Hogarth Chocolate Makers are located in Nelson, New Zealand.  They are bean to bar, small batch chocolate makers that use organic and fairtrade cacao beans.
An info sheet came with their chocolate describing how they make their chocolate.  They hand sort their beans, roast, winnow, grind and after grinding and conching, they pour their chocolate into blocks, wrapped and store it for at least a month before tempering and molding.  All their chocolate is hand wrapped and the artwork on the packaging is a depiction of Karl’s journey  from sailor to chocolate maker, and the voyage the cacao takes to reach New Zealand.

We wanted to try Hogarth's Chocolate because of their original flavours and because we had been hearing good things about their chocolate.  We wanted to try it all!

​As well as the bars, we bought their Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Log.

100g
Ingredients: Ingredients: Cacao, roasted Nelson hazelnuts, organic sugar, milk powder, organic cocoa butter, non-GMO sunflower lecithin & organic vanilla bean paste.

This is so smooth and melt in the mouth. It is quite a soft texture.  It is very sweet and the flavors of hazelnut and chocolate are definitely there.  If you like Nutella you would LOVE this spread on your toast!  We sliced it up to try and eat it bit by bit.... but it was gone within the day.

Hogarth Chocolate Bars

BUTTERED TOAST AND SEA SALT

Gold Winner of the NZ Chocolate Awards and the Supreme winner in 2018.
Ingredients: Cocoa solids 48%, organic sugar, Vogels bread 12% (water, wheat flour, mixed grains 24%, milk solids 13%, pink Himalayan salt, non gmo sunflower lecithin. 
70g bar
28.8g sugar per 100g

There is a soft snap.  The aroma really is of chocolate, bread and butter.
The first taste is rye, and it is toasted!  That is very clever.  
The texture is smooth and there is a slight glugginess, from the bread we are guessing.
It is sweet and slightly salty, slightly buttery in taste.  It is a bit like eating  a chocolate Weetbix in flavour.  A prominent rye flavour on a chocolate foundation.
This is a very nice bar.

ESPRESSO
Italian Roast
Smooth dark Chocolate with real coffee

Silver Winner in the NZ Chocolate Awards 2020
Ingredients: 68% Organic Trinitario Cocoa Beans from Oko Caribe, Dominican Republic, Organic Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Pomeroy's Italian Styled Blend Coffee Beans.
70g

This has a good snap and a fruity dark aroma with faint coffee.
This tastes prominently of a fruity and earthy dark chocolate.  A slight coffee  flavor comes early and then blends into the chocolate.  We think the earthiness in the chocolate might come from the coffee beans.

Ingredients: 45% Cacao, New Zealand Hazelnuts (30%), Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter.
70g
Sugar 26.4g per 100g
The aroma is sweet and fruity with faint hazelnut.
There is a soft snap and in the mouth it is smooth and creamy.
There is a fruity dark chocolate taste with a hazelnut flavour that is fresh and nice.  There is also some honey notes to the chocolate.
This bar is beautiful.  It received a Chocolate Gazette Rosette from us.

Awards:
Gold NZ Chocolate Awards 2020
Category Winner NZ Chocolate Awards 2020

Ingredients: Organic & Fairtrade Sugar, Organic & Fairtrade Cocoa Butter, Milk Solids, Walnut Pieces, Maple Oil, Organic Vanilla Bean Paste.
Cacao 34%
Sugars 46.1g per 100g
70g

This smells amazing.  Fragrance of walnut and slight maple and white chocolate.  Texture is smooth and creamy with a melting white chocolate and a soft crunch from the walnut bits.  The taste is a mixture of walnut and white chocolate that has an undertone of maple.  This takes Joni straight back to her Nanas, her cookie tins full of home baked slices and biscuits.  It reminds us of eating a pecan pie.

This is a delightful bar.

Awards:
Silver Academy of Chocolate 2017
Gold International Chocolate Awards 2017
Gold NZ Chocolate Awards 2017

Ingredients: 
66% Criollo cacao from the Norandino Cooperative of Piura, Peru, Organic Sugar, Organic Cacao Butter.
Sugars34g per 100g
70g

The aroma is slightly floral chocolate
The first notes you get from tasting the chocolate is raisin and then honey.  The honey notes are so prominent, it had us checking the ingredients again to see if there was honey in there.  This bar is amazing for its flavor.  This is Joni's favourite single origin so far.

FINAL THOUGHTS
We enjoyed this exploration into Hogarth chocolate very much.  We enjoyed the original flavours, and we definitely got some memorable chocolate that has become new favourites.

Here is our individual rankings:
​Joni's Choice from left to right, top to bottom

Johanans rankings left to right, top to bottom

This week was the launch of the new Whittakers Blondie, another block in the caramel white range at New Zealand supermarket.  We wanted to try the new block of course, but we also wanted to compare it to the other offerings on shelf.  Here is what we bought.

