Russell Stover Chocolates

Update Review, 2022

Russell Stover is obviously no stranger to the chocolate and confections world.  Not known for particularly high quality chocolates, but is the provider of the most common boxes of assorted chocolates, which, I've reviewed before. 

What you may not know is that they really, really doubled down on lower sugar offerings a few years ago, replacing the sucralose in the prior offerings with Stevia, and greatly expanding the low sugar line.  They are now #1 in the low sugar market. 

Joy Bites

As part of their no sugar added offerings, Russell Stover introduced a new line, Joy Bites.

"Our no sugar added Joy Bites bars are made with Fairtrade cocoa and stevia extract, and crafted with these and other carefully selected ingredients. We play a small part in the worldwide focus on sustainability by wrapping all of this in 100% recyclable materials."

In addition to using Stevia, they all come in actual cardboard boxes, rather than traditional wrappers, which are recyclable.  I'm not sure I see the tie-in of those who care about low sugar and those who care about the environment, but, hey, two audiences, one stone?

Joy Bites are available in only 5 flavors: plain milk chocolate, milk chocolate with caramel or peanut butter, and dark chocolate with sea salt or almonds.  All the milk chocolates are 37%, the darks 53%.

Although called Joy "Bites", they are all full size chocolate bars.  I've tried the whole lineup.

Smooth Creamy Chocolate.

"Profound happiness can be found in the simple things. Our fair trade, no sugar added, creamy chocolate bar is the delicious way to celebrate the little things."

I started with the plain milk chocolate, the "Smooth Creamy Chocolate", a 37%.  Like all the Joy Bites, it came in a cardboard holder, and was wrapped in, uh, joyful paper.  The squares even sparked some joy, with suns, clouds, and other patterns on each piece.  Kudos to Russell Stover for really pulling off this brand.

The chocolate was .. fine?  It was a fairly smooth creamy chocolate, just as advertised.  It did not have an odd sweetness to it, which I was worried about.  A solid milk chocolate, and I'd get it again if I was looking for a classic milk chocolate, and hey, lower sugar is a nice bonus.  It grew on me after a while, but it isn't a chocolate I'd seek out.

***+.

Caramel in Chocolate.

"Every bite of our no sugar added Caramel in Chocolate bar offers a joyful bliss. Creamy, buttery caramel covered in 37% cocoa and made with stevia extract."

Next up was the same 37% milk chocolate, filled with caramel.  It was not the messy runny style of caramel like that found in Ghirardelli Squares, although the image on the packing looked like it would be.  I appreciated that though once I broke into it, as it was far less messy to eat.  The caramel was ... fine?  Sweet.  Sorta creamy.

So basically, it was all "fine" but not particularly interesting, and I preferred the milk chocolate without the sweet filling, as at least then I could enjoy my creamy mild chocolate flavor.

***.

Sea Salt Caramel in Dark Chocolate.

"Hallelujah! There is joy to be had with every bite of this rich and satisfying bar. Our Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate bar consists of buttery sea salt caramel enveloped in complex dark 53% cocoa and is made with stevia extract."

Next up, the dark chocolate version of the caramel filled bar, this time with sea salt added as well.  This bar uses a mild dark chocolate, only 53%.

I quite liked this bar.  The chocolate was smooth and snappy, and the chocolate was remarkably thin for supporting the filling.  Like the milk chocolate version, it didn't come gushing out with caramel, but the caramel was slightly runny, slightly sweet, slightly salty.  Not a chewy caramel style.  The balance of chocolate to caramel was good for me, as I don't care for bars that are too heavy in the caramel.

I found this bar quite easy to devour, opting for "just one more chunk" and then realizing it was gone.

****.

Peanut Butter in Chocolate.

"The Peanut Butter in Chocolate is soon to be our most popular no sugar added chocolate bar. Crafted with creamy peanut butter (dry roasted peanuts and a pinch of salt) sandwiched in sweet 37% cocoa chocolate and made with stevia extract."

I went back to milk chocolate for the next one in my lineup, this time filled with peanut butter.  The milk chocolate was the same as the others, fairly creamy, decent milk chocolate.  The filling was a pretty thin layer, just like the caramel one.  However, the peanut butter was far more subdued than the caramel, and it was really over shadowed by the milk chocolate.  If you expected to really taste peanut butter here, something akin to a peanut butter cup, you'd be disappointed.  

I did like it, the peanut butter I could taste seemed good quality, and it was quite smooth, but, this certainly was not a decadent peanut butter forward item.  ***+.

Roasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

"Bring a bite of joy to your day with Roasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate. Imagine crunchy roasted almonds wrapped in rich 53% cocoa dark chocolate. Then feel great when you realize it has no added sugar and is made with stevia extract."

Hmm.

