Recently, I tried to ration my chocolate consumption by buying smaller chocolate bars. So I grew curious about Ritter Sport bars. I mean curious in the same sense that junkies are curious about drugs. Each 100 gram square-shaped bar is divided into 16 smaller squares, creating a four-by-four pattern. With 190 calories per 6 squares, this is a great contender for my chocolate cravings.

Ritter has a 100 year-old history of making chocolate bars. In 1912, Alfred Ritter and his wife, Clara Ritter, founded a chocolate factory in Inner Moltkestrasse in Bad Cannstatt, Germany. When production needs required a factory expansion, the company moved to Waldenbuch in 1930, a couple of miles outside Stuttgart. The chocolate brand Ritter’s Sport Schokolade produced as the square tablet known today was launched in 1932 after Frau Ritter suggested creating a chocolate bar that would fit into every sport jacket pocket without breaking. Ritter has also done some innovative stuff with their packaging. In 1976, Ritter Sport invented the pack with the snap – simply flip the bar over and then snap it in two along the dotted line.

I picked up a Ritter Sport Marzipan bar – dark chocolate with marzipan center. Dark chocolate and marzipan are two of my favourite sweet flavours and I couldn’t resist tasting this bar. Ritter’s dark chocolate is made from West African cocoa and cocoas from Papua New Guinea and Madagascar with 50% cocoa content. I really enjoyed the non-flakiness of dark chocolate and it had a subtle enough flavour that I enjoyed it a lot. Dark chocolate was bitter in a very pleasant way. The marzipan layer had the right thickness and was nicely moist. The marzipan flavour was great with right balance of sweetness without overpowering the dark chocolate notes. Altogether, there was a great balance of bitterness of chocolate and creamy texture of marzipan. Dark Chocolate with Marzipan is probably the most delicious thing that can happen to almonds.

While I was munching on the Ritter Sport bar I was comparing it to the Niederegger chocolate covered marzipan loaf. I think the Ritter version is on par with Niederegger in terms of flavour profile, although the latter has a thicker marzipan center. My original plan was to savour only six squares (190 calories); but, it was pretty decadent and I didn’t feel it is fair to Mr and Mrs Ritter if I only eat six sections at a sitting. I would certainly buy Ritter Sport Marzipan bar again, but I would try other Ritter Sport flavours before making this my favourite Ritter. After all, not including seasonal and limited edition flavours, Ritter Sport has over 25 varieties. I have more to taste, indeed.

Note: The photo of first Ritter factory is from http://www.ritter-sport.us.

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