The Good: Decent quantity, Generally natural ingredients, Interesting flavor once the chocolate coating melts away.
The Bad: Surprisingly indistinct chocolate flavor that does not wow for either its sweetness or its dark chocolate nature.
The Basics: Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are flavorful, but take too long in the mouth/on the tongue to reach their potential to be considered truly great.
When trying various flavors of new (or new to me) chocolates, I look for something distinctive and flavorful. In that pursuit, when I have trouble describing as new chocolate, it does not bode well for it. While going through the last of my Lindt Excellence chocolate squares, the one that has lingered longest are the A Touch Of Sea Salt dark chocolates. The Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are good, but only memorable when one finally gets to the sea salt in them and the rest of the time in the mouth, they are indistinct. The thing is, there is so little sea salt in these chocolate squares, so they are mostly unimpressive.
Basics
Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are one and 1/8” squares of chocolate that are about one-quarter of an inch thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a white, blue and dark brown wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Lindt Excellence chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.
Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is solid, with lines etched into the top and the Lindt name also punched into the top. The A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares come in a standard 4.9 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. The thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares, though I’ve never had any breakage. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.
Ease Of Preparation
These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the foil wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares. This is a flavor that is good at room temperature or frozen; it has a delicious solid flavor to it that carries the taste in all temperatures.
Taste
The Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares smells like a slightly dark chocolate, dry and unsweet. The sea salt does not truly add anything to the aroma to foreshadow anything for the flavor.
On the tongue, the A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are sweet and dry, not overly flavorful. The sweetness is not overbearing and the dry dark chocolate flavor is not impressive or distinct either. As the somewhat indistinct chocolate melts away, it blends with flakes of sea salt that make the cocoa in the A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares pop. It is only when the salt blends with the chocolate that it reaches its flavor potential.
There is a fairly dry aftertaste left on the tongue by these chocolate squares. The aftertaste from the A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares does not linger in the mouth for much longer than three minutes.
Nutrition
These are candy, so they are not healthy, but the Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are not nearly as bad as they could be. The primary ingredients are sugar, chocolate and cocoa butter. There is nothing unpronounable in these candies and everything in these could be readily identified by me.
A serving of the Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares is considered four squares. From four squares, one takes in 230 calories, including 15 grams of fat. There are 25mg sodium and 3 g protein, but no vitamins (save 2% of the RDA of Vitamin A) in these chocolate squares. There is 6% of one's daily iron and 2% the RDA of Calcium in four squares, so that is a plus.
These are not Vegan-compliant (they have real milk), nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they are produced on the same equipment that peanuts and tree nuts pass over. They are, however, kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
The bags of these Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. One assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. Given that they are individually wrapped in a very sealed package, it is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.
As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt is surprisingly hard, though.
Overall
Lindt Excellence A Touch Of Sea Salt chocolate squares are good, but rise to average, as opposed to truly impressing as most Lindt chocolates manage to.
For other Lindt chocolates, please check out my reviews of:
Intense Orange Chocolate Squares
Strawberries & Cream Lindor Truffles
70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bar
5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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