Way back in the mists of time (July 2006 to be precise), I reviewed KitKat Chunky Peanut Butter and found it to be one of the most awful chocolate bars I’d ever tasted. Judging by the comments on that particular review, the majority of the world disagreed with my opinion, so it was with some excitement that I took delivery of a batch of KitKat’s latest ‘Chunky’ offering. Would I be won over by Chunky’s charms?
As you can see, it follows the standard ‘Chunky’ form factor. One giant finger of chocolate, wafer and filling. There’s no cocoa content listed, but I can tell you that the bar comprises 20% filling, 20% wafer and 60% milk chocolate. I don’t really know why this is important, but it seems like Nestlé feel that quantity is more important than quality – at least as far as labelling is concerned.
Taste wise, it shares something with it’s “peanut butter” sibling – the fact that it tastes nothing like its name. The filling here isn’t caramel at all – it’s fudge. The wrapper makes no mention of fudge anywhere, but the PR blurb I received does call it “a fudgey caramel” which delivers “an intense caramel hit like no other product”.
Well, frankly that’s a load of old tosh, because there isn’t a hint of caramel here. It’s fudge all the way down.
(The blurb also tells me that “37 KitKats are eaten every second”. That sounds like a challenge to me…)
Having said all that, I kinda like it. Obviously it’s really sweet, being roughly 127% sugar (that’s why they say it’s ‘intense’), but it’s quite enjoyable. The chocolate is OK-ish, the wafer is crispy and the filling is… interesting. It’s much lighter and less stodgy than the peanut butter bar. I might not rush out to buy one myself, but that’s primarily because I still have four of them sat here on my desk.
Like all supermarket chains, Sainsburys has a variety of own branded bars and boxes to tempt the average chocolate consumer away from their ‘usual’ choc of choice (presumably Cadbury or Nestlé) and at 75p a bar (if you buy two) it’s certainly pitched right at the pocket money/cheaper chocolate buyers.
It’s primarily milk chocolate (albeit a measly 30% cocoa) with a dark chocolate based ‘truffle’ centre (at a more healthy 70% cocoa) and I have to say it delivered exactly what I expected. It’s greasy, overly sweet, cloying and lacking in any real cocoa flavour. I had been trying some slightly more upmarket chocolate before I ate a piece of this, and both myself and my co-taster made almost identical faces as we bit down on this. Suffice to say tissues and a bin were called for, as it was quite frankly inedible. I’m not even sure that a Cadbury fan would like this as it seems to have no real redeeming qualities, either in terms of taste or texture. It’s oily, sticky, sugary and short on flavour.
The slogan on the front of the packaging says “because you deserve it.” Actually Sainsbury’s, I think we deserve better than this.
Avoid.
This strange Baron chocolate turned up the other day – not my find. The Lady Of The House was out and about and found it in one of the ultra-low-cost discount stores: “Go-Crazy-Cheap-Low-As-Chips” – or some such. You know the sort – everything strange you ever dreamed of and everything under a dollar, or two. Yes, thaaaaaat kind of store.
A quick Google search shows that these seem to show up in other countries too – I found a reference to them selling for $0.50 (Canadian) each in similar low-price stores – and getting good reviews, too. This is another chocolate from Poland – I speculated before on this being some national industry, this only seems to bear that out.
The web site shows that the dark chocolate we have is not part of their normal product range – perhaps an export special? What is interesting is that they will happily sell you Chocolate couvertures, compound masses and cream fillings – in bulk 20 kg bag or 12.5 kg box. You could do some serious damage to yourself buying in quantities like that!
On the trying it side of things, although its sold as “dark” chocolate, it is only 45% cocoa solids, which is not really very dark. There is no milk at all, though, so I guess the rest is sugar and such like. And it is pretty sweet.
I didn’t worry about a picture of what it looks like – the picture on the pack is quite accurate. In appearance, texture, and taste it has a stunning similarity to the Kinnertons Luxury Dark Chocolate I have tried before. It looks IDENTICAL, the cocoa percentage is about the same, the no milk is the same, the taste is the same. I have no idea if it is actually the same thing (they do claim different countries of origin) but by crikey the similarities are astonishing.
So the conclusion is much the same: wots it like then? Like the Kinnertons – pretty good. Sweet but not ridiculously so. Nothing to rave about, nothing to avoid either. Just a pleasant, easy to eat chocolate at a wonderful price.
Among the various offerings of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is this commanding chocolate. Just look at the name: not peanut butter cup (Rocky Mountain does sell some mini ones), but bucket. Sounds like a proper sweet to gorge yourself on. It’s something bigger than the Cambria Huckleberry Fudge was, as well.
They’re available in white, milk, and dark chocolate, though not all kinds may be in store. When I picked this one up, there weren’t any milk chocolate ones. Which was just fine by me since I always get dark, anyway. That may clash with my less-than-perfect review of the Dark Chocolate bar, but I’m not sure they’re even the same variety. This one has a lighter color. Then a peanut butter addition hardly makes if the same experience. All the same, if I end up with a too big piece of the chocolate plain, my taste buds do react with some defiance.
Now let’s return to that peanut butter filling. There’s quite a bit of it, spilling out almost liquidly when it’s fresh. If you’re like me, on the other hand, it’ll harden to a more regular peanut butter state before it’s gone. Still tastes good, though. It’s a very light tan color. Just a shade lighter and it would be off-white. Very smooth, especially in this afore-stated freshness. Buttery taste, finished with an explosion of peanuts. Given that the chocolate is thick (very thick on the sides) and the filling is soft, the two flavors don’t necessarily combine much. They end up as separate acts in your mouth. Here, I think, is the reason they take me so long to finish. You can get the chocolate and peanut butter together if you bite off tiny pieces from the thick shell while licking the filling. Treat it a little more like a lollipop or ice cream cone. That makes it a captivating sweet.
