Another in Stainer’s ‘spicy’ collection, this one is a 70% cocoa bar which has been blended with ‘African Herbs’ – in this case Cola, Cinnamon, Tonka Bean and Vanilla. It’s the first of a handful of 70% bars in my possession, and I was rather looking forward to trying these, as the milk bar had been a little disappointing.
The chocolate itself was surprisingly sweeter than expected, but with good bittersweet leathery, woody notes and a very tart finish. The herbs and spices never took over from the cocoa flavours, but there were definite cinammon and vanilla tastes there, and a hint of nutty earthiness which I can only surmise came from the Tonka Beans. A second piece revealed more of the complex flavours in the chocolate, with the Cola nut flavour revealing itself (yes, it does taste vaguely like coca-cola). Apparently cola contains theobromine, a stimulant which is also found in chocolate. Who knew?
Overall I found this to be a very interesting bar to taste. The flavours of the chocolate really didn’t get going until the second or third piece, by which time I was nodding my head enthusiastically whilst trying to come up with ways of describing them. It’s a very good blend of some interestingly complex flavours, and I’m now really looking forward to trying the rest of the ‘set’.
One thing I will say – it’s a shame Stainer’s don’t have UK distribution. Perhaps someone can step up and take care of that?
New Zealand is not just the land of Whittakers and locally-made Cadbury’s. I found this, Richfield’s Dark 70% cocoa with blueberries at their local Countdown supermarket. (I was meant to be buying a swimsuit in order to get into the local thermal pools, but somehow ended up with several blocks of chocolate instead…..).
To be brutally honest, the packaging didn’t look too promising, instead reminding me of those dodgy Eastern-bloc cherry liquers that try to look sophisticated but mostly end up in crazy discount shops – and for a reason. Another black mark against this block was that it was on sale and clearly marked as such, yet the dozen or so local Kiwis in the aisle with me seemed to be actively reaching around it for the Whittakers and Cadbury’s instead. Why?
That important question still hasn’t an obvious answer because this unassuming block is really quite good. Damn good in fact. The rich, dark coffee-like aroma of the chocolate was obvious the second I ripped open the wrapper, along with a gentler, sweeter smell of berries. The taste played out along the same lines – top notch chocolate fully deserving of belonging to The Dark Side Devotee hall of fame which gradually melted away to enjoyably chewy dried blueberries that added a fruity finish to the experience. Love Chunks found it rather ‘moreish’ for a chocolate on the darker and richer side.
Like the Whittaker’s Kiwi block, it’s even more honest about the fruit content than the now-infamous Nestlé Club Classic Mixed Berry. At least 12% of the entire block consists of real blueberries with no added apple puree or glue paste or other non-fruity fillings. In fact the ingredients are (in order of quantity) cocoa solids 70%, sugar and blueberry and then tailing off to the time-honoured factory favourite thickener of choice soya lecithin; and a dash of blueberry flavour and natural vanilla. Not too scary – there are far, far worse lists out there and I’ve still eaten them.
Richfields Chocolate are owned by the New Zealand Food Group Limited – which perhaps doesn’t sound as luxurious, but they proudly proclaim that all of their ingredients are not genetically modified and that “The art of dark is out passion. Let it become yours.” I would most definitely like to – if I can find some more whilst I’m still in New Zealand, and will hope that they ship it to Australia like their label says they do to Singapore.
This is one of two new-ish “fruity and crunchy” bars in the Dairy Milk range, the other being a cranberry and granola bar which I’ll be reviewing later this week.
I don’t tend to keep up with everything that goes on in the world of Dairy Milk, so I hadn’t heard anything about these bars when I saw them on the shelf. But it has to be said that I noticed them straight away, thanks to their rather funky and colourful wrappers.
As you can see, the picture on the wrapper is a fairly accurate representation of what you get here. A standard block of Dairy Milk with chunks of apricot and “crumble” thrown in. Very simple, but quite effective.
As you’d expect, the chocolate is standard Dairy Milk, which we’ve talked about a million times before. It has just the right amount of smoothness and sweetness to make you want to force another piece into your mouth, even when your body is telling you you’ve had too much already.
But for me, the apricots and crumble pieces were a little bit of a disappointment. They both had a nice texture, with just the right amount of chewyness and crunchiness, but there just wasn’t enough flavour here. Admittedly, apricots don’t have the strongest flavour in the world, but even when you let the chocolate melt away in your mouth and you’re left with a mouthful of chewy and crunchy pieces, there isn’t much flavour going on.
That said, it’s still an interesting – and welcome – addition to the range. Hardcore Dairy Milk addicts (are there such things?) will almost certainly appreciate it, but personally I’m hoping the Cranberry & Granola bar will have a bit more bite to it.
Sometimes you can find good things at Costco. But, accompanying the low prices, the quality is often comparable. So when I saw this bag of over a pound for seven dollars, I knew it could go either way. But I was in a hurry, so I grabbed the bag just in case it turned out to be a winner.
It bothers me that the bag says “Belgian quality” all over, but it is a Belgian company, with Belfine being a ChocDecor brand. Which explains all the flowers and bugs on tops. There are sixty-six mousse-filled chocolates, but a very uneven dividing up amongst the kinds. Forty-eight blue, fifteen yellow, and an amazing three green. I wish they would actually count them to make this at least a little more even.
Frankly, though, I think these chocolates are cute. The size and shape of their wrappers made me think of party favors.
The yellow is milk chocolate with chocolate mousse filling and a white chocolate flower, which has a dark chocolate center. As I tasted it and began to analyze it, all those ideas fell away. The only word I wanted to use was “delicious.” The chocolate has a unique, slightly nutty flavor. Often, a milk and white combo can go ill, but it works here. It’s very creamy, but not sickly at all.
The green is essentially the same thing, with a chocolate mousse inside as well. It seemed like it might be a slightly darker milk chocolate, but they’re probably the same.
The blue is dark chocolate with vanilla mousse and a white chocolate butterfly with a milk body. I’m really not too fond of the dark chocolate used: it’s a bit of the dark and heavy kind. But with all of the flavors combined, I’m reminded of a fudge I make with chocolate chips and condensed milk. The vanilla taste leads, closely followed by the dark, with the white coming in next.
My biggest complaint? Take some of those forty-eight blues and exchange them for yellows. I prefered them because they were less average. This isn’t a big “winner,” but it’s definately worth trying if you see it. Especially in such a big bag. That’s enough to get any chocoholic excited.
