ChocolateBet: August 22, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Moonstruck Chocolatier
Golden Crown Truffle
Good + - Very Good
Wt: ~ .5 oz.
Calories: ~ 75 cals.
Cost: ~$ 2.00
Purchased from: Moonstruck Chocolatier, in Portland, OR

ChocolateBet: August 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

3/4 bar
Venchi
Absinthium - dark chocolate bar (75% cacao) with Absinthe flavors
Very Good + - nice rich flavor combination and finish (licorice-like taste)
Weight: 1.185 oz. (33.75 grams) for 3/4 bar/ 1.58 oz. (45 g.) for total bar
Calories: 178 calories (estimate - info not on label)
Cost: $5.75
Purchased from: Cacao Drink Chocolate, in Portland, OR

I enjoyed sharing this dark chocolate absinthe bar (made in Italy) with friends on a summer eve. (Thank you Elise for the great dinner with fresh veggies from your garden.)

About Absinthe/A. Absinthium: (See info copied and pasted from wikipedia.org entry below)

"...Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Due in part to its association with bohemian culture, absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, and Aleister Crowley were all notorious "bad men" of that day who were (or were thought to be) devotees of the Green Fairy. Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug.^[2] The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in most European countries except the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although absinthe was vilified, no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary liquor. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, had been much exaggerated.^[2] A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, when countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale..."