Tuesday, June 13, 2006

DeFranco’s Espresso Secrets

While on the show floor I came across this booth on the first morning, in one of the first aisles I went down:

Real Espresso! Liquid Center!

I was thinking it’d be the American version of Ferrero’s Pocket Coffee from Italy. And we really need those.

image

There they were, looking so lovely on the silver platter. I had gotten up at 5 AM, so maybe my judgement was a little clouded by 9:30.

I took one and bit into it. No liquid center! Only a shiny, soft and bitter tar. Like that stuff that’s left at the bottom of a coffee pot when you’ve left it on the heating element overnight.

But in order to be fair about them, I took another on the last day to bring home and trash with photographic evidence.

Well, lo and behold the one I brought home had the liquid center!

The texture might have been more satisfying, but the flavor was no better. Still bitter and acrid, syrupy sweet and without as many of the coffee notes that I would have liked. The chocolate was decent, but completely overshadowed by the center. And the production concerns me as well, if one of the samples I got was sub-par, I wouldn’t be terribly confident about a whole box of them being consistent.

I have no idea where they sell these, or much about the company at all. I hope that they can tweak though, because it’s obviously a good idea if Pocket Coffee has been doing so well. The big difference here is that there was no sugar granules in here like I found with the Pocket Coffee, so maybe it’s a completely different process. I’m wondering what their Espresso Secret is ...

Name: Espresso Secrets
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: DeFranco's
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo sample
Price: unknown
Size: unknown
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Chocolate, Coffee, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:04 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Thanks for the heads up! I, too, am a Pocket Coffee fan and bought a whole summer’s worth of stash from CapriFlavors. I surely won’t be spending dollars on these if I see it at my local grocery’s candy aisle.

    Comment by finnguala on 6/20/06 at 9:49 am #
  2. I LOVE the Espresso Secrets!  Excellent dark chocolate with espresso inside!  I enjoy this product, rich, creamy, quality dark chocolate and true espresso liquid center - not sugary like Pocket Coffee - actual espresso!  I feel the dark chocolate and espresso liquid compliment each other.  No sugary granules or lingering bitterness.  I haven’t heard any complaints!

    Don’t let one critic’s opinion make your decision!  Consider contacting the company and taste for yourself!

    Comment by Tami D on 6/12/07 at 5:52 pm #
  3. do you know where Espresso Secrets are sold in NYC?

    Comment by lindah on 8/28/07 at 12:55 am #
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