The Great Lindt Experiment

Apologies for the huge delay in posting - recently it's been a case of too much food, not enough writing! 

So without further ado, let me plunge right into the results of the great Lindt experiment.

Before I start however, I should explain my grading system. The grades range from 1-5 as follows:

1 star             Terrible – would never want to try it again

2 stars           Average but not impressive

3 stars           Good - wouldn’t mind another taste

4 stars           Excellent - could easily become a regular feature of my diet

5 stars           Beyond words - drives me absolutely crazy, anytime anywhere!

Lindt Bars

Pistachio (2 stars)

The first chocolate we tasted as part of the experiment, it wasn’t too impressive. Overly sweet, incredibly milky and the pistachio is barely discernible unless you allow all the chocolate to melt away in your mouth before munching on the tiny bit of pistachio in the center. It claims to have an almond filling, but I couldn’t taste it. Overall, the one word that came to mind was Milkybar (the nestle one)

Wafer (1 star)

I expected the likes of Nestle Kit Kat for this one – but Nestle does wafer better than Lindt. The wafer and the chocolate both had a strong hazelnut taste that overpowered any chocolate flavor you would hope for. A bit too sweet for my taste, and the one word that came to mind was Nutella.

Double Milk (2 stars)

The name suggests what to expect, and so I was mentally prepared for an onslaught of milky sweetness. And yes, while it was sweet, milky and creamy it was also pleasantly soothing like a soft blanket, something that would make a sugar-craving child quite happy! This one is reminiscent of kinder and my childhood days before the discovery of dark chocolate.

Cresta (1 star)

Cresta claims to be milk chocolate and crunchy nougat.  By this point I was already expecting Lindt’s characteristic too-sweet milk chocolate, but what came as a surprise was the overpowering nutty taste. On confirming with the ingredient list, I discovered 7.5% almonds and 5.5% hazelnuts – my taste buds didn’t lie! The nougat is crunchy and sticks in your teeth – it reminded me of my worst ever Patchi.

Almond (2 stars)

The almond is similar to the pistachio – a whole almond in the center covered in white chocolate and wrapped in a thin milk chocolate outer coating. Lindt got this one right though – the almond isn’t overpowered by the milky, creamy chocolate and the nutty taste and texture offers a pleasant contrast to the sweet and smooth texture of the chocolate. I felt like I could taste almond essence through the chocolate, but I was wrong – the ingredient list states that odd taste was hazelnut essence. Don’t ask why.

Caramel (3 stars)

I almost overlooked this one; I discovered it in the market a few weeks after the experiment was over. For once, my procrastination bore good fruit J  The Lindt caramel is surprisingly good although a tad too sweet. Lovers of caramel beware – this is good stuff. The caramel is not sticky but velvety smooth, liquidy and reminiscent of burnt sugar – in the nicest way possible. Caramel is not my thing, but if I had to choose, this would be my choice of caramel chocolate.

Swiss Classic Range

Dark – Extra Fine (4 stars)

A breath of fresh air finally! Not milky but still sweet, not creamy but smooth, melt-in-your-mouth, rich, dark and intense – this has to be one of my favourites in the Lindt range.

Milk – Raisin Nut (1 star)

Frankly, this one was a disappointment as I actually like raisins and nuts with chocolate. Cadbury fruit and nut definitely excels on this one. The raisins were too hard, chewy and sticky and the almond skins separated from the nut, leaving you chewing unpleasant bits long after the chocolate is over.

Milk – Extra Fine (2 stars)

Not exactly what I would term as ‘extra fine’. I’ve tasted better milk chocolate. Surprisingly, this is one Lindt bar I couldn’t term ‘smooth’. It felt like it stuck to my throat on the way down, although that could have been a reaction to having had way too much chocolate by this point. As expected, it was sweet and milky but not terrible, while not being impressive either.

White- Almond Nougat (2 stars)

After tasting this one, I definitely decided I like almonds in chocolate, they do compliment each other well. The nougat sticks in your teeth and the chocolate is white (which really is just cocoa butter, and not so much real cocoa beans, which in my mind doesn’t really count as chocolate), but the almonds work as the redeeming factor and overall, I thought it exceeded my expectations.

