Neuhaus - Mint from Morocco

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Dark Chocolate - Mint from Morocco
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, dehydrated milk, soy lecithin, natural mint oil 0.1%, natural vanilla flavouring.
Cocoa content: minimum 52% cocoa

Manufacturer

Neuhaus NV, Postweg 2, 1602 Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Packaging

The 100g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium foil and a card board sleeve.

Look

The chocolate is dark brown with a hint of red and a white shimmer at the edges.

Sound

The cold chocolate breaks with a snap sound. But at room temperature, the chocolate feels soft-ish and breaks with a thud sound.

Smell

The chocolate has very intense mint aroma with a subtle framing of cocoa aromas. Notes of sugar are noticeable.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts quickly into very fine liquid. Its surface softens while it is melting without getting sticky.

Taste

The flavour is very strongly dominated by the spearmint. The chocolate flavour adds a tiny little warming note and a nutty flavour to the other wise quite cooling mint flavours.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly mint flavour on the tongue and the gums. There is some reminiscence of cocoa, especially at the rear of the tongue behind and below the mint flavours.

Summary

The flavour is strongly dominated by the mint oils in the product. The chocolate only adds its mouthfeel.

Verdict

The flavour are similar to the spicy and edgy mint flavour of chewing gum. The mint overpowers the cocoa's warmer nutty notes and reduces the chocolate to its soft melting properties. Nevertheless, the product is well conched and melts nicely in the mouth. It should also be noted that this is dark chocolate that is made with milk powder. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L33597, best before 28/02/2018, tasted 14&21/01&10/02/2018

Zotter - Ananas mit Cashewnüssen (Cashew nougat and pineapple)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Ananas mit Cashewnüssen (Dunkle Bergmilchschokolade gefüllt mit Cashewnougat (24%) und Ananas) - Mountain milk chocolate with cashew nougat (24%) and pineapple filling
Main ingredients are raw cane sugar, dried pineapple (15%), cocoa butter, cashew kernels (12%), cocoa mass, pineapple concentrate (8%), whole milk powder, glucose invert sugar.
Cocoa content: minimum 50% cocoa in the chocolate.

Manufacturer

zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur GmbH, Bergl 56, A-8333 Riegersburg, Austria

Packaging

The 70g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium foil and a paper envelope.

Look

The chocolate is dark to middle brown. The pineapple layer is the top layer of the filling and it is dark yellow. The cashew paste below is very light brown.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with clear snap sound (after removing the filling).

Smell

The whole bar initially smells of old, dry bread before aromas of sugar and dried pineapple take over. The chocolate itself smells of sweetness and cocoa. The pineapple layer also smells sweet and intensely of dried pineapple. The smell of the cashew filling initially reminds of dry bread before cashew aromas become more identifiable.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts quickly and evenly into a fine liquid. The filling takes longer to smoothen. It feels somewhat grainy with pieces from shred dried pineapple and cashew nuts. The filling is not sticky but it is a bit chewy.

Taste

The chocolate on its own has a sweet flavour with notes of cocoa and nuts and some hints of coffee. The pineapple layer combines the sour flavours of the dried pineapple with sweetness. The cashew layer has cashew flavours and flavours of dried bread as well as hints of salt. Eaten as a whole, the initial flavour is dominated by sweetness. Later, the pineapple and in particular its lime-like sourness and sweetness unfold. There are only notes of chocolate when it hits the tongue and gums. The cashew flavour is reduced to rare hints.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste of the chocolate is mainly sweetness and some reminiscence of the nutty cocoa flavour. The aftertaste of the whole product is dominated by the pineapple filling's sweetness and sourness with only little to no presence of the cocoa or the cashews.

Summary

This chocolate bar is a dried pineapple filling with dark-ish whole milk chocolate coating. There are only tiny hints of the cashew and cocoa flavours. However, after opening the package, the cashew aromas dominate for a while.

Verdict

The chocolate bar uses a nice and well-conched dark whole milk chocolate. However, the flavours are dominated by an intensely sweetened layer of dried pineapple. The smell is initially dominated by a dry bread aroma from the cashew filling. The cashews and the chocolate do not contribute much to the flavour of the product. The chocolate melts nicely but the filling becomes chewy and has some smaller pieces in it that are too small for being 'chunky' and to big for being smooth. 2 Stars.

Dates

Best before 12/06/2007, tasted 24&25/05/2017

Alnatura - Limone Mohn (Lime & poppy seed)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Limone Mohn (White chocolate with poppy seeds and lime oil)
Main ingredients are raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, poppy seeds, 1% lime oil and vanilla extract.
Cocoa content: minimum 30% cocoa

Manufacturer

Alnatura GmbH, Darmstädter Str. 63, 64404 Bickenbach, Germany

Packaging

The 50g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium foil and a paper sleeve.

