Newman's Own Organics Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

1.2oz in three peanut butter cups

Ingredients: Organic sugar, o. chocolate liquor, o. cocoa butter, o, soy lecithin, o. vanilla, o. peanut butter, o. whole milk powder, o. palm kernel oil, palm kernel oil, peanut flour, salt

12g sugar/34g package (35.3% by wt.)

Corporate Info: Newman's Own was famously founded by beloved (seriously—can you find anyone who would disagree?) actor Paul Newman in 1982, and his daughter Nell founded Newman's Own Organics in 1993. They are truly separate companies, as while Newman's Own Organics started as a division of the parent company, it split off in 2001; even the websites are entirely different. The older company makes the salad dressing, microwave popcorn, and other products (some of which are organic), while the younger produces all the chocolate as well as other sweets, snacks, and assorted items. Newman's Own is well known for its philanthropic intent and follow through, while Newman's Own Organics seems to make organic sourcing its sole priority. So you shouldn't think your chocolate purchases are helping with Paul Newman's charitable causes, but you can still feel good about the whole thing.

Today's Confection: Newman's Own Organics produces five kinds of chocolate cups: Dark chocolate filled with caramel, peanut butter, or peppermint, and milk chocolate filled with caramel or peanut butter. Most ingredients are organic, the cacao is Rainforest Alliance Certified, and the cost they pay for the cacao is “tied to the Fair Trade market price of organic cocoa beans.” I found this package on sale for I think less than $1.50, not a major luxury price. I should also mention that the ingredients' milk powder and other elements were part of “organic yogurt coating,” which I suspect was combined with the chocolate rather than being a separate piece of the cup or mixed with the peanut butter, but I'm really not sure.

Appearance: Flattish, steep-walled cups in a milky, friendly-looking brown.

Smell: Like chocolate and peanut butter. The chocolate smells like real chocolate, a little beany and raw but not too much, and the peanut is subtle but present.

Taste: The chocolate is smooth, creamy, and rich, holding its own but not the deep, intense type of dark. The peanut butter is soft and flowy but not liquidy, so you'll get some on your lips but not drip it on the floor. It's mostly smooth but like natural peanut butter, which is to say mouth-fillingly oily rather than the greasy, thick consistency of common store brands containing hydrogenated oils. (I'm not saying those peanut butters don't have a sort of appeal, but you can't deny that they share a texture with Crisco.) What I really like is the balance between chocolate and peanut butter, both because of the quantities and because the chocolate is mild enough not to overwhelm the peanut butter, one solution to the problem I had with Justin's similar product. The flavors of both elements won't approximate a Reese's, if that's what you're looking for, but Newman's Own Organics does an admirable job with its own peanut butter cups.

Conclusion: Newman's Own Organics Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are well balanced in texture and flavor, a good choice for organic, not-too-sweet peanut butter cups.

Justin's organic 2 dark chocolate peanut butter cups

1.4oz in two peanut butter cups

Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, o. chocolate liquor, o. cocoa butter, o. soy lecithin, o. vanilla, o. peanuts, o. palm oil, sea salt

14g sugar/40g serving (35% by wt.)

Corporate Info: Justin's—a.k.a. Justin's Nut Butter—is a nut butter company, not a chocolatier, but I like peanut butter cups and Justin's makes a dark chocolate peanut butter cup, so there you go. Justin's products are mostly organic, and they claim to be trying for sustainability in a whole assortment of ways. Good for them. Also, with a hometown of Boulder, Colorado, Justin's is neighbor to Chocolove and SunSpire.

Appearance: Pretty nice. The wide, flat cups, glossy chocolate, and (in cross-section) good amount of crumbly-looking peanut butter make these comparable to Reese's ultra-popular version. I have as much Reese's nostalgia as anyone, so a decision to emulate the big boys seems like a good one to me.

Smell: As you'd expect, but with a somewhat greater emphasis on the chocolate than most. That chocolate has a red-berry tartness to the smell rather than being the usual super-mild and sweet type.

