Ritter Sport: Alpine Milk Chocolate

After I tasted the Ritter Sport Extra Fine Milk Chocolate bar, I dutifully moved on to examine the Alpine Milk Chocolate bar, which has 30% cocoa solids.

I was again instructed to answer some questions prior to opening the bar – namely, would I buy this bar? It’s got a big glass of milk on it. Most definitely.

In addition to the question about the packaging, the survey included questions about what I thought the taste embodied and represented. Quite philosophical. The survey also inquired about my chocolate purchasing habits and asked a few standard demographic questions. It wasn’t that involved, and I was happy to do my duty as a Ritter Sport taste tester.

Especially since I got to eat this entire bar as a result. This bar that is 23% milk powder. This bar that screams “CREAM” when you bite into it. A nutty flavor follows that, and then a subtle cocoa flavor emerges. This bar is so soft and perfectly smooth that I’d swear it was praline based if I didn’t know better. Though this bar is sweet, the creaminess balances it out, and this is definitely a MILK chocolate. Not some kind of complex dark chocolate you have to examine and contemplate for hours. A milk chocolate that you can enjoy as a mindless snack. I need more of these bars. My waistline may not, but my soul sure does.

Ritter Sport: Extra Fine Milk Chocolate

Since I sampled the Rittersport Extra Fine Milk Chocolate as part of their official taste testing program, I had some very specific instructions to follow. The first was that I absolutely had to sample this bar first, the second important note was that, prior to opening the bar, I had to answer a question about how likely I would be to buy it.

Hmmm…royal blue packaging. It says Rittersport. Indicates that it’s Milk Chocolate. I’d probably be game for it if I was looking for a plain milk chocolate bar.

Now that we’ve got THAT out of the way, let’s eat.

The first thought that came to my mind when I bit in was about the texture, which was exceptionally smooth and creamy without a hint of graininess. The creaminess was evident in the flavor as well, which is unsurprising given that the ingredients list notes that 18% of the mass of the bar is powdered milk or cream. There’s a nutty flavor as well, and a hint of caramel, but the chocolate flavor itself is not very intense. In general, it’s not a seriously complex chocolate bar, but is rather a smooth, creamy, chocolatey treat. Nothing wrong with that. If I see this at a local shop, I might pick up a bar for the creamy goodness, but I can’t say I’d go out too far out of my way for it. I do, however, think that this bar is carried at several local drugstores. I’ll keep the hope.

People Who Want to Know What I Think: Ritter Sport Taste Testing

Isn’t it great when your week wraps up with outstanding chocolate-related events? Like my week did last week? Well, folks, it happened again. Because yesterday, I shared my dried cranberry-white chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies at our meeting, and boy were they a hit.

After a rainy trip home from the meeting on the Metro, I found a package waiting for me. Inside, I found this.

Ritter Sport has selected me as a taste tester, and boy did I luck out getting two milk chocolate bars to sample. They have a serious set of instructions for conducting these tests, and two pretty long surveys for me to fill out. But they're surveys about chocolate. Milk chocolate. I could take one three times as long and still be thrilled.

If I keep having great choco-days to ring in my weekends, Mondays might just be a little easier to stomach.