choc Chips ones from wondering hands :D

June 18th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 76 - Oreo Golden Double Stuf

SITE UPDATE + TWITTER COMPETITION WINNERS

Hi All,

The reviews seem to have been received rather well this week - Thank you ever so much for all the kind words and feedback you have left on them. Just in case you missed them you can catch up with them using the links below:

Hotel Chocolat Mississippi Mud Pie - See HERE
Lucky's Mad Hatter Bars - See HERE
William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou / Praline Feullantine - See HERE

Hopefully all of you will have seen and participated in the twitter competition this week. I can reveal the winners are:

@Tinky_Pink
@k83atie
@NiceMovesIsla

Congratulations. You have all won Ritter Sport prizes! Please direct message me your addresses (or e-mail!) For all of you who missed out this time FOLLOW ME HERE, to save missing out next time.

I can't offer another competition this week, but keep your eyes and ears open for another big one coming up in the next few weeks. I'm still yet to decide the upcoming reviews this week, however Hotel Chocolat Monday is a nailed on certainty.

Have great weekends and remember to visit the NEWS PAGE.

JIM


SNACK OF THE WEEK ..... a new part of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' which will feature any manner of snacking product I have been products munching on in the weekKcal 150 Fat 7.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 21.0g (Per 2 cookies)

Today 'Snack of the Week' comes courtesy of my pals at American Soda (Website HERE) who ever so kindly sourced a pack of these Oreo Golden Double Stuff for me when I pleaded for them to get added to their site. These had been recommended to me by a number of people on Twitter after my review of the original Oreo Double Stuff - it was hardly like I need much encouragement, especially after reading Marvo's great review HERE.

In case you are a UK reader who hasn't come across these before, Oreo Golden come described as 'golden vanilla sandwich cookies with vanilla cream fillings'. As you can see from my photos these double stuf (why the silly spelling I don't know!) looked very attractive with the immense volume of vanilla cream very much catching the eye. If you will allow me to compare these to the original Double Stuff (See HERE), I will tell you there were elements about these that I both found better and inferior. What was worse? The golden cookies weren't bad tasting, but on balance I would say the chocolate biscuits of the originals have a bit more to them. What was better? I found the vanilla cream worked better with the golden biscuit and the vanilla flavours seemed enhanced and less sugary.

Overall these were a nice variation of Oreo, though I'm unsure they managed to surpass the originals in my eyes - the jury is still out on that one. One thing I do know is that fans of Custard Creme biscuits here in the UK will think they have died and gone to heaven. Get yourselves to American Soda before they sell out folks.

8.2 out of 10





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June 17th: William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou / Praline Feullantine

A little while ago we had the ChocolateMission debut of William Curley who failed to create much too much excitement or enthusiasm with some of his plain house dark and white chocolate recipes - See HERE.

The reader feedback from those reviews contained many suggestions that I try some of their flavoured chocolate bars with the hope that they might be add an X-factor to the good, but not necessarily amazing standard chocolate. Being the kind souls they are at WC, they fully obliged with these requests and sent along two bars they believed would represent their range well.

Both these William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou & Praline Feullantine bars came in the most beautifully presented black boxes, which were decorated with some stunning gold coloured pattern work and fonts. As with the plain house offerings I tried previously, the packaging created a terrific sense of premiumness, I just hoped the chocolates were going to back it up this time.

William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou



One look at the ChocolateMission leaderboard should give you some idea of my love for caramel flavoured chocolates - I was really looking forward to seeing what WC were going going to offer with this one. It came described as 'caramel hinted with Brittany sea salt, coated in dark chocolate', and was split into two separate 32.5g bars that came wrapped in thick gold foil.

The cocoa hinted butterscotch scents that greeted me when I released the bars from their foil confines were absolutely terrific and set up expectations rocketing. The 70% dark chocolate that coated the caramel innards was instantly familiar and fast went about establishing an unsweetened, rich cocoa taste in the mouth. The caramel below was a dark gold colour and had a delightful smooth texture that was halfway between a solid and liquid state. Unfortunately, whilst the mouth feel was sensational, for me it didn't hold up it's end of the bargain taste wise. I thought it lacked the complexity of flavours of other high quality caramels, with it's burnt sugar flavours coming across as 'over toasted', harsh and a little one dimensional. Personally I couldn't detect any saltiness, and was desperately seeking smoother tones of butter and cream which I didn't get.

