The end of Hotel Chocolat.

[Pasithean]

Looks like their selling out to mars. 😭😭🙈🤮

please don’t change it.

What exactly do so many people think is 'shit' about HC? I don't get it? How is it inedible?

It's not inedible. It's quite pleasant. I like the chocolate buttons, but it's not a chocolate mouth orgasm, unless you have only tasted Cadbury or (worse) American chocolate.

But what exactly is it that people don't like and what makes 'better' chocolate better?

We all know Cadburys is low in Cocoa solids, contains vegetable fat and is very sweet but what exactly is wrong with HC?

Home bargains has better chocolate. 😂

@FancyFanny HoC make very nice mainstream chocolates. Most people would be pleased to get a box. But it is possible to make even better (IMO) chocolate, although it costs more, because the cocoa (the most expensive ingredient) accounts for a higher % content. It is also less sweet because cocoa gets more bitter the less purified. 95% cocoa makes your mouth pucker and a baby would spit it out.

The sweeter it tastes, the less pure the chocolate. Sugar is cheap, chocolate/cocoa isn't. Hence the snobbery: bitter is better.

I still don't get it- Audreys milk chocolate contains 33% cocoa solids, HC contains 40%

I've never tasted Audrey's chocolate, so I really can't pass comment. Greene & Black, now owned by Cadbury, make two milk chocolates, one at about 35% cocoa solids, and the original version at about 43%. I like the 43% because it tastes quite strongly of chocolate while the lower % is too sugary, for me.

I mean surely everyone knows the house of Lords has a tuck shop that fancy chocolatiers supply???

It's the souvenir shop for the House of Lords. I guess it's an easy present buying option. Please buy Miss Smith a birthday present. Budget Lord X? £30? Okay, posh chocolates then.

Everybody happy? The chocolatier who makes them for the House of Lords tuck shop is 8 miles from where I live, and so, in the interest of supporting my local community, I make a point of buying their chocolate whenever I can.

Preferring a more bitter chocolate does not make you better than people that like a slightly sweeter product. Just because something has a high cocoa content also does not mean it is superior. For example Lindt 85% bar is still a mass produced product and Valrhona Limeïra single origin 55% is infinitely superior in every way while still having a lower cocoa content.

What do you find so wrong with my POV @bellac11 ? It's not snobbery. The chocolatier is brilliant. Why would you NOT support a local talent? I really don't get it.

It feels as if everything is cheapening right now.

Perfumes don't last like they used to.

Chocolates are oily.

Clothes are practically disposable items.

White goods such as washing machines are built to fail (just as the guarantee runs out).

The only things I can think of that have improved are cars. In the past they used to break down with monotonous regularity, which doesn't seem to happen now.

.I wouldn't be surprised if Hotel Chocolate deteriorates.

@Papyrophile i think your post has ruffled people as it implies that posters who like HdC are unsophisticated oafs who just want to chow down on slabs of palm oil lightly flavoured with cocoa beans.

do you mind sharing the supplier though ? I'm always interested in trying interesting chocolates

When you compare Lindt to Valrhona, you are also comparing mass market to connoisseur, at which point it's all about your taste preference.

That was my point though. You said bitter=better when clearly this cannot be used as an accurate gauge of quality.
so someone who isn't knowledgable may think "oh well then if bitter is better then more bitter must be even better" leading them to think that in the aforementioned example of Lindt v Valrhona, the Lindt bar is better.

Well did Cadbury stay the same/improve?

There’s the answer for what will happen.

I didn't quite say that. I did say that snobbery equated bitter/dark/higher cocoa with being better.

@StiffyByngsDogBartholomew yes, I'll post a link but I need to find their business card. I have one, somewhere.

Thankyou @Papyrophile, that would be great. I did a bit of Googling but it wasn't very helpful.
we have a couple of "artisan chocolatiers" near us. Both singularly disappointing. I think they both do it as hobby business. Lots of bars with bits in... I like a quality shelled bon bon myself

I hope you will not be disappointed @StiffyByngsDogBartholomew . My fussy family and relatives have not yet been let down. The card is in a coat pocket I think!

I remember this!
I’m mostly here for the chocolate recommendations but good to be reminded of where I originally knew them from and when I liked them. I’m not a huge chocolate snob but I used to like them and don’t really any more so presume there must be a reason

I thought Audrey don't t do palm oil which is what is making chocs slimy.
Also I thought aldi don't use palm oil?..

Someone gave me a box of their chocs every year, it was horrid and cheap tasting