Lindt Strawberry

Product name: Lindt Strawberry
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 100g bar (Home Bargains)
Calories: 496 per bar
Country of origin: Switzerland

I was very excited to see a range of Lindt chocolates in Home Bargains last week that I’d not seen before. Although most of them were boozy, I managed to pick out this Strawberry bar, along with one other appealing flavour for another day.

The red and silver wrapper of this wrapper was really attractive, slightly festive, and featured images of juicy strawberries and the ‘filled milk chocolate’ that was within. It was clear that the bar was an unusual shape since each of the 12 pieces was flat but with a pill-shaped dome that contained the filling. Whilst I was initially impressed that a piece of cardboard had been included within the foil to protect these pieces, this quickly turned to disappointment when I realised just how broken my bar was – I pieced it back together as best as I could for its photo shoot!

When I first spotted this Lindt & Sprüngli product, my first thought was of a previously reviewed product: E. Wedel Strawberry. Whilst this bar didn’t contain a cream layer, it did still contain alcohol (unfortunately) but, once again, I’d later find that this wasn’t noticeable in the taste.

Despite the image on the wrapper, the filling inside the Lindt logo-engraved pieces was like a very pale pink creme rather than a deep red goo. The chocolate contained a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids and had a really good colour about it and the bar also has a nice yet subtle berry scent.

There was no nutritional information on the packaging but I was able to obtain this from Lindt's website. The ingredients were present on the wrapper, though, so I knew that the flavour came from 1.4% strawberry powder which, despite sounding minimal, made a huge impact on the taste. Whilst the chocolate tasted as good as Lindt usually does, on its own, it had still picked up a hint of sweet berry.

When combined with the filling, the chocolate flavour was barely detectable at all because the dominant taste was a really sweet and tangy strawberry one which was just like Campino sweets and, therefore, hinted at cream too.

The chocolate had a nice melt and, despite not being a proper liquid, the filling did pop out of this under a little pressure. To chew, the thin chocolate had a really crunchy texture which went wonderfully with the lovely, soft centre too.

I think some people would probably find this bar a bit too sweet but I really liked it. Although it wasn’t my favourite ever flavour combination, it had been very well executed, so I’m glad I spotted it!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Lindt Creation: Fraîcheur acidulée (citron frappe)

Product name: Lindt Creation: Fraîcheur acidulée (citron frappe)
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 150g bar (99p Stores)
Calories: 394 per half bar
Country of origin: France

Traditionally, lemon isn’t my favourite flavour, but this Lindt Creation: Fraîcheur acidulée (citron frappe) caught my eye as something different and, since I trust the Lindt brand, I thought it would be worth giving a go.

The packaging of this Lindt & Sprüngli bar was in French so I couldn’t read most of it but there was a helpful English translation that told me it was ‘fine milk chocolate with ganache and concentrated lemon filling’ which included concentrated lemon juice (2%).

On getting the bar home, I had a quick look online for a couple of further translations and found that ‘Fraîcheur acidulée’ meant ‘tangy freshness’. This alarmed me slightly as I was hoping for something a bit more mellow, but I was still optimistic that I’d like what was described as a ‘new chocolate experience’. The wrapper also advised that this chocolate was best eaten fresh from the fridge. This went against all my instincts about not chilling the brown stuff so I decided to compromise and eat half at room temperature and half cold.

This bar had the same outer appearance as Lindt’s other Creation bars (such as the Coconut) but its very pale inside almost looked like Kendal mint cake. There was almost a hint of orange in the aroma but I could also smell a subtle lemon flavour – for me, its weakness was a good thing!

Starting with the room temperature half, I initially tried a couple of specks of the chocolate that had broken off and it definitely had a citrus element but, again, this was a bit like orange chocolate. On tasting it properly, though, I could tell that it was the usual Lindt milk chocolate, but a tang of lemon did remain on its surface when it was peeled away from the filling. This centre was a bit like fondant and very much had a lemon flavour but its strength was perfect and reminded me of what you get in a lemon meringue pie. It also balanced well with the creamy, sweet chocolate (although the lemon was the dominant flavour), and the quite thick, squidgy, gooey texture was very enjoyable. I can’t deny it was much nicer than I expected and a lot like a dessert. For some reason, it reminded me of Christmas, but I couldn’t quite work out why – I ended up concluding that I associated it with the kind of chocolates I find in gift boxes at that time of year! This was a lot nicer, though, and had enough of a tartness to the flavour that eating more than five squares at once would have been too much.

