Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Aldi Chocolate Swiss Assorted Chocolate Squares

Chocolate Swiss Assorted Chocolate SquaresMy mother sent me a crazy-big box of holiday candies from Aldi that arrived over the weekend. I’ll have lots more on those (photo here) soon.

The first item I wanted to mention was such an incredible deal. It’s rather generic looking box, designed smartly and spare though a rather vague package about what’s inside. It’s called Chocolate Swiss Assorted Chocolate Squares. (They’re not really squares, but the Swiss aren’t known for their precision, oh, wait, they are.)

The box holds 7.05 ounces and cost $2.29. Inside are about 45 tiny little gold-wrapped chocolate bars in four varieties. The bars are tiny, less than 5 grams each and 1.25 inches long and .75 inches wide.

Chocolate Swiss Assorted Chocolate Squares

After spreading out the contents, it looked like miniature stacks of gold bullion. I divided them up to get a sense of the distribution of the flavors. It’s obvious just at a glance that the red labeled ones (Gianduja) are the most prevalent. Then there were almost equal amounts of the Milch and Haselnuss. There were only seven Zartbitter.

The utilitarian color-coded labels say Schweizer Schokolade: Swiss Chocolate.

Chocolate Swiss Milch Chocolate SquaresMilch (Milk Chocolate)

The cute little bars are perfectly formed. The scent is soft and milky with a light malty note.

The texture is silky smooth and sugary. The dairy flavors are most prominent with the malt and some caramelized notes. The cocoa takes a back seat, providing just a subtle woodsy note and of course the inimitable melt. The bite is quite small, so this was one case where I wanted slightly more from these slight pieces.

Chocolate Swiss Haselnuss Chocolate SquaresHaselnuss (Hazelnut in Milk Chocolate)

This bar was the same as the milch but with the addition of some crushed hazelnuts.

The scent is mostly from the hazenut. There’s a light toasted and cereal note in there. The texture of the chocolate is the same as the milch, soft and creamy but with a strong grassy flavor of the hazelnuts and the crispy crunch of the pieces. Wonderfully snackable.

Chocolate Swiss Gianduja Chocolate SquaresGianduja (Hazelnut Chocolate)

Gianduja, or gianduia, is a paste made from sugar, chocolate and hazelnuts. Depending on proportions of the ingredients, sometimes it’s solid enough to make into bars. This gianduja is still a bit softer than the milch. There’s no snap at all, it just bends (and as you can see from the photo, gets dented easily).

That softness gives it a quick melt. In this case it has a strong roasted hazelnut flavor and a little bit of cocoa in there. It’s quite sweet, but doesn’t have much grain like some other versions like Milka can. It’s a bit sticky and completely filling.

Chocolate Swiss Zartbitter Chocolate SquaresZartbitter (Bittersweet Chocolate)

This is quite a nice looking little bar. It has a very bright snap to it and a smoky scent.

The flavors and texture are very different from the milk varieties. It’s thick and chalky after it melts a bit on the tongue and is a lot like a rich chocolate pudding. It has some strong bitter components and some tea and astringency as well. Sometimes it tastes burnt, like the edge of an overdone brownie. It’s not complex, just kind of a comforting and fleeting bitterness and dryness. I can’t say that I loved it, but I found it a decent counterpoint to the very sweet milk chocolates from time to time.

It’s a great value, when you consider how much a mid-brand large chocolate bar would cost about the same. It’s more than Dove Chocolate Promises or Hershey’s Miniatures, but this is also a variety set that’s pretty hard to find. The ingredients are fair - there are no additional oils in there, but they do use PGPR (though it’s listed after soy lecithin so I have to wonder how much is in it and if it’s in all varieties).

Related Candies

  1. Hachez Edel Vollmilch Nuss (Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts)
  2. Walkers Nonsuch Roasted Hazelnut Toffee
  3. Moser Roth Chocolate
  4. Short & Sweet: Hazelnut Bites
  5. Ice Cubes
  6. Frey Supreme: White, Lemon & Lime and Citron & Poivre
  7. Caffarel Gianduias
Name: Assorted Chocolate Squares: Milch, Haselnuss, Gianduja & Zartbitter
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Chocolate Swiss (Aldi)
Place Purchased: Aldi (Youngstown, OH)
Price: $2.29
Size: 7.05 ounces
Calories per ounce: 160
Categories: Chocolate, Nuts, Switzerland, Aldi

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:31 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I love Aldi’s candy!  Their selection is unpredictable, but always has something interesting and tasty.  Their Choceur and Moser Roth have not steered me wrong yet and are a good value.  I wish they’d get back the “fruit salad” wedges they had a while back (Haribo maybe?).  Anyone who’s a big fan of Toffifay should head to Aldi as they have it in a larger Toffifee labeled box for about $3 right now.  To me, that falls into the category of too sweet/old people candy, but that’s a good deal for it.

    Comment by Dave on 12/08/09 at 1:31 pm #
  2. One of my co-worker friends brings me Aldi candy sometimes. It’s always a nice surprise!

    Dave - I was enjoying a Haribo Fruit Salad mix I found at Cost Plus/World Market. Could be the same?

    Comment by Drea on 12/09/09 at 3:16 am #
  3. Never tried this brand before but will look for them now.  Does Cost Plus carry them?

    Comment by Pam Walter on 12/09/09 at 6:30 am #
  4. Drea, the Haribo mix that you’re seeing at Cost Plus sounds like the one.  The wedge shaped ones are (probably) white grapefruit flavor, and it’s really excellent.

    Comment by Dave on 12/09/09 at 1:57 pm #
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