Selection Carrefour Pépites De Poire - Noir

Carrefour is a French supermarket chain, and one of the world's largest after Walmart and Tesco. It has a global presence with small and big format stores in metro and tier two cities across the world, including India. In India, there are Carrefour Cash n Carry Stores in Delhi, Jairpur, Meerut, Agra and one is to open in Bangalore soon. The company was founded in 1958, but they started manufacturing their private label of free products (produits libres) like oil, biscuits, crackers, etc. in 1976

This dark chocolate with pear 'nuggets' - Pépites s De Poire Noir - is one of the products from Carrefour's private label for foodstuff. And it came to me as a Christmas gift! For a brand this big, I was surprised I had never heard of it before. I was absolutely charmed by the package design and OMG, the smell! Few chocolates I've had have such a powerfully rich scent.

The texture is smooth and its abundant cocoa butter makes it melt in the mouth oh-so-easily. In addition to the bits of pear, the chocolate also has caramelised almond pieces, which make for a delightful combination. The bar contains 64% cocoa, which is what I like to call the 'enjoyable' range. (Anyone professing love for 90% cocoa chocolate is just a snooty liar.) The bar could have been a little less sweet, but I love it and recommend it all the same. This 100g bar costs around INR 200 and is among the better dark chocolate options around.

RATING: 3.5/5

Chokola Nut Studded Dark Chocolate

Thanks to their extensive media buying on Facebook, many will be familiar with the name Chokola by now. A Delhi-based chocolate boutique, Chokola was started by Vasudha Munjal under the aegis of her brand, Cosmic Kitchen. The idea was to create a 'chocolate culture' in India by offering quality 'all chocolate' fare.

The name Chokola is derived from "is derived from the Mayan verb choko la'j, (pronounced Choko la), which means, "to drink chocolate together. interesting.

The company currently has offices in Guragaon and Mumbai, cafes in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh and retail kiosks at some airports. I spotted one at the Mumbai domestic airport and promptly picked up this Nut Studded Dark Chocolate bar.

With its matte finish and minimalistic design, the packaging looked sophisticated. I wanted to know if the product would hold up to the brand's claims of importing the finest of European couverture and using it for their chocolates.

Under the card paper box, the chocolate bar is covered with a plastic wrapper and a foil. Somehow, plastic and artisan chocolates don't go together, but the Cadbury worms have everyone scared, I guess. Regardless, the chocolate bar was dark, smooth and shiny to look at - the hallmarks of quality chocolate - and smelt good too. It was smooth to eat and melted nicely in the mouth.

The flip side of the bar had halved cashews studded into it, just like the pack suggests. However, the nuts add nothing to the taste or texture of the bar and are there for mere decoration. The pack doesn't mention the percentage of cocoa, but judging by its semi-sweetness, I would peg it around 55-60%. Most Indian chocolatiers don't seem to want to gamble above that point. Overall, the chocolate was passable, and I wouldn't buy it a second time, especially because an 80g bar costs INR 180. It's not as steep as some of the foreign chocolates I review here, but its quality is not comparable either. Try it. Or not.

RATING: 3/5

Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Orange Peel

I am spoilt I am. With every exotic foreign chocolate I sample, Indian chocolates seem to slide a notch lower  on my scale. Not that all foreign brands and makes are good, but Cadbury India's (Mondelez International) mediocrity gets more and more manifest. Disgusted by their innocent (read messy) eating ad pitch, I had kept away from this product for a long time (which adult eats chocolate like that? Ew.). But I decided to give it a shot to see what the big deal was all about.

Cadbury Dairy Milk (or CDM as they like to call themselves on the website) decided to launch Silk as a premium product above their insanely popular repertoire. In fact, popular is an understatement, because no other chocolate brand in India offers any real competition to them.

What makes Silk premium are its shape, texture (apparently), packaging and price. I like the little paper note that is wrapped over the trademark gold foil, that enumerates Silk's finer points. I agree about the dome-shaped squares fitting snugly in one's mouth. But the chocolate DOES NOT melt in it. Even at room temperature, the chocolate does not dissolve in the mouth. Unless, of course, I try my Silk in Mumbai's sweltering summer. To me, the whole 'creamy, silky' chocolate business seems like a sham.

And that's not the only let down. The orange peel flavour is mild and there are almonds in it for no apparent reason. What I expect from a flavoured chocolate is an intense enough scent and taste; a lovely tang in case of orange peel. But the flavour in this is diluted and the nuts don't help. A 65 g bar costs INR 50, which I don't mind too much, but anything seems like a waste when I am given a sweet milk chocolate. All I'm going to say is that I have felt the Silk lately, and what an underwhelming experience it was.


