I loved this! It has the perfect blend of texture (from the caramelized cocoa nibs) and smooth chocolate. Again, I am a fan of dark chocolate so keep that in mind. This is far more intense than the Cherry or Caramel versions of the bar, it tastes like any other dark chocolate. I will say though, the cocoa pieces make it different and give it something extra that I haven't tasted in other brands of dark chocolate. I'm not sure this is the one I would try out first if you aren't a lover of dark chocolate but for those who do love it, I would definitely go pick this one up!

The Nestle Noir Eclat Noir is the perfect alternative for those who like chocolate-covered coffee beans. This bar contains bits of coffee beans mixed with dark chocolate. While the chocolate is smooth and rich, it does have that slight bitterness that is characteristic of most dark chocolate. Unfortunately, I found that the coffee beans added to the bitterness, and I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. However, I have to add that I don't generally like chocolate-covered coffee beans so perhaps this is a carry-over from that. Others who tried this chocolate bar with me found it to be pleasantly tasty and a treat that they enjoyed with their coffee.

The taste-testing trio thoroughly and unanimously approved of Nestle Noir Eclat Noir. In particular, they loved the chocolate bits. IMHO, if you want to introduce immature palettes to the pleasures of dark chocolate, this is good place to start.

They liked the texture (smooth with little bits of chocolate surprises) and the taste. I will definitely be buying more for them. They made me promise.

This one is a winner!! Nestle's dark chocolate line finally got dark enough. To me, dark chocolate is not something you snarf down in sweet delight. B/c its bitter and sharp, it needs to savored in small doses. This bar definitely stops me in my tracks, one nibble at a time. I don't feel the need to go after another bite for quite some time. The bitterness is finally up to par.

As for the texture, yeah, there are a lot of crunchy beans in the chocolate. But I think they are necessary. W/o them, this bar would not be dark enough and bitter enough to classify as a true dark chocolate. The crunchy beans add to the fullness of the bitter dark chocolate flavor.

I saved this bar for last expecting it to be my favourite but sadly, it was my least favourite. The cocoa bean bits added a nice crunchiness to the texture, but they also added even more bitterness to the already, somewhat bitter chocolate. It was too much bitterness for a straight eating chocolate.

I would use this bar in baking or as addition to a sweet dessert, but not as a treat on its own. (I'm thinking, crumbled up and sprinkled on strawberry ice cream!)

The idea behind this bar is a good one, but I think there are too many nibs. They seemed to interupt the smooth texture of the chocolate. This one also seemed to be more bitter than the rest. This was my least favorite of the bars. Not a horrible combination, but I would opt for the other three before reaching for the Eclat Noir.

I really wasn't a fan of this one at all. When I tasted all of the chocolates for review, I tried to eat the same amount of each, with this one though, I could barely finish the whole piece. Texture plays a big role in what we enjoy, and I did not like the texture of this one at all. The little bits of cocoa were a turn off for me. They felt very grainy in my mouth, like little bits of sand. I felt there was far too much in this bar. They really took away from the rest of the chocolate for me.

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

Each taste tester tried the bar, and rated it 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.

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.
The Eclat Noir has 64% cocoa solids – but mixed with caramelized cocoa bean pieces. This was a very unique candy bar, like nothing we had tasted before. The bits of bean were crispy, similar to a Nestle Crunch, but smaller & fewer crispies. Alice gave it a 6, Jeff gave it a 6 and Rachel gave it a 7. Kelly thought the flavor was reminiscent of coffee, and the texture and aftertaste were a bit strange and gave it a 7. Ben thought it was hard to discern the cocoa bean flavor from the candy bar itself and gave it a 5.

I liked the idea of this chocolate and cocoa combination, but the execution didn't quite pan out. The crunchy, bitterness of the cocoa nibs was delightful, but I found the sheer quantity of the nibs to be overwhelming. I liked the taste and the idea, but it was too rich, too much. There are other bars on the market with this same combination but in much more satisfying ratios.

while i enjoyed the novelty of the crunchy cocoa bean bits, i found this product to be way too bitter for my liking. If you want a dark chocolate which melts nicely in your mouth, go for Nestle Intense...which i found to be satisfying smooth. The Nestle Noir Cerise was nice, as well, for those who want something extra (like cherry bits!) in their chocolate.