Zotter - Monster chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Nobelbitterschokolade gefüllt mit Kornelkirschengelee (22%) und Himbeer-Blut-Ganache (30%) (Noble Bitter Chocolate filled with cornelian jelly (22%) and raspberry blood ganache (30%))
Main ingredients are raw cane sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cornelian puree, glucose invert sugar, while milk, almonds, dried raspberries, pork blood*, butter, skimmed milk powder.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa in the chocolate.
*not a typo

Manufacturer

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

Packaging

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

Look

The chocolate is middle to dark brown. The filling in the central layer is dark red and shiny. The other layers are slightly lighter coloured than the coating and have an airy/moussy structure.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with soft snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate bar has a surprisingly dark smell of wet wood, leather and cocoa. Fruity notes only peak out occasionally.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts quickly and evenly into a fine liquid. The jelly is very thick and reminds of a jelly bean. The ganache is even, soft and melts quickly into a very fine liquid.

Taste

Tasting the chocolate on its own is difficult because the boundary between the chocolate and the top layer of the filling tastes rather unusual, especially towards the edges of the bar. The flavour reminds of an old wardrobe with flavours of wet, moldy wood and leather. This unusual problem unfolds shortly after an initial chocolate flavour. It fights against vanilla and sugar until it finally takes over. An almost stingy aftertaste develops from this. Other parts of the chocolate have a sweet flavour with notes of cocoa, nuts and coffee. The cornelian cherry jelly is initially sour but fruity flavours develop over time. The raspberry ganache starts with a mildly sour flavour. It quickly releases cocoa flavours and sugar. After a short period, a raspberry punch develops but it also has a difficult to describe flavour of metal and spicy nutmeg. Tasted as whole, this chocolate bar starts with a sweet note that is quickly overthrown by the wet, moldy wood, leather and the fruit's sourness. It tastes like an old wardrobe with fruity and sour notes coated with dark chocolate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste of the chocolate (everything else neatly removed with a knife) is sweetness and cocoa with some coffee notes. The aftertaste of the cornelian cherry jelly is slightly sour and fruity. The raspberry ganache leaves a raspberry flavour with some sort of a metallic and spicy note. Tasting the whole product leaves an aftertaste of wet wood, fruity sourness and difficult to define spice and nutmeg.

Summary

The chocolate bar's name might sound funny but it is for real and it contains actual blood. The raspberry filling has nice fruity notes but it is offset by the moldy wood, leather and metal flavours.

Verdict

The chocolate melts finely but the filling is on the verge of a jelly bean. The flavour of mold, wet wood and metal of parts of the filling is not pleasing. You have to be prepared for this and you have to like it. Scraping off everything and just eating the bottom layer of the chocolate is the best part. It comes with nice cocoa and coffee notes. However, eating the chocolate bar as a whole is a difficult to describe and surprisingly unpleasant experience. 1 Star.

Dates

Best before 23/06/2017, tasted 28/05&04/06/2017

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

Zotter - Weihnachtsknistern (Christmas crackle)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Weihnachtsknistern - Dunkle Bergmilchschokolade gefüllt mit Äpfel, Honig und Zimt (alkoholhaltig) [sic] - Christmas crackle, dark mountain milk chocolate filled with apple(s), honey and cinnamon (contains alcohol)
Main ingredients are unrefined cane sugar, dried apple (15%), cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, apple juice (9%)
Cocoa content: 50% 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 sleeve.

Look

The surface is maroon brown, shiny and smooth. There are no pre-shaped pieces moulded in the bar.

Sound

The chocolate bar is filled with two soft layers. After separating the chocolate coating, it is surprisingly hard and makes a clear snapping sound when broken.

Smell

It smells of sweet cinnamon and apple with some hints of nuts. Smelled on its own, the chocolate coating has taken on the smell of its filling with a slightly more earthy hint.

Mouthfeel

Eaten as a whole, the filled chocolate turns into a sticky dough. After chewing through this, apple pieces and finely chopped hazelnuts covered in dough remain. Tasting the layers separately, the chocolate coating quickly melts into a smooth liquid. The apple layer feels almost floury initially but turns into something jam-like with little pieces of apple. The dough (or caramel or cream?) layer feels like sticky dough with small lumps or crumbly peanut butter with a small amount of chopped peanuts.

Taste

I started with each layer on its own. The chocolate coating has a sweet cinnamon taste with a hint of apple probably from the apple filling. There is basically no cocoa flavour to it. The initial contact with the apple layer was like gingerbread. This was probably due to its crumbly surface and the cinnamon. This vanishes quickly and is replaced by a floury taste with hints of sour apple purée, sweetness and traces of cinnamon. The doughy layer tastes sweet with a hint of vanilla. It has also taken on some apple flavour from the other layer. The dough contains a small amount of tasteless chopped hazelnuts. This chocolate bar was probably never intended to be separated into single layers...  The whole thing starts with sweet flavours from the chocolate coating and quickly releases the apple and flour taste of its filling. The sticky mass releases some notes of cinnamon later on.

Aftertaste

There is only little aftertaste. This is mainly a doughy sweetness and some artificial apple.

Summary

This filled chocolate bar mainly tastes of flour, some apple and a tiny pinch of cinnamon. It is sticky and chewy. If you expected popping candy or other sparkling, fizzy, crackling ingredients, you will be disappointed.

Verdict

The chocolate bar was chewy and sticky. The packaging proudly stated "bean-to-bar" but this did not play out in the chocolate. Each layer on its own had little to offer. Their individual shortcomings were emphasised by combining them. The chocolate's name falsely suggested that there would be popping candy.

Dates

Best before 05 April 2016, tasted 23 January 2016