Next up in Sainsbury’s store brand reviews, we go back to Basics. These bars were found in the baking aisle. If I remember correctly, they were super cheap by British standards – something around 30 pence (50 cents)? I don’t remember exactly how much the Taste the Difference bars were, but I’m pretty sure those were closer to a pound ($1.60 these days; closer to $2 while I was overseas).
As the packaging says, “No fancy packaging. Just a good bar of chocolate.” And they’re right. The cellophane/plastic wrappers aren’t fancy, and the chocolate within isn’t fancily decorated either. I do appreciate the segmentation, but I think I could do without the random horizontal lines that don’t add much. As for the chocolate inside, it’s good. Not great, but good.
Their dark chocolate bar (above) is a 41%, so it’s not actually that dark. It has a semi-sharp snap to it. The melt is rather thin and doesn’t coat the tongue at all. It has a fruity, sweet finish with just a hint of malt. And that’s about it.
The milk chocolate bar was a pale 31%. Only a 10% difference in cacao, but a huge difference in color. This bar was super soft and creamy with strong dairy and caramel notes. The finish was also on the sweet, fruity side.
I’d give these guys a O for snacking, but they’re definitely a great buy for baking chocolate. I wouldn’t use them to make truffles or couverture, but the Basics bars would be just fine in recipes where other elements would outcompete any chocolate nuance.
I’ve referenced your review on my blog, since I was doing a post about using Sainsbury’s Basics Dark Chocolate to make truffles. You can find it at: http://backtosainsburysbasics.blogspot.com/2009/08/peanut-butter-truffles.html . Apologies in advance, my truffles look horrible.