Australian chocolate taste debate heats up

Is chocolate made overseas better than Aussie chocolate? We get to the dark truth about the taste differences and the one common ingredient that makes our treats unique.

Is the glass half empty for Australian chocolate lovers?

Nearly every Australian child knows the exquisite torture of unwrapping a Freddo Frog or Dairy Milk, fumbling with that iconic purple wrapper, only to spot the unmistakeable white marbling that signals your prize has been compromised.

That dusty, chalky effect, the chocolate ‘bloom’, crops up when the cocoa butter has melted and separated from the cocoa solids, a devastating consequence of long hot summers Down Under.

Chocolate: The prevailing theory is that many Australian chocolatiers add some kind of mysterious anticoagulant to their recipes, giving it a higher melt point but sabotaging the creamier mouth feel in the offing.

It’s our un-choccy friendly climes that are behind one of the most persistent rumours among local sweet tooths – that Australian-made chocolate is inferior to UK chocolate. UK and US expats have called out Australian chocolates, particularly from global giant Cadbury, as having a ‘waxier’ mouthfeel. The prevailing theory is that many Australian chocolatiers add some kind of mysterious anticoagulant to their recipes, giving it a higher melt point but sabotaging the creamier mouth feel in the offing.

Related story: Posh chocolates from the ’90s we thought were oh-so fancy

In a recent behind the scenes tour of Cadbury’s Tasmanian HQ, the confectioners admitted that the UK and Australian products do indeed taste different.

Although it might smack of semantics, the melting point of chocolate is a large part of its appeal to the human palate. Cocoa butter, the natural fat derived from the cocoa bean, has a natural melting point of around 36°C – about a degree less than the average temperature of the human body. It’s what gives chocolate that all-important ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ quality. So a higher melt point may arguably lead to a less satisfying oral sensation. The inclusion of vegetable oil (often unlabelled palm oil) to chocolate in warmer climates, which also ups the melt point, is often blamed for decreased deliciousness.

Dairy Milk’s flirtation with vegetable oil was only brief but brutal. In 2009, the Australian and New Zealand factories swapped out a percentage of cocoa butter in favour of vegetable oil, but quickly reversed the decision in the face of instant public backlash. For many, it was the use of palm oil that had them picking up their pens, but for others it simply didn’t taste quite right.

From country-to-country, it’s the milk that truly impacts the taste of your block or bar.

It may all be a moo point, however, if you ask Cadbury now. In a recent behind the scenes tour of Cadbury’s Tasmanian HQ, the confectioners admitted that the UK and Australian products do indeed taste different, but went on the record with a much more bovine explanation. The different flavour, they explained, comes down to the different milk in the mix, namely the Tassie cows that give us our glass and a half. From country-to-country, it’s the milk, they argue, that truly impacts the taste of your block or bar.

Of course, here at delicious. we’re all about empirical research and will let our taste buds do the talking – this might call for a chocolate taste test.

Related story: We’ve ranked every flavour in the new Cadbury Roses chocolate box

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Originally published as Australian chocolate taste debate heats up