About the Company
Konditerskiy Kontsern Babayevskiy (Russian: Открытое акционерное общество “Кондитерский концерн Бабаевский”) was started in 1804 and is the oldest Russian confectionery manufacturer. The company actually had to recreate its chocolate business from scratch, but has quickly become one of the biggest names in chocolate in the country. Its named either in honor of Peter Akimovich Babayev, chairman of the Sokolniki District Executive Committee or after the Soviet revolutionary of Azerbaijani descent, Pyotr (Peter) Babayev.
About the Bar
Babaevsky Chocolate Line: Despite being one of the most popular products of the Babaevsky Chocolate Company, these chocolate bars were not produced at all for or almost thirty years after the revolution of 1917. The chocolate is known for a bitter/tart taste (possibly due to the addition of cognac alcohol and tea extract during its crafting) and being stamped with an image of the confectionery factory, “Im. Babaev.” The line includes chocolates that mixed with inclusions such as almonds, cashews, orange and tangerine candied fruits, maple syrup, pecans, coconut flakes, and pine nuts.
Product Description: Real dark chocolate with a rich taste of pine nuts and wild berries is a suitable sweet for the whole family with tea or coffee. Wild berries add a slight sourness to classic chocolate, while pine nuts add nutrition and health benefits. Energy in every tile!
Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sliced dried cranberries, caramelized pine nut kernels (6.0%) (pine nut kernels, sugar, glucose), emulsifiers: soya lecithin E322 (less than 1%), emulsifier ethers of polyglycerol and interetherified ricinoleic acids E476; vegetable extracts: “Cloudberry Extract”, “Cranberry Extract”; cowberry powder, flavouring “Eurovanillin.”
Review of Chocolate
General Thoughts
It was hard to form an impression of this chocolate early on due to the language barrier and lack of knowledge of the chocolate’s history, but I was attracted by the packaging and lack of knowledge.
Sight
The chocolate is dark brown in color with an old-fashioned looking building stamped on each square. You can clearly see the pine nuts and fruit embedded in the chocolate.
Sound
The bar produces a great snap when broken.
Smell
It has a very strong sweet dried fruit smell, but I could not tell which fruit specifically.
Taste
In terms of taste, it was an interesting blend of sweet and sour that did not linger unpleasantly. When you get a bite with an inclusion, you get a little extra burst of flavor with pine nuts giving a nutty taste and berries giving a fruity taste.
Mouthfeel
It produces a very warm and pungent mouthfeel and has a hard consistency. The inclusions give the chocolate some crunchy and chewiness, but the chocolate still melts quite finely.
Conclusions
I really like this chocolate bar, but I can not quite explain why. It has a very nice subtle fruity and nutty flavor paired with a fine, high-end chocolate that is refreshing. I would definitely get this bar again and would recommend it.
