Ghirardelli Mint Chocolate Cookie

AAK!

Mint cookie goodness

OK, maybe it's not the most gourmet chocolate in the world, but DAMN! Ghiradelli, did you create some kind of chocolate crack here? I dare anyone to eat just one bite. No, it's not possible. You stand a better chance of eating one potato chip when craving something salty.

Maybe it's a tad too sweet, but just follow it with a dark chocolate chaser. Jeez, though, the texture is fucking amazing, the perfect balance of light crunch and smmmmooootttthhh melty chocolate. Yeah, it's good stuff. Eat some.

Soma Chocolate Review

As some of you might have noticed, I bailed on my one post per day goal. I learned a great deal in doing this, mostly that I hate deadlines. The other thing I learned is that it's probably better to put out quality over quantity. I also learned that sometimes life gets in the way, and it's important to prioritize. It turns out that health and well-being are pretty high on my priority list, so when I came down with pneumonia, I had to let some things slide.

Before I got sick, I was feeling a lot of pressure, mostly internal, and I think my blog posts suffered as a result. Oddly, at the same time, I fell into sampling both cheeses and chocolates that were all a little too similar and not all that noteworthy, or so I thought. What may have happened is more that I was losing my passion about reviewing, and it all started seeming overwhelming and overly challenging. It's true that I get into these funks from time to time where everything seems pointless, even breathing, so I knew it was time for a break.

I took some time away from writing and absorbed myself in watching Luther, Dexter and Sherlock on Netflix. I guess I'm suddenly into titles with no more than one word in them.

Now that I'm feeling better, I'm ready to get back into reviewing. 

I went to the Boulder Bookstore in February and purchased some Soma chocolate. The flavors looked promising, but the reality was that there wasn't anything outrageously memorable about what I purchased. I don't regret buying the bars; I was just expecting more. 

As you can see from the images, one of the bars I tried had dried cherries in it. The plump cherries on the thick square of dark chocolate that showed through the cellophane looked appetizing. I love the idea of a thicker bar in general, and one with cherries is exceptionally tempting. Unfortunately, the chocolate, while good, wasn't extraordinary. As a result, I felt let down. The cherries were nice and tart and chewy, and the chocolate-cherry combination is always a good one. It's just that with this bar, it seemed disjointed, like someone accidentally spilled a few dried cherries onto the chocolate bars as they were hardening. I think the biggest issues were that the chocolate was good but not great, and the cherries didn't carry enough flavor to truly enhance the bar. Still, there's something very nice about sinking your teeth into a thick bar. 

On a side note, someday, I will have to share my idea for a line of thicker chocolate bars. It's a good one, and someone should be doing it. In fact, I saw a soomewhat similar idea recently in a chocolate Easter bunny, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone runs with my idea. Sigh. Any of you chocolate makers want a good idea? 

Cherry mini bar

Thick chocolate and tart dried cherries.

The other Soma bar I picked was packaged completely differently. It was sealed in a foil package, and the bar itself was very thin. The tangerine-chocolate combination was intriguing. Think of chocolate and oranges and add a splash of lemon with just a hint of bitterness. I think anyone who likes more adventurous flavors will go wild over this one. This is a bar that commands attention. With this one, you can get a better sense of the quality of the chocolate, and the tangerine and chocolate combination is certainly one that's intriguing and different. This is no orange-chocolate bar, so be prepared for something a step above that. The tangerine taste really jumps out at you, but not at the expense of the chocolate, and, unlike some citrus flavors, this one tastes natural, not like furniture polish. 

Elegant chocolate with a bold citrus flavor.

Yum!

I do need to catch up on my reviews. I have several cheese reviews on hold and a few more chocolate reviews coming soon. Keep checking back!