October 12th: Ritter Sport Interview 2011

I have a special post for you all today - an interview with my friends over at the Ritter Sport Blog - SEE HERE. These guys were kind enough to answer some of the questions that always seem to crop up whenever Ritter are featured on the site. I hope you enjoy this post - pictured intermittently throughout are some pictures of their Christmas range 2011. Thanks so much to the Ritter Sport team who supplied me with the answers :D

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1. What are the top 3 best selling Ritter flavours and does it vary a lot by country?

UK:
1. Marzipan
2. Whole Hazelnuts
3. Peppermint

GER:
1. Whole Hazelnuts
2. Praline
3. Alpine Milk Chocolate

World:
1. Whole Hazelnuts
2. Dark Whole Hazelnuts
3. White Whole Hazelnuts

In general you can say the most successful flavours are the ones with nuts.


2. Who comes up with all the different flavours and are they running out of ideas?

Sometimes we ask customers which kind of flavour they would like in a chocolate or we think about what would be a good flavour/taste for the (special) season like spring, summer or winter. Another possibility is to meet with our department of Research and Development and ask them if they have discovered any interesting and new flavours lately. Yet there are still a lot of flavours to come 


3. Why is there currently such a poor selection in the UK? Do you have plans to expand your range over here?

UK is not a big selling market yet. Less/no distribution in lots of markets ‘cause we are a nonfamous brand in the UK. But we do our best to change it. We work on it.  -> London besides has a good distribution as you can find enclosed.


4. Have you ever made any TV commercials?

Yes, we have commercials (for promotions and standard flavours) in some countries, especially Germany, Italy, Russia, Netherlands and we also started with some in the USA this autumn.
5. What is it like working at Ritter?

It’s fun to work at Ritter Sport. It’s a good working atmosphere, maybe the secret is that it is a family business and the owner is also in the company. Working in the marketing department gives me the opportunity to form the brand individually. Besides, I can work with a lot of different types of people and every day is different from the other. It is never boring to work for RITTER SPORT!


6. What is the business performance of Ritter like in these times of strained global finances?

Difficult question, I give you more information to that next week.


7. Are you ever going to create these flavours?
a. Caramel
b. Peanut Butter
c. Chilli
d. Sea Salt
e. Marshmallow
f. Coconut

We already sell Caramel + Nuts in Germany. We also had Coconut in our variety of goods. Peanuts are not included in the process of produktion any more because of the allgergy subject. We don’t have different machines to produce each product.


8. Why did you stop selling the Cocos bar?

We had low sales figures/demand for the Cocos so we had to take it out of our variety of goods. But we are thinking about a come back. We’ll see what happens.9. Who would you say is your biggest competitor?

Our biggest competitor is “Milka”. They sell the same chocolate bar products like us and have also the same target group.


10. Are Ritter planning on expanding in the future? If so what markets are they going after?

I give you more information to that next week.


11. Are Ritter ever going to change their packaging? Aren’t you running out of colours now?

In January 2010 we had a packaging relaunch. We changed the old pack with golden wings on both sides into their packaging colour. No, we didn’t run out of colours yet. There are still some left for new types.


12. Why are all your Bars Square shaped? Why not round or rectangular?

It’s quite easy it’s part of our brand label “Quality. Chocolate. Squared.”
Besides, it´s a unique selling proposition which differentiates us from other brands in the market.


13. Have you ever made a flavour that has been really unsuccessful?

No, we didn’t have an unsuccessful chocolate bar yet. It’s more than the demand declined 


14. What have Ritter got planned for Christmas 2011?

In Germany we are selling Advent calendars, “Gold Edition”-stars (It’s Extra Fine Milk Chocolate with 40% Cacao, packed in star design) and Christmas trees filled with tiny “Gold Edition” bars.


15. Why do you use hazelnuts in so many of your chocolates?

As you can see in your first question chocolate with hazelnuts is worldwide a big seller for Ritter Sport. Lots of different countries like the special hazelnut chocolate.
16. What is your favourite chocolate blog to read  ???

www.ritter-sport.de/blog and of course http://www.chocolatemission.net/ 


17. What are your favourite Ritter Sport flavours?

I don’t really have a favourite flavour. I like many different Ritter Sport chocolate bars ‘cause they are all good in their own way. Depends on the season and the mood!

