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! 

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel and Black Sea Salt Review

I'm very lucky that my friends know how much I love chocolate, because I often get suggestions about what chocolate I should try. It's even better when a sample lands in my hands. Oh la la! This was the case recently when a friend of mine started talking about one of her favorite chocolate bars. As she described the bar, my mouth immediately started watering. She talked about sticky caramel and black sea sea salt enrobed in dark chocolate, which sounded fantastic. When she mentioned it is from Trader Joe's and is very affordable, I was suddenly skeptical, not expecting a store brand could offer anything very memorable. 

A few days later, a Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Caramel with Black Sea Salt bar was waiting for me at work with a note attached saying that I should try it and review the chocolate on this blog. I'm so touched that my friend thought of me and went one step further by buying me a bar! In the end, I was pleasantly surprised.

Dark chocolate bar with caramel and black sea salt

Let me start by saying it was a smart move to pair dark chocolate with caramel. Caramel is sugary; there's no way around that. Though it can be done, it's tricky to combine milk chocolate and caramel in a way that doesn't result in a cloyingly sweet treat. Using dark chocolate cuts the sweetness of the caramel. Voila! Problem solved.

There's much to like about the Trader Joe's bar. More than anything, it's interesting. Even just the black sea salt added makes this bar more intriguing than any standard store-bought chocolate. The salt not only adds a nice crunchiness, it adds a burst of saltiness that compliments both the caramel and the chocolate. Plus, the salt crystals look really cool sprinkled on the bar. I mean, you can really see the flakes of salt! Actually, that's the regular sea salt that shows up, but there is black sea salt added too. 

I didn't expect this chocolate bar to be so thin. "Where is the caramel going to go?" was my first thought. But rest assured that the caramel is in there. Between ultra thin layers of chocolate sits a lovely dark or "burnt" caramel -- caramel that's not actually burnt but is darker in color and stronger in flavor than other types of caramel -- that has hints of coffee, toffee, caramel and cocoa. 

The bar breaks easily and not always where it's scored.

Once a piece of chocolate is snapped off, the caramel can't help but ooze out. The sticky, gooey filling doesn't really drip like a true liquid caramel, but it does run, especially if it's left out at room temperature or above. It's the prefect contrast to the hard, dark chocolate, but some might find it too gooey. It lacks a chewy texture, but that's OK if you are expecting a more fluid filling. Just be sure to break the squares over a plate or napkin, because things could get a little messy. 

Sticky caramel oozes out quite readily.

The best way to eat this bar is to break off one of the large squares and stick it in your mouth. The chocolate quickly caves in on itself once it surrenders to pressure from your teeth, yielding the soft caramel sandwiched between. There are some wonderful textures and flavors that mingle in your mouth as you chew and savor the chocolate.

Dark chocolate bars.

The chocolate itself is a good quality Belgian chocolate. That sort of goes without saying, as there have been regulations in place since 1884 that prevent Belgian chocolate from being corrupted by any low-quality fat. As a result, Belgian chocolate is generally high-quality and always at least 35 percent pure cocoa. This bar is a 70 percent dark chocolate and has a nice even flavor, no real undertones or subtle notes, just a pure, straightforward cocoa taste that's typical of Belgian chocolate. The texture is ultra smooth and not at all chalky. Apparently, Trader Joe's has a whole line of dark chocolate bars.

Trader Joe's

Some people have said that Trader Joe's is a horrible company and even compared it to Walmart. Others claim it's the best company in the world. To be honest, I found far more positive articles on the company than negative ones. In fact, this is the worst article I could find, and it made me think that everyone needs to be informed when shopping, not just at Trader Joe's. Whether or not Trader Joe's in responsible for putting small businesses out of business is up for debate, but it's important to know the source of the products you buy, whether you purchase chocolate, fish or cereal. It's not always obvious where and how large companies get their products, and that's part of the reason why I try to support small, local businesses as much as I can. I also attempt to learn about the companies from which I buy. Still, it can be hard to beat the low prices Trader Joe's offers, and they really do a lot of good for a food company. 

Endangered Species Chocolate Review

Endangered Species Chocolate Review

Endangered Species on display.

