Sucré Sicilian Pistachio and Rose Petal Bar

Milk chocolate has received a pretty bad rap lately. When dark chocolate reigned supreme and was touted for being single-origin and free trade, with more nuances and retronasal breathing than a '98 Mondavi, milk chocolate was seen as unrefined and was set on the shelf alongside wine coolers and Furbies.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for milk chocolate, though, especially when it's done well and is chock full of interesting mix-ins. This particular chocolate bar, from Sucré, seemed like it would hit all my points and be a thoroughly enjoyable dessert for both Keepitcoming and I, as I love salty-sweet snacks and she loves floral flavors in food.The first thing we noticed about the bar was the beautiful presentation. It was in a simple box with clean cut lines and had all the toppings studded on top, looking luscious and colorful. That might have been the first problem. I've had many chocolates that balance gracefully, like dancers, on the line separating presentation and flavor, and what they create is beautiful. Leaning too far in one direction can be good, but always fails to impress in the end.

This bar was trying too hard to be aesthetic, and this was noticeable in the taste. For starters, the toppings were floating on top of the bar instead of being mixed in. I appreciated the view of what was in the bar, but would have liked to see mixed pieces inside as well. When the pieces broke off, they were almost always bereft of the toppings. Out of roughly ten pieces, only one or two had both the toppings on them. It was extremely irregularly scattered.The flavors were decent, but nothing to be enthused about. The milk chocolate was clearly of a high quality, tasting of lip-smacking caramel and cream, and it balanced perfectly with the salty pistachios. I'd have been pleased to have a bar with only those two ingredients. This was an area where the exposure of the nuts enhanced the flavor of the bar. With their salty exteriors, a note that may have been lost upon mixing, they were crisp and very tasty. However, the roses did not fare as well. They were so laden with sugar that the floral note was completely lost and dissolved into a saccharine punch on our tongues.

Having looked forward to this Grecian inspired flavor, I was disappointed by the obvious quality of the ingredients and their failure to collaborate as a bar. I believe this flavor has a lot of potential, but has serious setbacks that really detract from the overall enjoyment.