Chocolate review: La Belgique Gourmande Noir 85% Cacao

We conclude the short month of February with a chocolate review. A colleague gave this to chocolate bar as a pasalubong from a trip to Europe earlier this year.

This chocolate was a 'pasalubong' from one of our faculty who traveled to Europe last year to participate in an academic conference.

Details about the chocolate at the back of the pack. You can see that this is local and artisanal.

The ingredients indicate the cacao content (pure chocolate) to be at 85%.

This is a Fair trade chocolate. The best before date is also indicated. This is something that many now interpret as contrary to the expiration date. That means the chocolate is still good to eat after the BB date but is not as good as before the date. Expiration dates suggest that the chocolate (or any other product) can no longer be eaten after the date, often resulting in unnecessary waste.

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in foil. This helps preserve the chocolate.

I thought this was one of the better chocolates we've enjoyed eating. It was smooth for an 85% chocolate.  I was expecting this to be on the bitter side as far as dark chocolates are concerned but the bitterness is lighter and perhaps more like 60% chocolates. I'm not sure this is available here but I definitely will purchase a bar or two if I see this in a shop.

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Serg's chocolate - Revival of a childhood favorite?

I've been seeing posts on my social media feed about a childhood favorite. Serg's chocolates was very much part of my childhood as they produced what I thought was the best chocolates at the time. Of course, when I was a child, I didn't have easy access to other chocolates including imported ones. M&M's, Hersheys, Snickers, etc. were luxuries that you can only get via balikbayan relatives or friends, or the PX stores that sell imported goods mainly from the US. I heard then that there were stores near the US bases (Clark and Subic) where you can get imported goods including chocolates. We got ours in the 1980s when my father returned from a couple of overseas trips.

So the choices in terms of branded chocolates were few. These include Goya and Ricoa chocolates. The best to me was Serg's with their chocolate bars that in my memory were the best of what was generally available. My thoughts now is that their chocolates are comparable to the Meiji chocolates we enjoy - only cheaper.

This is the design for the chocolate's 

The Serg's chocolate factory was actually located in Cainta, along Ortigas Avenue Extension where there are now warehouses beside the BF Construction lot. I still remember the pleasant smell of chocolate every-time we passed the factory.

The news is that Serg's is looking to reviving its business and coming back later this year. I'm sure looking forwards to this. And I hope the taste is the same if not better than what I remembered the last time I had some. 

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Chocolates for baking and "Dubai-style" chocolate

Our daughter's been making her own "Dubai-style" chocolates since she first tasted the one from Lindt her mom got from a trip last year.

Berul's gourmet chocolate is from Malaysia. There are several variants of this that can be used for baking or making chocolate bars. 

Dutche is a local brand that's relatively inexpensive yet can be used to produce good chocolate bars as well as ingredients for cakes.

Fuji is also a locally produced chocolate. It's a little more expensive than Dutche but in my opinion leads to a better dark chocolate bar.

Because we wanted to stick to a budget, we usually settled for Fuji or Dutche. The cakes and bars from these were already good. The Beryl chocolate is reserved for special occasions like the cake and bars made last Christmas. What we have never bought are the Malagos chocolates from Davao, which, among local chocolates, seem to be the most expensive ones. When we do, I will probably write about how it compares to the cakes and bars made using the other chocolates. 

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Chocolate review: Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate

Trending these days is what is generally referred to as "Dubai Chocolate." I won't be writing about this in detail and will just share some photos of Lindt's version of the chocolate, which has pistachio and kadayif as the most prominent ingredients.

Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio & Kadayif is Made in Germany

Details on the chocolate at the back of the packaging

Nutrition information and ingredients

Information on the manufacturer and expiration date

 

The chocolate retails for about 250 pesos at duty free shops in Singapore. I was surprised to see bars being sold at 1,250 pesos at a local supermarket!

My daughter's experimented on making her version of the chocolate and I will be writing about that in another article. Again, the main ingredients are pistachios, kadayif and chocolate. The latter. I think, can be selected from different manufacturers including really high quality local ones like Malagos from Davao.  

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Chocolate review: Victorinox Chocolate Knife

Pasalubong or souvenirs come in different forms. Chocolates are usually in the form of bars or packs, even boxes

The label says it and the packaging's quite obvious

Details on the chocolate at the back including the nutrition information

The chocolate was okay. It was on the sweet side of milk chocolates so I am not sure its for the more sophisticated or discerning tastes when it comes to chocolates. So souvenir-wise, it's okay. But shall I buy these for personal consumption? Maybe, if there are limited other choices.

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Chocolate review: Lorenzo Farm Milk Chocolate

I suddenly remembered that we still had some chocolates from Iloilo. I also had a draft saved about one of the chocolates I got from the Molo Mansion souvenir store. The chocolate is produced by Lorenzo Farm located in Dingle in the central part of Iloilo Province. This is another town with a heritage church and rich history not just dating to the Spanish period but also pre-colonial history.

The wrapper features the Dinagyang Festival, one of the major festivals held in the Visayas every January. The others include the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan and the Sinulog in Cebu.

Details on the chocolate at the back of the wrapper.

Information about the maker and its production of cacao.

Nutrition information and ingredients

The chocolate is revealed after unwrapping

This is a good enough chocolate. It is not so sweet and you can still detect the cacao. I thought it was more refined than some chocolates I bought in Davao before that tasted rather raw. There's definitely room for improvement here and hopefully the maker can continue to refine their product. I forget how much a bar cost but it was not expensive. I think I just hesitated to buy a lot as I was afraid I would be disappointed (like what happened to some of the Davao chocolates I bought before). Is it a must buy as an souvenir? Maybe, if you want to enjoy locally made chocolate. You really don't go to Iloilo for their chocolate as the province offers a lot more than this. 

