Pure Madness

I had never heard of Pure Madness chocolates until I received their products. Apparently, they purchase their chocolate overseas and it is supposed to be very good. I browsed around their website a bit too before receiving my package. I was sent one full sized candy bar and a box of 9 truffles to try out.

BAR
 
1. Dark Chocolate Espresso Bar - This was very yummy. I am not a huge fan of dark chocolate or espresso but this bar grew on me. At first I thought the espresso made the bar grainy but then I enjoyed the bite it gave to it. It is good quality chocolate and I was able to make the bar last a week by only savoring several squares each evening.

TRUFFLES 

 

2. Classic - One of my favorites in the box of 9. It was not overly sweet.

3. Chili Lime - A very interesting experience. The truffle itself smells like neither. The green decoration doesn't taste like much of anything either. Then you take a bite. At first you get the lime sense and right before you think, "Hey, there's no heat in this," you're mistaken! The chili flavor is smoky and not hot. Very difficult to describe. I didn't think this was yummy but one you should try if you never have.                       

4. Vanilla - This is what you would expect. It had a nice mellow flavor. The decoration on top had no flavor to me.

5. Sea Salt Caramel - This was the one I was most excited about. The sea salt on top is definitely legit. I think they need to put less sea salt on top. I puckered after a small bite. The caramel inside was delicious.

6. Hazelnut - I think this was my favorite in the box. If I could get a box of 9 with only this flavor I'd be good to go. It truly tasted like hazelnuts, not like artificial flavoring. Perfect.

7. Raspberry - I thought I wouldn't like it & I wound up not liking it. :) No fault of Pure Madness though - I despise any combo of fruit flavor and chocolate. Fresh fruit is a different story.

8. Rum Raisin - Good but nothing to write home about. The raisin on top was microscopic.

9. Espresso - Also very good. After having this plus the espresso bar I think I will be more open to the marriage of coffee + chocolate.

10. Dark Classic - I really like simple and so I really like this flavor just like the Milk Chocolate classic flavor.

Overall impressions: 

While I thoroughly enjoyed eating my Pure Madness chocolate, I was taken aback by several things:

*The price - A bar costs $8.50 and the box of 9 truffles are listed as $27.00. That winds up at $3 per truffle!

*The size of the truffles - The price is even more shocking when you realize how small the truffles are. I was expecting them to be the size of a piece of See's candy but they were smaller than that.

*The lack of selection - After browsing the pure madness website, it appears you have no way of purchasing a truffle collection of your own choosing. You have to purchase what they give you. I would never pay $3 for the chili lime or raspberry truffles.

 *The taste for the price - I've tried quite a few rich tasting chocolates in my day & these did not live up to the price. While definitely more palatable than a Hershey's bar, (although, I have no qualms eating one of those!) the taste of these chocolates do not excel over a ghiradelli or lindt bar from the store.

In conclusion, if you are someone who really likes paying a lot of money because you think that it means the product is better - spend to your heart's content. I will continue to purchase chocolate from the grocery store and maybe occasionally from a more expensive chocolatier.

Disclosure: I received this product for free from BzzAgent