Why You Should Think Twice Before Buying Torani Chocolate Sauce

chocolate sauce on ice cream dessert
chocolate sauce on ice cream dessert - Nicolasmccomber/Getty Images

The upsurge in chocolate sauces on the market delivers stiff competition. With more options to choose from, you may have to nitpick even among the best brands. So despite its many rave reviews, Torani chocolate sauce falls short when it comes to the minor details. These minutiae ultimately determine if you'll enjoy dessert or simply scoop it up, and whether you'll be buying this sauce a second time.

In our previous taste test featuring 10 chocolate sauces, we ranked Torani last. The prominent reason for this low ranking was the overly thick consistency that makes it difficult to drizzle on top of ice cream or your favorite pancake recipe. Having a gummy blob sit on top of your dessert instead of an evenly spread layer that lends itself to every bite can be quite frustrating, and certainly doesn't look too pretty. But there's a silver lining: You can at least add some cream to make Torani chocolate sauce runnier.

When you couple its thick texture with the stubborn squeeze of its bottle, the odds continue to stack up against Torani chocolate sauce. According to reviews from their customers, it's hard to squeeze Torani chocolate sauce out. And when elbow grease is mandatory to glean the sweet nectar, you can understand the hesitancy about buying this sauce.

Read more: 25 Chocolate Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

How Sweet Is Too Sweet?

poured chocolate sauce
poured chocolate sauce - Brianna Lopez/Tasting Table

It goes to follow that it's chocolate sauce, hence it should be sweet. But even a sweet tooth has its limits, and Torani chocolate sauce slightly pushes them. The taste of chocolate sauce is something like a cross between hot fudge sauce and chocolate syrup, so there are chocolatey and sweet elements. An imbalance can cause one element to be more apparent, which is the case with the excessively sweet Torani version.

This might explain the lingering aftertaste some people pick up on with this sauce. Could it be due to the alkalized cocoa found on the ingredient list? Alkalized or Dutch-processed cocoa is cocoa powder processed with potassium (or sodium) bicarbonate. It's a common ingredient found in the best of sauces such as Trader Joe's chocolate sauce, and it tends to mellow the bitter taste of cocoa yet intensify its chocolate profile and darken the color. In this case, you're left with a distinct chocolate flavor on the palate, and if you're not a fan of dark chocolate, Torani chocolate sauce may not be for you.

Additionally, the two-tablespoon serving size on the Torani chocolate sauce bottle amounts to more calories per serving than alternatives like Hershey's chocolate syrup. But you can always halve the serving size to reduce your calorie intake. All things considered, you may want to restrict the amount of Torani chocolate sauce you consume to a less sweet, less caloric measure, and the ultimate measure that sees it take up less space in your fridge.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.