October 10th: 'Bits n Bobs' - Hotel Chocolat

How do I make three weeks of no Hotel Chocolat reviews up to my readers!? Why I do them a special 'Bits n Bobs' themed Hotel Chocolat post of course :D I hope you all enjoy the mini-reviews today. Another big thank you must go to my 'old man' for the photography skills and expert second opinions. On we go ...
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Hotel Chocolat Turkish Delight Rose & Lemon

First up today we have a product that probably should been placed in a 'Snack of the Week' feature given it's non-chocolate content - ho hum I think we will all survive :D Billed as a 'mixture of lemon & rose flavoured Turkish delight pieces' these came beautifully presented in what appeared to be a handmade wooden box. Unique? ... yes, impressive looking? ... most certainly, great tasting Turkish Delight? ... unfortunately not.

Despite being a family of Turkish delight lovers, this selection of lemon and rose flavoured pieces went down about as well as a Big Mac at a Michelin Star restaurant. Trying these out with my family, there were complaints from the off, with the less than solidified gloopy texture causing many a grumble due to its horrible stickiness and 'stick to your teeth' mouth feel. I wish I could say the taste was a whole lot better, but both the rose and lemon flavours were frankly well off the mark, and were horrendously sweet and fake tasting. Given the brand on offer here we were probbably expecting too much, but it says it all when all three Turkish delight fans were yearning after the rather cheaper alternative Fry's.

4.4 out of 10


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Hotel Chocolat Oysters & Champagne

Back to what Hotel Chocolat know best, and surprise, surprise right back on form. This Oysters & Champagne selection came billed as 'Praline filled milk chocolate oysters served with pearls of champagne ganache'. As one might suspect, such a premium themed product demanded some premium style packaging - Hotel Chocolat didn't disappoint here. Hopefully the photos say it all for me - the box was beautifully decorated and the chocolates looked sensationally detailed and presented.

It really came as no surprise that every chocolate in this package was savoured until the very last was devoured. Praline and champagne truffles are two things that Hotel Chocolat are frankly most notable for - a simple search of the ChocolateMission archives could have told you this HERE and HERE. Suffice to say the Oysters and truffles here were totally in line with standards. The Oysters looked amazingly detailed and delivered their creamy hazelnut goodness. The Champagne truffles again oozed class with the sensationally balanced boozie champagne flavours embedded in the most delicious soft chocolate ganache. This packages gifting potential is only matched by it's self indulgence credibility.

8.9 out of 10


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Hotel Chocolat Marzipan

Lets be frank - never in a million years was this package including a Hotel Chocolat Marzipan Ingot and Hotel Chocolat Almond Marzipan truffles going to be anything other than magnificent. As well as being a family of Turkish Delight lovers (so we thought anyway!), we also happen to be rather partial to marzipan so with that we weren't ever going to turn down the chance to try this marzipan themed addition to the new Hotel Chocolat 'Spotlight On' range.

The total package included eight individual chocolates and one large ingot slab - a net weight of 175.0g. On the eye everything looked fantastic. The ingot could perhaps of done with a little more decoration, however everything else was very much in keeping with Hotel Chocolat's ultra high standards. Taste wise I've always said that Hotel Chocolat is just a little off Niederegger and I can only further reaffirm this view. Being just a 'little off' is no bad thing of course. Hotel Chocolat marzipan still has a delicious pastry dough almondy taste and the chocolate is of course a cut above that used by Niederegger. This is a chocolate set that any marzipan lover would adore and it's one I will be buying at Christmas to settle the marzipan pangs I always get round that time of year. An easy recommendation.

8.4 out of 10


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Hotel Chocolat have just put up their Christmas & Halloween ranges. I suggest you all check them out HERE

October 8th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 89 - Mr Kipling Fiendish Fancies

SITE UPDATE + RITTER COMPETITION WINNER

Hi All,

Somehow we have managed to make it 8 days in to October already so the countdowns to Halloween and of course Christmas are well on the way in the confectionery world.

This week we have seen reviews from ...

Toblerone Snow Top - See HERE
'Bits & Bobs' - American Soda Selection - See HERE
Hershey's Payday (Revisited) - See HERE

.... and several of you lovely people have been Re-tweeting and sharing these posts with your friends via Twitter. This of course put you folks in my grand draw for the chance to win some Ritter Sport chocolate, and I can reveal that Twitter user @slay3rx has won this time around. Congratulations - I will be in contact via Twitter to get your prize sent along ASAP.

