Vivani Feine Bitter Cassis

One of the things I like most about this job is when a company whose products you’ve written about sees what you’ve written and decides to send you a big box of chocolate. It’s not just the free chocolate (no, really!), it’s the feeling that somebody somewhere is reading what you write, and that what you have to say is finding its way back to the chocolate maker.

And so it was I took delivery of a nice box of Vivani goodies from Germany, which I’ll be sampling over the coming days / weeks / months.

This first bar is a 60% dark chocolate, divided into fondant-filled chunks. The format is quite similar to the Lindt bars, with the soft centres encased in domed ‘capsules’ on a flat base, and I really like the way it looks.

The filling is a soft, almost liquid fondant, flavoured with blackcurrant. I don’t believe there’s any real cassis in there, but there is blackcurrant concentrate and alcohol. Break a chunk, and the filling slowly flows out – which is probably a good indication that you shouldn’t be breaking the chunks. Not unless you’re an expert, like me.

As you can see, it doesn’t look particularly blackcurranty, but trust me it tastes fruity – although there is a bit of an artificial quality to it. If Ribena made chocolates, this is what they would (or should) taste like.

The chocolate is not particularly stunning, and as you might expect, takes a back seat to the filling. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The slight bitterness works well with the very sweet blackcurrant and the overall effect is quite pleasant.

However. This is only going to appeal to you if you’re into that sweet blackcurrant flavour. This isn’t a fine chocolate, but it is a step up from your average fruity confectionery. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I’d certainly consider buying a bar with my own money in future.

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