Left to right:
Nestle Milky Bar Gold 170g $3.29
Cadbury Caramilk 180g $2.99
Whittakers West Coast Buttermilk Caramilised White chocolate 100g $3.80
​Whittakers Blondie 250g $3.99

We tried each and also gave some to friends to try and asked for their feedback.  The feedback and judging were based purely on taste.  Price point and ingredients are added in the reviews  just out of interest.  We are also aware that Milky Bar is not chocolate, with no cocoa content, but people buy it amongst this product category.
Here is how they ranked with the comments about each.

FIRST PLACE: WHITTAKERS WEST COAST BUTTERMILK CARAMILISED WHITE CHOCOLATE

Ingredients:
Sugar, (28%) Cocoa Butter, (15%) Buttermilk Powder, (15%) NZ Milk Powder, Soy Lecithin, Cocoa Mass, Natural flavours, Vanilla Flavours
Sugar is 52.7g per 100g

Why it was chosen first:
It was more unique and distinctive than the other flavours.  It had a nice milky caramel flavour but it also had this yummy vanilla through it.  It was bit like eating a custard filled donut with caramel glaze.

SECOND PLACE: NESTLE MILKY BAR GOLD

Ingredients:
Sugar, Milk Solids (30%), Vegetable Fat [Emulsifier ( Soy Lecithin)], Emulsifiers ( Soy Lecithin, 476), Glucose, Flavour. 
Sugar is 53.7g per 100g

Why is was placed second:
This tastes like Russian Fudge.  It has the taste of caramelised condensed milk, or like a caramilised Milky Bar. The flavour also has a good strength and it smells really nice.


THIRD PLACE: WHITTAKERS BLONDIE

Ingredients:
Sugar, NZ Milk Powder (31%), Pure Cocoa Butter (24%), NZ Whey Powder, Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, 476)
Sugar is 54.6g per 100g

Why it was placed third:
The flavour is a bit russian fudgey and a bit burnt buttery.  You get medium strength tastes of condensed milk, caramel, butter and a mild bit of smokiness.
This bar was fine.  It just wasn't as flavorsome as the top 2.

FOURTH PLACE: CADBURY CARAMILK

Ingredients:
Full Cream Milk, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Milk Solids, Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, 476), Flavour
Sugars are 57.8g per 100g

Why it is placed last:
This took a while for the flavours to come through and they were very mild compared to the others.  You had to search for the taste of caramel and white chocolate.  It was too bland compared to the others.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a flavour that is super sweet.  We have seen some yummy baked goods made from caramel whites. We think we would probably just go and buy some russian fudge over these.... except for the Whittakers West Coast Buttermilk Caramilised White Chocolate.  The vanilla in that bar, made it just that bit different and a bit more special than the rest.

What is your favourite Caramelised White?  Tell us and tell us why?
​Stay Sweet!

WM is William Marx, a chocolate maker in the USA.
Through The Chocolate Bar in New Zealand, we were able to try the Classic Dark chocolate with beans from Dominican Republic, that had been aged in old Oak Rum Barrels.

70% Cacao, cacao beans, cacao butter and cane sugar, are the ingredients.  All organic.
50g bar

The fragrance is fruity dark chocolate.
It is smooth and creamy to taste.  The chocolate has notes of plum and there is... not spiked or infused.... just like an edge, a hint, a tainting of something alcoholic.  It is not a taste of rum, it is almost a mouth sensory thing of something else. 
This was a very interesting tasting.  Like you can't quite pinpoint something, but it is there.
Tasty and a prolonged, searching experience.

Wellington Chocolate Factory Scapegrace 75g bar.
60% cocoa, a blend of Dominican Republic and Peru cacao beans.
This chocolate bar is a tribute to Scapegrace Gin.
The ingredients with the chocolate are, Juniper, Orange peel, Lemon peel, Coriander and Nutmeg.

Artwork by Rachel Neser, design by Inject.

The fragrance you get is just like a gin and tonic with dark chocolate.  It smells absolutely gorgeous.

There is a good snap when breaking into it.
Oh Wow!! The flavor really tastes like a gin and tonic in chocolate!!

We always appreciate it when a chocolate bar has citrus peel rather that citrus oils or essences.
It's a little bit like marmalade with those tonic spice flavorings.  This bar is so clever.

We can't talk much more about it. We are busy devouring it.  LOVE IT!!

A definite Chocolate Gazette Rosette Winner

Cuvee are based in Victoria, Australia and make small batch chocolate bars that can be paired with wines.  On their website you can follow their 'Art of Chocolate Matching' wine and chocolate tasting and see how it is done.  

We seem to be having an alcohol infused February, so we were keen to try the Cuvee Rum and Raisin recommended to us by Luke from The Chocolate Bar in New Zealand.