After taking a bite of this, I checked the packaging to make sure I had indeed grabbed the almond version.  I really didn't taste any.  Packaging confirmed, and, when I closely looked at the bar I could see little bits of almonds, but, this was one of the least almond forward bars I've had.

The dark chocolate was fine - smooth, but not particularly dark, as it was only a 53%.  Very inoffensive, and nothing tasted fake sweet about it.  No complexity though.

So overall, a "fine" bar, but the base chocolate wasn't interesting, and the almond was very, very minimal.  If I pick an almond bar, I want larger pieces of nicely roasted almond.

***.

Original Review, January 2014

Not the calibre of chocolate I normally review, but I received a ton of Russell Stover for Christmas, so I at least tried them.

Spoiler: they are not good.  My favorite part of tasting these chocolates was the quotes from my co-tasters, and I've included some highlights below.

Side note: A few years ago, when I was at my local chocolate shop, they actually had us do a side-by-side comparison of some of their products with Russell Stover to show how different the chocolates could be.  It was incredibly striking then, and after trying a whole box of these things, I understand why!

Truffles, Whips, and Creams

Otherwise known as "soft centers".  These are usually round.

• Milk Chocolate Maple Nut Cream: "A maple nut cream filling with walnuts covered in rich milk chocolate." Tasting notes: The milk chocolate is even worse than the dark chocolate, offering nothing particularly chocolatey. This had a few bits of nuts for a crunch, and a slight maple sweetness, but otherwise, very MEH.
• Milk Chocolate Truffle: "A rich chocolate center covered in sweet milk chocolate."  Tasting notes: Waxy, bitter, and horrible.
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Cream: "A creamy coconut filling covered in deep, dark chocolate."  Tasting notes: I laugh at their “dark” chocolate, as this didn’t have any flavor of dark chocolate at all. The coconut didn’t really taste like coconut, more just like sweet, with texture from coconut. Very disappointing.
• Dark Chocolate Maple Nut Cream: "A maple nut cream filling with walnuts covered in rich dark chocolate." Tasting notes: One of the better ones in the box, but still not good. The nut and maple flavors were good, and the dark chocolate was much better than the milk.
• Dark Chocolate Raspberry Parfait: "Light and fluffy, our Parfaits have a whipped raspberry center covered in a thick layer of rich dark chocolate."  Tasting notes: Again, the dark chocolate aspect of this was a joke, but the filling was a pleasant enough whipped berry flavored thing.  I wouldn’t get another, but I was at least willing to finish it.

Butter Fudge

Usually oval.

• Dark Chocolate Butter Cream Caramel: "Smooth and delicious butter cream caramel layered in deep, dark chocolate." Tasting notes:  Didn't really detect any caramel.  One taster said:  "There is a hint of dark chocolate in that at least." 
• Milk Chocolate Butter Cream Caramel: "Smooth and delicious butter cream caramel covered in creamy milk chocolate." Tasting notes:   Again, caramel?  Didn't really taste it.
• Milk Chocolate Maple Nut Butter: Tasting notes: Another bitter, waxy, horrible one. I gave up on trying any more of their milk chocolate after this. 

Nut Clusters

Usually round with a chunky surface.

• Milk Chocolate Coconut Cluster: "Toasted coconut drenched in rich milk chocolate." Tasting notes: Nasty milk chocolate, even more nasty coconut. Really dried out flakes. Not good at all. Another taster said: "I like coconut but I don't like that one at all". [ Their very crappy milk chocolate, loaded up with shredded coconut. Coconut reminded me of sawdust. Not good at all. ]
• Pecan Delight: "Candymakers drizzle melted caramel over chopped pecans and top each candy with a quartet of pecan halves. Then comes the chocolate: our special recipe milk chocolate, drizzled over everything and topped with another pecan half."  Tasting notes: mostly caramel, which makes the name of this kinda funny.  Caramel was smooth, soft, and sweet.  Very buttery and actually kinda nice.  The milk chocolate was very creamy and inoffensive.  Pecans seemed slightly caramelized or glazed and paired very nicely with the caramel filling.  Overall, I was very surprised by this, it was decent.  Pretty much the only thing I have tried by Russell Stover that I'd remotely consider eating again, and not part of their classic boxes.

Nougats

Usually rectangular

• Dark Chocolate with Walnuts and some kind of nougat. Tasting notes: We didn't know what this one was.  Gritty, kinda awful feeling. We think it had walnuts, although we were not entirely sure what type of nuts they were. Quote from fellow taster: "With all the oil taste, I couldn't tell it was too sweet". Another identified the strongest flavor it in: "Petroleum!" 

Toffee

• Butter Nut Crunch: "Almond toffee rolled in milk chocolate and covered in crunched almonds."  Tasting notes: Slightly chewy hard toffee, slight bitterness, crappy milk chocolate coating. Not horrible, but not good either.