After the Whole Foods Pear Almond Chocolate bar fiasco, I have been gravitating toward less exotic chocolate combinations, going back to plain chocolate or my normal go-to bars. Included in the bars that I can always count on to be consistently good even if they are not out of this world are the Endangered Species chocolate bars. These are not artisanal or hand-crafted chocolates, but they are affordable, good quality chocolates. Plus, I love that the company donates 10% of their net profits to organizations around the world that support species conservation, habitat preservation and humanitarian efforts.

I actually went a little nuts, because there was quite the sale going on in two different stores for the entire line of Endangered Species chocolate.  As a result, I ended up with four different bars, two large and two small. All but half of one is left, and that will disappear soon enough.

In the past, my biggest complaint with these chocolate bars was with specific flavors, not the overall chocolate. I think the chocolate itself is fine. It's a good quality, straightforward, above-average chocolate that's not overly complex or necessarily intriguing but serves its purpose. For me, the flavors that include nuts are problematic, because the nuts are chopped into pieces that I feel are too small. I like being to feel the crunch of the nut between my teeth, so pieces that are too small are a disappointment. Besides, the flavor isn't as pronounced when the nuts are so finely chopped. The good news regarding the nut flavors is that the ones I sampled contained fresh ingredients. That's always the worst when nuts in chocolate are rancid. Yuck!

Endangered Species Chocolates

Recently, I noticed that Endangered Species is carrying a new line of chocolate bars: vegan, cream-filled chocolate bars. I couldn't resist buying the almond butter flavor. You know how strange it is when you expect something, but reality doesn't match what you created in your head? Well, that's what happened. I expected a different texture and flavor, so I was caught off guard. It took me some time to get used to the real version, because I was expecting a thicker, more substantial texture, more like the filling in a Reese's peanut butter cup, even though it says right there on the package that it's creme filled. That implies light and fluffy, not thick and chewy. D'oh!

Chocolate with almond creme.

This flavor grew on me, but I wasn't thrilled at first. The interior is too light both in terms of flavor and texture. It doesn't stand up to the solid dark chocolate and comes off more as slippery than creamy. If I had been blindfolded, I wouldn't have known it was an almond filling. In fact, it was hard to detect any real flavoring in the filling at all. I would be curious to try a different creme flavor to see if there is any difference.

I have to admit that the mini cherry-flavored chocolate bar was my least favorite. I love cherries, but I'm not a big fan of cherry-flavored products. That may seem strange, but I would have preferred actual dried cherries in this bar. Instead, it had a funny cherry flavor added to the chocolate itself. I'm sure some people would like it, but it's not for me.

Dark chocolate bar and cherry chocolate bar.

The other mini bar I tried was just a regular dark chocolate bar, no frills and nothing added. While it wasn't exceptionally memorable, it was fine and just what I needed after a rare bad-chocolate experience. For the price, I was OK with it. Knowing that the beans are ethically sourced and bought from small, family-owned farmers makes me feel better about eating it. For vegan chocolate, it's one of the better tasting bars on the market for the price. It's chocolaty and simple with very little bitterness, and it's not overly sweet, which appeals to me.

With the sale going on, I was tempted to buy one of the more interesting flavors such as cocoa nibs with yacon and acai or gogi berry with pecans and maca, but I hesitated. I didn't know what yacon was or what it tastes like. Another flavor that looked interesting was one with maca, but I couldn't imagine how that would taste in chocolate. I will eventually try one of those bars, especially since I just discovered that yacon is a "perennial plant traditionally grown in the Northern and Central Andes from Colombia to Northern Argentina for its crisp, sweet-tasting tuberous roots." it sounds like something I'd probably like, however, I opted for the plain chocolate with nibs instead. 

Chocolate with cacao nibs

Once again, this is just good chocolate. It's not extraordinary, and there's nothing that jumps out to grab your attention, but the chocolate has a nice pure cocoa taste. The nibs are appropriately crunchy, though there's not a whole lot that's intriguing with them other than the added crunch. I like that the chocolate is not overly sweet, yet there are no strong bitter tones, even with the added nibs. The taste is balanced and even, and the texture of all their chocolates is smooth, not chalky. Each bar has a nice, clean snap, too.

Cocanu Chocolate Review

Sebastian Cisneros, the founder of Cocanu.

