Thanks to our pal Chomper on twitter me and Marmaduke the marmot (note to self, must google what a marmot is) were recommended a British chocolatier based in Lancashire by the name of Beech’s Fine Chocolates. This company was established in 1920 (which I think is around the time that Uncle Bear was stitched) and uses ethically sourced all natural products, most of which are also suitable for vegans (and bears).
This wonderful company were very kind to send me some chocolates to review, but first I paw you over to Marmie who very kindly took time out to write this very special review for my blog:
Supplies arrive!
“Hello,
Marmie Megève here. I love chocolate – particularly dark chocolate and chocolates with centres that have a high crunchy nibble factor – so was very pleased when my twitter pal @Chomper_TC recommended I try Beech’s Fine Chocolates. The company is based in Preston and offers a wide variety of products, all made using only natural ingredients. The texture of the chocolate bars is firm, so you can manoeuvre each segment in your mouth for the slow-melt, full-flavour pleasure. As a bit of a ginger nut, my favourite of the chocolate bars is the dark chocolate ginger, the rich, aromatic flavour flooding your mouth as you roll it around. We marmots are keen on roots and shoots, so I count the luxury stem ginger chocolates as practically a dietary requirement. You can go for the combined flavour, chew-it-all-together experience or, because of the firmness and texture of the chocolate, you can nibble that off and then enjoy the crunch of the crystallised ginger separately, if that is your preference.”
Thanks Marmie. And now back to me, where I will review three different types of boxed chocolates, all of which will make great gifts for friends, loved ones (or just yourself):
OOH!!
OOH!! What do we have here?
1. Teddy Bears’ Picnic: delicious milk chocolates with soft caramel centres, shaped in a bear family!! How lovely. I really enjoyed these as i’m quite the fan of soft centres. 5 paws out of 5
Bears!!
2. Anglesey Sea Salted Truffles and Marc de Champagne Truffles: delicious, decadent, bold flavoured, firm textured, soft-ish creamy centred- all words I would use to describe my human. Also applicable to these milk truffle chocolates, each box emblazoned with the sentence “All you need is love and chocolate”. The sea salted truffles are deliciously salty and sweet and complex. Delicious. The champagne truffles are rich and fruity and toasty, just like real champagne. A wonderful accompaniment to a bottle of bubbly on a special occasion I reckon. 5 paws out of 5
Christmas is over, and the January blues are sinking in. By now, most of us have broken our New Year’s resolutions, pay day is still a long ways away, the nights are long and cold, and Springtime is still just a glint in Mother Nature’s eye. On top of all that, we have Trump’s inauguration and the triggering of Article 50 to look forward to. So I would like to look back with fond memories to the many generous gifts and cards I received from my lovely Anipal friends on twitter- when all is going wrong, they are there to remind me that the world hasn’t quite gone to hell yet.
So please enjoy my slideshow, and thank you again to all my pals for making my Christmas very special. See if you can spot your card in there, and shout out in the comments if you do!
Today we have a special edition of #JezzerChecksChocs. Thanks to Zara Chocolates (and my twitter furiend and #Caykclub hostess Mogsbear who introduced me to them), I obtained free tickets to The Chocolate Show at the Olympia in London. Armed with knowledge on how to “taste” chocolate handed down to me by my other twitter furiend Honey Dog‘s mom, herself once a world travelling chocolate expert, I giddily skipped to Kensington (as much as I could skip on The Tube without get strange looks at any rate) and as a result here are some snaps from the day:
Waiting outside in the rainFirst one inside!Lots of stallsStill quiet as I got in very earlyDuffy’s chocolates are bean to bar
Best tree EVERThank you Zara’s for inviting me!#chocolateroses selfieNice hat
Booze!Cumby!!Must taste the booze*bows*
I’d date this stallPigeons! (Just because)Sexy chocolate dressesTime to buy chocs!!
Cocoa and sausage rolls!Mmmm… (not the bloke)
I also enjoyed a lecture on the history of chocolate and how to “taste” chocolate like wine tasting. A great day out! So I guess the diet starts tomorrow *kicks jezzdad*.
Put down your Easter eggs and prepare yourself for more opinions on chocolates I have nommed recently. All for your benefit of course. But first, as is now traditional, let us find out which member of the “Twitterati” (copyright some idiot) enjoys cocoa based confections….
Mr. Burgess, of indie band The Charlatans fame, I salute you sir.