Taste: On first bite, I think: sweet...very smooth and creamy chocolate...yes the peanut butter has some crumbly-crunchy going on...lingering sugar and red fruit tartness. I wish the peanut butter stood out more; I'm thinking that, compared to milk chocolate cups, dark chocolate ones need a higher ratio of peanut butter to stand up to the chocolate, even if the chocolate isn't crazy intense (and this isn't). Not bad, though.

Conclusion: Justin's organic 2 dark chocolate peanut butter cups are a fine organic, small-company Reese's substitute, but the peanut butter flavor tends to get overwhelmed by the flavorful chocolate.

New Zealand Chocolate: Whittaker's

So I haven't posted for the last couple weeks, and the reason is that I was in New Zealand! I brought home several chocolate bars, and today I'm reviewing three varieties of Whittaker's, a brand found in seemingly every supermarket and service station in the country. This chocolate is cheap, doesn't contain any weird fillers (except maybe “flavor”), and makes some crazy huge bars: The 72% and Mocha bars are 250 grams—most of the bars I review are 85 or 100g—the Peanut Slabs came in a pack of three chunky 50g bars, and if I recall correctly each item was under $5. Because I'm discussing all three varieties in one go, the photos and reviews appear after this introductory section.

Corporate Info: The original Whittaker started working with chocolate in 1896, and Whittaker's final product is made in Porirua, near New Zealand's capital of Wellington. But yes, as with other chocolate companies it sources its ingredients all over the world: Ghana (cocoa beans), Southeast Asia (cocoa butter), South Africa (peanuts), and so on. With the exception of one fair trade milk chocolate bar, you've still got the usual chocolate industry stuff to deal with, though they do say they're trying. In addition to what I've reviewed here, Whittaker's produces an intriguing assortment of studded slabs, flavored “blocks” (the giant bars), toffees, and single-sized servings.

72% Cocoa Dark Ghana

250g bar

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, soy lecithin, vanilla flavor

8.3g sugar/25g serving (33.2% by wt.)

Appearance: Big. Also glossy and medium in color.

Smell: Pleasant, nose-filling, chocolatey. Like hot cocoa and raisins.

Taste: Enjoyable. A little sour but not too much, kind of chalky but not weirdly, a little fatty but not unpalatable. The experience is like eating a Hershey's Kiss—it's mild but not impressively creamy or unpleasantly neutral, and if I weren't paying attention I could eat this all day.

62% Cocoa Dark Mocha

250g bar

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, soy lecithin, flavor, roasted ground coffee beans

9.4g sugar/25g serving (37.6% by wt.)

Okay, yeah, for this review I did cheat on the sugar level. I was in another country, people! The Peanut Slab below would be even worse if the sugar weren't drowned out by peanuts.

Appearance: Darker than the 72% above, dark like medium-roast coffee.

Smell: Coffee, but again nose-filling and pleasant. There's nothing challenging about this chocolate, but also nothing “off”--it smells like a coffee shop, like coffee beans that aren't too dark-roasted. Nice.

Taste: The coffee grounds give the chocolate a uniformly gritty texture, which is fairly fine and therefore interesting rather than annoying. Flavor still reminds me of walking into a coffee shop; if you like that sensation, you'll like this bar.

Bittersweet Peanut Slab

50g bar (three per pack)

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter [47% total cocoa solids], soy lecithin, flavor, roasted peanuts

17.1g sugar/50g serving (34.2% by wt.)

Appearance: These stubby little bars are the size of an outdated candy bar-style cell phone, the size of the palm of your hand (my fairly small hand, anyhow) and thicker than what you're used to, but they're totally packed with whole roasted peanuts.

Smell: Mmm, chocolate and peanuts, a classic.

Taste: A great ratio of chocolate to peanuts. Lots of textural interest with the whole nuts and slightly chalky chocolate. At 47% cacao this is definitely sweeter than the 72% bar above, but eating them separately they don't taste all that different: Same Hershey's Kiss texture and quality, and I suspect a less dark chocolate works better with the peanuts. Again, I could eat the whole 50g (nearly 2oz) bar in one go.

Conclusion: Whittaker's is good mass-market chocolate: Simple, cheap, and addictive. There's nothing virtuous about it, and if I lived in New Zealand I'd be searching out the fair trade options (I've got some for next week), but for now I'm enjoying my Whittaker's.