After Eight 70% Bar
In the past, Simon & I have reviewed After Eight and After Eight Grand Marnier Straws, and in both cases we’ve noticed something missing on the packaging; an indication of cocoa content. Instead, Nestlé prefers to call After Eights simply “plain chocolate” - a description it has managed to live up to quite well.
So when I saw this bar on the shelf in Tesco, it caught my eye. A big bar of After Eight with “Dark Chocolate” and “70%” both featured prominently on the label. Obviously someone at Nestlé is reading Chocablog…
They’ve clearly made a bit of an effort with the presentation too. Inside the thick paper and gold foil, you’ll find eight large, glossy squares of dark chocolate, deeply embossed with the After Eight logo. As soon as you start to unwrap it, you’re immediately greeted by that familiar, overwhelming minty aroma that takes you straight back to 1979… and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
So does this “70% Dark Chocolate” taste any different from the old “plain chocolate”? Well frankly, no. The chocolate tastes just like it does in classic After Eight mints. In other words, it doesn’t taste of much at all. Granted, that’s partly because the sweet, gooey, minty filling overwhelms all other flavours, but even when taken in isolation, it doesn’t have anything special going on.
Glancing at the back of the wrapper, I notice the small print still describes this as “Plain chocolate with peppermint flavoured fondant cream centre”. It seems they just can’t get away from that plain-ness.
But here’s the interesting part. Despite not being able to muster a great deal of enthusiasm for this, I still demolished that bar pretty quickly. I guess the conclusion is simple - if you liked the original After Eights, you’ll like this. If you didn’t, you won’t. They’re exactly the same.
Posted by Dom on 10 Sep 2008 at 12:09 PM
| 6 Comments
Filed in Reviews under after eight, dark, mint, nestle, UK
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September 10, 2008 : 12:26pm
Do you take requests for chocolates to review?
If you do, diabetic chocolate reviews would be great! :) My dad is diabetic, and eats a square or 2 of dark chocolate a day but has never really tried any of the diabetic ones out there. I’m sure thorntons and boots do them, so a review maybe would be wonderful!
Many thanks,
Louise
September 10, 2008 : 12:44pm
Louise.. I (and the other Chocabloggers!) will keep an eye out to see what I can find.
September 11, 2008 : 12:19am
Louise: Keep in mind that, depending on how dark your dad likes chocolate to be, you can also give 100% chocolates a try. I reviewed the Pralus 100% bar a while ago, and I have another one coming up.
September 11, 2008 : 1:53am
We even have 99% chocolate here, which is an acquired taste but still rather nice. Especially with a hot cup of tea.
And Dom - sometimes the old classics of dark chocolate and peppermint are still the best.
September 11, 2008 : 6:08pm
Like all chocolate in South America - just because you can eat a lot doesnt make it any better, all brands of chocolate I found were equally tasteless and very easy to eat. Given that I was there a month with nothing else to eat, I eventually managed to squeeze a bit of taste out - it only went down quickly because I was so desperate for that chocolate feeling in your mouth.
November 15, 2008 : 11:30am
I’ve tried this bar too and found it dissappointing. Especially when after eight used to be my favorite. Back in college they were smaller but thicker and filled with mint flavored dark chocolate mousse. They were less sweet and they melted slowly in my mouth. They weren’t the best quality chocolate that I ever had but were much better tasting and a were the best for their price range.