Scharffen Berger - 70% Cacao dark chocolate + almonds + toffee + sea salt (bar) & 41% Cacao milk chocolate + toasted coconut + coffee (bar)

Chocolate(s) of The Day

Scharffen Berger

70% Cacao dark chocolate + almonds + toffee + sea salt (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend

41% Cacao milk chocolate + toasted coconut + coffee (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend 

Welcome to Day #7 of the Chocolate Banquet Birthday Celebration Theme Week--celebrating 20 years of sampling a different chocolate every day in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

Chocolate makers featured in this celebration week include some of the early bean-to-bar craft chocolate makers in the San Francisco Bay Area (if not the U.S.). Arguably the first of the new wave of chocolate makers in the 1990s was Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, a company once based in South San Francisco, then Berkeley CA.

Founded in 1996 by a sparkling winemaker, John Scharffenberger, and Dr. Robert Steinberg, the company set the stage for chocolate makers to come. They listed the cacao percentage on their packaging, and helped educate customers, chefs (and future chocolate makers) on why such information mattered. They also offered great, educational tours in their Berkeley facility.

Times change in chocolate, as in all things. The pioneering company name survived an acquisition by Hersheys in 2005, the closing of SF Bay Area locations in 2009, a private buy-back in 2020...and (so far) an acquistion by 1-800-Flowers.com in 2024. (There were still selected retail stores selling their chocolates when I wrote this post.)

The first Scharffen Berger chocolate featured on Chocolate Banquet was a chocolate truffle, on Sept. 24, 2006, followed by several different bars over the years. I'm hoping today's two bars won't be the last.

70% dark chocolate + almonds + toffee + sea salt (bar)

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate (with balanced fudge and light earth), nut, vanilla, sweet toffee, and almond. 

There was enough sea salt to help balance out the sweetness of the toffee and it also complemented the chocolate and almonds. Vanilla added a touch of mellow/warm sweetness.

Texture: This well-tempered bar was a blend of a smooth dark chocolate with a creamy melt and crunchy bits of nuts and toffee. 

I liked the light cacao complexity in this bar; the balance of sweet and salty; the fact that cacao beans were the first ingredient; and the lack of wheat/gluten.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Cane Sugar, Almonds, Toffee (Cane Sugar, Butter [Cream, Salt], Rice Syrup, Soy Lecithin, Salt), Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Vanilla Bean.

Allergen-related information: Contains Almonds, Milk, Soy. Produced in a Facility That Also Processes Other Tree Nuts.

41% milk chocolate + toasted coconut + coffee (bar)

Aroma and flavor notes included: rich, dark milk chocolate with coffee, vanilla and faint brown sugar.

Texture: smooth creamy milk chocolate that was chock full of ground coffee--and that coffee worked surprisingly well. The coffee bean roast and grind choices were just right--not too harsh or gritty.

This chocolate might be a little sweet for dark chocolate lovers; but it worked with the coffee. The generous amount of ground coffee helped balance the inherent sweetness of the sugar, coconut and vanilla.

I liked the creamy texture, delicate and not-to-strong coconut, the ground coffee, and the authentic vanilla (bean) that also wasn't too strong.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Cane Sugar, Milk, Toasted Sweetened Coconut (Coconut Flakes, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt), Cocoa Butter, Skim Milk, Ground Coffee Beans, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Bean.

Allergen-related information: Contains: Coconut, Milk. Produced in a Facility That Also Processes Other Tree Nuts.