Special guest Chocablogger and XFM DJ, Eddy Temple-Morris reports from Barbados.
If anyone out there in Chocablog land can shed some light on exactly what this ‘Catch’ chocolate is, leave a comment – we’d love to know!
I’ve just got back from Barbados, a well earned holiday after 15 months without a break… and i found a lovely chocolate bar there, and thought of you!
Have you ever heard of a CATCH? Ignore me if you have, if not then please allow me to contribute to your excellent blog..
A distinctive red foil wrapper reveals a classic arch shaped milk chocolate bar, with the traditional flat underside.
They say ‘soft caramel and crisped rice in milk chocolate’ – I’d say it’s more fudge than caramel, possibly a caramel fudge, but with the emphasis on the latter. I find the the french description much more appetizing:
‘Chocolat au lait fourre caramel moulet et riz croustillant’
The bar is a very simple idea done well. The flattened arch of fudge has been dipped in chocolate, then the rounded, arch-side rolled in rice crispies, then the whole thing is once more dipped in chocolate.
It’s a lovely texture more than anything else, and a real bonus for me in that one of my favourite bars was Dairy Crunch, but I stopped buying them decades ago when i found out what a bunch of c**ts Nestlé are and boycotted all their products. Chocolate and crispy rice is an awesome partnership, and the added bonus of a spine of creamy fudge works a treat here.
I can’t tell you what percentage of chocolate is used here because the wrapper doesn’t say, but it does admit to 10g of fat per bar. I ate 4 of them while on a two week holiday, and found them infinitely superior to their main Barbadian rival, the hilariously named ‘Oh Henry’ (which is basically a West Indian version of Baby Ruth, of Goonies fame, another one I can’t buy now.)
The burning question is: Why can’t we get these over here? Are there any similar bars out there that haven’t been swallowed up by those b*stards at Nestlé?
This one’s part of the same range as the Lindt Raspberry that Simon reviewed last week, and the format is exactly the same – a large bar of milk chocolate divided into liquid filled chunks.
The most striking thing about these Lindt bars is definitely the design. It looks like a thin slab of chocolate with ‘capsules’ stuck on the front. It’s quite unlike any other design I’ve seen.
Those ‘capsules’ mean that the bar looks very thick when wrapped, but in reality it’s just a 100g bar.
Once you have the chocolate unwrapped, you get a mild aroma of cherries. It’s a smell that reminds me of some milkshake from my childhood – a memory that’s reinforced by letting a chunk slowly melt in the mouth.
But as soon as that chunk breaks, the liquid centre flows out and you get a much stronger cherry hit. Personally, I found it a little too strong for a big bar of chocolate – it’s almost liqueur-like, and just a little overpowering.
I’m sure there will be people that love this – it’s all good quality stuff. But it’s not my favourite Lindt bar by a long way. The flavours are just too strong and the centre is too liquid (potentially very messy if you accidentally break a chunk).
I liked it. I ate it all without assistance. But give me one of the more subtle and finely crafterd Petits Desserts range over this any day.
It’s funny how sometimes things pop up in the oddest of places, leading you on a trail to something else. Hhow I came to find this tea is one such tale.
I like a bit of music. Well, actually, I like a LOT of music. All types. A friend gave me a copy of a Prince Buster CD, and one of the tracks (Hard Man Fi Dead, if you must know) contains this verse.
“Them boil one pot of chocolate tea.
And all the fried fish they caught in the sea
They also got six quart o’ rum
Saying that they waiting for the nine night to come”
“Chocolate Tea? Chocolate Tea? What’s that? ” I wondered, and continued to wonder.
Until I came across this.
Yogi Tea Choco contains 60% organic cocoa shells, as well as a host of other spices and spices†. Think chai with a chocolate twist.
Warming, slightly spicy but with a definite cocoa kick to it, and very good for you, so they say.
It smells very cocoa-y in the cup and this comes through when you drink it. Of course it isn’t at all sweet (but you could add sugar) and the spiciness, while not hot, may not be to all tastes, but I rather like it. Give it a go if you have a taste for the unusual. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Whoda thunk an old reggae song would have resulted in my finding chocolate tea? Cheers Prince Buster!
† Ingredients: Cocoa shells* (60%), cinnamon*, liquorice*, carob*, barley malt*, cardamom*, ginger*, cloves*, cinnamon extract, vanilla extract, black pepper*, ginger extract, vanilla beans*
* indicates organic ingredients
I’m sure I can’t be the only one who looked at the packaging above and sighed at the word “Perles™”. I don’t know why they can’t just call them Pearls – or better still, just go with “Balls”. What’s wrong with Balls, Nestlé?
The next thing that made me go “Huh?” was the packaging. A small cardboard pouch with five individually wrapped chocolates inside. That’s all well and good if you’re giving these as part of a bigger gift or as a Christmas stocking filler (as these were), but on its own, the box just looks a bit naff.
But what about the actual chocolate?
Well, the balls… sorry, Perles™, look exactly as you’d expect. Small and chocolatey. The truffle filling inside is quite firm, despite the packaging calling it “gorgeously soft”.
But the taste is spot on. The milk chocolate is smooth and creamy, as you’d expect from Nestlé Heaven, and the dark filling is deliciously nutty and chocolatey. The combination is pretty damn good.
I’m not entirely sure who would buy five chocolates in a box, but as a ‘taster’, these are certainly worth trying. I have seen bigger boxes of these, as well as bars and I’d recommend looking out for those instead. I don’t think just 5 Perles™ will be enough for most people…
