Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Orange: the Choco Leibniz that dunks

Plenty of people think they know what orange chocolate tastes like, and not all of them like it. Here the orange sits in a thick layer on a firm butter biscuit, and that biscuit is what keeps the flavour bright instead of sickly.

Two faces, two biscuits

A fully coated biscuit fuses chocolate and crumb into one taste. Choco Leibniz keeps its two parts separate: bare butter biscuit on one side, a thick slab of orange milk chocolate on the other, and which reaches your tongue first is up to you. Chocolate side down gives an orange-chocolate biscuit with the crumb as texture; turn it over and the butter and salt arrive before the orange, which becomes the finish.

Temperature shifts the balance again. Citrus aromas lift easily off a warm chocolate surface, so a warm biscuit smells and tastes more of orange, while a cool one brings the butter forward. The published ingredient list names orange essential oil, alongside sugar, wheat flour, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder and butter at 3.8%. Its cocoa is marked Rainforest Alliance Certified, mass balance.

How to dunk it

Most chocolate biscuits with a thick top are hopeless in a mug, but this one has a whole bare face of biscuit to take up the tea. Hold it chocolate side up, dip only the biscuit face into the cup for two or three seconds and lift it straight out. That is long enough to soften the edge of the firm, dry crumb while the chocolate stays clear of the tea.

Hold it the other way and you are dipping a slab of chocolate into hot tea, which ends with a smear on the rim and chocolate on your fingers. Keep the pack cool between cups, too. If the chocolate turns dull or pale, that is bloom, where warmth has drawn the cocoa butter up to the surface; it does no harm, but the gloss and the clean snap will not return.

Earl Grey, and the case for plain

Earl Grey is the pairing we would start with. Bergamot is a citrus fruit too, so the tea and the biscuit pull in the same direction rather than competing for attention. An unflavoured black tea also works, and so does a plain black coffee, whose bitterness gets on well with orange. You can leave the milk out of the tea if you like; the butter in the biscuit already covers that job.

What to avoid is anything heavily flavoured or very milky: a fruit tea, a sweet latte or a spiced chai will clash with the citrus from the first sip. For anyone who enjoys orange with chocolate in small doses, it is an easy way in: a biscuit or two with the tea, then the pack goes back in the cupboard.

The packs we stock

• Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Orange, 111g (barcode 4017100290862)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Orange, 111g says it contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and it may contain egg. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Sugar, Wheat Flour, Cocoa Butter¹, Cocoa Mass¹, Skimmed Milk Powder, Butter (3.8%), Whey Products (Milk), Clarified Butter, Glucose Syrup, Lactose, Orange Essential Oil, Raising Agents: Sodium Carbonates, Diphosphates, Whole Milk Powder, Salt, Emulsifier: Lecithins, Flavourings, Acid: Citric Acid, ¹Rainforest Alliance Certified (Mass Balance).

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Lipton Black Earl Grey With Italian Bergamot, 20 Tea Bags 32g: an Earl Grey made with Italian bergamot, the citrus partner we would pour first for this biscuit.
• Clipper Organic Fairtrade Earl Grey Tea, 80 Unbleached Tea Bags 200g: an organic, Fairtrade Earl Grey in a large box, so there is always a pot ready for a dunking session.
• Twinings Darjeeling Tea (International Blend), 25 Tea Bags 50g: an unflavoured Darjeeling for anyone who wants the orange to be the only citrus in play, milk optional.
• L'Or Espresso Supremo Coffee Intensity 10, 40 Pods 208g: a black coffee whose bitterness gets on well with orange chocolate.

Elsewhere in the Bahlsen range

• Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Caramel Flavour, 111g
• Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 111g
• Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Milk Chocolate Biscuits, 111g
• Bahlsen Hazelnut Cream and Choc, 100g
• Bahlsen Pick Up! Choco & Milk Chocolate Biscuit Bars Multipack, 5 Pack 140g
• Bahlsen Pick Up! Milk Chocolate Biscuit Bars Multipack, 5 Pack 140g

The full range is on the Bahlsen brand page.

FAQ

Can you dunk Choco Leibniz Orange? Yes, biscuit side down for two or three seconds. The bare biscuit face takes up the tea while the chocolate stays out of the cup.

Does it matter which way up you eat it? Yes. Chocolate side down, orange and cocoa lead; biscuit side down, butter and salt come first and the orange follows.

Is the orange flavour strong? It is clearly citrus rather than a hint, but the butter biscuit keeps it in proportion and clears it before it cloys.

Why does Earl Grey suit the orange version? Bergamot and orange are both citrus, so the tea and the biscuit pull the same way. A plain black tea or a black coffee is the alternative if you would rather keep the cup unflavoured.

What does the label say about allergens? The published ingredient list says it contains wheat (gluten) and milk, and that it may contain egg.

Curator's note: Earl Grey in the pot, biscuit side down, three seconds. It is the only Choco Leibniz I would happily dunk. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Bahlsen Choco Leibniz Orange: the Choco Leibniz that dunks

More from the tea wiki

• Tea and Biscuits
• Biscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science
• Tea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise
• Tea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)
• Tea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles
• Tea with Chocolate: Pair by Cocoa Percentage
• Tea and Chocolate Pairing

Download as PDF