Mars Chocolates, the International Edition

I've reviewed a bunch of classic Mars' Chocolates before.  You know these yourselves anyway.  3 Musketeers, Milky Ways, Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, etc ... yawn.

But, like most companies, Mars makes totally different products in other countries.

Update Review, 2022 - Munich

Balisto.

"The cult bar delights with a combination of crunchy cookie, high-quality whole grains and melt-in-the-mouth chocolate."

I tried this before looking up what it was.  It looked like any old candy bar.

It reminded me sorta of a Twix, but, without caramel.  Or a s'more without marshmallow.  The dominant flavor was graham cracker, in a thick bar form, with some mediocre milk chocolate on the outside.  Not for me. **.

Afterwards, I looked it up.  It turns out to be a wholemeal digestive biscuit, coated in milk chocolate.  I tried the plain ("cereal") flavor, but, they also make them with muesli (raisins and hazelnuts), yogurt and berries, almond and honey, cocoa, hazelnut, strawberry yogurt, white chocolate, and more.  They are also known by the colors of their packaging, this was the "orange" one, the muesli bar is wrapped in a signature green wrapper instead, etc.

Previous Review, October 2014 - UK

When I was in the UK on a recent trip, I obviously had to try an assortment.  Since duh, chocolate.

Celebrations (UK Edition)

When visiting my office in London, I found the microkitchens stocked with Mars' Celebrations: small, individually wrapped, chocolates.  Some were the same as what I'm used to in the US, such as Snickers and Milky Way, but many were unfamiliar.

Bounty.

"Coconut Filling Enrobed With Milk Chocolate."

I had no idea what a "Bounty" chocolate was, so I had no idea what to expect.  The answer seemed to be chocolate covered coconut, which sounds great, except it was coated with poor quality chocolate and very meh coconut.  I expected to like this since I like chocolate and coconut, so this was a disappointment.  The coconut was also very, very sweet.

**+.

Galaxy.

"Galaxy is a silky smooth chocolate that is literally adored by chocolate lovers throughout the UK. Everything about Galaxy chocolate exudes an air of quality; from the stylish wrapper to the smooth creamy taste. Any genuine chocolate enthusiast will know that a four pack is really the minimum quantity of Galaxy that you can buy. Don’t just sate your chocolate cravings; take satisfaction to the next level with a bar of Galaxy Milk Chocolate."

Next I moved on to Galaxy. It seemed to just be plain milk chocolate.  Fairly smooth and creamy, better than the milk chocolate they seem to use in most of their confections, but certainly not my style.  It reminded me of Cadbury. **+.

Teasers.

And finally, Teasers.  This was my favorite of the items I tried.

Malteasers are standard malt balls produced by Mars, so "teasers" are these small chocolates included in the Celebrations lineup.  They are the same standard smooth creamy milk chocolate, with tiny little bits of malt ball inside for some crunch.  They are only item in the Celebrations mix that isn't available standalone in a full size bar.

My favorite of the Celebrations, but not particularly remarkable. ***.

Milky Way

Milky Way Crispy Rolls.

"Chocolate covered wafer rolls with a milk-cream filling".

I'm not really sure why these are part of the Milky Way product line, as they really don't have much in common with Milky Way (at least as I know it) at all.  Besides ... chocolate?

Creamy milk chocolate coating (the Mars milk chocolate in the UK is better than the version we get in the US!), surrounding a crunchy wafer, stuffed with a white filling.  I appreciated the somewhat decent chocolate, and the crunch from the wafer, but didn't really find the filling to be satisfying, and it was the dominant component.  It was just sweet, kinda like solid frosting.

This wasn't awful, but I didn't think it was particularly good.  My travel companion enjoyed it however. **+.