I’m a bit of a sucker for Rococo Chocolates, so despite not being a big white chocolate fan, I thought I’d give this a try. I do like a bit of cardamom in my chocolate, after all.
One of the things that drew me to this bar was the packaging, something Rococo do so well. It’s actually just a simple paper and foil wrapper, but Chantal Coady’s designs are simple but eye catching. It feels like you’re unwrapping a quality product.
As you might expect from a white chocolate, sugar is the main ingredient, but it’s a healthy 30% cocoa solids (cocoa butter), so it’s not overly sweet.
The chocolate has a nice creamy edge to it, but as you might expect, the overwhelming flavour is from the cardamom. It’s deliciously warm and works surprisingly well with the white chocolate.
In fact, it’s so good that it’s quite difficult to stop eating. You don’t notice yourself eating each individual piece, but before you know it the bar is almost gone and you feel just a little bit guilty.
But you shouldn’t feel too guilty. This may be a sweet treat, but it’s a quality treat. It’s certified organic with no nasty additives, so if you’re into white chocolate and want to try something a little bit different, then this is certainly worth trying.
It’s been quite a while since I reviewed (or even ate) any Lindt chocolate, so I thought I would give this one a go.
On reflection, it probably wasn’t the best idea. The name ‘Lindt Excellence Blueberry Intense’ should have been a clue. Blueberries are a lot of things, but one thing I wouldn’t describe them as is “intense”.
A quick glance at the ingredients on the back of the packet confirms my worst fears. Not only is is a paltry 47% cocoa solids, but it’s also packed with other ingredients. Mmmmm, Vegetable Anthocyane E163!
Feeling a little concerned about what I was about to let myself in for, I opened the pack. Rather than the pristine looking Lindt chocolate I had expected, this is what greeted me.
It appears to be covered in ‘dents’, but I can only assume that those marks are some kind of moulding imperfection, as there are no marks on the packaging. It’s quite odd.
Under the surface and on the underside of the bar, lots of bits of ‘fruit’ are visible, along with some fine slithers of almond. It’s not that it looks unappetising, it just looks like it’s been put together in a bit of a hurry.
The chocolate itself is very soft. There’s no ‘snap’ to it, but it bends a little before it breaks. That’s partly because of the fruit, but the poor quality chocolate doesn’t help.
The taste is overwhelmingly one of sugar and artificial fruit. There’s really nothing chocolatey here at all, unfortunately. Bizarrely, the fruit tastes more like apple than it does blueberry too. That long ingredients list have apple (and pineapple) on it, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
The texture of the fruit pieces isn’t particularly pleasant either. They have a jelly like texture on the outside with a slightly crunchy, grainy texture in the middle. I’m not a fan.
I always like to think of Lindt as a ‘stepping stone’ from confectionery chocolate to ‘real chocolate’, but this is so sweet and packed with unnecessary ingredients, I would have to put it firmly in the ‘candy’ category. Unless you really like the taste of sugar and artificial fruit, you should probably avoid it.
I’ve been meaning to review this bar for a while. In fact, this is the third bar I’ve had. The previous two bars simply didn’t last long enough for me to write about.
Why? To put it simply, this is the best milk chocolate in the world. Bar none.
Duffy’s Venezuela Ocumare Milk Chocolate won a gold medal in this year’s Academy of Chocolate awards in the milk chocolate bean-to-bar category. It won a silver and a gold medal for the chocolate maker in this year’s International Chocolate Awards. Seventy% described it as “the best milk chocolate that has ever been produced”. I could go on, but really, the chocolate speaks for itself.
At 55% cocoa solids, it has an intensely chocolatey flavour. There are notes of banana and red fruit in there with some nutty notes toward the end, but this isn’t a complicated chocolate, it’s just perfectly balanced and faultlessly executed.
But don’t go thinking this is a chocolate bar just for awards judges and chocolate reviewers. This is a bar that everyone can enjoy. Every day milk chocolate fans will love the creamy, chocolatey flavour as much as anyone.
I’m not going to go into too much depth here, because it really is something you need to try for yourself.
I have a small 30g bar here which comes with this very attractive moulding pattern, but you can buy the larger 80g bars on Duffy’s website for a very reasonable £5.80. You couldn’t buy a half decent bottle of wine for that, let alone the best bottle of wine in the world. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it before I do.
Do you like chocolate? Do you like beer? Well you’re in luck!
As part of my ‘day job’, I help out with the Sambrook’s Brewery website, and we thought it would be a great idea to bring beer and chocolate together in one fantastic event!
We’re holding a beer and chocolate pairing evening at Sambrook’s Brewery in Battersea on Thursday 30th May, and we’d love you to come! Jennifer Earle of Chocolate Ecstasy Tours and our sister site World Chocolate Guide will guide you through a selection of chocolates from some of London’s finest chocolatiers and beyond. Jo Miller from Sambrook’s will talk about the beers we’ve paired with them.
You’ll get to try five exciting chocolates and five amazing beer samples, and you’ll even get a welcome pint on arrival. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about chocolate and beer, to chat to the experts or just get a look inside a working brewery.
Tickets cost £25 or £20 for Sambrook’s Brewery members, and you can buy them online now. Hope to see you there!
