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| Dark chocolate typically ain't my thing, but these are a welcome change from the other, sweeter varieties. |
One thing I feel like I've mentioned a
million times before is that I pack my lunch for work four days a
week. Since I've been doing it pretty consistently for so long now,
I've got it down to a science: sandwich (or sometimes frozen entrée)
of some sort, fruit, breakfast bar (for snack in case I get hungry
before lunchtime), chips, and sometimes a beverage of some sort. Did
I say science? I probably should have went with “routine”, since
I just go through the motions of packing at this point, without any
excitement whatsoever.
Depressing intro paragraph aside, my
point was to explain that, even though I have much of it broken down
by category, there are still dozens—if not hundreds—of items that
fit into each one. For example, “sandwich” can mean turkey and
swiss, or chicken salad, or peanut butter and jelly; likewise, there
are dozens of fruits, hundreds of chips, and many different breakfast
bars to keep the routine from getting too stale. And so, to switch it
up a little bit, I occasionally like to try new things, if for no
other reason than to break the doldrums of familiarity.
And that's how I ended up with
Millville's Sweet and Salty Nut Chocolate Chunk granola bar,
something that I wouldn't normally pick up, on account of my hating
dark chocolate and all. But you know what? I was tired of the sweeter
almond butter dipped ones, and didn't want to fork over $5 for a box
of protein-packed “fancy” bars, so the decision was pretty much
forced upon me, courtesy of Aldi's limited selection.
As expected, this is the flavor to get
if you find the other varieties too sweet, because it definitely
dials back on that front. On top of having the dark chocolate chunks
throughout, the bottom is also dipped in a “chocolate flavored
coating”, according to the description on the actual package,
although it doesn’t state what kind. After digging into it, I can
say it’s definitely more akin to dark chocolate than milk, with a
semi-sweet flavor that also adds in a slight layer of “bitter”,
as if it was inserted simply to remind me why I can’t stand the
stuff. Thankfully, though, since only the bottom of the bar is
covered, and there's a generous helping of granola and nuts, there
are enough other flavors to get me through.
Even though these really aren't my cup
of tea, I can appreciate them for what they are, since they fill the
void left by the other two (overly, some might say) sweet varieties.
The chocolate does provide a nice blast of flavor that doesn't make
you feel like you're eating dessert, yet offers enough of a slightly
sweet finish to also remind you that you're not eating just a boring
ol' granola bar. I would imagine fans of dark chocolate would really
like these, even though I'm sure it's not a high-end example of the
stuff.
The texture is about the same as the
national brand, which is to say that it’s soft, and perfectly
chewy, which also helps to make these enticing. Meanwhile, the $1.49
retail price (for six bars) makes them all-too-affordable and
provides a week's worth of work snacks for me, for a price that won't
come anywhere close to breaking the bank. I couldn't get them all the
time, but for a change-of-pace, these do a good job of (barely) hitting the spot.
Overall: 6/10. Again, take my opinions
with a grain of salt, because dark chocolate just isn't my thing, but
these do provide a nice counterpoint to the other varieties of
“partially-dipped granola bars”, which are particularly sweet.
Thus, I get these as a change-up from those; on those grounds, it
succeeds admirably, by offering up a semi-sweet, slightly bitter dark
chocolate coating atop an almond and granola bar of soft, chewy
texture. I could never get these on a weekly basis (a statement true
of almost anything), and I'm still not at all crazy about the taste,
but fans of dark chocolate should appreciate these a lot more than I
do. The $1.49 retail price (for six bars) also provides some pretty
solid value.
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