Ragusa – Noir

Ragusa is one of those brands I see around but I’ve never really gotten around to trying. I couldn’t tell you exactly why, but maybe it was one of those situations where shelves are stocked with popular brands like Lindt all in the center, and the Ragusa bars were off to the side. For whatever reason, I decided today on the spot that things change as of right now.

Perhaps one reason I didn’t take them seriously was the image on the front of the package looks very enticing, but the skeptic in me is 100% sure it’s fake. As it turns out, these bars are really that chunky and have entire hazelnuts shoved in the middle of them. Now I feel a little bad for doubting them. Guess it’s never too late to make up for lost time.

The chocolate consists of dark chocolate on the outside, with a softer chocolate praline in the center, with hazelnuts thrown in for good measure. If that sounds tasty to you on paper, well have I got news for you – it is. These bricks are huge, so it makes sense that they only give you two rows of four, for a total of eight pieces.

The texture is quite soft as you would imagine typical pralines are – the center is very soft, smooth and melty, and contrasts against the toasted hazelnuts, but in a good way. The soft center sort of just wraps around the hazelnuts as you chew on them, and I get serious Nutella vibes. It’s basically just chocolate and hazelnut after all, right? Overall it’s good a very pleasing mouth feel and is a decently substantial chocolate.

The flavour of the chocolate is a pretty decent 60% chocolate – it’s square in the semi-sweet area where it’s not quite bitter, but it’s got a rich cocoa flavour while not being overly creamy or sweet. The hazelnuts are also well roasted and it really brings out that distinct nutty, chocolatey flavour. I really can’t describe it better than a darker, less sweet version of Nutella. And maybe not quite as sweet as the chocolatey spread.

I can tell you one thing – I have mixed feelings about this. On the bright side, I found something I enjoy and wouldn’t mind getting again. On the bad side, these are yet another one of those tasty snacks that is likely going to send me to an early grave, so something I have to watch out. That being said, I think this particular flavour is a clear winner and everyone should give it a try.