RATING: 2/5

Sapphire assorted milk chocolates

My chocolate stars don't seem to be shining very bright as I run from one average chocolate into another. And now it seems to have gone from bad to worse. I don't remember the last time I crossed the 3.5/5 rating and knowing that this box of assorted chocolates from Sapphire is a Malaysian product, I didn't hope for too much. Although Sapphire's boxed chocolates seem to be present in all online stores, there is almost no information about the brand itself - no website, no Wiki... you get the picture. All I understood from the box was that Sapphire chocolates are made by Network Foods International and imported and distributed by Dugar Overseas Pvt Ltd. Curiously enough, Sapphire is not listed among the brands owned by Network Foods.

Anyhow, I opened the beautiful tin half expecting to see shiny chocolate balls rolling around, like chocolates in tins used to be back in time. But I found a brown bubble-wrap sheet on what I like to call level one. Upon removing those, level two had two foil packs sitting atop level three - a stiff plastic mould. Although it seems wasteful, extra packaging care is required for gifting products since they are subject to a lot of transport. 

I opened one of the 100 g packs and out came this assortment of milk chocolate-coated raisins, hazelnuts and almonds. No, the chocolates don't look this ugly at room temperature; the fat bloom on the chocolates are because I had just taken them out of the refrigerator when I took these pictures. But while the chocolates look quite okay at room temperature, they're terrible to taste. 

First things first, these things don't even qualify to be called chocolates because they have NO cocoa solids or even cocoa butter in them! Made from sugar, refined palm kernel fat, milk solids, cocoa powder, emulsifiers and artificial flavours + dry fruits and nuts, these 'chocolates' feel no better than flour in the mouth. They are weird and chewy and won't melt in your mouth. Their saving grace are the raisins and nuts, without which the chocolates would be rather unpalatable.

No wonder a 200 g box of 'imported' chocolates costs only INR 300. Yes, the packaging is good and yes, it will make for a gift because 'khali haath nahi jaa sakte' (cannot be visiting someone empty handed). But if you are a chocolate lover or know that the gift-ee is one, don't make the mistake of giving them one of Sapphire's box of chocolates.

RATING: 2/5

The Chocolate Room - truffles, pralines and dark chocolate

I went to The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar the week before last, and I'm pretty sure I haven't yet burned off the calories I ingested there. At that mad excessive chocolaty session, I had had so many chocolate things that I had no space for these boxed lovelies. I needed a little break to come back to another The Chocolate Room experience, albeit at home this time. Franchise owner, Kapil Agarwal, had insisted that I try their truffles & pralines and plain dark chocolate and I finally got around to having them over the last couple of days.

I absolutely fell in love with the design of the box of the truffles & pralines. With its delightful colours, it would make for such a mood-lifting gift. A box contains nine pieces of assorted truffles and pralines with a variety of ingredients like hazelnut paste, orange powder, strawberry powder, orange oil, roasted coffee powder and lemon powder apart from the usual components.   

I was impressed by what I read on the box, but not so much by what was inside it. Firstly, all nine chocolates tasted the same to me. Yes, I eventually tasted all of them to see if any one was different from the other, but they all seemed to have a mixed kind of flavour in dark chocolate - most acutely coffee and orange. Either these were not assorted, or I had lost all sense of gustatory distinction. Then, the filling part of these so-called pralines and truffles was indiscernible from the body of the chocolate. I tried them straight out of the fridge and then at room temperature, but it all seemed like a mass all the same. 

All the pralines/truffles had some almonds in it, but that made little difference to the overall quality of the chocolate. Moreover, these have no cocoa butter in them, but vegetable fat. This not only renders the chocolate not-so-smooth but also leaves a weird aftertaste and coating on the roof of one's mouth. All in all, a rather disappointing experience for a box of chocolates that represents an international brand and costs INR 224. The Chocosopher does not recommend these.

RATING: 2/5

This plain dark chocolate bar, however, was the winner. Unpretentious in its name and packaging, it offered me a smooth taste experience - courtesy the cocoa butter in it, unlike the truffles and pralines. I was also enamoured enough by the unusual blue foil inside to take a picture of it and put it here. :)

The chocolate bar itself is plain-looking with no branding or etching on it. With 56% cocoa mass, it just makes the dark chocolate cut, is smooth and very pleasing to taste with vanilla undertones. While it tastes great, it is not exceptional and forking out INR 55 may feel like a little too much for people who can get pretty much the same quality from dark chocolates from home-grown brands at lower prices. Oddly enough, both chocolate boxes have no net weight information and The Chocolate Room India might want to consider doing something about it. 

