Butlers: Mixed Berry White Chocolate Bar

Butlers Chocolates ("Purveyors of Happiness") is a company out of Dublin, Ireland that produces chocolate truffles, bars, and toffee. I have previously tried their truffle bars and enjoyed them thoroughly. So, I thought I'd give one of their chocolate bars a try.

I decided to try their Mixed Berry White Chocolate bar. The bar is solid milk chocolate, filled with mixed berry pieces (strawberry, raspberry, lingonberry, blueberry, and blackberry) and freeze dried raspberry pieces. The bar has a very strong fruity aroma. The smell reminds me very much of a sugary cereal like Fruity Pebbles, and the taste of the bar is not far from this. The bar is very crunchy. The mixed berry pieces are the texture of small bits of lollipop, and they stuck to my back molars even after the chocolate bite was gone. The freeze dried raspberries are tart, and have the texture you would expect from freeze dried fruit.

Overall, I was not a big fan of this bar. I think it would have been much better with only one or two fruits in it, so it would taste more like berry and less like a generic fruit flavor. I also wasn't a big fan of either of the berry bits. I think they should have used dried fruit, rather than freeze dried or (what appears to be) candy-coated fruit. For now I'll stick to the truffle bars.

I found this at the World Market store, $3.99/3.52oz bar.

Owyhee Idaho Candy Co.: Idaho Spud

The Idaho Candy Company is out of Boise, Idaho. They produce a handfull of candies, including what will be reviewed here: The Idaho Spud. According to the wrapper, this is "The candy bar that makes Idaho famous." Well, I'm pretty sure if anything makes Idaho famous it's REAL potatoes. And if it isn't potatoes, it sure as hell isn't this candy bar.

The Idaho Spud is made up of a cocoa flavored marshmallow covered in chocolate then sprinkled with dried coconut. I'm not sure if they were hoping the candy bar would look like a real potato,

but to me it looked sort of like a coconut coated turd.

Now, if you haven't picked up on my distaste for this candy bar yet, I will describe to you how it tastes. The "marshmallow" center is gray and spongy. It tastes maybe a little like cocoa, but also a little like chemicals, too. The taste and texture of the "marshmallow" by itself are horrifying. The chocolate coating is waxy and crumbly, but does taste like chocolate. The coconut is typical dried coconut flakes.

Altogether the bar reminds me of a Hostess Sno-Ball cupcake, but without the cake part and not delicious. I ate about half of the Idaho Spud before I gave in and threw the rest away. I'm not even going to tell you where I bought this or how much it cost, because I wouldn't recommend you try it either.

Moritz: Ice Cubes

Moritz is a German company that produces chocolate Ice Cubes. I did an online search to see if I could find out anything else about them, but found nothing so...I'm not sure if this is all they make or not.

Either way, Ice Cubes are individually wrapped chocolate pieces, shaped like ice cubes. Growing up I always used to get Ice Cubes when we went up to NJ to visit family. They were wrapped in blue and white wrappers with a horse shoe on it (my favorite part). Now it seems they have changed the wrappers to gold and red (which seems to be less "icy" than blue and white), but they've kept the horse shoe (phew!).

I picked these Ice Cubes up at a gas station in Georgia and then threw them in my purse---but they weren't exactly square when I bought them either...so I don't think my picture is too far off what they would normally look like. They're always piled together in a plastic tub or bin, so there's always many a smushed Ice Cube at the register to buy.

The chocolate is exactly how I remember it from those trips up north. Smooth, with a consistency that is almost spreadable. The flavor is just like chocolate frosting. This is not quality chocolate, and is quite sweet...but for those of us who love frosting this isn't a bad thing.

I found these at a Quik Trip gas station (if that's any indication of the quality), $0.25 each.

(There is no indication on the wrapper of how many ounces makes up one piece).

Tunnock's: Chocolate Caramel Wafer

Tunnock's is a company out of Scotland. My first experience with a Tunnock's product came when I visited London. At the grocery store I found a package of Tunnock's teacakes. They looked like a British version of Mallomars, so I bought them. The ended up being WAY better than Mallomars. Instead of spongy marshmallow, the teacakes had soft, sweet, whipped filling! Yes, please!

Well, it has been years since I've had anything else by Tunnock's. So, I was surprised when one of my friends showed up at my house with a Tunnock's Chocolate Caramel Wafer!

The wrapper states: "More than 4,000,000 of these biscuits made and sold every week." So, I figure it's got to be as good as the teacakes, right?

The caramel wafer is made up of five layers of wafer, four layers of caramel, and a coating of milk chocolate. The chocolate coating is quite sweet. Inside, the wafer is only somewhat crisp (sort of like sugar wafers in texture). Together, the wafer and caramel make the bar mostly chewy. The caramel flavor is light and sweet, not buttery at all.

The bar is not high-quality tasting, but good enough for a quick treat, and pretty good for a candy bar. Overall I like this, and I would buy it again. I don't think it's nearly as good as the teacakes, but I'll take what I can get!

Since this was a gift I'm not sure how much it cost, but my friend told me she bought a pack of the wafer bars at World Market. Each bar is 1.05oz.

Storck: Merci

My mother recently sent me this box of chocolates by Storck. Storck is a German company that produces numerous candy brands, including Mamba, Riesen, Werther's, and Toffifay. I have previously tried and enjoyed candies from their other brands, but this was the first time I've encountered Merci. Merci is a thin box which contains seven different flavors of chocolates. The chocolates come individually wrapped, and they are shaped into thin little bars with a dip in the middle to easily break them in half.

The flavors include: milk chocolate, coffee and cream, hazelnut-almond, hazelnut-creme, dark cream, dark mousse, and praline-creme. The milk chocolate and dark cream are solid bars. The coffee and cream bar is a solid bar, but with two layers (coffee dark chocolate and white chocolate). The hazelnut-almond bar is filled with bits of nuts. The remaining three bars (hazelnut-creme, dark mousse, and praline-creme) contain a smooth, light filling.
Overall, the chocolate is very sweet although not terrible. I really liked the three bars filled with creme and mousse. Had the entire box contained filled bars I would definitely want another box of these chocolates. The other bars weren't anything great.

I really like the packaging, as I am a sucker for samplers! I think since the box includes so many different varieties, it would make for an excellent hostess gift or a snack to put out at a party (where there would be something for everyone).

Since it was a gift, I'm not sure where it came from or how much it cost. However, considering the other brands made by Storck, I'd imagine you could find this Merci box at the grocery store or CVS. One box is 8.8oz.