Prestat Choxi Milk & Dark

I’ve been aware of these bars for quite a while but working through a pile of wild ‘n’ wacky chocolate meant I didn’t pick them up until recently.

Prestat is one of London’s oldest chocolate houses, and has quite a history. Aside from a Royal warrant (granted in 1975) it was also a favourite of Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory of course. Perhaps better known for their (very posh) boxes of hand made chocolates, these bars are certainly the more ‘modern’ face of Prestat.

Prestat market these bars with the slogan ‘positive indulgence’, the reason being that the way they process the cocoa retains a lot of antioxidants. A ten gram piece of the Dark chocolate or a twenty five gram piece of the milk will provide enough antioxidants to help combat free radicals – so the packet informs me.

The milk chocolate is a 38% cocoa blend. It’s bursting with robust, rich cocoa flavours with a classic Criollo flavour. Quick to melt in the mouth, the cocoa is well rounded, with a good soft mouthfeel and a clean finish. It’s a top quality bit of milk chocolate, and I found myself eating much more than I anticipated. It leaves the mouth clean and ready for a second (or third – or fourth) piece.

Having enjoyed the milk version so much, I had high hopes for the dark bar. At 63.5% cocoa it wasn’t as ‘dark’ as I’d expected but as you can see, it has all the physical characteristics of a good dark chocolate – glossy and smooth with a very citrussy aroma.

Prestat have very kindly embossed each square with a 5g mark, so you can work out how much to ‘take’ at a time. When snapped this chocolate is sharp, clean and consistent. On the tongue it delivers a slightly citrussy start which blossoms out into slightly bitter, not too sweet woody, deep bottom end flavours. The finish is both clean and light, and left me wanting another piece, just like the milk bar had done previously.

I was impressed with these bars and would recommend them to anyone who loves their chocolate. They’re a little pricier than ‘ordinary’ chocolate but the tasting justifies the price, and with all of those extra antioxidants this stuff might well help balance out some of one’s other little indulgences.

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