The En Fuego Collection From Spice Rack Chocolates

I believe it was Mary from Spiced Rack Chocolates who replied to my tweet requesting ideas of chocolate to review. Of course she suggested that I try her chocolates, and there’s nothing wrong with that. As I’m always willing to try any type of chocolate I decided to take her up on her offer. What made me more keen to sample her creations, however, was the unusual variety of chocolates available on her website.

I plumped for the En Fuego Collection as there’s flavours such “Japanese Wasabi”, “Intense Indian Curry”, “Crushed Thai Chilies”, “Smokey Chipotle Peppers” and “Cayenne and Chili Powder” – don’t they just sound intriguing? If that’s not to your taste, you could choose from the Coffee Break Collection which also sounds very interesting and includes coffee-based chocolates made with a variety of different cofee beans.

The Spice Rack Collection is their signature collection and includes fresh Lemon with Sweet Basil, Celtic Smoked Sea Salt, White Ground Pepper, Key Lime and Jamaican Curry, Rosemary with Mint Leaves and also Spicy Cayenne and Chili Powder. Whilst the Spiced Fruit Collection contains Tangy Grapefruit and Lavender, Island Mango and Cracked Black Pepper, Tropical Pineapple and Ground Ginger, Fresh Apple and Coriander and Sweet Peach and Dill.

Armed with that information its time for the review.

At first I couldn’t work out how to get into the collection but at least I could be temporarily distracted by the quick guide to the Spice Rack Chocolates and get an idea of what can be found inside.

When I did eventually open up the fantastic box (must have cost a fair bit) I found some fantastic information regarding how Mary became to find herself making spiced chocolates, how to pair chocolate and wine, how to really enjoy the chocolates and a comprehensive guide to what each chocolate will taste like and how to establish which chocolate is which flavour. As well as a nice photo of Mary:

I must admit, the information about the chocolates was fantastic. It’s this degree of customer service that I feel Americans excel at. Us Brits can often feel unwilling to go the “extra mile”. Thankfully Mary has exhausted the opportunities to educate and inform the purchaser about the chocolates they are about to enjoy.

Sometimes you get chocolates that are essentially open to the elements. I’m the sort of person that has a slight dislike for that. I often like my food to be well sealed, especially if they’ve got to travel across the Atlantic. The Spiced Rack chocolates come well sealed to protect the flavours.

Smokey Chipotle Peppers


As this was the first I tried as I was a little unsure of what I’d get. But I did love it. The chocolate itself is pretty damn good and, like most chilli chocolate, the chilli flavour takes a while to hit your taste buds. I’ve tried some extremely hot chilli chocolate and some mild ones, but this has the perfect balance for me. It is fairly hot, but not too hot to make the pleasure enjoyable.

Crushed Thai Chilies


The crushed Thai Chili chocolate had a beautiful fruity start to the taste range and then the chilli flavour really kicked in. These are just so damn moreish! I’ve got two left of this flavour, but I’ll see what the father-in-law thinks of them.

Cayenne and Chili Powder


The cayenne and chilli powder chocolates are a tease. You’ll think that there’s no strong flacour to them as there’s just a soft, flowery flavour at first. And then your taste buds are assaulted with a quite strong chilli flavour. I love them! Strong, powerful, delightful.

Intense Indian Curry


The aroma of these intense Indian curry ones is out of this world. It’s got a slightly sweet aroma with notes of cardamon (I could be wrong) and is a fair bit milder than the cayenne and chilli powder chocolate.

Japanese Wasabi


The Wsabi ones where the ones I was most looking forward to out of the whole collection purely because of its distinctive flavour and they most certainly didn’t disappoint. The tones are mild compared to some of the others in the collection, but you can definitely taste the wasabi. Gorgeous.

Overall I foudn the experience of trying these “On Fire” En Fuego chocolates from Spice Rack Chocolates a hugely enjoyable one. They are all spiced, of course, but there is a good variety to the intensity so that each one can satisfy you in different ways. There was a great deal of care taken in providing you with as much information to ensure that you enjoy the chocolates as much as you can. All the hard work is truly appreciated.

Rating:

Taste: 85% – beautifully balance with a good variety of flavours

Texture: 80% – you could tell they weren’t mass produced. Good variation

Appearance: 75% – the packaging was great, and the rustic nature of the chocolates could be seen by the quick dash of colour to denote the flavours

Nutritional Information: 95% – I just loved the fact that they actually stated the number of calorie that was attributable to fat as well as giving a whole host of other information.

Price: 70% – $24.99 or about £14.97 which is pretty good for the variety you get and the likelihood that you won’t easily find anything like them on the internet.

Overall: 81% – I’m very glad that I got these through the post today as they’ve added a different complexion to my chocolate tasting experiences and would recommend that if anyone did want to try something different, whether you’re in the UK or USA (or anywhere) then you should definitely give them a go.

Nutritional Information:

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