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
