Zotter - Walnut-Marzipan

Clearing out my chocolate draw today I came across several chocolate bars that I'd totally forgotten about. Amongst this slightly old collection of confections was a bar from Zotter.  This was great news but a Best Before date of Feb 12 is not really ideal and I nearly had second thoughts about eating it.  But, in my book, if it smells okay and looks clear of anything green and furry then it is probably alright to eat.

As usual Zotter do not fail to impress with their packaging standards. In my opinion they are world leaders in their field.  I'm sure there are people out there right now buying up the artwork rather than the chocolate.  So, I was surprised to read on their website that many people do not believe they take their chocolate seriously?! 

Dark Mountain Milk Couverture 50%

There are very few companies that actually make their own chocolate from 'bean to bar' and Zotter is one of them. They have very close links with their farmers and have amassed a wide and diverse range of cocoa suppliers from around the world. In total Zotter buys chocolate from 11 countries Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and surprisingly India. You can see the full list here.

Hand Scooped - This is hand-made in Zotter speak. Hand Scooped is a range of bars that have one, two or even three distinctive layers.  This bar reminds me of an over sized praline and I imagine the processes are similar but on a massive scale.

70g Walnut and Marzipan - for adults only

Once out of the packaging this bar is best seen cut into slices to enable you to see the various distinct layers. This particular bar is made with freshly roasted and caramelised walnuts mixed with marzipan and rum which is then coated with dark mountain milk chocolate. The marzipan is sweet and the 'crunch' I can only assume comes from the walnuts. The chocolate itself doesn't provide very much in the way of flavour as it is masked by the slightly overpowering marzipan. Soft, sweet, almost like eating a piece of cake! 

Organic and Fair 

Marzipan, you either love it or hate it and I felt that there was nothing unpleasant about this bar and therefore it deserves 5/10 for flavour and 9/10 for presentation. 

To the people of Zotter, I promise that I'll review my next bar within the 'best before' deadline next time but, I think it stood up rather well considering how late I'd left it! 

Zotter you need to check your website. Planet Organic is not selling your products at the moment? However, Chocolatiers is selling this bar at a special price of £2.16, a 30% discount.

After Dinner

After Dinner is another chocolate creation from Chocri located in Berlin. 


"After Dinner", described as a dark chocolate with Bourbon Vanilla, organic mint leaves and cocoa nibs. Bourbon Vanilla is the 'creme de la creme' of Vanillas the majority of which is produced in Madagascar with a small proportion coming from Mexico. Cocoa nibs are cocoa beans that have had their shells removed and then broken into very small pieces. The nibs are normally ground down to form chocolate but in this case they're crushed and sprinkled on the bar.


The Packaging: Each bar is presented in a clear plastic wrapper that is placed in a red cardboard outer. Unfortunately, the cardboard wrapper on my bar was broken so I've borrowed this picture from their site. I don't think they will mind. The bar also arrived slightly battered and bruised but I'm letting them off as it did come from Germany and probably had to pass through many post offices.

The Chocolate: Well it's not a very strong dark chocolate with only 64% cocoa content. All their chocolate is sourced from the Dominican Republic and is both fair trade and organic. Plus we must not forget that Chocri donate part of their sales to DIV Kinder which is a Christian organisation that cares for homeless and orphaned children of the Ivory Coast. The chocolate itself does not have a lot of depth which is disappointing however the mint provides a subtle reminder that you're eating after dinner mint chocolate. The cocoa nibs are a great addition as they provide a lovely crunch. This is not a bad combination but I would have preferred a dark chocolate with a higher cocoa content. I'm not too keen on the bits of organic mint that are left in the mouth but I understand they're sticking to their principles. 


For me this bar lacked punch and I wanted a bigger hit of mint and dark chocolate. But don't misunderstand me this is a great concept that I wish I'd thought of and I'm sure it's success will go on in leaps and bounds!

This bar will cost you £3.90 for a 100g plus postage and packing at £4.95. I managed to add 10 bars to my basket and the price for packaging remained the same. So buy in bulk if you want to make your purchase economical. If your gift is for a friend then you can upgrade to a Chocri gift box (2 bars) for an additional £2.90. Interestingly their .com site offers buy 5 bars get 1 free but not on the UK site...obviously this is under construction and will soon be available to us.


Overall I give this bar a creditable 6/10 for creativity and the companies ethical policy. Taste on this occasion was lacking somewhat but don't let that stop you from trying this product.




It's only October and they have their Christmas Creation on their American site already!