I’ve been lucky enough to meet Amelia Rope and even luckier enough to have been sent some of her chocolate. I was sent a pair of bars and I coveted them, squirreling them away. I put them in my handbag and secretly took them out to photo and try.

With 69% cocoa and a Madagascan origin, I expected great things from this bar. A nut bar is meant for chewing and so no gentle melting of the chocolate for me and besides – Amelia’s chocolate is all about how she pairs the chocolate as well as why she adds what she adds but it is not just about the chocolate.

This bar has lovely exposed hazelnuts which are roasted to perfection and crunchy. I enjoyed the haphazard scattering of nuts but mourned the lack at times (as I started at the end with the most nuts).  I did get sea salt at times which was a slight but not unpleasant surprise when I got a bit. It doesn’t have the chance to become brine in your mouth as there isn’t too much. It is clearly there and there is a distinct salt flavour but it isn’t massive.

This is for sure a bar to take a nice bite of and chew to enjoy. Allowing it to melt not only simply softens the nut slightly (sometimes not at all) but the chocolate in the winter I suppose is less ready to melt. It is really much more of a bar to chew.

I did enjoy it as a hazelnut bar. Not as many nuts as Pierre Marcolini but I liked the way these were on the surface and exposed. I am a fan of the caramelised nut so if I was to improve it, I might opt for that but really, I think it is pleasant as it is.

How can I resist trying another Mitzi Blue?  Once again the flavour is a bit of a shock and once again I stick with it to work through that extreme vanilla.  It’s just what you’re used to and I just happen to have had a lot of Soma recently and so I just needed to get used to it.

The Mitzi blue range has 24 different flavours to it and I got to try 2 of them.  I have to admit I’ve wanted to try it for awhile and have been fascinated both by the amount of raving people have done about it and also the amount of buzz around Zotter in general.

Zotter is a sexy brand.  My introduction to them was their coffee bar given to me by the absolutely lovely Dom.  I loved the wrapper, I loved the bar, I loved the buzz -I wanted more.  I begged and pleaded and prayed and finally thanks to a lovely gentleman I got lucky.  No, not that kind of lucky – I got chocolate bars sent to me.

So – the chocolate.  It is extremely sweet as you would expect from a white chocolate.  It is also heavily vanilla in flavour.  That was also no surprise.  The bits in this bar are delightful . I like the walnut and caramel pieces.  Too yummy.  I’m thinking that white chocolate was probably the best pairing for walnut here and so it was absolutely the best pairing to try.  You’ll find you get an immediate vanilla hit with this chocolate and it lasts and so if you love that you’re going to buy boxes of this chocolate!

I think if I was tweaking it, I’d reduce the vanilla, experiment with some non-deodorised cocoa butter and reduce the sugar in the chocolate and let the caramel pieces carry the sweetness.

I love the name of this bar.  Wait – do I call it a bar?  I mean, it is a circle, not a rectangle and it is well funky.  I mean, I love the circle, I love the triangles and I love the thinness because I can let it melt.  According to the Zotter website this bar is “an irresistibly delicate disc of fine chocolate in a square pack. A totally new chocolate experience, made from ‘bean to bar’ by Zotter. Twenty four deliciously innovative varieties for chocolate aficionados to discover.” And I got one.  Well two actually.

Josef Zotter named the Mitzi Blue range after a sky blue vintage car originally made for an American lady Mitzi Koch, and that later came into his ownership.  I’m pretty sure I knew someone when I was growing up named Mitzi too.  I don’t remember if she liked blue or chocolate…   Like this car, the Mitzi Blue range is also very special, blending the finest cocoa varieties of Criollo and Trinitario with diverse flavours – all wrapped up in an environmentally friendly and CO2 neutral cardboard sleeve printed with food colourings.  I love this environmentally friendly packaging!  It’s fun, I love the way it locks together.

The chocolate itself is different.  The first thing I noticed after having eaten a lot of Soma and cooking with a lot of Soma is how different this way but it could be the vanilla.  Soma is vanilla (and all additives) free so tasting chocolate with additives is a bit jarring after that.  Once I got used to it I really enjoyed it.