Just the other day, I got involved in a lively discussion on a forum about the strangest chocolate combinations we have ever tried. I have to say that there are some odd unions out there, and I have tried quite a few of them --mushrooms, olives, bacon, curry, figs, Pop Rocks and peppercorns, to name a few -- some surprisingly delicious and others interesting at best. One I ended up spitting out, and one I refused to try based on how awful it smelled. In general, I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to food, and I'm glad I didn't turn my nose up at the more peculiar Cocanu bars.

I quickly tossed in my latest picks for most unusual combinations into the fray, two Cacanu chocolate bars, one that's infused with wood and one that contains Fernet Branca, a bitter drink made in Italy. Before you wrinkle your nose, let me tell you that it works. I know! How bizarre. After trying these eye-opening chocolates, though, it almost seems strange to add them to the weird combination list. Despite the sound of it, these flavors work incredibly well together.

Cocanu is a Portland-based chocolate company founded by innovative chocolatier Sebastian Cisneros, who was born in Ecuador and moved to Oregon when he was 17. Everything about the hand-crafted, small-batch chocolate bars expands the mind, from the individually wax-sealed packages to the classy, minimalist-looking chocolate squares. There's much to be appreciated.

From the Cocanu website:

"two hands producing chocolate bars. 

We redress fine chocolate. 

By giving chocolate a tickle, we stray away from the island of perfection and tumble into an unknown territory of raucous beauty.

Surfaced in September, 2009, 
in Portland, Oregon."

As many people who read my blog know, I get excited when I see anything with hazelnuts in it. Chocolate and hazelnut is probably my favorite combination, so I couldn't resist getting Cocanu's Gardel bar. This is a bar made with Ecuadorian cacao, Oregon hazelnuts and Italian Fernet Branca.

This interesting and intriguing bar has a gentle sweetness that emerges only after the first impressions of smoky wood and spicy, earthy chocolate hit your palate. What a unique flavor! There's something familiar yet foreign, strange and alluring about this bar. The bouquet is floral, but it's not too powerful, which is good, as anything too fragrant would detract from the chocolate. The beauty of this bar is that the flavors mingle ever so seductively and brilliantly together, each undertone emerging briefly to the forefront and then receding to give a different flavor a turn with the chocolate taste consistently holding its own, steadily tapping the taste buds. If you want something different, this is the bar for you.

The hazelnuts add a nice crunch, though they are sparsely distributed. Oddly enough, despite the bar being a 72 percent dark chocolate, it has qualities of milk chocolate such as caramel undertones, and it tastes lighter than many dark chocolates. 

There's a definite bitterness from the Fernet Branca that's not too potent. It's just enough to wake up your taste buds and get them ready for experiencing the chocolate more fully, like the pleasant bitterness associated with a good cup of coffee.

The other bar I tried was the Holy Wood bar made with wild Criollo cacao from the Bolivian Amazon. The bar is infused with Palo Santo wood found in Ecuador. Palo Santo is considered a sacred wood and is often use by shamans in ceremonies. Burning the wood is said to ward off negativity and evil spirits and aid in healing. It can be used much like sage to purify, but it's also said that it helps raise energetic vibrations. It also keeps the mosquitoes away!

Palo Santo

The Holy Wood bar is very lightly aromatic and perfumy, but there's a deep, rich cocoa flavor in this bar. There's also a very slight smoky flavor, but the smooth, quality chocolate is fruity with hints of blueberries and coffee that stand out. I detected a mild bitter aftertaste that wasn't unpleasant. It's the cocoa flavor that clings to your palate and is the most pronounced. The various undertones are subtle.

If you happen to be up at 2 a.m. and sample these bars, be prepared for your creative juices to start flowing as you become increasingly alert. Whether it's because of the chocolate itself or the uncommon additions in the bars, you will find that consuming Cocanu chocolates is a life-changing experience. 

Cacanu

Weinrich 1895 Chocolate Review

When I stumbled upon Weinrich's 1895 chocolates, I didn't know what to expect. The chocolate selection at the Peppercorn, a local shop on the mall, is extensive and a little overwhelming, but most of the chocolates are first-rate there. Still, with the 1895 chocolate having a fairly low price and with me not knowing the name, I didn't get my hopes up too high. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised, just not blown away. 

