Lotte – Lemon Liqueur Chocolate
If something works, it only makes sense to keep releasing it until people get tired of it. That and releasing slight variations of the working formula until people get tired of the original and the variation. At least that’s what I imagine goes through the head of any decision maker when they see how strong the sales on a certain product or brand is. There will always been some poor sucker who falls for it. Suckers like me.
Booze and chocolate is a winning combination no matter how you look at it, so it should come as no surprise that Lotte keeps going at it with another flavour. While this isn’t the first flavour I’ve had, I have a sneaking suspicion this was one of the original ones they released, and continue to release each year.
This format is identical to the muscat grape flavour I tried last year, with the piece count, design and everything else being virtually the same other than the colour of the filling and fruit on the packaging. Upon closer inspection, another difference I notice is that these have a alcohol content of 2.6%, whereas the other one clocked in at 2.9%. I’m not sure if that will be noticeable at all, but there it is.
The texture is identical, we have the same generic chocolate shell which really only serves to protect the inner filling from harm and the outside world until our palettes are ready. The filling is like a boozy creme, it’s a bit softer than what you would find in a creme egg, but not runny at all.
The flavour is where this shines. So I don’t know if it really is the difference of the 0.3%, but the alcohol flavour in this piece is much less obvious and while it’s still noticeable, it’s not nearly as clear as the muscat grape one. In either smell or taste. This one tastes more like an actual lemon meringue tart and less like a boozy chocolate. The alcohol is there, but it isn’t as aggressive and lets the lemon flavour really cut through everything else. It’s got a sharp, distinct zesty lemon peel flavour but not so much so that it leaves that citric burn sensation in your mouth.
I don’t like citrus much, that much should be clear. But I must concede that between this and the muscat grape flavour, I much prefer this. This one strikes a balance much better, whereas the other one is just liqueur forward, with not much else backing it up. If you prefer that, power to you, but I find this is much more pleasant to my particular, booze-averse palette.