1. Fazer Mignon
My lovely Finnish friend Lisa Bear did kindly tell me last year about a very special type of Easter egg made by one of the country’s biggest corporation, Fazer. A chocolate egg THAT ISN’T HOLLOW. Imagine, it friends…. a completely solid chocolate egg- it’s like every cub’s dream come true. Except my dream DID come true this year, because look what Lisa sent me:
A selection of Finland’s finest chocolates, including Fazer Mignon- a paw-made solid chocolate egg inside a real egg shell! The recipe apparently came from Germany in 1896, which, I’m reliably informed, is around the year Tourguide Ted was born!
Included was a handy leaflet with ideas on how to decorate the eggs. As I am a very creative bear, I think you will agree that I did a very good job on mine:
The filling itself is an almond and hazelnut nougat, and very velvety smooth in texture. Almost like a solidified Nutella.
Absolutely delicious. Puts hollow eggs to shame. BOW YOUR HEADS IN SHAME HOLLOW EGGS!!! The Mignon and the other Fazer Chocolates Lisa sent me, including a milk chocolate bar, a chilli flake filled bar and a soft peppermint filled dark chocolate bar, all scored very highly indeed. I give them all 7 paws out of 5. Well done Fazer, well done Finland, and well done my tummy *rubs tummy with satisfaction*.
2. Hershey’s Kisses with Macadamia Nuts “Muana Loa”
On a recent trip to Hawaii, Tourguide Ted picked up some special edition Hershey Kisses filled with Muana Loa macadamia nuts. (More recently, Diesel Bear sent me some very special Carrot Cake flavoured Hershey Kisses, but more on that in a future blog).
You can find Tourguide Ted’s comprehensive review of his Hawaii tour here.
According to the packaging, the first macadamia tree was planted on Big Island in 1946. According to my teddy bear tastebuds, I enjoyed this very much. 6 paws out of 5
3. North ‘Proper Coffee and Cardamon’
A certain lovely pal who happens to go by the name of Boo Boo Bear Green very kindly thought of little ol’ me (yet again!) on a recent trip to the shops:
I have reviewed North Chocolates before, and found them most delightful. I especially like the “shop local” and handmade in Newcastle aspects of the company. This particular flavour was gluten free and suitable for vegans. The dark chocolate was minimum 70% cocoa, and the coffee used was 100% Pure Lintong (Sumatran).
Cardamon is a seed derived spice which I am very familiar with as it is used in Indian cooking a great deal. It is the third most expensive spice after vanilla (which has been in the news recently) and saffron. It has a number of claimed health benefits, and the fact that my human is still alive might be testament to that (possibly). All I know is this chocolate bar was super duper scrummy. 5 paws out of 5
4. Booths ‘Sweet Fig with essence of Port’
In the above picture you will see that a couple of months ago I received a lovely chocolate bar from Reddy Teddy, a pawesome Star Wars Valentine greeting from Duffy Bear, and wicked anime glasses from J-List, a company that exports unusual (and frankly insane) Japanese foods and toys to the rest of the globe. As you can see, Wilfred is in his pyjamas, paw-made by wonderful Snuffy in Canada. Please check out Snuffy’s excellent anipal social media site canbesocial if you get a chance.
The sweet fig chocolate bar was very tasty (5 paws out of 5). All I kept thinking as I was eating it was this would be wonderful accompanied by a full bodied red. Any excuse hey? So cheers everybody and Happy Easter!!
*It’s like Dracula, but more chocolatey! (And less bitey).
So who has been showing the chocolate love on twitter since our last visit to Jezzer Checks Chocs?
Toffee Crisp!!
Tony Singh, one of Scotland’s finest- you have definitely given the best answer so far. Well done sir, I salute you.
And Gregg Wallace, “seasoned diner” and Masterchef presenter- it just goes to show that all that fine dining can’t stop a guy loving a good old Toffee Crisp.
1. Fuffle (part 2)
You may recall from my last review that these Fudge/ Truffle hybrids are handmade in Bromsgrove Worcestershire, and are a favourite of Lucky‘s mum, who very kindly sent me some to try just before Christmas.
Last time I tried the Tia Maria flavour. This time I bring you “Chocolate Raspberry & Vodka Fuffle” and “Chocolate and Jack Daniels Fuffle“. The ingredients simply lists sugar, butter, cocoa powder, UHT milk and either 4% vodka with natural raspberry flavour or 4% JD. Because they are freshly made, they have very short expiry dates, but can be frozen for up to 6 months (who’d want to do that?!) In addition, they are suitable for vegetarians and are gluten free. So that makes them a health snack, right?
