Hotel Chocolat - Banoffee Pie

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Banoffee Pie chocolate
Main ingredients are Cocoa solids, sugar, full cream milk powder, shortbread biscuits, banana chips, caramelised sugar.
Cocoa content: minimum 40% cocoa solids in the milk chocolate and 33% in the caramel chocolate.

Manufacturer

Hotel Chocolate Ltd, Mint House, ROYSTON, Hertfordshire, SG8 5HL, United Kingdom

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in transparent plastic wrap.

Look

The chocolate is very light brown on one half and darker but still light brown on the other half. Small round-ish pieces of biscuit are visible on one side, a white chocolate swirl and banana chips on the other side.

Sound

The chocolate is actually quite difficult break due to its thickness. If it breaks, it does so with a snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate has a warm and rich caramel smell with cream notes.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate has a very smooth mouth feel and melts very quickly. The biscuit feels nice and crumbly as shortbread.

Taste

Initially, there is a surprisingly intense banana flavour which quickly mixes with a creamy, caramelly milk chocolate flavour. The biscuit crumbles are coated in something like white chocolate and maintain their buttery flavour and crisp.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly the sweetness of the caramel and some milk flavour.

Summary

This is a creamy caramel and banana chocolate with crumbly biscuit pieces.

Verdict

The chocolate lives up to its promise of reflecting a rich, creamy banoffee pie. The caramel and the banana can taste somewhat artificial. It could be a perfect rich yet fruity praline with some fresh banana. The banana chips are quite hard and interfere with resemblance of (almost) overly ripe banana slices ditched in caramel and cream. 4 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 15 328, best before 06/2016, tasted 21&23/04/2016

Wohlfarth - Salzstäbchen

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Salzstäbchen (Salt sticks - dark chocolate with salt)
Ingredients are cocoa mass, raw sugar, cocoa butter, rock salt from Austria.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa, no vanilla

Manufacturer

Wohlfarth Schokolade, Choriner Straße 37, 10435 Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany

Packaging

The 75g worth of chocolate sticks are wrapped in non-stick paper and in a small cardboard box.

Look

The chocolate is dark brown but with a little hint of red.

Sound

The chocolate sticks are very thing and break with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The smell is very light. The main aroma is cocoa and sugar.

Mouthfeel

The thin chocolate sticks feels soft, melt very quickly and slowly covers the tongue.

Taste

The chocolate initially tastes of sugar for a very brief period of time. Then an intense dark cocoa flavour with some earthy/barky notes is released. The salty flavour increases gradually and fades out into a dark cocoa flavour with some mildly bitter notes. The salt is not spread out evenly such that some sparks of saltiness are released every now and then at different locations in the mouth.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is dominated by the dark cocoa flavours which are perceived centrally on the tongue.

Summary

These chocolate sticks are made from an intense rich cocoa. The rock salt comes in a very sensibly measured amount. It emphasises the sweetness and its uneven spread across the product adds a little unexpected, yet pleasant sensation.

Verdict

The salty chocolate sticks are a pleasing combination of sweetness and intense dark chocolate with a tiny pinch of salt that adds a pleasing contrast and a bit of playfulness to the experience. 5 Stars.

Dates

Best before 12/2016, tasted 21&23/04/2016

Biscuiterie de l'Abbaye - Le Petit Normand Chocolat au Lait

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Le Petit Normand - Chocolat au Lait biscuits
Main ingredients are wheat flour 34%, milk chocolate 30% (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder...), sugar 14.5%, butter 14%, oat flakes, whole milk 4%, whole milk powder 2%.
Cocoa content: not stated

Manufacturer

Biscuiterie de l'Abbaye S.A.S., Route du Val, 617000 Lonlay l'Abbaye, France

Packaging

The biscuits are in a plastic tray, wrapped and sealed plastic wrap and packed in a cardboard box.

Look

The chocolate is light brown and the biscuits lightly browned yellow.

Sound

The biscuits break with clear crumbly sounds.

Smell

There is clear smell of butter and dough from the biscuits as soon as the plastic seal is opened.

Mouthfeel

The biscuits are very crunchy and maintain this throughout. The chocolate is smooth and dissolves quickly as the biscuit is being eaten.

Taste

The chocolate has a milky taste with some sweetness. The biscuits have an intense butter taste that mixes nicely with the chocolate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly the baked butter of the biscuits and some hints of the milky chocolate.

Summary

The biscuits have a crunchy structure and a rich buttery flavour which mixes nicely with the milk chocolate.

Verdict

The biscuits are rich in flavour and structure. The milky chocolate mixes nicely but the chocolate tastes mainly of milk and sugar and could deserve a bit more attention. 4 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 6060, best before 28/02/2017, tasted 10/04/2016

Schönenberger - Chocolate with rice milk and hazelnuts

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Chocolate with rice milk and hazelnuts
Main ingredients are cane sugar, cocoa butter, rice glucose syrup 17%, cocoa solids, hazelnut granulate.
Cocoa content: minimum 41% cocoa

Manufacturer

Chocolat Schönenberger AG, Täschmattstrasse 10, CH-6015 Luzern, Switzerland

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped in aluminum paper and a small cardboard box. Packaging size is 100g.

Look

The chocolate is light brown and pieces of hazelnuts are partly visible.

Sound

The chocolate is surprisingly hard to break and does so with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate bar smell of sugar and something like perfume.