Look

The chocolate is light yellow coloured with black spots from the poppy seeds.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with light 'thud' sound.

Smell

There are fresh lime and notes of milk aromas.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts slowly and smoothly into slightly sticky liquid.

Taste

The chocolate has an initial taste of sour taste of lime and quickly releases a milky sweetness that balances the lime. The chocolate releases more milky, creamy and sweet flavours over time. Some occasional lime flavours spot up after melting the chocolate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is dominated by milky, creamy flavours and sweetness. There are hints of lime flavours that appear from the rear of the mouth.

Summary

This is a milky and creamy white chocolate with fresh lime flavours and a balanced sweetness.

Verdict

This white chocolate comes with milk and cream flavours combined with fresh lime notes. However, it does not provide a chocolate flavour or feeling, it tends to become sticky in the mouth and it is difficult to appreciate the poppy seeds. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L36244, best before 08/2017, tasted 10&14&20/05/2017

Feodora - Sahne-Mocca-Chocolade (Superior ceamy mocca chocolate)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Sahne-Mocca-Chocolade (Superior ceamy mocca chocolate)
Main ingredients are sugar, cream powder (26%), cocoa beans, cocoa butter, coffee (2.2%) and emulsifier rape lecithins.
Cocoa content: minimum 32% cocoa, no vanilla

Manufacturer

Feodora Chocolade GmbH & Co. KG, 28199 Bremen, Germany

Packaging

The 100g chocolate bar is sealed in aluminium foil and a paper wrap.

Look

The chocolate is light  to middle brown.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a thuddy sound and the breaks have an uneven surface shimmering in very light brown.

Smell

The chocolate smells of cream and hints of sweetened roasted coffee.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts evenly into a fine liquid. However, it can be become a sticky liquid when melting all the way.

Taste

The chocolate has flavours of coffee, cream and sweetness.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly of sweetness, cream and some coffee flavours.

Summary

This is a creamy chocolate with coffee flavours. The sweetness is present but not excessive.

Verdict

The chocolate has some cream and mocca/coffee flavours with a strong but not excessive sweetness. It initially melts finely but may become sticky. There are no or very little cocoa flavours. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 367412, best before 15/03/2017, tasted 05&12/03/2017

Newtree - Lavande

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Newtree - Lavende (Organic milk chocolate with natural lavender flavour and Fairtrade ingredients)
Main ingredients are cane sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, natural lavender flavouring, soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavouring.
Cocoa content: minimum 40% cocoa

Manufacturer

NEWTREE S.A., Boulevard du Souverain/Vorstlaan 207/3. 1160 Bruxelles/Brussel, Belgium

Packaging

The 80g chocolate bar is sealed in shiny plastic wrap and put in a cardboard envelope.

Look

The chocolate is light brown with light hints of red. The edges tend to have a white shimmer.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a snap sound.

Smell

The smells has intense lavender and sugar aromas.

Mouthfeel

The surface of the chocolate feels textured when melting. It passes through a short stage of stickiness before melting into a very fine and smooth liquid.

Taste

The chocolate unfolds a lavender flavour as it starts to melt. This combines with a mild sweetness, milky flavours and hints of cocoa.

Aftertaste

The lavender flavours disappear quickly but the sweetness and milk flavours remain present.

Summary

This is a flavoured milk chocolate with lavender flavours a mild sweetness.

Verdict

The chocolate melts into a fine liquid but has a textured surface. The lavender flavour is very noticeable and not pungent or artificial. However, there are only little notes of cocoa that are overwhelmed by sweetness. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L30ABF2, best before 01/02/2017, tasted 22&23/01&11/02/2017

Konditorei-Cafè Fritz Roog - Whole milk chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Whole milk chocolate (Vollmilchschokolade)
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, whole milk powder, vanilla, soy lecithin.
Cocoa content: minimum 38% cocoa

Manufacturer

Konditorei-Cafè Fritz Roog, Mittelstraße 89, 32805 Horn-Bad Meinberg, GERMANY
It's a bakery with a café and small chocolate outlet.
(The typo in "Café" is not mine but is everywhere on the packaging.)

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped in single aluminium foil and covered with a printed paper sleeve. The packaging says 100g but it actually was slightly above that mark.

Look

The chocolate is light middle brown with a shiny surface. There are some open bubbles of air on surface.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a thud sound.

Smell

The chocolate smells of milk and sugar with hints of cocoa and caramel.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts slowly in the mouth. It initially melts into a sticky paste before dissolving into a fine and very smooth liquid.

Taste

The initial flavour is a light sweetness with caramelly note. The chocolate quickly releases a more intense sweetness and milky flavours. There are notes of caramel, tiny hints of cocoa and traces of some cold metallic flavour.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly sweet with some milky flavours that persist towards the rear of the mouth.