Coming up next week we have two special posts rather than the three reviews. Monday & Tuesday will be a special one from Hotel Chocolat, and Wednesday we have a special Ritter Sport interview post which will take you up to the weekend. I really hope you enjoy both of those - I eagerly await your feedback.

Have great weekends

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 weekMr Kipling Fiendish Fancies
Kcal 106 Fat 2.7g Fat(sats) 1.2g Carbs 19.5g

The Halloween reviews begin here :D Indeed after several weeks of requests (and even Christmas themed reviews haha!) I have finally wilted to demand and I today bring you my first review for 2011. Reading that back it almost seems like I'm complaing :D as you will go on to read today, reviewing these Mr Kipling Fiendish Fancies was no hard or strenuous task.

These Fiendish Fancies are of course Mr Kipling's famous Fondant Fancies, but with a Halloween lick of paint. Described as 'Orange flavour sponge fancies with a vanilla topping' they cost me a mere £1.00 in Sainsbury's and will of course be available for a limited period until Halloween is done with. Before trying these I hadn't had a Fondant Fancie for years so when it came to the taste test the nostalgic feelings came flooding back. The light vanilla hinted sponge, sweet as sin fruity, chocolatey icing and glorious blob of vanilla cream instantly transported my mind back to kiddie parties I went to in my younger days. I thought these tasted great and they just gave me a nice warm, comforting feeling inside :D I thought Halloween was meant to be scary.

8.1 out of 10


Have you seen the Hotel Chocolat Halloween line up this year? SEE HERE
CHOCOLATE NEWS

Visit the ChocolateMission news page for all the latest developments in the Chocolate market ... Click the banner below ....

October 7th: Hershey's Payday (Original Post January 2008)

Kcal 240 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 27.0g

The lovely people at AmericanSoda have been reading the comments on some of the recent reviews and they have insisted that I revisit some of the American reviews upon on your request. One of the most commonly requested redux reviews is for the Hershey's Payday - one of the lowest ever rated products in ChocolateMission history (See below). In my embarrassing review below (give me a break it was one of my first :D ) I rendered the bar flavourless and devoid of flavour .... I was sure looking forward to reuniting myself with this one folks (/end of sarcasm).

So in the name of thorough research I ate the bar AmericanSoda sent across. Well what can I say!? I didn't think it was as bad as last time I tried it, but suffice to say it still didn't do much for me. Compared to previous, the peanuts were definitely more flavoursome, though I still found the caramel taffy at the centre to be ridiculously bland. Looking at the scoring chart of last I was way too harsh on the presentation and textural elements so I have amended my scoring of those criteria to provide a more realistic score. That doesn't however mean I will change my jurisdiction :D personally I still think this is a bar severely lacking depth in the taste, department and it wouldn't be one I would recommend to anyone. Hershey's make some great confectionery bars - the Payday isn't one of them :D

4.6 out of 10

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Kcal 250 Fat 13g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 28g

Not technically a chocolate bar, but what the hell why not! I enjoy most things with peanuts in, so I was very excited to try this bar and though it sounded very promising.

The bar itself was supposed to be 'chewy caramel centre covered in salty nuts', but this combination didn't ever come to fruition. From what I tasted the saltiness of the nuts wasn't there and the caramel chew bar was flavourless to the extreme.

Overall this was a big disappointment to me and it wont be a bar I will ever order again. The bar was devoid of flavour and packed full of calories and fat. It is now the holder of the title of worst bar on Chocolate Mission

2.8 out of 10

*Credit to Cybele at www.Candyblog.com for the pictures

October 5th: 'Bits n Bobs' American Soda Selection

My pals at AmericanSoda (See HERE) have been sending me all sorts of tasty American snacks and treats lately. Some of them have been great, some of them not so much :D What better way for me to give you a quick run down of them all than via one of my famous 'Bits n Bobs' posts!?
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Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Chewy
Kcal 120 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 3.0g Carbs 17.0g (per 2 cookies)

It was only a few weeks ago that I posted my review of the original Nabisco Chip Ahoy! where I concluded that for store bought cookies they weren't a 'half bad option'. Following that review, several JCM readers requested I try the Chewy variant that had recently been added to the AmericanSoda website ...... wollah ... :D

