Monday, August 21, 2006

Dove Chocolate

I’ve had Dove chocolate a few times, but I’ve never bought it before. It’s usually on someone’s desk in an assortment and I’ll take a bite, but it was never something I was terribly blown away by. But then again, if the assortment has Reese’s Miniatures, I’m pretty much blind to everything else.

At Target over the weekend they had these bars, which said they were NEW!, but I’m not sure there’s much new about these except the shape. These bars are just like a bunch of linked Promises miniatures.

image

If there’s one thing that defines Dove chocolate, it’s their promotion of its silkiness. The bars aren’t large (1.3 ounces each), but they pack a lot of chocolateiness into each little segment. The dark bar has a lovely sweet aroma, but the vanilla notes aren’t as complex as I’d like.

The Rich Dark Chocolate melts quickly on the tongue, giving a thick taste of chocolate instantly. It’s very sweet, so the chocolate notes aren’t as prominent as they are in some of the upscale bars I’ve tried. The flavor is just middle of the road chocolaty, there aren’t hints of raisins, cherries or smoke. Just chocolate. But it’s dependable and wonderfully creamy.

The ingredients in the Rich Dark Chocolate bar start with sugar, which is apparent from the beginning. But this is another candy, like the Dark Raisinets that uses milk products in the “dark” chocolate, though not quite to the degree that the Nestle product did. Right after cocoa butter the ingredients list milkfat, which probably explains the cholesterol level (5 mg), which is the same as the Milk Chocolate bar.

The smoothness of the bar, I’m guessing, can be attributed to a process called conching. This process is what the liquid chocolate is continually ground up using rollers or metal beads, this works all of the larger particles of the cocoa bean into ultrafine pieces that cannot be detected individually by the tongue. Less expensive chocolate is usually conched for a much shorter period of time, which means that it might have some noticeable grain to it. Conching is an expensive process because it takes so much time, so some companies skimp on this step. Lesser chocolate can be conched as little as 6 hours and the finest chocolate may be conched for 72 hours. (Unusual graininess may also be caused by bad tempering, which results in an inconsistent cocoa butter crystaline matrix.) This conching process is one of the reasons that you can’t make chocolate at home - the particles in standard cocoa are not fine enough.

The other thing that accounts for the silkiness of the bar is the fat. These bars are pretty high in fat, which is definitely not a bad thing, but rather uncommon in the standard consumer chocolate bars like Nestle’s and Hershey’s.

image

I’d never tried Dove Smooth Milk Chocolate before, so I was kind of curious if it was like European milk with its powdered milk taste or if it was like American chocolate which can be a little smokier/tangy tasting.

It’s smelled rather like the European version - sweet and with lots of dairy tones to it. This bar is also very sweet, sweeter than the Dark by a longshot, which is easy to see on the nutrition label, the dark as 17 grams of sugars, the milk has 20 grams (the only other difference seems to be the dark has 3 grams of fiber and the milk only 1 gram).

I actually found this to be a very pleasant bar. It went well with my strong coffee and I ate some of it with some salted pretzels. It’s a little on the sweet side and lacks some chocolate notes, but those are replaced by the complex dairy flavors. There is some tangyness to it, which I rather liked.

My biggest fear about the bars was that they’d be waxy, which is something I’ve noticed with the chocolate on the Dove ice cream bars (but the chemistry associated with frozen chocolate is vastly different than room-temp chocolate). But still, there’s something that feels very plastic about the bars, I’m not quite sure what it is, and it’s not a feeling that I get with Hershey’s Kisses or M&Ms. It might be that I don’t like ultra-smoothness. And that’s purely a personal preference.

(Update: Because it has become an issue, no comments will be allowed here promoting any sales of Dove at Home or any other chocolate. Please limit your comments to the products reviewed here.)

Name: Dove Smooth Milk & Rich Dark Chocolate
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Dove (Mars)
Place Purchased: Target (Eagle Rock)
Price: $.69
Size: 1.3 ounces
Calories per ounce: 154
Categories: Chocolate, United States, Mars, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:39 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I’ve always wondered about Dove and I think I’m right in assuming that it’s just the US version of Mars’ ‘Galaxy’ which we get in the UK. We don’t get a dark chocolate version however, just a caramel version, kind of like a Caramello.

    Comment by GTO on 8/21/06 at 7:59 am #
  2. I don’t really like Dove chocolate.  The taste is nice enough; I guess it just feels too “gluey” upon melting.  I don’t know, just not my thing.

