I find it almost impossible to not try any kind of new chocolate that I come across, whether that’s scrolling past an advert on social media or walking down the aisle of a shop.

Some may use Easter and Christmas as the only excuse to sample such things, but I like to treat my taste buds all year round.

That’s why when I saw Tesco had brought out their own flavoured chocolate bars that screamed luxury with a budget-friendly price, I had to see what they were all about.

Tesco's £1.80 chocolate bars rival Tony’s Chocolonely without the soul-crushing price

When it came to trying four of the new Tesco core collection chocolate bars “inspired by new popular favourites, as well as iconic classics,” they reminded me of the famous Tony’s Chocolonely bars.

As someone who may or may not have tried every flavour from the Dutch brand, the thick Tesco chocolate combined with the “trendy” fillings were very similar.

However, the supermarket version has a pretty impressive creamy taste considering they are £1.80 per 180g bar, compared to Tony’s Chocolonely bars which are priced at around £3 at Tesco for the same size.

I was also relieved they didn’t taste like baking chocolate (the non-melt-in-the-mouth kind), which is often the case for some cheap alternatives.

From the new Tesco chocolate bar collection, I tried:

  • Pretzel & Salt (£1.80, 180g)
  • Crispies, Caramel & Almond (£1.80, 180g)
  • Biscuit & Raisin (£1.80, 180g)
  • Whole Hazlenut (£1.80, 180g)

The only one I couldn’t get my hands on was the Pecan & Honeycomb.

Helensburgh Advertiser: What's your go to flavour of chocolate?What's your go to flavour of chocolate? (Image: Newsquest)

Each bar had just the right amount of filling, meaning I could taste the chocolate without my taste buds being overwhelmed by all the additional flavours.

This included the likes of biscuit, caramel, almonds, hazelnuts and crispy bits (what a selection).

Meanwhile, it might sound ridiculous but I hate biting into chocolate that feels as though my front teeth are going to snap.

As pretzel and salt filled anything is one of my favourite sweet treat flavours, I particularly liked how the fillings weren’t too hard and had enough crunch without the need for a trip to the dentist.

Additionally, I was quite surprised at how much I liked the Biscuit & Raisin chocolate as I would usually avoid this selection at all costs, mainly due to my detest for raisins.

Yet this chocolate bar wasn’t swamped in the wrinkly dried fruit and if anything, I liked the hint of extra sweetness.

Helensburgh Advertiser: Is this the thickest yet creamiest budget-friendly chocolate?Is this the thickest yet creamiest budget-friendly chocolate? (Image: Newsquest)

When it came to the Whole Hazelnut bar, I was gutted to see that the chocolate wasn’t milk because me and dark chocolate just don’t get along.

For example, when it came to trying the new Tesco Finest chocolate bars, as cute as the Tesco Finest Dark Ecuador Chocolate bar looked with the 'Finest’ imprint, the taste simply reminded me of petrol and I instantly spat it out, but this is 100% a "me" problem.

But those who can’t resist a bit of dark chocolate should know each bar features single origin cocoa from South America or West Africa, which is blended with the “finest” of ingredients, “to create a rich and refined chocolate experience with intense flavour”.

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The new Tesco Finest collection also includes other flavours from the Côte d'Ivoire Mint Chocolate Bar to the Côte d'Ivoire Orange Chocolate Bar - all priced at only £1.60 for 100g.

A weird yet maybe useful thing to note is the packaging of all the chocolate bars – I was a huge fan of this as I liked how the chocolate bars could be wrapped up with the tin foil again and be easily slipped back into the cardboard sleeve ready to be nibbled at another time.

I thought this worked well instead of flimsy wrappers that usually split, causing some chocolate bar segments to sadly escape in kitchen cupboards.