Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Green and Black’s White Chocolate

I don’t know what came over me. I bought a bar of white chocolate. I know there are purists out there who don’t think that white chocolate is chocolate at all. But if the stuff that is called mockolate (cocoa solids and hydrogenated or palm oils) can’t be called chocolate because it’s lacking cocoa butter, then this stuff that has cocoa butter but not the cocoa solids can at least be called white chocolate.

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Each year, as Easter gets closer, against my better judgment I want white chocolate. I don’t actually like white chocolate, it’s usually so sweet it makes my throat hurt and has some sort of electrical effect on my fillings so as to give me a jolt. But there it is, I get to craving it.

I know it has to do with those molded chocolates that my paternal grandmother used to put out on display at Easter. Little bunnies and molded white chocolate baskets filled with different colored white chocolate lollipops. It always smelled of vanilla, sugar and jelly beans ... far sweeter than anything had a right to be. It was like it was some sort of super-dense sugar confection. I’ve mentioned candy season before, and it’s important to note that Easter is the final holiday in Candy Season - so it’s probably the reason that I felt the need to gorge on the highest sugar content products available to me.

But I’d heard that the Green & Black’s Creamy Vanilla White Chocolate Bar was different. So, I bought one at Whole Foods. Rationalizing the whole time that I was doing it for you, dear readers. I was taking the white chocolate bullet for you, so that you might avoid it.

I opened the wrapper and instead of being greeted by something that looked like paraffin, it was creamy colored and flecked with real bits of vanilla. It smelled milky and sweet, but not sticky. A mix of cognac, butter and honey.

The first ingredient is still sugar (well, organic raw cane sugar), but it boasts 30% cocoa content and 28% milk. If you like the dairy milk flavor of European milk chocolates, like Cadbury, then I think you’ll like this bar. It’s sweet, but flavorful, with a good hit of bourbon notes in the vanilla. The bar melts smoothly and velvety on the tongue and leaves me wanting more.

I ate the whole bar yesterday at work, which is saying a lot. I don’t usually consume something this big in one sitting. (Even an eight hour sitting.) Something about a rainy day makes me want to snuggle up with a nice bar of sugar, dairy and fat. Mmmm.

This bar has done something dangerous, it’s changed my mind about white chocolate. Luckily, I’ve only come to the conclusion that I like Green & Black’s White Chocolate. I can’t give it a ten ... let’s face it, I’m prejudiced ... I just can’t do it. If I cave in and buy another one, I’ll come back here and update the rating. The true test is whether I want it after Easter is over.

Note: Though Green & Black’s is a UK company, the bar was made in Italy. Green & Black’s is now owned by Cadbury Schweppes. This bar is organic, but not fair trade certified.

Name: Creamy Vanilla White Chocolate
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Green & Black's Organic
Place Purchased: Whole Foods
Price: $3.29
Size: 3.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 157
Categories: White Chocolate, Italy, Green & Black's, Organic

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:45 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Weird…White chocholate does that to my fillings too…lol..just thought I’d add my 2 cents!! Oh..btw..I tried Dagoba’s Chai bar…WOW..my NEW FAV!! Thanks!!

    Comment by Amy on 3/07/06 at 10:16 am #
  2. Cybele, thanks for putting your taste buds on the line for us, and taking the bullet, day after day. :^) But the name of this bar reminds me of “Bay City State Park” (MI) or “Valley City State University” (SD).

    Comment by Tricia on 3/07/06 at 10:33 am #
  3. Green & Black’s is quite well respected over here, there’s the milk and plain chocolate and a few other flavours, but I’m not sure I’ve seen white.

    I’ll research other flavours for you!

    Comment by Helen (Sammy) on 3/07/06 at 11:04 am #
  4. When I was younger, my aunt would always give me at least 2 pounds of white chocolate at Easter time.  I still can’t stand the stuff.  I think it should be called candy filler.  It just reminds me almost of the cheap, bland ice cream that they put in ice cream sandwiches.

    Comment by John on 3/08/06 at 1:26 am #
  5. I just picked up a limited edition White Chocolate Twix bar today.  I bet the Green & Black’s Creamy Vanilla White Chocolate Bar was much better than the Twix.

    Comment by Marvo on 3/08/06 at 1:49 am #
  6. What’s green and black and white all over? This chocolate bar! hehe

    Glad you found a white chocolate bar that’s to your liking smile

    Comment by Samantha on 3/08/06 at 11:49 am #
  7. You should try the Dark Chocolate.