AmericanSoda kindly provided me with a 396.0g pack that included around 30 or so cookies which were contained in a red coloured resealable foil pack. In hand, these Chewy cookies were smaller in size and and softer to touch though we had no issues of crumbling which one might have expected. Taste wise these delivered broadly the same experience to the original variant cookies, though one of my co-workers commented that they tasted more chocolatey as the number of chocolate chips was maintained despite the smaller size. As promised the cookies were softer in texture, and melted very nicely to give what I thought was more pleasant mouth feel. To be frank these didn't offer much differentiation from a typical Chips Ahoy! experience, however if you are one of those people that likes to change things up every now and then you could have some fun to be had with these.

7.8 out of 10


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Marshmallow Fluff Vanila
Kcal 60 Fat 0.0g Fat(sats) 0.0g Carbs 15.0g (2 tsp - 18.0g)

I honestly can't tell you how much fun I've been having with this stuff :D Indeed for the past week or so I've been experimenting with all different manner of food/drink stuffs trying to find the optimal situation for use of this dexterous ingredient. I present to you vanilla flavoured Marshmallow Fluff - 'a very sweet, spreadable, marshmallow-like confection' (according to Wiki).

With great difficulty you will be able to make out the marshmallow based substance piled on to my spoon in my photo above. As you can hopefully see, this was spoon-able mallow substance that can be used in a number of different ways. I tried it with ice cream, yoghurt, crackers, biscuits, milk, coffees etc ... you name it I stuck Fluff on it. Most the time the Fluff added a startling sugar hit to the taste, though as promised it did also bring a hint of vanilla which made it more than just a sugary gloop. By far and away the best usage of this Fluff came when making the famous American 'Fluffernutter' aka for me here toast with peanut butter and fluff. The salty sweet combination was quite the experience - definitely not a 'have everyday' sort of experience, but more a once or twice a year special occasion sort of pleasantness. If you like your sweet food ingredients you need to make sure you have a jar of Marshmallow Fluff in your cupboard just for when you need that extreme junk food indulgence snack.

7.0 out of 10


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Moon Pie Double Decker Chocolate Flavour
Kcal 300 Fat 7.0g Fat(sats) 5.0g Carbs 55.0g

I was delighted this month to finally lay hands on to one of America's most commonly referred to pop culture snacks the Moon Pie. Moon Pies have always been one of those things that I knew existed and heard talked about a lot in US TV programming, however until this time I had never tried one myself. After pulling a few American Soda strings I finally got my opportunity to put this straight.

According to Wiki a Moon Pie 'is a pastry which consists of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in chocolate or other flavours'. The Moon Pie I managed to lay hands on was of the 'Double Decker' variety, which as you can see, double up the Graham Cracker and marshmallow layers. The presentation of the pie was a little iffy, though I have given it the benefit of the doubt considering how far it travelled. What was blindingly evident however was the thickness (or lack of!) of the chocolate layer - it was frankly a non-existent aspect of the taste and got lost in the cracker and marshmallow elements. Speaking of which both the cracker and marshmallow constituents were hardly the most flavoursome in isolation, however together they combined for a fair salty biscuit wafer and sweet mallow synergy which meant it at least offered a token taste. To be honest I was expecting a little more from such a highly talked about snack - I think I may need to do a redux-review later down the line.

6.2 out of 10


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Kellogg's Pop Tarts S'mores
Kcal 200 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 1.5g Carbs 36.0g (per pastry)

No AmericanSoda feature would be complete without a Kellogg's Pop Tarts flavour review, and today we finish off with this S'mores flavour. AmericanSoda have one of the biggest ranges of Pop Tarts here in the UK with nearly twenty different flavours on offer - See HERE. I'm sure you will all be amazed at the amount of variety they have in the US compared to just the two Chocolate and strawberry flavours we have here.

