Chuao Chocolatier isn’t a household name (yet) but we have covered their products many times here on Candy Addict® and almost without fail their products are delicious (my favorite is their Firecracker with popping candy). So, my hopes were high for their Mother’s Day special – the Breakfast in Bed Collection – with five bonbons inspired by breakfast. Unfortunately, they did not live up to my expectations.
For this review, I let my wife try each of them first (by eating half of each bonbon) since she is a mother and is the audience this product is aimed at. I noted her reaction/thoughts, then I tried each. Below is the summary of each flavor.
Java (rich coffee buttercream in dark chocolate)
Both the inner and outer chocolate is very smooth. I expected there to be a much more powerful coffee kick, but the coffee flavor was very subtle – barely there. The dark chocolate notes really came through and was delicious. This was my wife’s favorite. I thought it was good, but not great.
- Me: liked it. Wife: loved it.
Maple Bacon (maple bacon caramel & bonfire smoked sea salt in milk chocolate)
When my wife tried this one, she said it tasted like she licked an ashtray then ate a piece of burnt bacon. I didn’t think it was nearly that bad. It was very salty – saltier than I expected, and a little too salty for my tastes but the bacon added a nice flavor to it and the caramel was smooth and tasty.
- Me: not bad. Wife: hated it.
Orange Bliss (caramelized orange peel, orange liqueur and dark chocolate ganache)
I never really liked orange in my chocolate so I didn’t expect much from this. The orange flavor has quite a kick and I loved crunchiness of the caramelized orange peel. Overall, not bad, but not great.
- Me: so-so. Wife: hated it.
French Toast (cinnamon buttercream, toasted panko breadcrumbs & maple syrup in milk chocolate)
I liked this one. The panko bread crumbs in it made it feel/taste like a Kit Kat and the cinnamon was nice but not overpowering. Very good.
- Me: liked it. Wife. didn’t like it.
Rose Garden (rosewater caramel in dark chocolate)
I have hated every candy I have ever tried that had rose flavor in it, so I expected not to like this. My wife literally spit this out when she tried it. The rose flavor is intense – it’s so powerful it drowns out the chocolate and the caramel. It really does taste like a mouthful of rose with some chocolate and caramel on the side. It’s awful.
- Me: hated it. Wife: spit it out.
So, as you can tell, we didn’t like this selection at all. At $15.00 a box ($3.00 per bonbon), i cannot recommend these to anyone. If you want to try some Chuao Chocolates (and I definitely think you should), try one some of their other products – we’ve reviewed plenty and liked/loved almost all of them. But… the Breakfast in Bed Collection should be put to sleep… permanently.
If you do want to try some Chuao, you can get 20% off your purchase at http://www.ChuaoChocolatier.com with code MAMA – good til June 30, 2012.
CODE: MAMA
- Chuao Breakfast in Bed Collection
- Chuao Chocolatier
- Other Chuao reviews at Candy Addict®
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.
They are definitely a household name in San Diego – you should check out Eclipse Chocolate they are from here as well, a much smaller company but they also have national distribution.
May 7th, 2012 at 7:34 am