RATING: 3.5/5

All said and done, The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar is not somewhere you go to buy chocolates, but  to enjoy their vast and wonderful range of desserts, shakes, coffees and beverages.

You can check out their Facebook page for more information or follow them on Twitter.

Hawaiian Host Milk Chocolate Covered Macadamias

OLORD, the world has so much chocolate! I came across this cool-sounding brand at the Andheri Landmark and had to see if the product was half as exotic as the brand name. So Hawaiian Host is a.. duh... Hawaiian brand, whose origins were laid by Mamoru Takitani of Japanese origin. Subsequently joined by his wife, Aiko, the couple began to created chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, which became a rage in Maui. The chocolates were sold locally for a while before the company, Hawaiian Host was founded in 1965.

Today, the brand has grown to market over 250 kinds of chocolates and candies to over 23 countries the world over. It has factories in Honolulu and Los Angeles, as also a distribution facility in Tokyo. Packing over 15 million boxes per year, Hawaiian Host is easily the world's largest manufacturer of macadamia nut-based chocolates.

This particular box weighing 113 g contains 21 units of hand-wrapped chocolates. Each chocolate has a pair of whole roasted macadamia nuts covered in milk chocolate. The nuts are quite crunchy and taste very much like whole hazelnuts in chocolates. Frankly, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two nuts if someone didn't label them for me.

However, the chocolate is creamy and melts beautifully in the mouth creating a lovely contrast with the crunch of the nut. The taste is quite lovely, but the chocolate pieces, as you can see, are nothing to look at. They have neither the perfection of machine-made bars, nor the finesse of hand-crafted chocolate. They just look like chocolate has been poured over the and left to dry, which is probably the case. The overall packaging is nice, but it might hurt a little to fork out INR 450 for a box of not-so-great chocolates.


RATING: 3.5/5

Baker Street Choco Nut Cookies

I saw this attractive box of cookies at a local supermarket and picked it up to see how much it would fare on a scale of local bakery ka maal to multinational-made biscuits. The store had a number of products from this new brand and I was surprised at the variety. Of course I chose the Choco Nut cookies, because CHOCOLATE!

The makers turned out to be some Sarjena Foods Pvt. Ltd. from Mumbai and one ought to laud them for churning out a fair variety and taking over supermarket shelves almost overnight. Yes, I know those spaces can be bought, but they've managed to hang around for a while now. On my subsequent trips to other supermarkets, I saw more Baker Street products. Also, hat tip for a wonderful choice of brand name, an ISO certification, and packaging, which has all the trappings of fancyass brands - you know, nutrition chart and all. Only the ingredients list had no mention of nuts in the said choco NUT cookies. :D

That, however, makes the cookies no less good. Although more bakery than multinational, the cookies were rather appealing in terms of quantity and quality. A 200 g pack costing INR 45 (INR 50 outside Mumbai)  has about 20 cookies that are crunchy, nutty and somewhat chocolate-y. They're a little greasy to touch, but taste good enough for one to ignore that. Apparently, the brand also exports to the US, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and the far East, if their website is to be believed. I won't go as far as to say, they're export quality, but they sure are a good attempt by a homegrown brand to make better than average quality stuff.

RATING: 3.5/5

Ritter Sport Hazelnut

Soon after my first tryst with Ritter Sport, which happened to be with marzipan, the Universe sent some more Ritter Sport my way. This time it was a dear colleague, who brought back some chocolate from abroad (mostly because I threatened to let him not enter office if he didn't). I had heard good things about Ritter Sport Hazelnut, so there was much cheering and happiness for his choice of chocolate.

The now-familiar block was eagerly opened and done correctly this time as should be with Ritter Sport's trademark Knick Pack. The single-layer packing is ergonomically designed and comes apart easily with one flick, provided the chocolate is firm at the time.

The Whole Hazelnuts variety is just one of their mind-boggling range (29 in all!) and I found the quality as great as the last time. I am beginning to see why German chocolates (like most German things) are known for their consistency and quality. The perfectly smooth chocolate bar is characteristically square with 16 (4X4) sections. I learnt recently why Ritter Sports bars are square. Apparently, the Clara Ritter, one of the founders, suggested making a chocolate bar that would fit easily into any sports jacket without breaking. Hence the name and the shape.

The chocolate bar has lovely roasted whole hazelnuts (23%) and a generous number of those too. They are perfectly crunchy and one wonders about the marvels of packaging that help keep them fresh for so long. The chocolate is of the milk variety with 30% cocoa and 18% milk solids.

The 100 g bar costs INR 150 and is definitely on my favourites' lists.

