Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every Season

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on August 15 2007 | Leave A Comment

Hotel Chocolat Good BagThis is another of Hotel Chocolat’s new range that they were kind enough to send us samples of. They also do a Summer Goody Bag which looks very similar.

These bags are quite obviously aimed at women. The bags themselves are designed to look like handbags – although you might get some slightly odd looks walking down the street carrying it.

The bag contains five kinds of chocs:

2 x Milk Chocolate Dippers

Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every SeasonThese, frankly, are a little bit odd. They’re simply a chocolate truffle on a 6 inch plastic cocktail stirer. The “chocolate” is softer than a milk chocolate, but firmer than your average truffle filling, so it sticks quite well to the plastic, and shouldn’t drop off in your drink.

They tasted fine, but weren’t anything special. I’m sure they’d be lovely dipped in hot chocolate on a cold winter’s evening – unfortunately I couldn’t wait until winter to try them, so I just ate them off the stick.

The quality of chocolate is fine, but I’m not entirely convinced there’s a need for chocolates on long plastic sticks.

100g slab of milk chocolate with cookie pieces

Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every SeasonThis is a really thick slab of milk chocolate with pieces of different kinds of cookies embedded in the top. The chocolate is delicious, smooth and creamy, but the cookie pieces are a bit of a let down. They lack any distinct flavour and seem like a bit of an afterthought.

I think I’d rather have just had a couple of really good quality, soft chocolate chip cookies instead.

As it is, I could replicate something just as good by crushing a packet of biscuits and sprinkling the crumbs over a bar of Galaxy. But I don’t think I’d want to, so I have to wonder why anyone came up with the idea of doing it here.

Chocolate Tasting Selection

Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every SeasonSix chocolate truffles (2 each of ‘blueberry bomb in white chocolate’, ‘raspberry & peach ganache in milk chocolate’ and ‘smooth cream truffle in milk chocolate with white chocolate top’).

I don’t know if they vary the selection of chocolates, as they appear to be a selection from Hotel Chocolat’s Chocolate Tasting Club.

The cream truffle was delicious, but the fruity ones were just plain weird. Intense, citrus-fruit flavours with very creamy chocolate seems like it should work, but the flavours are just so far apart, you can almost taste them curdling in your mouth. I’m sure there will be people who love them, but they were a bit much for me.

Chocolate Flakes for Hot Chocolate

Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every SeasonThis is a bit interesting. A bag of finely grated dark (70%) chocolate – nothing more, nothing less. The idea is that you melt the flakes in hot milk to make a real hot chocolate drink.

As it was a bit hot for hot drinks when I tried this, I decided to go for a cold milkshake version instead. Of course, you have to melt the flakes in some hot milk first, then add cool milk and chill the whole thing, so the process is a bit convoluted, but the result was a deliciously refreshing chocolate milk drink that wasn’t too sweet.

A drink that tasted both of chocolate and of milk – which is more than I can say for any shop-bought chocolate milk drinks I’ve had.

180g of Caramel Drops

Hotel Chocolat Goody Bag for every SeasonI’ve saved the best til last here.

Everyone knows there’s something about the shape of milk chocolate buttons that just makes them taste better. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation for it.

These are simply chocolate buttons, but they’re made with the same caramelised milk chocolate as the Wham Bam Slab I reviewed last week.

The result is simply delicious – and one of the most moreish bags of chocolate I’ve ever eaten. The carmelised chocolate is slightly softer than normal milk chocolate, meaning it melts away in your mouth even quicker, and the flavour is delicious. I can’t quite describe it in words, so I guesss you’ll just have to take my word for it… or buy some of your own!

The Verdict

This is certainly an interesting and eclectic collection of chocolates, and I’m sure there’ll be something here that everyone will love. But I’m also sure there’ll be at least one thing that everyone doesn’t like.

As a gift, you can’t really go wrong with Hotel Chocolat. Everything is extremely high quality and the packaging is faultless. But if you know the kind of chocolate the recipient prefers, you might do better off spending your money on something else from their extensive range.

As it is, I loved parts of this good bag, but other parts just left me thinking “Huh?” and wondering how they came up with the idea.

Still, at least I have a rather fetching handbag now.

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Comments On This Post

  1. LindtLover

    This is all fine Dom, but will you PLEASE review the Galaxy Ripple. Please?

    Please?

  2. Dom (Chocablog Staff)

    I’ll have a look round and see if I can find one LindtLover!

  3. As a woman who steadfastly refuses to own or use a handbag (preferring the ever-so-dainty backpack or hands-full-of-keys look instead), this sounds like a handbag I’d be more than willing to try!

    Galaxy…..I haven’t tried that since living in London in 1992 and still miss it!!

  4. river

    In your tasting selection none of the flavours named are actually citrus…….

  5. LindtLover

    Thanks Dom, much appreciated.

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