Prestat Tea Time Frolics and Pecan & Maple Dream Milk Chocolate

This is the final post on Prestat's Art Deco chocolate bar collection. So far I've tasted the salted dark chocolate, the pistachio and passionfruit meringue white chocolates and now finally I'm onto these two milk chocolates. I believed I was saving the best 'til last, though the success of the white chocolates seemed as if it would be a close call

This tasting seemed like battle of the nations, a terribly British Earl Grey tea chocolate vs. the pecan and maple syrup - a synonym of America. The milk chocolate was of 36% cocoa solids and 24% milk solids

Pecan & Maple Dream 

The name and idea sounded so promising. I breathed in the chocolate. Bam- hit with an anticlimax. Just like Prestat's dark chocolate, it was perfumed coconut and sugars I was sensing, not chocolate

The texture was grainy, like hazelnut praline. I'm not too sure what it tasted like but pecan and maple syrup didn't come to mind. However, strangely I did get a taste of maple syrup drizzled on crispy bacon? There was a plastic-like taste that lurked in the background. The nuttiness was most prominent with a sweet little cinnamon spice

Tea Time Frolics

Occasionally I drink Earl Grey but I'd never go as far as to say I enjoy it, and after the disappointment of the Pecan & Maple bar, I wasn't particularly looking forward to this chocolate. Though when I initiated the hard snap of this Tea Time Frolics my hope regained itself slightly

The bergamot shot through in aroma and flavour. The chocolate had a smooth melt and the lemon gave a refreshing citric sharpness on the tongue. The chocolate's flavour started badly but as the lemon slowly came through it became more enjoyable. Only when chewing did I appreciate the ground Earl Grey tea leaves, adding little crunches here and there, but during the melt the leaves would get left behind and the last thing you want in your mouth after having chocolate is tea leaves

Both milk chocolates failed to fulfil my expectations, more so the Pecan & Maple Dream as the Tea Time Frolics actually delivered its proposed flavour, though just a little too forcefully. The Tea Time Frolics also had a good texture and snap, but really the bergamot flavour was too strong. Lemon in milk chocolate would have been more successful

To conclude my whole experience of Prestat's Art Deco collection, the white chocolates were the clear show stoppers. If you wanted to try any of these chocolates, your best bet is the Knickerbocker Glory

Prestat Toasted Pistachios & Knickerbocker Glory White Chocolate

I have already introduced Prestat and their new chocolate bar range here. Although I failed to mention that they're the proud owners of a Royal Warrant gifted from Her Majesty The Queen. I'm continuing with this art deco range, of which added pizzazz to their exisiting selection of chocolate bars, with these two new fun flavoured white chocolates. Prestat's 'Fabulously Creamy' white chocolate is the platform to showcase these new flavours, with cocoa solids of 28% and milk solids of 22%

Toasted Pistachio 
The green colour on the packaging made me think this was going to be the Matcha Green Tea flavour which excited me as I loved Prestat's Matcha Green Tea hot chocolate flakes! But then I saw it was a slightly less exciting flavour combination; white chocolate and pistachio. It still sounded good though

The earthy, nutty aroma was well defined and distinctly pistachio. It smelt kind of dry but it looked inviting, with the pistachio being scattered throughout. A soft break lead to a quick, creamy melt. A beautifully rich taste, which was not sickly sweet. This bar was just literally pistachios in a rich and creamy, high quality white chocolate. And I loved it. The added sea salt was tasted mainly in the finish, but I did get a few little sparks throughout which I was not expecting (I didn't realise salt had been added)

Knickerbocker Glory 

I thought the idea of passion fruit in white chocolate would work so well because of the sweet and sour contrast. This chocolate had a strong, sweet strawberry smell with a light, creamy nuttiness

It was nice to see the freeze dried strawberries and passionfruit and the crumbled meringue pieces within. The texture of the meringue was light and crunchy and there were also little air bubbles throughout the chocolate. The taste was noticeably sweeter than the Toasted Pistachio. And although at first I couldn't taste the passionfruit, when it did come through it was rather powerful; noticing sharp little twangs on the tongue. It tasted very exotic

Overall, I enjoyed these two chocolate bars much more than I did Prestat's Salted Dark Chocolate and I knew I would. The only flaws of these white chocolates would be how chewy and soft the Pistachio bar was, but the melts for both were smooth. Also, the pistachios could have had a little more crunch; they were slightly on the soft side. I still have Prestat's milk chocolate bars to enjoy: Tea Time Frolics and Pecan & Maple Dream

Prestat Pink Everest Equatorial Dark Chocolate

Prestat's Art Deco Luxury Chocolate Bar collection is a kaleidoscope of colours and along with that hot pink motif it looks an exciting, eye-widening endeavour. This new collection (launched August 2013) follows a different packaging design compared to Prestat's other bars. I loved the shiny gold embossing and with Prestat's logo it was looking rather grand, though I felt the overall design looked a little 'loose'. With names like Knickerbocker and Tea Time Frolics, it really reflects the eclecticism of the Art Deco movement

Prestat, offering us such a diverse collection, know that variety is the spice of life. But by doing so, with this range especially, it just happens to manifest their creativity. They may be one of London's oldest chocolate shops, but they're certainly not, and far from being, obsolescent

Lets get back to the chocolate. Prestat use "Africa's finest cocoa beans", and although not certified Fairtrade, they commit to trading fairly. I think I'll start with the only dark chocolate; Pink Everest Dark Equatorial chocolate with Pink Himalayan Salt

The imprint upon the chocolate and being scored into only 6 pieces looked luxury. Very British. The aroma of this 53% cocoa solids was pretty standard, a little perfumed with a dominating sugar. I wouldn't say I could smell cocoa, more a nuttiness with strong white sugars overlaying a creamy coconut background

I hope that the cocoa within wasn't the finest Africa has to offer. It sadly tasted cheap and lacked complexity and quality. But then again, it was only 53% cocoa solids? However that's no excuse, Green & Black's 37% MILK was more cocoa defined than this chocolate

As the chocolate was very thick, it made it difficult to snap. The thickness made it more comfortable to just chew.  The salt was initiated straight away and was pleasant. But when left to melt, the salt became overwhelming and made it too sweet. I enjoyed chewing this chocolate more, hearing the crunch of the Himalayan salt and how the salt would come in bursts; just how salt in chocolate should be

With a finish of powdered cocoa and sugar, I wasn't so impressed with this chocolate. £3.50 for 85g seems excessive. As it was missing a creaminess, I really think it needed to be milk chocolate and there was a little too much salt. My family enjoyed it though! 

Prestat's focus is on balancing the perfect flavour pairings, and as it wasn't a flavour bean chocolate, I think I'll have a better experience with their milk chocolate. I'm a difficult one to please when it comes to dark chocolate and only find myself enjoying the delights of expressive, flavour bean chocolate

I've got the milk (Tea Time Frolics & Pecan Maple Dream) and white (Knickerbocker Glory & Toasted Pistachio) bars still to try, so stay tuned!