Hotel Chocolat Chocolates for Valentine’s Day – The Sleekster Love Collection

The Sleekster Love Selection

The Sleekster Love Selection

from Hotel Chocolat

Smooth, seductive and utterly devoted to love! An irresistible array of loved-up recipes with something to tickle absolutely everyone’s fancy – including luscious truffles with Champagne and cherry, fruity little numbers with blackcurrant and strawberry, dreamy liquid caramels, stunning hearts, luscious lips and much more…

£22 for 260g of chocolates (26 chocolates)

The Romantic Collection!

Hotel Chocolat recently sent me some chocolates to try and review, as featured above. I am a Hotel Chocolat customer anyway, so it is always a treat to see what they come up with for their special seasonal ranges. I was asked to choose some chocolates up to the value of £25, and these were the ones that tickled my fancy!  I am often out and about, so I chose these chocolates as they can be posted through most standard post boxes, and indeed I was out when they were delivered, so no dashing off the the post office to pick them up.  As you can see by the scanned selection guide above, there was a really pretty and exciting range of flavours and shapes to choose from. I shared these chocolates with my family and here are our collective findings with a handy “star rating” guide. 

Seductive Centres!

1. Variety and Choice: 

The variety and choice of chocolates was very good; in the box there were thirteen different flavours of chocolates and two of each flavour – which was handy if you hit upon a favourite and wanted more than one!  The shapes were fun and imaginative, which we felt was in keeping for a special Valentine’s range; the obvious favourite for frivolity and fun were the lips……..however, the hearts and truffles did not disappoint either. The flavours were diverse and comprised:

Champagne Truffles; Blackcurrant Truffles; Cherry Bombe Truffle; Bison Grass Vodka Truffle; Praline Oyster; Caramel and Cherry: Dark Chilli Chocolate; Vanilla Truffle; White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle; Strawberry and Black Pepper Truffle; Buck’s Fizz Truffle: Liquid Caramel Chilli and 40% Milk Chocolate filled Truffle. 

There was a handy key called “The Tipple Guide” to let you know what alcohol content was in each chocolate and three of my favourites, Champagne Truffles, Bucks’s Fizz Truffles and the Bison Grass Vodka Truffles, each had a “generous dash” – that’s maybe why they were my favourites! 

***** stars for Variety

2. Quality and Taste:

Hotel Chocolat are known for their consistently high standard and the majority of these chocolates did not disappoint. The obvious stars in the selection were the alcoholic truffles, as they were creamy and yet with a lovely hit of booze; I have always loved Hotel Chocolat’s Champagne Truffles and was pleased to see them included in this romantic collection.  Other flavours that shone were the Strawberry and Black Pepper Truffles, Soft Chilli Caramel and the Cherry Bombe – all three had smooth silky shells and exciting and fabulous centres that worked on all the flavour levels. We were not overly enamoured with the Praline Oyster, which we all thought was “fatty” tasting and too sweet, if a chocolate can be too sweet! One other disappointment was the white chocolate and Raspberry Rapture, again, it was a “fatty” flavoured chocolate and the raspberry was very indistinct. Other than those two, we all loved the selection and thought that the flavours were balanced and imaginative. 

**** stars for Quality

3. Value for Money:

My last review for some Christmas Hotel Chocolat chocolates was rather scathing about value for money and the excess packaging element – NOT so this time. For a luxury brand, which Hotel Chocolat undoubtedly is, the packaging was sensible and discreet without taking away the special feel of the romantic Valentine’s chocolate range and, the amount of chocolates was fine for the price of £22, given that many of the chocolates were high cocoa content and had luxury alcohol and fruits added. The added bonus is that these chocolates can be ordered for someone special, who works maybe, and they can be delivered through a standard letterbox, which is a handy feature. So, well done Hotel Chocolat for keeping the price within an acceptable level for luxury chocolates whilst ensuring that delivery is a breeze! 

***** stars for Value for Money

4. Overall Impressions:

Our collective overall rating is four and a half stars out of five…..and our recommendation is that these would make a lovely gift for a loved one on Valentine’s Day without breaking the bank and with the knowledge that they can be delivered if the recipient is out when the post man delivers. The variety was interesting and diverse, plus the quality was of a high standard. The presentation was attractive with acceptable packing in line with the total weight of the chocolates. The selection was fun with an element of frivolity, which is to be expected for Valentine’s Day! A LOVELY selection of chocolates. 

Karen S Burns-Booth