Overall this was by no stretch of the imagination a bad chocolate caramel offering, however it just wasn't one that I would consider up there as one of the best. Having tried so many high chocolate caramels in my time I guess my standards are very high, so I would encourage you to investigate for yourselves before making a finalised judgement.

7.5 out of 10



William Curley Praline Feullantine


When I reviewed the plain bars from William Curley the cheekier few amongst my readership noted that I hadn't touched upon any of their milk chocolate offerings. Well no such criticism can be thrown my way today. Below are my thoughts on the William Curley Praline Feullantine milk chocolate bar - a 'Crispy praline wafer with toasted Piedmont hazelnuts encased in milk chocolate'.

This bar came in a 45.0g size that was segregated into five blocked pieces. The chocolate was decorated with 'wooden bark' like pattern work which was fitting given that a strong set of woody hazelnut nuts scents emerged once released from it's gold foil confines. The milk chocolate that coated this bar was a 40.0% recipe and it developed a delightful creamy cocoa taste upon its smooth melt in the mouth. If I had to relate it to a similar chocolate, I would say that it was similar in texture to Galaxy, but with a more characteristic, cleaner set of cocoa flavours that had an an inviting touch of honey and butter in it's midst. The bits of wafer weren't particularly flavoursome, however they added nice crunchy textural elements. I'm sure you will all be glad to hear that the hazelnut praline centre was worthy of a big thumbs up. As indicated by the aromas, the filling had an earthy, woody, savoury hazelnut taste that was established almost instantaneously upon it's revelation. The small fragments of nut added further nutty bursts whilst not hampering the mouth feel to any great significance.

Overall this was definitely the best thing I have tried from William Curley yet. Having reviewed tons and tons of praline products over the course of my three years running this website, I should be able to determine high quality praline when I taste one and this was certainly one that was up there with the best of them. Some of you may be put off by the price, but if love chocolate bars like everyday bars like the Kinder Bueno its likely you will see this as a real treat.

8.5 out of 10



If you fancy trying the William Curley range yourself you can head to his online shop HERE

June 15th: Lucky's Mad Hatter Bars

Back in March we had the ChocolateMission debut of a brand called Lucky's. If you need reminding, Lucky's produce 'unique luxury cakes covered in pure chocolate', and they managed to really impress me with their Honey Time Collection gift pack. I was so taken by their cakes, you may recall that I concluded that they were 'the best product I had reviewed on ChocolateMission so far in 2011'- thats some high praise! Well given that experience you can imagine my excitement when Lucky's offered me the chance to try some of their latest additions.

The three cakes I will be showcasing today are the three new 'Mad Hatter Bar' variants. The Mad Hatter Bar range consists of Lucky's special dark brownie cake which they have flavoured with three different types of Valrhona chocolate, as well as several flavour variations that I will make clearer below. As with my last experience these cakes came beautifully presented in transparent plastic box cases which had been wrapped and hand sealed with an Alice in Wonderland themed label. I probably needn't point out the marvellous look of the cakes themselves - I hope my photos showcase that. They had obviously been crafted with real care, and the clear Lucky's moulded branding on the top of each was a clear reminder of the premium quality at hand.

Going Bananas - 'Dark brownie with banana and ginger, covered in milk Valrhona chocolate (40.0%)'. Banana cake is a real favourite of mine at the moment so I had high expectations for this one. The melt of the milk chocolate was smooth and provided a rich set of creamy chocolatey flavours for every mouthful. This great quality chocolate was only superseded by the deliciousness of the brownie that sat at the heart of this chunky block - boy was it phenomenal! The banana flavours were true and forthcoming, and a subtle undertone of ginger added a remarkable hint of warming spice to the rich cocoa flavours of the brownie. A thin layer of some sort of caramel or creme could have made this utterly outstanding, but frankly it was almost near perfection - an outstanding synergy of fruit, cake and chocolate. One for banana cake fans that's for sure!

