Montezuma's Milk Chocolate with Chai Latte Bar

Montezumas, makers of the famous Absolute Black chocolate bar are turning 18 this year, and to celebrate their coming of age they've launched a "Festival" range...because they're going to their first festival now they're 18. Get it? These colourfully packaged bars are specially designed to help them party and were inspired by Holi, the Hindu festival which signifies the arrival of spring and has become known as the happiest festival on earth. I really do like the packaging designs, they're the sort of thing I would definitely pick up in a shop to buy!

There's three varieties in the range; today's review which is Milk Chocolate with Chai Latte, as well as Milk Chocolate with Coffee & Cocoa Nibs and Dark Chocolate with Rose & Vanilla (reviews to follow shortly).

Containing 35% Cocoa Milk Chocolate with the addition of mixed spice, this 100g bar is suitable for vegetarians and gluten free.

The spice aroma is very evident on opening the wrapper, followed by the milk chocolate. Taking a bite, the chocolate is super creamy and smooth, just what you'd expect from higher quality chocolate. The spices are subtle yet still very evident in the taste. They bring a lovely warming chai taste that blends well without overpowering the chocolate. Think of a creamy, warm chai latte and you get the idea!

Overall, this is a lovely bar from Montezuma's and if chai spices are your thing I'd highly recommend giving it a try! Check out Montezuma's website for more info, nutrition information and where to buy.

8.5 out of 10.

Creighton's Chocolaterie Pumpkin Spice Latte Bar

Pumpkin Spice Latte season is upon us and Halloween is but a week away, so it's only fitting that I review the only chocolate bar I know of (at least in the UK) to combine chocolate with the popular spicy flavouring this week. It took me a while to decide on whether or not to get this bar; after glancing at the ingredients I saw that it doesn't contain real pumpkin, but this is because it's not possible to add actual pumpkin to chocolate, Creighton's informed me on Instagram recently. So how do the other pumpkin spice latte elements work with white chocolate?

By chance I spotted the last few bars of this limited edition in Fenwicks at the weekend and decided it was now or never: I had to snap one up! For £3.99 you get 100g of "spiced pumpkin flavour white chocolate with coffee". I couldnt be bothered waiting to get home to try this bar, so I did what I often do - ate it whilst shopping!

Opening the paper wrapper it had a nice creamy and spicy aroma, I couldn't wait to get stuck in!

I took a bite. Initially I was hit by the flavour of the spices; the cardamom was particularly strong with the others creeping into the aftertaste. So far so good, it definitely had a strong spicy kick! This is balanced out with the sweet and creamy white chocolate which is great quality and does a good job of replicating a latte. It was maybe a bit too sweet for my liking (I've become used to darker chocolates lately so perhaps this is why!) I couldn't really taste the ground coffee beans; I could feel their crunchy texture though as I ate the chocolate.

All in all, this is a very nice bar of chocolate, and is pretty much what it's supposed to be: creamy and spicy, replicating the classic pumpkin spice flavour in bar form. It could have done with a stronger coffee boost for my tastes, but hey it's a chocolate bar not an actual latte.

I do hope they bring this out again next year, maybe in a dark chocolate version for the dark chocolate lovers amongst us? :D

Ingredients: White chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, dried whole milk, soya lecithin emulsifier, natural vanilla flavour), ground coffee beans, flavouring, spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardomom).

Nutritional Information (per 100g): 552 Calories, 35g Fat, 54g Carbohydrates, 53g Sugars, 5.9g Protein. 

8 out of 10.