The Good: Decent flavor for the salt and the chocolate, Wonderful quality, Does not melt easily, Good company!
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, Erratic distribution of jerky
The Basics: The Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate Bars have a decent chocolate and salt flavor, without consistently containing the promised beef jerky.
It has been a while since I had the opportunity to enjoy Wild Ophelia chocolates. Living in the middle of nowhere, it is not a brand that is well-represented in my local marketplace. But, when my wife recently gifted me a whole assortment of Wild Ophelia chocolates for our enjoyment and review, I could not have been happier. I am starting my return to Wild Ophelia chocolates with their Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate Bars.
Wild Ophelia chocolate bars are expensive, but well worth the price.
Basics
The Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate Bar is a solid milk chocolate bar from Wild Ophelia. Each 2 oz. chocolate bar is wrapped in a cardboard wrapper. 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 four 1 1/8” 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 $5.99 range. Given the quality of these bars, it is tough to call them too expensive, especially with the quality of the salt in them.
Ease Of Preparation
Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate bars are chocolate; 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 Salt Chocolate chocolate bar smells wonderful! These chocolate bars smell like milk chocolate with a hint of something meaty to them. Interestingly, the aroma of the jerky is not able to overwhelm the scent of the 41% Cacao that coats it. The chocolate in these Wild Ophelia bars is aromatic and inviting to anyone who loves quality chocolate.
In the mouth, the Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate chocolate bar is sweet and buttery. The chocolate is enhanced by a very strong salt flavor. The salt cuts the sweetness and accents the cacao flavor in the chocolate. The salt and chocolate blend delightfully. Unfortunately, the jerky manifests more as a texture - hard, then chewy - than an actual flavor. While there are occasional bites within some of these bars that have a distinct flavor of smoked meat in them, most of the bites are dominated by the smoked salt in the chocolate.
The Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate bar has a dry aftertaste. The dry flavor is not unpleasant or very enduring.
Nutrition
Wild Ophelia makes their fine chocolates with quality ingredients, which is arguably why they range in price in the real world and online is a bit more than other chocolate bars! With the primary ingredients being milk chocolate (41% cacao), beef jerky, and salt, the Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt 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 full 56 gram serving (2 ounce), there are 290 calories, 170 of which are from fat. This represents 30% of one’s RDA of fat (54% of the RDA of saturated fat). Each bar has 150 mg of Sodium (which makes sense given that there is smoked salt in the bars!) and 5 grams of protein. There is a smattering of Calcium (8% RDA) and Iron (25% 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 and peanuts. Obviously, with the beef jerky and milk, these bars are not Vegan-compliant.
Storage/Clean-Up
Because the chocolate is generally hard, but a milk chocolate, the Wild Ophelia Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt 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 ones my wife gave me yesterday would have lasted until February 17, 2018, 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 Salt 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 Beef Jerky & Smoked Salt Chocolate Bar varied in flavor - our first bite had jerky, but none of the rest of the bar did. As a result, this was an unfortunately erratic representation of chocolate and jerky, but an amazing chocolate and salt bar.
For other chocolate, please check out my reviews of:
Trader Joe's Marbled Mint Crunch Chocolate Bar
Russell Stover Freeze-It Mint Chocolate Chip In Dark Chocolate
Lindt Dark Pineapple Chocolate Bars
8/10
For more food reviews, please check out my Food Review Index Page!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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