My parents were on their third visit to Berlin and though we'd had a great time checking out baby stuff and traipsing about Switzerland, I was determined to show them more to love in my adopted home. After all the war memorials and major tourist sites, I thought chocolate might be the easiest way to charm them. But 5 minutes away from the Ritter Sport Chocolate Shop we were forced to turn back by thundering rain and hail. HAIL! Oh, April weather. Brave Northwesters that we are, we were ultimately undeterred and found our way back to the site of one of Germany's most famous chocolates.
Officially called Ritter Sport Bunte Schokowelt (Ritter Sport Colorful Chocolate World), I had heard that you can make your own chocolates there. I knew it could be gimmicky and touristy, but this was my chance to be Willy Wonka and there was no way I was passing that up.
We clearly weren't the only one with this idea as we entered the busy lower level where you select your chocolate innards and joined a line. We were told by the cheery chocolate makers (kidding! No one in the service industry in Berlin in cheery) that there would be a 40 minute wait to collect your chocolate. Boosted by our desire for Schokolade, we selected light or dark chocolate, 3 add-ins, paid our 3.90 euro per bar and wandered through the shop, up the stairs, past the small museum and into the chocolate cafe to wait.
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| The face of German customer service |
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| Even more chocolatey choices in the shop |
As if we weren't going to get enough chocolate with our individual candy bars, we each ordered a chocolate coffee drink that came with a small side of chocolate. Mine came dusted with coco powder. Seriously. If you have diabetes - run far away. (Sorry Ian.)
When time was about up, my parents bought some chocolates for gifts (well-priced gift packs) and we made our way to the downstairs counter to collect our bounty. Our receipt with number identified which were ours and 4 different bars were stuffed into their colorful individual containers. While each of us spouted the merits of our chocolate choices, none of us were up for eating more chocolate at that moment. We saved the bars for later and vowed to run a complete taste test with a very biased crew - us. Ritter Sport Chocolate Bar Taste Test
Dad's Bar
Ingredients: Milk Chocolate, cranberry, caramelized almonds & gold stars
Mom's Bar (Cheryl's Creamy Creation)
Ingredients: Milk Chocolate, cranberry, coco nubs & caramelized almonds
Mom
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Dad
|
Ian
|
ebe
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TOTAL
|
3.75
|
3.5
|
3.75
|
3.25
|
14.25
|
Ian's Bar (Satan's Butthole)
Ingredients: Milk Chocolate, chili powder, red peppercorn & caramelized almonds
Mom
|
Dad
|
Ian
|
ebe
|
TOTAL
|
3.25
|
4
|
3.75
|
2
|
13
|
ebe's Bar
Ingredients: Dark Chocolate, raspberry, yogurt bits & coco nubs
Mom
|
Dad
|
Ian
|
ebe
|
TOTAL
|
3.75
|
3.75
|
4.25
|
4.75
|
16.5
|
Overall, we all stayed fairly conventional on what we added. Ian was the most adventurous and his chocolate bar turned out the worst with the peppercorn turning out dangerously strong, especially against the milk chocolate. Even so, it was still edible.
So was it worth it? The bars themselves are fine, and for almost 4 euros pretty expensive, but the value was in spending some time together talking about one of the most beloved substances on earth - chocolate. The primary colors, bustling atmosphere and place to watch the throngs of people moving around Gendarmenmarkt were all key elements in adding another thing to love about Berlin.
Details on the shop (as well as the headquarters in Waldenbuch outside of Stutgart):
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