If any of you are thinking that the sound of a 'chocolate and marshmallow filling inside a chocolate-icing topped graham cracker pastry' sounds rather familiar then the chances are you previously tried the Pop Tarts Choco-Mallow we used to get here in the UK. I used to have them as a kid myself, so everything from the appearance to the toasted aromas felt very nostalgic and took me back to my childhood and getting ready for school in the mornings. With memory Lane affections put to one side I tried these in two forms frozen (thanks for the tip Marvo! See HERE) and toasted. Unlike my 'Impulsive Buy' blogger friend I have to say I much preferred these when they were toasted as they the chocolate flavour hit cut through the sugaryness of the marshmallow and icing with greater effect. When frozen I didn't feel like I got the savoury cereal balance from the pastry, and the bran saltiness seemed greater when heated providing superior balance. I would rate this S'mores flavour as up there with some of the better Pop Tarts.

7.8 out of 10

October 3rd: Toblerone Snow Top

Kcal 525 Fat 29.0g Fat(sats) 17.5g Carbs 60.5g (per 100.0g)

It's been a fair few years since we last got a new Toblerone product but just in time for Christmas 2011 we have this new Toblerone Snow Top bar. Whether or not this is a 'New' product, or a limited edition only made for the upcoming festive period I'm not so sure!? The packaging would suggest that it is 'New' and here to stick around - you will find out that's a good thing if you read on :D This Snow Top flavour was announced by Kraft back in July (See HERE), and came billed as 'Swiss milk chocolate with honey and almond nougat, capped with white chocolate'. This seemed like a straight forward proposition to me, though I did have some reservations as to why they didn't go whole hog and do a milk, white and dark chocolate mix :D

I bought this bar in a 100.0g pack that found in Sainsbury's priced on a very reasonable round pound (£1.00) introductory offer. I thought the pack was attractive and the choice of the light blue colour made in stand out from the other variants in the Toblerone range - (enough to get me to notice there was a new flavour on offer anyway!) As ever the Toblerone pieces looked lovely on the eye and of course the white chocolate topping on each block appeared well suited and gave each a cool look. Aroma wise I could detect sweet chocolate with minor nutty hints.

Toblerone isn't a chocolate I eat all that often, though I soon felt right at home with it's distinct tasting milk chocolate gracing my taste buds first. In line with expectations, the chocolate had a sweet milkiness that had just a touch of sweeter floral honey that developed during the latter stages of it's melt. When finally encountered, the white chocolate topping further accentuated the creamy dairy flavours of the taste, and brought a vanilla like note to the party as it developed. Once the chocolate was well progressed in it's melt, the remaining almond and nougat pieces added a buttery nuttiness to the after taste and provided further entertainment to the mouth feel senses with their chewy, crunchy textures. For me a four piece serving felt like plenty, any more and the sweetness would have caught up with me.

Overall I was very pleased with this new Toblerone bar and would hold it up there as one of the best options in their current range. The fusion of the milk chocolate with the white chocolate was proportionally correct with the milk chocolate still the main focus of the taste with it's unique honey sweetness, but the white chocolate portioned enough to bring it's enhancing vanilla and cream elements. When I got a few second opinions from work colleagues they similarly reacted very positively to this bar, and a few of them said they would be buying one for themselves when they next went shopping. Whether or not I offer a recommendation for this Toblerone Snow Top couldn't be more of a simple decision. Even if you don't regard yourself as a massive Toblerone fan, I would urge you to give this a try as it offers something a little bit extra from the straight up milk chocolate offering. It's one I will buy again in the run up to Christmas.

8.6 out of 10

October 1st: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 88 - Aero Christmas Tree

SITE UPDATE + TWITTER COMPETITION

Hi All,

Edition 88 of 7Days of Chocolate Reviews ... you might think I've been doing this too long eh!? I have enjoyed hearing from you all about the reviews this week, both the Cadbury and Lindt posts sparked a good deal of debate and discussion is still going back and forth on various issues. You can take a look at these reviews here:

Cadbury Mascots - See HERE
'Bits n Bobs' Cakes, Muffins & Biscuits - See HERE
Lindt Excellence Dark Caramel - See HERE

Here in the UK we have had a bit of a summer renaissance which makes my SOTW today looked even more of a nonsense then it is already posting about Christmas chocolates in September :D What can I say!? Before anyone gets too worried the Halloween reviews will be starting in the next few days so don't get the impression that I've skipped one holiday altogether - patience kids :D

I feel the need to run a competition for some chocolate :D ... who wants a Ritter Sport Milk & Wheatpuffs (See HERE)??? Well get yourself on twitter, follow @Chocmission and then Re-tweet one of my reviews with the hashtag #competition. I will randomly pick a few lucky winners next week.

