Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Mild, Then Sour, Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle Bars Are Anything But Nutty!


Excellence 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle
Click here to order Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle Bars

The Good: Good texture, Decent size, Generally natural ingredients
The Bad: Somewhat expensive, Less distinctive taste.
The Basics: Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bars are a good alternative for people who do not like nuts in chocolate!


As one who loves dark chocolate, but is not overly enamored with nuts in chocolate, I was only half surprised by how much I enjoyed the Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle my wife purchased for me on my birthday. Arguably, the reason I enjoyed this so much was that the 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle barely tastes like almonds at all.

Basics

Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bars are segments that are one and five-eighths inches wide by one and a half inches long of chocolate that are about one-quarter of an inch thick and connected to one another to form a bar that is four long, two wide (7 3/8” long by 3 3/8” wide). The entire bar comes wrapped in a silver wrapper and the bar is packaged in a cardboard sleeve to protect it in transit. As part of Lindt’s Intense Dark chocolate line, these bars are made as a premium product.

One of these bars tends to run in the $3.00 range, so this is a candy intended to be savored, not gobbled up!

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the cardboard wrapper and then unwrapping foil wrapper from around the actual chocolate square(s) one wishes to eat. The seams between the different segments make it exceptionally easy to break the bar apart and leave the rest of it intact. There is no grand secret to eating the Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bar.

Taste

The Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bars smells like a strong chocolate bar, so rich it is almost like coffee. The aroma is distinct and not at all nutty.

On the tongue, the 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle bars taste very bitter. The chocolate lacks any sweetness in its initial flavoring. The nuts do not taste at all nutty. Instead, the almonds only add a crispy texture without enhancing or changing the flavor. As this chocolate lingers in the mouth, the bitter chocolate begins to taste slightly sweeter and oddly, slightly sour, like an aftertaste of citrus.

This candy leaves the mouth very dry and the aftertaste is much less pleasant than the initial flavor of the bar.

Nutrition

These are candy, so they are not particularly healthy. The Lindt Intense Dark 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bars are not nearly as bad as they could be. The primary ingredients are chocolate, sugar and nougat. There is nothing unpronounable in these candies and that was pretty reassuring.

A serving of the Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bar is considered four segments (squares). From four squares, one takes in 210 calories, including 15 grams of fat. There is no cholesterol, only 15 mg sodium, and 3 g protein, but no vitamins in these chocolate squares. There is, surprisingly enough, 8% of one's daily iron and 4% Calcium in three squares, so that is a plus.

These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they include a lot of almonds. They also include an allergy warning about peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, and milk.

Storage/Clean-up

The bars of these Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. The ones my wife picked up for me in early October had an expiration date of December 30, 2012. One assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment (60 – 68 degrees Fahrenheit) they will not melt or go bad. Given that they are foil wrapped in a fairly sealed package, it is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.

As for cleanup, simply throw away the foil and recycle the cardboard when you are done with the candy bar. 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 this chocolate melt, it will stain most fabrice.

Overall

Despite the somewhat overbearing aftertaste, Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle chocolate bars are worthwhile for those who do not like nuts, but do like dark chocolate!

For other Lindt chocolate reviews, please check out:
Limited Edition Spring Lindor Truffles
Vanilla Lindor Truffles
White Chocolate Truffles

6/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
Excellence 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle
Click here to order Lindt 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle Bars

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