More International Fixtures

Perhaps fittingly, I've had two international contenders gifted to me in the previous weeks, which just all ties in with the Euro 2012 spirit (go Deutschland!). I thought I'd review them, in the spirit of updating the ever-shifting international league table. 


A few weeks ago, Carol most generously brought me back a mint crisp from Dublin, after my past disaster tasting. (Apparently I got the cheap rip-off rather than the true Cadbury's bar?) Ok, it would be more accurate to say Carol generously brought me back HALF of a Cadbury's Mint Crisp (a small price, I'm sure, for getting one hand delivered, what with the restrictions on airline luggage nowadays). 

So, after being given another opportunity to try this bar...I have to say I still don't really like it. (Sorry, Carol, I am truly an ingrate.) The bar (which I actually forgot to take a photo of, so this one is from the internet), is Cadbury's milk chocolate with oddly yellow-green bits of mint crispiness inside. Although I am a loyal proponent of the mint/chocolate combination, I'm not quite sure this works with milk chocolate. Maybe milk chocolate is just a little too sickly for the combo? I also am pretty sure a pre-requisite for liking this bar is actually liking Cadbury’s chocolate – which I still find pretty difficult, even if it is the more superior Irish Cadbury's (read the comment at the very end of the page). Sorry, Cadbury's lovers, I just didn't grow up with it! 

So I'm a little sorry to report this bar gets a measly one bar in the ratings. I was a little worried this would bring down Ireland in the league standings, but fear not, the sheer quantity of deliciousness I reviewed last time outweighs this poor score easily. Better luck next time, Cadbury's?

Second bar comes from Sally, who brought me back a Ciocori from her recent holiday to Italy. Apart from being nearly impossible to pronounce (Cho-coree? Chio-coree?), it seemed to be a marked improvement on the last Italian disappointment. (It's ok, Italy, you disappoint me in so few things.) The wrapper was a bit incomprehensible (why is that chipmunk carrying an American football?) but the promise of CROCCANTE was tantalizing.

And CROCCANTE it was! The Ciocori is a lot like an Italian version of an American Crunch bar, one of my favorites (especially in its pleasantly petite 'fun size'). The bar had bits of crispy rice (or...riso croccante) in a pleasingly sweet milk chocolate layer. The bar was a little disappointingly thin - some of the riso was protruding from the other side and I think I would have preferred something a little more substantial, as this bar disappeared in no time at all. Also, strangely (but not unpleasantly), the chocolate had a slight tinge of Nutella-like hazelnut flavor, but that might just be me remembering pretty much all the rest of the chocolate from Italy. All in all, quite tasty.


Che buono! A solid 3 bars. This is MILES above the Tronky and brings Italy up to a more respectable score of 2 in the rankings. 


So, a combined two bars from this week's selection, and just in case you were interested, the revised rankings below. Enjoy the football (I know, it's really called soccer), everyone!

Sweden: 3.5

Denmark: 2

Germany: 3.5

France: 3.5

England: too lazy to average them all, will go with 3 to be safe.

Ireland: 4

Italy:2

Switzerland: 3

Latvia:4

Poland: 2 (combined score)

Bar-o-Meter

Sifting Through the (Oh so Delicious) Dregs

Dear readers, it would appear that I have finally reached the end of the (British candy bar) universe! I know, I also thought it was impossible in the early days of surveying the seemingly limitless varieties at the corner shop. But then that corner shop was emptied of its novelty, and then the next. 


When I went to procure my latest candy bar, I noticed to my surprise that there appeared to be nothing available in the way of new bars. So I'm going to do the unthinkable, and go against yet another one of my ground rules (have any of these actually survived?) - I am going to try variations on bars I have tried before. Fear not! There appears to be about 10 different varieties of Kit Kats alone, so there may well be material for many a blog yet. But of course, any suggestions for bars I may have missed in my less-than-methodical trawl through two shops on the same street is always very welcome - as are international guest stars! 


Onto the review. At the very bottom of the convenience store shelf, I came upon a Drifter, a bar I've never seen or heard of before. A new discovery! How exciting. From the outside, the Drifter looks like nothing special, but the promise of not one but TWO chocolate bars inside bodes well.

The Drifter turns out to be something like the love child of a Twix and a Kit Kat - a thin chocolate finger with a wafer sandwiched between two layers of caramel. There may even be chocolate cream between the wafer's layers, but I wasn't able to work that out. The wafer is actually a little dry for my taste, but the two layers of caramel (thoughtfully provided on both top and bottom) give it a nice chewiness and make it a little more substantial. Like all good things, this vaguely reminds me of a Girl Scout cookie, the ever-delicious and chewy Samoa (uh, sorry, Caramel DeLite). But then again, anything with some kind of cookie/caramel combo seems to do that. And as for the two-for-one option, I actually saved my second bar for the next day's enjoyment, so points for that.

All in all, a little dry, but a very tasty combination of flavors. I think my main complaint was that the wafer makes it feel a little too insubstantial - it was all gone before I knew it. Of course, this could have been a side effect of wolfing this down during my day of hell at work (just one exciting component of the week of hell) and not actually realizing it was gone before getting my 3pm sugar fix. Three and a half bars!

Tune in next time for the first of many variation reviews - just how many squares of Cadbury varieties can I down in one tasting session?

Bar-o-Meter