Compartes Chocolatier - The Drive In 44% Cacao (bar) - Dec. 4, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Compartes Chocolatier
The Drive In 44% Cacao (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 360 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Compartes Chocolatier, online order

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Theme Week.

Today's "The Drive In" 44% Cacao (bar) was from Compartes Chocolatier (Los Angeles, CA).

Compartes offers a wide selection of chocolates with different flavor inclusions, including several bars with references to Hollywood, movies and/or entertainment. 

Aroma and flavor notes for today's Hollywood-themed bar included: sweet milk chocolate interspersed with embedded pieces of lightly salted, buttered popcorn.

Texture: Thick, creamy and rich milk chocolate bar with very soft, lightly crunchy popcorn pieces.

I enjoyed the popcorn and chocolate blend, and the bar's packaging--with an image of a drive-in with rows of parked cars facing a very large, elevated screen. 

This bar brought up a blend of childhood memories of being at drive-in theaters and eating snacks in the car--some homemade and some bought at concession stands). At one time in the U.S. there were more than 4,000 drive-in movie theaters (including three within a few miles of  where I grew up). Now there may be fewer than 200. 

The multi-screen Century theater that I frequent now was a former drive-in theater until the 1980s. Popcorn snacks, chocolates and other candies and soft drinks along with new additions like nachos are still available for sale.

Today's popcorn bar inspired me to re-watch an animated short film from the 1950s, with dancing refreshments reminding movie-goers (in theaters and drive-ins) to visit the snack bar. ("Let's All Go to The Lobby...").* The film is still shown at some independent theaters, and has spawned take-offs by other animators and filmmakers. I can still hear this song in my head.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin as an emulsifier, Vanilla), Smoked Sea Salt

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that handles Dairy, Peanuts, Wheat, Egg, Soy, Tress Nuts"

*Over time this theater became surrounded by a succession of technology companies (many of which have come and gone). Those companies have included: Adobe, Silicon Graphics, Google, Microsoft and other tech companies involved in commercial media and entertainment. YouTube movies anyone? Wait, I'll "Google" what's playing at the theater.

**The ad/trailer/short film features four singing and dancing refreshment items getting snacks in the lobby -- including popcorn and chocolate characters. It was Directed by Dave Fleisher for the Filmack Studios. The film has inspired a few different versions (one with Covid masks) and at least one short live action horror film with the same title in 2020.