What is wrong with American chocolate?

Dauphin · June 19, 2003, 15:33

I've been to the US on numerous occasions, and to numerous states. One thing that I have noticed is that the general quality of US chocolate on a like for like basis is decidedly poor. This is of course only an opinion.

Take KitKats for example. In the UK they are made by Nestle and have crisp chocolate taste that doesn't melt too much in the mouth. US KitKats are made by Hershey (?), and they taste more like a chocolate butter and it melts far too easily. I really like KitKats but I avoid them when in the US.

I thought it was just me who thought this abot American chocolate, until my brother's (American) girlfriend and several of her friends were in the UK. After tasting Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate they agreed that it tasted far better than standard US chocolate.

When comparing UK chocolate to the continental Europe I find the quality the same. Belgium of course makes the finest chocolates I've ever tasted, but I'm not going to go to a chocolatiers just for an after lunch snack.

So is it a matter of taste and opinion, or is US chocolate lagging behind Europe in the taste of its chocolate.

DaShi · June 19, 2003, 15:37

I don't know. I bought chocolate in China and all of it was blah except Dove (R), which is always quite rich and creamy. I suppose that it depends on the brand. But sometimes my boss bring chocolate from Europe, and it is always great.

Boris Godunov · June 19, 2003, 15:38

It's not just you, it's true. American chocolate is overwhelmingly bad. Even our premium brands like Godiva are crap compared to what one can get in Europe.

My boss recently came back from Europe with a box of Belgian chocolates. When I had one, I nearly cried it was so good. I'm glad we can't get good chocolate like that easily, though--I'd probably be a huge fatass if we did.

I'm betting it has to do with the quality of the ingredients, the freshness of the chocolate and the care put into making it. American companies are about mass-producing huge quantities at rapid speeds with minimal expense.

BeBro · June 19, 2003, 15:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Crunch
So is it a matter of taste and opinion, or is US chocolate lagging behind Europe in the taste of its chocolate.

Nah, US chocolate is inherently inferior

Not that I ever had the slightest idea about how it tastes.....

Drogue · June 19, 2003, 16:05

Hershey's actually tasted like the taste you get in your mouth when your almost sick. I can't stand the stuff. In it's favour however, See's Candies and Ghiradelli (sp?) is great stuff. See's is like Thornton's here but much better IMHO, and Ghiradelli is sweater and creamier but great range of flavours. None of them beat a great Belgium or Vahrlona (my favourite) but they can be great.

Mass produced American chocolate sucks, but they do some great handmade stuff

FrustratedPoet · June 19, 2003, 16:22

Agreed, Hershey's tastes like puke.

/me waits for alva to show up and tell us all how awful British chocolate is and how we should all be putting more cocoa and less milk in there.

Solly · June 19, 2003, 16:44

The best way to ruin chocolate is to put crap inside it like "cremes", truffles, nuts, or whatever. Pure chocolate is so much better.

Swiss all the way.

Dauphin · June 19, 2003, 16:48

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
Agreed, Hershey's tastes like puke.

* FrustratedPoet waits for alva to show up and tell us all how awful British chocolate is and how we should all be putting more cocoa and less milk in there.

Dark chocolate all the way. Especially with nuts and raisins.

I also really love the hard bitter dark chocolate that you can get.

*End Is Forever* · June 19, 2003, 16:49

Dark chocolate is vile. White, or milk.

The Andy-Man · June 19, 2003, 16:51

i'll tell you whats rong with american chocolate! Its american, made out of the blood and toil of enslaved citizens opressed by the evil federal govt

Boris Godunov · June 19, 2003, 16:52

White? White? It's not even chocolate, it's some sort of putrid mutant crap. Blech, I never understood why anyone could like white chocolate.

raghar · June 19, 2003, 17:04

White choco is one of best. You never had good white choco ain't ya.

Almonds or Menthol filling... thats the way. Big almonds of course.

Imran Siddiqui · June 19, 2003, 17:48

White chocolate

. Good stuff indeed!

Provost Harrison · June 19, 2003, 18:13

Quote:

Originally posted by *End Is Forever*
Dark chocolate is vile. White, or milk.

