Bitter Sweet Symphony. Review on Cadbury Bournville

A self-confessed chocoholic, I just don't get people who don't like chocolate... and a true chocolate lover would definitely love bitter chocolate. Bitter chocolate was scarce and hard to find in India until recently. We had two options... go buy imported bitter chocolate, or find the desi Cadbury's original Bournville, in it's red packaging, which wasn't anything to write home about... the taste and texture being so-so. But finally, as an answer to chocolate lovers' prayers, Cadbury launched a new Bournville Fine Dark Chocolate range :)

Cadbury's new Bournville is made from the finest Ghana cocoa beans and is 44% cocoa. There are four different variants, and of course I've tried them all. There's the basic Rich Cocoa, which is just plain dark chocolate. It melts in your mouth and makes you go 'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm'... And if that's not enough excitement for you, you can choose from Hazelnut, dark chocolate with hazelnuts; Raisin and Nut, dark chocolate with raisins and nuts; and Almond, dark chocolate with almonds. And the price is perfect at INR 75 for a 80 gram bar of Rich Cocoa and a 90 gram bar of the other three variants, so who can complain?

And here's the part I love most... dark chocolate has fewer calories because of the lower sugar and dairy content. And it's loaded with antioxidants, cocoa being a natural antioxidant. So it's delicious and it's actually good for you! How often does that happen in this cruel, twisted world where you're usually told stuff like bitter gourd is good for you? And we all know fruits and nuts are healthy. So it's a win-win situation, whatever way you look at it... at least that's what I tell myself to ease the guilt, particularly when I go overboard like on days when I make a whole bar vanish :)

The one thing I don't like about Cadbury's Bournville is the television ad. Have you seen it? The Brit guy who stands in the town of Bournville and explains how Bournville chocolate should be enjoyed... and then something about how it needs to be earned, and a bird swoops down and flies away with him because he didn't earn it... Seriously?? Seriously?! Do they want to discourage people from buying their product? Anyway, I figure the chocolate is so amazing, I can ignore the ad. And here's some interesting trivia I came across: Bournville is actually the name of a model village in England. And apparently, this village was set up by Cadbury when they relocated their chocolate factory there.

I'll end with some tips on how to truly enjoy the new Bournville:

Try the Rich Cocoa first, nothing beats pure dark chocolate... and then try the others, but do try them all!

Don't refrigerate... slightly gooey dark chocolate is so much more fun, and somehow tastes so much more divine...

This makes an ideal dessert, but go easy on it after dinner if you're sensitive to caffeine, because the caffeine content can really keep you awake.

Bournville is great on it's own, but you can be creative and add it to other stuff too... like melt it and pour it over ice cream, or break it into small pieces and make chocolate chip pancakes.

Finally, if you suffer from Monday Morning Blues, Tuesday Morning Blues, Wednesday Morning Blues, and so on... keep a bar of Bournville handy at work. It really chases away the blues, trust me :)

I can go on and on and on about Bournville, but I'll let the chocolate speak for itself... happy mmmmmmming! :)