Sugar Savvy

Here in Southern Ontario, I often sit around with friends eating and discussing food. And lately, the more new products that seem to be on the shelf, the more I seem to eat. What better opportunity to try the new Cadbury’s Caramilk Maple chocolate bar? I’m not exactly sure where else this limited edition candy is available but I chose it for it’s Canadian appeal.

I like Caramilk (known as Caramello in the United States and Dairy Milk with Caramel in the United Kingdom) fine, but admit that I rarely choose it. When it comes to chocolate, I have been stuck in a bit of a rut and too often end up eating the same things over and over. Last week, however, my fiancé, J, came home with a Caramilk Dark Chocolate for us to share. I loved it and ate my all my pieces before J even had a chance to put the rest of the groceries down. Now, I’m not the biggest dark chocolate fan, but I thought the sweetness of the caramel mixed with the dark chocolate perfectly.

After that pleasant experience, I went to my local convenience store and checked the racks for things new. If I hadn’t been looking on purpose, the maple Caramilk would have completely eluded me. It’s packaging is only slightly altered from the regular Caramilk, a brown maple leaf blending seamlessly into the rest of the label.

Packaging aside, once opened I took a whiff of the bar itself and was pleased to find a noticeable, but not overwhelming, scent of maple. And then it occurred to me that I’ve never actually eaten maple and chocolate together.

I put the first chunk of it into my mouth and… I thought it tasted like a Caramilk, mostly. The maple flavouring didn’t really catch up until the end, leaving me with an unappetizing maple-wood taste in the back of my throat. It certainly didn’t thrill me like the Caramilk Dark Chocolate did.

Personally, I like to dissect my candy and see what tastes like what out of the mix. Since the maple could only really be described as a hint, I needed to ascertain where it was hidden. Slicing the largest piece of chocolate off the bar I ate it alone and discovered no maple taste at all, just the regular satisfying taste of Cadbury chocolate.

Next, I scooped out the caramel inside. The second it hit my tongue I recoiled. It tasted like maple syrup that had been burned or gotten old and perhaps fermented in some way. And therein lies my verdict on this candy: artificial flavour = boo!

Among my friends at least, I am unique. It is rare that I like artificial flavours and this was as artificial as it comes. The woody taste that I detected with a full piece of the candy and the rancid alcohol effect from the caramel alone I can only chalk up to being some chemical that is supposed to trick the taster into thinking they’ve eaten something that was originally supposed to come from a tree. I couldn’t bear to finish it myself and saved the last pieces for J and my friend Michelle. Neither of them are quite as particular (I’m sure they’d say picky) as I am and I couldn’t wait to see if they found the candy to be as much of a turn off as I did.

My fiancé tasted a piece and just kind of shrugged, saying he wouldn’t be buying it a second time. Michelle completely agreed, saying it had a harsh aftertaste. Guess none of us will be having maple with our chocolate again any time soon.
So, with two new products in my tummy, I am once again off to the shops for new products. And I’ll probably pick up a new addition to my regular lineup: Caramilk Dark Chocolate.

Photos courtesy of company website.