Brand Name vs. Knock Off - Choceur's Titon vs. Mar's MilkyWay
Since we just recorded a store-brand focused episode of Candyology101, which will be out relatively soon, I thought this would be a fun post to write up. I don't think I'll end up making this a regular kind of thing, I just happened to have both of these on hand and I thought this could be kind of interesting.
Normally I'm not a brand loyalist. (Which is why I love Aldi so much.) I usually go with the off-brand items to save money, and a lot of those items are comparable and occasionally better than the big name brand versions, but once and a while a name brand product shows that it's truly superior. MilkyWay has always been my favorite chocolate bar, and so far I haven't found a cheaper alternative. Can Aldi's Titon bar beat it?
As far as packaging goes, these are both "fun sized," so the graphics and layout are very simple. Of the two, MilkyWay definitely has the better design. It's simple, the oval shaped swirling chocolate background pulls you in, and the colors all work well together. As for Titon, it's a bit rough. I think that's meant to be a planet in the background? Which doesn't really make sense. "Titan" with an 'a' is one of Saturn's moons, but I can't think of anything with the spelling "t-i-t-o-n" that is planet shaped. Am I missing something? Is it not a planet? What am I looking at here? Side-by-side, MilkyWay obviously looks superior, but which one will taste better?
Unwrapped, both bars are roughly the same size and the chocolate coating appears to be the same color. The MilkyWay bar in on the left, and it has a more uniform coating, while the Titon bar is a bit more uneven and haphazard. I froze both bars, since that is how I prefer to eat my MilkyWay, and it would make it easier to cut and see a cross section of the candies. The downside to the freezing process is that neither of these had a very strong or distinct aroma.
When cut in half, you can really see the differences between the two.
The MilkyWay bar is on the left has a much darker color to it's nougat layer, and there are only a few air bubbles, while the nougat over on the Titon bar is significantly lighter and a lot more bubbly. When they were cut in half, I also noticed that the Titon bar has a strong milky and almost malty aroma. Kind of like chocolate covered malt-balls.
The time has come, does Titon taste like a MilkyWay?
No. Titon tastes much maltier and milkier than a Mars MilkyWay bar, and even though the frozen textures are similar, I can very easily taste the difference. Titon isn't a bad chocolate bar, it just doesn't taste like a MilkyWay.
Titon's caramel is a bit stiffer and less buttery, the chocolate coating tastes milky and a bit like malted milk, and the nougat is malty as well. I like malted milk, so I like the flavoring of this candy bar quite a bit, it just isn't comparable to a MilkyWay bar.
So, can Titon be considered a cheap replacement for my beloved MilkyWay? No, not really, but it was enjoyable. (Especially frozen.) If you're looking for a cheap candybar to snack on during the week, or use in some kind of cookie/brownie recipe, I would definitely buy a bag of these. It might not be the same as the name branded item, but I do like them, and I have bought and gone through a few bags of these over the years. If you like malted milk, you might even like these better than a MilkyWay bar, but avid MilkyWay fans would most likely stick to the name brand over this version.
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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