What you notice first off with the chocolate is the luxurious packaging.  This feels right away like a very special treat.  Yes we have kept the box.

Cuvee Rum & Raisin Special Edition is 75% Tanzania Cocoa Beans and Barbados Rum.
It is a 70g bar.
When you snap it open, you can see the filling.  We like how it is sandwiched inside, rather than mixed all in.

The aroma is fruity.  The fruity chocolate complements the raisin filling so well when tasting.  The rum is a behind the scenes note.  It does not have a strong presence at all.

The sandwiched filling made this bar and enjoyable bite.  Johanan is not so much a fan of fruit in chocolate, but he enjoyed being able to taste the chocolate just as much as the filling.  Joni claimed the bar pretty much after the first bite and ate the rest.  Being a fan of fruit, chocolate and rum, it was always going to be a hit with her.  We were expecting more of a rum hit, but this bar was very enjoyable.

These box of spirit choccies came out around the holiday season.  About $13 a box at the local supermarkets.

Anthon Berg Scotch Collection and Anthon Berg Chocolate Liqueurs.
Joni's favorite alcoholic drink is whiskey, so that and chocolate, it's going to be a win, even if the chocolate isn't great.  
The Chocolate is like the chocolate chips you get for baking in taste and texture.  The fillings though were so yum.
50% cocoa solids
6% spirits
​

We liked how you bite off the top and then tip the spirits into your mouth, finishing off the alcohol laced chocolate last.

We enjoyed the Chocolate Liqueurs the best.  The spirits all tasted different, our favorites being the Galliano and the Cointreau.

These were boxes of fun for novelty reasons and for the fillings.  The chocolate was more like baking chocolate, but we enjoyed these a lot and will probably get them again next year.

Dick Taylor is a small chocolate factory in Eureka California.  They use ethically sourced cacao and use the basic natural ingredients for their chocolate.
We were able to source two of their bars from The Chocolate Bar in New Zealand.  
We bought Vanilla Milk Chocolate 55% and Black Fig 72%, 57g bars

Vanilla Milk Chocolate
Organic 55% Brazilian cacao 
Organic Cane Sugar
Organic A2/A2 whole milk powder from Alexandre Family Farm
Organic Cocoa Butter
Organic Madagascan Vanilla Beans
​Sugars 9g per 28g serving size

The fragrance is fruity and chocolatey. The texture is smooth and creamy.  It starts with a strong chocolate fruity flavor, then more of a milky chocolate flavor follows that is sweet and creamy.

Dark Fig
72% Beans from Madagascar
Organic Cacao
Organic Cane Sugar
Organic Black Mission Figs from California
Sugars 9g per 28g serving size

The fragrance is fruity, almost raisin like.  The texture is firm but smooth with a chewiness from the fig.
This chocolate has more of a earthy grassiness along with its fruitiness.  There is also some molasses notes.  The fig flavors come in at the end.

These were both really nice bars.
Our first love is unashamedly milk chocolate.  Since exploring craft chocolate, we have had some beautiful dark chocolate bars, but a good milk chocolate bar we have found, is more allusive.  A lot of the milk chocolate we have tried has been like  a very sweet milk with  a smear of chocolate, so when we find a milk chocolate that has a full chocolate flavor, creamy smooth with just a touch of milkiness;  The clouds part, The sun comes out and The choir starts to sing!

Dick Taylors'  Vanilla Milk is the nicest milk chocolate we have ever had.
Yes it is whole heartedly a Chocolate Gazette Rosette Winner.

New variant in the Lindor range arrived over the holiday season in the New Zealand supermarkets.  Lindt Lindor Salted Caramel in milk chocolate.
123g
Cocoa solids 32%
Milk 21%
Sugars 10.5g per 25g serving size

The flavors is sweet and salty caramel.   The texture is very smooth and melty.
There is more caramel flavor than chocolate.  The chocolate flavor is very slight.
These were pleasant, but they wouldn't be special enough to buy again as part of a gifting range.  We ate the rest playing board games.
​

Some new Nestle novelty bars have been arriving in the supermarkets of New Zealand.
Joni is not a huge fan of KitKat, "They're just sweet bikkies", but we are always curious to try something new.

We tried KitKat Gooey Caramel, Cookie Collision, Mint Choc Chip Icecream, and Aero Caramel Gold.

THE BEST KITKAT

KitKat gooey caramel, was exactly like it stated.  A good amount of caramel and caramel flavor.  This was our favorite of the new KitKats.

THE WORST KITKAT

This tasted like toothpaste.  We did not like this one at all.
The Cookie Collision was a vanilla cookie flavor.  It was very average.

OUR OVERALL FAVORITE

The texture of Aeros are nice.  We light the airy chocolate.  The flavor of caramel white choc was a nice flavor too.

Nestle is always super sweet though.  Their flavors can be nice, but they are too sweet.  We probably wouldn't buy these again.