Well what can I say, but both bars were delicious. They score highly on crumbliness (texture), nominess (palatability) and rubbing tummy afterwardness (satisfaction).
7 paws out of 5
2. Various chocolates from Cornwall
My good furiends Boo Boo Bear Green, Tourguide Ted and Reddy Teddy went to Cornwall late last year- you can find out what they got up to here. They were very kind to send me a selection of Cornwall’s finest confectionaries, including chocolates from the world famous Eden Project.
a) Eden ProjectChristmas Pudding Milk Chocolate: Handmade in Cornwall using cocoa and sugar ethically sourced from plantations in West Africa, they can’t use the stuff they grow in their giant bio balls because there isn’t enough there! This chocolate bar had added raisins, orange pieces and mixed spices, and lived up to its promise as a Christmas Pudding in chocolate bar form. 4 paws out of 5
b) Makers & Merchants Smooth Operator: this one isn’t actually from Cornwall, but I thought I’d put it in here just to confuse you. This is another Midlands chocolate company, and this handmade chocolate bar is half milk, half dark, and uses 56% min cocoa solids. It was silky smooth, just like my personality I like to think. 4 paws out of 5
c) Kernow Raspberry Chocolate: luxury dark chocolate made from sustainably grown cocoa (55.5% min). The raspberry pieces were little bits of jelly set in dark chocolate, which made this very satisfying to nom. 4 paws out of 5
d) Raw Chocolate Naked Pie, handmade in Cornwall by Living Food of St. Ives: hmm… this looks interesting. Sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, made from raw cocoa nibs. How bad can it be?
*Takes a small bite*
WHY GOD WHY?! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU? WHAT FOUL ABOMINATION IS THIS? COME BACK MINT-CHOC PRINGLES, ALL IS FORGIVEN.
*Falls to knees and sobs uncontrollably*.
minus 4 paws out of 5.
3. Blog takeover by budgerigars, Tom and Jeri
*Tweet, chirp* hello, we are Tom and Jeri, and we are fed up with hearing about Jeremy’s chocolate reviews.
*Chirp, jump, sing* when we’re not busy flirting with our reflections in the mirror and preening ourselves, we like to eat special birdy noms. And lucky for us, our furiend Dutchie Duffy sent us some special treats all the way from the Netherlands. Yay!! *chirp*
*Tweet* these are our favourite mixed seeds treat, baked onto a wooden stick. As soon as human gets them out of the box we start getting excited *flap wings excitedly*. This box has three flavours- Egg and grass, Apricot and fig, and Honey and sesame. Our favourite? Honey and sesame. Look how we devoured it in one day:
*Sing* thank you Dutchie Duffy, mom, dad and nana for sending us these yummy treats!! 5 beak pecks out of 5
Back to you Jeremy, you greedy bear who freaks us out every time you go near our cage!
4. Verkade Melk “J”
Naughty budgies, taking over my blog. Well, another thing Dutchie Duffy kindly sent over was a Dutch chocolate in the shape of a letter J! For Jeremy!! Woohoo!
These alphabet chocolates are only available for a limited time in the run up to the holidays, and can be given as a gift on Sinterklass Day. I find it very interesting to learn about how different cultures celebrate special occasions, and I am honoured to have been sent this by my Dutch pal. The chocolate itself is super delicious, and not too sweet unlike British chocolates. I enjoyed it very much and I score Verkade Milk “J” 6 paws out of 5.
On a final note, I’d like to apologise if I haven’t been able to review every single chocolate I’ve been sent by all my twitter furiends (your generosity knows no bounds). Rest assured, they were ALL enjoyed very much. And I still have a lot more to go through, so hopefully I will get around to trying them at some point in the near future. Thanks again.
Hello everyone. Soon it will be the birthday of Jesus and I hope you are having a lovely Christmas (or Crispmouse for all my kitty friends out there), a happy Hannukah, or just enjoying the season’s festivities in a non-faith related manner. I think I’ve covered all my bases there.
So, as is tradition now, let us begin by finding out which celebrity on twitter likes chocolate this week…
Why it’s none other than Radio 4 comedy writer and friend to the stars*, John Finnemore! Well done, sir. Well done.
