I have never seen so much chocolate in a box addressed to me…
…This was the hamper I received courtesy of Elizabeth Shaw so I could test and review their full range. And wow. I am a lucky blogger!
I admit I (well along with friends and family) have spent the last month or so tucking into various forms of mint, butterscotch and other chocolate. And you’ll not be surprised to know that I’ve enjoyed every mouthful. Let me briefly take you through the range.
You all know about Elizabeth Shaw’s mint chocolates, we often see them at Christmas time. Elizabeth Shaw mint chocolate is simply yummy. The mint crisp individually wrapped chocolate discs are lovely smooth chocolates with mint and honeycomb pieces for a chocolate that melts in your mouth but also has texture. It is the texture I really like – the honeycomb really adds something to ‘ordinary’ chocolate. And the mint flavour is really good thanks to the use of mint oil – a good honest and traditional mint chocolate. I’m sure you’ve all had one before now. It was the other chocolates in the hamper that were new to me.
I have been treated to Butterscotch Crisp, Caramel Crisp, Cocoa Crunch and Honeycomb Crisp chocolate discs. Like the Mint Crisp these are individually wrapped (as you’d expect from Elizabeth Shaw) and available in various box types – they are smooth chocolate discs with honeycomb pieces to give texture. Of the four I can easily put them in order of the ones I liked least and most – Cocoa Crunch at the bottom (although I still liked them a lot) followed by Caramel Crisp, then Honeycomb Crisp with Butterscotch Crisp on top. The Butterscotch Crisp especially are very (very) moreish – a really nice alternative to thee after dinner mint tradition and great for sharing.
Even better for sharing are the Flutes. I received Orange, Latte, Mint and Amaretto Flutes. The best thing about them (well apart from the fact the smooth indulgent thin chocolate sticks are a joy to eat) is the box opens out to display the chocolates really nicely so they can be left on a table or passed around easily. I’m liking the functional packaging!
The orange and mint ones went really fast – they are very easy to eat – with the coffee and amaretto ones lasting a little longer. Both are slightly acquired tastes I think, but when my brother-in-law came to stay the almond ones didn’t last long at all as they are apparently one his favourite chocolates. If I was going out to buy some chocolates to share this very evening I would choose the Mint Flutes. Of the whole range (not just the Flutes) these were my very favourite, closely followed by the orange ones. The Flutes were definitely the winner for me.
Finally I had bars – slabs – of the Mint Crisp, Cocoa Crunch and Butterscotch Crisp chocolate. The same chocolate as in the little discs, but in a rather large bar. I had to be good and eat it square by square, as before, simply moreish. Not as easy to share… oh dear what a shame!
So there we have it, what seems like a very short review of a very large box of chocolates. Honestly though, Elizabeth Shaw chocolate is really lovely, quite luxurious, you should definitely consider any one of these for sharing with friends.