Summary

This is a light and sweet milk chocolate. The hazelnut flavours are almost entirely covered by the sweet milkiness of the chocolate. The chocolate is very soft and smooth but becomes slightly sticky when it melts in the mouth.

Verdict

The chocolate is very sweet and there are almost no reminders of the cocoa flavour. The chocolate is very smooth but goes through a period of stickiness before melting properly. 2 Stars.

Dates

Best before 27/09/2016, tasted 01&27&28/09/2016

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

Helwa - Gaufrettes praliné noisette

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Gaufrettes fourrées au praliné noisette
Main ingredients are palm fat, wheat flour, sugar, hazelnut praline paste (19%, made of hazelnut and sugar), egg yolk, emulsifier.

Manufacturer

Helwa Wafelbakkerij B.V, BP / P.O. Box 18, 9074 ZL Hallum, The Netherlands

Packaging

The 110g waffles are arrayed on a cardboard tray which is sealed by a printed plastic wrap.

Look

The waffles are very light brown and the filling is similarly lightly coloured.

Sound

The waffles break with clear, very crisp sounds.

Smell

The smell is mainly of baked/roasted dough from the waffles. There is no noticeable smell of the filling.

Mouthfeel

The waffles are very crunchy and airy. The crunch remains present throughout the experience. The waffles do not stick to the tongue as much as with other products. The filling is soft, slightly grainy and floury.

Taste

The initial contact with the waffles elicits roast flavours of the waffle dough. Tasted as a whole, the flavour of the filling is almost undetectable apart from a distinct sweetness and a hint of hazelnuts. Tasted on its own, the filling still has a very intense sugary sweetness but also some very noticeable notes of hazelnuts.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly sweetness at the centre of the mouth. There is a hint of waffle and hazelnut flavour towards the rear.

Summary

These waffles are very airy and crisp. Their flavour is mainly sweet but comes with notes of roasted waffle dough and hazelnuts.

Verdict

The waffles have a nice crunch that they maintain throughout the process. They also have hints of roast aroma and hazelnuts but this is combined with an intense sugary sweetness. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 5266 11:51, best before 09-2016, tasted 20/03/2016

Ferrero - Rocher Easter egg

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Ferrero Rocher Easter egg (big rocher: milk chocolate hollow body with hazelnut pieces and, small rocher: crispy nut-praline speciality in tender milk chocolate and fine hazelnut cream)
Main ingredients of the large rocher are milk chocolate (80% made of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder butter fat, vanillin) and hazelnuts (20%). Cocoa content: minimum 33,5% cocoa.
Main ingredients of the smaller rochers are milk chocolate (30% made of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder butter fat, vanillin) and hazelnuts (28,5%), sugar, palm oil, wheat flower, sweetened whey powder).

Manufacturer

Ferrero 60624, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; FERRERO Österreich, Sterzinger Str. 1, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

Packaging

The package is designed as a super sized Ferrero Rocher. Inside the golden foil, there is a gold-ish plastic shell with a large hollow chocolate ball inside. Inside the chocolate ball, there are two smaller Ferrero Rochers which are sealed in a plastic wrap. Content weight is 125g.

Look

The outer larger rocher shell is middle brown with shiny surface. Pieces of hazelnut are peaking out. The smaller rochers look very similar with a somewhat lighter brown waffle inside and dark brown cream filling.

Sound

The chocolate of the outer, larger shell breaks with a "thud" sound.

Smell

On its own, the outer shell smells of milk, hazelnut roast aroma and sugary sweetness. The smaller rochers smell of sugar, hazelnuts and a hint of cocoa after opening them.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate of the outer shell is smooth and melts quickly into a fine liquid. This frees a bunch of roasted hazelnut pieces. The waffle shell inside the smaller rochers is airy and crispy. It maintains some of its crisp throughout the process. The creamy filling is very smooth, dense but also sticky.

Taste

The chocolate tastes of sugary sweetness, milk and a hint of cocoa. It also releases something artificial but it is difficult to say what exactly. The roasted hazelnuts add their roasted nut flavours to the chocolate once they have been released and chewed. The little waffles inside the smaller rochers taste of a mild roast aroma and some cocoa notes. The filling tastes of sugar with initial notes of roasted hazelnut and cocoa.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste of the chocolate is of roasted hazelnuts but it is dominated by its sweetness. After the initial notes, the flavour of the filling turns more and more sweet and leaves a sugary, sweet aftertaste.

Summary

I believe that this is the first large East egg style thing on the German supermarket shelf. Taste-wise this is a sweet milk chocolate with lots of roasted hazelnuts.