1. Hammond’s Candy Corn and Pumpkin Spice Chocolate
Twitter legend and world traveller Tourguide Ted (you all know him, said in best Citizen Khan accent) went to the U.S. of A. recently and brought me back a nice selection of autumnal-themed candy (including my favourite Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses, so sweet, so very very sweet *drools*). Ted jets around the globe so often that our friend Doctor Red had to invent the Ted Tracker 2000 (patent pending). Please take a look at his site and check out his thoroughly blogged adventures by clicking the link above.
Hammond’s Candies are made in Denver, Colorado, and their candy bar packaging is very bright and eye catching. The Pumpkin Spice is a dark chocolate bar with a creamy pumpkin spice flavour filling. One bar alone contains 320 calories, and I enjoyed each and every one of them. 4 paws out of 5.
Candy Corn is a very American product (much like Pumpkin Spice, but that’s becoming more prevalent in Europe thanks to companies like Starbucks using it in their coffees every Autumn). A bit of online research tells me that Candy Corn is mainly made of sugar, corn syrup and confectioner’s wax, and is painted yellow, orange and white to mimic the appearance of actual corn. This milk chocolate with candy corn filling was also 320 calories, and I also enjoyed each and every one of them. 4 chubby bears out of 5
2. Baratti & Milano Gianduitto and Cremino Classico chocolate box
Goodies from Japp and Camilla
On a recent tweetup with Camilla and Japp the Bear’s Human in the Museum of London, I was very lucky to have been brought many treats from Venice (from Japp Bear) and Norway (Camilla), including beer!! More on the beer later.
Me exploring The City on the way to tweetup
First, a big thanks to Japp’s humans, who visit Venice regularly and make the most GORGEOUS jewellery out of Venetian glass- please check out their site here and maybe buy a nice gift for a loved one? I personally love myself and treat myself to goodies and treats regularly, but that’s just me.
Baratti and Milano confectioners were founded in Turin in 1858. I’m only a little bear and have little concept of time, but 1858 sounds like a very long time ago. I wonder if my human was around then. The chocolates themselves come individually wrapped, and are best described as decadence in chocolate form. Creamy, smooth nutty, yummy morsels of heaven. If any advertisers wish to use my descriptive services on their products, I am freely available and will work for chocolate or beer. Preferably both. 5 paws out of 5.
3. Stratos Melky and Laban Seigmenn
Stratos is a Norwegian chocolate company I have reviewed previously on this hallowed blog. However, I have only just discovered the “moo moo moo” commercial. Genius.
Stratos Melky is a milkier, maltier, less sweet version of our Aero Bar; less crumbly and with a thicker milk chocolate coating round the outside, this chocolate really hit the spot. And by spot, I mean my fat bear tummy. 4.5 paws out of 5.
Laban Siegmenn (translation- Jellymen) are yummy sugar coated fruit jellies shaped like people. The flavours include apple, lemon, pineapple, raspberry and peach. And of course, as the sweets are people shaped, there is only one way to eat them- BITE THEIR HEADS OFF FIRST!!!!!! 4.5 paws out of 5. Thanks Camilla.
4. Hogs Back Chocolate Lager and Tre Gamle Damer Pale Ale
As I mentioned above, Tourguide Ted gets around. On an earlier visit to (*checks Ted Tracker 2000*) Cornwall with Reddy Teddy and Boo Boo Bear Green to meet #TedMates LT, Lu, and Christian, they were kind enough to send me a selection of Cornish choccies and even a chocolate beer. The beer in question was by famous brewery Hogs Back in Tongham, and is 4.5% abv.
The Montezuma Hogs Back beer is surprisingly tasty- the beer is smooth and crisp, and the chocolate is subtle and almost tastes like milk chocolate. I was surprised by how much I liked this. Perfect on its own, or even as an accompaniment to a meal or pudding. 5 paws out of 5
Tre Gamle Damer is Norwegian for “three old ladies”, and this Belgian style pale ale was brought specially back by Camilla from a Norwegian beer festival for me to try. It 5.5% abv. Whilst I am by no means the beer connoisseur that Jezza and Arpad are, I know what I like and I like this. Also, it made my teddy ears tremble in tipsiness, so it must be good. 4.5 paws out of 5
5. Crevin cafe, pistache, vanille and caramel
Speaking of beer connoisseurs Jezza and Arpad, on a recent trip to Bruges, Brussels, they were lovely enough to send me some delicious pawcrafted marshmallow style chcolates of various flavours, all coated in a delicious crisp chocolate shell. I would love to show you a picture the chocolates in all their glory, but a certain human got his greedy paws on them and, well, see for yourself…
Only one left?!
