Review: Marabou Premium Cranberries & Pecan

This isn't exactly new, but it took me a while to get around to tasting it. Marabou Premium Cranberries & Pecan is a dark chocolate bar which comes wrapped in a cardboard box. Upon opening the box, one finds two fairly narrow chocolate bars. The bars are satisfyingly thick, though – I may have mentioned before that while thinness perhaps gives chocolate bars a certain feel of luxury, there's just something wicked and sinful about the thicker bars that I absolutely adore! These are also very pretty, with the pale pecans and crimson cranberries dotting the dark chocolate.

The scent is sweet and warm, and the chocolate, though dark, is also surprisingly sweet and definitely not the darkest kind (not with the cocoa content of 46 %). It's very rich, though, and the pecans and cranberries come in big pieces, almost like lumps, which not only looks good and suits the somewhat rugged appearance of these bars (which I love) but is also welcome variety to chocolates that contain additions in small morsels. The caramelised pecans are crunchy, sugary and have that delicious roasted aroma. The cranberries are juicy and tart and provide a nice contrast to the otherwise very sweet chocolate.

Despite the overall sweetness of this chocolate, I really liked it! It gets extra points for thick bars and big pieces. It's the kind of chocolate that I love to munch on. It would be easy to get addicted to this...

Review: Marabou Premium 70 % Cocoa Salty Liquorice

Last week, I reviewed Fazer's new version of their Kismet bar, the licorice. And now I found a salty liquorice version of Marabou's Premium chocolate! Is this a new trend or something?

The wrapping boasts beautiful colours of dark brown and purple, a picture of chocolate and... licorice root? Licorice sticks? I'm not sure. The chocolate is divided into satisfyingly large squares. You can actually see tiny dark spots in it – the licorice!

With the cocoa content of 70 %, this is dark chocolate – I suspect it's the same as in the other Premium line products (I've reviewed mint and coffee before). It has a strong scent of cocoa and the taste is smooth yet has that intensity that I love about dark chocolate. The licorice is scattered in the chocolate in tiny, crisp, hard pieces. The first impression is ”salty” (as is stated in the package) but if you let the chocolate melt in your mouth, the licorice brittle also begins to melt and the flavour of licorice is released. It's quite lovely – I enjoy the sweet and salty combination, and the licorice gives it a little more complexity.

I bought this one simply because I was curious and wanted to try something new – but it will likely not be the last time!

Review: Marabou Premium 70 % Cocoa Coffee

This is another one from the Marabou Premium brand (I've reviewed the mint chocolate earlier), a coffee flavored dark chocolate. I find the wrapping rather attractive, what with the simple but stylish combination of gold and various shades of brown. The cocoa content is announced in clear, big numbers, which saves you the time of looking for the information somewhere among the small print on the package. The squares are thin but otherwise of a nice size.

This chocolate has a wonderful scent. It's dark, sweet, rich, mellow, warm, full-bodied... I'm running out of adjectives! I don't know what it is about it that I like so much – perhaps a whiff of coffee? I've always loved the scent of coffee, long before I learned to like the flavour.

And the taste? That's what we're here for, right? ;) The chocolate is smooth overall, there are no crisps or granules or anything like that in it. With the cocoa content of 70 % and the sharpness of coffee, I can almost detect a tiny hint of bitterness here. But it is not at all unpleasant, and might be just due to the fact that the chocolate isn't as sweet as I'd expect from its scent. Chocolate and coffee are a lovely combination, with the coffee's sharper roasted aromas softened by the mellow chocolate. The aftertaste is long and lingering.

Of those Premium brand chocolates that have no filling, this might be my new favourite. Marabou markets it as a perfect companion to a cup of coffee. Too bad I only drink coffee in the mornings and can't give it a try... unless I have some chocolate for breakfast! ;)

Review: Marabou Premium 70 % Cocoa Mint

I am familiar with most, if not perhaps all, Marabou premium products. I've liked most of them, with my favourite being the Lemon & Ginger and, especially, the (Winter) Caramel. The latter was one of my favourite chocolates of all time (yes, there are many...), but, very regrettably, it seems to have disappeared from the selection! Anyway, on to the Mint version. This mint flavoured dark chocolate has been around for some time, at least in a tablet form. I've never seen these pretty boxes before, though, and that's a good enough reason to take a little taste.

The box looks very nice with the colour combination of black, green and gold. With the picture of mint leaves, it's clear what it contains. I only needed to open the box and out wafted a very strong aroma of mint. However, it wasn't the crisp, fresh aroma one usually associates with mint but a softer, more... sophisticated (?) scent. Perhaps the aromas of cocoa mellowed it? Each chocolate square comes in its own wrapping: the outer one with a picture (see the picture on the right) and the inner one of plain silver foil. The squares are of a satisfying size, thin but not too small, with the simple, stylish pattern that's familiar to all who have ever sampled Marabou Premium products.

The chocolate has a cocoa content of 70 %. I already mentioned the strong minty scent, but on second sniffing, the aroma of cocoa is also distinguishable. The chocolate snaps when you break it apart and melts in your mouth. It's also very smooth and has an intense cocoa flavour, to which the mint provides a nice counterpoint. Some mint chocolates include the mint in big, very hard pieces of brittle (and I always fear it will damage the enamel of my teeth), but here it's scattered in the chocolate in tiny pieces of crisp that provide a nice amount of crunch yet aren't too hard. The mint flavour, while strong, isn't “toothpasty”.

Mint chocolate seems to be ever popular, most brands offer some variety of it. As a child, I used to love mint chocolate, but perhaps got a little tired of it; it no longer counts among the “chocolates to get excited about” for me. But it is a classic. And there are times when I crave the soothing yet refreshing taste of good mint chocolate. Since this is dark chocolate, you also get the benefit of telling yourself it's good for you... and, another good argument (as if I needed any when it comes to eating chocolate): according to the box, at least 30 % of the cocoa comes from plantations with the Rainforest Alliance certificate.