Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Tirol Adriatic Sea Salt Vanilla

Adriatic Sea Salt Vanilla Tirol

Normally, the only Tirol chocolates sold in Japanese import grocers are the ones that come in a long strip, but on a recent trip to Tensuke Market in Columbus, Ohio, I bought the last bag of Adriatic Sea Salt Vanilla Tirol chocolates. Never have I seen such a specific Tirol flavor.

The package promised slightly salty vanilla chocolate and a crispy biscuit, using salt from the Adriatic Sea. I was also surprised to see that the package proclaimed the use of "pleasantly cool" erythritol, a sugar alcohol that seems fairly innocuous as artificial sweeteners go (this is based on a little internet research, so take that with a grain of salt - or sugar, if you like). Normally, the only products I see touting the cooling effects of some artificial sweeteners are gums and mints, so it was nice of Tirol to be upfront about it.

Adriatic Sea Salt Vanilla Tirol

The chocolate smelled buttery, and the white chocolate was very soft with a smooth melt. Everything about this Tirol was mild. The vanilla flavor was very subtle, the chocolate was only slightly salty (as promised), and the biscuit had a very soft, fine crunch to it. I didn't really feel any cooling effects, nor did I taste the sugar alcohol.

White chocolate can get unbearably sweet, but the combination of the sea salt and the dry biscuit kept the sweetness in check. This Tirol had a good balance of flavors, but it was a little bland. I wished the vanilla flavor had been stronger and more authentic.

B

Tirol website

3 comments:

Roy snaxon said...

I'm going through a bit of a white chocolate craving at the moment so i hope i run into these.

Chloe said...

This is cool!

Anonymous said...

This actually looks quite interesting to me, pairing white chocolate and salt seems to be a new take on the caramel and salt combo. It's the same idea: super sweet goes with salt. This candy looks yummy. And then I see that there is a biscuit in it. Why does the food world hate the gluten free community? Ah well, plenty of other unhealthy sweets around :)