Candy Bar Lab

One of my coworkers was nice enough to bring this back from a recent trip to Qatar. The manufacturer, Gandour, started out in Lebanon, but I think most of their products are made in China and Malaysia at this point. At least that’s what I gathered from 3 minutes of internet research.

Structure
From the packaging, this is a “Wafer, Caramel and Cereal Centre in a Milky Chocolate Sensation.” I’m guessing that “Milky Chocolate Sensation” is marketing speak for “Fake Milk Chocolate”…

Texture
There’s a nice crunch from the cereal and wafer with some chewiness from the caramel. Overall, it’s a nice balance of textures, though the chocolate is a bit waxy.

Taste
Really bland. There’s absolutely no chocolate or caramel flavor. All I could taste was sugar and vanilla.

Verdict
This should be a good candy bar. It has really nice texture and a classic flavor combination, but it just doesn’t have quality ingredients.

I mentioned in my last Kingsbury Chocolates post that I would possibly try out the ChocObama Bar in the future. Well, thanks my friend who picked one up for me, here it is.

Structure
A mint-flavored milk chocolate bar with a dark chocolate Barack Obama bust printed on the back.

Texture
Nothing special about the texture other than it’s really smooth milk chocolate.

Taste
Wow, the mint flavor is REALLY intense - like I just brushed my teeth with Altoids. I couldn’t really taste the chocolate in fact because the mint really took over.

Verdict
This is a quality product with really smooth milk chocolate and while the mint flavor is intense, it doesn’t taste good. Ultimately, I’m giving this a negative review because it just doesn’t work as a candy bar. These should be served in smaller pieces as after dinner mints. There’s just no way for one person to eat the whole bar - especially in one sitting.

This is the another bar brought back to me from Japan by a friend on vacation. That’s pretty much how I get all my candy bars these days. Once people find out you have a candy bar blog, they love sending you exotic candy bars from around the globe. I feel bad that I haven’t been able to keep up my review writing with the pace that people have been sending me new bars.

Structure
A molded milk chocolate bar chock-full of crunchies.

Texture
It’s certainly crunchy. There’s just enough chocolate to keep the crunchy bits stuck together. It’s kind of like a rice crispy treat, except chocolate instead of marshmallow.

Taste
There’s almost no chocolate flavor, certainly less than you’d expect from looking at the packaging. It has a malty, slightly burnt flavor and is not very sweet. In general, it’s a pretty flavorless product.

Verdict
This just wasn’t a very good candy bar. I’m not a huge fan of Nestle Crisp, but if you’re in the market for a chocolate bar with crispies, I’d still choose that over a Crunky.