Milk chocolate is often sticky and can be unpleasant to let melt but this was a really pleasant milk chocolate with a yummy flavour.  I loved the sugared hazelnut pieces with bits of sugary and nutty bits in the chocolate.  The mild milk chocolate contains 27% cocoa content which is then blended with hazelnuts and a touch of vanilla.

I had difficulty picking out the unique flavour of the chocolate but overall it was very nice and I loved the shape!

There is something special for me about a bar of chocolate with almonds. There is something lovely in the melting chocolate and crunchy nut that just speaks to something deep within me – something visceral. Maybe when I was particularly upset my mum gave me some chocolate covered almonds or perhaps they were an ultra special treat. Whatever the reason, I’ve come to love chocolate and almonds and any bar I have has to live up to that childhood fantasy ideal.

As I’ve mentioned before, you can never go back. You can never recapture the taste of your youth and though Green & Blacks comes close to that childhood chocolate covered almond, it isn’t quite there. Nothing will ever be really so I’m always looking for something new. I don’t like ‘soggy’ nuts and so I get rather picky with my nutty chocolate bars.

This bar is a slightly bitterer dark chocolate with some lovely small chopped chunks of almonds. I always find that for some reason the inclusion of nuts changes the way I find chocolate melts in my mouth. This chocolate is slightly grainy but not really more so than others but I did notice it more with this bar for some reason. I did eat around 6 squares just to try and identify what I liked about it and the chocolate seems slightly drying but it is still nice. I am, at this point, still tasting the a floral note in the chocolate but I guess once I actually get to the other bars bar I’ll either be overwhelmed or it’ll be about the same

The chocolate here is slightly less ready to melt in the mouth for me despite being the same as other bars (I assume) and it seems different from the Earl Grey. This is a 65% dark chocolate bar and yet there isn’t a stand-out flavour to the chocolate for me but with the caramalised almonds this was no bad thing. Not bad but not a first choice. Maybe I’m a milk chocolate and almonds fan? I think someone who likes a slightly more solid, less readily melted dark chocolate bar would enjoy this.

I’m on the fence. I ate lots of it but I’m undecided if I’ll order more from the online shop. There are so many lovely things in the online shop though surely every bar has to have it own special moment and it would be greedy to order more…

Mid-afternoon I always find myself needing a pick-up and having been sent these Mooch Chocolate Milk cans and having placed them immediately in the fridge, I decided to give them a shot. The mid-afternoon is always kind of a lull – it isn’t the morning so I’m not trying to power through to lunch and it isn’t the home stretch where I am looking forward to going home (I spend 3h commuting every day). It’s just in the middle there and it’s kind of a dull, depressing part of the day. 3pm… what ever happened at 3pm that was fun and exciting on a weekday at work (well, maybe some shaving foam in the face on national TV…)

So I thought, what better way to spend a short break at 3pm than to try some Mooch. Now, I’m a Canuck and to us Canadians to mooch something off someone is to beg to borrow it. In the case of this can of chocolate milk, it would be to beg if off someone so you could drink it yourself. “Can I mooch that off ya?” is a phrase any kid (or adult) has come to fear and loathe so imagine my surprise that a can of chocolate milk was seeming to directly aim itself at being begged or borrowed off someone else. Mind you, I might find myself doing exactly that…

Original – I started with the original can because despite my many chocolate adventures I’m quite conservative when it comes to chocolate. The one thing I noticed more than anything was how rich this was. Maybe it comes from only drinking skinny lattes but it was quite rich in flavour with a pleasant chocolate flavour to it overall. Very drinkable and exceedingly delicious and I have to say I finished the can wishing there was more. Mind you, it was also giving me a massive sugar boost to help me through the afternoon so that could have also accounted for my wanting more

Hazelnut – This was a bit different and was something that I found to be less scary than I originally thought. The flavour of the hazelnut was, in fact, not that bad and not at all overpowering. The main flavour was of the main sweet chocolate milk with the hazelnut a flavour that was enhancing it. This wasn’t like drinking praline which is what I thought it would be like but more like the milk chocolate with a hint of hazelnut. Not being a huge fan I shared it of course and the consensus was sweet but drinkable.

