I was recently gifted the Aldi 24-Day Moser Roth Chocolate Truffle Advent Calendar by my boyfriend’s parents on Thanksgiving. Since I was unable to find much information about it online, I thought others might find it useful for me to review it.
The advent calendar was produced by Moser Roth, an Aldi brand. It has a net weight of 11.11 oz or 315 g and can be bought in your nearest Aldi grocery store. From my research, it looks like Aldi has released a version of this advent calendar every year on the first day of November for the past few years and it, along with the other Aldi advent calendars, gets sold out quite quickly.
Packaging
First and foremost, I absolutely love the packaging. It was festive and full of cute details like Santa peeking out the window, the bells and gifts around the border, cookies and milk for Santa, and the sleeping child waiting for Santa by the fireplace. It filled my heart with the holiday spirit.
The description at the back of the packaging said:
“Santa’s elves, watching from their hiding spots, will make sure you are at your best behavior, only opening one little door every day until Christmas is finally here! This daily, sweet surprise comes in a variety of delicious flavors, enrobed in rich dark, milk, or white chocolate, with a special decor on top. Enjoy this sweet chocolate journey that will add even more magic to the 24 days before Christmas!”
The ingredients list can be found under this text as well as the allergen warning. The truffles in this advent calendar contain milk, soy, wheat, almonds, and hazelnuts. It may also contain eggs, peanuts, walnuts, coconut, pistachios, and macadamia nuts. Please keep this in mind if you or the person you are gifting this to has allergies.
The Truffles
The advent calendar had really good variety. Inside the advent calendar, there were 24 truffles total in 9 flavors. There was a good balance between milk chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate truffles. I also enjoyed the variety of shapes and decor of the truffles.
The flavors are listed below:
- Creme Brulee Truffle
- Bourbon Vanilla Truffle
- Orange Mousse Caramel Truffle
- Mousse With Nougat Chocolate
- Cappuccino Truffle
- Mousse Au Chocolat Truffle
- Latte Macchiato Truffle
- Baked Apple Truffle
- Mascarpone Truffle
The Milk Chocolate Truffles
The milk chocolate truffles category included Bourbon Vanilla Truffle, Mousse Au Chocolat Truffle, and Cappuccino Truffle. I enjoyed the Mousse Au Chocolat Truffle. It was covered by granulated sugar which added a crunchy texture to the outer coat of the chocolate. I don’t usually enjoy coffee flavors but the Cappuccino Truffle was actually pretty pleasant. My favorite in this category was the Bourbon Vanilla Truffle. I like the shape, pattern, and flavor. It felt like the most festive truffle to me.
The White Chocolate Truffles
The Creme Brulee Truffle, Latte Macchiato Truffle, and Baked Apple Truffle were in the white chocolate category. Interestingly, even though all the flavors are so different in this category. The fillings are all the same color. The Latte Macchiato Truffle tastes very much like the Cappuccino Truffle. I don’t think it was a good idea to have such similar flavors in the same advent calendar. The Baked Apple Truffle reminded me of Werther’s Original Harvest Apple Soft Caramels but the flavor was a bit more artificial. The Creme Brulee Truffle was my favorite in this category with its more subtle Creme Brulee flavor. Overall, I also found the white chocolate coating a little waxy.
The Dark Chocolate Truffles
Last but not least, we have the Dark Chocolate Truffles. This category is comprised of the Orange Mousse Caramel Truffle, Mousse With Nougat Chocolate, and Mascarpone Truffle. The Mascarpone Truffle was good. It captured the mascarpone flavor well but was a bit too bitter. The Mousse With Nougat Chocolate wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t like the filling. It didn’t resemble nougats at all and it was also too bitter for me. My favorite was the Orange Mousse Caramel Truffle. The orange caramel worked so well with the dark chocolate in flavor and consistency.
Ethics
The frog emblem on the packaging indicated that the Moser Roth brand is Rainforest Alliance certified. This indicates that they are committed to helping conserve biodiversity and using sustainable and socially just practices in their production process. However, this is different from the fairtrade certification which indicates that the cacao and chocolate used to make the truffles were fairly paid for and did not involve slavery or child labor in any of its processes. In general, I found that there is a lack of transparency from Moser Roth regarding the ethics of their chocolates.
Conclusion
At $8.99, the Aldi 24-Day Moser Roth Chocolate Truffle Advent Calendar is a steal for the quality of chocolate you get. It is not the most complex, smooth, beautiful, or delicious truffles I’ve had, is definitely mass-produced, and is not fairtrade certified. However, it is very festive and is far from the worst truffles I’ve had in the past. I have had chocolate truffles that are double and even quadruple the price that were not as good as these truffles. Personally, I would not buy the Aldi 24-Day Moser Roth Chocolate Truffle Advent Calendar for a craft chocolate connoisseur but I think it makes a wonderful present for those that enjoy most mass-produced chocolate like Hershey, Lindt, and Cadbury.
Have you tried any Moser Roth truffles before? Would you buy this advent calendar? Are there any other advent calendars you would like me to review? Let me know in the comment section below.
