Brookside Dark Chocolate

This was my first time to try Brookside Dark Chocolate, and I have to say I was impressed.  It carries the Hershey name and is definitely a step above the traditional Hershey offerings.

Brookside Dark Chocolates feature unusual pairings, all enrobed in silky smooth dark chocolate.  Some of their combinations feature non-traditional players such as goji berries, peaches and blood oranges.

It is a mid-priced chocolate, not the dollar cheap stuff but not truly gourmet either.  In my store it was $2.68/bar (US$).  I tried these three: Cranberry Almond, Blueberry Almond and Mango Coconut Crisp.

These bars are loaded with fruit and nuts.  No skimpiness here.  The cranberries were sufficiently chewy, as were the blueberries, and both had enough almonds to add even more nice texture.

3 of Brookside's pairings - delicious!

Look closely at the labels - the cranberry and blueberry bars have added flavors.  Blood Orange flavor has been added to the cranberry bar.  Acai flavor has been added to the blueberry bar.

I had to say that I could not detect the Blood Orange flavor in the Cranberry Almond bar.  It was just a nice blend of dark chocolate, dried cranberries and the slight crunch of almonds.

Same with the Blueberry Almond bar.  There were a lot of dried blueberries and a good amount of almonds, but again, I could not detect the Acai berry flavor.  Just the taste of good dark chocolate, blueberries and almonds.

The Brookside Dark Chocolate ingredient labels do indeed list these added flavors, but in both cases, they are the very last ingredient.  This means that these flavors have the least presence in these bars.

My personal favorite was the Mango Coconut Crisp.  There was no mistaking the delicious flavor of mango infused throughout the chocolate.  Add to that the bits of dried mango and the crisp rice and you have a fruity, crispy bite of tropical goodness all rolled in one.

Oddly, I couldn't detect much flavor of coconut.  It is the second to last ingredient on the list and the flavor is extremely subtle.  The mango is the dominant flavor here, but you, the reader, might taste it differently. I welcome your comments.

All in all, these were nice chocolate bars, definitely worth buying again.  Hershey continues to develop new combinations. 

I look forward to trying them all.

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