About the Company
Красный Октябрь (Krasny Oktyabr or “Red October”) is a Russian confectionery manufacturer that was actually founded by a German but got its current name after the October Revolution of 1917.
The company has been a major influence in Russia and even won a gold medal at the All-Russian Industrial and Artistic Exhibition in 1895, was supplied the court of the tsar with confectioneries, and produced high-caffeine chocolates for soldiers during World War II.
About the Bar
Alyonka Chocolate Line: Красный Октябрь started producing Alyonka chocolates in 1965 and is one of their most famous lines of products. It’s possible that the name comes from the name of Valentina Tereshkova’s, the first USSR woman cosmonaut, daughter and that the illustration is based on a daughter of one of the artists working at the factory; however, it is not clear if these are just rumors or fact.
Product Description: Banana Boom! The juicy taste of a banana, the crunch of caramel and a lot of milk chocolate – all this is the new Alyonka. Your favorite heroes are hidden under a bright wrapper – find them and go on a sweet adventure! Don’t forget to invite your friends!
Ingredients: sugar cocoa butter, full-cream milk powder (17,5 % cocoa mass pieces of banana fruit (banana puree, apple sauce, sucrose, fructose syrup, rice flour, vegetable fat, gelling agent: pectin E440, natural flavor, acidity regulator: citric acid E330), caramel crisp (caramel, sucrose, fructose, caramel favouring), emulsifiers: soy lecithin E322 (less than 1%), ethers of polyglyserol and interesterified richoleic acids E476 favorings.
Review of Chocolate
General Thoughts
Most of the packaging is in a language I do not understand, and I knew nothing about chocolates from this side of the world. One the one hand, this makes it hard to know how to evaluate the chocolate, but it also means my appraisal was very genuine and not influenced by as many preconceived notions.
Sight
The chocolate is a light brown in color and is stamped with comical images of a little girl and a cat. When you break a bar into pieces, you can clearly see embedded in the chocolate pieces of the dried banana chips in the cross-sections.
Sound
The chocolate has a good snap for milk chocolate.
Smell
It has a caramel and a dairy smells that I associate with milk chocolate in general.
Taste
Extremely sweet with a strong artificial banana flavor that lingers for a long while. There is possibly a slight salty butteriness caused by the caramel, but it is very overpowered by the banana flavor.
Mouthfeel
The chocolate has a creamy mouthfeel and melts very well. It creates a slightly cool feeling complimented with a coarse grittiness caused by the dried banana chips.
Conclusions
Overall, the chocolate is decent for flavored milk chocolate, and I love the history of the chocolate and the designs stamped on the bar. However, it is not my favorite as there is none of the subtly or richness which comes from a higher-end dark chocolate bar.
