Korona Espresso Tablets
Sometimes it isn’t that easy being an International Chocablogger. Take, for instance, my recent visit to Kiev. As is the case with so many European countries, there are kiosks on the streets which sell cigarettes, sweets, alcohol and foodstuffs. The difference here was that they were sealed AND attended by non-English speakers. Having no command whatsoever of Ukranian, I was reduced to trying to point at various products in an attempt to purchase a small selection of what was available.
This box of twelve Espresso flavoured ‘tablets’ are manufactured by Kraft/Jacobs, and I’m afraid that beyond the fact that they contain 6% coffee, I can only guess at the cocoa content. There is a “75%” somewhere in the ingredients list, but the three languages it was printed in were all Cyrillic, and so I’m at a bit of a loss to translate.
Anyway, as soon as I opened the box, slid out the gold foil wrapped tray and tore it open, I was immediately informed that these were indeed coffee chocolates. The rich, dark aromas of coffee and chocolate were only to eager to introduce themselves!
When it came to tasting these little oblongs, I was impressed with the first taste. A good, strong chocolate taste backed up with a rich, deep coffee flavour. The centre of each chocolate was made up of a soft paste which wasn’t very sweet at all, and delivered a healthy belt of coffee.
How unfortunate then that my taste experience should end with what can only be described as instant coffee granules loose in my mouth. Yes, as the filling melted away I found that I was left with a multitude of small grains of coffee flavoured something, and instant coffee granules is about the best way of describing them. As someone who hasn’t partaken of a cup of ‘instant’ for a good few years, I found myself wondering why on earth anyone would want to incorporate ‘pretend’ coffee into what would appear to be a premium product. Then I remembered who had made it. Kraft probably have silos full of instant coffee, and they probably just came up with a new way of shifting some of it.
A very promising start with an ultimately disappointing finish. Shame.
Have you ever had Pocket Coffee? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_Coffee
We bought some in Italy, and found them absolutely gorgeous.. Unfortunately, I haven’t found them in any Irish shops =/ Yet another excuse for another trip to Italy!
was gonna say sth and Stello above beat me to it. Pocket Coffee heavenly! Yumyum!!
I wanted to say Korona isn’t a good chocolate brand at all. I’ve not been selling it at our website.
There’re some other kinds of really quality ukrainian chocolate that worthy your attention.
Thanks.
I was born and raised in Ukraine till i was 20 and Korona was and still remains the premium chocolate brand there, i bring it back to CA every time i visit my family. I trul believe there is nothing like it here, in the states. I am probably bias. I have never seen or tasted the “coffee tablets” Korona. It’s unfortunate that instant coffee is still holding a strong position in the Ukrainina market, not a lot of Ukrainians buy and brew real beans. Hence i assume is the instant coffee granules used in the chocolate: i don’t know if the product would take off in that market where the natural coffee taste is still sort of new and unusual. But i may be wrong. Maybe it was just cheaper to produce.
I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova, the tiny country right next to the Ukraine, and we eat tons of Korona chocolate here. It’s not great quality, of course, because nothing that people can afford to buy in such a lousy economy as exists here is, but it’s usually pretty tasty. I’ve had these espresso chocolates myself, and truth be told, I’ve become so used to the Jacobs instant coffee here (it’s almost impossible to find real brewed coffee) that I hardly minded the granules leftover. I’m realizing as I type this just how sad that is, but the truth is that I can’t imagine anyone here (or in any other part of Eastern Europe where the product’s sold) is the least bit bothered by the remnants of what they assuredly all know not as “cheap instant coffee” but “coffee.” (On that note, I recommend trying some less exotic variant of Korona some time– it’s not the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted, but it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever purchased so cheap, and I figure that means they’re doing a fine job with whatever resources they put into the stuff.)