Wel this is interesting. This new range of ‘after dinner’ chocolates from Bendicks seem to be more than a superficial rebranding. Rather than just change the packaging a little, they’ve introduced this new “Bitter” range of dark chocolates with a whopping 95% cocoa solids.
Now we’ve reviewed lots of high cocoa-content bars before – even a couple of 100% bars, but I’ve never come across something with such high cocoa content aimed at such an every-day market.
As you can see, this new range comes in handy traffic-light style packaging, with each of the 100g tubes containing eight individually (and colourfully) wrapped chocolates.
The flavours are Bittergingers (ginger fondant), Bittermints (flavoured with peppermint oil) and Bitteroranges (with a slightly longer list of ingredients including orange peel, lemon peel, natural orange flavour, salt and chilli extract).
I’m going to start with the mint, as that’s the most common flavour for this kind of after dinner chocolate. They have a pleasantly minty aroma, which while noticeable isn’t as intense as some other peppermint chocolates I’ve tasted. The chocolate has a slightly matte finish, and that comes through in the texture. It’s not as smooth as a chocolate with a lower cocoa content, but it’s by no means grainy.
It is very difficult to get a handle on the flavour though, because as soon as you bite a piece off, the mint flavour starts to take over. There doesn’t appear to be any natural sweetness in the chocolate, but the intense peppermint sweetness of the thick fondant filling quickly counters any bitterness. The overall effect is something that isn’t particularly “chocolatey”, but is genuinely quite refreshing.
In the red corner, we have the Bittergingers. These are exactly the same size and shape and use the same 95% dark chocolate. The fondant filling is the same consistency as the mints – a firm, slightly crumbly, slightly chewy consistency that works well as it melts at a similar rate to the chocolate. The ginger is delicious, if perhaps not quite as intense as the mints. It also builds more slowly and subtly and leaves a wonderful warm feeling in the mouth.
Finally, we have the Bitteroranges with the added attraction of a hint of chilli. As you can see from the photo, this is the only one with a hint of colour – probably from the orange peel. The flavour is of natural oranges and quite subtle. There’s nothing over the top here – even the chilli is “just right” – like the Bittergingers, it just leaves a nice warmth in the mouth once the chocolate and fondant have melted away.
Those not used to very dark chocolate might have a problem with these, but I loved them. Most chocolates that market themselves as ‘bitter’ or ‘intense’ have weird and wacky fillings, but in this case most of the intensity comes from the chocolate itself, and I find that rather refreshing.
It’s great to see high cocoa content chocolate being used in new products, although I would have liked to see more information on country of origin and the kind of beans used on the packaging. This range would certainly make an interesting addition to any dinner party – just be sure to buy all three flavours and let your guests discuss the flavour combinations. The conversation could go on all night.
This selection of chocolates was sent over from Belgium for tasting courtesy of a young web entrepeneur called Thomas who has secured an exclusive web sales deal with a Belgian chocolatier by the name of Frederic Blondeel.
As Thomas said in his mail to me “It is also our passion for chocolate and chocolates in general that made us go for this product, together with the urge of showing the world that Belgium is capable of more than producing the world’s most complex government.”
Of course, we already know that Belgium is home to some of the world’s finest chocolate makers, which naturally led me to conclude that I was in for a treat.
More from Thomas;
“The reason why the site is currently in English only is because I worked for a multinational briefly with several colleagues from the UK. Each time I went on a work visit to the UK they asked me to bring chocolates from Belgium – so I knew there was demand. The UK is close by, it’s a big market so it’s our mission to make these wonderful chocolates available to a wide audience. We’re just starting off with the shop so we hope to get some UK traffic by the holiday season. In Belgium there are chocolatiers all over the place – not as good as Frederic but still, good enough for people not to look further than their local shop. That’s why we do not focus on Belgium.”
One thing that is worth mentioning is that these chocolates were excellently packaged. A stout cardboard box was home to a polystyrene box surrounded by soft packing material. The inner box was taped closed and held the actual ballotin. When I lifted it for the first time I was immediately impressed with the weight. That’s because M. Blondeel (or maybe Thomas himself) had managed to cram in no fewer than twenty three individual pieces. I shan’t go into detail about every single piece, but it’s true to say that these are indeed top quality chocolates in the classic Belgian mode with a few modern twists. All of the chocolate used is smooth, well balanced and full of flavour. There were of course a few surprises among the classics, and a couple of these are worth a mention.
