Chocolate is one of those foods that tastes very different from company to company and from location to location. I often find that European chocolate tastes very different from American chocolate, and both of those are very different from Asian chocolate. I think a lot of it has to do with the milk, but I am sure that there are other reasons too.
The reason I’m talking about this is that in my gift package from the United Kingdom, where I received the Cherry Bakewell Tarts from, was a wonderful bar of chocolate, a Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations Jelly Popping Candy. I decided to have it for a snack and paired it with some instant coffee I found on sale at the local supermarket.
The coffee in question was some instant coffee from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Company, and is called ‘Captain Americano’.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations Jelly Popping Candy has a nifty package, with candy shooting out of a cannon, and some milk being poured into the Dairy Milk logo.
In comparison, the Captain Americano Box is just a basic orange and black box. Nothing special about, so I was definitely hoping that the coffee inside belied the plain packaging.
Unfortunately, the Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations Jelly Popping Candy did not survive the trip intact, and so was already broken into pieces. I guess not everything can make it thousands of kilometers and not break!
As you can see from the picture, the chocolate does indeed have little candies buried inside it, like little hidden treasures for you to find and enjoy!
The chocolate itself is wonderful! Rich, creamy, and smooth, it really is an enjoyable milk chocolate.
I noticed three types of candy in the small part that I ate. There was a candy-coated shell which encased a little bit of chocolate. The second was a bit of chewy jelly candy, that tasted a little bit like Turkish Delight. The third was a Pop Rocks style of candy that literally made your mouth explode! All together, they made for a nice range of flavors and textures while eating the chocolate. I have to say, I really enjoyed this chocolate bar!
The Captain Americano coffee from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Company comes with 30 sticks in a box, and they follow they same color scheme as the outside package.
Opening the package, I dumped the coffee into my little mug, which judging by the tiny amount of coffee in the bottom, was not little enough. When The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Company said that this was a mini-stick, they were not joking!
I added some water to the coffee, and it had a nice color mixture to it as the instant coffee dispersed into the water.
The flavor of the coffee was quite good. It was not a strong brew, and as the package said the coffee was indeed rich and smooth. I didn’t notice any bitterness to it, and there was a subtle fruit flavor to the coffee. There was not a strong aftertaste to the coffee, and very little acidity as well. Overall, it was a nice mild cup of coffee.
The pairing of the two actually went pretty well together. The chocolate added sweetness to the coffee, and the candy inside made it very unique!
I enjoyed The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Company Captain Americano, and I would absolutely recommend the Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations Jelly Popping Candy. If you are ever in the UK, you should definitely give it a try!