Somehow, we haven’t managed to review Galaxy here on Chocablog yet. We’ve done several of its variations (Galaxy Ripple, Galaxy Caramel, Galaxy Vanilla Heaven, Galaxy Minstrels), but not plain old Galaxy.
Well, Mars have recently changed the recipe and design for Galaxy, so it’s probably about time we checked it out.
The thing that sets Galaxy chocolate apart from its similarly priced competitiors has always been the creaminess of the chocolate. Well Mars have used this product refresh to make Galaxy even creamier and smoother. As you can see from the photo as well, they’ve also changed the shape of the chunks
Now Galaxy has always been one of those chocolates that I could take or leave. In very small doses, I love it – but as soon as I have more than a few chunks, that creaminess starts to turn to sickliness and I just feel ill.
This new bar is the same… except more so. The flavour and texture are noticeably creamier than before, but somehow that extra creaminess seems to be at the expense of chocolateyness. The result (for me, at least) is similar to eating a large bowl of sugary whipped cream – great for the first few mouthfuls, but it doesn’t take long before you start to feel very sick.
After 2 hours, I’ve managed to eat 3 chunks of this 6 chunk, 46g bar. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’m going to be able to manage the rest today.
Don’t get me wrong, Galaxy is far too nice to throw away, it’s just that I like my chocolate to taste of chocolate, not cream and sugar. If you’re the kind of person who liked the flavour and texture of the old Galaxy, I’m sure you’ll still like this. But for me, it’s just a bit too sweet and a bit too creamy.
I found this little oddity while buying the Wispa bar I reviewed earlier this week. I call it an ‘oddity’, partly because the bright packaging caught my eye above anything else in the shop, and partly because I’d never head of Jameson’s Ruffle.
A little bit of research reveals that this has nothing to do with the Jameson Whiskey chocolate Simon reviewed a while back. No, this has a far more interesting story.
Jameson’s is actually a brand of a company called Monkhill Confectionary. A little bit more research reveals that Monkhill is actually a division of Trebor Basset Ltd., which in turn is a wholly owned subsdiary of Cadbury Schweppes plc. Yup, that’s right. This weird little bar of chocolate is made by Cadbury – not that it says so anywhere on the wrapper.
So what is it? Well, the easiest way to describe it is a “Fruity Bounty“. Dessicated cocunut (with a touch of raspberry flavour and coluring), covered thin “Plain chocolate (20%)” – at least that’s what it says on the ingredients. Personally I’d call it “Immitation Dark Chocolate”.
The wrapper describes the filling as “coconut and raspberry flavour fondant cream”, but there’s nothing particularly fondanty or creamy about it. It’s quite solid and very dry – almost crumbly. It doesn’t taste bad, it’s just not what it says it is on the label.
Indeed, that’s my biggest problem with the bar as a whole – it’s just not quite what it says it is. It looks great – but somehow doesn’t quite live up to the promise.
An interesting curiosity, but probably not something I’ll buy twice.
Having apparently been partly responsible for helping to bring Wispa back, it’s only fitting we should be… er… pretty much the last people to review it now it’s actually available again.
Wispa is very, very simple: Cadbury milk chocolate tiny bubbles in it. So listen carefully, here comes the science bit:
Most of us eat chocolate regularly, and we may even check the ingredients when looking for the best chocolate experience. But did you know the shape of your chocolate can affect the taste almost as much as the ingredients?
It’s all down to surface area. Chocolate with a higher surface area to volume ratio will be crumblier and melt in the mouth more quickly. That’s the reason chocolates like Flake, Aero and Wispa just taste different, even when they contain exactly the same ingredients as their solid counterparts.
All those tiny little bubbles in Wispa increase the surface area massively and mean the chocolate starts to melt almost as soon as it hits your mouth. The result is that this fairly standard milk chocolate just feels creamier and more satisfying, than a solid block.
So was it worth bringing back? Well, yes, absolutely. Wispa may just be Dairy Milk with holes in it, but those holes completely change the texture and taste of the chocolate. You shouldn’t expect Wispa to suddenly be something wonderful just because Cadbury brought it back from the dead. It’s still just a fairly average looking and tasting bar of chocolate, but it’s certainly one deserves its place on the supermarket shelves.
So, now that’s out of the way, I’d like to end this review with three simple words: Bring Back Fuse!
As I have ten Conscious Chocolate bars to get through (I know, poor old me) I thought it might be fair to group them for ease of reviewing and to save space on the site. This first pair are the ‘hot’ ones – Best Ever Chilli Hot and Fiery Hazelnut.
My first taste was of the Fiery Hazelnut.
“The best organic nuts with a spicy kick’ I was informed by the publicity sheet, and boy, Emma isn’t kidding! This bar has quite a pokey chilli flavour to it, and the nut pieces seem to have absorbed some of the fire, so there’s no relief to be had from chewing on the nutty remains after the chocolate is gone. This stuff is HOT. Luckily, I’ve come to quite like a little chilli kick in my chocolate from time to time, and so after the initial surprise, I came to rather enjoy this little beasty. The nuts are very tasty and crisp, and the texture of the bar works well, melting quickly to allow you to taste the hazelnut element.
Recommended if you like it spicy, but definitely not for the faint hearted.
The Chilli Hot is, as far as I can ascertain, the Best Ever Plain blend with added chilli for that spicy kick. After a taste of the Fiery Hazelnut I must confess to a degree of apprehension when it came to unwrapping this bar. A cautious sniff or two and then it was time to take the plunge.Now, I don’t know if the Fiery Hazelnut had just nuked my taste buds, or whether this batch was low on chilli oil, but it seemed very mild in comparison. I even waited a few hours and went back for another taste, but there was still nothing like the tongue-tingling heat of the Hazelnut Bar. It certainly has a hint of the ol’ chilli about it, but nothing like I expected.
Of the two, I’d say I preferred the Fiery Hazelnut, simply because it seemed to do a lot more of what it was supposed to – i.e. put a fire in your mouth and a slight sheen of sweat on your forehead. The Chilli bar would probably suit the first time chili and chocolate eater, whereas the Fiery Hazelnut is for those of you who like a bit of Peri-Peri or a good dollop of chili sauce on your kebabs.
Another thing to note is that the more of this stuff I eat, the more I like it. The Conscious range is tasty, nutritious and, well, good for you. Can’t really argue with that, can we?