There was a dark chocolate and spearmint ganache which was so alive with the most natural mint flavour I have come across in a long time. The flavours sat together perfectly, and were a shining example of why mint and chocolate should be paired. Rarely have I tasted it done so well, though.
A milk chocolate ganache with cinnamon held the balance between the smoothness of the milk chocolate and the warm spice of cinnamon perfectly. As the shell melted away the centre liquified in my mouth, releasing cocoa and spice notes that were reminiscent of chai.
This slender square concealed a tangerine (I believe) centre with tiny pieces of zest which delivered a gorgeous citrus burst, fresher and lighter than traditional chocolate/orange pairings and dangerously moreish.
More Belgian tradition in the form of a snail shell (there are a number of novelty shapes in M. Blondeel’s range) was home to half a caramelised walnut surrounded by caramel. The nut was crisp and fresh-tasting, and in combination with the light, liquid caramel and thick milk chocolate shell, it had me smiling as I allowed the flavours to slowly spread over my tongue.
A white chocolate heart with a burnt sugar finish didn’t really seem like it was going to be my kind of thing, but it cunningly held a dark,dark ganache centre with layers of thin, crisp crepe. Very much reminiscent of a Hotel Chocolat or Pascal Caffet chocolate, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this one.
Of all the dark chocolates I tried this one was the ultimate new taste. The three discs are slivers of crisp nougat which sit atop a mound of caramel, all of which is balanced on a chewy, nutty base. The fact that all of this is smothered in rich, dark chocolate with a superb soft mouthfeel just makes the whole thing devastatingly moreish. In fact, truth be told, had I just received the chocolates I have spoken of I would have been very happy, but here were many other great flavours – a blackcurrant ganache which was bright, sharp and tangy, classic Belgian Pralines, coffee ganaches with light, fragrant coffee aromas, a number of pieces that made great use of nuts, and more.
One thing I have to say is that the Chocolateque site needs to have more information about the chocolates themselves. I found myself referring to Frederic Blondeel’s site for identification purposes. I’m also unsure about how many people will be willing to pay £30+ for a box of chocolates. They are very good indeed, but at that price I’m not sure that many people will take a chance on an unknown quantity. On the other hand, if you’re in Brussels I’d recommend swinging by his shop for a browse.
You know, I’m all for Cadbury’s new Fair Trade credentials, but this latest (5 minute!) ad is one of their most bizarre yet. I just hope the hallucinogens their marketing people are using are fairly traded too…
I’d love to hear what you think – both of the video and the whole Fair Trade Dairy Milk thing.
Leave a comment!
As Dom recently pointed out, chocolates that promote health benefits more than anything else are often just digging for selling points. Too often, their stand-alone quality is lacking. So though I love getting chocolate in the mail, I started going passive instead of excited seeing the chart on the back of these boxes that compares their probiotic survival rate to that of yogurt.
But at least this is different from just promoting chocolate as generically healthy. The fact that it’s chocolate is secondary in this case. It seems that the University of Ghent in Belgium did an experiment that showed chocolate to let you take in 80% of probiotics, while milk and yogurts were only 20%. What are probiotics? I’ve always known them as the opposite of antibiotics. Instead of trying to get rid of the bad bacteria, you strengthen the good. So they help with the immune system and digestion.
Each of these boxes is a two-week supply. That’s one fourteen gram bar a day. Presumably, you don’t want to be eating more when it’s for health benefits. The rectangles are marked into four not to give you lines to break the chocolate along, but to make it look bigger. At least, that looks like the function to me. The milk chocolate isn’t bad; it tastes Belgian, nutty and creamy. Not overly sweet or anything; just right. It’s greasy, though, oh horror. At least if you’re sticking to the fourteen grams, there won’t be that much grease to build up.
The dark chocolate is in the same plain packaging, just a little bit darker-colored. As usual, I’m either tougher on the dark or it’s tougher to get right. The first time, I didn’t even want to finish the small bar. Later, it was okay. It’s pretty sweet (hence the brand name SweetLife?), but maybe not in an overwhelming way. It falls in with the average dark chocolate crowd.
So… if you’re looking for a way to get probiotics, by all means, give the Maramor (an Ohio-based company) line a try. If you like having chocolate as part of your diet, but want to be getting something else out of it, these would be good. At $15 per box, don’t get them solely for the taste.
