Snickers Dark and Almond bars

Spotting imported varieties of regular chocolates is a little like stumbling upon a treasure for me. The other day I saw these two babies, and I was doubly excited. I adore dark chocolate and I've recently discovered that I also love roasted almonds in my chocolate. I was looking forward to the twists in the much loved Original Snickers product.

Because I saw and bought them together, I decided to do a joint review. So yeah, unless you live in a metro, you are not likely to find them in India. These lovely varieties are imported and are stocked by the snootier supermarkets and I get to have them. (#fuckyeahbitches!)

But seriously, the Snickers Almond is quite epic. IMHO, it is much better than the peanut snickers and I didn't think that was possible. But the Snickers Dark was a disappointment. The Dark variety is just regular Snickers with dark chocolate, but the peanut-nougat-caramel combination is so overpowering, that the dark chocolate doesn't come through. It's a good product by itself, but doesn't offer a dark chocolate love much. The Almond variety, on the other hand, is milk chocolate yet distinctly different because of the whole nuts.

If you're looking for variety, Snickers Almond is a much better bet. The Dark bar, which costs INR 110 for 51.9g (the Almond bar is similarly priced) isn't worth it.


Snickers Dark RATING: 3/5
Snickers Almond RATING: 4.5/5

Mars' Bounty Coconut Milk Chocolate

Another famous offering from the Mars' stables, Bounty is a coconut-filled milk chocolate. Available in single & double bar packs and miniatures, it is sold internationally by Mars Inc.  

The typical rounded bars have a sweet and moist (thanks to the high glucose syrup content) coconut filling within some more sweet milk chocolate. Mars had apparently tried to register the rounded shape of the bars, but were not allowed a trademark by the European Union. The chocolate will be preferred either by coconut buffs or anything-sweet-goes folks. I belong to the former category. Snickers and Mars Bars are perhaps more popular of the three Mars products available easily in India.

There is apparently a dark chocolate version of Bounty too, but I've never seen it here. As always, I'd love to try it out, given my preference for dark chocolates.

Interestingly, Bounty is not marketed in the US, because Hershey's has a very similar product called Mounds. The shape of the bars, the packaging and the filling are almost identical to Bounty. This, I'd like to try too.

Bounty has, in the past, released some limited edition flavoured versions too, like Cherry and Mango, but did not enjoy much success. I guess people prefer their coconut to taste like coconut.

I wonder if Mars will ever introduce any flavoured variations in India. If nothing, they ought to bring at least the dark chocolate variant of Bounty. Priced at INR 50 for 57 g in a double bar pack, these are quite popular; at least, going by their presence in supermarket shelves.

RATING: 3/5

Mars' Snickers Original

If there is any brand that has perfected the marriage of chocolate, nougat, caramel and nuts, IT IS SNICKERS! No wonder  it sees annual global sales to the tune of $2 effin billion! A product of Mars - one of the world's largest food manufacturers, Snickers is perhaps among their largest selling products. It has been a favourite in the Western countries for the longest time (1930 to be precise), but it was launched in India in 2004. The television commercials followed only in 2008. Very recently (2012), yesteryear star, Rekha (and Urmila Matondkar) were roped in for another TVC, positioning the product not just as a chocolate but a snack.

The ad may not have garnered much attention, but Snickers bars are placed firmly in the candy shelves of every Indian supermarket. And there are surely as many loyal buyers, for example yours truly. I cannot resist a Snickers bar when I see one and the Snickers Minis  are a blessing. These bite-sized chocolates have all the goodness of taste, but merely a third of the calories.

These, however, do not stop me from buying the bigger Snicker bars ever so often. Yes, the chocolate type is milk; yes, it is sweet; yes it has nougat, but I love it. The consistency of the chocolate is smooth, the caramel inside is stringy and the peanuts are pretty crunchy. Together, they create the perfect taste and texture and make for a great chocolate snack.

A small Snickers bar (32g) has 160 calories, 15g of sugar, and 9g of fat, making it fairly sinful. Basically, don't treat it as a snack if you're trying to lose weight. But it costs only INR 15, so resisting temptation will be just that much harder.

RATING: 4/5