    Comment by April on 8/21/06 at 9:57 am #
  3. Never much liked dove either, far too buttery and much much to sweet. I’ve always thought of it as American chocolate. Also, weirdly it’s the name of a type of soap that also promotes “silky smoothness” so I always think a little of soap when I eat it.

    Comment by Leigh on 8/21/06 at 11:31 am #
  4. We’re using Dove soap at the minute actually, it’s very nice.

    Comment by GTO on 8/21/06 at 12:37 pm #
  5. Ooohh! I was so excited to see you reviewed Dove chocolate!

    Dove used to be my favorite chocolate. That is, until I tried Droste pastilles. I remember very vividly when I tasted Dove chocolate (the dark) after getting used to Droste’s flavor…..the Dove chocolate tasted bland and waxy. Blech.

    My mom still loves it, and scoffs at me when I snub her Dove for my Droste. Ah well, to each it’s own.

    Comment by Sera on 8/21/06 at 4:58 pm #
  6. Cybele’s childhood memories always charm me, so when this chocolate discussion came up, it got me thinking back about my early chocolate experiences…like the coating on malted milk balls which now doesnt taste like chocolate at all and those little chocolate stars which were my favorite.  Since Sharfenberger is all the rage where I live, I compared it(wine tasting style) to Dove, Godiva, and the other two local favorites, Guittard and Ghiardelli. They all taste curiously different compared side by side. America’s test kitchen did an interesting chocolate tasting, too. All about personal preference (more expensive is not necessarily better) in the final analysis I guess.

    Comment by marilyn on 8/22/06 at 5:49 am #
  7. I’ve also wondered what made these “new.”
    Just 2 years ago they changed the wrapper to a very similar design (so much so that I just realized the design is, in-fact, different.  And it does appear the shape has changed.  I guess I need to grab these “new” ones after all.  Dove and Symphony bars were always my fav American choc bars.

    Comment by Brad on 8/22/06 at 4:38 pm #
  8. Count me as someone else who doesn’t care for Dove. Oh, I’ll eat it happily enough, but if I’m picking up a chocolate bar to snack on, I’ll buy Hershey’s before Dove.

    Comment by Bruce on 8/23/06 at 5:32 am #
  9. The “new” is the format of the bar. The wrapper has changed about three times in the last 18 months. Just within the last couple months the bar has changed from five squares to the five promise shaped pieces. They have been on the Target checklanes for quite a while so that is not new. But hey if the new is making people buy them then I guess the marketing worked!

    Comment by Bertha on 8/26/06 at 1:01 pm #
  10. I was reading your blog about the Dove bar.  While it is a good candy bar and a lot of test are proving it to be healthy, one of the ingredients in the Dove bar is sugar.  Now we all know that to much sugar is not good for you.  I will agree that dark chocolate is good for you and it provides a lot of antixodants.  But I have discovered a product that is 100 times better for you and it is called Xocai!  Publish my web site address and go on this site and you will find THE most healthy chocolate out there for you.  I have notice such remarkable improvements in my health, things like lower blood pressure and my favorite, no more allergies!!!  That is worth it right there.

    Comment by Lynn on 10/03/06 at 6:11 pm #
  11. Cybele's avatar

    Lynn, you’re nuts if you think that it’s news to me or anyone who is a regular reader that there’s sugar in a Dove bar.

    I’m happy you stopped by, but link grubbing is not appreciated here and I have removed the link to your site.

    Comment by Cybele on 10/03/06 at 6:19 pm #
  12. Tried the Dove Chocolate… “Boy”, it was very good… “couldn’t believe it”...
    I’m a guy, didn’t want to post anything, but, I said “what the heck”... it’s worth it !  You have a grrrreat candy. I love, how the small piece just stays with you, enough to enjoy it. I always buy two bars (cause, one just isn’t enough for me) Want bigger pieces wrapped in one bar…. (hint, hint, hint)... anyway… GREAT JOB !!