    Comment by Scott on 3/08/06 at 1:21 pm #
  8. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for your art (and us).  Having recently discovered your blog, my only complaint is how chocolate heavy it is.  I have always thought chocolate should be it’s own category and “candy” should be a term reserved for the good stuff- like gummy bears, Skittles and the like.  Chocolate to me is an ingredient best used sparingly.  However, I DO enjoy a good white chocolate now and then and will be happy to give this one a try.

    Thanks!

    Comment by Angela on 3/09/06 at 6:42 pm #
  9. Cybele's avatar

    Angela - your comment on how chocolate-heavy CandyBlog might be is interesting.

    I did a little poking around and have found that I’ve done over 300 reviews so far and about 175 of them are for chocolate candies. So it’s a good proportion of the candy I review.

    I think chocolate is candy, but of course not all candy is chocolate.

    I find I eat more chocolate in the cooler months, as it’s just easier to store properly. As it warms up you can be guaranteed more sugar candies featured here. But I’ll keep it in mind, to make sure I sprinkle in enough sugar to help the chocolate go down!

    Helen - the only other Green & Black’s I’ve reviewed is the Maya Gold, but I’ve had a few of the other dark chocolates (the little tasting squares). The good thing is that Target (our large superstore) carries them now, so I can get it cheap (but they didn’t have the white chocolate bar).

    Tricia - yeah, I think they could have come up with a better name for the thing. But hey, I bought it, so maybe it’s not the name that compelled me.

    John - really, this stuff is totally different than that hydrogenated oil and sugar mixture we had as kids. But I totally understand how experiences can color our affinity for things as adults.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/06 at 12:09 pm #
  10. Cybele:

    Oh, I hope you realize I was just trying to be funny.  I TOTALLY love your blog- even if you love chocolate more than I do wink  Truthfully, I’m all for everyone being chocolate-crazed (including my 2 year-old daughter).  It just means more sour candy for me!

    Comment by Angela on 3/10/06 at 12:36 pm #
  11. Cybele's avatar

    No worries Angela! Even points made in jest are often true ... I have been eating A LOT of chocolate lately.

    I was debating picking up the SweeTarts Easter eggs and their sour gummi things at the drug store last night ... but then I realized they’ll be way cheaper after the holiday and of course they don’t spoil as easily.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/10/06 at 1:28 pm #
  12. Green & Black’s Maya Gold is AMAZING. It’s my new favorite indulgence, though I’m now tempted to try the white chocolate bar as well. (I’ve always liked white chocolate though, so their bar can probably only be a delightful improvement on those molded bunnies and baskets of yore.

    Comment by Jane on 3/25/06 at 6:40 am #
  13. I don’t like white chocolate, but based on this review, I picked some up yesterday to try.

    Holy Moses, is it good! If all white chocolate tasted like this, it would be much more popular.  I’m interested in chopping it up and using it in some recipes.

    Comment by Laura Rebecca on 5/19/06 at 5:53 am #
  14. I love white chocolate and am unable to eat the other chocolate so I am always looking for the white. I had a white Twix and Kit Kat and have not been able to find them anywhere. They were really good!

    Comment by Jenny Casanega on 10/12/06 at 8:14 am #
  15. I’ve figured out your problem!  When you were having the waxy crap you mentioned in a previous review, you maintained denial and said you liked white chocoalte.  As an idea.  But too much waxy crap and the denial faded.  Now you taste delicious white chocolate, but you were in one denial for too long and you far prefer this one.  Pleasant surprise is preferable to dissappointment, even if it means prejudice.

    Yes, I am a wannabe psychiatrist.  Yes, I love your blog.  Yes, Dogoba makes the best white chocolate ever (psychiatrists have to be agreeable.)

    Comment by Adularia on 11/11/06 at 7:40 pm #
  16. If anyone lives in San Francisco and is interested in sampling British candies…there is a great little store a la “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.  It is called “Fiona’s Sweetshoppe”.  Truly an awesome find!  Tons of black licorice if anyone has a hankering for that, as well as bars, soft/hard candies.

    Comment by Teresa on 4/04/08 at 8:23 am #
  17. You can get alot of limited edition stuff on ebay. Jenny, there are white kit kats on there… I LUV THEM and get them myself but they are probably more exspensive on ebay.

    Comment by Christen on 4/16/08 at 3:01 am #
  18. I am in love with your blog and especially love your scoring system thing! I am to try this tonight and review it, and you’ve put me all the more in the mood!
    Awesome site.

    Comment by JamesV on 6/04/09 at 11:49 pm #
  19. These must be yummy. But a white chocolate for vegans would be stunning. There was something called Barat chocolate, I think, that was sold twenty years ago. It had tofu in place of the milk and may have come in WHITE and MILK versions. Ever hear of it? If it is still around, I would love to get my hands on it.

    Comment by Lu on 11/30/12 at 8:40 am #
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