FIND THE CHOCOLATEMISSION TWITTER FEED HERE

I hope that will keep you all out of mischief until next Monday :D Have great weekends.

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 weekAero Christmas Tree
Kcal 146 Fat 8.3g Carbs 16.2g

You guys didn't do anything to discourage me off the Christmas reviews last week so I'm back with yet another for you all (at least we can say it's October now haha :D ) Indeed today we have the Aero Christmas Tree - Yep, yet another new Aero product to join the likes of the Aero Orange, Aero Biscuit, Aero Easter Sheep etc which have already been sent out our way from Nestle this year.

This 25.0g single Christmas Tree shaped mould came in a snazzy looking foil packet, and looked similarly cool in reality with it's bright green coloured aerated centre. Anyone who has had Aero Mint before will not feel out of place with what you get here - essentially a sweet milky outer chocolate with a lovely melt in mouth textured peppermint chocolate centre. As with every Aero product you have to able to appreciate the sweeter, more sugary type of chocolate to enjoy this one. If you are well versed with Aero Mint however you will likely get a the same deal in terms of pleasure, but just in a smaller, less substantial Christmas themed manner. I'm sure the majority of you would have known the score with this one before reading this review - I think it's always nice to be reassured though, check it out mint chocolate fans.

8.2 out of 10

YOU CAN BUY AMERICAN SWEETS & GROCERIES HERE HERE at AmericanSoda

CHOCOLATE NEWS

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September 30th: Lindt Excellence Dark Caramel

Kcal 493 Fat 30.0g Fat(sats) 17.0g Carbs 57.0g (per 100.0g)

Beady eyed ChocolateMission readers have been getting in touch with me for awhile now regarding the new Lindt Excellence bars that seem to have made their way to UK shores. Amongst the new offerings in the Excellence range we have the 'Lindt Excellence with a touch of Sea Salt' (See HERE), and this new Lindt Excellence Dark Caramel which I have to say I was rather excited about trying. The bar came described as 'Fine dark chocolate with crispy caramel pieces', a none to dissimilar sounding proposition to the superb Lindt Excellence Milk Caramel (See HERE). As one would expect I didn't feel all that put out having to fulfil this reader request.

Having been made aware of this bar by several readers (I believe Sam & Daisy were the first two! Well done :D ) I finally found it being stocked in my local Sainsburys where it was price aligned with the other Excellence Dark bars at £1.83. To my surprise despite the minor aesthetic changes recently made to the Excellence Milk bars recently, the packaging was styled the same as the Excellence range has been historically!? What an odd decision to update one part of the range but not the other!? Unfolded from it's silver foil confines the bar appeared fresh in state and plentiful with to it's crystallised caramel pieces.

The first thing I noticed when handling this chocolate was the real lack of cocoa scents being offered. What is usually a given with dark chocolates is that they present a forthcoming set of cocoa scents, however these were by and large missing in action aside from a smattering of chocolatey whiffs. I should have taken this as a sign of things to come, though the taste still by and large took me by surprise with it's lax flavour offerings. From the very first block being placed on my tongue I couldn't believe this was a Lindt dark chocolate as the shallow flavour depth was just totally unrelateable to any bar I had tried from them previous. All I can say is thank heavens for the saving grace caramel pieces, which lit up the mild tasting milky cocoa flavours with some sweet condensed milk like brown sugar flavours. The interest sparked by the caramel influence was enough to satisfy me to a reasonable standard, however this just wasn't the behemoth chocolate I was expecting it to be.

Overall on the balance of things I was pretty disappointed with what this bar offered as I was genuinely in the way of thinking that it might be challenging the upper portion of the ChocolateMission leaderboard. In a nutshell the 47.0% cocoa dark chocolate was lacking flavour depth and it created a very passive taste that had little life until the crunchy caramel pieces were munched down upon to spark some interest. My own personal perspective was that this bar needed a far stronger dark chocolate at it's heart so that the swing from the mature tasting chocolate to the sweeter caramel pieces could have been more emphatic. Unfortunately what we got here was more of a inoffensive dark chocolate that contributed very little to the total experience. I wouldn't write this off anyone's 'to try list' but at the same time I wont be pitching it as a solid recommendation.

7.4 out of 10