1895 chocolate

It's true that the 1895 chocolate I bought didn't knock my socks off, but it was good. The company itself is interesting, and I was surprised to discover that VIVANI chocolates is associated with EcoFinia GmbH, a subsidiary company of Weinrich that produces organic chocolate. They are still considered a bean-to-bar company and use quality ingredients in all their products. 

Organic Vivani Chocolate

The two flavors I picked were the dark chocolate hazelnut and the raspberry crisp dark chocolate. Noticing that the hazelnut chocolate box was thick got me excited, because I like a bar you can sink your teeth into. These days bars are usually thin, because people buy chocolate more by visual size, not actual weight. If the bar looks big, people are more willing to buy it. Chunky bars appeals to me, though, so I was pleased to see that at least one company is willing to take a risk with going thick. 

A crunchy roasted hazelnut in chocolate.

Check out the whole roasted hazelnuts! (Excuse the glare.)

The chocolate in the hazelnut bar is actually a milk chocolate, but it's darker than most, something I appreciate. I'm notorious for combining dark and milk chocolates. This confection is a traditional-tasting chocolate bar with nicely balanced sweetness and hazelnuts that are absolutely fresh and toasted just the right amount. I detected notes of coffee and caramel. The whole hazelnuts have a strong, natural taste, but because they are large, they tend to fall out of the chocolate too easily. As a result, when the nuts don't make an escape, the flavors seem to compete. You get a burst of nuttiness followed by the cocoa flavor. Hazelnut goes so well with chocolate, so it might have been better to chop the nuts at least a little, even just cutting them in half might have solved the problem. 

I have tried several dark chocolate raspberry bars in the past. It's hard to go wrong with the fruity combination. Weinrich's does everything right with their version. The chocolate is straightforward and even, so it doesn't compete with the berries. The raspberry flavor is natural, tart and strong, a nice addition to the very slightly sweet chocolate. Because the berries are dehydrated, they add a wonderful crunch to the bar. The chocolate is thick, but not abnormally so. It's a very nice and refreshing little confection. The dark chocolate is rich and the whole concept just works incredibly well.

Overall, the chocolates were good but not all that memorable. For the price, they are a great buy, though, so I would considering buying them again, if I weren't presented with so many other incredible options! If you like chocolate and raspberry, definitely give that one a try. You won't be disappointed.

The Good & Evil Bar Revisited

I can't believe I ate half a large chocolate bar in one sitting. Actually, I can, because it was the Good & Evil Bar.

Not long ago, my brother and his girlfriend asked me what my favorite chocolate is. I hesitated, thinking about all the chocolates I have tired. The ones from LeNotre in France stood out, of course, but there have been so many great chocolates in my past. There's something about the Good Evil bar, though, that makes it stand out as the best of the best. It's the texture, the flavor, the balance and the story behind it.

I love synchronicity. The day I got my best ever present: a gift bag filled with the Good & Evil Bar and a box of Eclat truffles, Sue Ann Gleason at Chocolate for Breakfast posted something on her facebook page about how she had just spent $20 on the very same Good & Evil Bar. I reassured her that she's not the only one who would spend that amount on chocolate and gave her the link to my review in which I admit that I would quite willingly purchase this bar again (and again) if I had the extra cash. In fact, I'd probably pinch and scrape in order to make the purchase.

Even opening the bar is a treat. It's packaged so nicely with bright red foil inside an elegant black box. There's a blurb and photo of each of the three creators of this bar: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Curtin and Eric Ripert.

The aroma of the chocolate is enticing. My mouth was watering when I ripped open the foil package.

Oops, I couldn't resist a bite before sitting down. Mmmmmmm

Normally when I'm sampling chocolate, especially for the first time, I don't dunk it in a hot beverage. This is a habit I picked up from my mom, though, so I'm not opposed to dunking my chocolate into hot liquid now and then. I like it both ways, either served at the appropriate temperate or very briefly dipped into something hot. Do you dunk your chocolate? A friend of mine was nearly irate when I told her about this tradition. She insists that I'm crazy and that no chocolate should ever be dunked.


A BIG, big thank you to my friend L for getting me this most generous gift, and another thank you to her mother for her help with it. I can't even explain how much I have enjoyed these chocolates. I am so very touched by this gift.

