Candy Bar Lab

This Russian candy bar has a scary looking baby on the packaging. Why? I have no idea, but it’s obvious they haven’t updated their wrapper design since the mid-1940’s. It’s cool in a retro kind of way, but the baby kind of freaks me out. I also learned from the back of the label that this product contains “flavoring identical to a natural one”, which could either be reassuring or frightening depending on how much you trust the Russian equivalent of the FDA…

Structure
A molded milk chocolate bar with crushed pieces of hazelnut and raisins mixed in.

Texture
The milk chocolate is actually well tempered and has a nice snap when you bite in. The hazelnut bits are really crunchy and the raisins add some chewiness. In the pieces I ate, there were definitely more hazelnuts than raisins which is probably a good ratio. Raisins are cool and all, but hazelnuts are better. Overall, a nice blend of textures.

Taste
I was at first a bit surprised by how not-sweet the chocolate was. Though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve grown used to tasting overly sweet and vanilla-heavy chocolate, so I welcome a candy bar that errs on the side of restraint with the sugar. At the same time, the chocolate is a bit bland. That could also be because a couple hours earlier, I was eating this bar which has a really strong milk chocolate. Besides the chocolate though, there’s nothing surprising. The hazelnuts are nicely toasted and the raisins add some tartness. I found myself liking the overall flavor combination after a few bites and wanted to keep eating.

Verdict
Not the greatest candy bar I’ve had, but pretty good nonetheless. The texture of the chocolate and hazelnuts together were really nice, which is ultimately what won me over.

Vosges first caught my eye when I found their Bacon Chocolate Bar. It’s a bold concept for a candy bar, but not one I was going to try seeing as how I’m a vegetarian. The Barcelona Bar on the other hand is a fine substitute for me. It has sea salt and smoked almonds so it should have the smokey, crunchy, and salty properties of bacon.

Structure
A thin, “deep milk chocolate” bar chopped hickory smoked almonds and sea salt mixed in.

Texture
The milk chocolate is smooth and rich. The almonds are chopped really fine - about the same size as the large sea salt crystals. Between the two, they add a couple types of crunchiness that give the bar some textural interest. I also like how thin the bar is. It gives it a delicate feel that’s easy to bite through.

Taste
Wow, this was really delicious. The 45% cacao chocolate is deep and rich and there’s quite a bit of sea salt. I’m a total sucker for chocolate and salt together. The only disappointment was that the hickory smoked almonds weren’t that noticeable. There was a slight aroma and aftertaste of smokiness, but I would have liked it to be more prominent.

Verdict
I stopped myself (barely) from eating the whole bar in the first sitting. It was hard though, I really wanted to eat the whole thing right away. This definitely gets a thumbs up from me. I have another Vosges candy bar in the house right now, the Calindia, that I’m now really looking forward to.

I believe when this was given to me, my friend told me that it came from a popular store in Tokyo. In my head, I pictured the Japanese version of Neiman Marcus or something along those lines. Most of the packaging is in Japanese, so I have no (easy) way of identifying the manufacturer. There is one line in English that says “Green Tea”, so I at least knew what to expect before I ate this odd-looking, green candy bar.

Structure
A single, green bar of green tea flavored white chocolate with whole pieces of puffed rice incorporated throughout.

Texture
This is a solid candy bar that takes a little bit of effort to bite through. Two things came to mind when I first bit in. One, it reminds of a the Nidar Smash I previously reviewed - though it’s not as crunchy. Two, the puffed rice immediately reminded me of Honey Smacks, which I haven’t eaten in about 20 years.

Taste
The green tea flavor is light, but definitely noticeable. This is my first green tea chocolate product that I’ve tasted. I wasn’t completely turned off by it, but I wouldn’t say that I liked it better than regular old chocolate. The puffed rice actually has some rice flavor to it, which makes it different from the flavorless rice crispies found in candy bars like Nestle Crunch. Overall, this product’s flavor was subtle and different from anything I’ve tried before.

Verdict
I’m on the fence on this one. I wasn’t exactly craving more after a few bites, but I ultimately decided to give it a thumbs up because it’s clearly well made with quality ingredients and would be a very good choice for anyone looking to try a green tea flavored candy bar.