After Eight - part II

Hi everyone,

Some of you guys might remember I wrote a review recently Nestlé - After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, some of you might even tried After Eight ranges before.  When Shallow first gave Nestlé - After Eight Mint Chocolate Straws to me, I was a bit hesitant, I find it that it's in cylinder shape, so much different from the usual chocolate can/ tin, I would say it's unique but isn't practical, so does the straw mint chocolate.

I understand that the concept supposed to be posh and elegant but this turn out to be the other way round.  When I open it, its slightly softer than decent chocolate supposed to be.

Review:

Packaging:

The straws come in a cylindrical cardboard tube, the mint ones are in a green plastic tube as the picture. The tube unscrews type and the lid lifts off to reveal underneath a small plastic holder in which the Straws stand. The first time I got it them, I didn't realize that it just needed a twist to open it.  I was pulling and pulling and try to remove the lid before I realized it was a twist. It does actually say on the side twist to open, but in my defense it is in very small writing which I missed only realized later.  The package is designed so you can remove the lid and stand the straws in there remaining plastic holder on the table, much like pens in a desk tidy. Which I have to say is very useful and there is no wrapping on the chocolate like the traditional after eight, that is one of the HUGE advantage that this format has over the square mints is the lack of individual wrapping.

Taste:

The straws are 5 inches long each. They are just plain chocolate straws with a smooth mint flavoured centre just like how a pencil looks. In my opinion, the taste almost identical to the square mints, not crispy but soft and gooey, not solid hard like normal chocolate and does not "snap" when you bite it, but rather bends as it enters the mouth, the Straws fall short of that.

They are very tasty and very moorish but not up to my expectation. If you like the traditional after eights you might like the straws although the texture is different no runny center, the center is more solid and not liquid quality like others.  The texture itself is good, but is the main area where I feel that Nestle has delivers what the original concept of After Eight product supposed to be.  Equally, the traditional mints have a very light fondant center, with a liquid quality. Again, this is not what I have come to expect from After Eight. However, the mint flavor is very similar to the square mints and mixes equally well with the chocolate, so the taste of the product is pretty much the same.

These are pretty sweet for me.

Freshness:

The above image is what its like after left out unintentionally at the corner of the shelf for couple months now.  Straws bend easily by themselves do not sustain the straw shape, they become extremely soft and tend to melt at room temperature, whether that’s a bad is to me. Melted shape chocolate is a turn down for me.

Overall Rate:

These Straws do have all of the taste of the classic mints, but are not of the same quality, and I wasn't impressed by the quality and shape has to bring.

Recommendation:
No. Not with this cylindrical cardboard tube - Straw series. I am a big fan of chocolate and love it and I have always liked After Eights. These are a the weirdest range even though very easy to eat.

Country Origin: United Kingdom

The After Eight family of products includes:

•  Thin Mints: the original After Eight product, these comprise square dark or (less commonly) milk chocolate, enclosing the mint fondant.
  • Mint & Blood Orange: This variation on the thin mints was a special edition for Summer 2011.
• Delights: round sweets of dark chocolate with a mint fondant filling.
• Straws: long, thin sticks of soft dark chocolate with a mint fondant filling.
• Biscuits: the newest addition to the After Eight family, these combine dark chocolate with mint in a biscuit.
• Chocolate Santa Claus: during the Christmas season, Nestlé Germany features a 125g Santa Claus made out of white or dark mint chocolate.
• Chocolate Truffles (Discontinued)
• Dark Chocolate Irish Creams (Discontinued)
• Ice Cream Dessert (Discontinued)
• Lemon Sorbet (Discontinued)
• Bitesize: plain chocolate with mint fondant filling, similar in appearance to original Munchies. Originally known as Mintola, then renamed Mint Munchies in 1995 before being brought under After Eight brand in 2006.

Other related products:

• Pfefferminz: a variety of Ritter Sport which has similar taste as the normal After Eight in shape of a Ritter Sport.
• After Eight (cocktail): a layered shooter consisting of Crème de cacao, Crème de menthe and Baileys Irish Cream.
• After Eight (Easter Egg): An Easter Egg with a pack of After Eight Dark Chocolate Thin Mints

Readers – Have you bought any nice chocolate lately?