    Comment by Jesse on 12/26/06 at 9:37 am #
  13. Dove is a brand of chocolate candy produced by Mars, Incorporated. Dove Chocolate is the market leader in premium chocolate and is the number one dark chocolate sold in the United States[citation needed]. The product line includes Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Caramels. Created in 1956 by a Greek-American immigrant from Chicago, Leo Stefanos, who would worry whenever his two young sons dashed after the neighborhood ice cream truck. To keep them safe, he spent months developing his own ice cream treat. Before long, the Dovebar was the talk of the neighborhood
    You can find it in Canada, USA, Europe, china…

    Comment by jesse on 1/15/07 at 2:37 am #
  14. does anyone know the % of cocoa in a dark dove?

    Comment by george on 1/16/07 at 9:38 am #
  15. I love Dove’s milk chocolate. From the taste to the texture. The first time I remember trying it was at a family friend’s house (those individually wrapped squares (one section/piece of the bars shown above). It’s my favorite plain chocolate. I also love the chocolate in the M-azing bars (crispy- the chocolate from the peanut ones always tasted different, not sure why though, probably just me) but M-azing and Dove are both made by Mars, so…..

    Comment by Trish on 3/03/07 at 6:28 pm #
  16. Oh, and the indivually wrapped dove squares come foil-wrapped and you can buy the flavors in seperate packs (milk, dark, and caramel) or mixed.

    Comment by Trish on 3/03/07 at 6:30 pm #
  17. I love - LOVE - Dove chocolate (dark and milk) and for a few years in Canada you could get Dove mini Easter eggs (in bags of about 450g or so), but they never promoted them much and they’ve gotten harder and harder to find. 

    Actually, I’d take the individually-wrapped squares too (it’s the same chocolate) but I can’t find them either - anyone seen them in Canada in the past few months?  Last time I saw them it was at Wal-Mart, but that was 3 years ago…

    Comment by SarahG on 3/06/07 at 9:24 am #
  18. Do you have Target up there? I’ve seen them there, and at CVS Pharmacy. They do have them in Walmarts here too. Ooh, and they have big mixed bags (milk, dark, caramel) over at BJ’s Wholesale Club, but I don’t know that they have those in Canada.

    Comment by Trish on 3/06/07 at 2:04 pm #
  19. Hi, on comment #10 by Lynn - i have to agree that the xocai chocolate is far better than the dark chocolate by dove. i was introduced by a friend of mine. i also know that alot of people are seeing the healing effects of eating xocai chocolate on a regular bases.
    So why not just eat a Dove bar? Well. . . the chocolate found in virtually all chocolate candy is PROCESSED, which kills the antioxidant content. Processed chocolate is laden with fat, wax, fillers, preservatives, and sugar. Xocai products contain completely natural , unprocessed chocolate which retains 100% of its antioxidant and nutritional value! Xocai products deliver the full antioxidant capacity of dark chocolate without the fat, wax, fillers, preservatives, and high sugar content normally associated with chocolate.

    Comment by teresa on 4/03/07 at 11:28 am #
  20. Cybele's avatar

    teresa - yes, processed chocolate is “laden” with fat! It’s called cocoa butter ... it’s what makes chocolate unique. Take that out of the recipe and you no longer have chocolate ... you have cocoa or mockolate.

    Read the ingredients on the Xocai bar ...

    http://www.mxicorp.com/ingredients/ing_om.html

    Dove bars DO NOT contain wax or preservatives. (American chocolate is prohibited from using wax by the FDA, however, some tropical countries do put food grade waxes in them.) In fact, there are VERY FEW chocolates that do contain preservatives, it’s the cocoa butter that makes cocoa extremely stable and protects the antioxidants in the cacao. Chocolates that contain preservatives are there to preserve the other ingredients, such as fillings or cremes.

    Chocolate itself does not have to have a high sugar content, it depends on the maker. Yes, there are chocolates that have higher antioxidants than Dove bars. There are also bars that have lower levels. It’s a CANDY BAR.

    Please go hawk your products elsewhere ... and don’t place your misinformation on my site again.

    Comment by Cybele on 4/03/07 at 11:55 am #
  21. i don’t sell xocai, i just bought some from a co-worker. you don’t need to be mean, cause my intention was just information that i read up about. talk about mean spirited!
    go eat your CANDY BARS!

    Comment by teresa on 4/03/07 at 12:54 pm #
  22. I love Dove Chocolate and I just found a idea from Dove, MY DOVE! You can personalize a message under the wrapper of Dove Promises… it’s Awesome. Made some up for my wife and she loved them. They are on the dove chocolate web site

    Comment by Jim on 4/26/07 at 3:38 pm #
  23. I love the Dove Promises - but only when they are fresh.  I buy them by the bag and the best thing is to cut open that bag and take that very first deep whiff of all that rich chocolate aroma.

