Woodhouse Chocolates make the most beautiful candies I have ever seen. The variety of shapes, the sharp detail – it’s like a box of jewels made of chocolate.
But, is it more than just eye candy? Let us examine this question in excruciating detail.
Thai Ginger – Contains an intensely-flavored piece of candied ginger that isn’t too sweet, and is nice and juicy, not dry like candied ginger can be. I don’t taste any lemongrass, so there’s nothing Thai about this, but I’m not complaining. I like this flavor combination and this is well done.
Cinnamon Toast – A white cinnamon flavored cream. There is something weird about this. It’s not the common-nowadays combination of cinnamon and chocolate, which is dark and spicy; it’s more like some kind of cinnamon milk inside chocolate. I can see how someone would think this was really cool and interesting, but it’s not to my taste.
Toasted Coconut – This is like the best Mounds bar ever – less sweet, and a little creamy. I love chocolate with coconut and this was excellent.
Wild Cherry – This tastes kind of like a cherry cordial but better – not too sweet, and a better textural experience – the cherry doesn’t have that odd crispness you find sometimes, and there’s none of that nasty drippy liquid.
Rum Raisin – Oooo, ick. Not my kind of thing. But if you thought rum raisin was a good thing, you’d probably like it.
Sur de Lago – Dark chocolate exclusively from Venezuela. Mmm, Venezuela must be a good place for chocolate.
Honey – I don’t really think that honey and chocolate go together, so this was not my favorite. But as I kept eating it, it kind of grew on me. It was gone before I could come to a final decision. I’d try it again.
Fresh Mint – This seems to be the one of the trendy things – not a mint-oily flavor like a Thin Mint, but the taste of fresh mint leaves. I think it’s not as good as the other brands I’ve had that do this flavor, like Theo – it tastes like a mint leaf from my garden that’s in kind of tough shape – a little droopy or slightly cooked or steeped for tea and then eaten. Too green-vegetable for chocolate, for me.
Espresso – Who doesn’t like coffee and chocolate? It’s hardly ever truly bad. But there’s something not great about this. Reminds me of ground coffee in the can – not made into coffee, I mean, but the smell when you open the can. Not to say stale but not the freshest kind of coffee, you know?
A couple flavors that weren’t on the index were also included. One that I think was passion fruit was very good and intense; this filling couldn’t be better. Another, with a gold picture of an elephant, was two layers inside, one chocolate and one raspberry jelly. Pretty good.
Now, on the whole that sounds like a positive review, but notice I’ve only talked about the fillings. I’d rank this brand below the others I’ve reviewed here (Chuao, Theo and Burdick) because of the chocolate coatings. It’s certainly not bad, but it is of a harder, smooth, shiny texture, the kind that snaps when you bite it. This kind of coating always seems less flavorful to me. It’s how they have to do it to make the designs so pretty and well-defined, I’m sure, but it’s at a sacrifice of flavor and/or mouthfeel. I also don’t like their nontraditional flavor ideas – the cinnamon toast, the rum raisin – as well as the ideas of the other companies.
I’m nitpicking here, because this is expensive stuff and there is a lot of competition in the high-end filled chocolate business these days. This is good quality candy, and if you’re buying for someone who you know would be tickled by their beautiful appearance, this is a good choice for a special occasion. But if you’re buying for me, send another box of those plain square pieces of Theo.
[...] about how it would go with chocolate. My prejudice lay instead in my previous experience with Woodhouse Chocolates – I decided in the end that they were more pretty than they were my favorite taste experience. [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 4:00 am