Lindt Excellence brings us new fruity flavours!

Lindt has recently introduced two new flavours to it's Lindt Excellence line of 100 gram chocolate bars. I was travelling a little while back and saw them and just had to have them: Intense Blueberry Dark (dark chocolate with pieces of blueberries and almond slivers) and Intense Pear (dark chocolate with pieces of pear and almond slivers). I know that Lindt is a very commercial brand, and it's not very "connoisseur" of me to be tasting Lindt bars, but let's face it, Lindt is the most accessible chocolate with a quality standard, and so it is an excellent comparison point for other chocolate bars.

I've started with the Intense Blueberry and there is a little bloom on its surface, so perhaps it was in the sun at the store I was at.  I've tried to store these chocolates correctly since I bought them a few months ago. The taste doesn't seem to be affected though. 

I have to say, it is intensely full of flavour. The first piece kind of shocked me, and not in a good way, but it has grown on me with each piece I've eaten.  I am not a fan of artificial flavour, which is why I was turned off so immediately, but the sweetness and other flavours (pineapple and apple) are working their magic on me. 

In looking at the ingredients list, I am surprised to see some ingredients that I haven`t seen before, particularly "vegetable anthocyane".  I've Googled it and, from what I can tell, it is "...a group of FLAVONOIDS derived from flavonols...they are glycosylated versions of cyanidin, pelargonidin or delphinidin. (WHAT?) The conjugated bonds result in blue, red, and purple colors in flowers of plants." (reference: http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com/mesh_info.php?term=Anthocyane&lang=4)  Does that help or confuse you?  From the sounds of this, they are good for us, since flavonols are cancer-fighting.  Technically, blueberries and chocolate are supposed to contain flavonols, so I'm not sure why Lindt has added this ingredient to their bar, or why they don't write "high in flavonols" on their package to add marketing value.  Perhaps I have misunderstood the concept of 'anthocyane'. 

Overall, if you like sweet, flavourful and very fruity chocolate with a smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture, then this Lindt Intense Blueberry bar is for you.  You have to also like artificial flavouring too though. 

Next up: Intense Pear. The smell is like a chocolate covered maraschino cherry or a chocolate covered fruit liquor.  So what's with the apple and pineapple added to these bars - are pear and blueberry not enough to create an "intense" favour?  I think I would just prefer a straight up blueberry bar and a pear bar, with no added apple and pineapple. I'm sure there was a lot of market analysis, and product testing, and this is the best flavour profile they could come up with for the widest audience possible, but it just isn't for me.  I like to taste the distinct chocolate flavour and the distinct fruit flavour, not all blended up and masked by fruitiness and artificial flavours.

What I do like about both bars is the little crunchy almond bits. It's a nice element among the smooth texture of the chocolate.

Lindt, I still love you and your chocolate, but it's time to stop using artificial flavouring and use only the real stuff!

Lindt Excellence Intense Blueberry Dark, 47% minimum, 100 g
Manufactured by: Lindt & Sprungli SAS (France), www.lindt.com
Ingredients: sugar, cocoa mass, almonds, cocoa butter, butter fat, blueberry, apple, pineapple, soya lecithin, natural and artificial flavour, calcium orthophosphate, sodium alginate, citric acid, vegetable anthocyane. May contain traces of peanuts and hazelnuts.

Lindt Excellence Intense Pear Dark, 47% minimum, 100 g
Manufactured by: Lindt & Sprungli SAS (France), www.lindt.com
Ingredients: sugar, cocoa mass, almonds, cocoa butter, butter fat, pear, apple, pineapple, natural flavour, soya lecithin, sodium alginate, citric acid, calcium orthophosphate, artificial flavour. May contain traces of of peanuts and hazelnuts.