Trader Joe’s Classic Milk and Dark Chocolates

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on April 19 2010 | Leave A Comment
Trader Joe's Classic Milk and Dark Chocolates

These two bars from Trader Joe’s don’t make any claims to gourmet or out-of-the-ordinary. Named “Classic,” priced at sixty-seven cents each, and molded into thin bars, they’re obviously not intended to be spectacular feats.

The funny thing about them, which I didn’t realize until setting them next to each other for the picture, is that the milk chocolate is 44 grams and the dark is only 41. Looks like Trader Joe’s is trying to save a little money there. Though wrapped the milk is slightly bigger, the chocolates themselves seem to be the same size — it may be in the thickness that the three gram difference comes in.

Trader Joe's Classic Milk and Dark Chocolates

I decided to take up a Hershey’s bar wrapper from my archives to compare its ingredients, with this comparable Trader Joe’s milk chocolate.

Hershey’s:

sugar, milk, cocoa butter, chocolate, soy lecithin, vanillin.

Trader Joe’s:

sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, whole milk, soy lecithin, salt, natural vanilla flavor.

Similar. The aroma here is nutty, very boozy with vanilla. It has a decent snap for a milk chocolate, though this reveals lots of air bubbles on the inside. It has an earthy taste; the nuttiness is still there, as is a very strong vanilla taste. It’s alright, and the price is right – it’s worth getting.

The dark chocolate is another matter. It has a 53% minimum content (why they think we don’t want to know the content of the milk chocolate, too, I don’t know), and has much the same ingredients, with the positions of the chocolate liquor and cocoa butter switched up. It smells very much like the Dark Chocolate Lover’s bar, with the main difference with those ingredients being sugar. Instead of more chocolate, we get more sugar with this one.

Starting on the first piece, I waited to see if I would pick up similar flavors. And waited. And waited. And it was gone. some dark brownie flavors, maybe a little licorice. The flavor gets more apparent after a couple pieces, but there’s a watered-down feel to this bar, as if we’re trying to extend our chocolate supply. Not all bad, but not the greatest, either. They’re both the kind of chocolates you’ll pick up when they’re in front of you, not seek out especially.

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Comments On This Post

  1. HauteChocolateMama

    I just indulged in the Classic Milk Chocolate bar (sorry, $0.49 at my TJ’s) and must say it is a quality like no other in its price class. It’s buttery velvet texture with a creamy and sweet cocoa flavor. In this price class I would favor Dove but TJ’s takes the cake. …I am not a bonafide connoisseur of chocolate but my favorite choices now include this TJ’s bar among the Vosgues Wasabi Ginger Sesame, Lindt chilli, Santander Passion Fruit and a new local ‘flavorite’ Dagoba Lavender. So that may indicate my palette for chocolates…

  2. eM

    The Classic Milk/Dark Chocolate bars are only 29 cents at my local DC-area TJ’s, which makes them an unbeatable value and quite irresistible sitting right by the checkout. I’ve grown fond of the dark chocolate bar in particular, despite its excess sweetness.

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