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Episode 33: Mr Big & Strawberry Shortcake

With this post, all episode of The Chocolate Break to date are up! I found myself with a lot of extra time. Everyone here was sick so I just sat on here and hammered everything out. New posts will appear here on Thursdays around 11am Seattle time.

Seattle Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake – United States

This one was incredibly good – very sweet with a lot of great strawberry flavor – even visible pieces of strawberries in the bar!

Seattle Chocolate – https://amzn.to/2W7PmJb

Kit – 5 out of 5 stars

Hans – 5 out of 5 stars

Mr. Big Original – Canada

It’s a really big bar full of double entendre, rice puffs, chocolate and caramel.

Mr Big – http://bit.ly/mister-big

Kit – 2 out of 5

Hans 2 1/2 out of 5

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Episode 32: Nestle Smarties Reviews + Choco Lonely + Golden Alps

Miles had been bugging us for a couple days. Not really bugging; he’s a really sweet little boy – he would come up to us and say ‘Chocolate Breaaaaaak??’ Well, tonight we decided to let him stay up and do some chocolate breakdancing.

Tony’s Choco Lonely 51% Dark Chocolate With Almonds – Belgium

Miles picked this one, but didn’t want to taste it. Kind of a bummer.

Tony’s Choco Lonely – https://amzn.to/2JjEPJp

Kit – 2 out of 5

Hans – 2.5 out of 5

Nestle Smarties – Canada

Your basic answer to the M&M by Nestle. They’re a little different – thicker shells mainly. Miles wouldn’t try these either although he likes them. He’s trying to vex us.

Nestle Smarties – http://bit.ly/nestlesmarties

Kit – 2 1/2 out of 5

Hans – 2 1/2 out of 5

Golden Alps Milk Chocolate With Hazelnut – Switzerland

Found these up at the Real Canadian SuperStore – they’re made in Sitzerland for Canada’s Loblaws chain.

Golden Alps – http://bit.ly/goldenalps

Kit – 1 1/2 out of 5 stars

Hans – 2 out of 5 stars

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Episode 21: Reese Pieces Cups & Speculoos

Paste like substances steal the show in this sugary mess with chocolate as a kind of aftertaste or afterthought. Enthuse yourselves with our gall and sheer love for bringing you the finest entertainment.

Cost Plus, Inc. Milk Chocolate With Speculoos Filling – United States

A checkerboard with an odd initial scent. Speculoos cookies are made into a paste; almost like peanut butter or cookie dough.

Speculoos! – https://amzn.to/2RDil5g

Kit – 1 out of 5 stars

Hans – 0 out of 5 stars

Reese Big Cup Stuffed With Reese Pieces – Canada

Okay so in Canada, it’s not Reese’s it’s Reese. These are big cups with Reese pieces inside as well as peanut butter. It’s a double slam of sugar.

Reese Stuffed Cups – https://amzn.to/2QuSEDB

Hans – 5 out of 5 stars

Kit – 1 1/2 out of 5

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Episode 14: Kit Kat Tiramisu & The Worst Chocolate Ever

By this point, we’re finding that the more things we try, the more we absolutely hate. I mean, why haven’t heads rolled and production stopped on some of these? Beyond us. We have a Canadian variety and a Seattle area one today.

Kit Kat Tiramisu – Canada

Upon opening, we are greeted with a ‘funk’ wafting from the package. We both have an affinity as to listening to funk, however scented funk isn’t much to our liking. Neat presentation though.

Get one here – http://bit.ly/kitkattiramisu

Kit – 1 1/2 stars

Hans – 2 1/2 stars

jcoco Edamame & Sea Salt in Milk Chocolate – Seattle, Washington USA

Well, talk about something absolutely horrible. This was just so bad. So bad that Hans actually spat it out into a napkin. Back in the day, he was able to escape to a bathroom after overdrinking, vomit into the bowl and then recover almost immediately to grab another beer and continue schmoozing. This eclipsed that ability. Like chocolate covered hay.

Get some jcoco edamame & sea salt here – http://bit.ly/jcocoedamame

Kit – 0 stars

Hans – 0 stars

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Episode 13: Aero Vanilla Truffle & Big Turk

Well, here we are. I haven’t done an update on this site since late January and it’s March. Hopefully I can crank a few of these out before Miriam wakes up.

These are yet two more varieties found up in Canada – I mean, who doesn’t like Canada? I think the Aero was from Walmart SuperCentre in Richmond, BC and the Big’R Turk from a little convenience store that had a guy with a medallion and a hairy chest on the way to the border. Let’s check ’em out.

Aero Truffle: Vanilla Truffle – Canada

Ladies and gentlemen, this made us wretch. Just like eating a stinky vanilla candle smells like. It hurt.