    I rarely buy the eggs and the hearts because not only are they harder to get the foil off in one piece but I have a sneaking suspicion they get stored from year to year, holiday to holiday.  That said - I do buy the Truffle eggs - love those.  The chocolate covered almonds are great too except it’s way too easy to accidentally eat the whole bag.

    The only problem I’ve had with Dove is if you happen to leave the bag in a sunny spot and they get all soft.  I carefully arranged them on every flat surface in the fridge to let them get solid again but when I opened one up I was dismayed to discover swirly white marks on them.  When I ate one I found that it had seperated and was no longer creamy or smooth but was some sort of chocolate substance cut with some sort of powder.

    No loss tho - my daughter prounced them good enough for her and gobbled them up.  She even likes to warm up the individual promises in her hand or pocket for a while and then eat it that way.

    Me - I just buy a fresh bag - cut it open - take my deep whiff - and ahhhhhh…..

    Comment by Jennifer on 4/27/07 at 6:33 am #
  24. I was recently introduced to Dove chocolate…I can’t believe that I never tried it before.

    I find their dark chocolate to be much tastier (less bitter) than most others that I’ve tried…their milk chocolate is too sweet for my taste.

    Did you know that Dove does home parties? my friend just started a home based business with them…apparently they sell products so that you can make chocolate desserts using Dove chocolate…YUMMY!

    Comment by Tracey on 6/18/07 at 5:01 am #
  25. I just love the taste of Dove Chocolates, especially the dark chocolates… they are creamy and sweet that’s perfectly blended to suit our tender palates. You can never have enough of them! (yum yum)

    And, I thought you would like to know that Dove is going around giving out free samples of milk chocolate and dark chocolate candy out on the streets of major U.S. cities from August 2nd-5th. If you happen to be at these locations Baltimore/Washington DC, Boston MA, Chicago IL, Houston TX, Los Angeles CA, Miami FL, New York NY, Philadelphia PA, San Diego CA and San Francisco CA, here’s your chance to get a chocogasmic experience with Dove chocolate like no other! (without breaking your wallet)

    You can check Dove’s site dovechocolate.com for their other luscious offerings, bunch of recipes and other stuff.

    Comment by Joy on 8/01/07 at 5:04 pm #
  26. Cybele's avatar

    Do you work for Dove or one of their marketing companies, Joy?

    I find it really odd how many comments are popping up on my site regarding this Dove giveaway. (No offense, it may just be a coincidence that so many Dove fans go around googling “I love dove Chocolate” and “blog on chocolate reviews.”)

    Comment by Cybele on 8/01/07 at 5:09 pm #
  27. Thanks Joy for the info about the free chocolate. I heard about this but didn’t know what cities it was in. I don’t if you work for them or not but I appreciate the info anyway grin

    Comment by Steven on 8/01/07 at 5:42 pm #
  28. Actually,I don’t (I wish I was!). It’s just that my best-friend is part of the “dove ladies” who will be handing out the free samples IN SF area. I am just as excited as her!:-) [Not to mention, we had some blast of Dove treats last week, more than what our appetites can handle!]

    Comment by Joy on 8/01/07 at 5:45 pm #
  29. From what I understand, Dove dark chocolate is less than 70% cocoa which is the percentage necessary for the healthful benefits of chocolate. Dove won’t publish the actual percentage since most people just see “Dark” on a chocolate bar and think they’re eating a healthy alternative to milk chocolate.

    There are plenty of dark chocolate bars out there that are 70% cocoa - but to enjoy the health benefits you only need to eat the amount that’s about the size of a Hershey kiss.

    Comment by Pam on 8/14/07 at 1:41 am #
  30. i love dove chocolate!it melts in your mouth when you eat it

    Comment by Ms.lilly on 10/12/07 at 6:05 am #
  31. I just bought some Dove milk chocolate hearts.  They taste like they have cinnamon or some other weird spice in them.  The label says “natural and artificial flavors”.  Well I would like to know what these “flavors” are.  I hated the chocolate - far too cinnamon-flavored.

    Comment by CArol on 2/03/08 at 10:45 pm #
  32. I love it, enough said!

    Comment by C on 2/05/08 at 10:56 am #
  33. Wow…love this blog almost as much as I love Dove chocolate!