Dark – Hazelnut (5 stars)

This one I nearly missed too – another find I made only weeks after the experiment was over. (Procrastination isn’t all that bad now is it?) This is the single bar of chocolate I’ve almost polished off completely within less than a week of its arrival. As you can probably see from the picture, I only remembered to take a picture after the bar was half over! I’ve always loved hazelnut, and loved dark chocolate, and although the hazelnut overtones in almost all lindt milk chocolate has been getting me mildly annoyed, this bar my friends was a revelation. The combination of the strongly nutty, crunchy hazelnuts with the rich, intense, smooth dark chocolate is pure bliss. And the contrasting tastes make it possible to have another one, and another one, and another one….you get the idea J Seriously addicting – it’s the perfect accompaniment to a good movie!

Excellence

If there’s one thing I must say about the Lindt Excellence range, it is that I absolutely love the packaging! Made of stiff cardboard so that you can easily reseal them and stop all that amazing flavour from bring stolen by the air J

85% Cocoa (1 star)

All I have to say is that I love dark chocolate, but not this much. The aroma when you open the pack is exquisite, but my taste buds still haven’t developed a taste for chocolate as bitter as this one. It reminds me of my last espresso made of coffee beans that had been roasted a tad too much. The ingredient list was interesting though – it was the only bar that had crude sugar and fat reduced cocoa – possibly the healthiest chocolate bar out there?

70% Cocoa (3 stars)

Much better than the 85%, the 70% has all the goodness of pure, rich, intense dark chocolate with a beautiful vanilla undertone but with an added sweetness that makes it enjoyable to the layman. While eating it though, the one thought that was running through my head was that 65% may just be the perfect dark chocolate…

Intense Orange (4 stars)

Just opening the pack releases a most intoxicating whiff of fresh oranges and dark chocolate. The almond slivers are mildly distracting, while not adding much to the taste. But the dried orange bits, with the dark chocolate make for a truly exquisite flavour, aroma and taste that few other combinations can beat. This was my top choice till I discovered the Swiss Thins version (see below).

Mint Intense (4 stars)

Mint chocolate, though incredibly popular, has never been a personal favourite. So I have to say I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this particular bar. My guess is that it provided a very welcome relief after all the milky sweetness of the other chocolates we tried on the day. Fresh, crisp and sweet to the right degree, this was a truly a revelation, a wake-up call, a palate cleanser. A sip of water right after tasted oh so refreshing and made this chocolate bar stand out tall and proud among all the rest.

Intense Orange Swiss Thins (5 stars)

The same intoxicating whiff of fresh oranges and dark chocolate await you when you open this box, but the orange is stronger, more concentrated, more intense. There are no distracting almond bits which is the only thing that I don’t like about the original ‘intense orange’ bar. I can’t seem to make up my mind as to whether I like the chewy dried orange bits or the strong orange essence that goes right through the chocolate more. What I do love is the smooth, melt-in-your mouth, fresh orange contrasting deep, strong bitter chocolate that you can just leave on your tongue to melt without worrying about chewing…ahh now that’s pure chocolate bliss!

Extra Creamy (1 star)

The name does this one justice. It’s extra creamy all right, leaving an almost greasy aftertaste. The word that comes to mind is buttery… Not something I would choose to eat voluntarily.

Chilli (3 stars)

This one is more intriguing than anything else. Not your everyday chocolate – it’s more like something you would have when you’re in a risk-taking mood, when you want to do something really crazy and exciting (I know I know…I might be the only person on the face of the planet who would think of eating chilli chocolate as a daredevil stunt) It’s dark and smooth, like any of the dark chocolate in the excellence range, and you don’t taste the difference till it goes down your throat…and then slowly you feel the fiery heat, the burn creeping down your throat and it’s eerily weird and creepily cool all at the same time. I give this one a higher rating simply because it’s fun!

