Strong Coffee

If you still have room for another mince pie then you've obviously been cheating!  Whilst other members of your family have been fighting their way though slices of turkey, mounds of Christmas pudding and bottomless lakes of festive mulled wine you've been sitting on the sidelines feeding your pet dog the leftover scraps or possibly whole meals. Well, if you do have a jar of mincemeat lounging in the cupboard and you would rather use it now rather than in another twelve months then I suggest you make your next batch of mince pies with dark chocolate and pecans, (As seen on The One Show).  The pecans provide extra crunch and dark chocolate adds depth to the flavour. Based on a dozen mince pies I used a handful of dark chocolate (about 4oz) and pecans in this recipe.


I was very fortunate to receive three different Valrhona chocolate bars from Father Christmas this year. However, they're for later and before we get to sample them I have another offering from Zotter to review, Strong Coffee "IN & OUT".  Not something I'm really looking forward to tasting!

This is another example of Zotter's 'hand-scooped' bars. 
To quote from their literature. "Owing to the wonderful compositions of taste and their unique design the hand-scooped chocolates have turned into a cult. Seductive individual layers piled up, coated with homemade chocolate couverture which harmonizes with the filling and constantly merges into an impressive experience of taste. With the new "In & Out" chocolates Zotter has managed to exceed this incredible experience of taste. Using a special procedure at our factory we manufacture nut and fruit couvertures which result in increased taste and refinement". 


The Chocolate:  Coffee couverture - coffee and chocolate form part of the Viennese way of life.  A noble bitter chocolate with a creamy filling of strong Fair Trade coffee, milk and whisky.  Surrounded by Zotter's new coffee chocolate: freshly ground coffee in a combination with white chocolate uniting a tender melt and coffee aroma!

Surprise, surprise it smells of coffee!  It certainly lives up to its name and the coffee aroma is very strong but what is a surprise is that the coffee flavour doesn't over power the taste buds.  The whisky comes through as the creamy centre melts leaving a sweet, cold cup of coffee experience which isn't as unpleasant as it sounds. However, the taste of coffee lingers in the background for a while.  Essentially this is a coffee and whisky liqueur chocolate in a bar. You're either going to like or hate this bar and whilst I enjoyed the different flavours it's not a bar I'll be buying again but don't let me put you off!  Ideal for the coffee lover in your family!  I tried a small sample on a friend and they literally swooned over it! 


Overall I give this 6/10 for its clever use of flavours and 9/10 for packaging! You can buy this bar from Planet Organic, just click here.