Ambra Chocolatino

Appearance: Opaque medium-brown, quite like a chocolate milkshake. Aroma: Jaffas (explained below). Flavor and Texture: Sweet, mild malted milk chocolate is quickly followed by sweet orange liqueur. That's it. The texture is rather thin. This is one of several liqueurs from a relatively new Australian family business based in Thebarton, South Australia. To date, their products have all been citrus, nut, or chocolate based. This particular liqueur has a rather limited profile – it's milk chocolate and orange, period. That's not to say it's bad, but it is very simple, and I felt it could be improved with a bit more complexity. I mentioned the aroma is of Jaffas above. These are a classic Australian candy, round, about the size of a marble, with a very thin orange candy shell around milk chocolate. They are greatly loved, and I suspect this liqueur was created to mimic the scent of a freshly opened bag. The taste is pleasant and mild, with a slight alcohol bite accompanying the orange component. I did feel the chocolate aspect of the recipe could use some enhancement. It's too faint and subtle, and the texture is too thin. Have you ever ordered an iced chocolate that arrived with a lot of crushed ice in the glass? By the time you've had half, enough ice has melted to make the rest of the drink watery and disappointing. This is exactly like that, and I wish they had used a richer dark chocolate and made the texture thicker – it would be a much better liqueur. Still, there's nothing unpleasant about it; it just lacks a certain something. "Adequate": 74/100 (2.25 stars)