I knew the Roca Buttercrunch Thins were coming out, but I still haven’t seen them in stores. There are four varieties, milk chocolate, 60% dark, dark truffle & caramel truffle. Luckily I got this sample box of the 60% Cacao Roca Buttercrunch Thins from All Candy Expo (the one that I was most interested in!).
While I love the toffee center of Almond Roca (and the Mocha Roca), I’m not fond of the greasy mockolate coating and messy crushed almonds. (Yes, I sometimes scrape them off and just eat the center.) Isn’t it nice that Brown & Haley finally recognized that they can use better ingredients.
The 2.8 ounce box holds 8 pieces, each in their own little slot in a divided tray. It’s about the size of a VHS box (maybe a little thinner), but it seems like a lot of packaging and protection for what are probably pretty durable little candies.
The initial description of them as Thins was intriguing, I was picturing little toffee tiles like Valerie Confections sells. Instead I saw a post on Chocolate Traveler that showed that these are little sticks, which is fine with me.
The smell like toasted nuts, burnt sugar and dark chocolate. The dark chocolate coating, in my case, was slightly bloomed (and I blame myself for that, as it started to get absurdly hot in Los Angeles and didn’t follow my own precautions). The texture was just fine though. (And the last two got really bloomed, so I know what bloomed chocolate is in this case.)
I love the Roca toffee, it’s crispy and buttery at the same time. It has wonderfully complex burnt sugar flavors and the added nutty bits of almonds. The dark chocolate was also a smooth and creamy, adding a little more dimension with its own dark palate of flavors.
While I consider this a very successful confection, I find the packaging a little overdone. Does it really need to have both the fold over flap (hand purse style) box, plus the tray? The whole thing is then overwrapped in cellophane.
The price point, as far as I can tell from the Brown & Haley website is $3.95 a box, which puts it at over $22 per pound. For that price I’d either go up a notch and have some Carey’s of Oregon, Poco Dolce or Valerie Confections, or go down a notch and have a Heath Bar (why oh, why won’t they make them in dark chocolate?).
Related Candies
- Sconza 70% Dark Chocolate Toffee Almonds
- Shaymee’s Toffee
- Valerie Toffees & Nougats
- Enstrom’s Toffee
- The Rocas
Name: |
Roca Buttercrunch Thins: 60% Cacao |
RATING:
- SUPERB
- YUMMY
- TASTY
- WORTH IT
- TEMPTING
- PLEASANT
- BENIGN
- UNAPPEALING
- APPALLING
- INEDIBLE
|
Brand: |
Brown & Haley |
Place Purchased: |
sample from All Candy Expo |
Price: |
$3.95 retail |
Size: |
2.8 ounces |
Calories per ounce: |
150 |
Categories: |
Chocolate, Toffee, Nuts, United States, Brown & Haley, Kosher |
Thanks for the report. Like I said, I saw these at the store a month or two ago, but didn’t buy them. $3.99 seems high - but I think they were $1.99 at Winco. And…that very un “green” packaging is absurd. I almost don’t want to buy them for that reason alone. But they sound like a winner, other than that.
Yeah, what gives with Hershey’s refusal to offer Heath or Skor in dark chocolate? Although, if they did, it would obviously be the fake dark chocoate as seen in the Kiss, Reeses, etc. But still, would it kill them? Missed opportunity!
I found this candy in Walgreens for $2.49 per box. It wasn’t bloomed and tasted great. I like the fact that there is more chocolate and that it is rich tasting. It doesn’t seam like it has any more packaging than other products and you should be able to recycle the gold plastic tray and the cardboard box.
Great review- and thanx for a link to my blog! Very cool. I was thrilled to find these at Walgreens too- love the dark covered toffee- not so much the toffee caramel which just misses the mark- not enough caramel maybe? But the overall distinctive Roca flavor of all these is so awesome, I was wondering how long it would take to get dark choc Roca and here it is, finally. Now I think we need to all band together to somehow make dark Heath or Skor happen too- unless thats one of this years new items coming up….your website would know! im keeping my fingers crossed and eyes peeled, just dont know why they wouldn’t give that a whirl!
to bad you all don’t live near the factory. they have a factory outlet that has great hours and sell BOOBOOs. 1lb. containers of the thins that don’t pass visual inspection for those expensive little boxes for $6.00 a pound. $6.00 a pound!
