A highlight? (Cadbury Highlights Dark Chocolate)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Cadbury Highlights Dark Chocolate
Date:	11/07/08 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: drinkable, sachets are cheap

Disadvantages: Strange salty smell, quite bitter

Sorry for yet another hot chocolate review in the middle of summer (well, it's supposed to be summer, but I've not seen much evidence so far), but I do seem to be drinking it quite often recently. I had tried a few of the options sachets, when I noticed that there were also various flavours of Cadbury highlights available. I noticed there was a dark chocolate version, and as I adore dark chocolate I knew I had to try it.

~About the hot chocolate~

This hot chocolate is instant, meaning it is made just by stirring in hot water, rather than by using milk. They are low fat and low calorie, and contain artificial sweetener.
It is available in either a double sachet pack or in a jar like the one pictured above. I chose the sachet as I had never tried it, and didn't want to buy a full jar, just in case I didn't like it.

~My Experience~

I had decided in the morning before work to weigh myself. I knew I had put on a bit of weight, but was far too frightened to get on the scales! As suspected, I had put on weight - not as much as I had thought, but enough to make me want to take action. I decided that I would try to eat healthily to get back down to my normal weight by my birthday, which is in less than a months time. When I went shopping I stocked up on lots of low fat meals and vegetables, and resisted the temptation of the sweet aisles.

That night, and only half a day into my diet, and I wanted chocolate! I seriously regretted not buying anything sweet, but then I remembered my hot chocolate!

I emptied the sachet into a mug and waited for the kettle to boil. The actual powder looked just like any other hot chocolate powder and had a sweet chcolatey scent.

When I added the hot water, the first thing I noticed was the aroma of the hot chocolate. It didn't smell like chocolate any more. It was really strange, it had a sort of salty smell to it, that's really hard to describe. I actually checked the ingredients list and it does contain salt, but still, for a hot chocolate to smell salty is a bit weird.

When I stirred the hot chocolate I noticed as soon as I put my spoon in the mug that a lot of it had not dissolved properly. It took quite a bit of stirring to dissolve it completely.

The hot chocolate looked like any other- as it is dark chocolate flavoured, I had expected the actual colour to be darker than it was.

I was a bit dubious about taking a sip, as I really wasn't keen on the smell. When I did drink it, I found, that like dark chocolate it had a chocolatey sweetness, but was also fairly bitter - thankfully it did not taste of salt! It was also fairly smooth, and did not taste watery as some others can.

I would describe the taste as 'OK' although I must admit I could not finish an entire mug, as it was too bitter.

~Nutritional Info~

Each sachet, when made up with 220ml hot water, contains....

35 calories
2.5g protein
4.1g carbohydrate
0.9g fat

As I said, it does contain salt, but it does not indicate anywhere how much - sodium is not listed on the nutritional tables.

~Price~

I paid 23p for a double sachet of this from Asda, a 220g jar will cost you £2.25

~Conclusion~

This was certainly drinkable, but not as nice as some of the Options flavours I have tried out recently. I didn't like the smell of it, or the bitterness to the taste. It was a bit disappointing really, as I was looking forward to trying it, and while I would buy other flavours in the Highlights range, I would not buy the dark chocolate version again.

Summary: Cadbury Highlights Dark