Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Choceur Luxury Mini Chocolate Bars

Choceur Mini Chocolate BarsWhile in Ohio popped into an Aldi’s market as my mother had scouted out their candy section for me. This international chain is kind of like Trader Joe’s or Fresh & Easy, offering low prices for standard and gourmet fare with most products under house brands and a rather warehouse-style shopping environment.

One of Aldi’s brands of confections is called Choceur and is priced so well that I was dubious that it could be any good at all. But they have a Double Quality Guarantee, which means if I don’t like it, they’ll give me another and my money back.

This box was called Choceur Luxury Mini Chocolate Bars and described on the front as Bittersweet chocolate bars with hazelnuts and rice crisps in a chocolate creme filling.

That sounded pretty much like a cross between Perugina Baci and Ferrero Rocher or maybe Ferrero Mon Cheri. This 7.05 ounce package was only $1.89.

Choceur Mini Chocolate Bars

Inside the box are 11 little bars, which are more like sticks. They’re about 3.5 inches long and .75 inches wide and .5 inches tall. Each is nicely molded with a simple design on top and made the trip from Ohio, through Pennsylvania and back to California without incident. Each little bar has 100 calories (and unlike the 100 Calorie Chocolate Bars I wrote about yesterday, the packaging here has the appropriate balance of protecting the product, advertising the contents and not taking up more space than it needs to).

The little sticks have a sweet hazelnut and chocolate aroma.

The bite is soft, the center is a buttery light chocolate cream with little crisped rice bits and crushed hazelnuts. The hazelnut flavor isn’t overwhelming, not quite as intense as Baci or a true gianduia, but amazingly satisfying.

The chocolate is silky and smooth, but doesn’t have a lot of pop to it. It doesn’t detract from the bar much, it just supports the texture and gives a small bittersweet background to the sweet creme center.

Overall, for the price these are amazing. They’re the perfect little treat for coffee or tea, an afternoon snack or something to tuck into a lunch without breaking the bank. Or a hostess gift or perhaps dump them out of the box and put them in Christmas stockings. Are there better versions of this out there? Sure, but even Ferrero Rocher or Perugina Baci costs about $6 for the same amount but most of that is packaging and you’re not likely to see commercials for these.

I have another Choceur bar that I bought at the same time that I’m quite eager to try ... especially since this box is almost gone.

Related Candies

  1. Harry & David Chocolate Pinecones
  2. Short & Sweet: Hazelnut Bites
  3. Ritter Sport White Chocolate with Hazelnuts
  4. Ritter Schokowurfel
  5. Milka Alpenmilch
Name: Luxury Mini Chocolate Bars
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Choceur (Aldi)
Place Purchased: Aldi's (Liberty, OH)
Price: $1.89
Size: 7.05 ounces
Calories per ounce: 157
Categories: Chocolate, Cookie, Nuts, Germany, Aldi

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:16 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. *Frenchie*'s avatar

    I didn’t even know Aldi had stores in the US! The quite funny thing here is that Aldi is a cheap grocery store company (at least in France) so that explains a lot about their prices…doesn’t mean the quality is bad of course,simply they don’t spend millions on advertising and fancy packaging. Though they are seen overseas as a kind of 99 cents store cousin I would say. These bars look pretty satisfying, I would definitely get tempted too smile

    Comment by *Frenchie* on 11/11/08 at 10:20 am #
  2. You probably already know this, but the owners of Aldi also own Trader Joe’s.  Though I didn’t know they were in the US either.  Always enjoy your blog.

    Comment by Meow on 11/11/08 at 11:39 am #
  3. I am curious what you think of their other items.  I shop semi-regularly at Aldi but haven’t tried much of the Choceur line.  I have tried some of the plain chocolate but I don’t care for european style chocolate and that is what it reminded me of.  Aldi’s used to have an excellent brownie mix and also a Nutella type product that was much better then the original.  Unfortately when the cost gets too high or production ends they may never bring the product back.

    Comment by Rachel on 11/11/08 at 1:57 pm #
  4. gracecarriveau's avatar

    The Aldi’s here in Missouri have the hazelnut as well as strawberry creme and vanilla creme. I’m usually not a big fan of strawberry flavored candy, but this bar is absolutely amazing! The filling is a fluffy white lightly strawberry yogurt type, with little tiny bits of pink specks that are, I’m guessing, dehydrated strawberries. I like it the best when it’s been refrigerated. And of course the price is unbeatable considering the recent price increase in some of the more popular brands of chocolate. (We won’t name any names here. grin )

    Comment by gracecarriveau on 11/11/08 at 6:35 pm #
  5. This is good news for me! We are beginning to get Aldi stores here in Florida and the one in my town just opened on Monday. I will have to check it out and of course, look for this candy bar. Thanks!

