The Good: Embodies all of the promised flavors, Wonderful quality, Does not melt easily
The Bad: Fairly expensive, Could be just a little more flavorful on the mesquite front.
The Basics: For a delightful blend of meat and chocolate, the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate Bars are well worth hunting down!
I’m celebrating the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (reviewed here!) with reviews each day of merchandise from the popular The Hunger Games franchise! On the heels of the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Arabica Coffee & Crystal Salt And Dark Chocolate (reviewed here!), I was eager to try the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire District 10 Livestock Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate chocolate bars. This was the second Wild Ophelia chocolate bar I tried; I bought a lot of them from the local drug store and decided to enjoy them and review them based on the order of how good each one sounded to me. The Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate Bars are delightful and remind me of the Chuao Chocolatier Maple Bacon Bar (reviewed here!) . . . except the Wild Ophelia bars actually live up to their meat flavor.
The Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate Bars are only my second experience with Wild Ophelia chocolate bars and these premium chocolate bars are expensive, but well worth the price. The bars that represent District 10 in Panem are a cool blend of meat and sweet, creamy chocolate (which is not at all waxy), but not overly mesquite-y.
Basics
The Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate Bar is a solid milk chocolate bar from Wild Ophelia. Each 2 oz. chocolate bar is wrapped in a cardboard wrapper indicating that it is from District 10. Inside the cardboard case is a thick metallic plastic wrapper (with a seam resembling a Pop Tart more than a chocolate bar). The actual chocolate bar is 4 1/2” long by 2 13/16” wide by 1/4” thick. The Bar has no identifying marks or logos on it, but it is segmented to make three 1 1/2” wide by 2 13/16” long bars. The top features ribbing that give the bar a very Art Deco look that is distinctive.
The chocolate is firm, creamy and not at all waxy; it’s a quality chocolate bar. Individually, the bars are found in the $3.99 range, which is expensive, though I found mine on clearance for $2.99. Given the quality of these bars, it is tough to call them too expensive, especially with the quality of the jerky in it.
Ease Of Preparation
Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate bars are chocolate, not being forced to kill your own food to survive in a bloodsport! Preparing them is as easy as unwrapping the candy bar. Because the chocolate is a premium chocolate product, I recommend eating this a little at a time, not just biting right into the bar.
Taste
The Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate chocolate bar smells wonderful! These chocolate bars smell darker than they are. There is a scent under the chocolate aroma that is incredibly similar to barbecue sauce. The aroma is, no doubt, indicative of the smoked mesquite flavor in the chocolate bar.
In the mouth, the Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate chocolate bar is salty and has a somewhat crispy texture to it. The chocolate is sweet, but the saltiness of the meat overwhelms the milky chocolate flavor. The longer the chocolate lingers on the tongue, the flavors blend and come together with the spicy mesquite flavor of the meat embedded in the bar to create a delightful combination that is utterly uncommon in candy.
The The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate bar has no aftertaste. The flavor is intriguing, deep and embodies exactly what it is supposed to.
Nutrition
Wild Ophelia makes their fine chocolates with quality ingredients, which is arguably why they range in price in the real world and online anywhere from $2.99 - $10/bar! With the primary ingredients being milk chocolate (41% cacao), organic beef jerky, and organic apple cider vinegar, the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate bars are a candy bar, not a legitimate source of nutrition needed to survive. That said, Wild Ophelia uses natural ingredients and organic ingredients where possible; none of the ingredients are unpronounceable. In a 28 gram serving (1 ounce, which is odd because the seams make the bar breakable into thirds, not halves!), there are 150 calories, 90 of which are from fat. This represents 15% of one’s RDA of fat (31% of the RDA of saturated fat). Each bar has 40 mg of Sodium (which makes sense given that there is beef jerky in the bars!) and 2 grams of protein. There is a smattering of Calcium (4% RDA), Iron (8% RDA) and Magnesium (4% RDA), but no other vitamins and minerals. In other words, this is not a snack to try to survive on.
While the bars are all natural with no artificial ingredients and have no preservatives, they do contain soy, milk, and real meat. As well, there is an allergy warning for tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, wheat, and soy. Obviously, with the beef jerky and milk, these The Hunger Games: Catching Fire bars are not Vegan-compliant.
Storage/Clean-Up
Because the chocolate is generally hard, but a milk chocolate, the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate bars are somewhat susceptible to heat. These should be kept cool in order to not melt, but I have not had any problems with mine As long as they are kept cool and dry, these bars will last almost a year (the one I picked up yesterday would have lasted until August 26, 2014, had it not been devoured by my wife and I).
Clean-up is easy, so long as the chocolate does not melt. The Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate bars have wrappers that ought to be properly disposed of, but otherwise, the chocolate washes off skin and non-porous surfaces. It the chocolate melts onto fabric, consult a fabric guide.
Overall
The Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite And Milk Chocolate Bar is only really robbed of perfection by the lack of a more robust mesquite flavor (it has the scent!) and the cost of the bars, though the expense is pretty justifiable given how yummy they are!
For other The Hunger Games merchandise, please check out my reviews of:
2013 Mockingjay Exclusive Hallmark ornament
NECA The Hunger Games trading cards
The Hunger Games DVD
8/10
For more food reviews, please check out my Food Review Index Page!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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