8.8 out of 10


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Looney Raspberry - 'Dark brownie with raspberry and pistachio, covered in white Valrhona chocolate (35.0%)'. Out of all three this did admittedly sound like the weakest to me though I was still quite excited by the prospect of the pistachio nuts and Valrhona white chocolate. The white chocolate did it's job of establishing a milky, vanilla hinted initial taste, however it soon became a bit of an after thought with the other stronger flavoured constituents taking a lead. When chewing the cake by far the strongest flavours came from the raspberry element, which like the banana above was as real tasting and fruity as you could ever hope for. The pistachios were notable for bringing a slight saltness and added crunch texturally, though their true flavours were understandably hampered somewhat by the stronger flavoured brownie and fruit. Again, all these different fruit, brownie and nut elements combined made for an outstanding cake.

8.4 out of 10


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Salty Insanity - 'Dark brownie with salted hard caramel covered in dark Valrhona chocolate (70.0%)'. You saved the best until last right? Well so I thought, but it wasn't to be I'm afraid. The dark chocolate as I thought it would be was absolutely delicious (I really need to get around to doing some Valrhona reviews don't I!!) and the contrast of the unsweetened, earthy cocoa flavours of the exterior shell contrasted perfectly with the sweet, cakey cocoa of the brownie below. Where I feel this one let itself down to a degree was the implementation of the caramel - which for me just didn't come through in the taste to level I wanted it to. Indeed, the caramel element was nothing more than a minor suggestion of sweeter brown sugar tones. The butter, salt and cream flavours just weren't there no matter how much I searched for them. The combination of the superb chocolate and gorgeous brownie still made for a delicious product at hand, but it didn't live up to my sky high expectations.

7.3 out of 10



Overall not all of these Mad Hatter Bars came off quite as well as I hoped but being frank they were all still exceedingly tasty. Banana fans will seriosuly want to look at getting involved with the 'Going Bananas', and raspberry fans will no doubt be just as pleased with the 'Looney Raspberry'. As I stated above the 'Salty Insanity' was a little bit of a sore point for me, though luckily I was able to comfort myself with the other gift set that Lucky's sent my way (review coming soon :D). These are damn expensive cakes, but some of them are worth the money and them some.

June 13th: Hotel Chocolat Mississippi Mud Pie

My adventures with the Hotel Chocolat Summer Peepster Collection continued today with me trying another of their dessert themed offerings - the Mississippi Mud Pie. Doing my background research like I always do, I was informed by WIKI that ...

'Mississippi mud pie is a chocolate-based dessert pie that is likely to have originated in the US state of Mississippi (Duh!!). The treat contains a gooey chocolate filling on top of a crumbly chocolate crust. The name "Mississippi mud pie" comes from the dense cake which resembles the banks of the Mississippi River. It is believed that this dish was created by home cooks after World War II because it was made of simple ingredients that could be found at any supermarket and did not require any special cooking tools' .... isn't that fascinating :D :D

Though the recipe may have originally hailed from the States this hasn't stopped Hotel Chocolat serving up their own version of this chocolatey treat in their own unique form. This chocolate slab variation of the dessert came billed as 'solid milk and white chocolate, decorated with chocolate biscuits and dark chocolate'.

No surprises what size this one came in - 100.0g!! It came packaged inside the standard cellophane packet (should be foil I think!) and looked attractive on the eye with the swirled appearance of the differently toned chocolates creating an exciting visual sight to behold. Upon breaking open the seal to the wrapper, forthcoming scents of chocolate and sweet honey biscuits could be detected - I wasn't going to hang around getting to work on this one.