    Comment by Amy on 11/12/08 at 2:28 am #
  6. Not to sound superior, but ALDI has been in Indy for as long as I can remember. I am glad to know that I can go there for some decent chocolate.

    Comment by RhondaAl on 11/12/08 at 3:13 am #
  7. I wish we had Aldi’s in Arizona, but I don’t know of any.  We do have lots of Trader Joe’s and I was in there last night.  They’ve put out all their holiday candy and cookies, so you might want to stop in and see what new things they have.  I bought the big slab of almond bark and it’s good.  You’ve got me hooked on crispy things in my chocolate.

    Comment by Marie on 11/12/08 at 6:47 am #
  8. Dangit! Someone beat me to it—ALDI is a division of Trader Joe’s . . . or is it the opposite? In any case, the two are associated with each other and not many people know about it (except, of course, for the people who read your blog! LOL). I used to think of ALDI as sort of a last resort grocery store for people who didn’t have enough money to buy real groceries at the full priced markets. However, in the past few years, I have changed my mind. The store has made a lot of progress by including sales of alcohol (mostly wine and only in certain ALDI stores), organic products, Fit ‘n Active products and even items from the E.L.F. line (http://www.eyeslipsface.com—great makeup at incredibly affordable prices). I always knew that if one tried hard enough, they could find some really wonderful things at ALDI—for example, you with your chocolate bars and me with my Matt’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, pretzels, salmon and tilapia).

    Thank you for letting me know about these Luxury Mini Bars. I now have a new reason to go to ALDI.

    Comment by Rachel on 11/12/08 at 6:50 am #
  9. The Choceur line also makes these large chocolate bars that come in dark chocolate with raisins & nuts and a coffee with cream one that is beyond delicious. I can even recommend the white “chocolate” with or without crisp rice as a decent tasting confection without the sweetened shortening taste that some less expensive white chocolate has.
    Oh and Rachel, you are so right, their Nutella knockoff is delicious : )

    Comment by Cheri on 11/12/08 at 6:58 am #
  10. I live 3 minutes away from an Aldi here in Germany, but I had never tried the Choceur brand.  These mini chocolate bars (called Nuss & Crisp here) are fantastic!  With the exchange rate, they came to about $1.38 so a great deal as gifts or stocking stuffers as you mentioned.

    I will be on the look out for the Nutella knockoff as well now.  Thanks for the tip.

    Comment by Misa on 11/14/08 at 5:20 am #
  11. We have Aldi’s all over the place here and I have to admit, I never would have thought to look there for chocolate. I love how your blog makes me think of trying candies that I never would have thought of before.

    Comment by Laura on 11/15/08 at 9:16 pm #
  12. Thanks the tip on the Nutella clone.  I’ll look for it tomorrow!

    I am addicted the Aldi’s big chocolate /w almond bar.  Chock full of almonds!

    Comment by HookMan on 11/27/08 at 5:27 pm #
  13. Hi there! Can anyone tell me please who produces these bars? Choceur is a private label chocolate, which means that is produced by someone else and commercialized by Aldi unders its own brand. I am very interested in knowing who produces these bars. On the packaging there should be some information indicating who the manufacturer is. Can anyone tell me?
    Thank you very much in advance!

    Comment by Charles Iborra on 12/08/08 at 10:23 pm #
  14. Good people, I just love Choco & Biscuit. In Australia I could get them freely and in abundance at Aldi supermarkets. Then I moved to Hong Kong and I could not find them here. I went on a holiday to France and went to an Aldi supermarket and bought an absurd amount of things. My family ate them in France and laughed happily while we traveled in the TVG to Paris. Then as the holiday ended, so did my link with the precious Choco & Biscuit, they became a lost part of my life. This Christmas my family went to Australia and returned with another batch. They are almost gone now, I have been eating one while writing this and now there is an empty wrapper on my desk - I hold it delicately to my nose and smell the last fragments of delicious aroma. I found this blog while searching for a place to buy them.

    Comment by David Nightingale on 1/26/09 at 10:22 pm #
  15. We have an ALDI here locally and I have been thrilled with the chocolate I have been able to find. I especially love the milk chocolate bars. Each package comes with five individually wrapped bars of chocolate. They are delicious. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the hazelnut spread will come back. Sounds fabulous!

