Lake Champlain Triple Nut Bar

Posted by Edmund in Chocolate, Featured Articles, Gourmet Chocolate Bars, USA | 0 comments

Composition: 38% Milk Chocolate with Cashews, Almonds, and Pistachios.
Region of Production: USA.
Price: $3.50 for 3 oz.

Manufacturer Notes: “Triple Nut harvests salty and sweet flavors from three continents—almonds and pistachios from North America, cashews from South America, and deep, rich milk chocolate from Africa.”

The presentation here should theoretically be one of the better ones for Lake Champlain, since the chocolate bears almost no discoloration or smearing on the top. Regardless, the color of this bar is simply dull, verging on a light-brown muddy color that bears no gloss or polish whatsoever. Moreover, on the bottom side, nuts are protruding all over, so that it doesn’t have a uniform finish. Still, the bar is definitely cleaner-looking, at least across the top side, than what I’m used to seeing.

The taste is underwhelming, too. I definitely taste the combination of salty and sweet that Lake Champlain was going for, as the salt comes through with a subtle overtone that leaves you salivating for more and gives you a little kick at the very end. Still, the bar is very bland, in general, as I had guessed. The nuts contribute a great crunch but add little to the flavor. It only makes matters worse that they come in very large chunks, many of which are distributed unevenly. Thus, every bite will have a different amount of nuttiness, with many being nearly completely devoid of any nuts. This bar, then, doesn’t feel all that nutty, instead relying on the strength of the milk chocolate. Moreover, the nuts I do taste don’t seem to be all that different, as the boring almond tends to dominate the pistachios and cashews.

Thankfully, that chocolate is delicious, as I’ve noted about other Lake Champlain milk chocolates (e.g. Lake Champlain Caramel Bar). The cocoa here is a bit earthier than what I expected, underplaying the sweetness, which is often cloying in chocolates at this price range. The chocolate also carries just the right amount of rich milkiness, leaving a nice residue as it melts but never overpowering you. Best of all, though, is how the earthy notes—roasted coffee and hazelnut, especially—combine with an almost toffee- and butterscotch-like like flavor and consistency, along with just a slight saltiness and crunchy neutrality from the nuts. Unfortunately, the bar does end on an overly sweet tone, reminding me very much of a candy bar. That end is, moreover, extremely short, disappearing within a minute.

As for texture, the bar is a bit hard to the bite, understandable considering how overloaded it is with nuts. Still, the melt is smooth and clean, rather than overly tough, slow, viscous, or clingy. That’s especially surprising given how large the nut chunks can be, which I’d think would make the texture abrasive. While very crunchy, though, those nuts are actually quite soft, blending with the chocolate a bit more than I’d expect. Still, their large size is problematic, since the flavor isn’t able to blend quite as effectively as the texture.

Overall, then, this is a very good candy bar but is not what I’d consider “gourmet,” as neither the nut flavor nor the quality of the chocolate live up to what I’d expect from such a great chocolatier.

Scores

Presentation: 2.5/5.0
Taste: 3.3/5.0
Flavor: 2.4/5.0
Melt: 4.0/5.0
Length: 1.0/5.0
Value: 3.3/5.0
Verdict: 3.0/5.0