Review: Fazer Dumle

Dumle, from Finnish Fazer, offers a timeless combination of caramel toffee covered with milk chocolate. Promising a mild and sweet experience this offering should have a broad appeal that should offend no one.

The first thing I noted is that the appearance is signalling a laid back, childish thing. And while this one may be intended for kids I think that it does not clearly signal what kind of candy this is. So even if grown ups might like these toffees they a) get no clear indication of what it is and b) might be put of by the childish appearance. Appearance: 7 out of 10.

The aroma is dominated by an artificial smelling essence of some sort which I found quite unpleasant and overpowering making it hard to identify more than hints of toffee and chocolate. Aroma: 5 out of 10.

Initially this toffee has a nice soft texture. But as the outer layer of chocolate melts away it becomes a cross between toffee and chewing gum. I did not like the chewing gum consistency and I don’t think a caramel toffee like this one should “end” in this manner. I think the texture could be much improved if it simply ended in a soft chewy consistency. Texture: 6 out of 10.

Taste wise I think the artificial aroma is much too overpowering, though the toffee has good sweetness. Otherwise I think that there is not much character in the flavour. While I realize that an offering such as this one in all probability aims to be sweet and mild I think a good opportunity for improvement would be to cut back on the aroma and put a little more love and care into the making of this toffee. Aroma: 7 out of 10.

Despite the above I have no doubt that this should be popular with kids and grown ups who like mild and sweet toffees.

Average 6, 25 out of 10.

Review: Fazermints (Fazer)

Chocolate mints from Finish Fazer must be some of the oldest still around in this category. At least I remember the elegant silver package from my childhood and if my memory serves me correctly it was considered a prestigious chocolate that my parents bought in the duty free shops to give away as presents.

Producing a chocolate with a filling of mint is probably rather challenging. The peppermint cream quite often becomes too dominating and the whole thing tastes like toothpaste in your mouth. On the other hand, the combination might perhaps work out reasonably well, if the mint flavour is not too dominating. So were these Fazermints up for the challenge?

Both the package and the wrappers of the individual mints are nice looking. Also, the individual pieces are fair looking in a cross section view, if a bit small. Appearance: 7, 5 out of 10.

Aroma wise there is a very strong scent of peppermint, though the aroma of sweet dark chocolate (47%) is clearly noticeable. Aroma: 7, 5 out of 10.

The crunch of the chocolate covering is fair, though the melt is somewhat lacking. Also, the mint cream is rather slow to melt in the mouth. The texture itself is nice and smooth. Texture: 7 out of 10.

The flavour of the mint cream is very overpowering and sweet, and becomes too much like toothpaste. The dark chocolate flavour is barely noticeable which is a drawback, not only considering that it makes up 53%, but also because it might have cut across the sweetness of the mint filling. Flavour: 6 out of 10.

I am not convinced that indeed chocolate and peppermint cream is such an obvious proposition as is for example chocolate and orange. I say this fully aware of the popularity of such chocolates as After Eight and Ritter Sport Peppermint, the latter being on the top 3 best sellers from the Ritter range in the UK.

I may be in the minority here and perhaps the combination might be executed better than these particular mints. I will review a few more mint chocolate and, as usual, report back.

Average: 7 out of 10.