Chocolates

Even my grandchildren wouldn't eat Milk Tray this Christmas (2 little boys who can be relied upon to demolish any form of confectionary). They really aren't worth buying now.

I can't explain the change in chocolate centres, but let's face it, many products are not as good as they used to be. There is a constant push for either saving money in the production process, or alternatively making things more 'healthy' (i.e. reducing the fat content for instance).

This means things are either smaller or less tasty than they used to be.

I've just noticed really drastic changes in two products, Ritz Crackers and Linda McCartney Vegetarian Sausages. Both have had the fat content reduced I think because they now taste dry. This is to stop people from gaining weight I suppose, but the greedy ones will just eat more than they should anyway. Meanwhile, I have to endure a poor quality product.

I had some Cadbury Roses and they were pretty average. There were a couple of strawberry and orange soft centres, I didn't like the others much so won't buy Roses again. The family weren't keen either. They would do better to make boxes of ONE TYPE so you can choose the ones you want. I would go for the soft fruity centres, strawberry, orange, raspberry, lemon, anything, bring them on! 😋

Well, I like both truffles and pralines.

The chocolates have got very small, hardly worth buying these days.

I'm sure there must be a market for a chocolate selection involving milk and dark chocolate, but all soft centres.

Milk chocolate - orange, Turkish delight, strawberry, caramel, pineapple, blackcurrant, butterscotch, coffee.

Dark chocolate - peppermint, raspberry, lemon, coconut, lime, passionfruit, banana, tablet.

To this end can I please recommend Tony's chocolate which comes in bars. It's Fair Trade and absolutely the best chocolate I've had in years.

I agree with you, op, so much chocolate has become very disappointing. The only one I think has a lovely taste still is Lindt, they do a bar of whole nut chocolate that we can't get enough off!

varian

I'm sure there must be a market for a chocolate selection involving milk and dark chocolate, but all soft centres.

Milk chocolate - orange, Turkish delight, strawberry, caramel, pineapple, blackcurrant, butterscotch, coffee.

Dark chocolate - peppermint, raspberry, lemon, coconut, lime, passionfruit, banana, tablet.

Oh, that sounds like heaven!

Blondiescot

varian

I'm sure there must be a market for a chocolate selection involving milk and dark chocolate, but all soft centres.

Milk chocolate - orange, Turkish delight, strawberry, caramel, pineapple, blackcurrant, butterscotch, coffee.

Dark chocolate - peppermint, raspberry, lemon, coconut, lime, passionfruit, banana, tablet.

Oh, that sounds like heaven!

Hell for me! I hate soft centres, especially fruit flavoured. Each to their own!

Folk who hate soft centres obviously wouldn't buy them, but I'm sure there are plenty of folk who love soft centres.

I'd like to know why salted caramel is in everything now

The chocolates all taste the exact same except the stupid salted caramel

I can't be the only one who hates it?

I liked the lime barrel in Milk Tray. I may be in the minority here but it was yummy.

Chestnut I contacted them to complain when they first changed the sausages. They said they were getting loads of complaints from people who had become vegetarian (vdgan?) that they were unhealthy. They actually said they knew they didn't taste so nice but it had increased sales as they could advertise "reduced fat".

I’ve been impressed by M&S chocolates this Christmas, nicely presented they make excellent gifts and are not overpriced.

soft fruity centres, strawberry, orange, raspberry, lemon etc are the ones I really always disliked!

Oh, Tony's chocolate is horrible in my opinion. Sorry

varian

I'm sure there must be a market for a chocolate selection involving milk and dark chocolate, but all soft centres.

Milk chocolate - orange, Turkish delight, strawberry, caramel, pineapple, blackcurrant, butterscotch, coffee.

Dark chocolate - peppermint, raspberry, lemon, coconut, lime, passionfruit, banana, tablet.

Thorntons sell bags of one type of soft centres. Lemon is our family favourite.

NotSpaghetti

Chestnut I contacted them to complain when they first changed the sausages. They said they were getting loads of complaints from people who had become vegetarian (vdgan?) that they were unhealthy. They actually said they knew they didn't taste so nice but it had increased sales as they could advertise "reduced fat".

I knew it was to reduce the fat because they suddenly turned dry. As I said, any drop in quality (of any product) is either about reducing their production costs or reducing the fat or sugar content so they come across as more healthy.

lixy Thonton's lemon looks nice, but it's very small.
www.thorntons.com/uk/en/p/continental-sicilian-mousse-bag/77177424

There are no other soft centres now. They used to make bags of strawberry soft centres which I loved but they stopped them.

The closest you can get to soft centres are those boxes of Turkish Delight Thins which I love, but I'm not sure if they're only out at Christmas. Trouble is, they are eaten too quickly because you can't suck them very easily, you tend to just eat them.

Not a chocolate fan. However, husband treats me to Leonidas now and again. Delish. I manage to eat them within six months. Anything else is binned as is left in the fridge too long. Hate Roses.
Green and Black is pretty good.
My absolute favourite are rose and violet creams. Not always easy to find. I justify the expense because I eat so few. Not averse to Mars, Bounty or Crunchie. Just never think of buying them.

Chestnut, Aldi do a box of just ' purple ones', the hazelnut in caramel which is my favourite chocolate in the whole wide world! Very reasonable too, although the actual chocolates, individually wrapped, look quite small.

We got a tub of Celebrations and Heroes but wasn't impressed with either. However, we got some packs of rose, strawberry and violet creams from our local garden centre and they were delicious.