    Just wanted to comment to say that if your Dove melts and you put it in the fridge, the reason that you have the white swirls is because it lost its temper…it is still good to eat, just doesn’t look too good.  grin

    Dove has a new venture of home tasting parties that is the newest craze of home parties.  I am a chocolatier for them and recommend it to everyone.  The home parties are a hit because everyone loves tasting chocolate, especially Dove chocolate and buying it.  grin

    Comment by Linda on 2/09/08 at 9:48 am #
  34. I love Dove Promises as do my sisters and any friends I have introduced these treats to.  One problem - we can’t get them in Canada.  Isn’t that discrimination?  What’s with that?

    Comment by rhonda on 2/20/08 at 8:44 am #
  35. i am hunting for a brownies recipe that has 3 large Dove Bars in the middle of the brownie

    Comment by lynda on 3/07/08 at 12:02 pm #
  36. I loved Dove chocolate until now. I bought the foil Easter eggs and find that the taste is off - in both the milk and dark choc. varieties. So I looked on the wrapper to see what was amiss. There is no info on the country of origin. Now I’m wondering if they are cutting
    corners and producing it somewhere else. If so, I will never buy it again. In the meantime, I put in a request for the information on their website. I hope it is just a bad batch of eggs, because there is no excuse in the world if they have taken production out of this country

    Comment by pearl on 3/25/08 at 10:56 am #
  37. Random thought on Dove chocolates… Cybele, do I remember you aren’t big on fudge?  I’m not all that fond of fudge (it’s the texture, I think) and I find that I have the same reaction to Dove chocolates that I do to fudge.  It’s the same mouth-feel for me.

    Nice flavor, but the ultra-smooth is too fudgy for me.

    Comment by Beth on 5/14/08 at 6:41 am #
  38. Man, you got swamped with chocolate reps on this one! How many posts was that, where people were trying to covertly sell things??? smile

    On the Dove front, everyone I know either loves Dove or hates it. I guess it’s one of those chocolates that you either can’t stand, or totally love. I’m on the love side - Dove plain milk chocolate promises are my favorite kind of chocolate. I think it’s a little sweeter than some other chocolate brands, and I love that smoothness that some people have said they didn’t like. I like how they just melt in my mouth.

    My mom, on the other hand, really dislikes Dove - it’s the texture, I think, that she doesn’t care for. I think to like Dove you really have to be a smoothness fan! smile

    Comment by Cattie on 9/22/08 at 2:49 pm #
  39. After seeing the recall from Cadbury due to tainted milk from China, I wrote to Dove asking where their Dark Chocolate Promises were made…no reply.  Why don’t they list the country of origin on their packaging?  Anyone know where they produce this stuff?  If it comes from China, or has ingredients from China, I’ll never purchase another package.

    Comment by W. Vincent on 10/01/08 at 12:55 pm #
  40. Cybele's avatar

    W. Vincent - Dove is made in the United States in two factories, one in Elizabethtown, PA and the other outside of Chicago. I’ve been assured that Mars sources their milk for candy made in the US in the US.

    Hershey’s has a similar statement on their website.

    (Cadbury’s recall is only for their products made in Asia for the Asian and Australian markets, not their UK or American products.)

    As a side note, Dove dark chocolate products contain butterfat but no milk proteins as an ingredient.

    Comment by Cybele on 10/01/08 at 1:05 pm #
  41. I love Dove but I just am waiting for them to make white chocolate. It would be so delicious. How long do I have to wait? All the other companies have jumped on the white bandwagon!!

    Comment by orangekw on 10/20/08 at 4:15 pm #
  42. orangekw- Mmmmm….sign me up for some of that. Sounds dreamy.

    Comment by Temperance on 10/20/08 at 5:11 pm #
  43. I just received a “product recall” notice that included—along with 12 other products—“Dove Chocolate” due to “China’s milk scandal.” This came from a public health nurse in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If Mars sources its milk products for candy from the U.S., does anyone know whether Dove Chocolates sold in Canada would be sourced otherwise?

    Comment by Richard on 10/30/08 at 10:24 am #
  44. My husband and I have long been fans of Dove Promises, both dark and milk. We literally go through a bag a month-sometimes more. We’re wondering if Dove has changed their recipe? The bag of milk chocolate Promises which I just opened, (which I also just purchased), tastes different, and we both noticed it. Has anyone else noticed this? Am just wondering what’s going on.

