Product: Signature Egg
Made By: Hotel Chocolat
Purchased From: Hotel Chocolat
Price: £19
Review By: chocadmin
Welcome to the first REVIEW EXTRA (I'd have called them King Size Reviews but that's against the government stance on obesity). These reviews are intended to be more in-depth than the regular quick reviews that you can all write for individual products on the web site, also they can be on any chocolate product not necessarily those currently available to vote on.
Soon anyone will be able to submit their own 'REVIEW EXTRA' provided they have voted on at least 50% of the products on the website at the time of their submission (i.e. ranked ChocAddict or better).
Anyway down to business, the nice people at Hotel Chocolat just sent me this fine example from their current Easter egg collection. I've had Easter eggs from HC before and they are very different from what you might be used to from the high street.
Packaging:
OK so at £19 this isn't a cheap/casual product but you get what you pay for, the box the egg comes in is very impressive. solidly built in black with a carry handle and a name plate with the name of the product! HC also use strategically placed air bags to protect the egg in transit.
The egg itself is divided into two halves each wrapped in different coloured foil. The two halves are taped together with a clear plastic insert separating the smaller eggs within into the two halves. The chocolate halves are wrapped in foil but the mini eggs aren't so I guess you could focus on getting your way through all the mini eggs while keeping the bulk of the chocolate fresh.
What you get:
This is a premium egg but you do get plenty for your money. 12 alcohol themed (champagne or liqueur) mini eggs plus a milk chocolate half egg and a dark chocolate half egg. The egg itself is 15cm long, not exactly a giant of the Easter egg world these days but it's quality you're paying for not size. The milk chocolate half is 40% cocoa and the dark 72%. What really stands out is the thickness of the chocolate on these. Normal Easter eggs have very thin shells, quite often you're lucky not to break one by accident. Not so with these, the chocolate is several millimetres thick all the way round and at the edge is as much as 2cm thick! The only problem with this is that sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to break.
Taste:
Like I said earlier you get what you pay for and that definitely shows as soon as you try your first truffle egg from this product. Despite there being 3 champagne themed eggs each one has its own flavour, some being quite a bit stronger than others (go careful with the advocaat one). Personal highlights are the tiramisu and amaretto ones where the alcohol isn't quite so overpowering so you get more of the chocolate taste alongside.
As for the chocolate halves the milk half is very good, certainly better than the majority of the high street stuff (but with 40%cocoa you'd expect that). I preferred the dark half which despite the 72% cocoa isn't bitter (unlike so many high cocoa chocolates), whilst it isn't the smoothest dark chocolate I've had it is very palatable and thanks to the thickness of the shell you do get plenty for your money.
Conclusion:
If you're looking for one decent egg for this years chocolate season (otherwise known as Easter) you can't go far wrong with Hotel Chocolat's range (they also make great presents). I've had them before and their quality continues to be very high indeed. You won't find anything like this on the high street. Don't be tempted by the cheap rubbish (it is rubbish I've tried two already this year) currently on sale in the supermarket, if you're going to spend a little extra on chocolate this time of year it should be on something a bit more special.
Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg Range -
http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/CWS8L55MQJ9ZDBMIJCR7WI9NHQDJW385/chocolate-easter-eggs-gifts-CHCeaster/[attachment expired by admin]
