Tag: taste test

DSC_0040-1

The Taste Test: Cream Cheese

4 Comments

I think cream cheese is a bit of an unsung kitchen hero. I always have a tub of it lurking in my fridge. You can use it in savoury dishes – spread on toast or or a bagel or as the base for building a wrap, of course, but also to thicken sauces and soups, or to enrich bread dough and pastry. You can use it in desserts – cheesecake is the obvious answer, but it’s also great in buttercream that benefits from a savoury edge (not just cream cheese icing but in peanut butter and caramel frostings too) and is a fantastic filling for all sorts of stuff, complemented particularly well by fruit.

Yes, you can buy lots of fancy varieties of cream cheese these days, spiked with herbs and garlic or rippled with chilli. But I like the plain and simple stuff: it’s versatile, cheap, and lasts for ages. And, really, there are few things I like more than a freshly toasted bagel covered liberally in cream cheese with a mound of smoked salmon.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of cream cheese or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which who had made product A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Cream Cheese

DSC_0060-1024x683

Cream Cheese
100g
£
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Sainsbury’s
0.45
258
25
2.8
0.5
5.4
0.55
Philadelphia
0.56
235
21.5
4.0
0.2
5.5
0.75
Tesco
0.44
285
27.4
4.0
1.6
4.7
0.5
Aldi
0.25
243
23
3.4
1.1
5.4
0.72
Waitrose
0.38
285
27.4
4.0
1.6
4.7
0.53

A – Philadelphia- 7/10

  • Looked smooth in comparison to some of the others. Tasted rich and creamy and mild, with a little welcome acidity but not too much. Nothing surprising but a good base all-rounder.

B – Aldi- 7/10

  • Immediately less smooth and more craggy than A, visually, and it came through on the taste, but it was still enjoyable. More of a savoury, cheese-y taste than the first sample. Not bad at all, but a very different thing to A.

C – Waitrose- 5/10

  • Smooth. Much firmer and chalkier than the first two samples. Less flavour than A or B. Dissolves away in your mouth. Fine but undistinguished.

D – Tesco- 3/10

  • Looks and tastes less smooth than the other samples. Quite flavourless and very obviously grainy in the mouth.

E – Sainsbury’s – 6/10

  • Creamy and smooth. Similar to sample A in that it was creamy rather than cheese-y. Pleasant enough but unremarkable.

Conclusions

I was surprised that there was a visual difference between the samples. Some looked obviously creamier, some were crumblier. This carried through on the taste: I wondered if I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them, but actually I could, easily.

There were two camps here: creamy and cheese-y. Philadelphia was the winner, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the creamy camp, although Sainsbury’s a close second. These mild samples would both be great for use in desserts particularly. Aldi, though, was the winner for the cheese-y side – this tasted far more like soft cheese than like cream. It has a lot of flavour, and would be great for savoury things like sauces and soups.

This will be the last in my Taste Test series for a little while, as my real job is sucking up a lot of my time. But I am planning the next round! So if you have anything you would like me to put to the test, please comment and leave your ideas below…

DSC_0032

The Taste Test: Falafel

2 Comments

I absolutely love falafel. Also hummus. Falafel and hummus together, ideally. Chickpea on chickpea. I don’t know why I find them so comforting, but I genuinely adore them. Of course, you can make falafel yourself. And I sometimes do. But, to be perfectly honest, it is a bit of a hassle. If you want them to be really excellent you have to deep fry them. I don’t have a deep fryer (thank god, really, because I’d never stop using it if I did), so I have to faff about with a pan and hot oil and even though it’s perfectly doable, I am lazy enough that I don’t do it too often.