Madagascar 65% Cocoa (5 stars)

Boy was I happy when I saw this bar on the shelf! I had predicted (link to 70% bar) that 65% would be the right dark, and I was right. This is the perfect dark chocolate my friends, very few can compare to this one. Dark and rich yet velvety and smooth, with strong vanilla undertones – this is an amazing chocolate bar. Lindt, after all that milky sweet chocolate you have fed me recently – this one redeems you J

With the Excellence range coming to an end, we couldn’t help but think of one flavour that Lindt has neglected – Cinnamon. I wonder how a cinnamon dark chocolate bar would taste…mmm….

Lindor

Hazelnut (1 star)

I’ve always had great respect for the Lindor range – the contrasting textures of the ultra-smooth interior and the firmer exterior has made for many sit-back-with-your-eyes-closed moments. I did have high expectations for the hazelnut Lindor, but it was a terrible terrible disappointment - milky, creamy, sugary sweet with hazelnut bits that are not expected in a Lindor and a weird weird aftertaste. The ingredient list shed some light on this – The top four ingredients were sugar, vegetable fats, cocoa butter and whole milk powder. Blech…

White (3 stars)

You tend to expect sweet milkiness from white chocolate, and this is definitely what the White Lindor is. But it’s also incredibly smooth and soft and surprisingly good! No complaints here – it’s the best that white chocolate can be.

Milk (2 stars)

Better than the hazelnut, yet still incredibly soft and creamy.  No hazelnut overtones as is so common in Lindt milk chocolate, which was a relief and thus made it stand out as different. But Lindor is for luxury – creamy, soothing luxury and if you’re not in for a truly fattening chocolate – this one isn’t for you.

Extra Dark (5 stars)

Ahhhh the extra dark Lindor – finally a Lindor where the Cocoa comes before the sugar on the ingredient list – truly a breath of fresh air after all the other Lindors. Smooth, rich and intense – it was soothingly luxurious while still being dark and mysterious. This is my Lindor – the one that makes for a sit-back-with-your-eyes-closed moment.

Petits Desserts

Milk – Mousse au Chocolat (1 star)

The picture on the cover looks so incredibly enticing, I had been anticipating this most gorgeously soft and fluffy mousse-like textured chocolate. Sigh…another disappointment. It was too hazelnutty. Why do you have to make all your milk chocolates taste like hazelnuts Lindt? Why? Why? Why?

Tiramisu (2 stars)

The aroma of coffee and liqueur greets you as you open the box, and the taste doesn’t disappoint. Definitely tastes strongly of coffee and liqueur, although the ingredient list claims there isn’t any liqueur. The creaminess is definitely reminiscent of tiramisu, while the so-called ‘crunchy biscuit’ tastes like granulated sugar – the only weird part. On the whole, not a bad chocolate in itself, although if you come expecting tiramisu, you will be disappointed – there is no way anyone can capture the luxury of tiramisu in a chocolate bar! Sort of like how you have chicken-flavoured chips…doesn’t quite cut it.

Dark – Mousse au Chocolat (4 stars)

Ahhh finally, a Petits Desserts that did not disappoint – true to the beautiful pictorisation on the cover, this really did feel like you were eating dark chocolate mousse – smooth, soft, fluffy and light. Pure temptation, it felt like you were wrapping yourself in a soft, warm blanket.

Finally, at the end of the long arduous process of tasting every single Lindt available in the local market (and I’m sure this isn’t an exhaustive list) I have had a revelation! I always considered Lindt to be my favourite chocolatier, but now I realise it’s not Lindt that I love, it’s dark chocolate. And Lindt seems to be one of the few dark chocolate brands in the market, which is why by default it has gained my loyalty. I should probably explore more – I’m sure there are better chocolatiers out there. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d be glad to hear them!

And with that my dear readers we bid farewell to the wonderful world of chocolates and move back to solid food once more!

Till next time folks!

Edit: I know I promised I would write a 'series' of posts on the experiment, but it seemed logical to write out one long post especially since I made everyone wait this long!