As part of the exotic bars collection from Vosges, the Woolloomooloo bar is an Australian inspiration. If the name didn't give it away that is. Or the macadamia nuts.
The inspiration:
Macadamia nuts, native to Australia, were originally harvested by the Aboriginal people who occupied the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This chocolate bar is named after the famed suburb Woolloomooloo in Sydney and meant to honor the Aboriginal claim to the scrumptious macadamia nut.
I have been to Australia before and I do recall Woolloomooloo. I never went there specifically but I was close. It was one of those names that is so distinctly Australian.
One of the best things about Australia are the macadamia nuts. Something everyone must try when visiting are the Weis Ice Cream bars. Half and half mango and macadamia nut ice cream bars. It's to die for and you can find it in any corner store or convenient store in Sydney. Or just buy a large tub of it. But this post is about chocolate. I must stir myself back or I will get lost in my own thoughts about Sydney and Australia. My favorite place in the world.....
Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover.... Unless it's a Vosges Bar.
Type: Flavored/filled Milk chocolate, 45%
Bean Varietal: Unknown
Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dry whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla], roasted macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, coconut, salt. Chocolate ratio: 36% cocoa solids, 15% milk solids.
Sample Size: 14g or .5oz
Appearance: Darker milk chocolate color, appearance of seeds and chopped nuts on the surface, monogrammed molding with inspirational message, Matted surface, no shine.
Score: 64
Snap: Very low and dull thud snapping sound. Very soft snap.
Score: 73
Aroma: Big milky and creamy caramel-like aroma. Soft roasted cacao and a strange vegetal aroma almost like alfafa sprouts or mold. Very earthy.
Score: 94
Taste: Slight earthy hemp taste up front but is quickly over taken by the sweet sugars and salt from the macadamia nuts, slightly nutty, milky,
Score: 94
Texture: Creamy smooth chocolate, very quick melt-time. Slightly crunchy seeds, particle size nut pieces and chewy but scarce bits of coconut.
Score: 93
It's funny that the message is "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Did they need to have that there to cover up for the fact that none of their bars ever have a desirable appearance? I have yet to have one bar from Vosges that has a nice surface or appearance.
I had a hard time deciding on the aroma. I liked it but it's strange. I liked the creamy and milky aroma. Lovely soft roasted cacao, and then a strange green and vegetal aroma that smelled like mold or alfalfa sprouts. Very earthy, but it seems out of place with the sweeter and creamier milk chocolate.
It tastes good but the palate is overwhelmed with milkiness, cocoa, and salt. The nuts barely leave a tangible nutty flavor, the coconut is skimpy and the hemp seeds seem irrelevant for the most part. They left a richness to the aroma but the taste was overwhelmed. This is due to Vosges going skimpy on the ingredients. Everything sounds good on paper, but when it comes to executing it, they skimp so badly. And it makes me mad because their prices and fancy packaging lead you to think that they are something more than they are.
The coconut is so scarce that it leaves no impact on the flavor unless you happen to be lucky enough to get a piece of coconut to chew on. The hemp seeds leave a slight marijuana taste, with some earthiness and green taste up front but it's not enough to hang on or greatly impact the flavor. There is virtually no nuttiness to speak of except for some slight hints and the salt. There are some lingering seed tastes at the end, but that's only if you get pieces big enough to taste. The micro particles of macadamia nuts leave little or no flavor, but plenty of salt. Can we be sure there are even macadamia nuts in this bar and not just large kosher salt bits?
The sweet and salty balance is fantastic. And for a milk chocolate it's great. But pretty underwhelming for the bar it claims to be. How is this an homage to Australia? Where are the macadamia nut chunks? Pretty weak and pretty pathetic if you ask me. And if I were Aboriginal, I would feel cheated.
This is exactly the same problem I had with Vosges and their bacon and chocolate bars. Flavor wise the bacon taste is there, but the pieces in the bars are so pathetic. And these bars are not cheap. I want more. I want more macadamia nut pieces. I want more bacon.
This was a good tasting milk chocolate bar. It's due primarily to the salt content of this bar. But overall I am not impressed with this. It should have been prettier than this, it should have been richer in flavor from the added ingredients.
Final Score 83.6
C+
I found this bar to be tasty, but underwhelming as well; I didn't notice coconut either. The name is fun to say, though.
Posted by: Emma | 11/16/2011 at 04:08 PM