    Comment by Mrs. H-B on 1/30/09 at 2:29 pm #
  16. I absolutely love the Choceur Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts candy bar.  There are six bars in one package and the best thing other than the taste is that there is only two ingredients other than the chocolate ingredients.  I drive across town several times a week to try to get these but they are always gone by the time I get there.  I prefer buying things with the least amount of ingredients as possible if they taste great.

    Comment by Mrs. M. Smith on 9/27/09 at 2:54 pm #
  17. To Charles Iborra, who asked for information as to who manufactures or distributes Choceur Chocolate, the wrapper does not provide this information.  It simply says “Specially Produced for ALDI Inc, Batavia IL 60510 - Made in Germany”.  Great stuff, isn’t it?  I shop at the ALDI in Montgomeryville, PA.  Excellent store all around!

    Comment by Kim on 2/23/10 at 3:07 pm #
  18. i got some as a gift from a student with some other chocolate and a mug for coffee etc… they’re quite tasty for a quick chocolate fix. Thanks for letting me know I can pick them up at Aldi which is about 10 minutes from me grin

    Comment by carole on 6/10/10 at 10:57 pm #
  19. WE LOVE ALDI

    Comment by WILBUR LEE on 12/10/10 at 5:44 pm #
  20. Aldi is amazing at saving a person money on everyday grocery items, as well as the extras, like their candies.  I know a lot of people don’t realize that Aldi exists in the US, but they’re pretty abundant here.  One fact to note though, is that there are TWO DIFFERENT Aldi companies, Aldi Nord (North) and Aldi Süd (South), both originating from Germany.  The US has Aldi Süd; just called Aldi here.  I noted someone mention that Aldi owns Trader Joe’s, which is 100% true, but it’s the Aldi Nord company that owns them, so they are two different and separate compies that own the two here in the US.  Aldi is one of the largest chains, and THE largest wine retailer, in Germany, and they are regional, in that each Aldi operates in specific regions of both Germany and the world.  While Germany has both companies, Aldi Nord and Süd, most other countries have one or the other, but not both.  Aldi began as one company, owned/operated/founded by the Albrecht brothers in Germany.  Aldi is and acronym for Albrecht Discount.  Over a dispute about cigarettes, they decided to split, though both companies operate very much the same, which is similar to other grocers throughout Germany as well.

    I hope that helps explain a bit about Aldi.  You should all read their Wikipedia page, which explains a lot about the Companies!  Much of my info is directed from the Wikipedia page.

    Comment by Jason on 12/31/10 at 12:59 pm #
  21. need to know the name and web address of these delicious candies bought at aldis, may have been a holiday item. They are called either mastermilk or milkmaster. delicious hazlenut, individually wrapped.

    Comment by patricia casivant on 3/07/11 at 4:39 pm #
  22. I want to know what do you mean by cocoaliquor and emulsifer in your milk chocolate because I am muslim and don;t pork iingredinted produced and liquor, please call me or email me with informations.

    Comment by qamar on 10/07/11 at 7:27 pm #
  23. Cybele's avatar

    qamar - emulsifiers in chocolate are usually made from soy (soy lecithin) but I’ve seen a few chocolates lately that have been using sunflower lecithin. Both are vegetarian.

    Cocoa liquor is a misleading term for the slurry made from liquefying a cocoa bean by grinding it. There is no alcohol in it.

    Comment by Cybele on 10/07/11 at 7:39 pm #
  24. I live on Staten Island NY and would like to know if anyone knows where I could purchase Choceur milk chocolate minis.

     

    Comment by helen Schlissel on 2/24/13 at 2:10 pm #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

Next entry: Molasses Pops

Previous entry: Trader Joe’s 100 Calorie Chocolate




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT

FEEDS

CONTACT

  • .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
  • Here are some frequently asked questions emailed to me you might want to read first.

EMAIL DIGEST

    For a daily update of Candy Blog reviews, enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

CANDY RATINGS

TYPE

BRAND

COUNTRY

ARCHIVES

Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.

 

 

 

 

Facebook IconTwitter IconTumblr IconRSS Feed IconEmail Icon

COUNTDOWN.

Candy Season Ends

-2537 days

Read previous coverage

 

 

Which seasonal candy selection do you prefer?

Choose one or more:

  •   Halloween
  •   Christmas
  •   Valentine's Day
  •   Easter

 

image

ON DECK

These candies will be reviewed shortly:

 

 

image