So, mostly, I buy falafel. And that’s perfectly okay. But I’ve never thought too much about what kind of falafel I buy, preferring to simply chuck the cheapest option directly into my open mouth. It’s silly, though, because good, proper falafel are a wonderful thing, and worth getting right. Yes, the best are fresh from the fryer, hot and crisp and perfectly seasoned. But since we don’t live in a perfect world, most often it’s the supermarket version that will simply have to do.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of falafel or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which who had made product A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Falafel

DSC_0076-1024x698

Falafel
per 100g
£
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Waitrose
1.56
256
12.9
23.9
7.7
7.3
0.91
Aldi
0.64
245
12
26
5.7
6.3
1.4
Tesco
1.64
208
9
20.3
7.2
7.6
0.9
Sainsbury’s
1.00
281
15.5
25.2
6.4
6.8
1.25
Cauldron
0.63
268
14
25
6.0
7.5
1.5

A – Tesco – 4/10

  • Holds itself together well, doesn’t fall apart when you bite into it. A bit too dry when eating. A little bland – some spiciness of the finish but not enough salt. Not offensive but not interesting.

B – Aldi – 6/10

  • More texture than A. Obvious chunks of chickpea, more flavour. Still a little bland. Tastes of chickpea but not a lot else. Could do with more spice and salt, but basically fine.

C – Cauldron- 7/10

  • Obviously visually different from all the others. Much lighter and softer, not at all dry. Very smooth. Flavour of chickpeas, and a bit of a herby taste too. A nice spiciness on the aftertaste. Could do with a little more salt.

D – Waitrose – 8/10

  • Really different from the others. Chunks of onion and chickpea are obvious. Sweeter than the others, in a good way, but more spiciness too. Tastes of real ingredients, not a bland paste.

E – Sainsbury’s – 4/10

  • Not particularly fresh or natural tasting, but not awful either. Fine, but very nondescript.

Conclusions

Two front-runners here. The Waitrose falafel were  the tastiest and the clear winner. They were actually sweet potato falafel – I couldn’t find a sample of plain own-brand falafel in the shop – but what really made them stand out from the pack was the fact that they tasted like they had been made from real, natural ingredients that you could identify on eating.

The Cauldron falafel are probably a brand leader and I really liked those too, although they were very different from the other samples, being softer and lighter. It seems falafel are such simple little things, and comparatively fresh, so you can’t really get away with just using cheap ingredients and not bothering to season them properly.

All of them would be fine in a wrap or doused in hummus, but I was really surprised and interested at the vast gulf between the basic and the high-end offerings here – I will definitely buy Cauldron in the future, whereas before I would not have bothered with a brand, thinking that supermarket own would be just as good.

DSC_0008

The Taste Test: Raspberry Jam

4 Comments

Well, I chose raspberry jam, because that’s my favourite jam. ‘That’s everyone’s favourite jam’, said James, but I don’t think that’s true? I feel like quite a lot of people would say strawberry? Anyway, me being me, my actual favourite jam is probably some obscure homemade artisan Morello cherry and Cognac monstrosity that I haven’t even tried yet, but certainly my favourite day-to-day jam is raspberry. It’s lovely on croissants. It’s excellent with peanut butter. Pop it in-between some cakes and you’ve got yourself a party.

Also, obviously I went for jam with seeds because I don’t get seedless jam. Just why?

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of jam or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which who had made product A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Raspberry Jam

DSC_0077-1024x684

Raspberry Jam
per 100g
£
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Sainsbury’s Organic
0.44
248
0.5
59
2.1
0.8
0.05
St Dalfour
0.77
237
0.8
56
2
0.5
0.02
Bonne Maman
0.50
239
0.2
57
3.4
0.7
Waitrose
0.52
247
0.6
58.8
2.2
0.6
0.13
Grandessa Aldi
0.13
244
0.5
61
0.5
0.5
0.05
Tesco
0.17
262
0.5
63
1.9
0.4
0.2

A – St Dalfour – 6/10

  • Firm, holds its shape well on the spoon. Very, very seedy. I like seeds but this might be a bit much for me – it’s like a seed paste. Good balance of sharpness and sweetness, and decent raspberry flavour.

