Terry (and Dawn) can keep this one! (Terry's Chocolate Orange Mint)

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Terry's Chocolate Orange Mint
Date:	30/12/08 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large segments, the core is great, good quality

Disadvantages: Strong minty flavour

I have only ever associated the chocolate orange with Christmas and since I like the original so much I have never been tempted by the mint version, however, I received a mint orange as a gift and thought I would share my thoughts and opinion.

This product is basically a mint flavoured Terry's chocolate orange in different clothing. Packaged in an attractive green box with a mint leaf printed on the top and chocolate orange written in luminous orange writing (I think this is a bit of false advertising) and "goes minty" written underneath, I am imagining that it is difficult not to distinguish this from the original on the supermarket shelves.

Inside the box is a sphere of mint flavoured chocolate that is divided into 26 individual segments. This is wrapped up within a silver and green checked piece of foil. Like the original, this product needs a couple of really hard bangs on a hard surface to separate the segments. It is best to do this whilst the product (I can't call it an "orange") is still wrapped up.

Once broken and unwrapped there is an instant smell of mint. This is quite over powering since the gorgeous dark chocolate smell does not come through like it does with the original. Chocolate and mint is a well known, and popular combination and the two flavours really do compliment each other, however, I feel that this product is a bit too minty.

I would have thought that this product would be based on the original chocolate orange but made with peppermint oil flavourings as opposed to orange oil flavourings. This does not appear to be the case since this product has minimum 40% cocoa solids (Chocolate orange is 25%). Maybe the additional cocoa solids are required to deal with the stronger flavours of the peppermint? If this is the reason then I think that a higher concentration of cocoa solids is required.

Other key ingredients are like those found in the original product and include sugar, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk fat and emulsifier.

There is a warning that there may be traces of nuts and wheat protein so if you have issues with these this is not for you. This product does not contain any animal extracts so vegetarians can enjoy it as well.

A 26 g serving (three segments) contains:

i) 134 calories
ii) 1.1g of protein
iii) 15.0g of carbohydrate (all of which are sugars)
iv) 7.7g of fat
v) 1.6g of fibre
vi) 0.0g of sodium

If you are wondering how this compares to the original chocolate orange then the nutritional values of a 26g serving of the orange is as follows:

i) 139 calories
ii) 2.0g of protein
iii) 15.0g of carbohydrate (all of which are sugars)
iv) 7.7g of fat
v) 0.6g of fibre
vi) 0.1g of sodium

Based on the above all I can say is it appears that the mint version will give you a few less calories and go through you quicker (since it is a bit higher in fibre) so it may be argued that the mint is better for you although there is not much in it, so which one to choose will come down to personal preference.

Both the original, and the minty versions are quite bad for you if eaten in excess, however I would point out that if you ate half the chocolate orange you would be devouring around 464 cal, 51 g of carbohydrate, 20 g of fat, i.e. an average meal. The question is would you sacrifice dinner for the sake of half a chocolate orange or half a minty orange?

I am unsure of the cost of an individual chocolate minty orange since this was a gift although I saw them for sale before Christmas on a buy 3 for £4 (along with the original chocolate orange) at Tescos, which was a good deal.

I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the minty orange. I was expecting chocolate, orange and mint not just chocolate and mint. Would the three flavours work together? It is a difficult one and one that would be open for debate, although it is highly unlikely we will ever find out.

Once I got over the first disappointment there is the issue of the taste. I find the mint to bee too over powering and would prefer an After Eight instead. I know that After Eights are very minty but the chocolate is darker and stronger and the segments are so much thinner and smaller than those of the minty orange. This product definitely is not for me.

Would I recommend the minty orange though? Definitely, but only for those that like strong tasting minty chocolate. Other than a difference in taste the experience of eating a minty orange is the same as eating the original chocolate orange. The customary bangs on the table are still required to break the segments, there is still the argument over who gets the 'core', the quality is still very good and the chocolate is of the same quality, albeit has a higher concentration of cocoa solids.

Summary: Mint chocolate in the the shape of a chocolate orange.