    Comment by Debbie on 11/20/08 at 5:03 pm #
  45. Dove chocolate the name someone said it reminded them of Dove soap well it reminds me of the holy spirit when he came in the bible as a Dove so far Dove is one of my favorite chocolates in fact i Bought a bag this morning and came across this news Blog on Dove looking up recipes using Dove,it,s sweet, creamy delightful and come with a promise saying with each one cool to read!

    Comment by Amanda on 2/02/09 at 5:48 am #
  46. Does anyone else get indigestion from DOVE?
    I love chocolate and eat mostly dark because dairy does bother me but I can eat small quantities of every other brand of milk chocolate without this problem.  One promise kills me for hours.

    I always thought it was preservatives until I read this blog.  I am sensitive to sulfates, dairy and shell fish but I can’t figure out why DOVE.

    Comment by ami on 3/13/09 at 6:03 am #
  47. I am absolutely inlove with Dove Milk Chocolate. Ive never been a chocolate lover. However when I was in the hospital after having my son,my mom told me to try a piece. I havent stopped eating it since. Its now an addiction! Haha…an expensive one. I eat a bag a day! My two year old daughter loves it just as much.I cant explain what is so good about it, but I do know they are very addictive!!

    Comment by Jessica on 3/17/09 at 6:40 pm #
  48. i’m a big fan of chocolate. when i heard about the dove chocolate isaid i have to try it because it looks so yamyam. just looking at the chocolate makes you really want to eat it and never get rid of it.

    comment by ghadeer shalaab on 20/4/09 at 8:14 am

    Comment by ghadeer on 4/19/09 at 6:18 pm #
  49. Picked up some Dove bars in a store here in Bangkok the other day - horrible taste!  then I saw they were made in China.  God only knows what they put in them - there are no controls on food in Southeast Asia and the Chinese poison everything.

    Comment by Raven on 4/24/09 at 5:18 am #
  50. I had Dove white chocolate bars for the first time in China, this was the best tasting white chocolate I’ve ever had! When I got back to the States I’ve been unable to find it. Does anybody know if Dove is making white chocolate for the US?

    Comment by Big John on 6/29/09 at 7:08 pm #
  51. I just found a dove chocolate that was heart shaped, so it is obviously older than the bag I opened this month (July) where the candies are square.  I was amazed at how much creamier the heart shaped Dove chocolate was.  Was the recipe changed?  I am wondering if the product made previously was actually better tasting?  Anyone else with this experience?

    Comment by Dali on 7/28/09 at 3:49 pm #
  52. #41 White Chocolate is available! I actually do home chocolate parties as a Dove Chocolatier and we have White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate available. Joy you know alot about Dove and the processing of the chocolate. Thank you!!

    Comment by April Tubilan on 11/02/09 at 3:32 pm #
  53. I saw a few post about where to find a few dove chocolate items.  Along with Dove Chocolate Mars came out with an at home party business much like MaryKay. Called Dove Chocolate Discoveries. I love the candy bars! They are so creamy tasting. You should try all the other products DCD offers grin  Happy Tasting All!

    Comment by Stacy on 11/05/09 at 9:35 am #
  54. NO MARTHA STEWART.  I LOVE DOVE CHOCOLATE, BUT I WON’T EAT ANYTHING WITH HER NAME ON IT

    Comment by Carol Baughton on 2/08/10 at 2:45 pm #
  55. Has Dove ever come out w/ a low carb version of any of their stuff?

    Comment by Kristin on 2/09/10 at 1:04 am #
  56. Cybele's avatar

    Stacy - I only review products that are available to the general public.

    Kristin - there is a sugar free version, though it’s not to be consumed in large quantities. Small amounts of dark chocolate is actually low carb, most of the calories come from fat, not sugars.

    Comment by Cybele on 2/09/10 at 4:56 am #
  57. Who are you and why are you talking? Why should anyone care about your stupid opinions or stupid blog? You offer nothing insightful or nothing knew, you opinionated shrew.

    Comment by Kevin on 3/01/10 at 5:14 pm #
  58. cybele's avatar

    Kevin - nope, no obligation for you or anyone else to care. It’s a personal passion I’m sharing. You can opt out ... pretty simple, just don’t come back.