Get an Aero Truffle: Vanilla Truffle – http://bit.ly/aerovanilla

Hans – 0 stars

Kit – 0 stars

Nestle Big’R Turk – Canada

Turkish Delight is a really amazing and flavorful confection. Like a jelly covered in chocolate that has a lots of nice spiced flavor. Well, this one was like a knife in the eye of that concept. Take a Swedish Fish. Cover it in chocolate. Nothing wrong with chocolate covered Swedish Fish – I mean that’s great and all, but that is NOT what Turkish Delight is. Period!

Get some Big Turk! – http://bit.ly/bigturk

Hans – 3 stars

Kit – 4 stars

 

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Episode 10: Mars Maple & Snickers Crisper King Size

Episode 10: Maple Mars Bar & Snickers Crisper King Size

In the United States, the Mars Bar was replaced by the Snickers with Almonds – at least that’s the folklore, and then Mars disappeared. Well, Mars bars are alive and well in Canada. The Snickers Crisper is something very different – and something Hans’s mother requested we try. Again, we found both of these up in Canada. Note – we don’t live in Canada despite what you might be thinking.

Mars Maple – Canada

Maple is a flavor that can be way too strong. We were both pleasantly surprised here to find it in a way that was just about right and quite enjoyable

Mars bar – https://amzn.to/2U5rCEi

Kit – 4

Hans – 4

Snickers Crisper – United States

While a cherished choice of Hans’s mother, this variety didn’t please us in the extreme. The peanut left a kind of gravel in the palate that wasn’t easily swept away, distracting from the mouthfeel.

Snickers – https://amzn.to/2MpcE9L

Kit – 2

Hans – 3

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Episode 8: Coffee Crisp & Aero Dark Cherry Truffle

‘What is this? What is this? Do you think I don’t know the law? Wasn’t it I who wrote it?’ Iconic lines from the character Auntie portrayed by Tina Turner in Max Max: Beyond Thunderdome. They have absolutely nothing to do with this episode, but a nice, light snack and a bubbly variety are here in this one-two punch from the great white north that is the sweet land of Canada.

Coffee Crisp – Canada

Growin up in Anacortes, Washington, Canadian television was easily found on the dial for Hans as a boy. Coffee Crisp commercials were constantly running, as well as commercials for cold and flu medications. It seems that Canadians must get the sniffles and yearn for something sweet most of the time.

Coffee Crisp – https://amzn.to/2WkLhlM

Kit – 3 1/2

Hans – 4

Aero Dark Cherry Truffle – Canada

Aero is interesting. These products get their name from all the holes in them – like they’re full of milk that had some kid blowing bubbles into it with a straw and then cooled and hardened quickly.

Aero chocolate – https://amzn.to/2S4gqKT

Kit – 4

Hans – 5

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Episode 6: Lindt Creations Chocholate Lava & Walmart Great Value Crispy Rice

I would say that literally every time we visit Canada we go to Walmart. I mean, if you’re traveling north from the states, in combination with exchange rate it’s just super cheap. Peanut butter was first sold in Canad and so that’s a staple bought often. Instant noodles no available in the states are common as well. But Walmart has a great candy selection, and Canada has some different stuff. So enters Walmart, joined by the devious chocolatiers of Lindt that snarl and guffaw as your teeth rot.

Lindt Creation Lava Cake – Switzerland

From what I’ve read, there are factories producing Lindt products all over, so these might not actually be made in Switzerland. Just so you know. I’m sure the Lindt Chocolatiers are nice people as well, but I like the idea that they are snarling, violent people with hidden tusks and some odd agenda involving your teeth.

Lindt Creation – https://amzn.to/2sH1Jio

Kit – 1

Hans – 1

Great Value  Crispy Rice Milk Chococlate – Canada

Walmart chocolate?! Well, yeah! I mean, how can we resist trying this? What’s funny is that it fared better than the last one we reviewed.

Great Value chocholate – https://amzn.to/2RGCsDW

Kit – 2 1/2

Hans – 2

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Episode 2: Mars Bars & Ghiradelli 86% Cacao

Episode 2: Mars Bars & Ghiradelli 86% Cacao

In our second episode aired on August 3rd, 2018, we announce our intention to make this a regular program and try our first pair of found chocolate. We start to learn the flavors we both like – and dislike.

Mars Bar

We oft times journey northward to the magical land of Tim Hortons and maple syrup – Canada. You’ll be seeing a lot of Canadian chocolate as the series progresses. The Mars bar  is one of them.

Kit – 2 stars

Hans – 1 3/4 stars

Total – 3 3/4 stars

Mars Bars – https://amzn.to/2OCuWna

Ghiradelli 86% Cacao

Kit is from the Bay Area and during our courtship, one place we visited was a big Ghiradelli store. It was pretty epic and they had these tornado or hurricane milkshakes where you could get a square of their chocolate blended into it. Was pretty amazing stuff. This is a dark chocolate bar.

Kit – 0 stars

Hans – 1 star

Total – 1 stars

Ghiradelli Bars – https://amzn.to/2DhPPlV