Well, I think it is safe to say that these chocolates were exceptionally yummy, if we judge it by drunken/ hungry human behaviour. So let’s give it 5 greedy humans out of 5
6. Fuffle (Part one)- “Tia’s of Joy”
Last, but by no means least, we have a very special selection of freshly made confectionaries sent to me by #FurryTails Spa Manager Lucky and family. Lucky enjoys my drunken antics at FurryTails. Just ask him.
Fuffle are freshly made chocolate truffle bars made by a chap called Gary Davis in Bromsgrove. They come in a variety of naughty flavours, and so far I have tried just one- the chocolate and Tia Maria Fuffle.
The bars are so beautifully wrapped, it’s a shame to unwrap them. But of course I must. The bar itself has a very unusual texture, almost crumbly like a brownie. And yet smooth and not dry at all. Very strange. First bite: wow. Extremely decadent flavour of Tia Maria combined with the luxury of fresh chocolate and truffle. This is just AMAZING. Honestly, you need Fuffles in your life. I bet teddy bear heaven tastes like this. If I ever get to teddy heaven, watch out- I’m going to eat you! 7 paws out of 5
MERRY CHRISTAMAS EVERYONE!!
*one big star really, Benedict Cumbablah, who appeared in his brilliant Radio 4 comedy Cabin Pressure.
Apparently, in space no one can hear you scream. But what we really want to know is can they hear you munch a chocolate bar? And, more importantly, which fictional alien species enjoys chocolate the most? Can we somehow use the Large Hadron Collider, along with the combined intellects of Professor Brian Cox and Professor Stephen Hawking, to answer this important question? Well until they find a way, let’s ask Michael Dorn, aka Lt. Commander Worf, if he enjoys chocolate.
So it seems chocolate is “tricky”. Klingons- why always so enigmatic?? *rolls eyes*
1. Choc Affair’s Peach and Raspberry White Chocolate and Kennedy’s Mint Bubble Crisp
My fellow Aviator and Zombie Squad member, and Domestic Manager of Furry Tails, Lucky and family went on holibobs to Appledore in North Devon recently, and sent me some lovely choccys from The Appledore Chocolate Shop and a card from there.
The Mint Bubble Crisp milk chocolate (cocoa 30.7%) was very lovely with balls of bubbly minty chocolate set into the top of the bar, with mini chocolate balls liberally sprinkled among them (see above picture). I enjoyed it very much. 5 paws out of 5
The Peach and Raspberry White Chocolate (cocoa 28%) was made by an independent British company using sustainably grown chocolate. It was also delicious, and not too cloying and sweet as some fruity white chocolates can tend to be. 5 paws out of 5
2. Ooh Chocolata! Very Nutty Milk Chocolate
Look at this lovely book and chocolates the world famous Tourguide Ted sent me!! In my next life I want to be a jet plane.
This 50g bar of Ooh! chocolate (best name ever) had generous quantities of almond nuts in it, and the chocolate itself was minimum 38% cocoa. It was very yummy and crunchy and really hit the spot when my teddy tummy was rumbling. 5 paws out of 5
3. Galler Praline Noir
I’ve mentioned before my good friends Arpad and Jezza’s amazing beer blog- please check it out here.
On a recent trip to Belgium (a chocolate and beer lover’s paradise) they were kind enough to think of me and send me a couple of choccys and a card. One of those was Galler Dark Chocolate (min 45% cocoa) with praline filling. Well what a joy to behold. Basically, luxury in chocolate bar form, I half expected a butler to walk in as I ate this and say “Your bubble bath and teddy bear masseuse are ready, sir. Can I pour you some champagne?” In fact, if you combine this chocolate with a lovely glass (or bottle) of bubbly, I think all your troubles will instantly wash away. Before returning again the next morning along with a hangover. 5 paws out of 5
Started by my esteemed colleague and lord of the film review, Doctor Red Bear; and continued by my other esteemed colleague and lord of the travel, Mister Tourguide Ted; #AnipalMovieClub sees a rag tag bunch of stuffies, anipals and honorary humans gather on twitter to watch a chosen movie each month, giving a running commentary filled with wit and charm* along the way. This month’s chosen movie is The Ladykillers, the original 1955 version, not that travesty of a remake from the (usually brilliant) Coen Brothers.
