Cachet Vanuatu

The brand Hageland (which I really enjoy) seems to be called Cachet now, but the packaging looks the same. I found this bar when looking for a baby shower card at a local superstore. I never thought to look in the greeting card aisle for chocolate, but there it was.

Cachet has a wide variety of "Limited Origin" chocolate bars from milk chocolates in the 30% range to very dark at 80%. The beans in this bar were from Vanuatu, an archipelago over 1000 miles east of northern Australia.


The bar had a strong cocoa smell with a bit of smokiness. The flavor was rich and just slightly bitter, with a wonderful hint of toasty caramel. Though I usually prefer darker than 44% cocoa, this bar was quite delicious.

The back of the box mentioned hints of coffee (along with spice, caramel, and smoke), but I wasn't refined enough to taste the coffee. Still, I was very pleased with the bar, especially since it was only $2.

A-

Hageland Website

Tirol Mini Variety Pack

Diving right into my new Tirol selection, I'll start with this mini variety pack. Of the 3 flavors, 2 are new to me: Mango and Pachi-Can (popping candy) Soda. Milk is a classic Tirol flavor that I've had many times before but never reviewed.

I'm not sure why the bag says Thank You, but I guess it's Tirol's way of thanking anyone who purchases their products. Well, Tirol is most certainly welcome (though I can't really accept their thanks, since this was a gift), and the brand has such a good track record that I'd like to thank Tirol, too.


Tirol flavors with gummy centers rarely disappoint, and Mango was no exception. The white chocolate had a mild mango flavor, and it wasn't too sweet. The center was tart and authentically mango. The texture reminded me of the actual fruit, and Mango was definitely my favorite flavor in the bag. A


Pachi-Can Soda smelled and tasted like the Japanese soda Ramune, but the white chocolate was slightly soapy and floral. Despite that, this one was packed with tart, citrusy popping candy. It was really original and fun! The pops weren't too intense, and the tartness of the candy helped the chocolate taste better. B


Milk is not my favorite Tirol flavor. The best thing about it is probably this little cow on the wrapper. Milk didn't really seem to go with the set, since the other chocolates were fruity (and Milk unfortunately seemed to pick up some of the soda flavor during storage). The milk chocolate was very creamy, enhanced by the milk-flavored center, but it has a very mild and slightly soured flavor that I don't enjoy. C+

Tirol Website

Stride Spark Kinetic Fruit

Stride hopped on the vitamin bandwagon with their new line, Stride Spark. Although I tend to disregard the vitamin aspect, I am a sucker for new products and citrus gum, so I picked up Stride Spark Kinetic Fruit for $1.29 at the grocery store.

B6 and B12 vitamins aside, the swirly, metallic packaging caught my eye. I only assumed it was a citrus gum because of the orange on the packaging - Kinectic Fruit isn't terribly descriptive.


Initially, the gum had a great sour orange flavor, and the best comparison I can think of is orange Tic Tacs (a childhood favorite of mine). There were small crystals in the gum that gave it a slightly crackly texture as I chewed - probably the Spark.

The tart flavor lasted around 10 minutes, if I remember correctly, though the leftover weakened orange flavor wasn't bad. The gum didn't get too soft or too hard, so there were no issues with texture. I found myself chewing until the flavor faded, then getting a new piece to enjoy the orange flavor again.

B+

Check out another review at The Impulsive Buy.

Stride Gum Website

Lake Champlain Five Star Chocolate Bar Caramel

Before I get on with this review, let's have a quick chat about social media. It's getting harder to avoid these days (not that I ever avoided it - I'm a Facebook addict). If you are so inclined, please follow Snack Love on Twitter and/or Facebook.

I purchased Lake Champlain Five Star Chocolate Bars at 3 for $5 at the local fancy grocery store. These bars are shaped unlike any other chocolate bar I've tried. They are small, but very thick.


I cut the bar open first, and was amazed to see that it was almost entirely solid caramel. I was expecting a layer of caramel (like a Snickers bar), but instead, the majority of the bar was caramel with some nuts spaced throughout. I think the best way to describe this bar is to say that it's a mouthful.

The caramel was very sweet and buttery, but it was very mild. Along with the almonds, I think there were chocolate chips in the caramel as well. While the bar was good and had a nice vanilla flavor, it was very rich and more caramel than I could handle (and I only had half of the bar). I wished I could taste the chocolate better, but this might be better suited for a die hard caramel fan.

B

Lake Champlain website

Tiramisu Tirol

Thanks to a friend of mine, I have 10 different flavors of Tirol chocolates to review soon! It's a favorite brand of ours, and she often sends me new flavors when she finds them. In preparation, I thought I should post the Tirol review I've been stewing on for a while before I dig into the various new flavors.

I don't really go nuts for tiramisu, but since I enjoyed the Tiramisu KitKat that came out a few years ago, I thought I'd take a chance on Tirol's offering.


The chocolate smelled a bit like cheese (though I was reminded more of cheddar than mascarpone), and the layers were quite pretty. The cocoa powder layer was a nice touch, especially once the piece was broken. The chocolate seemed very soft, and you can see in the picture that it didn't have a clean snap.

The rich chocolate had a slightly bitter coffee flavor with a tempered sweetness and not much in the way of cheese. All of the flavors seemed muted, and while it wasn't bad, it was a bit disappointing. To be honest, I think I would have liked it more if I hadn't just tried the Tiramisu piece in the LOOK Italian Dolce set. Teaser: it was so good that it may have affected my opinion.

Orchid64 also reviewed this flavor on Japanese Snack Reviews.

B

Tirol website