I wouldn't expect any different from you, pickiest eater in christendom

Speaking of white chocolate, I can see a resemblance with the milky bar kid now I think of it

There is nothing to beat a good Belgian or Swiss chocolate and they are common enough over here. As for American chocolate, it's reputation has spread far and wide, and I've heard it is pretty crap.

rah · June 19, 2003, 18:15

Most americans don't know good chocolate so producers don't see the need to spend the extra money on the ingredients to make it. But there are quite a few really good specialy companies that produce the GOOD stuff.

RAH

axi · June 19, 2003, 19:27

Perhaps American chololate is crap because the stocks of the chocolate firms are held in part by American breweries...

How about American cheese?

Zopperoni · June 19, 2003, 19:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Crunch
I also really love the hard bitter dark chocolate that you can get.

O yea

Ecthy · June 19, 2003, 19:33

White chocolate is laughable in concept, but quite tasty anyway

axi · June 19, 2003, 19:42

I personally like nougatine and marzipan chocolates. I hate chocolate with raisins, fruit or licqoir in it.

Black bitter chocolate is really cool, for those special moments, when you need nothing but the real thing.

Skanky Burns · June 19, 2003, 19:42

Aussie chocolate is generally of good quality. But then, it is almost all imported from Europe.

alva · June 19, 2003, 19:44

Quote:

* FrustratedPoet waits for alva to show up and tell us all how awful British chocolate is and how we should all be putting more cocoa and less milk in there.

Thanks for stealing my witty reply

Many belgian chocolate compagnies have been bought by the swiss, must be some kind of conspiracy..

Quote:

I also really love the hard bitter dark chocolate that you can get.

Try bakery(?) chocolate someday

EDIT: typos etc.

SlowwHand · June 19, 2003, 19:47

And no one has started a poll, white, dark, or milk chocolate?
You guys are losing your edge.

Urban Ranger · June 20, 2003, 01:20

Quote:

Originally posted by rah
But there are quite a few really good specialy companies that produce the GOOD stuff.

Do tell more. I don't mind trying some good chocolate

Urban Ranger · June 20, 2003, 01:22

Quote:

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
White? White? It's not even chocolate, it's some sort of putrid mutant crap. Blech, I never understood why anyone could like white chocolate.

Exactly

Nothing beats a finely made extra dark plain chocolate.

MichaeltheGreat · June 20, 2003, 01:27

Hershey's is for the desperate who can't get anything else.

Scharffenberger is American bourgeoise imperialist snob chocolate, and it whoops ass on just about everything else out there, anywhere in the world.

Dagoba is another "microchocolate" that's excellent, (organically grown beans too, and they specialize in getting cacao from different areas of the world, where there are subtlely different tastes. I don't know if it's a US company, or just marketed here.

I don't do Sees, my tastes for chocolate candies runs to Godiva.

Victor Galis · June 20, 2003, 02:01

Belgian dark chocolate is clearly the best, or maybe those seashells.

Last time I went to Belgium I bought a kilo of chocolate on the first day I was there.

Lung · June 20, 2003, 02:22

Quote:

Originally posted by alva

Quote:

* FrustratedPoet waits for alva to show up and tell us all how awful British chocolate is and how we should all be putting more cocoa and less milk in there.

Thanks for stealing my witty reply

Many belgian chocolate compagnies have been bought by the swiss, must be some kind of conspiracy..

Quote:

I also really love the hard bitter dark chocolate that you can get.

Try bakery(?) chocolate someday

EDIT: typos etc.

Typos? Wasn't he the greek god of dyslexia?

A few years ago Whitman's introduced their chocolates to Australia, and they were creamy. However, after a couple of tastes i realised that it was actually crap!

I don't profess Aussie chocolate to be that great, but Yank chocky (like all other foods) makes ours taste like heaven in your mouth!

Someone told me that ours was poor due to our hot climate (which makes sense), but the yanks have no excuse!!! We get Lindor balls imported here, and they are good

Appararently, though, it's not the good stuff from Europe!

Chocolate. Mmmmm........

Dis · June 20, 2003, 02:25

chocalate makes me break out

just another food I cannot eat

Ted Striker · June 20, 2003, 03:00

i blame president bush

Sikander · June 20, 2003, 03:41

Hershey's is literally "the sh!t". Avoid it at all costs. Beyond that there are a lot of imports and mediocre mass-produced stuff, and quite a few small producers whose chocolate can be very good. We export our worst stuff it seems. I heard somewhere that the chocolate bar was invented in the U.S. for army rations. Does anyone know if that's true? If so, it explains the rough and ready nature of the Hershey bar. The desperate will eat anything.