Lindt Lindor Chocolate Truffle Review

I have read many reviews on this truffle, and I know a few people who consider this confection among the best. I was surprised to see so many top ratings for Lindt truffles. I mean, there's a flood of great reviews, but I wonder if it has something to do with the availability of the product. These little goodies are sold in most major supermarkets and are available from many online retailers. In my browsing, I only came across a few reviews that were in line with what I think. Most reviews rated the truffles a 10 out of 10, which, quite frankly, is shocking. My score would be much lower, more like a three.

Eclat truffle

For me, sampling the outrageously good Eclat truffles may have ruined all other truffles I eat from here on out. While I felt the texture of the Lindt truffles was somewhat OK, I found them to be far too sweet, even the 60 percent dark chocolate ones, which were as least as sweet as many milk chocolates I have eaten. The immediate sugar rush on the first bite is a real zinger and hits you right in the teeth. Though the label claims it's bittersweet chocolate, I don't detect the usual qualities of good dark chocolate.

What's strange is that the chocolate melts quickly, especially the interior, but it doesn't create a good mouth feel. It's slippery, not rich and creamy. There's no real chocolate coating of the palate the way excellent chocolate does with this truffle. Plus, there's an odd aftertaste, which made sense only after I read the ingredients. When you have been sampling very pure chocolate made with few ingredients, eating ones with added artificial flavors and unnecessary oils takes some getting used to.

The filling was the worst part about the truffle. The chocolate that makes up the outer shell of the dark chocolate variety is smooth, not chalky, but it doesn't have a true dark chocolate or even a bittersweet chocolate flavor. It's not offensive; it's even tolerable, but it's far from exceptional. To me, it seems like the extremely soft interior that approaches a liquid state in warmer temperatures is much too soft. I prefer a filling that has some substance and body to it.

Overall, I wasn't happy with the truffles. It's always disappointing when you are expecting something outstanding, and it ends up being merely mediocre.

Amedei Chocolate Review

I have been sampling some outstanding chocolates lately. When I ordered two bars of Amedei chocolate, I was a little bit impatient, because Amedei is often ranked among the best chocolate companies in the world. Despite the fact that the price can scare some people away, the chocolate is also among the most popular. I almost spent the extra money to have the package shipped next day, but since I already had a few bars on hand to review, I thought better of it. Well, I wasn't disappointed when the shipment arrived, and I got to taste these bars. In fact, I was pretty blown away. This is the kind of chocolate that makes your eyes roll back in your head and your toes curl. It's "OMG, makes me weak in the knees" kind of good. Holy cocoa bean!

I ordered the Gianduja bar and the Venezuela bar. For anyone who doesn't know, gianduja is a sweetened chocolate mixed with at least 30 percent hazelnut paste. The classic combination is one of my all time favorite flavors, but not all bars are made equally. This one is top quality. The texture is soft, smooth and creamy. It's definitely not chalky. My mom used to tell me stories about the chocolates she got when she lived in Europe just after the war, chocolates that still linger on her mind all these years later. I imagine this chocolate would remind her of those exceptional confections. The natural roasted hazelnut flavor is so perfectly balanced with the milk chocolate. The combination of the slight caramel and malt notes of the chocolate and the hazelnuts is wonderful. The sweetness in this bar is excellent, not too much like so many milk chocolates. You need a little sweetness with this type of bar, but many chocolate companies go overboard. This bar is so good that I could probably eat the entire thing in one sitting if I allowed myself. It's truly remarkable.

The dark chocolate I sampled was a single origin bar made with cocoa beans from Venezuela. This is my kind of chocolate. The bar has a great texture. There's a nice snap when you break off a piece, but the bar is not overly hard. It has a smoothness to it, and the chocolate gives a little when you sink your teeth into it. Though it's straightforward and not overly complex, it's far from boring. The cocoa flavor is profound, and it has a phenomenal pure chocolate taste with just a hint of spiciness. The immediate flavor is overwhelmingly chocolate. In time, you will eventually detect notes of coffee and, if you let it sit in your mouth long enough, some very subtle fruit flavors such as raisins or plums emerge. The sweetness is perfect, just enough to counter any possible bitter or sour flavors. This is a clean cocoa taste. It reminds me of sipping gourmet hot chocolate on a cold day.

Given how good the two bars I sampled were, I would imagine that the other bars are equally good. Now I'm extremely curious about their Porcelana bar, which is one of the most expensive bars on the market. I can dream about that one and hope to try it one day.

