Nestlé Quality Street: My orange bar

Product name: Nestlé Quality Street: My orange bar
Purchase details: £0.60 for a 35g bar or three for £1.20 (Tesco)
Calories: 98 per half bar (196 per bar)
Country of origin: UK

 

Having enjoyed the Nestlé Quality Street green and purple bars, I really wanted to try the new My orange bar which was the same idea but made use of the brand’s Orange chocolate crunch sweet – one I like but tend to forget exists!

Presented in an on-theme purple and orange glossy, festive wrapper that included an image of the bar, the ‘milk chocolate with an orange flavoured filling and orange flavoured crunch pieces (9%)’ was split into four hexagonal segments with engraved bows for decoration. The filling looked quite grey in comparison to the chocolate (containing a minimum of 14% milk solids), but the crunchy pieces added something a bit different, with a glassy kind of appearance. Cutting a piece in two also allowed the chocolate shell to lift off and I quite liked being able to see the two layers in more detail.

As I’d hoped, the bar had a nice, tangy chocolate orange scent, and it also tasted of sweet orange chocolate – it was lovely. The orange aspect was definitely from the centre which meant the taste was more sugary and cocoa-focused than the Terry's Chocolate Orange (milk bars), and this was particularly noticeable when allowing a piece to melt. When doing this, the texture of the filling felt very grainy, but I did like crispy bits which felt a bit like a shattered lollipop and added more of a tang to the flavour.

When chewing the bar, the centre felt a bit more like a truffle, but I was surprised at just how many crispy pieces there were within it. I’d say the balance was spot on, actually, because they made a pleasant difference but there weren’t so many that they became a nuisance. The orange flavour was also a lot stronger throughout, when chewing, but there was still a milky element from the chocolate too. As much as I enjoyed both methods of consumption, I did find that this more traditional option had me salivating for the next piece before I’d even finished the one I was on!

I think I’ll be paying more attention to the Orange chocolate crunch sweets in future as I really enjoyed this bar. I just wish it had been bigger – I would have thought it would be impossible to stick to the recommended two-piece portion!

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

Nestlé Quality Street: My purple bar

Product name: Nestlé Quality Street: My purple bar
Purchase details: £0.16 for a 40g bar (Tesco Superstore)
Calories: 208 per bar

Way back in September, I reviewed the Nestlé Quality Street: My green bar, so I couldn’t resist picking up the My purple bar in the post-Christmas stock clearance. It’s just taken a while to get around to eating it!

The ‘milk chocolate with hazelnut in caramel centres’ bar was made for the UK and Ireland and, once again, came in a sparkly purple wrapper. Split into four large but cute nut-shaped segments that were joined by a chocolate rod, each piece had a big hazelnut nestled neatly in the centre of a caramel pool, and emitted a very sweet scent that was only really noticeable up-close.

Technically, a serving was half the bar, but that seemed daft to me so I happily ate the whole thing! What I found interesting was the way the chunky chocolate and thick caramel remained separate when chewing rather than blending together. The caramel wasn’t as stringy as I remembered it from the Hazelnut in Caramel Quality Street sweet – it was ever-so-slightly chewy, although the overall feel was still one of softness that was broken up by the crunchy nut.

Containing a minimum of 14% milk solids, the chocolate melted gradually and had a slight graininess to it. I didn’t find the cocoa flavours to be at all strong. Instead, the bar had quite a plain flavour – it was fairly milky with an added sweetness from the caramel. Even the nut didn’t seem that nutty, although it did provide the strongest distinct element of the lot!

