Candy Bar Lab

I love the packaging for this bar, which is simply called Cuba. The candy bar itself is wrapped in gold foil, which is then covered in plastic - twisted off on the ends like a Tootsie Roll wrapper. The Cuba logo type is clear plastic, so the gold foil shows. I’ve never seen a candy bar wrapped like this before and I award them points for creativity. As for the candy product on the inside, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from the Norwegian description, but I could figure out that it had chocolate and almonds in it from the ingredients.

Structure
A molded high cocoa percentage milk chocolate with a soft chocolate filling containing small pieces of almonds.

Texture
The chocolate shell is thin and snaps apart nicely as you bite through to the soft center. The filling is light and fluffy like a mousse or a whipped ganache. The almond pieces are chopped very fine and add a little bit of crunchiness. I also noticed some small sugar granules suspended in the filling.

Taste
Cuba has a deep, intense chocolate taste with a bit of saltiness - a welcome shot of flavor in contrast to some cheap, tasteless chocolate I’ve had recently.

Verdict
This bar is a definite thumbs up. It’s more like a truffle you’d find at a chocolate shop than it is a candy bar you’d expect to pick up at a convenience store.

When we hear “nougat” in America, we think of a fluffy, white substance like the stuff found in Snickers and Three Musketeers. But nougat means something entirely different in other parts of the world. This German candy bar is the gianduia variety of nougat, which is a combination of chocolate, hazelnut paste and almond paste. I had never seen this bar before recently finding it in a local store, so I had to check it out for myself (I’m hoping it’s worth the $3.99 I paid for it).

Structure
This is a solid, molded bar with six segments.

Texture
Nougat Praline is soft and smooth - like a thick chocolate mousse. It thoroughly coats your mouth and dissolves nicely. The texture is completely homogeneous; there are no crunchy bits.

Taste
This bar was delicious on the first bite, which was likely accentuated because I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It tastes almost exactly like Nutella; bursting with hazelnut and chocolate flavors. The downside… it’s REALLY sweet. There’s a lot of sugar in this product. I enjoyed the first bite, but became overwhelmed after a few more. It’s an indulgence that should be split across multiple sessions or shared with a few others.

Verdict
I’m on the fence about this one. This is a high-quality candy that is certainly tasty, but it has a one-dimensional texture and is a bit too sweet. Most importantly, I don’t think this product should be made as such a large bar. It would be better to make this candy in bite-size pieces. I definitely won’t be shelling out four bucks for another one.

Just about everyone I work with has a blog. Most focus on web development and design. When I recently began telling them that I’m writing a blog devoted solely to candy bars, most were intrigued. One of my co-workers was even awesome enough to buy me a candy bar, which I of course promised to properly review on this blog. So here it is, the Nestle Crunch Crisp.

Structure
The center consists of alternating wafer and chocolate creme layers, which aretopped with a layer of milk chocolate and crispies. The entire bar is enrobed with a thin shell of milk chocolate.

Texture
The wafers are very crisp and the chocolate cream is soft - exactly how it should be. I expected a powdery texture like those cheap sugar wafers I was once addicted to, so I was pleasantly surprised. The top crispies don’t stand out. They have to be there for branding reasons, but I wouldn’t have missed them. Most importantly, Nestlé made this bar the perfect thickness. I panned Kit Kat Caramel for being too thick. Crunch Crisp didn’t make that mistake.

Taste
Nestlé chocolate has a unique flavor. When I was a kid, I loved it. Now, I find it to be a little too sweet and it has a distinct burnt caramel aftertaste. I probably should have eaten this in two sittings because the off flavors became unpleasant by the end.

Verdict
I really liked the texture of the wafers and chocolate creme; more than I disliked the chocolate flavor. If given the choice between this bar and a regular Nestlé Crunch, I would choose this. Therefore, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes Nestlé candy bars.