Ghirardelli Dark & Orange

While I remain a purist and love my chocolate plain, orange chocolate is beginning to find some favour with me. And if the brand in question is a gourmet chocolate brand, orange chocolate seems particularly appealing. My first brush with Ghirardelli - Gourmet Milk - Coconut Rendezvous wasn't a great one, but one cannot help but give a reputed chocolate brand a second chance.

When the husband salvaged a few pieces from the American colleague stash and brought them home, I was more than happy to click it, eat it and review it. The Ghirardelli Dark & Orange chocolate was definitely better than their milk chocolate offering, but still did not manage to impress.

The chocolate scored again on a beautiful, rich aroma and fine, smooth texture, but fails again in the taste aspect. Instead of the usual orange-flavoured chocolate, the Ghirardelli Dark & Orange comes with a nice gooey centre filling. However, the taste of this orange filling isn't intense enough, and leaves you wanting. What I expect from orange or orange peel chocolates is a strong citrus flavour with just about enough tang that is countered and complemented by the sweetness of the chocolate. Ghirardelli failed me again on flavour, despite its impeccable quality of chocolate. Definitely not worth the almost 500 rupees you would have to shell out for a 100g bar.


RATING: 3/5

Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk - Coconut Rendezvous

Whatever else the US may be famous for, it is certainly not chocolate. The only American chocolate brand that I have read about with any consistency over these months of chocolate blogging is Ghirardelli. And it is unsurprising because the company apparently has a Lindt & Sprungli connection ¹. The brand is named after founder Domenico Ghirardelli, an Italian chocolatier. Having been established in 1852, it is America's second oldest brand (the oldest being Baker's Chocolate). It is also among the few brands in the world that control the bean-to-bar aspects of production.

I was naturally excited to find it at a specialty food store in Chembur, Mumbai. However, they had only a couple of variations and I had to bring back a milk chocolate bar. So my first Ghirardelli experience was to be with Gourmet Milk Coconut Rendezvous.

Once the card wrapper is opened, one sees a lovely light golden foil embossed with the Ghirardelli brand name. The chocolate bar is also branded with the Ghirardelli logo, that has a quintessentially American eagle in it. The chocolate bar has a sweet aroma and I was afraid it might be a little too sweet by the time it reached my palate. And right I was. The chocolate turned out to be disappointingly sweet; even for a milk chocolate. I might as well be drinking Milkmaid.

That said, the chocolate is exceptionally smooth and has a lovely, creamy texture. The coconut adds texture, but I found it dry and it did not do much for me in terms of flavour. For example, I'll think of Bounty first when someone says coconut chocolate and not Ghirardelli Coconut Rendezvous. Milk chocolate lovers may like it, but it isn't worth spending INR 490 for a 100 g bar.

I'm eager to try Ghirardelli's dark chocolate offerings, but I'm definitely never buying this again.


RATING: 2.5/5

Chocosophy product launches: The Milk Shake Factory, Paton's, Ghirardelli, Cadbury

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Paton's new postcard and Royals collection

The Australian chocolate company launched their new Postcard  and Royals collections at the TFWA Asia Pacific exhibition in Singapore this month. The new postcard packs focus especially on the Asia Pacific region - the brand's biggest market, and have 21 pieces of chocolate instead of 15 to offer consumers more value for money.

For the Royals collection, Paton’s has come up with a new gift box of toffee-dipped, chocolate-covered macadamias based on the preferences of customers and retailers in key markets. The new gift box designs include more gold colouring with wider colour bands and images of the chocolates – offered in milk, white or dark flavours – have been increased in size for better on shelf visibility. The back of the box features a potted history of the family-owned company, as per moodiereport.com.

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Snappers by The Milk Shake Factory

The Milk Shake Factory by Edward Marc Chocolatier announced the launch of this new chocolate innovation, called Snappers, in Costco stores in mid-April 2013. Snappers are described as a crunchy, salty and sweet snack.

“Made with crisp pretzels, creamy caramel and rich milk chocolate, Snappers are a gourmet treat everyone will love, both young and old,” the maker was quoted saying.

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Ghirardelli Toffee Crunch and Mint Cookie

 

American brand, Ghirardelli, has launched two new filled chocolate flavors -- Mint Cookie and Toffee Crunch -- to join their existing lineup of Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel, Milk Chocolate with Caramel, Dark Chocolate with Raspberry and Dark Chocolate and Caramel. The mint Cookie can be described as a decadent refreshing mint chocolate filling blended with crunchy cookies surrounded by slow-melting milk chocolate, while the Toffee Crunch is a slow-melting milk chocolate with a filling blended with crunchy toffee bits.

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Cadbury Crunchums cereal bites

Mondelez is adding to its quirky snacks portfolio by introducing Cadbury Crunchums in June. Crunchums are crispy cereal bites covered in milk chocolate. Last year Cadbury launched chocolate-covered popcorn and pretzels, and this year's launch will be massive too, in true Cadbury style. The product will be available in 105 g share bags following a 1.3 mn GBP campaign.