Review: Ritter Sport Peppermint

According to Jim's Chocolate mission, this peppermint offering is the third best selling Ritter flavour in the UK.
This proposition is of the "cool peppermint fondant covered with chocolate" type, and I have to state up front that I am not too favourably inclined to this type of offering. It is not that the proposition in and off itself is bad, though I have not had just one that I considered well executed.
My main dislike is that I consider the peppermint oil used for the fondant to be artificial tasting and too overpowering and numbing your mouth and tastebuds with "toothpaste flavour". On that note I also think orange oil tastes too artificial too when used in chocolate and flavouring with orange zest is in my oppinion much superior. Perhaps using mint leaves can produce a better result. In fairness, I have to admit that this proposition appeals to many consumers (for one, it being the third best selling Ritter flavour in the UK), though I would not have guessed so simply by tasting it.

The Ritter Sport Peppermint offering bar is described as “Plain chocolate with a peppermint filling (40%)”. The Plain chocolate has a “50% minimum cocoa solids”.

The wrapper’s light green colour is nice and the depiction of a mint leave is a good indication of the contents of this offering (although to quibble just a bit I think peppermint oil rather than leaves is used). The colour of the chocolate is nice and shiny. This bar is made with low channel depth which means that it well traps the peppermint filling inside each individual square. Appearance: 7, 5 out of 10.

The aroma is so very strong of peppermint that it completely overpowers the chocolate aroma. In my opinion this is much too much. The mint has to compliment the chocolate – not overpower it. I am not sure what the peppermint filling is made of but I suppose from the declaration that it is made from vegetable fat(s) and peppermint oil and/or aromas. Aroma: 6 out of 10.

The snap of the chocolate is very good. The texture of the “peppermint filling” is very waxy and a little dry, meaning that the melt is less than good (the melt of the chocolate itself is nice). Were I evaluating only the chocolate snap of the bar it would have scored much better. Texture: 6, 5 out of 10.

This is a very sweet offering that rapidly begins to “burn” in your neck. What is worse, after about two seconds the palate is overwhelmed by the peppermint filling and it becomes hard to taste much. In my opinion it does not well complement the chocolate but simply overpowers it. The chcocolate itself seems quite similar to the one used in the Ritter Sport Marzipan offering I reviewed here, and it too lacks character and distinctiveness, though here the peppermint is way too much for a chocolate to keep up with. Aroma: 6 out of 10.

Average: 6, 5 out of 10.

More reviews of this offering:

Candyblog's review
Chocablog's review
Jim's Chocolate Mission
Nearof's review
Sugarpressure's review