Mouthfeel

The surface is very smooth. The chocolate melts into a doughy liquid before dissolving finely.

Taste

Initially, the chocolate tastes very sweet with a distinct almost perfume-like flavour. After melting, the hazelnuts contribute only little to the flavour.

Aftertaste

The aftertase is dominated by the sweetness and a hint of the perfume like flvour.

Summary

This is a rather sweet chocolate with hazelnuts. The flavour is mainly is sweet with a distinct flavour which might be from the rice milk.

Verdict

The Swiss chocolate lacks the typical richness of Swiss milk since it relies ob rice milk, They surface and smoothness of the rice milk was well mastered. However, its flavour is still challenging. 1 Star.

Dates

Lot number: 16820215D, best before 30/09/2016, tasted 03&04&10/04/2016

Hotel Chocolat - Dark egglets

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Dark Egglets
Main ingredients are cocoa solids (cocoa mass, cocoa butter), hazelnuts, sugar, cocoa powder, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavour.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa solids

Manufacturer

Hotel Chocolate Ltd, Mint House, ROYSTON, Hertfordshire, SG8 5HL, United Kingdom

Packaging

The chocolate is sealed in transparent plastic wrap and a black ribbon is attached to the top. Packaging size is 110g.

Look

The praline is dusted with light brown cocoa powder. The chocolate underneath is very dark brown almost black-ish. The filling is dark brown but lighter coloured than the chocolate.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The initial smell is hazelnut. Opening the egg releases an intense hazelnut and gianduja aroma mixed with cocoa.

Mouthfeel

The cocoa powder feels almost solid and melts on the tongue. The chocolate itself is smooth and melts into a fine and smooth liquid. The filling is relatively compact and melts slowly.

Taste

The initial taste is of dark cocoa which gives way to dark chocolate with intense roasted hazelnut aromas and hints of an earthy bitterness. The filling is slightly sweeter and has a very strong roasted nut flavour mixed with the dark-ish chocolate taste.

Aftertaste

The long lasting aftertaste is dominated by the nut flavour of the filling and some earthy notes from the cocoa at the rear of the mouth.

Summary

This is a very dark and smooth chocolate and hazelnut praline which emphasises the dark cocoa and roasted hazelnut flavours.

Verdict

These dark chocolate eggs are really intense, rich and satisfying. The ingredients are very well combined and immaculately crafted. 5 Stars.

Dates

Best before July 2016, tasted 03&06&07/04/2016

Leysieffer - Dark Chocolate "Les extra fin"

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Edelbitter-Schokolade "Les extra fin" [sic] (Dark Chocolate "Les extra fin")
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier, vanilla aroma.
Cocoa content: minimum 61% cocoa

Manufacturer

Leysieffer GmbH & Co. KG, Benzstr. 9, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in plastic wrap. This is glued to a printed cardboard sleeve. The opener of the cardboard opens the plastic wrap, too. The packaging size is 100g.

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown with a tiny hint of red.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a very clear snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate smells of vanilla, sugar, roast and mildly bitter cocoa aromas.

Mouthfeel

Initially the chocolate feels solid and almost edgy, but it quickly dissolves into a smooth and very fine liquid.

Taste

The chocolate tastes of vanilla sugar with notes of roasted nut. After a short while, a mild cocoa flavour and some bitterness unfolds.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly sweetness at the centre of the tongue and mild bitterness of the cocoa towards the rear.

Summary

This chocolate is very smooth and silky as promised on the packaging. Compared to other dark chocolates, it is sweet and tastes rather light with only a few roast and cocoa flavours.

Verdict

The is very smooth but its flavour mainly driven by sugar rather than the cocoa that would be expected with dark chocolate.the characteristics of cocoa flavour. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L118, best before 01/09/2016, tasted 03&06&07/04/2016

Leysieffer - Sao Thomé 70%

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Jahrgangs Schokolade 2014 SAO THOMÉ 70% [sic] (Chocolate from beans of the year 2014)
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier, vanilla aroma.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa

Manufacturer

Leysieffer GmbH & Co. KG, Benzstr. 9, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in plastic wrap. This is glued to a printed cardboard sleeve. The opener of the cardboard opens the plastic wrap, too. The packaging size is 100g.

Look

The chocolate is dark brown with a little red.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a sound that is between a snap and a thud.

Smell

The smells of a mild cocoa and some nut and roast aromas with a hint of fruitiness.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate feels very solid and silk. It slowly dissolves into a very fine liquid.

Taste

After a very short lived sweet start, the initial taste is a roasted bitterness. The chocolate then evolves a milder cocoa note with some notes of sugar and small hints of red berry fruit. It also has a sharpness and bitterness on the tongue which is present throughout the process.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste lasts comparably long and is mainly the mild bitterness alongside a sharpness on the tongue and the sides of the mouth. It also combines some hints of sugar.

Summary

This chocolate is mainly characterised by a mild bitterness and a sharpness to the tongue. It has a balanced sweetness.

Verdict

The chocolate is made of a single origin cocoa from a particular year. It tastes like a well crafted dark chocolate with a mild bitterness balanced with sweetness. However, the single origin cocoa does not make it a product that stands out or adds a distinctly recognisable flavour apart from a marked sharpness. 3 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L097, best before 15/08/2016, tasted 02/04/2016