Banner food: Taste Test ... milk chocolate

December is coming.

It's that time of year when the need to drown stress, worry and anxiety in a satisfying bar of chocolate is too loud to ignore.

But there are so many, which one too choose?

Store shelves are packed with chocolates of every variety, truffles, turtles, bite-sized candy bars and then just plain chocolate bars.

This month the Banner decided to help out all those souls who desperately need a chocolate fix.

Six taste testers ate their way through eight different types of milk chocolate from the United States, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland -- and believe it or not, the winner was one of three products we tested made by Hershey's.

The judges rated the chocolate bars (which had been scrapped of their names) on both texture and taste. They rolled the chocolate, which was chopped into small pieces, on their tongues and they really tried to figure out the flavor behind the chocolate. Some were spicy, some caramel, some vanilla, some had a burnt flavor. All were rated on a scale of one to five, with five being the best and one equaling yuck.

All the testers agreed they didn't need to eat any more chocolate for a while.

So who will remain chocolate-free for a while?

Banner staffers Jeri Borchers, Amy Brotherton, Christina Holder and Riddhi Trivedi- St. Clair and two guest judges, Megan Heath of Oxford, Mass., and Lois Lendzion of Marysville, Mich., both here on vacation. All made it through the eight different chocolates.

It wasn't a scientific test, and all had different favorites, but one thing is certain -- none will ever look at chocolate the same way again.

It went a little something like this ...

Chocolate Number 1: Lindt Swiss Chocolate Milk Chocolate

$2.19 for 3.5 ounces at Publix; overall judges' rating: 3.5.

Heath: "This is smooth and creamy, but maybe a little too much on the creamy side. Takes like creamy chocolate milk."

Lendzion: "Great milk chocolate, tastes like "real chocolate."

Borchers: "I wouldn't buy it."

Chocolate Number 2: Hershey's Symphony Creamy Milk Chocolate

$1.09 for 7 ounces at Publix; overall judges' rating: 2.8.

Borchers: "No milk flavor. Leaves tongue sticky."

Brotherton: "Can use one word -- disgusting."

Holder: "Is this milk chocolate? It tastes like a bar of caramel. It's much too sweet for me."

Chocolate Number 3: Sarotti Milk Chocolate

$1.99 for 3.5 ounces at Publix; overall judges' rating: 1.3.

Heath: "Tastes totally gross. I don't think I've ever tastes a more disgusting chocolate in my life."

Lendzion: "Just plain nasty bitter cocoa taste."

Borchers: "My tongue needs brushing. It's caught in my throat."

Trivedi-St. Clair: "Tastes like cardboard and feels like it too."

Chocolate Number 4: Dove Chocolate Rich Milk Chocolate

65 cents for 1.3 ounces at Walgreens; overall judges' rating: 3.4.

Heath: "Great texture; perfect amount of smoothness."

Brotherton: "Chewy. Was this taffy or chocolate? My teeth were sticking together."

Holder: "This has some dark chocolate in it. I like it because it's still sweet but it has a deeper, richer taste with the dark chocolate mixed in to it."

Chocolate Number 5: Regal Dynasty Imported Chocolate Milk Chocolate

99 cents for 6.3 ounces at Walgreens; overall judges' rating: 1.3.

Borchers: "Spicy taste."

Holder: "This is chocolate for the smoker. It tastes like it was made on the spit-fire."

Trivedi-St. Clair: "It has a weird aftertaste -- like soured milk."

Chocolate Number 6: Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate

$1.99 for 3 ounces at Walgreens; overall judges' rating: 2.3.

Lendzion: "Grainy. Just can't get beyond horrible taste."

Holder: "It leaves an oily aftertaste."

Trivedi-St. Clair: "It has a "smell" that bothers the back of your nostril as you chew."

Chocolate Number 7: Hershey's Milk Chocolate

$1.50 for 7 ounces at Walgreens; overall judges' rating: 2.5.

Heath: "A bit of a grainy texture. I feel like I just ate sand."

Borchers: "Might be worth buying a bar."

Brotherton: "Would you like some milk with your cocoa? Holy chocolate!"

Holder: The texture is grainy. It reminds me of dried frosting. It tastes like it's been on the shelf too long."

Chocolate Number 8: Cadbury Dairy Milk

$1.59 for 4.5 ounces at Walgreens: overall judges' rating: 4.

Brotherton: "Ding Dong, we have a winner. I loved it."

Heath: "Nice caramel taste. One of the better chocolates all day."

Trivedi-St. Clair: "Great taste; creamy. Hits the spot."

And the winner ...

Cadbury Dairy Milk, and it wasn't even all that close. It won in every category: texture, taste and overall. Of course, there was so much leftover chocolate the entire office feasted all day. Banner Editor Todd Pratt said he's waiting for all the zits to appear next week.

Here they are in order, winners to losers: Cadbury Dairy Milk; Lindt Swiss Chocolate Milk Chocolate; Dove Chocolate Rich Milk Chocolate; Hershey's Symphony Creamy Milk Chocolate; Hershey's Milk Chocolate; Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate; and Regal Dynasty Imported Chocolate Milk Chocolate and Sarotti Milk Chocolate (tie).

Contact Features Editor Kristen Smith at 213-6043 or kmsmith@naplesnews.com