Battle of the Swiss chocolate… Let's go!
We'll explain how this competition works in just a minute. But first,
let's meet our hosts. Meet Jana, a self-proclaimed gelato connoisseur.
And meet Brett, the nicest coffee snob you'll ever meet.
Together, they make up Aplin in the Alps, who help you travel Switzerland with confidence.
And apparently they help you buy the best Swiss chocolate with confidence, too.
Now let's meet the contenders, 6 Swiss chocolate brands.
Hailing from Vevey in 1819, Cailler Chocolate claims to be
“Switzerland's oldest chocolate brand still in existence.”
And from the canton of Aargau since 1887, Frey chocolate claims to be the number one
chocolate brand in Switzerland. And in their words, “we know how to make good chocolate.”
Coming from Zurich since 1933, Halba Chocolate says they're “the leading
manufacturer at the forefront of sustainable Swiss chocolate.”
Introduced in Glarus in 1962, Laderach Chocolate would like
you to know “we exist to create sweet moments of enjoyment in everyday life.”
Hailing from Zurich in 1845, Lindt Chocolate says “we're a master Swiss chocolatier since 1845.”
And from a grocery store near you comes a Migros
chocolate — and who knows how long it's been on that shelf!
We're each going to blind taste test and then pick our favorite milk chocolate,
dark chocolate, and overall Swiss chocolate champion.
Jana will taste first. So Brett gets to randomly drawn number out of the hat. Jana gets to
smell the chocolate-y aroma before taking a bite—but can't touch the chocolate at all.
After each taste, Jana will rank the chocolate standings and then
cleans her palette using very expensive Swiss mineral water.
Brett will continue drawing numbers and Jana will continue tasting until she has tried all
of the chocolate. At the end of the round, Jana gets to see which one was her favorite.
Then we will swap rolls for the remaining chocolates.
But to keep this video interesting, we've combined the clips so that you can
see as both tasting the same chocolate at the same time.
And good thing this doesn't smell-o-vision or you
would be drooling over this chocolate as much as we are!
I'm not getting anything. That smells nice. Not gettin' anything, let's try to taste. Bit of a slow
starter in terms of flavor. Hmm. It's not what I expect milk chocolate to taste like. Okay. Yeah.
Now it's starting to melt. That's pretty good. I feel like if I stuck my tongue out right now,
which I won't, but I feel you would see the chocolate coating it, which I love.
But there's something off about the flavor. I'm so, so on that one. Like,
I like things about it. I don't think it's as rich or as deep in flavor as I'd like it to
be. I don't know if it tastes a little chemical like. Or maybe it tastes a little bit cheap. Like almost.
Almost a little fake perhaps? A++ for, like, consistency and texture coating my mouth.
But ooh, not good marks for flavor.
I don't smell anything. Is it there? The floral bouquet
is not too strong. Yeah, I literally don't smell anything at all. That's not a good start.
I don't really taste much yet? No, Not a lot of complexity to that one. Okay. Starting to
get there. Oh, it's really sweet. Whoa. Okay, This might sound weird, but any amount of melting that
happens feels like it's immediately washed away by my saliva and just doesn't linger.
Doesn't look like much. It kind of just tasted sweet and I'd almost say that creaminess was
pretty thin to me, if that makes sense at all. Don't love it. It does melt well,
I'll give it that. I don't have to chew it, it melts
really well. But what way too sweet. And not enough chocolate-y flavor.
Doesn't smell too sweet.
I get a very mild aroma of chocolate. I almost smell something a little bit different. Like,
not chocolate. Have you been eating peanuts? No! Oh, it's hard. Not really, melting.
Melting already. That's a good sign. Still not melting. That has a nice richness to
it. I'm think I need to bite it. Hmm I almost wonder if they used milk straight from a farm fridge.
Not really impressed. Wow. Yeah, That is just leaving this deep coating of chocolate.
So much flavor. It's pretty bland. Yeah, that's really creamy. Almost like hints of caramel.
Not a lot to say, I mean, it didn't really melt. Doesn't have a ton of flavor. Not
a whole lot happening. It's not super sweet, has that going for it. But yeah, that's really good.
It smells cocoa-y, that's a good thing. Okay, let's try it. Not a ton of flavor happening
here. I don't get an immediate flavor. But it is starting to melt. Okay, What I like about that
one is it's a milk chocolate that doesn't feel like it's just filled with sugar. I love the
flavor of this one. Mm hmm. It fills my whole mouth with flavor, but doesn't linger.