So please grab yourself a copy of the movie and join us if you can on Saturday September 19th at 10pm BST. Further details are available here.
Now before we begin with the good stuff (the chocolate reviews), let’s see who the latest celebratory is to confess their love of chocolate…..
*Drum roll*
It’s none other than Padstow’s finest, Mr. Rick Stein!!!
1. Cadbury Dairy Milk Vegemite
Over on anipal social network canbesocial.com (like facebook but without the nut jobs) I’ve just read an update from my Australian friends Benaud, Hicks and Chloe that their travelling brofur Ozzie Quirkybear is about to return home after visiting Minnesota, the Galapagos Islands and Peru! How cool is that?
Before he left he kindly sent me a family sized bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk Vegemite, which was a limited edition released Down Under only. You can see his take on it here.
In this bar, Cadbury Australia very cleverly mixed the Vegemite (the Aussie version of Marmite and the subject of constant “which one tastes better” debates) with a smooth caramel centre. The result? Something almost akin to salted caramel but with that added yeasty kick from the Vegemite. And my word it is good. SO good. Much like Vegemite itself, I can see how this chocolate might divide opinion, but I must say I absolutely adored it. Damn you Cadbury Australia- make this a permanent fixture on your shelves, not just a limited edition!! 7 paws out of 5
2. Tayto Cheese and Onion Chocolate Bar
My lovely friend Duffy was adopted in Hong Kong and lives with his mam in Ireland. A bigger Disneyland fan you’d be hard pushed to find! Tayto is a famous crisps manufacturer in N. Ireland, and when Duffy’s mam saw that they had released a limited edition Cheese and Onion Chocolate Bar, she had to send me bar!
Biting into this chocolate almost reminds me of putting crisps in the middle of your sandwich- normal smooth milk chocolate on the outside, suddenly little crispy bits in the centre. But the crisps are so tiny, you just can’t taste the cheese and onion in there. Nothing wrong with this chocolate bar per se, but I think they needed to be braver with the flavouring. As it is, it’s just a milk chocolate bar with a tiny bit of crispiness in the centre. (Not necessarily a bad thing). 3 paws out of 5
3. Curry and Chips Milk Chocolate
Speaking of being bolder with the flavours, this is more like it! Sent to me by Boo Boo Bear, who’s rapidly becoming a great source of locally manufactured chocolate bars, this is a very unusual flavour I am sure you will agree. This is manufactured by Mighty Fine chocolates and even the packaging is of high quality. Now check out the bar itself:
That’s right! There’s ACTUAL salted crisps on top! This is the way to do it Tayto.
The chocolate itself has been blended with Madras style Indian spices and definitely has a bit of a kick. As crazy tasting as you’d imagine a Curry and Chips flavoured chocolate bar would taste, I give this 4 paws out of 5. I wonder what it tastes like after several pints of lager?
*wit and charm in its loosest sense
COMING SOON: choccies from Appledore in Devon via Lucky and family, choccies from Belgium via Arpad & Jezza, and lots more besides!!
1. Fans of the modern BBC reworking of the Sherlock Holmes stories starring Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch will recognise the picture below. This is the street that stands in for the exterior of Baker Street, and has made Speedy’s Sandwich Bar & Cafe* somewhat of a famous pilgrimage for fans from around the globe. One of those fans is our twitter friend Camilla from Norway, and last month me, Rosie and Japp (and human assistants in tow) met her here to check it out for ourselves.
Inside Speedy’s
Lucky for me Camilla and Rosie brought me some nommy chocolates to try out for my blog. Hurrah!
a) Japp– with its milk chocolate, nougat and caramel, this is somewhere between a Milky Bar and Mars Bar in flavour, but nowhere near as sweet. My human says it reminds him of the low sugar “red wrapper” Mars Bars he tried in Singapore a few years ago. As the UK chocolate manufacturers put more and more sugar into their confectionary to keep us addicted, the Japp chocolate was a breath of fresh air. 4 paws out of 5
b) Both the Troika and the Stratos chocolate bars, Camilla proudly tells me, come from her home town of Trondheim in Norway. The Stratos was simply delicious- a lovely bubbly, malty milk chocolate. Again, not too sweet, this is far superior to the Aero chocolate bars we have here in Blighty. Stratos gets 6 paws out of 5. I approached the Troika with some trepidation as the cover picture made it look suspiciously like a Turkish Delight/ rosewater flavoured chocolate. Bleugh! Fortunately, the top layer of jelly was actually raspberry flavoured :relieved ears:. The other two layers were truffle and marzipan, covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate (see below). This was okay, but I definitely preferred the Stratos. I give Troika 4 paws out of 5.
