Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Mauna Loa Macadamia Kona Coffee Bar

It’s coffee day here at CandyBlog.net. Yes, I’ve got jetlag and I need lots and lots of caffeine. So in between sips of the regular liquid kind and some Black Black gum, I thought I’d review some coffee flavored chocolate candies.

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I found this bar at the checkout counter at Target. There are a few varieties of the new Mauna Loa foray into consumer chocolate, but I thought that they knew their macadamias and of course Kona is known for their coffee. How could I go wrong?

This is a smooth and sweet dark chocolate bar with macadamia nuts and coffee. The bar has four domed segments each with some nice small bits of macadamias scattered evenly on the bottom of the bar. In this form I get the macadamia taste, but the texture is more like coconut. That’s not a bad thing. Then the coffee kick comes in. It’s mostly a chocolate flavor, but when you hit the coffee grounds, it’s definitely a good mellow coffee flavor.

But here’s the thing, and I mentioned it yesterday when reviewing the Dolfin cafe tasting squares ... I don’t want the coffee grounds. I don’t put up with coffee grounds in my actual coffee, why do I want them in my chocolate? Well, they do add fiber. This bar has 3 grams of fiber. (It also has 9 grams of saturated fat.)

Overall, it’s too sweet for me. I want a little darker, richer chocolate with my coffee essences. The macadamias add a great nutty flavor and texture to it, and though I’d never drink a macadamia/chocolate flavored coffee, I will eat a macadamia and coffee studded chocolate. I’m vaguely curious about their milk chocolate and might pick that bar up at some future visit to Target. I do actually appreciate Target’s wide selection of candies at the check out that include more than the standard fare of Hershey’s, Mars and Nestle and at 99 cents, it’s only slightly more expensive than the regular bars.

Name: Macadamia Kona Coffee Dark Chocolate Bar
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Mauna Loa
Place Purchased: Target
Price: $.99
Size: 1.76 ounces
Calories per ounce: 142
Categories: Chocolate, Coffee, Nuts, United States, Hershey's, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:12 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I’m a huge coffee drinker, but I never really got into coffee-flavored candy.  For one thing, I’m a little worried about upping my caffeine intake too far beyond the daily recommended allowance, and I need that whole allowance for actual COFFEE.  For another, it’s a flavor combination that should work really well, but just often doesn’t in practice for some reason.  The few times I’ve had anything that mixed the two flavors, it’s like “What’s this bitter stuff doing in my beloved sweet chocolate?! Get it OUT!”

    It’s rare for me to come away from one of your entries and not be tempted to try whatever you just reviewed, but this time I think I’ll pass.  Hey, there needs to be something chocolate in this world I can pass up with ease!

    *gets up to drink some black coffee*

    Comment by Karen Gellender on 3/01/06 at 3:18 pm #
  2. Being that I’m from Hawaii and have a wealth of totally useless information, I just wanted to let you know that Hershey’s bought the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation in 2004.

    Comment by Marvo on 3/01/06 at 7:52 pm #
  3. Cybele's avatar

    Karen - I have to agree about the caffeine considerations, I try not to eat coffee flavored chocolate late in the day, lest it keep me up at night.

    Marvo - thanks for the info - I had a vague recollection of that, and only put it together with your comment.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/01/06 at 10:36 pm #
  4. It’s funny, none of my friends like chocolate with the bits of coffee beans, but I *love* it. Then again, I’m really a texture person, AND I love bitterness in some things—like chocolate.

    My current favorite is the Tiger Bar by the Endangered Species Chocolate Company (made from real tigers!). Mmm. Crunchy coffee beany goodness.

    Comment by Laurel on 3/02/06 at 6:46 am #
  5. I just got some Green mountain, Kona Mountain Estate 100% Kona Coffee beans, which cost about 26.00 with shipping.  The first thing I did was open the bag, and the aroma was unbelieveable, I was going to grind some of it and put it in my french press coffee maker, but, I thought, maybe I just bite and suck on one bean, you just can’t believe the flavor, from one bean, and it can last over a hour, no wonder this coffee is 26.00 for 12 ounces.  I might just chew the beans, and the hell with the coffee!  Who needs gum!

    Comment by Jim Laughead on 12/07/06 at 2:38 pm #
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