But it was, like, slow to start melting and kind of quick to melt away. It was pretty creamy,
but it didn't give me that, like, coating that I really like to feel
with a milk chocolate. It melts well and it's creamy. It doesn't linger well,.
It doesn't coat my mouth, but it has really good flavor. That's a good that's a good chocolate.
But I wouldn't say it's my favorite. Okay. I wish this coated my mouth better and I wish it
had more of an instant flavor because there's so much depth to the flavor.
But it just didn't happen right away. And it doesn't last. Like I feel like
the flavor is pretty much already gone. I need another bite. Maybe that's strategic if you,
you know, like it so much and then it's gonna take another bite.
So wish I had more because it was good.
Oh, wow. I smell that right away. I smell it! Yeah, I didn't even have it at your nose yet. It smells
very sweet. It smells milky. Pretty creamy. Right away I get sugar and milk. That was
pretty sweet. And so a well-rounded melter. It has hints of caramel in there. Mm hmm.
There's this, like, milky sweetness that really coats my mouth, but I feel like it's melting
slowly. Smooth, creamy, buttery caramel-like. That's a winner. Not a ton of aftertaste, though.
That one smells nice. Okay, That's the most potent smell so far. Always so much anticipation when that chocolate
first goes in your mouth and you're just waiting for the flavors to hit you! Right away is melting.
That's a good sign. Oh, this one is good. Not a real milky taste to me, though.
I'm getting like hazelnut right now. Oh, yeah. This has tons of nutty tones in it. Oh, my goodness,
I give it, you know, high points for creaminess, but not a ton of flavor depth. It's thick and
melts easily, I don't have to chew, it coats my mouth, it has, like, these nutty undertones.
Oh, man. I don't know if you can beat this one. That's one that I like enjoyed a
piece of that. But I think I'd have a hard time having, like, more than one or two.
I could eat entire bar of that one. This is clearly going to number one on my list.
By the way, these are just our rankings for milk Swiss chocolate.
But stick around to the end to see which Swiss chocolate brand earns gold on our podium.
We know that many of you have indulged in a bar of Swiss chocolate before. I mean, it's kind
of tough to resist. So don't forget to share in the comments which one is your favorite and why!
It smells good. Oh, it's smells smooth. I think smells good is my best description for chocolate.
It's not super flavorful. So far I still taste the mineral water. Ironically, it's really rich,
but it's not very potent. If I didn't know this was chocolate,
I wouldn't yet be able to tell you it's chocolate and it's been in my mouth for like 15, 20 seconds.
Yeah, it has a really rich cocoa flavor, but I don't think it's very strong at all. Honestly,
this one is just boring to me. When I want to eat chocolate,
I want to eat chocolate. A little more happening here, but I feel like it's at the very end,
like I'm starting to get excited about this chocolate, but it's gone now.
Not my fave, even though that was the first one, I have nothing to compare it to. Good aftertaste,
but I just didn't have anything really happening for a while.
Okay, very mild smell, I don't really smell much, like hardly can smell it at all. Yeah, that's got
a great smell to it. Okay I'm ready for a taste. This one's really hard, doesn't melt very well.
Not a lot happening yet. I feel like I have to chew this one. I personally
prefer the melt-in-your-mouth so I don't like that I have to chew it.
This one tastes pretty dark. Okay, now, that I chewed it, it's like the flavors came out.
It's like a gusher. When you pop it open, all flavor comes out. Mm hmm.
Okay. But I don't love the flavor. I don't know. It's almost like, a little bit chalky to me. Okay,
I think this one's maybe a little fruity flavored, almost. Not super creamy, but I
think there's a pretty good balance of sweetness and bitterness. To me, it's a pretty good all
around dark. I just prefer something a little bit creamier. But there's a lot of depth of flavor,
which makes me think it's probably more expensive one because it's got a lot of depth.
It's a little more sophisticated, but it's just not punchy enough for me.
It doesn't smell as strong. No, the other one smell that strong, but I like it. Okay, taste. It's taking a while to melt.
I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. There it goes. Super creamy. I think I wish it was
melting quicker. There's something just a little too sweet about it for me and not creamy enough.
Honestly, this is probably the chocolatiest taste of all of them I've had. Maybe this is
the most powerful chocolate taste. I feel like I put in a lot of effort to try to enjoy the flavor.
But you know, it feels very basic to me.
It doesn't have like a ton of depth to it. I mean, yeah, it's chocolate for sure.
If you just want a table wine version of chocolate, I would say this is it. Not
my favorite. Yeah, I'm so-so. Here's the thing. It's chocolate. If somebody offered it to me,
I'd probably the whole bar. Who cares? Good, but very basic. Not my favorite.