B – Waitrose – 7/10

  • Smoother and less seedy than A. Sharper too, with more of a raspberry flavour than A. Tastes naturally fruity – very enjoyable.

C – Grandessa Aldi – 6/10

  • Much less structure, running off the spoon, very loose. Very sweet – a bit too sweet for my palate. Not a bad flavour though. Would probably be nicer on toast with the neutral bread to balance the sweetness.

D – Bonne Maman – 8/10

  • Dark, rich, and thick, holds shape well. Substantial. Not too sweet, a great balance. Full on raspberry flavour.

E – Tesco – 3/10

  • Holding shape well, not running everywhere. Much lighter in colour than some of the other samples. Tastes a bit artificial and cloying with sweetness – like raw jelly cubes – with an odd texture and aftertaste.

F – Sainsbury’s – 5/10

  • Fine, but nothing special, and again a bit too sweet. Another one with an odd texture.

Conclusions

Well, here we have a Taste Test where the fancy, pricier brands won out. I guess it makes sense here, in a way: more expensive product = higher fruit content and less bulking out with cheap sugar. Most of these would be fine for casual toast-consumption, but if you want to go for something a bit special, for an event cake for example, then I wouldn’t kick that Bonne Maman stuff out of bed, and the Waitrose one was nice too. Neither were actually the most expensive either, which is an unexpected bonus.

DSC_0015

The Taste Test: Whole Milk

2 Comments

This is a request post. I would never have thought to do a milk taste test on my own, mostly because we barely go through any milk. James and I don’t eat cereal, and we don’t drink tea, and I don’t drink coffee. So basically I just buy James milk for his coffee (and he doesn’t give a damn what kind of milk it is because coffee coffee coffee is the only thing that matters) and occasionally I’ll buy some if I need it in baking. And that’s it.

So really, this was an education for me. I have no brand loyalty to any type of milk. I brought a few types of standard supermarket milk and a couple of varieties of ‘fancy’ milk. I really doubted that I’d be able to tell the difference between various types of milk in a blind taste test. I once had a boyfriend who loved the good proper milk, with the full cream and the gold top. Then again he grew up in the Irish countryside, so he was used to the good stuff. And he drank milk and ate cereal, so had far more of a vested interest than I did.

Yes, I buy whole milk. I am not one for low-fat products, and I’ve bleated on about that more than enough. But here’s some science too. And a bit more.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of milk or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which supermarket had made A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Whole Milk

DSC_0063-4-1024x683

Whole Milk
100ml
£
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Sainsbury’s
568ml
0.45
66
3.7
4.7
0.5
3.5
0.11
Sainsbury’s Organic
568ml
0.60
67
4.0
4.5
0.5
3.3
0.1
Yeo Valley
1litre
1.15
68
4.0
4.7
3.4
0.1
Tesco Finest
1litre
1.00
79
5.0
4.6
0
4.0
0.1
Graham’s
1litre
1.10
81
5
4.7
3.7
0.2

A – Yeo Valley 

  • Looks like milk. Tastes like milk.

B – Sainsbury’s 

  • Looks like milk. Tastes like milk. A little less acidic, a bit milder and sweeter than A.

C – Graham’s

  • Looks like milk. Tastes like milk, although a little creamier than A, B, and E.

D – Tesco Finest

  • Looks visually thicker – can see a creaminess. Small cream deposits on the taste glass. Tastes notably creamier and sweeter than A, B, or E. Definitely nicest if you’re just drinking straight milk.

E – Sainsbury’s Organic 

  • Looks like milk. Tastes like milk.

Conclusion

You may notice that I haven’t done the normal ‘marks out of ten’ scoring system here. That’s basically because it would be very difficult for me to differentiate between the samples in any sort of numeric way. None of them were bad at all: they were all just… milk. Perfectly acceptable. That said, if you were a particular milk lover or aficionado, I can’t deny that there was a definite difference between the Tesco Finest milk and the others. I just can’t imagine spending more money for slightly creamier milk when the normal stuff does perfectly well.

