Review: Ritter Sport Praline

According to JCM This bar comes in second on the Ritter top 3 in Germany just behind the Milk with whole hazelnuts I reviewed here.
This offering is described as “Milk chocolate with Praline filling (42%)” with a cocoa content of min. 30%. Praline – in this case – nougat is a paste made from roasted hazelnuts and sugar that goes extremely well with chocolate. Perhaps the only pitfall of this combination is that it might be too sweet, particularly if the praline filling is enrobed in milk chocolate as is the case with this offering from Ritter Sport. However, I think Ritter Sport did a good job of striking a good balance.

The wrapper has a nice purple colour and I have only two small issues with it. As with the other wrappers using this layout there tends to be overweight in the right hand side graphically speaking, detracting aesthetically. A slightly more serious issue is that the wrapper does not provide a sufficiently clear idea of what this offering is all about. The chocolate itself has a nice light brown colour and a nice shine. Were it not for the wrapper it would have scored an 8. Appearance: 7 out of 10.

The aroma is nice of dairy chocolate and hazelnuts and has a typical Ritter Sport aroma profile. Aroma: 8 out of 10.

This is a soft chocolate with a soft filling which gives it an excellent melt. The downside here is that the praline or nougat is very sticky and slightly floury in its texture. Since the texture is so soft one might suggest to make a variant with something crunchy such as nuts or perhaps a dark chocolate covering with a snap to provide a contrast in terms of texture. Serving it slightly chilled improves texture a little, though I suspect many consumers will buy this product for immediate consumption. Texture: 7 out of 10.

There is nice flavour from the nougat, though I would have liked it to be more intense in flavour. The chocolate is a little bland and it too should have a bit more character in order to play along with the nougat flavour. This offering is perhaps a little on the sweet side, but certainly not overly sweet and personally I think Ritter Sport has struck a good balance (at least if you don't eat the whole bar in one go). Perhaps a little salt might improve on and open up the flavour a little.

Average: 7, 25 out of 10.