Sponsored post: Nestlé Noir Milk Chocolate Reader Reviews

September 22, 2010

Wow. Now I know the secret to making people very happy: give them chocolate. The excited, joyful emails and the super detailed feedback I received really show the power of chocolate. I’m thinking everyone who entered the giveaway must be hardwired to love chocolate (apparently we are genetically inclined, according to this new study).

Here’s a brief summary of what the lucky chocolate samplers thought:

• Nougat was most everyone’s favourite.
• The wavy texture didn’t make a difference in terms of palate pleasure for most people.
• The name Nestlé Noir is darn confusing since these are milk chocolate bars. (and I kinda gotta agree).

Here’s some more feedback direct from Health & Swellness readers mouths (or emails rather) on what they thought about the new Nestlé Noir Milk Chocolate bars (edited for length!):

My favourite was the Nougat.  You could taste the undertones of the honey which went so well with the almond.  The Superior was a little too plain for me just on its own so I did something  a little different. I cut up some strawberries and melted four or so squares of the chocolate in the microwave and then dipped the strawberries in the melted chocolate. Much, much better! A great little individual dessert. –Leila

My favourite I would have to say was the NESTLÉ NOIR Milk Supérieur.  I found the texture to be extremely creamy and really loved the feel of each piece on my tongue – due to its unusual curved shape. Would I trade it for my usual pick?  Depending on the price, I would most certainly have NESTLÉ NOIR Milk Supérieur join me for my weekly movie night. –Lesley

I really liked the Nougat one as it reminded me of Toblerone (one of my all-time faves). I found the hazelnuts were overpowering (bitter?) in the last bar–kind of cancelled out the yumminess and smoothness of the chocolate part. As far as [these chocolate bars] being better than sex?  If sex was as available as chocolate I’d have to say yes… –D.

The Nougat had a light flavour with a little candy quality to it and the Noisette was equally subtle with their light flavour but overall a nice nazelnutty taste.  Although I enjoyed the chocolate I prefer a more intense flavour (i.e. larger chunks of nougat and hazelnuts) and I’m more of a dark chocolate over milk but if I had to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 then I’d rate the Nougat at 7 and the Noisette at 8. –Ali

Picture if you will…5th day of school and the novelty has worn off! Pouring rain and no one fits their rubber boots, can’t find the raincoats, and I drop the book order in a puddle on the way to school trying to grab my son who falls down and rips his new pants. (well we WERE running trying to stay dry!). Forgot snack, library books and my daughter is complaining her underwear is too tight (shit! when was the last time I checked the size of those!)….. Yup, this is me, Mom-of-the-Year.. all this and the bell hasn’t even rung! But more importantly this is how my day ends……Open the mailbox to a small, heavy yellow envelope filled with BLISS! My family of four are called to the table…we have some serious business to attend to. I take out all 3 bars and inform them we MUST taste test the chocolate and decide what we like best. Expressions at this point could be somewhat compared to Christmas morning when they realize Santa actually read his mail and got then EXACTLY what was on their list!, even my husband was like a giddy schoolkid! And YES I declare…we get to eat it ALL!!!

Ummm… What’s with that name? Even people who don’t speak French as their first language usually know that the word “Noir” implies black or dark. But this is milk chocolate, not dark. Perhaps other people aren’t bothered by this, but I find this name choice just confuses me. 

The wavy shapes are pleasing, but in certain light the ridge patterns make it seem as though there are finger prints all over my chocolate. There are huge psychological aspects toward the enjoyment of chocolate, and the impression, no matter how vague, that there are fingerprints on my chocolate does not create a favourable experience. 

Of the three bars, the taste of nougat seemed to work best with the overpowering sweetness of the product. Let’s face it, if you are purchasing nougat, you are basically after a candy-sugar rush. Last Thoughts: I’m afraid that the Nestle Noir milk chocolate bars were too sweet for our family. –Sandra

I prefer dark chocolate, so I found the Superior and Noisette a little too sweet for me. The Nougat was my favourite one, the crunchy bits were delicious. Makes me want to try the dark version of Nestle Noir. –Tara

The Nougat….rich, heavenly, with a slightly chewy texture. This bar is so good you wants to just let it melt and savour the moment…but it’s SO good you can’t help but chew it and get to the next piece! Yup this is brutal honesty here, no manners allowed…you just want to shove the whole thing in your mouth! And finally the Superieur….we all agreed it was pretty superior! This one was smooth and creamy, delightfully pure. The shape of the square was awesome…my daughter loved how there was an indent to hold when a piece was broken off. the pieces look like ocean waves that  just want to carry you away.  Kids loved the pure simplicity of this bar that is anything but simple! 