With my handy taste assistants in attendance I put my bulging, manly biceps *ahem* in to action and went about the task of splitting the slab in to smaller mouthful sized pieces. Hopefully from my photo above you can determine that the biscuit pieces were proportionately distributed across the slab, and were generously integrated in to both the surface and middle parts of the bar. As you can probably also see from my photo the majority of the slab was comprised of milk chocolate - Hotel Chocolat's 40% recipe to be accurate. I've described this chocolate countless times beforehand, rest assured all the usual cream based cocoa flavours were on offer here, and they were delivered with the usual flavour layerings of milk, butter and honey - Yum! The aforementioned biscuit pieces proved to not only be enhancing visually but also rather damn tasty, with one of my work colleagues hitting the nail on the head describing them as 'oreo-like' in taste. From a personal point of my view, I though the best parts of this slab were where the white and milk chocolates were intertwined, as the white chocolate brought further flavour depths of vanilla noted dairy cream to the party. As you can imagine there was a great scramble for the pieces that included the white chocolate, milk chocolate and cookie pieces in one. My only slight disappointment was that the dark chocolate seemed more there for decorative purposes rather than to enhance the taste a great deal.

Overall I was always confident I was going to enjoy this slab given that it was a pretty pure chocolate offering and not one that contained any outlandish enhancing flavours. I always think it is a sensible thing that Hotel Chocolat choose to put a plainer slab amongst their Peepster Selections. Don't get me wrong I love the fact that have more variable chocolates such as the Eton Mess (See - HERE), however at the end of the day I think its wise that they at least have one offering in a selection that sticks to their core principles of simple great tasting chocolate. This Mississippi Mud Pie slab fulfilled this role superbly and combined their staple milk chocolate recipe with the white chocolate and biscuit pieces to create something that was simple yet utterly delicious. This was a slab that was well liked by all that tried it, and it was hoovered up by myself and fellow taste testers in a matter of minutes after its opening. Whether it be as part of this Peepster Selection or in it's own large sized grand slab form, I can recommend this one with a great deal of confidence.

8.9 out of 10

June 10th: Ritter Sport Amarena Kirsch

Kcal 572 Fat 38.0g Fat(sats) 24.4g Carbs 50.1g (per 100.0g)

As I get older I get more and more scared at just how quickly time flys by. It genuinely feels like only a few months ago that I was reviewing Ritter Sport's Summer line up for 2010, however looking at the dates on the review HERE its almost exactly a year to the day since I wrote of those delights. Indeed, the Summer season is again upon us, and of course that means only one thing - more Ritter Sport chocolates. The Ritter Sport summer range this year again consists of three flavours that have been based on popular European ice creams. Keeping their places from 2010, the Stracciatella and Mango-Passionfruit bars are this year joined by an Amarena Kirsch flavour.

As we would all expect the bar this year has been delivered in the traditional 100.0g square block format, in the usual sixteen block grid. Those of you aware of the packaging from last year will notice that very little has changed - in fact nothing has changed on the Stracciatella and Mango-Passionfruit bar wrappers aside from the year stated for development. Though this may sound a little boring to some of you, I more think along the lines of why fix something that isn't broken. In my opinion the packaging is good and encapsulates the fresh feel nature needed for a summer chocolate. As always I was also impressed by the definition of the filling when I split the bar into it's blocks - there were visible red cherry pieces evident amongst the cream coloured filling.

If you hadn't of guessed from the photographs this was of course a Ritter Sport 'milk chocolate bar filled with an Amarena Kirsch creme filling'. For those unaware as to what Amarena Kirsch is, allow me to consult our longtime friend Wiki - "an Italian specialty, consisting of dark cherries that have been placed in a syrup of sugar, almond oil and vanilla. It is traditionally eaten with ice cream". This all sounded well and good to me, and I felt a little more encouraged by the strong sweet red fruit scents that emerged when I split the wrapper. Being the lucky recipient of a number of samples I tasted this alongside a few friends and I'm pleased to announce that the general consensus was that this was a decent fruit flavoured chocolate. In my experience, the flavour journey started off well with the outer milk chocolate establishing a fair, yet unspectacular milky cocoa chocolate flavour hit from the outset. The inner creme initially came to the party offering incremental creamy tones to the taste, though as soon as the small pieces of red cherry were founded (and they were plentiful!!), a sweet red cherry flavour set soon firmly announced it's arrival. The cherry influence was remarked upon as being too sweet by some of my taste panel, however on the whole it was met positively by the majority who agreed with me that it was notably real tasting and had a small hint of savoury nuttiness to take off it's sugary edge. This was a chocolate that I felt comfortable eating in blocks of four (25.0g), this seemed like a nice amount for a quick chocolate hit with a touch of sweet fruitiness.