The chilled chocolate obviously didn’t melt easily (not helped by the large pieces meaning it had to be broken down a bit first!) but the lemon did seep out nicely when attempting this. The change in temperature made the lemon feel fresher, more concentrated and its acidity was a bit more ‘zippy’, but the main change was definitely the texture which had a much crunchier shell, and a slightly chewy centre.

Personal preference for unchilled chocolate meant that this was how I preferred to consume this bar of Lindt Creation but, either way, the variety was far nicer than I could have hoped and felt like such a treat.

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.5/10

Lindt Hello My Name Is: Salted caramel

Product name: Lindt Hello My Name Is: Salted caramel
Purchase details: £0.60 for a 39g bar (tesco.com)
Calories: 199 per bar
Country of origin: Germany

Back in my early blog days I reviewed the new (at the time) Lindt Hello My Name Is range (Caramel brownie, Cookies & cream, Crunchy nougat and Strawberry cheesecake). Having really enjoyed them, I was please to find out about this new addition: Salted caramel.

To my memory, this was the first time I’d had a mainstream salted caramel product, so I was interested to see what Lindt & Sprüngli had come up with.

The overall branding was the same for this bar and I noticed that the wrapper was actually identical to last year’s Caramel brownie – it just featured a puddle of caramel rather than a brownie image. The shape and design of the bar was also unchanged but the inside looked phenomenal and was full of a gooey, viscous caramel.

The bar was described as ‘filled milk chocolate with caramel (45%) and a touch of salt’ and, as much as I like the idea of salted caramel, I was glad of the suggestion that the saltiness would be mild as I prefer sweet flavours! The chocolate contained a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids and produced an immediately noticeable and strong milky Lindt scent on opening.

As usual, the thick chocolate shell didn’t disappoint. It had a voluptuous melt and a sweet, milky flavour. The caramel popped out of this with ease and provided a soft, smooth and thick sensation, as well as adding to the richness of flavours. The salty aspect almost felt like an afterthought, if I’m honest, but it was still recognisably different to standard caramels.

I would never class caramel-filled chocolates as my favourites, and I definitely prefer sweet tastes to salty ones, so this bar didn’t absolutely astound me in terms of flavour. However, there was no denying its excellent quality, and it did look and feel amazing.

I wonder when we’ll get a peanut butter variety?! 

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 8.25/10

Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla)

Product name: Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla)
Purchase details: £1.85 for a 100g bar or two for £3.00 (tesco.com)
Calories: 569 per bar
Country of origin: France 

I must confess that I only really bought this bar of Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla) as part of the offer I bought the heavenly crème brûlée bar on. However, I did also realise that I had no recollection of ever having had this ‘extra fine white chocolate with natural Madagascan vanilla aroma’ before, so I was intrigued to see how it compared to the Choceur Smooth White bar that I love so much, particularly as Lindt is so well known for its quality. 

This Lindt & Sprüngli offering was larger and flatter than other bars and came in a wrapper with a pale yellow colour scheme. The cardboard contained an illustration of the simple-looking chocolate, as well as vanilla pods, but there was no nutritional information provided so I obtained this from Lindt's website.  

The reality of the chocolate was much like the wrapper suggested, with 10 large but basic squares containing the Lindt logo and a few diagonal lines for decoration. Quite unusually, I thought, its colour was such a pale shade of yellow that it wasn’t that far off pure white. 

The chocolate was described as ‘a deliciously smooth and creamy white chocolate blended with a hint of Madagascan vanilla aroma’ and I thought it was interesting that this vanilla was only mentioned as a scent rather than a flavour. As a result, though, I was a little disappointed with the end result as I can’t say I found this element prominent at all. However, there was a subtle white chocolate smell which was still pleasant. 

Thankfully, the white chocolate’s taste was much stronger, providing a far-reaching sweet and milky flavour that wasn’t too sugary and actually did taste a little of vanilla! It was delicious. 

The texture was very good too. It had a thick, smooth melt that allowed the chocolate to cream on the tongue and, as a result, more flavour was released. The downside of this was the design of the bar meant the squares were too large to fit comfortably in the mouth and so it was easier said than done to fully appreciate this experience. 

Thankfully, the chocolate was still tasty, although not as powerful, when chewing, and I found it actually felt quite moist. Furthermore, the rigidity of the chocolate meant that, despite its shallowness, it managed to still feel chunky. 

You may be surprised that this Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla) didn’t score quite as highly as Aldi’s Choceur Smooth White – I certainly was. However, I must emphasise that this product did still taste great and that, if the squares were a little smaller and, perhaps, deeper, this would have allowed the flavour to be a little more far-reaching. As a result, I would highly recommend both bars. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10