RATING: 3.5/5

Cadbury Bournville Cranberry

Mondēlez International is a busy company and constantly trying to make the people of the world fat with its new creations. It is, afterall, the world's largest chocolatier and candy maker and among other hugeass brands, it owns Cadbury. The latest product they've been making a lot of noise about recently is the Cranberry Bournville. I've tried the Bournville Almond variety before and wasn't too impressed by it, but then a chocolate reviewer's gotta do what a chocolate reviewer's gotta do.

I still find it laughable that 44% cocoa is proudly sold as dark chocolate in India AND has takers. But then anything above 35% qualifies as dark chocolate according to EU regulations, so it's okay. Another thing that caught my attention was the Queen's seal on the packet and it turns out Cadbury is a multiple Royal Warrant holder.

According to Wikipedia, Royal Warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of the royal warrant, so lending prestige to the supplier. Royal families of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, among others, allow tradesmen to advertise royal patronage.

Anyway, coming back to the new Cranberry Bournville, when their FB page started rubbing in product posts relentlessly in my face, I had to pick a bar up. Although, I must admit their chocolate pairing suggestions in these posts are quite useful. The dark-ish bar is apparently made from the finest Ghana chocolate and is fairly smooth. It has cranberry AND almonds in it - something nut allergy people need to watch out for.

The sour dried bits of cranberry make for a wonderful contrast to the sweet-ish chocolate and the almonds lend it desirable crunch. I must admit that this Bournville experience was somewhat better than my first. The 80 g bar costs INR 80 and mostly your money's worth. Go try it.

RATING: 3.5/5

Bagrry's Choco Delight Healthy Crunch Multi Grain Breakfast Cereal

For a long time, the consumer of breakfast cereal in India had two polar opposite choices. Either you bought the humble Mohun's Cornflakes by the kilo or you cringed at the prices when buying Kelloggs' products. With Bagrry's India Limited, a middle ground has opened up, with the consumer getting a lot more quality and variety in affordable prices. Bagrry's has a range of products including oats, muesli, bran and bran-fortified cornflakes that all come in sugar and 'no added sugar' varieties.

I'm not a great fan of breakfast cereal, but I've had Bagrry's products before and found them satisfying in terms of taste, quality, packaging and price. I recently picked up a refill box (available in large jars as well).of their Choco Delight Healthy Crunch Multi-Grain Breakfast Cereal that additionally has almonds, raisins and ah, CHOCOLATE!

For those who like their breakfast chocolatey, this is an excellent alternative to the sweet, sugary chocolate cereals one finds in the market. Yes, it is not as tasty, and may not appeal to kids as much, but it is so much healthier. Because it has chocolate (9.3%), there is some amount of  sugar (6.2 g/100 g), but as you see, the quantity is not alarming. The chocolate taste is just enough and more than the cereal, you feel it in the residues left behind in the milk.

A 425 g refill pack costs INR 170 and will give you approximately 15 servings. It's a fair deal, I think.

RATING: 3.5/5

Heidi Grand'Or Florentine

Ever since I started Chocosophy, life has been throwing varied chocolates at me. So much cooler than lemons, no? Nah, I guess these were always around; only my eyes are open to them now. So, I spotted this baby at a local supermarket and whispered a silent prayer for these Gujju bhai-businessmen who get so many imported goodies into their shops.

Owned by the Läderach Group, Heidi Chocolat is apparently one of the "top chocolate brands in selected premium chocolate markets worldwide and is present in 45 markets throughout 6 continents." The company is fairly young, having started in 1993 in Romania, but it has grown due to its emphasis on innovative recipes.

Innovation it sure was that caught my eye. I mean, who could possibly resist what looked like a chikki-chocolate (yeah, yeah, florentine-chocolate) combination? The gold embossed beautiful packaging only helped. Aesthetics obviously is important to this brand, for the chocolate bar is as attractive as its packaging.

The most distinguishing characteristic of this milk chocolate bar is the crispy layer of caramelised almonds on the flip side. The Florentine layer makes the bar a little difficult to break, but that is hardly something to complain about. At just 30% cocoa and 18% milk solids, the product is as milk chocolate-y as it can get, but one ought to buy and savour it for its unique Florentine.The combination tastes delightful; the taste of almond and caramel is just right, and the crispy almond flakes serve as the perfect foil for the smooth chocolate. Although it is a little too sweet for my liking, and some may find the caramel sticking to the teeth bit a little bothersome.

At INR 205 for a 100 g bar (yeah, ouch!), it feels a little prickly on the pocket, but it is a must taste experience for a chocoficionado.

RATING: 3.5/5