    Comment by cybele on 3/01/10 at 6:13 pm #
  59. Ill give a disclaimer, that I am a Dove Chocolate Discoveries chocolatier (not posting my contact info…just here to answer a question…)

    Dove does not release the percentage of cocoa in their dark, but it actually isnt that percentage that matters, as much as the quantity and quality of flavanoids, and Dove has a proprietary process for collecting high quality flavanoids.  Preventative Health magazine and Dr. Dean Ornish have both touted Dove Dark as the healthiest chocolate.

    I found it interesting that someone would claim that Dove uses wax..truthfully, Dove only uses cocoa butter, no animal fats or vegetable oils, as some brands do.  Our white chocolate is a legal white, again..many are not, due to lack of cocoa butter.  Some well known brands are currently trying to get the FDA to change chocolate standards in the US, so that they can use even less chocolate in their “chocolate”..and Mars, Inc. (parent company of Dove is leading the way to keep standards as they are currently.)

    As to the question re: tainted milk in China.  All Dove that is sold in the USA is made in the USA (recently, competitors have moved their USA plants to Mexico)..but Dove believes strongly in making US products in the US.  What is made in China is consumed in China.

    Along those lines, Dove’s counterpart in Europe is Galaxy….they are very similar, and slight differences are due in part to the different qualifications of chocolate in different countries.

    Lastly, the new Dove Chocolate Discoveries line is available to the public, and uses the same Dove chocolate in a wide variety of products, including candy making items, ready to eat goodies, beverages, baking items and more.

    Again..my info is not in this post, because I truly just want to give correct info and answer questions.

    Warmly,
    kim

    Comment by Kim on 3/10/10 at 5:04 pm #
  60. Cybele's avatar

    Kim - You think that Mars is leading the way to keep the standards for chocolate high? I don’t think you’ve ever visited Candy Blog before or read about the fight for real chocolate back in 2006-2008. That campaign was started by Gary Guittard. The challenge was taken up by real people like me, other bloggers and readers of this site - not huge corporations. Mars followed suit only after over 30,000 Americans voiced their support for real chocolate to the FDA. Take a look back in the records here and you’ll see that Mars was one of the companies who actually supported the safe & suitable substitution of cocoa butter for vegetable fat in the early 2000s and wanted to do worse than just change cocoa butter.

    The fact that they’ve straightened out is wonderful, but don’t try to chocolatewash it. We all appreciate that they’re making a quality product, but don’t for a second think that they haven’t decided it’s a good business decision to do so.

    There are lots of other things wrong with your statements but we’ll just go with the one that’s near and dear to my heart.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/10 at 5:49 pm #
  61. That seems odd, considering Mars COULD use animal and vegetable fats now, and they dont….they only use cocoa butter.  Why would they want to expand the allowance when they currently dont take the liberty of doing so?

    Comment by Kim on 3/10/10 at 7:42 pm #
  62. Cybele's avatar

    Kim - I don’t know what you mean. Of course they COULD use animal or vegetable fats (in fact, they do put dairy fats in their dark chocolate - adding unnecessary cholesterol to what could be far more healthy without it) - but the FDA rules are still quite clear. No substitutions are allowed for cocoa butter if you want to label the product chocolate.

    Shortly after the FDA said that they would not relax the rules, Hershey’s went ahead and added vegetable oils to plenty of their products, including Mr. Goodbar and Hershey’s Kissables. (They say “made with chocolate” instead of chocolate bar.)

    Listen, I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with Mars about why they do stuff, I only have the press releases to go off of. I’m grateful that they still use wholesome ingredients in their products. I don’t think they’re wrong to use it as a marketing position either. But they did have a change of heart somewhere along the way (could be that they have a different head of the company now).

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/10 at 8:17 pm #
  63. We do have a relatively new President of Mars, Inc. North America; Todd Lachman.  However, Mars is family owned, and the Mars family is still very much in charge and steering the company. 

    I cant speak to old times, but I can tell you that their work with sustainability, ecology, and quality has impressed me…as well as keeping our US manufacturing jobs in our country.

    Comment by Kim on 3/10/10 at 10:13 pm #
  64. Cybele's avatar

    Kim - thanks for the education about Mars. I’ve met Mr. Lachman. I also appreciate, whatever the reason behind it, that Mars is making efforts to keep jobs in country that they’re producing the candy for, creating manufacturing facilities with allergens in mind, using whole ingredients and helping to educate consumers.

    But they’re also a for profit company. A very, very secret privately held one.

