Q.bel Crunchy Crispy Wafer Rolls: Dark Chocolate

I had read Cybele's recent review of Q.bel's bars (here), and her review on this particular product (here), so when Q.bel offered me some samples of their candies, I could not resist.



I opted to start with these wafer rolls because I love wafers to begin with -- and I was hoping that they would remind me of a really high-end Piroutte type candy.

Smelling the rolls, they have a really deep cocoa scent right off the bat. But as good as the smell is it can't prepare you for the flavor.

It has a very strong, bordering on bitter taste, but it manages not to step into the land of "why the hell did I just eat that-ville?!" It's a 53% dark chocolate. In my old age, I am starting to find that I prefer my dark chocolate to be under 70%, so this was perfect for me. (I am getting to be such a wuss!)



The outer layer of chocolate is thick enough to totally cover the wafer roll. The wafer roll is thin -- I don't think it is quite as thick as the Piroutte's. The center is filled with the same dark chocolate that the roll is enrobed in. The wafers are crispy, and seemed slightly buttery to me. The inner chocolate layer gives you a deeper hit of the chocolate. The center is not completely filled. There are air bubbles or gaps, but not so much that you wonder where the chocolate went. The chocolate is smooth and melts fast for a dark. It has rich coffee notes, and the aftertaste reminded me of good hot cocoa.



All told, these are seriously good.

Q.bel products are all natural, contain no preservatives, no HFCS, and come in at 120 calories for a two finger serving. Since everyone seems to still be stuck on the 100 calorie snack kick (and since most of those products taste like cardboard), you should sacrifice those extra 20 calories and have one of these instead!



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company

CALORIES:
120 per package (2 rolls)

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Also contains wheat, dairy, soy and peanuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
qbelfoods.com

Kit Kat Caramel

I still say it's a shame that the KitKats made for our Japanese friends come in so many different flavors, and yet the KitKats made for the U.S. are so boring. We don't get special addition flavors. OK, sometimes the portions are different or they will have seasonal imprints on them, but that's about it. I am sure the root cause boils down to the manufacturer. KitKats made for the U.S. are made by Hershey, whereas the rest of the worlds supply is made by Nestlé. Whatever the reason, Hershey isn't big on special editions (with the exception of the Kisses line, which does have frequent variants). What I am getting at is that while the U.S. versions are good, they are not quite worth reciting French poetry to.



This Kit Kat Caramel bar has actually been out for several years. I have just never gotten around to trying one. The bar is in the same format as the KitKat Extra Crispy bar -- rather then being four fingers with a few layers of wafers, this bar is one solid finger about the length of an average candy bar, and has several more layers. The Extra Crispy bar is my favorite U.S. version. The flavor is the same, but the texture is really dense and gives you the sense that you are actually sinking your teeth into something. If you had to keep eating the same candy bar over and over and over again, there are certainly worse ones to be stuck with.



The KitKat Caramel has a puddle of caramel that lies on a slab of chocolate above the wafers. Because they have made room for the caramel, this bar has a slightly smaller wafer layer than the normal Extra Crispy bar.

The chocolate is standard issue Hershey's milk chocolate. A little grainy, a little too sweet, but cool on the tongue.

The wafers are crispy, very sweet. If you've ever had a KitKat (any version) there is just not all that much to say about it.

The caramel: I wasn't expecting world class caramel, and I didn't get it. The overwhelming flavor of this caramel is salt. Normally I would call that a good thing, but in this case it was just a little too much. There is also a buttery thing going on. I didn't like that either. It wasn't like I was eating real caramel, but something that was flavored to taste like caramel. The texture was pretty liquid -- that part I liked.

As you can guess, this bar did not exactly get me excited enough to make chipmunk noises.



I want to eat this bar again about as much as you want to read this review for a third day in a row. I do thank you guys for hanging in there and letting me be a smart ass and do my little homage to the movie "Groundhog Day." (Much like the movie, the repeat of the review was similar to the first one but not exactly the same.)





PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket