Hotel Chocolat Milk-Free 'Milk Chocolate' Review

Last week, news spread like wildfire among the online vegan community that Hotel Chocolat had launched a range of milk-free 'milk' chocolate. Whilst Hotel Chocolat already have quite a good selection of dark chocolate products in their range, the option of having vegan 'milk' chocolate is another huge step for veganism. Chocolate (along with cheese) is often the downfall for people trying veganism, as not everyone is a fan of dark chocolate, and not everyone is impressed by the existing vegan milk chocolate products on the market. I love both dark chocolate and vegan milk chocolate so I have no worries in that department!  Having eyed up Hotel Chocolat's exciting new range, which is made with almond powder instead of milk powder and currently includes Easter eggs, buttons, bunnies and a bunny-shaped lolly, I sent the link to my boyfriend Jamie and told him that I would definitely be getting one of the eggs for Easter. A couple of days later, a surprise parcel from Hotel Chocolat arrived at my door (my postman informed me that I was lucky to receive it as he was feeling peckish) - Jamie had very kindly treated me to an egg, what a sweetie!The egg Jamie bought me was the Milk-Free Milk Scrambled Egg which retails at £15 and weighs 150g. It is a hollow egg decorated with swirls of dairy free white and dark chocolate. The egg also comes with a packet of six Nutty Fruitcases, which are squares of milk-free milk chocolate, whole hazelnuts and raisins.  

 

I couldn't wait to tuck into my egg, and I wasn't disappointed. The chocolate was thick and quite creamy. It did however taste more like dark chocolate than milk chocolate, and I have read similar comments from others. This may be because the chocolate is made with 56% cocoa, but looking at Hotel Chocolat's dairy chocolate range, they do tend to use a higher cocoa content in their products (their dairy milk chocolate can be anything from 40% to 75%). As Hotel Chocolat make more luxurious chocolate products rather than everyday ones, I feel that they like to use higher cocoa content to keep their products rich and indulgent.

I thought the Nutty Fruitcases tasted more like milk chocolate than the egg, despite the cocoa content being the same. I love nutty chocolates so these were perfect for me and I really enjoyed them. 

 If you're not a lover of dark chocolate and were expecting a milkier milk chocolate then you may be a little disappointed with Hotel Chocolat's new range, but if you want to try it then the best option would be to buy the bunny lolly, which retails at £1.95, before splashing out on a big egg. Otherwise I would definitely recommend it, and I will almost certainly be getting another egg for Easter! I am sure with feedback Hotel Chocolat could improve the range so it caters for more tastes, possibly by reducing the cocoa content even more, but as I mentioned earlier I think this is another huge step towards veganism becoming mainstream. Well done to Hotel Chocolat for catering so well for vegans, here's to other big names following suit!