c) When Rosie last went to Lille, France she was nice enough to bring me back two very yummy chocolate bars from Carrefour. A dark chocolate Mango and Sichuan Pepper bar (55% min cocoa) and a milk chocolate Caramalised Almond and Star Anise (33% min cocoa) bar. Both were supremely delicious and oozed quality. Of the two, I preferred the milk chocolate bar with its crispy toasted almond biscuit and touch of star anise spice. However, the slightly chewy sweet mango in the dark chocolate also works wonderfully. Both get 5 paws out of 5.
*for a fuller review of Speedy’s Sandwich Bar and Cafe please see here.
2. My lovely friend BooBoo Bear Green has once again sent me some lovely and unusual flavoured chocolates, the first from Belgium and one second one from England.
a) Cachet ‘Blackberry and Ginger’ (57% cocoa min): gosh, this was an interesting taste experience! Lots of ginger and chewy blackberry with dark chocolate, this made a good whack to the old teddy tastebuds! 4 paws out of 5
b) Seed and Bean ‘Lemon and Cardamom’ (organic, 58% cocoa): this company prides itself in sourcing its ingredients ethically and have received 100% accreditation from The Ethical Company Organisation. The taste of Lemon Cardamom works very well with the dark chocolate, which is clearly of high quality. In this household we are no strangers to cardamom being used in desserts, being fans of Indian cuisine which use it liberally in sweet dishes. 5 paws out of 5
3.Lindt ‘Haselnuss De Luxe’ (Hazelnut Luxury): this was sent to me by my lovely friends Burnie and Greg Bear in Germany. And what can I say? Move heaven and earth to try this chocolate bar, which is just soooooooo yummy! Imagine a Ferrero Rocher in chocolate bar form, make it even yummier, and then you might come close to being the spoilt ambassador in those cheesy tv adverts. 7 paws out of 5 (don’t question my scoring system- it is what it is)
Coming soon to Jezzer Checks Chocs: CURRY & CHIPS CHOCOLATE (from BBBG), CHEESE AND ONION CHOCOLATE (from Duffy Bear in Ireland), VEGEMITE CHOCOLATE (from Ozzie Quirkybear) AND VARIOUS OTHER CHOCOLATES FROM TOURGUIDE TED!!
The eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, once said “Bow ties are cool”. To that I would like to add border collies. And the coolest collie I know is Jess, rescued by her mama and a shining light of twitter since 2010. So a big round of applause for Jess and mum, and a big thank you to them* for this review of Bendicks Mint Collection (and no, there’s no apostrophe in Bendicks, I’ve checked.):
Minty
“Oooh! Mum was given some Bendicks Mint Collection because she had been a very good girl.
First thing to say, we loved the packaging and the chocolate looked really super in their wrappings.
We are lovers of mint chocolate and these did not disappoint.
We tried the gold wrapped, Victorian Mint, first… at Jezzer’s suggestion.
Decisions decisions…
Dark chocolate with an intense, peppermint flavoured fondant. When mum had stopped singing she gave that one 5 paws out of 5
The Dark English Mint baton was next to the tasting lab.
Delicious with coffee and the perfect size for a little treat, she ate three in a row. We like the all chocolate, chocolate and this one gets a grand 5 paws out of 5
The Chocolate Mint Crisp, in a pale green wrapper, was beautiful to look at and with tiny honeycomb pieces and a gentle peppermint flavour the singing began again 5 paws out of 5
Hmmm. I’m beginning to see a pattern here.
Finally, The Bittermint.
The chocolate menu says “The original and most famous Bendicks mint”. This is a large chocolate. More like a biscuit in size. It has a firm fondant and is made with 95% cocoa solids. Wooeee! That’s a punchy chocolate. It was declared “divine” & “strong” and “a one chocolate break”, meaning she couldn’t eat two in a row. We gave this one 4 paws out of 5
These were the most delicious mint chocolates we’ve had. They tasted wonderful. They smelled very minty although each one smelled subtly different. A paws up from us.”
The cup overfloweth!!
*remember furiends, this chocolate was bravely tested by Jess’ mum as chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Please don’t feed our woofy pals made-for-human chocolate!!
Jezzer Checks Chocs 