Successful Niche Chocolate: Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate Bar!

The Good: Embodies all of the promised flavors, High quality, Does not melt easily
The Bad: Fairly expensive, The bar is hot, but not flavorful and the spiciness is very much a “love it or hate it” flavor.
The Basics: The Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate Bars are spicy and delightful for capturing their niche flavor.


Today’s review related to the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (reviewed here!) is another wonderful candy bar from Wild Ophelia! Representing Panem District 7 is the Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate bar. That chocolate bar falls very much into a niche that seems to be “love it or hate it;” spicy-hot candies. Like the Jelly Belly Tabasco jelly beans (reviewed here!), the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire District 7 Lumber Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate chocolate bars are an acquired taste.

The Wild Ophelia Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate Bars are my third experience with Wild Ophelia chocolate bars and these premium chocolate bars are expensive. The bars that represent District 7 in Panem are a potent blend of spicy and sweet, creamy chocolate (which is not at all waxy).

Basics

The Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili 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 7. 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. They are expensive for those who do not like the combination of chili and chocolate, though. For those who like the gourmet combination, this is a pretty reasonable price (especially compared to other niche chocolates).

Ease Of Preparation

Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate bars are chocolate, not getting chili pepper oil out of one’s eyes! 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 Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate chocolate bar smells mildly of peppers. The aroma of chocolate is almost entirely absent from the bouquet of the Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate bars.

The Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate chocolate bar is sweet and delightful, a perfect embodiment of milk chocolate. The smooth, sweet, milk chocolate flavor coats the tongue in a pleasant, inviting way . . . for about two seconds. Then the chili peppers burn right through the chocolate. The hot peppers assert themselves as a burning spiced flavor immediately and for about two minutes on the tongue. The chocolate seems to mute the taste outside the physical sensation of spicy burn, to there is no real flavor depth to the Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate bar. The best analogy I have is that it’s like getting the heat from the fire without seeing a flame or smelling smoke; the bar is monolithically hot, but not a real flavor besides the hot chili and the milk chocolate.

The The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate bar has a sweet aftertaste that asserts itself only after the chili flavor has been completely burned through and muted. The sweet flavor endures on the tongue for about a minute.

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), chipotle chili powder and alder smoked salt, the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili 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 1 ounce serving (which is unfortunate because the seams make the bar breakable into thirds, not halves!), there are 150 calories, 90 of which are from fat. This represents 16% of one’s RDA of fat (33% of the RDA of saturated fat). Each bar has 45 mg of Sodium and 2 grams of protein. There is a smattering of Calcium (4% RDA), Vitamin A (2% RDA), Iron (8% RDA) and Magnesium (6% 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 and milk. As well, there is an allergy warning for tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, wheat, and soy. Obviously, with the milk, these The Hunger Games: Catching Fire bars are not Vegan-compliant, though they are Gluten-free.

Storage/Clean-Up

Because the chocolate is generally hard, but a milk chocolate, the Wild Ophelia The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Smoked Chipotle Chili 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 19, 2014, had I not consumed it already).

Clean-up is easy, so long as the chocolate does not melt. The Wild Ophelia Smoked Chipotle Chili 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 Smoked Chipotle Chili And Milk Chocolate Bar is good, but not exceptional. While they do spicy very well, Wild Ophelia mutes all other flavors in this bar, making it a tough sell for those who want a flavorful chocolate bar.

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

5/10

For more chocolate reviews, please check out my Chocolate Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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