    I don’t quite understand why you’re engaging in this conversation on a review post that’s three and a half years old - that predates Dove Discoveries.

    Good lucky with your business, but I’d like to consider this closed. I’ve addressed every one of your concerns myself (mostly posted by trolls, by the way, whom I don’t usually engage) on this blog in other posts.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/10 at 10:19 pm #
  65. I stumbled across your blog by accident, searching for something else re: Dove, and read some questions that I had not seen answered.

    Since the last post (prior to mine) was written last week, I didnt feel it was an outdated or closed discussion, my mistake.

    best,
    kim

    Comment by kim on 3/10/10 at 10:32 pm #
  66. Cybele's avatar

    Kim - The other topics presented here are either answered publicly, within other posts or I sent messages to the poster privately.

    I’ve reviewed at least 100 other Mars products, thousands from makers all over the world ... not everything is contained within this post from 2006.

    I asked at the end of the post that the comments be limited to the products reviewed.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/10 at 10:37 pm #
  67. Some of you have posted that all it takes is one “kiss” size dark chocolate to reap health benefits but actually, it takes ONE ounce, which would be about 6 “kiss” size chocolates.

    Comment by Susan on 1/07/12 at 10:25 am #
  68. I like Chocolate but Dove makes me want to spread my wings and fly!

    Comment by Daver Schnurpman on 6/12/12 at 9:37 am #
  69. I bought a bag of Dove silky smooth chocolates and I really loved the way they felt in my mouth. They seemed to melt on my tongue. The flavor was pretty good and I even liked the dark chocolate, which has never been my favorite flavor.
    One day, I decided to melt the chocolate and pour it over my ice cream. I put it in the oven for a couple minutes and it wouldn’t melt. Then, I turned it on again for another three minutes; still did not melt. Nothing!! Not even warm? Oh well…..a little odd, right? Put it in my mouth and it was plastic. It had no creamy feel and I fought to choke it down. Totally blew my mind.
    So what was that all about? I have seen comments that the bar was waxy and the chocolate on the ice cream was waxy. Wax is another form of plastic. I want to know what this stuff is made of?

    Comment by Susan on 2/16/13 at 6:21 pm #
  70. For 3 years now I’ve been looking for the Dove Truffle Chocolate eggs that come out at Eastertime.  Why can I not find these eggs anywhere anymore?  They are the best.  Do they not have them here in Florida?  I hope someone can help me with this.  Thanks

    Comment by stephanie on 3/12/13 at 6:01 pm #
  71. Someone brought some DOVE milk chocolate mint melt aways and it was sooo delicous. NOT the kind with the green and dark chocolate swirls. This was chocolate thru and thru with minty chocolatey taste. It was sooo good could someone please tell me where I can get that perticular Dove chocolate

    Comment by RH on 4/29/13 at 8:24 am #
  72. I’m addicted to Dove dark chocolate with raspberry swirl and all of a sudden I can’t find it anywhere. What’s going on. Please tell me thèy haven’t stopped making it.

    Comment by Lois Woodward Hughes on 7/19/13 at 9:29 pm #
  73. I think dove is pretty sweet and I went on this site to help me with a science fair project about sweet chocolate. It has helped a lot. first my paper had nothing now its pretty much filled. my comment on chocolate like the majority I preferred Hershey’s or my favorite Kit Kat. now though dove is a good choice especially milk chocolate my rating would be 9. not exactly seberb, yummy.

    Comment by kitty gold mays on 12/09/13 at 5:39 pm #
  74. I make anise-flavored biscotti with Dark Dove Chocolate applied to one side and they are outrageously delicious.  The chocolate melts in your mouth and is perfect with the anise flavor.  By far my favorite chocolate for that recipe.  It is rich and creamy and not overwhelming next to the other flavors.  I think it is one of the best commercial dark chocolates out there.

    Comment by Michelle Garde on 5/15/14 at 1:28 pm #
  75. I think that anybody can say what they want to say
    Cybele. It is true that it is your site but everyone has their own opinion. ‘K? You should probably say something positive about their blog first before you comment. Sheesh,Cybele,Sheesh. Tsk,tsk,tsk.

    Comment by Madelenla on 2/26/15 at 4:34 pm #
  76. Dove used to be my favorite chocolate. i love dove chocolate!it melts in your mouth when you eat it.

    Comment by Timothy Thill on 10/12/16 at 11:07 pm #
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