Overall as I'm not a massive cherry fan I wasn't as excited about this particular flavour than I have been with some of the more recent Ritter innovations. Despite my slight lack of enthusiasm to begin with, I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised by the time I had finished my first taste test and I continued to be so for the next few that followed (Second taste tests are always necessary of course haha! At first I was a little sceptical that this bar might just come across as simplistic compared to last years 'busier' Wildberry Yogurt variation, but in truth I think this one was equally as good with it's more focused one fruit focus. As I alluded to above, some of the taste panel I conducted this with were a little put off by the overall sweetness of the chocolate by the time the sugary fruit had been enhanced by the sweet milk chocolate. The majority however were aligned that this was a very tasty cherry flavoured chocolate, and that it made a nice change from the more traditional strawberry and raspberry flavourings that we get in the UK. Fans of cherries will feel right at home here with this one. If you fall in to that category I can highly recommend it.

8.3 out of 10

June 8th: 'Bits n Bobs' Cadbury Superpost # 2

The review backlog has become increasingly large over the course of the last year, so I have decided to have a bit of a clearout. Today you have the pleasure of a Cadbury Superpost - featuring some bars that I have recently tried from all across the globe ... in the interest of post length I suggest we just get on with it :D

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Cadbury Boost Stix
Cadbury Boost Stix
Kcal 140 Fat 7.7g Fat(sats) 5.4g Carbs 15.7g (per stix)
'Chocolate flavoured centre with biscuit pieces, surrounded in caramel, all covered in Dairy Milk milk chocolate'
Origin: Australia

The Cadbury Boost Stix bar is one of the latest products to come out in Australia and essentially comprises of a standard UK Cadbury Boost split in to two smaller thinner 'Stix' pieces. I was a little confused by the branding given that the Boost bar in the Southern Hemipshere is usually called the Moro (!??), but that aside the packaging and presentation looked reasonable enough and struck me as attractive.

Taste wise there was very little variation from a standard Boost, with the real only point of difference coming in the scale and size. The Dairy Milk chocolate was noticeably a touch thinner in melt compared to our UK stuff, but it was still creamy tasting and led nicely into the surrounding layer of caramel and centre filling of chocolate truffle and biscuit pieces.

Overall this bar was fine for what it was, but I see little point for it unless you are someone who fancies their fill of Cadbury Boost in a more manageable sized portion. To be honest the only time I ever eat the normal Cadbury Boost is when I am in need of a very fulfilling chocolate to satisfy my hunger - so that sort of rules out the point of existence for me with this bar. Despite it's smaller size these Stix bars still deliver the Cadbury Boost taste experience, I just honestly don't see little point in paying the same amount for 5.0g less chocolate.

7.8 out of 10



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Cadbury P.S.
Cadbury P.S.
Kcal 240 Fat 13.7g Fat(sats) 9.8g Carbs 28.8g
'Layer of wafer and caramel flavoured cream, covered in Caramilk chocolate'
Origin: South Africa

I'm not one-hundred percent sure about the intended brand positioning of the P.S. but from what I have ascertained it is probably targeted predominantly at female consumers given the colour scheme and suggestive 'You light up my life' blurb featured on the wrapper. Although I was hardly overwhelmed by the aesthetic proposition, the smell of the bar did excite me more, and the sweet, dairy based white chocolate scents did raise my anticipation to an extent.

The taste was what I can only describe as polarising in that was very sugary, but still on the whole quite pleasant with undertones and hints of toffee and golden syrup present throughout. Given the sharp directness of the sugary natured outer chocolate, the wafer was very much needed, as the more savoury wheat flavours offered by the wafer that balanced out the sweetness of the coating.

