Hot Cocoa that Won't be at My Holiday Party

It is rare, Sisters and Brothers, that your Chocolate Priestess is so deeply disappointed in a product that she has to think really hard about each word she is typing out but this product from Nestlé disappointed my entire household tonight.

I expect two things from a hot cocoa mix that labels itself as "Chocolate Mint" in flavor.  I expect a chocolate flavor and I expect a mint flavor, that's rather obvious, yes?  From Nestlé I expect a good chocolate taste with no bad aftertaste.  Even though I bought this 8 envelope box on sale at Kroger, I expected this much.  It frankly did not deliver even a minimum level of chocolate or mint.  It was deeply disappointing for everyone especially the White Chocolate Acolyte who will try other chocolates if they have mint in them; he also chose this flavor to try tonight so he personally felt more annoyed than the rest of us.

The mix blended well with the hot water as you can see in this photo, I didn't have to keep stirring it as I let it cool as I sipped it.  Normally I have to pace myself because a hot cocoa is too hot to start or it's too rich and I just can't drink it quickly.  My first clue that this wasn't good was that the burst of cocoa-mint scent when I added the water disappeared as soon as it came.  Then it tasted like a very dully minted hot water with a build up of icky bitterness by the end.  I cannot in good conscious, Sisters and Brothers, tell you that this was worth the price and in fact I will not serve it to any guests in my house.  Sadly I think we may end throwing it out because I'm not sure it can be saved it by mixing it with another flavor. There just isn't anything there to begin with.

If, for some reason, you still want to try this, here are the nutritional facts.  1 serving, one envelope, has 100 calories with 2g saturated fat, 190mg sodium, less than a gram of fiber, 16g sugars, 1g protein, 4% of the daily iron you need but 35% of your daily calcium which is the one saving grace of this product.  I know I can get my calcium in more delightful ways.

Sisters and Brothers, may you too take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The packaging makes it look old, like something I would find in Grandma's kitchen.
I think their idea was to stir up memories of good chocolate times in the past -- pun intended.

Thanks for commenting.