Conscious Chocolate Best Ever Hint of Mint
The ninth to be sampled in the Conscious Chocolate range and one I find myself liking rather a lot.
Using organic peppermint essence in the dark chocolate base gives this bar a refreshing ‘blast of clean air’ type mint kick. More of a hit than a hint, if you ask me, but something that I definitely found myself wanting more of. The mint flavour comes flooding out as soon as you take a bite of this bar, and it lingers on the palate for a good while after the chocolate has gone, giving you a lovely clean, fresh finish. Certainly one of my favourites in the range, and well worth a try – after all, just how many good quality mint choc bars are there out there?
The final bar in the range is;
Best Ever Spiced Up and Fruity
This bar contains sultanas, apricots, Himalayan salt and tangerine essential oil.
Having tasted the Fiery Hazelnut and Chilli Hot bars, I was expecting something tongue-tingling for the finale, but instead I was very pleasantly surprised by the citrus and salt flavours. This is another of the bars that has ‘bits’ – in this case pieces of sultana and apricot – but it’s the addition of the tangerine oil and salt that give it an intriguing and slightly exotic flavour. When I allowed the chocolate to melt in my mouth, it was these two tastes that came to the fore, leaving me with a mouthful of lovely, fruity bits to chew on afterwards. The apricots taste fantastic, by the way.
So there you have it, folks. This Chocablogger is proud and delighted to have been given the opportunity to sample a unique range of products produced with love and care by an English chocolatier. If I were to choose my top three of the ten I would have to recommend the Goji Berry and Coconut, the Citrus Zest, and the Spiced Up & Fruity, but to be honest, they’re all worth sampling.
I’d like to thank Emma Jackman for her generosity, and I hope some of you decide to support her by trying these bars for yourselves.
Check out Emma’s web site – www.consciouschocolate.co.uk
There seems to be a fashion for adding the word “collection” to the name of your box of chocolates at the moment. In the last week alone, I’ve looked at Godiva’s “Platinum Collection” and Lindt’s “Precious Collection“.
So how does Thornton’s offering measure up? Can it compare to Lindt’s offering?
Well not quite, but it’s not far off.
As you can see, this is a large box of chocolates – and pretty good value too at £10 for 30 chocolates. Compare that to the £8.50 I spent on 8 decidedly average Godiva chocs, and I’m sure you’ll agree this is a pretty good deal in comparison.
I don’t have the space in this review to talk about all the different chocolates in this box. Suffice to say, there’s a good mix of white and milk chocolates with different fillings. I would have preferred a few more dark chocolates, but there should be something for everyone here.
Most of the fillings are variations on the soft truffle theme, with one exception – a white chocolate filled with a very light lemon mousse. I wasn’t expecting anything so light and citrussy, so this was a bit of a surprise. A pleasant one though.
The quality and presentation of all the chocolates is good and while not up to Lindt’s standard, it certainly offers better value for money if price is an issue for you. So would I buy these as a Christmas gift?
Well, no. You see, the problem with Thornton’s that I keep coming back to is the outdated image they have. And while these chocs are significantly better than some other Thornton’s products I’ve tried, they still have the problem of saying “Thornton’s” on the box.
But what I would certainly consider doing is buying a box of these to have around the house for guests over the holidays. An alternative to the more usual tin of Quality Street or Roses.
These have been languishing in the back of my fridge for a while (note the ‘Best Before’ date!) so I thought I had better review them while they were still edible.
I’m sure most of us will have heard of Goji berries by now – they’ve been marketed as a ‘superfruit’ for some time now, with numerous claims being made for the high levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants they contain. What I didn’t realise until I researched for this review was that these are in fact Wolfberries. The name ‘Goji’ comes from a mispronunciation of the Mandarin word ‘gouqi’.
Chocablog isn’t the place to go into an in-depth analysis of the Goji berry/Superfood cult, but if you’re interested it’s easy enough to find information claiming all kinds of magical properties for these small, pink berries. For the purposes of this review, I am more concerned with how they taste when smothered in dark chocolate. Obviously, if they’re also good for you then that’s a bonus.
When I opened the bag and poured a few out onto the table, I must confess that my first thought was “sheep poo”. These small, shiny pellets of dark chocolate just happened to put me in mind of camping trips and hill walks. Not, perhaps the best start.
Now I’ve never personally tasted Wolfberries (other than in a strange alcoholic drink I bought on a Finnish ferry) so I was intrigued to know what they’d be like. My first mouthful was something of a surprise – the berries vary in texture from very chewy, raisin-like texture to rock hard, almost crispy little nuggets. They require quite a bit of chewing to release their flavour, by which time most of the chocolate is a fading memory on the tongue. The chocolate itself is dark and quite rich, but there isn’t so much of it that it overpowers the berry flavours which follow. The taste of the berries is rather lovely. I can best describe them as having a similar flavour (and colour too, for that matter) to rosehips. A light, fruity taste that can only be released with some good, prolonged mastication.
Assuming that these little things are actually good for you, I’d recommend them as a lunchtime snack or an ’emergency’ boost for when you’re having a tough day or involved in some physical activity, but only if your teeth are in good working order!
Before talking about these deliciously divine Lindor balls, I need to apologise to you all, dear, sweet, intelligent and discerning Chocoblog readers. Normally these articles are accompanied by close up photographs of the chocolate itself, unwrapped and sometimes half-eaten, to give you an idea of what it looks like. I have nothing but envy and respect for co-writers Dom and Simon who are able to do this when in the presence of some truly fine examples of what is capable of being produced in the wonderful world of chocolate.
Sadly, I was unable to. In my defence, I did photograph the box:
It was immediately after opening the lid that things got a bit out of control.
I have no excuse other than to explain that these little black balls of beauty were far too irresistible to stop eating long enough to photograph. My husband, Love Chunks, will also be able to back up my claims because he helped me eat them!
“Oh dear,” he said sheepishly, screwing up the last wrapper. “How are you going to photograph a ‘nude version’ of the Lindor now?”
“Maybe we could get another box,” I answered hopefully.
“YEAH —- oh, wait. It’s 11 o’clock at night; the shops are all closed.”
“Bugger.”
We both sat back on the couch, licked our choc-slicked fingers and relived the experience. At 60% cocoa content, these are without a doubt Lindt’s finest Lindor balls ever. Here in Australia they only seem to surface at Christmas time and we mostly have to content ourselves with the ‘dark blue’ variety (not sure what cocoa content, but a bit less than 60%) which can also be hard to hunt down if restricted to the local supermarket.
This chocolate contains the perfect combination of bitterness to sweetness ratio in top quality dark and is also the rare kind of ‘real’ dark chocolate that also magically melts in your mouth instead of retaining the harder, grainier quality of most dark varieties. Well, it would melt in your mouth if you have the strength to resist chewing on it like a cocoa-starved crazy in order to reach for a second, third, fourth, fifth one…. From the moment it enters the mouth to the very last taste on your tongue, you are well aware that you are in the presence of some truly good chocolate.
Dear Lovely Lindt Company Australia – Why so stingy with their availability? For the love of all that’s good and right with the world, make these godly globular delights available everywhere, all the time. Pretty please??
