Saturday 11 September 2010

Mitzi Blue by Zotter Smooth Milk Chocolate with Cashews

This bar grabbed my attention when scanning the shelves in John Lewis recently and it wasn't until I got to the checkout that I noticed that it was made by those rather quirky and individual people at Zotter


They have some fantastic and unusual combinations to choose from. There are apparently 200 different varieties in their current range. The name Mitzi Blue was the name of the sky blue vintage car that Joseph Zotter owned. 







Packaging - Their chocolates are always beautifully presented and they continue to provide innovative and excellent ideas for packaging especially if you're looking for a gift. Inside there is plenty of interesting information about the chocolate and other facts that I just love.




Environment - The team at Zotter have very good environmental credentials and all their cocoa shells and wood chips are burnt in a small steam plant, located behind the factory providing a constant supply of energy. The packaging is also made with the environment in mind and printed with food colouring!

The Chocolate - 36% cocoa content. Organic and Fairtrade. 50g 
To make Mitzi Blue a blend of Criollo and Trinitario cocoa beans are used to the exacting standards set down by Joseph Zotter from 'bean to bar' which includes roasting, grinding and refining of the conche.



Ok, how does it taste? As soon as I smell the chocolate, a familiar Easter Egg or Toblerone  sweetness kicks in. The cashews have been been crushed and speckle the chocolate. As the chocolate quickly melts you're left with the texture of crunchy cashews. You can tell this is good quality chocolate but I would have preferred one with a higher cocoa content. It's well balanced and I have to say I enjoyed it. It's not overly sweet and I've already eaten half a circle!










Ingredients


Raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, full cream milk powder, cocoa mass, cashews, whole cane sugar, vanilla, salt; cocoa 36% minimum. Certified Fairtrade from controlled organic cultivation. 
Milk products are produced by "Bio vom Berg", organic farmers from the Tyrol. This is a cooperative set up in 2002 to provide a range of organic products including milk, yoghurt and cheese.


Overall I give this bar 7/10 mostly for its creativeness and environmental credentials. At £2.49 for 50g of chocolate it is a tad expensive but I think I'll be going back for more. Only another 199 to try!


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