The purple-wrapped Quality Street chocolates have always been my Mum’s favourite so I’m sure she’d love this snack. However, it just didn’t seem as flavourful as normal to me, so I’ll definitely be sticking to my preferred Quality Street: My green bar in future. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 6.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.13/10

Nestlé Quality Street: Creamy chocolate & hazelnut flavoured dessert

Product name: Nestlé Quality Street: Creamy chocolate & hazelnut flavoured dessert
Purchase details: £0.50 for two pots (Tesco Superstore)
Calories: 153 per pot 

Last week I received an e-mail from Nestlé which led to me finding what is, arguably, the bargain of the century! I was sent a voucher for £0.30 off their dessert range and, having wanted to try these Quality Street green triangle-inspired desserts for a while, I was tempted. When I discovered they’d been reduced to £0.50 in a Tesco, I was practically jumping for joy at the prospect of each pot costing me £0.10!

I mentioned when I did my Quality Street: My green bar review that the green triangle is my favourite Quality Street. The only reason why I hadn’t already tried these desserts is because I’ve been avoiding purchasing fresh treats since I’ve had so many other snacks that have needed eating, I haven’t want to throw short use by dates into the mix!

These two 70g pots came presented in a pretty purple cardboard sleeve, combined with twinkling stars, giving a Christmassy feeling which I don’t actually think was intentional. I thought it was a shame that the image was an illustration rather than a photograph but I did like the shower of green triangles.

Each dessert seemed to have been produced in the UK and came described as a ‘milk chocolate dairy dessert with hazelnut flavour’. The two main ingredients were skimmed milk and cream and the product also contained 16% milk chocolate. Appearance-wise, it was sloppy but thick whilst also being smooth and glossy.

The desserts did give off a praline scent but this wasn’t as strong as the My green bar one. The taste was incredibly creamy but very similar to other chilled desserts I’ve tried. There was a hint of praline there which was a nice touch but it wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped and I certainly wouldn’t have made a connection with green triangles, unfortunately. However, there is no denying how silky, rich and chocolatey this dessert was, and it did glide down the throat beautifully.

The Nestlé slogan is ‘good food, good life’...I have no arguments here. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 9.5/10
Overall score: 8.25/10

Nestlé Quality Street: My green bar

Product name: Nestlé Quality Street: My green bar
Purchase details: £0.65 for a bar or two for £1.00 (Tesco Superstore)
Calories: 196 per bar 

I’m ashamed to say that I’ve caved in a bought Christmas products in September – oh well!

Like a lot of people, the green triangles are my favourite chocolates in Quality Street selection boxes and, therefore, the ones I always go for first. At the risk, then, of my blog becoming completely overrun with reviews of products that contain praline or some other form of hazelnut, I decided to try this Nestlé Quality Street: My green bar.

Since it was from the Christmas range, this product came in a festive, sparkly purple and green wrapper which looked very attractive. Like the Wonka bars I’ve recently reviewed, the packaging didn’t state where this bar was made, but York and Switzerland were the two locations specifically mentioned.

The bar consisted of four pieces which were, obviously, triangular in shape, and these were joined together by a chocolate rod. Unbelievably, a serving is only meant to be half a bar which is only two triangles...I don’t think so! Anyway, the milk chocolate was quite glossy in appearance and the hazelnut praline filling, that contributed to 29% of the bar, looked like a smooth truffle in texture, and was slightly paler than its chocolate coating. Surprisingly, the praline only had a very, very mild aroma but, instead, there was a good milky chocolate smell.

I would have been disappointed if this bar didn’t taste like the usual green triangles but, thankfully, it did. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was better. The chocolate was the standard Nestlé kind and this melted well, leaving behind a beautifully nutty praline that had a thick, stiff texture that also melted nicely. The area which I thought had been improved was the thickness of the milk chocolate layer which seemed deeper and also better quality than the type used on the usual sweets. This chocolate provided a fantastic crack, when chewed, and then merged nicely with the soft filling. And the chocolate rod that connected the triangles? An added bonus.

I found this bar to be really creamy and flavourful and, although I’m not a coffee drinker, I got the impression that it would go well with a cup. It may not have been an entirely new concept but it was a great variation on an existing product. 

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.25/10