Dove Flavored Caramels
08 Aug
Upon browsing the shelves at Target eyeballing the newest offerings in the world of chocolate, I came across an offering from Dove. “Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Promises.” Aha! A new chocolate candy adventure begins.
The Packaging:
It was in a tall, oddly shaped box, intended to be sleek from the marketing department, but was instead mangled by the shelving unit at Target. The box was meant to represent the shape of ribbon and make the consumer think “smooth” instead of “why is this box bent?” Unfortunately because of the shape I almost immediately dropped the package since I wasn’t expecting the crazy shape to be hard to grip.
The Wrapper:
Once I got past the box, I found it filled with many individually wrapped foil pieces, each one with a “Promises Message.” Sort of the fortune cookies message of chocolates. I wasn’t really inspired to share my chocolate or hug anyone, but the messages aren’t why I’m consuming it. I came for the chocolate, much how like you would go to a Chinese restaurant for the food not the cookie.
The Taste:
Raspberry Caramel
Overall: Not bad. Would I buy it again? No.
First of all, raspberry and dark chocolate go together like a hand and glove. Add in caramel and it’s pretty delicious. At least when the caramel is caramel and the raspberry is added through a jelly like ribbon in it. In this case the caramel was flavored with raspberry. A little odd, but tasted OK. I could eat the full serving size of 5 pieces. The dark chocolate covering was the usual standard of creaminess and bitterness expected from Dove dark chocolate and was quite tasty just on it’s own.
Mint Caramel
Overall: Not good. Would I buy it again? What do you think?
I figured mixing mint and caramel was going to weird to begin with, it’s what intrigued me to make the purchase in the first place. Let’s put it this way, traditionally, most chocolate candy makers do not mix caramel and mint in the same confection and there is a reason. While the chocolate itself was just as delicious as the raspberry one, the caramel was a lovely gooey consistency but the mint was completely overriding the caramel taste. It made me feel as if I ate a Caramellow after brushing my teeth with Aqua Fresh. I am hard pressed to eat many more pieces, which is a shame, since independently, I find the candy very appealing. Just not with all the flavors mashed together like a taco salad.
I shall return to the Target. It wasn’t on sale, but Dove also makes a chocolate that promises to be full of vitamins that are good for your skin! Finally they are pairing their moisturizing soap empire with their consumables line.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I actually found the chocolates to be enjoyable. For me the flavors weren’t overpowering, however I do admit to not tasting much caramel, more it was a texture thing. I prefer my caramels to be chewy, so for this sake, I would only eat if these sweets were provided for tasting….:)
August 8th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I’ve had these. They taste like Andes dinner mints, only not free. The mint totally overpowers the chocolate and the caramel. I’ll take a classic Dove bar any day.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I found the Mint Caramel version to be edible, but not particulary tasty.
If it’s offered to you for free it’s worth trying. Otherwise, don’t waste your money.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Can’t recommend this candy, folks. All the various flavors cancel each other out while you’re eating it and the effect is sort of like entering a fugue state. You’re certain that although time has passed, you couldn’t say how long it’s been or even where you are. This coupled with the fact that the aftertaste is roughly equivalent to bad morning breath, I’m pretty sure that this candy knocked me unconscious for 5 or 6 hours. Good only for experimenting hippies, and people looking for an out of body dissociative experience.
(I didn’t like this candy.)
August 8th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Dove’s caramel-mint concoction made me face a harsh reality: not everything goes with mint. Mint and chocolate – perfect. Mint and raspberry – maybe. Mint and caramel – an abomination! It reminds me of when you’re eating a box of truffles and come across the one with the horrible filling (for me that’s coconut) and it ruins the whole box.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Just like you, I tried the raspberry and the mint varieties. I truly disliked the mint one, and while the raspberry one was ok, after 3 pieces I became sickened by the taste of them. So I was unimpressed overall. PLUS, an hour after eating them, I got a headache and stomach ache. I happened to look at the box again, and well….
Usually I shop for chocolates at places like Whole Foods and PCC, where the products they carry are extremely good about labeling all various allergy information. I’ve gotten so used to it in fact, that before trying them I had skipped down to the bottom of the ingredient list, where it says: “Allergy Information: May contain peanuts and tree nuts”. I thought, cool, it’s dark chocolate, which is usually safe, as is caramel.
But an hour or two later when I began to feel sick… I inspected the fine print and found that both the semi-sweet chocolate AND the caramel filling contain milkfat and skim milk. Yes of course, *I should* have checked the full ingredient list and that’s entirely my fault. But if they’re going to go to the trouble of labeling allergy information, why not include that it contains milk products? Good thing I didn’t like them too much.
These get a vegan’s thumbs down!
August 8th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I agree with Rowena. When you put mint and chocolate together, they overpower anything else mixed in and this time the caramel had to suffer.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I thought this candy was ok. It reminded me of a mint with the creamy filling, I couldn’t really tell it was caramel. I also would try for sampling but probably not buy for myself.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I thought the mint caramel one was all right when I ate it, but the aftertaste was like a mild version of the cough syrup aftertaste. NO THANK YOU PLEASE DO NOT COME AGAIN