Maybe I’m just not getting this. Maybe I should make five pannacotta samples with different milks. Now there’s an idea.

DSC_0003-2

The Taste Test: Greek Yoghurt

5 Comments

I’m on a bit of a dairy kick with these taste test posts, it would seem. Last week, feta. This week, Greek yoghurt. We consume a ridiculous amount of Greek yoghurt around these parts, considering that we’re only a two person (and one cat) household. I use it in breakfast dishes, in smoothies, to make dressings, as a marinade, as a quick snack… Greek yoghurt is incredibly versatile, tasty, and even good for you, apparently. Full of protein.

There’s a significant difference between Greek yoghurt and plain, or natural, yoghurt. Greek yoghurt is creamier and thicker (and higher in fat) than plain yoghurt. I’m not going to get into the whole argument of whether or not some fats are good for you here (I don’t have the answers, I’m not a nutritionist, and it’s been talked to death). Personally, though, I don’t buy anything ‘low fat’. Usually low fat products just contain more sugar and/or water than their full fat cousins, and don’t taste as good.

The distinctive texture of Greek yoghurt comes from having had the whey strained off it, to create a thick, creamy product. Do not confuse Greek yoghurt with Greek style yoghurt. Generally, Greek yoghurt has undergone this straining process, while Greek style yoghurt hasn’t. The latter often contains thickeners and preservatives, and will have a more watery texture. And won’t be as tasty.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of yoghurt or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which supermarket had made A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Greek Yoghurt

DSC_0066-1024x683

Greek Yoghurt
per 100g
£
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Tesco
0.35
130
9.9
3.8
0
6.5
0.2
Sainsbury’s
0.40
137
10.7
4.1
0.5
6.0
0.11
Waitrose
0.38
131
10.2
3.7
0.3
5.9
0.15
Total
0.55
96
5.0
3.8
9.0
0.1
Brooklea – Aldi
0.28
132
10
3.7
0.5
6.4
0.2

A – Waitrose –  6/10

  • One of the thickest yoghurts – held a defined shape on the spoon. Quite smooth – a creamy texture but, oddly, didn’t actually taste particularly creamy. A fairly sharp and acidic taste – almost drying in the mouth.

B – Tesco – 7/10

  • Much softer than A – moved around the spoon a lot more, but still quite thick. A lighter, softer texture. Very smooth to taste, and not too acidic. Well balanced.

C – Total – 7/10

  • Doesn’t look as smooth on the spoon as some of the other samples, and a bit of liquid separation from the solid of the yoghurt that you didn’t see on all products. Means what’s left was very thick. Creamy, medium acidity. Good but not amazing.

D – Sainsbury’s – 8/10

  • Another firm yoghurt, holding its shape. A good smooth texture. Fairly acidic taste, but nicely creamy too. Well balanced.

E – Aldi – Brooklea – 7/10

  • Holding shape, not separating on the spoon. Creamy, smooth texture. Very thick.

Conclusion

The main thing to note is that none of these were bad, and I’d eat them all again. Looking at this, unless I just got lucky, anything labelled Greek yoghurt has to be of a certain standard, and so all the products I tried were pretty tasty.

It’s interesting to note that, gram for gram, there are far fewer calories in the Total yoghurt than in all the other samples. Total was the most expensive, and tasted fine, but wasn’t the most delicious. That said, if you’re watching your calorie intake then it’s obviously the way to go. The other products are all so similar in calories, and Total is the only option significantly lower on the scale, so there must be some variation in their production methods.

My favourite was the Sainsbury’s own brand, which was towards the more expensive end of things, but would be lovely for something where you’re actually going to taste the yoghurt – with a dessert, say, or plain with berries or granola. However, if you’re using the yoghurt for a dressing or marinade or something, any of these would be fine, so you may as well go for the one that’s cheapest or most easily available to you.

