Hotel Chocolat New Selectors

Hotel Chocolat have recently revamped a large proportion of their chocolate range; not only are there new boxes/re branding but they have also introduced lots of new selector packs to tempt you with! I only popped in there to get a couple of bits n bobs for Father's Day but left with 6 new selector packs + a banana and caramel chocolate bar that was part of their summer range.

To kick things off I'm going to review a couple of the new selector packs that I have tried and tested so far. Normally I'm not big on packs of chocolate where every chocolate in the pack is of the same variety but Hotel Chocolat's are so delicious that I could quite happily eat one after another without getting bored! I suppose the plus is that at least you don't get a specific chocolate in the box you don't like!

The first Selector pack that I picked up was the Nutty Caramels; really with a name like that who could resist. A whole Piedmont hazelnut with smooth gianduja and salted caramel in a delicate looking cup this had me written all over it.



All I can say is "WOW"; this is good, I mean really really good. I generally use Hotel Chocolat's pralines as a bench mark when I come to judge how good other pralines are. For me their praline is ideal - creamy, nutty & just the right hint of sweetness.



This comes through perfectly in this chocolate. The gianduja is heavenly, a rich nutty flavour with an incredibly smooth texture that sits atop a salted caramel equally as delicious, with just the right hint of salty tang. Whilst burrowed deep inside lies a delicious crunchy whole hazelnut that offers a nice bit of contrast to the overall luxurious smoothness that this chocolate emulates. Outstanding in every way.



Next up we have the Chocolate Trifles; layers of biscuit, praline and vanilla truffle encased in a milk chocolate shell. This sounded equally as delicious as the Hazelnut Melt, and, although it was good, unfortunately it just wasn't as superb as the latter.



I felt that the proportions were slightly off in this chocolate; the shell is far too thick for the filling and you don't really get to appreciate the vanilla truffle & praline centre properly. Really it just seems like a mouthful of crunchy biscuit + chocolate with a slight hint of something else.



That's not saying that its not good; they are still delicious and far superior to a lot of chocolates that I have tasted but do they have that sublime quality that the Nutty Caramel possesses. Unfortunately not but with a slight rejigging of proportions I think this chocolate could be impeccable.



Taste -
Nutty Caramels  - 9.6/10 - Outstanding, sweet caramel with a slight tang blended with delicious hazelnut praline.
Chocolate Trifle - 7/10 - Good but the vanilla truffle and the chocolate praline don't shine enough in terms of flavour.

Texture -
Nutty Caramels - 9.8/10 - Heavenly; incredibly rich & smooth with a nice crunch from the hazelnut.
Chocolate Trifle - 6.2/10 - The proportions are slightly off; too much biscuit/chocolate.

AppearanceNutty Caramels  - 9.4/10 - Looks delightfully delicate.
Chocolate Trifle - 6.4/10 - More of a simplistic look but still appealing.

Price -Nutty Caramels  - 9.4/10 - Priced at £3.50 - great value for money
Chocolate Trifle - 7.2/10 - Priced at £3.50, good but not great, think there are probably nicer Selector Packs.

Overall -
Nutty Caramels  - 9.6/10 - One of the best chocolates I've had in a while.
Chocolate Trifle - 6.7/10 - Good but room for improvement.
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WHO FOR?
Great for anyone that loves relatively simplistic yet delicious chocolates. Nothing too out there.

WHERE TO BUY?
You'll be able to purchase these from any Hotel Chocolat store or on their website.

Typical Dutch Australian Homemade Hazelnut Milk Chocolate

So the brand is called "Australian" - yet its a Dutch product? Confused yet?
I was lucky enough to receive this delicious looking bar from a friend who recently went to Rotterdam.




Australian are a franchise based confectionery store operating numerous shops around the world, primarily however, they are Dutch and based in Veenendaal; apparently their brand initially angered Indigenous Australians reacted with anger at Australian Homemade, accusing them of using Aboriginal designs without permission and of being disrespectful! However things have obviously died down as here I am enjoying some of their chocolate. Yum!