Ed D
Cybele,
I find your review of Brown and Haley products COMPLETELY off the mark. Using terms like “mocolate”, (Thanks, “Friends”), “turds”, “poops”, and the like, show either a lack of depth, or a severe predjudice to Brown and Haley. A company that has sold for more than 80 years. I suppose Hershey to you is perfect? Look at the latest product ingrediant misinformation and selling practise lawsuits, and you will find something more to write about. I am not a native to the Northwest, but I’ll keep it just the way it is. Please stay home.
What a curious comment, Modyfied.
I see that you’ve read, as far as I can tell in this visit to Candy Blog, only the Brown & Haley reviews. And have landed on this one, the one product that I think is pretty good (a 7 out of 10 is a solid recommend) to critique my opinions.
First, I try to give an accurate description of the product (and a photo) then my opinion. And my opinion & my preferences are all just that ... mine. Some may share them, some find knowing where I stand to be indicative enough of how they may like a product.
You really have no idea about my history with Hershey’s degradation of their products (maybe a little light reading when you have a moment) or my rallying cry to demand real chocolate from candy companies. I’ve written tens of thousands of words on the subject of substitution of vegetable oils for cocoa butter. They’re all here.
For the record, I don’t care how long a company has been making products. Candy is perishable and all that really matters is what I can eat now. If it’s trash (made with substandard ingredients) why do I care if it was great when my grandmother bought it?
On top of that, there are some actually decent mockolate products out there ... so it’s not like I’m incapable of deep and unconditional love. (Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews ... that’s directed at you.)
But I’ll leave you with this ... I have a comments section and it’s a wonderful place for readers to leave their own review of the product. I welcome it, as do other readers.
Hello, I am new to this site. I recently purchased 8 boxes of the Roca Thins by Brown & Haley, for Valentine’s treats to give to friends and family. Well, thank goodness for sisters (they WILL tell you the truth)! The ones that she received from me were REALLY BAD! I checked a box that I kept for myself but had not opened prior to giving them out, and OMG, she was soooo right! There was no date on the boxes. I have sent two emails to Brown & Haley, so far, and they have NOT replied to me! I always thought that they were a reputable company, but I guess not! I would not have really thought much, had they responded, but the fact that they have not makes me so irate! (What they should remember is that when a consumer is happy with a product, they tell about four people, but when they are dissatisfied, they tell eleven! I am in the process!) Once in a while I have purchased something that is not satisfactory, and when I have contacted the company, they really bent over backwards to “make it right”. Well, not B&H! Just thought you should know! Next, I will take them back to the store! Perhaps if the company gets a boatload of bad candy back, then they will take notice! I may also contact the health dept. as they should know, too.
Thanks!
Michelle - I’m sorry to hear that B&H didn’t respond. How long has it been?
I definitely advise returning it to the store you bought it from - let’s face it, money talks loudest.
You didn’t say, what was wrong with the candy?
Sorry, They were really rancid. It could have been the nuts, or the butter in the toffee, that had gone bad. It makes you sick to smell them. I would not eat them! I don’t remember the actual dates that I contacted them, but it was after Valentine’s day, probably around a week ago, then I wrote a second time, a few days later. On their website, they say that they will contact you. It is a shame, because, the people here just raved about how good they were! And, now, I don’t EVER even want to taste them!
Update for the Almond Roca Buttercrunch Thins:
I have received a very sympathetic letter from Brown & Haley, along with restitution in the form of coupons. I guess when they said that they would contact me, they meant by mail. I apologize for reprimanding them, hastily. It was obvious by their letter that they do indeed care about their products and their customer base. They provided me with a toll-free phone number, addresses, etc. They were extremely cordial!
Sincerely,
Michelle
I am looking for easter candy that is make by Brown and Haley. Does anyone know where I can order some.
Sorry, I don’t know of any specific Easter goodies by Brown & Haley. I did find the regular Almond Roca and Cashew Roca at Albertson’s. You might go to the website, and check it out there. They really are a very nice company. They were very nice about the bad candy which I had purchased.
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