From the Amedei website:

AMEDEI: THE EXCELLENCE IN THE WORLD OF CHOCOLATE 

 This excellence has emerged due to Cecilia Tessieri's love of chocolate and dedication to her vision. It all began with an idea and a desire to find the world's best cocoa bean in order to produce the most exquisite chocolate possible. A deep passion for chocolate and devotion to work, together with a continual search for perfection, have all factored into making Amedei what it is today. In order to produce an exceptional chocolate it is necessary to closely follow the many stages involved in the manufacturing of chocolate. 

This is exactly what Cecilia Tessieri, founder of Amedei, courageously set out to do. Her determination to create an excellent product is what gave life to a successful, unique and innovative family business. Amedei is the only Italian chocolate boutique to have complete supervision over its production process from the cocoa bean to the finished product. Great attention to detail and desire for excellence has earned Amedei the Chocolate Academy of London's prestigious "Golden Bean" award in the "bean to bar" category for four consecutive years. Due to her hard work, dedication and long apprenticeships in France, Belgium and Germany, Cecilia Tessieri is the only woman in the world to claim the title of Chocolatier. 

 The factory is an enchanted and magical place where happiness lingers and hands are busy creating chocolate works of art. Amedei chocolate, in any one of its forms, has a way of triggering numerous pleasurable emotions, sending you to seventh heaven with visions of chocolate swirling in your head. We at Amedei take pride in our excellence and we're sure that we bring joy to the people who savor each and every magical bite.

Theo Chocolate Review

Theo chocolate

Chocolate is much like coffee in that what some people love, others dislike or merely tolerate. Some people love a strong, more bitter coffee, and others prefer a smooth, less astringent, mild coffee. Recently, I met someone who likes to eat unsweetened chocolate. That's a bit too much for me, though I have sampled a few 100 percent unsweetened chocolate bars in my life, one that was actually quite good. Something else I find interesting is that, like coffee, I can experience different flavors of good chocolate on different days. Sometimes if the chocolate is complex, notes that were hidden one day emerge the next.

Theo was the first organic, fair trade chocolate company in the United States, something they should be proud of. They source their beans from around the world, making sure the farmers who grow the beans are fairly paid. I would love to tour their factory and see (and sample) all the products they produce.

I had tried the classic Theo chocolate bars before, but I couldn't remember the details. I knew I liked what I ate, but the bars didn't leave a lasting impression. They didn't haunt me or make me have mid-afternoon chocolate fantasies, but I remember thinking that they were reasonably good at the time. What I do remember with great fondness is the fantasy collection. Those bars stood out in my mind. The Bread and Chocolate 70 percent dark chocolate bar was so much like eating pain au chocolat that I could imagine myself sitting on a patio in the morning sun eating a bar for breakfast served with a latte. Loved it!

Just like pain au chocolat! 

Of course, a lot of what a person might find appealing in a bar goes beyond the chocolate. The added ingredients can influence how good the bar is, and what the company stands for also plays a role in how desirable the confection is. Eating a bar from an ethical company feels good, and that can play into the whole gastronomic experience.

One problem with sampling so many complex, intriguing bars is that you become less than enthused about anything that's not extraordinary and uncommon. What once seemed great suddenly seems just OK. I think that's what has happened with the Theo bars I sampled.

Salted Almond Milk Chocolate

I was given two of their classic bars to sample: the 85 percent dark chocolate and the milk chocolate salted almond. What's interesting is that I found the milk chocolate bar slightly bitter. Just to be sure, I had a friend try it, and he agreed that it was a little bit like eating a gourmet, slightly bitter milk chocolate Easter bunny. Well, the chocolate is a much, much better quality; there's no doubt about that. Still, there was a detectable bitterness, especially with the aftertaste, and much of the usual caramel and malt notes of good milk chocolate were missing. I also found it just a hair chalky, but the texture wasn't bad, just not as smooth as I like. What I liked very much about this chocolate was that it wasn't as sweet as many of the milk chocolates out there.

