Chocolatier Assortment

I was off stocking the pantry at the local Foodland, when I came across a surprise lurking in the discount bin – that’s the stuff getting a little close to the “best before” date: Chocolatier Chocolate Assortment. The last review of a Chocolatier product was another assortment, some years back. I’m pleased and a little relieved to find that the current mix is quite different. A quick check shows that Chocolatier are an Australian company based in Melbourne who have been in business for over 25 years, strange that their products rarely show up in the mass market.

There are five different chocolates in the selection, and it looks like we get about three of each. As is often the case, the colours on the box are more vibrant than in real life. My photographs have also washed the colour out a little more. Without further ado, here’s a tasting of them all.

Lemon Smoothie – The lemon has quite a strong aroma when the small package is opened, the chocolate seems to be a milk, it’s quite light, and the whole combination is rather pleasant. The lemon is not overpowering, and I could easily come back for another one or two of these.

Mint Caprice – This uses a dark chocolate casing, the minty filling has a fairly subtle aroma. This just means it does not leap out and smack you around the head. The flavour is similar to the cliché after-dinner-mints that we’ve all been subjected to for about the last umpty years, though perhaps a little more subtle. The mint / chocolate combination is pretty good, though personally, I’d like it a little less sweet.

Sweet Seville – The orange is also in a dark casing, it seems to have the least smell of them all; I’d like a bit more of a whiff. Holding it close, though, the aroma is quite pleasant. The tasting is a bit of a disappointment, the flavour is mainly sweetness with a little orangey sort of side edge. Orange can work well, but it needs to pack a fair punch of flavour, and this just does not have enough.

Strawberry Blush – The flavour of this was very apparent when the pack was opened- that kind of sweet almost generic berry aroma that is often found. I was hoping this is a good sign. The milk chocolate casing is very soft and melts quickly. The filling flavour lasts the distance, this is quite pleasant with perhaps the only problem being that it’s very sweet.

Mudcake – This looks like a dark chocolatey filling in a milk chocolate casing, though it is difficult to tell the exact casing type of some of these. I left it for last, hoping for big flavours, perhaps a little bitterness. The aroma is rich and slightly earthy. Oh wow! The surprise lies inside – that “mud” colour conceals something within that’s soft, almost liquid, sweet, rich, complex, slightly bitter – all at the same time. This one is a joy – I’d gladly eat this to the exclusion of all the others, though probably two or three at a sitting would be all that I could manage. This is the pick of the crop. I’m really pleased to have tried it last; the others would all have seemed a little disappointing had I tasted in the reverse order.

All in all, this is a quite pleasant selection which you could put out for guests or give to great aunts and nobody would be offended; the sweet tooths would be delighted. I did observe the use of vegetable fat in the ingredients and have chosen to conveniently ignore it. Perhaps it goes into the fillings.

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