I smell that one pretty instantly. That has a nice aroma, but it's really mild.
Let's give it a whirl. Hmm. Oh. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. This is the first chocolate
I've tasted that as soon as it's in my mouth, I can tell it's dark chocolate. Like,
instantly dlavorful. Doesn't taste like, much at all. Alright,
now I'm getting a little something. I think this is a bitterest one I've tasted so far.
And there's, like, a depth of flavor to this chocolate that I've not really tasted
yet. I definitely get some notes of, like, red fruits in there. Maybe a little hint
of fruitiness. Like this would go with a really good fruity red wine. It definitely
seems like a better chocolate. You know what in the front of my mouth it's kind of bitter.
Like you think a dark chocolate would. But in the back of my mouth,
it's sweet like a milk chocolate. That's incredible. It's interesting. There's a
little bit more complexity to this one. That was totally different than I expected. It instantly
had flavor in my mouth. It melted, really smooth and creamy. Man, that was really complex.
It smells pretty good.
I smell like cocoa. I wouldn't think it's actually chocolate, I would think it's like cocoa
powder. Yeah, smellin' it doesn't tell me anything. Let's try this sucker. This one's a
little gritty. This one is not melting quickly at all. I like when they melt in my mouth,
but this one's melting. But it has, like, texture to it. Not a ton of taste yet.
And it's melting evenly, like the entire piece in my mouth is all melting at the
same. Right. Okay. As it's melting, I'm getting a little bit more flavor. It's
not too bitter. It has a bit more of an earthy flavor...I guess cocoa is earthy.
This one is leaving a little bit of a chalky feel kind of back here in my mouth.
I like that when it melted, it was creamy, but yet it has some texture
to it. I don't think it's my favorite flavor. It tastes more like pure dark
cocoa. Maybe I had higher hopes for it as it started melting in my mouth. I don't know.
I think to me that one tasted a little bit cheap. I'm going to laugh if
it's the most expensive one.
Oh, smells terrible. Why would anybody eat this stuff?! Liar. Oh, that has a strong smell. Oh, smells
like chocolate. Yeah, that one smells really strong. I like it. Okay, I'm ready to taste.
Oh, my gosh. Oh, man. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Huge, huge fan of that. Oh,
this one's really powerful. Tastes pretty dark, but honestly, it's pretty creamy.
It's a well-rounded cocoa taste, and it has hints of, like, caramel. Slight bitter side,
but ever so slightly. Mm hmm. It's so smooth, Like, it melts really easily in your mouth.
I don't even have to chew it. Ooo, now that it's melting, I feel like I could just,
like, suck the whole thing and not chew it all. But let's dig into it.
I don't actually think I've taken a chew. I think I've just, like,
scrolled it around. Wow. Softening and oh it's so creamy. Oh, yeah. That one is smooth and buttery and
caramel flavor. Mm. That was really enjoyable. It didn't really ever feel too bitter. Like,
it's just too much cocoa. It melted really evenly. That's really good. It would be
better with a hint of salt, but I know that's not what we're doing.
We're doing dark chocolate.
Hold on. No competition is complete without a podium finish. Plus,
you need to know which chocolate to buy on your next trip to Switzerland. So here's our
grand finale. Each ranking earns points. 5 points for first place, down to 1 point for
fifth place. That means each individual chocolate could earn a max of 10 points.
That's up to 5 from Jana and 5 from Brett. Each brand can earn a max
of 20 points because there's one dark and one milk chocolate for each. We've
combined our scoreboards to determine the overall champ. Drum roll, please.
In the overall dark chocolate category, the bronze medal is awarded to Halba. The silver
medal is presented to Laderach, and the gold medalist for dark Swiss chocolate is Lindt.
That means that the Fray dark chocolate gets thrown in the trash.
And for the overall milk chocolate podium, the bronze medal is awarded to Lindt. The silver
medal is presented to both Kailler and Frey in a tie. And for the gold medalist for the milk,
Swiss chocolate is a Laderach. That means Migros milk chocolate gets thrown in the trash.
And for our overall Swiss chocolate brands,
the bronze medal is actually awarded to a tie between Cailler and Halba. The silver medal
is presented to Lindt. And the gold medalist for the best Swiss chocolate brand is Laderach.
If there's still room in your belly for more than just Swiss chocolate, then follow the
breadcrumbs to our other Swiss food videos to discover what and where to eat in Switzerland.
Watch those next time. We'll see you in Switzerland.