Overall it wasn't one of the better chocolate bars I have ever reviewed from Cadbury, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was to find out that out that it has quite a few loyal fans. The Caramilk chocolate that coats it is very distinct in terms of taste, and I can see people that love really sweet chocolate like Caramac, White Mice etc would very much enjoy this bar. Personally speaking it wasn't a product well matched to my tastes, it was nice enough, but I wouldn't actively encourage you actively seek it out.

7.2 out of 10



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Cadbury Mr Big Original

Cadbury Mr Big Original
Kcal 300 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 41.0g (per bar)
'Layered vanilla wafer, coated in caramel, peanuts and rice crisps, covered in a chocolate coating'
Origin: Canada

Getting bars from Canada certainly isn't the easiest of thing to do, but after a little endeavour I did manage to lay hands on one of these Mr Big bars thanks to a ChocolateMission reader who wished to remain anonymous. This Mr Big Original is one of the Cadbury bars I have been eyeing up for a while now, as I have always thought the prospect of a Lion bar equivalent with added peanuts and vanilla creme sounded like an attractive prospect.

The first thing that struck me when I layed hands on this bar was how it really did live up to it's name. The 60.0g bar was literally huge in size - it was a real pain to photograph getting the entire wrapper in to focus. In relation to size this was probably about the size of a Mars Duo we have here in the UK, though annoyingly this bar wasn't split in two prior to me doing the cross-section you see above. As sizable as the bar was in hand, when it came to the taste test I felt it let itself down somewhat. The outer coating of chocolate, nuts and caramel all seemed to lack the usual Cadbury charm with the chocolate especially notable for it's sweetness as opposed to Cadbury's usual differentiated creamy taste. Similarly the peanuts and caramel struggled to create much of an impression against the wafer and inner creme elements, which both themselves mustered only brown sugar noted wheaty flavour suggestions that you would get from any average wafer based option.

Overall I did feel a little letdown by the overall quality of this bar given the promise it had in concept. As I described above, none of the key five constituents really took hold of the taste to the extent I wished - the chocolate and peanuts most notably faded in to the background with the generic tasting wafer acting more as a flavour dampener rather than an enhancer. I can't deny the Mr Big is a hunger satisfying option thanks to it's size, but I wont mislead you all by saying it's the tastiest Cadbury option available.

6.8 out of 10



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Cadbury Cherry Ripe Cherry Roll

Cadbury Cherry Ripe Cherry Roll
Kcal 242 Fat 13.2g Fat(sats) 10.3g Carbs 28.4g
'Cherries and coconut in Old Gold dark chocolate, sprinkled with coconut'
Origin: Australia

The Cadbury Cherry Ripe Cherry Roll was yet another new product launched in Australia earlier this year and has been doing the rounds in the Southern Hemisphere. Those of you who haven't ever seen the Cherry Ripe brand before want want to familiarise yourselves with my review of the original bar (See HERE), and also the Cherry Ripe Double Dipped which was another limited edition I tried in 2009 (See HERE). Essentially this Cherry Ripe Cherry Roll looked and sounded like the original bar, just with a few cosmetic changes.

Out of it's foil wrapper this bar was immediately more welcoming than I remember the original bar being. The shredded coconut on the side caused a heck of mess when handling, but it generated some a nice coconutty scents and gave the outer chocolate an additional crispness when first bitten in to. The outer chocolate was as expected not the greatest in terms of it's cocoa richness, but for the main part it was insignificant anyway as the inner assembly of cherry and coconut took the lionshare of the taste what with it establishing it's juicy red fruit and creamy nut experience.

Overall I really enjoyed this bar and felt that in many ways it was superior to the long standing original Cherry Ripe. That said if I were an Australian or New Zealander and this had been the biggest 'new launch' from Cadbury for the year I would probably had been disappointed with it given that it was essentially the normal Cherry Ripe with some minor improvements. Much the same as I have said about the other three bars today, this is more of a 'nice to have' bar rather than one I would say you need to go out there and look for.

7.7 out of 10