I don’t care, I have insulted no one, or mocked no one. I simply shared my honest opinion on a piece of candy, if you take that personally well sorry.
I’m not a snob, I like plenty of crap, but my OPINION on Hershey’s chocolate is that it is fucking abysmal. If you had a contest for best chocolate does anyone believe Hershey’s would come out on top?
Case rested.
Candy in general has fallen in quality since the advent of high-fructose corn syrup. I’ll eat a Hershey bar, but I’m not picky.
I found everyone’s information quite interesting–thank you!
I have been working for the past two weeks at a factory (interpreting), and I’ve needed the extra calories that the candy machine there can provide. The candy in it seems really fresh, so it was a good opportunity to try… Hershey’s with almonds again.
I have to admit that I’ve been wrong about Hershey’s being total crap. I got that impression from Hershey’s kisses, which I have not enjoyed and which have seemed to exemplify the chalky texture I talked about originally.
I also made sure to note a new thing I learned in this thread: the special flavor that Hershey’s has because of its special handling of the milk, which adds the flavor of butyric acid, etc. I found that I actually like this flavor. It does make Hershey’s different from the rest.
The chalky texture was a factor in the “with almonds” bar, but not so much (to me) as in the Kisses. It could be a matter of geometry. That said, I don’t think the texture of Hershey’s is as good as other chocolate brands. I wonder if this has changed over the years or has been the same.
I read up a bit on PGPR: Polyglycerol polyricinoleate - Wikipedia
As pointed out by an earlier poster, this is an emulsifier that allows chocolate makers to use less cocoa butter, and it has been around since 2006. That said, chocolate makers have been using lecithin in their products for a long period of time (anybody know when?), and it is basically a cheaper substitute for the lecithin. I just looked at my expensive Swiss chocolate with hazelnuts from Trader Joe’s, and it has lecithin in it. Most chocolate does.
Here is a Hershey bar wrapper with a price of 20 cents on it. I remember when candy bars cost a quarter in the 70s, so this has to be before that (whoever put it up says mid-70s, but I would say early 70s based on the price. Not sure though). It has lecithin too. Apparently lecithin became a food additive in the early 1900s, so it is conceivable that it has been in Hershey’s for a very long time.
To me, replacing the lecithin with PGPR is not a sin. It could even be beneficial to people with soy allergies. The fact that it is cheaper does not make it worse.
I found the almonds in the bar to be quite delicious. Very fresh and fragrant with a nice friend crunch to them. Overall, the taste was pretty damn good. So I am going to have to go ahead and say that I was wrong about Hershey’s. You have helped educate me, and I have the benefit of being able to enjoy the chocolate in the future. Thanks, Dope!
Whoops the Hershey bar still has soy lecithin in it. Not sure to what degree the PGPR allows them to further remove cocoa butter, etc. When I read about it, it was described as a lecithin replacement. Hmm…
Hershey’s chocolate is for women.
“Her”… “she”… I mean, it’s so obvious…
The rest of us can have Yorkies.
People buy Hershey’s bars because they don’t know any better. I’ve always been able to taste the wax and wondered why no one else noticed it.
I like Cadbury Flake and the UK Aero bar. Also Dove. Lindt. Godiva.
Children raised in whore houses, and that’s probably about it. I liked the Special Dark when I was a kid, but now even that’s terrible.
Strange thread. Very strange. Hershey bars taste much more like actual chocolate, and less like wax, than any of the other brands. I like Cadbury, but Hershey tastes more “chocolately” to me. I am floored that anyone would thing it “sucks”. To me, it is absolutely delicious. The only thing I can figure is that people who don’t like Hershey chocolate simply aren’t that fond of the taste of chocolate. Chocolate is rather bitter and acrid in it’s pure form, so I imagine a lot of people would prefer it extremely watered down. Hershey definitely doesn’t water it down.
