Upon discovering Droste pastilles for the first time and really liking them, I obviously began to seek out the other varieties they had to offer. I think after trying as many as I could get my hands on, the bittersweet pastilles have stood out as my favorite. The white chocolate ones would come in second.
If I had to decide on what type of chocolate is my favorite, I’d have to say bittersweet. It’s a nice middle ground that isn’t clearly defined by the chocolate community, so it’s really up to the manufacturer to decode what makes their specific chocolate bittersweet (or semisweet as some like to call it). It is usually a chocolate that may or may not contain milk solids and the cocoa percentage ranges from 50% to 70%. This specific Droste variety has milk solids and doesn’t exactly list the percentage on the wrapper, which has become sort of a standard thing nowadays.
I really love the packaging on these. The cardboard tube contains a heavy duty plastic packet that holds the roll of the rounded chocolate discs. It’s easy to open it up, take a few, and twist it back up to save the rest for later. I like having that ability to store part of the chocolate away safely, which I think is a design flaw for the big bars of chocolate.
The pastilles are a beautiful deep brown with a bright sheen to them. They were a delight to photograph.
They chocolate tastes very coconutty to me right away. I could smell it in the aroma, and in the mouth it’s an overwhelming characteristic of the chocolate. One the coconut eases off, you notices the very deep roasted notes of cocoa, coffee and caramel; delivering an intense chocolately hit. It reminds me of a first sip of a really good hot chocolate. It also really reminds me of eating a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips, minus the volume in the mouth (but who wants to admit to actually doing that?).
The mouth feel is very smooth and rich, and it feels wonderful on the palate. It’s thick and buttery, without overdoing it.
Out of all the Droste flavors and varieties. I return to this one the most. I think that speaks for itself.
Rating: Will Buy Again
Links
Droste Website
Droste was my gateway chocolate, as so to speak. It was the first chocolate I had that really started to open my eyes to the tasting adventures that lay awaiting me in the realm of candy. Prior to finding and buying my first roll of the pastilles, I’ve always knew the company for their boxes of cocoa and the Droste Effect illustrated on them. My parents also were familiar with Droste as they lived in Holland for a time, so they were amused by the idea of their daughter finally discovering a chocolate they’d known about for years.
These pastilles are 75% dark chocolate and this actually lists cocoa liqueur as the first ingredient. Impressive, at least for a semi-upscale chocolate. Immediately you can see these are much darker than American dark chocolate, and have an almost spooky gloss to them. It feels more mysterious and exotic.
The smell is rather sweet with notes of coffee, cinnamon and coconut. The snap is very hard, break is clean. The texture is nice and creamy without being too thick and it moves nicely in the mouth,
The melt in your tongue is slow causing the flavors to be released gradually. First it’s very dry with notes of cocoa and almonds, then it grows a little more powerful and sweet where subtle notes of caramel and coffee come through. There’s a slight fruity note at the end and the aftertaste is not as clean as most, because I still detect lingering notes of fruit and cocoa. This chocolate feels very “brown” and rich. The bitterness with well tempered here, it’s not too sweet or too astringent and I feel it’s a perfect middle ground and a great place for beginners. I say that because the flavor notes are strong and there is a “middle ground” of complexity so the tasted wouldn’t get overwhelmed with to many sensations to try and identify.
Even though now I’ve learned more refined taste in chocolate, I still find myself picking up a roll of these pretty often. They just hold a special place on my taste buds and chocolate heart, so I encourage you to give them a try yourself.
Rating: Will Buy Again
Links
Droste Website
Heksehyl is another licorice I found out about from Cybele over at CandyBlog. Isn’t it wonderful how even we candy bloggers can learn about new things from each other? I often turn to her website for licorice recommendations, because I’m really a novice. I just know that I like the stuff.
The Heksehyl was an extremely lucky find in a random gourmet shop in the Caesar’s Pier during a recent trip to Atlantic City. I immediately recognized it and grabbed a bag and tore it open once I was outside the store. I was that excited to find them, as interesting licorice is not an easy thing to come across in my area.
They look like little tubes, with a brown creamy center. Surrounding that is a layer of black licorice and then a dusting of granular sugar to finish it off. The pieces are a good size and can be one or two bites depending on what you felt like.
The flavor is more of the molasses center than the licorice. It’s sweet, woodsy and rich, complimented by the herbal anise-like flavors of the licorice. The sugar coating gives it a bit of a gritty texture, but it’s a very pleasant one. The overall flavor isn’t so bold that it’s overpowering, so it’s easy to down quite a few before realizing it.
This big bag was gone within a week. I wish I could find it near me so I could buy more.
Rating: Hoard
Aren’t these just perfectly creepy? Just in time for Halloween too! I first heard of Griotten from a post Cybele made on CandyBlog a few months ago. They immediately caught my attention and I’ve kept an keen eye out for them for some time.The kind displayed on CandyBlog look like brown sugar cubes which is how you’d normally find them. I hadn’t seen them in spider form until I was given these as a gift.
Since I’ve had both shaped of Griotten before, I want to say there’s really no difference other than size. The spiders are about the equivalent of three of the cubes. The texture of these is so much fun. They’re squishy; similar to marshmallows but a little denser. They hold their shape instead of caving in with you play and eat them. The granulated sugar coating is a nice touch. It adds a subtle crunch to the light, fluffy and chewy texture. It also adds to the creepy-crawliness of the spiders.
The flavor is of black licorice, just so you know. It’s very heavy on the molasses aspect, so the flavor is much milder than the other licorices out there. It’s a good starting point if you want to learn to appreciate black licorice and want to start on something less intense. The sweetness is mild too, not too much and certainly doesn’t overpower the rich licorice and molasses flavors.
Like so many other candies this time of year, the shapes are so perfect for Halloween treats alike. I wish I could keep myself from eating them so I could put them to creative purposes. They’re just too tasty though.
Rating: Will Buy Again