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Chocolate review: Sweet Switch Dark & Orange Sugarfree chocolate

I got this chocolate from a Healthy Options store. They usually have a lot of really good chocolates there including fair trade and sugar free chocolates. This is one of those I typically pick out of curiosity after browsing the shelf for chocolates I want to try.

Sweet Switch Dark & Orange chocolate is sugarfree. On the label it says its also vegan, gluten free and keto friendly. 

So much details on the chocolate at the back of the package.

Nutrition information

The chocolate was made in Belgium.

The chocolate claims to have a minimum of 53% cacao. That means this is not so bitter and just the right sweetness, also thanks to the orange in the ingredients.

This was a good choice and we enjoyed it. The orange is infused in the chocolate rather than as bits that you can chew on. I won't mind buying another bar the next time I'm at Healthy Options but there are many other chocolates to try so this is a good reference for comparison and later purchases. I forget about the price but I assume that it was reasonable for a 100g bar. If it were expensive, I would have probably balked at buying it in the first place.

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Chocolate review: Mayon Gold Pilinut Crunch Dark Chocolate

I have a backlog of chocolates that I got from my trips to Bicol the past months. These chocolates are all from Mayon Gold, which appears to have the best chocolates in terms of variety and quality.

I got this bar from the Bicol International Airport in Daraga, Albay. I thought it was perfect that the chocolates from Bicol featured the pili nut, which is endemic to the region.

Details on the chocolate is found at the back of the box. These include nutrition information and 

Opening the package reveals what I think is one if not the best packaging for a local chocolate especially in terms of the information here.

There's much information here about the cacao and how its farmed. There are also information on sustainability.

Some key information - vegan, organic sugar, no dairy, no lactose, chemical free, gluten free, plant based, soy free - which a lot of people look for nowadays in their food.

The chocolate cost about 150 pesos, which I thought was okay for quality but a bit expensive for the quantity. Will I buy this again soon? I think so and will also do so to share or give as souvenir or pasalubong.

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First foray into Dubai Chocolates

Our daughter is on a roll. Early this week, she asked us to get some ingredients for Dubai chocolate. And so we got pistachios, chocolate bars (we got Beryl from the store), and Kadayifi (from Turkey). We also got a chocolate mold good for 4 bars.

Crushed pistachios and kadayifi in one pot and molten chocolate in another

Kadayifi from Turkey

Where the crushing and mixing happened

Home made Dubai chocolate straight from the mold after the chocolate formed in the refrigerator

I will say for myself that the chocolate concoction is really good.

Our daughter is planning to make some more today so we have Dubai chocolate for the weekend. Everyone in the house likes it and we just have to remind everyone that it should be eaten in moderation.

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Chocolate review: Pobeda Dark Chocolate 50% Nuts & Raisins

It seems that I still have a backlog of chocolate reviews. I saw these Pobeda Dark Chocolate bars at the Puregold branch inside the Clark Freeport Zone. The name Pobeda was familiar to me because there are Pobeda watches. Perhaps its a totally different company that makes these chocolates? Who knows. They might have diversified their product lines and are also into food.

This was a big bar of chocolate that was comparable in size with the laundry soap bars you can get at the supermarkets.

The back of the bar contains information on ingredients, nutrition and the manufacturer, among others.

Nutrition information on the chocolate.

The chocolate is Made in Russia. I didn't expect to be able to buy Russian chocolates at Clark so I got a few to have an idea about how they tasted.

Ingredients in English - there is no mention of the minimum cacao % in the chocolate. I guessed I should just trust the 50% claim stated in front of the packaging.

The chocolate was okay. It was decent as far as imported chocolates go. I thought it was on the sweet side of chocolates as far as dark chocolates go. Perhaps it was because of the fruits integrated in the chocolates that made it sweet? Shall I buy more of these if the opportunity presents itself? Maybe. It was not so expensive and could be given as a gift especially with the approach of Christmas. But for personal consumption, maybe and more as something to enjoy occasionally rather than regularly.

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Chocolate review: Ovomaltine Crunchy

There's something nostalgic about the Ovaltine brand as it brings back childhood memories. My mornings usually started with a hot drink prepared by Mama. She rotated among Ovaltine, Milo and Enervon. I preferred the taste of Ovaltine over Milo and Enervon but had to go for Enervon for the nutritional value of the drink. I was thin when I was a child through grade school. I gained weight only in high school and partly because of my morning drink.

This is basically the chocolate equivalent of the Ovaltine drink.

Details on the chocolate at the back of the package.

Nutrition information

Ingredients state that the chocolate contains a minimum of 32% cacao.

Inside the wrapper is a recipe for a drink using the chocolate.

The chocolate is practically Ovaltine in a bar. Of course, there is also the Ovaltinees, which is in tablet form. I now find these chocolates on the sweet side and enjoy them only from time to time despite the temptation to consume more. 

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Chocolate review: Mr. Beast Feastables Milk Crunch

I believe I already mentioned in previous posts that I prefer dark chocolates. But then I saw this in the supermarket and wanted to see if its like the Nestle Crunch chocolate that I enjoyed during my younger years.

The wrapper pretty much describes the content

Details are at the back of the wrapper.

Nutrition information

Ingredients

The chocolate brought back nice and literally sweet memories of similar chocolates I've tasted when I was a boy. These included local chocolates like Serg and another brand that I already forgot the name of. These also used rice crispies that made enjoying to eat. This chocolate though is on the sweet side so one can't have too many of these bars; especially if you are watching your blood sugar level. 

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