Have you ever tasted Hershey's chocolate...?

I love chocolate. Let me get that out of the way right off the bat.

Cadbury's, Ferrero, Lindt, Toblerone, Nestle... I am now busy drooling on my keyboard, and these are just the readily available retail brands... don't even get me started on the crazy "gourmet" chocolate brands out there.

That is why, when I was lucky enough to visit the USA recently, I was super keen to try some of America's finest - why Hershey's of course!

Hershey's does, after all, boast the largest chocolate factory in the world, in the quaint and aptly named town of Hershey, with a floor space of 200,000 square metres!

In addition, Hershey is one of the oldest chocolate companies in the USA, and an American icon for its chocolate bar.
So as soon as I set foot on American soil, off I headed to the nearest place I could spot the Hershey's logo, to sample a piece of the American Chocolate Dream.

Little did I know what awaited my unsuspecting tastebuds...
I should have done some homework on the matter - after all, look what Google's predictive search feature has to say about Hershey...:

Man oh man, I really don't want to bring down such an iconic brand, but seriously, either we are massively spoiled here in South Africa, or I just have some dodgy tastebuds in my mouth.
Then again, if it were just my tastebuds, then Google would probably not be associating Hershey's with vomit...

The thing is, it all starts off pretty well, just like one would expect from chocolate.
Then about halfway through, some pretty odd flavour emerges and begins to overpower all in its path, until all you are left with is a decidedly unpleasant aftertaste, and a puzzled expression on your face.

So puzzled was I in fact, that I had to do a double take, and then a triple take - I thought that I had just happened upon a bad batch of Hershey's...
Ah but alas, this was not the case.
Hershey's just tastes odd, and that is putting it mildly.

Happily though, the same does not hold true for some of their other brands - for example Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are just fantastic, but then again I am a peanut butter fan of note.

Have you ever tasted Hershey's chocolate? Was it nasty or nice?

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Look what I found in Duty Free at OR Tambo...

One of the coolest recollections that I have of my childhood, is this:

If you are part of my generation, then you probably know what I mean.

This was the original "chocolate-egg-containing-a-toy" - the forerunner and inspiration for all of the copycat chocolate eggs that you can pick up at Woolies today.

Aside from the ultra cool toys that were packed inside, the chocolate itself was incredible - after all it is made by the Ferrero company - makers of the legendary Ferrero Rocher.

In recent years however, it became increasingly difficult to find the Kinder Surprise in any South African shops.

It was gradually replaced by a product called Kinder Joy - something which is now available at any major retailer.

Behold:

Kinder Joy, great as it is, is not quite the same thing. 

While the shape is the same, and the toys inside are still pretty cool, it somehow just misses the mark for me.

Imagine my surprise then, when on a recent visit to Duty Free at OR Tambo International Airport, I spotted the original Kinder Surprise in all its glory!

Not quite believing my eyes, I purchased a pack of 3 (for R45... ouch!).

Turns out the ouch was worthwhile - the chocolate is still superb and the toys are still super cool :)

When I asked the lady behind the counter why we cannot find these in local shops, yet we can get them in Duty Free, she just shrugged and smiled suspiciously...

Hmmm... I might just decide to find out more... watch this space :)

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