The almonds added were not pronounced and seemed to be a bit of an afterthought. The fact that they were salted made little difference, as the pieces of nuts were too small to be of much interest, though when I did bite into a nice salty almond, it was like hitting the jackpot, only, unfortunately, these nuts were rancid, something I bring up often and seems to be an issue with many bars. This is probably not a problem related to the company, as the other bars I have sampled in the past had fresh ingredients. It's probably one of those situations in which the bars were not properly rotated on the shelf or weren't stored properly. I generally prefer a real crunch if there are nuts in my chocolate. Perhaps leaving the almonds whole or chopping them less fine would have been better, if they were fresh, of course. At minimum, I would have liked to see more almonds added. The bar did grow on me the more I ate it, the chocolate part anyway.

85% Chocolate

For an 85 percent dark chocolate, the dark chocolate bar is surprisingly palatable. Make no mistake that it is bitter, but not so much that you think of unsweetened baking chocolate when you put it in your mouth. It has a crisp snap and is nicely smooth and even both in terms of flavor and texture. As far as super dark chocolates on the market, this is definitely one of the better ones. I've had some that are chalky and exceptionally bitter. This one may not be extraordinary, but it's consistently good.

Chocolove

Chocolove 

Most chocoholics have a go-to or staple chocolate bar, one they fall back on time and time again. Chocolove's Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate is the on for me. It's the bar I buy when I can't make up my mind about what kind of chocolate I want. I crave this one after I've been inordinately adventurous, sampling more exotic flavors, and want some familiar comfort. The packaging is nice. It's eye-catching and simple. Some might say it's cutesy with the XOXOX symbol on each of the different colors of outer wrappers. I can't say that the packaging is all that fancy. In fact, it's a little bit understated, but the added love poem on the inside of each wrapper is a nice, classy touch.

I find it strange that this bar has become my go-to chocolate, because when I first tried Chocolove, I felt that all the flavors were too sweet. Then again, I sampled the Toffee in Milk Chocolate bar and a few others that are more naturally on the sweet side than any of the darker chocolates, but even the dark chocolates are on the verge of being too sweet. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the type of chocolate that appeals to the mainstream, but I'm sensitive to chocolate that's overly sugary. Fortunately, I gave the line of chocolates another try and discovered this highly addictive bar with its dark, chewy dried cherries and crunchy roasted almonds nestled in chocolate that's dark but not excessively so. Because it's only 55 percent cocoa, there's a good chance that both milk and dark chocolate lovers will appreciate this creation.  

It's always a pleasant surprise to discover a chocolate bar that isn't excessively thin. I like chocolate I can sink my teeth into, especially when there are added ingredients such as nuts, fruit or pretzel pieces. It's not so much that Chocolove chocolate is extraordinary; it's that the chocolate is consistently good. Anyone can tell that it's a very high quality chocolate, even though there's nothing overly intriguing about it, mostly because the flavors are straightforward, not complex. This isn't anything to complain about, really. It's great to have a confection that screams true, traditional chocolate when you taste it, and these bars are made with very good Belgian chocolate using classic European techniques.

Of the various bars I have tried, the flavors were all nicely balanced, but there was nothing unique about the combinations. It's hard to go wrong with traditional ingredients. As far as my preference, I keep coming back to the Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate. On very rare occasions, I have ended up with one that contained rather rancid almonds, but I attribute this to improper storage on the part of the store where I purchased the bar, not to the company. I have had too many bars with fresh almonds to make me think it's a problem with the way the bars are made. It's more likely that the bars sit on the store shelves too long or are not rotated properly. The cherries are tart but not sour, so they don't detract from the pure cocoa taste of the chocolate. I'm the type who loves to explore different flavors and textures in my chocolates, so including both fruit and nuts is the perfect combination for me. 

The milk chocolate pretzel bar was a little bit on the sweet side to my taste. The Man thought it was good. He agreed that it was sweet, but he didn't think it was overly so. The pretzel pieces were quite long and made the bar difficult to score evenly. It's not a big problem, but it looked clumsy. I did like the crunch and the saltiness of the pretzels. The texture of the chocolate, while not chalky, wasn't entirely smooth. Overall, it was good but not outstanding. After sampling some excellent Valrhona milk chocolate, it's easy to be critical of other milk chocolates, but I appreciate a very smooth milk chocolate that's not extremely sweet. 


Some of the best things about Chocolove are the high standards of the company and the founder's dedication to social responsibility.

What is your go-to chocolate?

Timothy Moley, the founder of Chocolove