Verdict

The packaging is spectacular compared to the competition on the German market. The chocolate has a lot of roasted hazelnuts. But it also has an almost overly intense sugary sweetness and some unidentified artificial note to it. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: LO15W-N 03:00, best before 13/07/2016, tasted 20/03/2016

Christine Berger GmbH - Sanddorn in Vollmilchschokolade (sea-buckthorn in whole milk chocolate)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Sanddorn in Vollmilchschokolade (sea-buckthorn in whole milk chocolate)
Main ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cream (8%), cocoa mass, sea-buckthorn liqueur (3%)
Cocoa content: minimum 38% cocoa in the whole milk choolate

Manufacturer

Christine Berger GmbH & Co. KG, Fercher Straße 60, 14542 Werder OT Petzow, Germany

Packaging

The chocolate is sold on a golden coated card board tray. This is sealed in plastic wrap and covered with a printed paper sleeve. The content is 75g.

Look

The chocolate is light brown from the outside and some of the filling is visible at the edges. There is a second inner chocolate coating which is much darker. The filling is yellow-ish.

Sound

The chocolate layers are very thin and break almost without any sound.

Smell

The bar has aromas of vanilla cake, sea-buckthorn, sugary sweetness and alcohol. Separating the chocolate is hardly possible and it has taken on the aromas of its filling.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts very quickly. Though it feels like a rough surface initially, the liquid is very fine and spreads through the mouth. The filling initially feels slightly more sticky with a rough surface and it melts slower than the chocolate. However, it melts nicely and dissolves into a surprisingly fine and smooth liquid.

Taste

The thin layer adds a subtle chocolate taste that frames the experience as a whole. The filling has an intense sugary sweetness and sea-buckthorn flavour. It also has a tiny hint of alcohol.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste sticks to the rear of the mouth and is mainly sea-buckthorn. In addition, a surprisingly intense sweetness lingers at the front of the mouth.

Summary

This is a sweet sea-buckthorn filling surrounded with a thin layer of chocolate. The packaging rightly emphasises the sea-buckthorn rather than the chocolate.

Verdict

This sea-buckthorn chocolate is very sweet. It melts nicely, has good mouthfeel and tastes of sea-buckthorn and sugary sweetness. You have to be aware that there is alcohol in the product. 2 Stars.

Dates

Best before 20/05/2016, tasted 06/03/2016

Whittard of Chelsea - Vanatu 44 Milk chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Vanatu 44 Milk chocolate
Main ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk powder, vanilla flavouring
Cocoa content: minimum 44% cocoa solids

Manufacturer

Manufactured in Belgium for: Whittard of Chelsea (Whittard Trading Limited), Windrush House, Windrush Industrial Park, WITNEY, Oxfordshire, OX29 7DX, United Kingdom

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in shiny plastic wrap. This package of 90g in then placed in a cardboard envelope.

Look

The chocolate is middle brown.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear "snap" sound.

Smell

The smell has aromas of cream and hints of roasted hazelnuts.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate initially feels soft and melts into a creamy liquid. A small amount of crumbles is in the chocolate. After melting the chocolate leaves the sensation of a very fine powder on the gums and tongue.

Taste

The chocolate has a milky sweet flavour with little hints of roasted nuts and caramel.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is dominated by caramel and cream flavours.

Summary

This is a creamy milk chocolate with balanced sweetness and some caramel and hazelnut flavours. It leaves the sensation of a very fine powder after eating.

Verdict

The main body of the chocolate is not well conched and there are some noticeable sugar crystals or some sort of crumbs in the chocolate. The flavour is mainly attributable to cream and (caramelised) sugar. There are hints of hazelnut. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L15258, best before September 2016, tasted 13 February 2016

Feodora Vollmilch-Chocolade (whole milk chocolate)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Feodora Vollmilch-Chocolade (whole milk choco­late) with 37% cocoa

Manufacturer

Feodora Chocolade GmbH & Co. KG, 28199 Bremen, Germany

Packaging

The chocolate comes in small individual bars wrapped in aluminium and paper.

Look

The surface is very shiny and smooth. It reflects the light on its surface.

Sound

The little bars have a nice snap. They almost sound like plastic when they are dropped on a plate.

Smell

It smells like cream with notes of caramelised sugar.

Mouthfeel

First, the chocolate feels hard-edged. It melts slowly and dissolves into a rich creamy liquid.

Taste

It tastes like milky caramel and sugar. A light but noticeable stingy artificial note develops at the back of the mouth after melting the chocolate.

Aftertaste

Once it has settled down a bit, the taste of sweetened cream lingers for a while.

Summary

The milk chocolate is well conched with a shiny surface and a clear snap. It comes with a rich creamy mouthfeel. Its taste is marked by sweetness and a stingy note.

Verdict

This is an above average, unexcited milk chocolate.