Tonight, we have a review of two new products. But before that, a reminder to check out the generous offer from Drunk Female. She recently reviewed Trader Joe’s Uncured Bacon Ganache Bar and is giving away a free bar! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on her review and name your favorite candy bar. People, we’re talking free chocolate!
Now onto tonight’s review. I admit that a lot of the products I’ve reviewed thus far have received high praise. This is mostly because I’ve made very informed purchases of products I was excited about and had a reasonable expectation that I would enjoy. But perhaps more exciting are the products you simply stumble upon by accident. While I struck out looking for Pecan Pie M&M’s, I found JC’s Pie Bites: S’mores Coated Truffles & Mint Chocolate Cookie Coated Truffles!
We’ll begin with the S’mores Coated Truffles. They’re described as “Lush chocolate center coated in a toasted marshmallow, milk chocolate and graham cracker crust. They sure look pretty:
Oh, boy. Oh… no. Let me tell you what’s wrong with these in one word: Everything. These don’t taste like S’mores at all. They taste like bad cocoa powder. I can see graham cracker, but I can’t taste it and the graham cracker bits feel stale. Any marshmallow flavor is nonexistent. Texturally, they should not be called truffles because the middle is so hard that I had to check the expiration date to make sure mine weren’t bad. These little failure munchkins don’t expire until October 7th… OF NEXT YEAR! The milk chocolate has a certain funk to it. They taste like unsweetened garbage. To ramp up the S’mores experience, I recommend roasting these over an open campfire. Don’t eat them, though. Just let them burn until they disappear forever. Sorry JC’s, but avoid the “S’mores” coated “truffles” at all costs.
Taste like Garbage Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Solid as a Rock Rating: 10 out of 10
Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 10
With reluctance, next up we have Mint Chocolate Cookie Coated Truffles. They are described as “Rich dark chocolate mint center coated in a crunchy milk chocolate, mint and chocolate cookie crust.” Expectations are low, but they still look like fun:
These are a bit better, but by how much? The mint flavor is pretty solid, and it’s nice and strong in a way that masks what I think is the biggest problem with these JC’s Pie Bites: the quality of the chocolate. The dark chocolate was a smart choice here, though, and works a lot better than the milk chocolate in the S’mores variety. These were a bit creamier too, but nowhere near as rich and smooth as what you’ve come to expect from a truffle. Texturally, the crumbly cookie outside adds some contrast that is pretty welcomed. But the chocolate cookie outside does nothing to enhance the flavor. Mint chocolate is an easier flavor combination to pull off than S’mores, so I’m not surprised that I like these more. That said, I won’t be finishing this bag, either.
Tastes Like Girl’s Scout “Thin Mint” Rating: 5 out of 10
Actual Girl’s Scout “Thin Mint” Rating: 9.5 out of 10!
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 10
I agree with most of what you said about the S’mores. Very disappointing! The only difference in my experience, is that the center was more like a somewhat firm truffle, but not hard, and I thought they were too sweet. Missing, was good chocolate flavor, as well as the marshmallow and graham cracker flavors. I would sum them up as sweet and stale tasting treats!
Thanks for the comment! I’m only accustomed to truffles with a rich, creamy inside. I didn’t expect gourmet quality, but I didn’t expect such a firm chocolate center. There’s a lot of potential here. A few tweaks could make JC’s Pie Bites a really fun and unique treat.
i just bought these on sale(impluse buy), and very disappointed and very unsatisfiying taste, wish i saw your review before this
Barry, sounds like we both got J.C. Bitten. Didn’t these sound so promising? The concept is great – with some tweaks this could be a fairly successful product. But the execution is unfortunately off right now.