This bar is thick, and when I say thick, I mean really thick & jam packed full of whole hazelnuts! Let's be honest, this bar was crying out for me to eat it. Containing 35% cocoa solids this isn't just your cheap high street style chocolate and only priced at € 3,25, according to their website its pretty good value for a hefty 100g bar like this!



The chocolate is creamy, sweet with that delicious Swiss/Belgian chocolate style feel to it and would certainly please any milk chocolate lover. The hazelnuts however are the real stars of the show; I perhaps would have liked to have seem them roasted - more like in Ritter Sport bars, where the hazelnuts have a bit more of a crispy crunch to them. Nevertheless they were still good and provided a lovely texture contrast, with a delightful surprise every time you bit into a piece containing a hazelnut!



If you're in Europe over the summer and happen to see one of these bars I would certainly pick it up, incredibly good value for money and a delicious chocolate bar at that!

Taste - 7.8/10 - Good creamy 35% milk chocolate, not too sweet and a nice nutty element added from the hazelnuts.
Texture - 9/10 - I love how thick, chunky and satisfying this bar is + the added crunch of the hazelnuts = heaven. The only thing that could have made this bar better was if the hazelnuts had been roasted/caramelised.
Appearance - 7.9/10 - The artwork is nice and looks different to certain chocolate bars you may be used to seeing.
Price - 8.7/10 - I think this a bargain for € 3,25.
Overall - 8.4/10 - A great chocolate bar!
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WHO FOR?Pretty much anyone who enjoys a good milk chocolate bar will enjoy this - especially if you like to feel like you are getting satisfaction for your money.

WHERE TO BUY?This was bought as a gift for me from Rotterdam; however you can take a look at Australian Homemade's website here...even if it is all in Dutch!

American Soda Goodies

The folks at American Soda are always updating their site with new delicious goodies and the fact that they're not so easily available to just pick up on the high street always makes the anticipation of trying them even greater.

They recently sent me out a few bits n bobs for me to sample - White Chocolate Fudge Flipz, Barton's Peppermint Bark & Demet's Turtles

We'll start off with the White Chocolate Fudge Flipz, pretty much white chocolate covered pretzels. I'd heard good things about these, very good things, and after being disappointed at the dismal attempt that Cadbury's had at attempting to make chocolate covered pretzels I was hoping for better things from these.



Let's say they definitely lived up to expectations! The pretzels are perfectly crunchy with that nice savoury/salty hint whilst the white chocolate fudge coating provides a great sweet contrast. These are great for snacking on and I can imagine they would make a great movie treat! They reminded me of something..but no matter how many I try I cannot put my finger on it!! Maybe a bit like White Chocolate Fingers? But a whole load better!



Next up we have the Barton's Peppermint Bark. Ok, so I have a bit of a confession to make here, I am pretty much addicted to Peppermint Bark. A couple of years ago M&S brought out a tinned variety at Christmastime and that's the only time I can usually buy it. So you can imagine my delight when I received this.



The classic dark chocolate base topped with white chocolate and crushed candy cane pieces was absolutely delicious and the bar was so thick and chunky that it felt like a satisfying treat. If only this was more widely available I think I'd be picking up a bar virtually every week ahah!



Finally we have Demet's Turtles; these were described as "Crisp pecans encased in creamy caramel and smothered in chocolate". To be honest I'm not usually a huge fan of pecans, they're one of my least favourite nuts but on this occasion they work exceedingly well! The caramel is thick and chewy whilst the pecans add a nice crunch/nutty flavour.



What made it even better was that the bar was nicely separated into 2 round pieces so you could even save one for later if your will power was feeling strong. Overall a really tasty treat.



White Chocolate Fudge Flipz Overall - 8.3/10 - Really great snacking chocolate & if you want to sample some good chocolate pretzels then these are the product for you!
Barton's Peppermint Bark - 9/10 - I pretty much knew this was going to be a winner as soon as I' seen it, the peppermint/white/dark chocolate combo always works.
Demet's Turtles - 7.8/10 - Good thick caramel and thankfully not too sweet. Well balanced.
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WHO FOR?I'd say these products would pretty much go down well with anyone, they're all delicious!


WHERE TO BUY?
You can pick these up from American Soda's website here.