It’s been ages since I last did a Chocolate Wars! I wanted to do Cypriot chocolate vs Georgian chocolate but it turns out neither have a particularly noticeable national brand. I got some Greek Lacta in Larnaca but my options in Tbilisi were Milka or Russian Alpen and so today, obviously, I’m going Swiss.
Yes, in the red corner – literally – we have Greek brand Lacta. Lacta is owned by Mondelez, which I usually find a good sign. Mondelez scoops up all the good chocolate. I’ve done Lacta before, actually – Greek Lacta vs Swedish Marabou, so it’s going to be interesting to put it up against all the chocolates I have here in this pile next to me.
And in the blue corner – also literally – we have Swiss Lindt. Maybe it would have been fairer to put ordinary milk chocolate Lacta up against Lindt Classic but what I could get in Tesco was Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy. One day I’m going to do another trip to Switzerland and raid Migros for all the Swiss chocolates and see how their everyday and own brands compare to Lindt but today is not that day.
Lacta is already at a disadvantage because it had to travel from Cyprus to Georgia and then back to the UK via Turkey and the Netherlands so it’s got a little bit bashed around and broken up, whereas the Lindt is absolutely intact, so I’ll try to take that into account. Lindt is a slightly darker, richer colour and it comes in large thin squares whereas Lacta comes in small rounded rectangles, about six of them to a Lindt square. We know that shape affects flavour, so we already know that Lindt is going to crack in a very satisfying way that Lacta can’t. But how do they compare flavour-wise?
My first instinct on tasting the Lacta is that it’s kind of powdery, it takes a moment to get to the chocolate flavour and it’s kind of underwhelming. I quite liked Lacta when I compared it to Marabou but today there’s no contest – Lindt is head and shoulders better than Lacta. Yes, Lindt is very creamy, very easy to eat, feels good as well as tastes good. At work, we’d classify Lindt as a “premium” brand, whereas Lacta would probably be “mid-level” – Lindt has an international prestige that Lacta doesn’t and having compared them, I can see why.
This series is going to run on for nearly a year, by the way – I have five bars of chocolate on my desk and I’m going to pit them together, one a month, until I’ve compared them all. You’ll see over the next couple of months who the other contenders are. I already have three pairs that I think are going to be very interesting to try together, so meet back here next month for the next round.