Lindt Excellence Chili Chocolate Squares Are Fine, But Definitely An Acquired Taste!

The Good: Decent quantity, Generally natural ingredients, Intriguing flavor
The Bad: Something of a novelty flavor; very hit or miss for general chocolate fans.
The Basics: Lindt Excellence Chili chocolate squares are good, but a tough sell for general chocolate consumers.


I tend not to allude much to my first marriage when I review new-to-me products, especially when my wife gets me something new. And yet . . . when I tried the Lindt Excellence Dark Chili Chocolate Squares I had something of a flashback. My first wife used to make truffles and all sorts of chocolates. At our wedding, one of the most-talked about treats were the dark chocolate truffles she made with chili peppers her father grew. Honestly, since she left, I haven’t had any dark chocolate with chili until now. The thing I realized was that, while I enjoyed it, I did not miss it. The Lindt Excellence Chili chocolate squares are like that; they are good, but not at all indispensable.

Basics

Lindt Excellence Chili 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 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 Chili 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 Chili 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 Chili chocolate squares smells like fairly milky chocolate. The aroma for these chocolate squares is only that of chocolate, which I found interesting.

On the tongue, the Chili chocolate squares are instantly sweet. The flavor transitions to a dryer, darker flavor as it lingers on the tongue. After about twenty seconds on the tongue, the hot chili flavor burns through the sweetness. The chili pepper flavor is muted by the cocoa flavor that preceded and follows it on the tongue. The Chili chocolate squares are rich and the flavor transitions well; each bite goes through the full flavor palate.

Interestingly, there is no hot aftertaste to this chocolate square. The chocolate mutes the Chili chocolate square well.

Nutrition

These are candy, so they are not healthy, but the Lindt Excellence Chili 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 Chili 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 Chili chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. The bag my wife gave me in late December had an April 30, 2014 expiration date. 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 Chili chocolate squares are all right, but hardly enough to write home about and not exciting enough to stock up on.

For other Lindt chocolates, please check out my reviews of:
White Chocolate Lindor Truffle
Milk Chocolate Lindor Truffle
Dark Peppermint Lindor Truffle

5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

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