Next week, chocolate hazelnut spread. Yes, I mean Nutella. Yes, it is a happy time.

*Prices correct at time of writing.

DSC_0075

The Taste Test: Feta Cheese

5 Comments

After last week’s taste test post, I’m going back to human food. For now, at least. If anyone has a puppy they want to lend me to help out with a dog food taste test, just let me know. Today though, feta cheese. One of the very first taste test blogs I did was on cheddar cheese, but really, why stop there? Now I think about it, there are dozens – hundreds, even – of cheese related taste tests I could do. Halloumi? Parmesan? Stilton? If you are particularly curious about any specific cheeses, then let me know in the comments and I will make it happen.

I also keep meaning to get round to posting a recipe for a baked vegan feta cheese substitute. I had some at a class I was helping with a couple of months ago and, my god, it was a revelation. I’ve absolutely no need (in dietary terms) to eat vegan cheese rather than normal cheese, but this stuff was stupidly delicious. Again, if you’d be interested, then let me know.

For now though, feta. I try to keep some feta cheese in the fridge most of the time, because it’s wonderful versatile and delicious. Whether you’re crumbling it on top of a salad, stirring it into a pasta dish, or having it in fritters, it will always give you a satisfying kick of salty flavour.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of feta cheese or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which supermarket had made A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Feta Cheese

DSC_0153-1024x683

Feta
per 100g
£*
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Lidl – Eridanous
0.50
278
23
0.7
0
17
2.2
 Totally Greek Feta Attis
1.00
276
23.0
0.7
0
16.5
2.25
Sainsbury’s
1.30
284
24.3
0.5
0.5
16.0
3.0
Tesco
0.60
279
23.0
1.0
0.0
16.9
1.9
Waitrose
1.25
283
24.2
0.2
0.3
15.9
3.15

A – Attis Totally Greek Feta – 4/10

  • Fair amount of water coming off it. Very smooth and soft, rather than crumbly. Tasted kind of like set cottage cheese – not particularly salty. Fine, but not great.

B – Tesco – 6/10

  • Less water coming off than A – firmer, and more crumbly – more pleasant to eat. Decent flavour, reasonably salty. Good, but not amazing.

C – Lidl – Eridanous – 8/10

  • Another firm and crumbly feta – what I would expect from feta texture. Well-flavoured, quite sharp with a lemony taste, good level of saltiness.

D – Waitrose – 7/10

  • Fairly firm, and somewhere in the middle regarding crumbliness. Saltty, rather than lemony. Not as flavoursome as C, but pleasant to eat.

E – Sainsbury’s – 6/10

  • Firm, no water coming off. Not crumbly like some others. Not overly salty, quite lemony, with a stronger cheese flavour.

Conclusion

Sample A seemed notably different to the other four samples, and it was my least favourite. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but did seem like a different kind of product, and less suited to my personal taste. Generally, any of the other four feta samples would do me just fine, although once again the Lidl cheese was my favourite. Turns out, Lidl do good cheese.

That said, none of these samples were anything like as good as the feta from Blackwoods Cheese Company that I brought from 2 North Parade a few weeks after doing this taste test. It’s not a day-to-day supermarket purchase, and it’s pretty extravagant, so it doesn’t really belong here. But if you’re looking for something special then go and buy it – you won’t regret it.

Otherwise, go to Lidl!

*Prices correct at time of writing.

DSC_0056

The Taste Test: Milk Chocolate

4 Comments

If you’ve read my dark chocolate post or, er, met me, you will know that I am a chocolate person. There are so many chocolate related posts on this blog that I couldn’t even begin to link to them all. I started with the dark chocolate taste test because it’s seen as the complex and sophisticated older sister to milk chocolate, and because I use it so much in baking. But for eating, I do love good milk chocolate. Or, sometimes, bad milk chocolate. Depending on how the day is going.

