Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

I picked this up on a recent trip to the grocery store after craving it from all of your reviews. I only bought this one, but let me tell you, this is silly good chocolate. I usually buy lindt's 80% cocoa chocolate to get my fix, but this is even better. It is extremely smooth and velvety. Dark chocolate can't be consumed in large quantities, but this one is so good I've been eating several squares a day. That might actually be a bad thing :P.

If you don't generally like dark chocolate, this may convert you. If you do, you will LOVE this. It is the smoothest dark chocolate I've ever tried - esp for this price point. It was around $3 at Loblaws.

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

They aren't kidding when they say Intense. I like dark chocolate but this one was really strong. I couldn't have more than one piece of this bar at a time. It tastes fantastic but it is rich and has that strong bite to it that doesn't leave you wanting to eat a ton more. This bar is why I love dark chocolate - you only need a very little bit to feel satisfied, unlike milk chocolate where you can just keep eating. This bar doesn't have anything in it but chocolate so it is completely smooth without any pieces or nibs inside of it. I would highly recommend this only to those who like dark chocolate, those of you who don't - this is not the one for you because it is very intense!

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

Nestle Noir Intense is the perfect chocolate for baking and garnishes. The chocolate is firm, but not too hard to grate using a rasp or a vegetable peeler, if you want to make chocolate ribbons. I used this to make a decadent mug of hot chocolate by melting a few pieces of chocolate in the milk, and adding chocolate shavings on top. This resulted in a richer than usual drink. Since it was dark chocolate, it was not too sweet - just perfect. I'm not sure if I would want to eat this on its own, but it sure tasted good in my hot chocolate. Can't wait to try it with my baking!

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

Fugheddaboutit! Recommended?

My overall rating

I offered my three taste testers the option to use this member of the Nestle Noir collection as an ingredient for chocolate chip cookies. They declined and opted to eat it plain. Despite it's intense chocolate name, it smells rather sweet to me compared to other dark chocolate bars (except for the cheaper drug store varieties). It was the only one from the Nestle Noir collection that wasn't finished in one sitting - there's still a piece lingering in my kitchen cupboard.

In all fairness, my taste-testing panel are not known for their sophisticated palettes when it comes to dark chocolate. I'm amazed at how well much they liked the other bars in the Nestle Noir collection. Part of the appeal were the bits of surprises in the other bars.

As for me, I really liked the smell and texture of Nestle Noir Intense and I'm going to try it in chocolate chip cookies and bark as soon as I'm able to indulge in my favorite food group once again.

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

I really liked this chocolate. I enjoy dark chocolate, but am not a connoisseur. B/c I do not consider myself a die-hard dark chocolate lover, I worry that serious dark chocolate eaters will find this bar, at 70% cocoa, being too sweet. But for the casual dark chocolate consumer, this product is perfect.

Nestle has remained true to the biggest factor that makes them stand out (in my book) as one of the best chocolatiers out there ... CREAMINESS! Even their dark chocolate varieties, which tend to be drier and a bit flaky, retain their trademark creaminess. I LOVE that!

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

Dark chocolate, pure and simple. 70% is my favourite, not overly rich. This is a lovely, creamy bar, perfect for nibbling. Goes beautifully with a hot cup of mint tea!

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

This was the second one I tried, after the Cerise variety. It's hard for me to view this as regular "eating chocolate" due to the rich and complex flavour. I sampled 2 squares and couldn't imagine eating more. It seems much more like a decadent treat than an everyday snack. I grated the rest of the bar and added it to steamed milk (with a touch of honey) and it made a fantastic hot chocolate! I also think it would be great melted, for dipping fruit!

This is a wonderful, "special treat" product that I will buy again in the future.

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

Smooth, melt-in-your mouth texture. Strong dark chocolatey taste, but with enough sweetness that is doesn't taste like cheap chocolate. The combination of bitter and sweet was just enough. Not too much of either. I enjoyed that this one is plain with no "bits" in it. The taste is a bit strong to sit and eat the entire thing, but a square here and there or crumbed over some ice cream is great!

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

Of the 4, this one ranked as number 2! I love plain dark chocolate, and was happy to see that they included one that didn't have any extra features (like the caramel, cherry or the cocoa bean pieces). I did find the intense to have more of a bite compared to the others, which of course was expected, though it didn't seem to be too much different from other brands of dark chocolates I've tried. I did find though that it was very smooth and creamy, and melted in my mouth, which made it stand out from most dark chocolates. This is one that would be perfect to sit back and enjoy with a nice hot drink.

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam

Taste

Price

Quality

You Betcha! Recommended?

My overall rating

Our taste testers were:
Rachel: 32 year old woman, extreme chocolate lover
Jeff: 31 year old man, enjoys chocolate, picky eater
Kelly: 32 year old female
Ben: 30 year old male
Alice: 10 year old girl, part time host of online cooking show, enjoys chocolate

Rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best chocolate ever, and 1 being “yucky”. As a benchmark, we rated a plain Hershey bar and a Nestle Crunch bar as 8 on the scale. All of the bars were large, 100g compared to the 43 g of a “plain, old” Hershey bar. The bars were split into 10 squares, wrapped in gold foil (reminiscent of a Wonka Golden Ticket), and placed in a cardboard outer wrapper with graphics and information geared toward a sophisticated chocolate eater. The cardboard packaging even had instructions for how to open it!

In Nestle’s experiment with Nestle Noir, they have added value to their brand by creating new flavors and utilizing recent research to make buyers think that this snack food will not make them feel guilty or fat, but rather relaxed and heart-healthy. This is not a chocolate bar you’ll see melting in a 7-year-old’s palm, but rather an adult’s much deserved “special treat”. The packaging says it each bar is “a good source of magnesium which helps build strong bones” and “contains 300 mg of Polyphenols per serving.”

What’s really going to sell chocolate, though, is taste. We tasted the Intense, made with 70% Cocoa solids. The package says it “snaps at first bite”, which we did not agree with. We have had dark chocolate bars with more intense flavor and more “bite”, such as Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s. We did find this bar to be yummy and the creamiest of the four flavors. Ben noted it was not bitter. Alice gave it a 7, Jeff gave it a 6 and Rachel gave it a 7, Kelly & Ben gave it a 9. This was the first candy bar of the 4 flavors to disappear completely.

Kelly and Ben loved the creaminess of the Intense.

[ back to top ] This review is the subjective opinion of a ChickAdvisor member and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.

Was this helpful? Yes - No

Flag as inappropriate

Flag as Spam