Sometimes, we like to mix it up at Candy Addict and today is one of those occasions! It’s Haiku candy review time! You may have read some of our past Haiku reviews. They were well received so we’re doing it again! Today, we’ll be reviewing Sulpice Chocolat’s milk and dark chocolate bars. Each designer bar is hand-painted and combines a medley of chocolate, herbs, and spices. Without further ado…
The good folks from Pure Dark recently gave me a sampling of their goodies to review here on Candy Addict. Sometimes, the candy is just so-so, but Pure Dark blows the rest out of the water. It’s intense and just what dark chocolate should be!
My favorite by far was the Bark Classic. The “bark” is made of pure dark chocolate topped with cherries, roasted almonds, and caramelized nibs. It has the slightest hint of salt that perfectly balances out the intensity of the nibs. Nibs are little pieces of cocoa beans that are roasted and caramelized- but all you really need to know is that they are delicious. Nibs in chocolate = good.They remind me of chocolate covered coffee beans which is a plus if, like me, you’re into good coffee. Nibs are like the root of chocolate.
I grew up near the East coast and made my fair share of trips to the beach as a youngster. One of my favorite spots was a local and popular restaurant, the Sanitary Fish Market. What could possibly make a kid actually request to go to a seafood restaurant? Salt water taffy can. Oh, the joy of sticky, sweet goodness. Sure, we were able to watch taffy being made at the State Fair, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the taffy from Sanitary Fish Market. That was the best taffy my 14 year-old self had ever had.
I grew out of taffy as an adult… or so I had thought.
I should be ashamed of how quickly my household polished off Le Caramel’s caramel topping, caramel syrup, and caramel candies. But, it’s too good to feel bad about it. Granted, I think we finished a 14 oz jar of caramel topping in about one week, but hey, I took one for the team- to help you make good candy decisions. I know, I know… I do what I can.
I’m no gourmet caramel connoisseur, but, this was much better than your run-of-the-mill caramel. It was thick, creamy, and decadent. All of Le Caramel’s products are fantastic. I tried to put the salted butter caramel topping on anything I could find. I put it in my coffee, on ice cream, and on apple pie with ice cream. All were excellent ideas. I didn’t have any ice cream on hand (a crime in and of itself) so I bought some specifically for this caramel. I didn’t cheap out because I felt this caramel deserved the best vanilla bean, name-brand stuff. Crazy delicious!
Well, I now know I’m no Swede. I tried Paddywackle’s Swedish-Spice Almond Brittle and I just can’t muster up the taste for it. I really tried. It had all the right components to be delicious… the texture is perfect, the crunch is exquisite, the ingredients are definitely gourmet and of high quality. It has the perfect stick in your teeth-ness that you want and expect out of brittle. It’s buttery and it has almonds. I love the old-fashioned bags the brittle comes in and think the packaging really says “gourmet and hand-made”. But, it’s not quite enough to overcome the unpleasant flavor. The problem is the spice, I think. Maybe I’m not partial to cardamom, or maybe it’s the hint of lemon. I just can’t quite put my finger on what it is I don’t like.
One of my co-workers absolutely LOVED the Swedish-spice brittle. She’s also the type that loves those spicy, ginger, hard candies. She mentioned she had Indian the evening before so maybe her palate was ripe for the flavor. The other 8 or so folks were in consensus and didn’t really care for the spice. One person even commented that it was like eating butter and some “non-toxic, natural” cleaning solution. Another was really impressed with the stick-in-your-teeth factor, but didn’t like the flavor, either. For these reasons, I think it would be worth trying Paddywackle’s other flavors because as I said, all the other details are perfect. Maybe their chocolate almond or original recipe peanut brittle would be a better example for us non-exotic brittle-lovers? I will have to try their other flavors because now I’ve got a craving for brittle!
Editor’s note: I tried the brittle also and thought it was quite delicious. it had a nice flavor with just a little subtle lemony flavor to it. I don’t think I would have even called it “spiced”. I liked it and so did my co-workers that I shared it with.
Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.