With dark chocolate, it was fairly easy to find products with 70% cocoa solids for a direct comparison. With milk chocolate, it was much trickier to find samples that were so directly comparable, and so I’ve got a bit more of a range. You can quite clearly see even from the picture below that some of the chocolate samples are darker, but I didn’t get the information from the packaging regarding which products had which levels of cocoa solids until after the taste test, in an effort to keep the tasting as blind as possible.

As before, I feel I need a rambling disclaimer: obviously, I am doing this in my kitchen and not in a lab and I am not a scientist. These are the opinions of one person – that said, one person who has been trained to taste for quality. Also, the products used in this series are just examples – obviously each supermarket has, say, eight or nine different types of milk chocolate or whatever the product may be, and I’m not going to try every single one because what am I, made of money?

Finally, I should highlight that I tasted all the products blind, and at the time of tasting and making my notes I didn’t know which product came from which shop. I sat in one room while my glamorous assistant (er, my husband), prepared the samples in another. Any notes added regarding packaging and so on were only done after blind tasting, when I learned which supermarket had made A, B, C, D, or E.

The Blind Taste Test: Milk Chocolate

DSC_0163-1-1024x643

Milk Chocolate
per 100g
£*
kcal
fat
carb
fibre
protein
salt
Aldi – Moser Roth (32%)
1.03
563
36
52
2.8
6.8
0.19
Lidl – Bellarom (33%)
0.60
568
36.5
52.7
1.9
6.2
0.25
Sainsbury’s – (31%)
1.45
558
35.2
50.6
2.3
8.5
0.25
Chocologic (36%)
1.50
484
36.2
33.7
17
7.9
0.62
Waitrose (49%)
1.88
618
47.0
39.0
3.4
8.0
0.17
Green & Black’s (37%)
2.00
565
36.0
48.0
3.0
9.8
0.23

A – Chocologic – 3/10

  • Visually one of the darkest. Breaks nicely with a good snap. Smells fine but not a great taste or texture – a bit chalky and bitter, with a particularly unpleasant aftertaste. Not sweet at all. No creaminess. Wouldn’t eat again.

B – Aldi – Moser Roth – 4/10

  • Light in colour. Very creamy, and notably sweeter than A – possibly too sweet. Nothing terrible, but nothing interesting. Just a sweet milk chocolate.

C – Sainsbury’s – 8/10

  • Creamy and smooth, with a hint of hazelnut. Immediately much nicer than A or B, with more flavour. Not too sweet, but not bitter. Really enjoyed this.

D – Green & Black’s – 9/10

  • Firm, with a good snap. Dark in colour. Full and rich in flavour. Creamy and smooth. Tastes like it’s good quality. Sweet, as you’d expect milk chocolate to be, but not overly so. My clear favourite.

E – Waitrose – 6/10

  • Initially looks similar to D, but not as nice. Certainly not bad, but not as enjoyable as D. A slight bitterness, especially in the aftertaste, which I didn’t really like, and less creaminess.

F – Lidl – Bellarom – 4/10

  • Light in colour. Sweet, rather than rich or complex in flavour. Tastes like cheap milk chocolate: not terrible but nothing special in terms of flavour.

Conclusion

This time, I tested a brand leader (Green & Black’s) against supermarket brands, to see how it compared. I have to say, before I started I was quietly confident that I could pick out Green & Black’s in a blind taste test, and I turned out to be right. Once I’d finished the actual tasting of the milk chocolate, I tried my hand at guessing which blind sample was which, and I got full marks.

This is partly because I’m a bit of a crazy chocolate freak, and partly because there weren’t really any surprises here. The Chocologic ‘no added sugar’ chocolate really didn’t taste sweet enough to be enjoyable. The cheapest options did taste less luxurious and complex than the more expensive products. My favourite milk chocolate here was the most expensive of the bunch.

So, I guess I can’t go subverting expectations every week.

*Prices correct at time of writing.