Mint – After the success with the original and hazelnut not being as onerous as I thought it would be, I was still nervous about the mint. I had imagined it would be like drinking mint choc chip ice cream which, while amazing is a bit much. Yes, I have drunk mint choc chip ice cream and the shots of the same name. That doesn’t mean it’s healthy or good So I shook and poured myself a lovely glass of this chocolate milk (in a champagne glass since we didn’t have any other small glasses I could find quickly) and tried it. Here the mint was absolutely front and centre. Not a green fresh mint but absolutely the mint of a mint choc chip ice cream however it wasn’t as sweet or cloying as I was worried it would be.

Overall a sweet chocolate milk in a very cute can with an adorable logo I think everyone is going to dig. This is absolutely best chilled and you for sure need to shake it. As every kid knows, chocolate milk tastes better frothed – especially by using a straw and blowing bubbles into it

This is a set of 5 hazelnut gianduja squares with a ‘dash of milk’ added to the 50% chocolate from St Lucia. Each square is set within a separate square of plastic to make sure each square stays perfect. These squares are just the pure gianduja and while I’m not a huge fan of this kind of chocolate, I have to admit that it is a refreshing take on the traditional chocolate.

It’s like the filling of the chocolate was set into a square and left without being covered in anything – just the pure filling. The chocolate itself is difficult for me to pull out from the hazelnut flavour but the hazelnuts aren’t overpowering. The square is smooth and melts in the mouth (and on the fingers) readily. It is yummy though and the whole box for munched up quite quickly!

My recommendation here is pure indulgence.  Once you’ve locked yourself away with a nice strong red – perhaps a rioja wine – take a square and take small bites, savouring each one.  This is lush indulgence which lasts and lasts!

Gold award winning Thirntons milk chocolate with lightly salted pistachio nuts

I must admit that pistachio in chocolate was never a flavour I considered.  In fact, I avoided baklava for years until a friend forced me to try some when I learned I loved it

A 32% Madagascar cocoa chocolate covers pistachio nuts.  The chocolate itself is silky smooth but slightly over sugared making it less pleasant to me.  The chocolate is a very milky but not overly creamy milk chocolate.  The chocolate is a lovely blend but too sugary for me.  The saltiness of the salted pistachio comes through very strongly and it makes the chocolate slightly less enjoyable to me but I feel that this will be enjoyed by many people.  The whole experience of the chocolate is a combination of distinct flavours coming together but not enough to create a new flavour.

The chocolate is very nice and pared with the crunchy pistachios and the slight tang of saltiness it makes this chocolate worthy of a gold medal award.  While it may not appeal to me, it is a wonderful bar and this combined with others makes a very special gift worthy of someone special.

This bronze award-winning Dominican Republic 60% cocoa with macadamia nuts chocolate was one of five bars sent to me to trial.  I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of Thorntons chocolate but I’m always willing to have my mind changed about these things to I tucked in.

The scent of the chocolate is rick and delicious and quite different from what I am used to from Thorntons.  Immediately I’m encouraged by the chocolate and I read as I take a piece about how to take off the edge of bitterness they add salt to their espresso in Italy.

Bronze Award-winning Thorntons Milk Chocolate Macadamia Bar

The chocolate itself is interesting.  Very smooth chocolate with a slightly tart edge, the chocolate is nice.  The lower cocoa content makes this closer to a dark milk chocolate than a true dark chocolate and so it is probably an excellent chocolate.  The macadamia nuts aren’t perfectly crunchy despite being caramelised but they are far from the soggy bits of nuts you may have encountered in the past.

I’m not surprised this won a bronze.  While not the quality of an expensive bar, this is really good quality chocolate and a delicious bar of lovely chocolate. Nomnomnom it got eaten all up!