Friday, October 26, 2012

A Decent White Chocolate Blend, Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars Are Creamy And Flavorful!


The Good: Surprisingly rich and creamy flavor, Not at all waxy, No aftertaste, Good ingredients
The Bad: Still somewhat expensive.
The Basics: Godiva’s White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars are quite good, especially for those looking for a more flavorful alternative to simple white chocolate.


My last birthday was pretty wonderful. My wife and I spent the day headed downstate to see The Master (reviewed here!), which turned out to be a horrible disappointment. However, what was not disappointing was our wandering around the Target near the movie theater. There, she found me a bar of Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean on clearance!

The White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar is delightful and I write that as one who has no particular affinity for white chocolate or anything vanilla. As one who tends to enjoy dark chocolate for how flavorful it is, I was surprised to discover how much I liked the Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar.

Basics

Godiva, of course, is the famous fancy chocolatier that is most known for their gold-wrapped boxes of chocolates that leave men pretty much bankrupt in the pursuit of spoiling their wives, girlfriends, mistresses, etc. They make high-end chocolates, like the White Chocolate Vanilla Bean, even though we found them on clearance at Target. The White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars actually impressed me.

The White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars come in a 3.5 oz. chocolate bar that is foil-wrapped. Each bar represents two and a half servings and Godiva has the bars presented as 3 1/2” wide by 7 1/2” long segmented chocolate bars. Each segment snaps apart from the bar and features a Godiva horse logo or name stamped into it. This makes the White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars very easy to portion out to have less than a full serving, which is nice for those who might be watching their waistline!

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars is not a real challenge. After removing the wrapper, simply pull out the bar or break a segment off and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating these chocolates. This is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Unwrapping the White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar, I was impressed by how purely it smelled like vanilla. This chocolate bar smells like vanilla extract or a good vanilla bean ice cream. This prepares the consumer for a flavor that is stronger than white chocolate or a very bland vanilla candy.

On the tongue, the White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar is appropriately vanilla without any waxy taste. The blend of white chocolate and vanilla bean is rich and flavorful, without being dry. The White Chocolate Vanilla Bean does not have any aftertaste. Instead, this is a creamy and chocolatey flavored candy bar.

Nutrition

Godiva chocolates are intended as a dessert product, so anyone attempting to live off them is proceeding under a ridiculous premise! These 3.5 oz. Chocolate Bars represents two and a half servings (four of the segments is a single serving) and those looking for real nutrition will have to look elsewhere. Made primarily of white chocolate and vanilla bean, there is nothing unpronounceable in the ingredient list. This is a mostly-natural food product and these Godiva bars were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about tree nuts, peanuts, and wheat.

Godiva's White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars have 220 calories, 120 of which are from fat. A full serving represents 45% of one's RDA of saturated fat and 3% of the RDA of cholesterol. Surprisingly, they are fairly low in sodium with only 45 mg per serving and there are 3 grams of protein to be had by eating a full serving. These are not a significant source of vitamins or minerals, though they do have 10% of one’s daily calcium.

Storage/Cleanup

As a chocolate, Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars are fine as long as they are stored below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. My wife picked these up for me in October of 2012 and they have an expiration date of March 2013, so they do have a decent shelf life. If they melt, they will only stain the very lightest clothes, so consult your fabric guide if that happens. Otherwise, cleanup is simply throwing the foil wrapper away when you are done with the chocolate bar.

Overall

Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Bars are good, but because they are so mild on the vanilla flavor inside the wonderful dark chocolate shell, they become very difficult to recommend to those who are looking for a candy bar that is truly different. Instead, this chocolate bar seems very average on every front, save the expense where they are pricier than usual.

For other reviews of Godiva chocolates, please check out:
Godiva Gems Dark Vanilla Sundae Truffles
Godiva Gems Dark Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles
Godiva Gems White & Orange Truffles

8/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject! That is available by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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