As for the cold and wet weather, what better remedy than heating up some milk, breaking up some squares of the Superieur and whisking all together and topping with a square of Noisette? My daughters comment….should be yellow, this is like a whole cup of sunshine and happiness! Oh and as for my me and my husband, we got to finish off our fav’s with a bottle of red at bedtime…sinfully De-Lish!! –Shawn

What I loved the most–the thickness and the shape of the squares, the chocolate is very smooth (reminds me of Nutella) and of course the nuts! Probably the best milk chocolate I’ve tried, ever. –Kristina

Of the three flavours, the plain milk chocolate was my favourite. I think I prefer additional ingredients like hazelnuts or nougat in a chunkier chocolate bar. Although when you eat two squares at the same time, the result was quite delicious. –Susan

I decided to start with nougat. I loved it! The chocolate was delicious, creamy and smooth, felt and tasted like good quality chocolate and not “junky” chocolate. And there was just enough nougat to jazz it up. I wear braces so I worry about having nougat as it can get stuck in my braces and or possibly break a brace but there were no issues with this nougat as the pieces were really small, but gave it a nice crunch and made the chocolate bar just a little more special.

As for what I didn’t like: the package. It just wouldn’t stay closed even though I opened it along the perforated line. Also, I think they could do a better job of letting consumers know it’s Swiss chocolate. Finally, I kind of think the shape is much ado about nothing. It didn’t hinder or improve the experience of eating the chocolate. –Miriam

The day I received my package the BF and I immediately decided we would hold a taste test.  After dinner, of course! As I chomped on chicken and veggies all I could think about was ripping open the packages. I must confess – I debated having chocolate for dinner! But the BF looked at me as if I were 10 years old.

 As we both sat in the living room with water in hand to “cleanse our palate” I opened up the milk chocolate.  “mmm” were the sounds coming from the both of us!  The chocolate was smooth, velvety and not overly sweet as most other milk chocolate.  Much to my surprise I found the shape of the chocolate hit my mouth perfectly!  I loved the way the lump of chocolate hit the roof of my mouth.  Next up was the noisette, which so happened to be the BF favourite.  But Something about it didn’t do it for me.  It’s hard to pinpoint,  but the nut flavour seemed off.  Lastly the nougat!  Mm mm good!!  By far my personal fav! The trace of honey had me wanting more and finally the perfect amount of nougat!  Lets be real here, nougat is delicious but having it stuck to your teeth, not so pretty! –Diane

The name Nestle Noir is really wrong and misleading. All three were milk chocolate so there was nothing noir.  A lot of thought went into the packaging but it is not practical and makes not sense.  All other brands open vertically at the top.  Although I like the tear open cardboard, you have to take the whole chocolate out from the horizontal side to actually tear open the gold foil on the inside…so it kind of defeats the purpose. And all that talk about the new shape…it was mildly novel in my hands..but it did nothing to add to the taste. My favourite flavour is the nougat…I like the sugary bits. –E.

The arrival of chocolate was appreciated on such a stressful morning. Nougat was our favorite one, my kids too LOVED that one (and they are definitely chocolate connoisseurs). I really liked the swirly shape of each piece, and they broke away quite easily. –Wendy

I’m not one to inquire whether my cocoa beans were nurtured on the sunny side of the slope or the shady. But I have to admit, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart–or rather, my palate–for chocolate with snob appeal. There is something about a pretentiously packaged bar that makes me feel less guilty about indulging (sort of like drinking a great bottle of wine). So I was definitely ALL OVER the elegant aesthetics and Swiss name-dropping of Nestle Noir’s new milk chocolate line. I sampled each of the bars at different times of day, so as not to battle an orgy of flavours; chocolate is sensual enough without such concerns, right? My thoughts on each one.

Superieur: As with all three bars I tried, the cocoa content wasn’t listed on the package – which is no surprise for a milk chocolate product, I suppose, but with a premium bar you sort of expect to see that kind of attention to detail; you want to know what you are paying for. That said, the chocolate itself was delicious. Mmmm! I liked the vanilla aftertaste, though it was intense enough that I could only handle a few squares in one sitting. But really, what woman wants to let herself eat more than that anyway? 

Noisette: Again, this first comment applies to all three bars: I really liked the unusual texture and sculpting of the chocolate, though it was strictly for the ergonomics aspect; not because it had any discernible effect on how easily the chocolate went down.  I really enjoyed the addition of hazelnuts, which added some complexity to the overall flavour.

Nougat: Of all three, this one tasted the most like a regular candy bar, most likely because of the little bits of honeycomb. It was still delicious though–candy bars are popular for a reason–and the almond pieces added interest.

One criticism: I found it misleading and off-putting that they put a general health message on the back, which (to my view) leverages public knowledge of dark chocolate’s antioxidants and sends the implicit message that these bars share those same positive effects. And to the best of my knowledge, they don’t. But that’s a small quibble. Most people aren’t buying chocolate for their health. –Misty

Filed under: Healthy Swellness

Tags: chocolate, giveaway, milk chocolate, Nestle Noir