Fu Wan Chocolate - 62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar) - Apr. 30, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Fun Wan Chocolate
62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 203 calories in 1 bar 

Cost: $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & Tea Theme Week.

Today's 62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan).

Aroma and Flavor notes for this tea chocolate included: fruit (sweet peach); gentle chocolate; subtle floral, oolong tea; and barely detectable warm spice. 

Texture: very smooth dark chocolate with soft, candied peach pieces, and a barely detectable tea astringency in the finish.

I appreciated the relatively short list of quality ingredients and the subtle qualities of this bar. The sweet, honeyed peach bits had the most distinct flavor. The chocolate and tea flavors were quieter. I'd advise eating this chocolate slowly you can enjoy all three flavors.

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cacao Butter, Dried Peach (Taiwan Honey Peach, Sugar, Citric Acid), Red Oolong Tea Powder.

Allergen-related information: "This product is manufactured in a facility that also processes mango, egg, tree nuts, soy, milk, and milk products. Not recommended for individuals with allergies to these ingredients."

Theo Chocolate - Peach Blossom and Chai Tea pieces - Apr. 21, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Theo Chocolate
Peach Blossom White Tea Ganache - Good ++ - Good +++
Chai Tea Ganache - Good ++
Weight: .84 oz. (24 g.) / 1.7 oz. (48 g.) in total box of 4 pcs.
Calories: 120 calories in 2 pieces 
Cost: $10.99 for 1 box of 4 chocolates 
Purchased from: FarmFresh to You, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Peach Blossom Tea and Chai Tea Ganache chocolates, 2 pieces from a 4-piece Spring Tea Ganache Collection, were from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA).

Peach Blossom White Tea Ganache
The aroma for this confection was an uplifting blend of fruit (dried pear and apricot) and floral (fragrant stone fruit blossoms) notes. 

A dark chocolate shell surrounded a soft but substantial (think cold butter), creamy ganache center.

The taste was a celebration of spring flavors, including relatively bold, faintly earthy dark chocolate, with surprisingly un-muted floral (a blend of stone-fruit blossoms and orange blossoms) and tart sweet fruit (apricot, pear, loquat, peach) notes. The relatively small dose of sugar in this confection resulted in clearer, more accessible flavors. 

The delicate white tea was more of a hidden contributor, and seemed the perfect choice and delicate foil for these other flavors.

Chai Tea Ganache

Aroma notes included: chai tea spices (star anise and other warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom and ginger) and chocolate.

The dark chocolate veneer gave way to a velvety soft, ebony-colored dark ganache.

As with the other pieces in this Spring Collection assortment the tea-infused ganache was enrobed in the same smooth, yet bold dark covering with a well-managed earth note. This cacao choice* helped balance out the clear, naturally sweet floral and fruit notes--miraculously, not eclipsing them in the process. 

Big thanks to Theo Chocolate for these skillfully orchestrated, Spring-inspired filled chocolates, with a relatively light touch of sugar. The clarity and access to the authentic floral, tea and fruit flavor inclusions was very satisfying. 

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cacao beans; organic, fair trade cane sugar; peach blossom infused cream (organic cream, organic peach blossom tea (organic white tea, organic quince, natural peach flavor, organic peaches, essential orange oil, essential tangerine oil), and possibly organic whole milk powder, organic butter, organic nonfat milk powder, honey, organic lemon juice). For more detailed/specific information, please contact Theo Chocolate. 

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk.) "Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, and sesame."

*According to information available on the Theo Chocolate website, the cacao was sourced in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the sugar was sourced in Brazil.

 

Andy's Orchard - Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach, Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich - Mar. 30, 2022

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Andy's Orchard

Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) (estimate) in total package
Calories: Unknown
Cost: $2.75 for 1 package
Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Apricot Rum-Butter Sandwich
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) (estimate) in total package
Calories: Unknown
Cost: $2.50 for 1 package
Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate Snacks Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach and Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich chocolates were from Andy's Orchard (Morgan Hill, CA).

Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach

Sweet milk chocolate surrounding a wonderfully flavorful, moist, dried peach (think excellent, slightly tart, sweet peach jam). 

Many heritage varieties of fruit (including cacao) have more nuanced and delicate layers of flavors. You can almost pick out a faint/delicate floral, citrus or even tropical (mango) fruit notes in certain varieties of apricots and peaches.

The peach was the star of the show in this confection, and rightly so.

Ingredients: Not listed on label (includes dried Baby Crawford peach prepared with sulphur dioxide and chocolate)

Allergen-related information: None listed on small (1-piece) package label

Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich

Slice this confection open and it looked similar to the above milk chocolate covered peach with a plump, golden-orange fruit center. However, this "sandwich" also had a caramel-colored layer. And it had a rich, caramel cookie aroma. 

The combined sweetness and chew of this generously-sized tart apricot fruit and caramel, stimulated the senses and jolted me awake.

I enjoy complexity within a single origin chocolate or a single heritage fruit, but too many multi-faceted flavors (and too much sugar) can make it difficult to enjoy higher quality ingredients with layered flavors, like today's tart-sweet Blenheim apricot. 

There was a slight rum-butter flavoring in this sandwiched confection, but I preferred to enjoying the pure, special flavors in the apricot, when I could enjoy that separately in one bite.

Again, the locally grown fruit (apricot)** stole the show today.

Ingredients: Dried Blenheim apricot prepared with sulphur dioxide, glace apricot, chocolate, caramel, and rum-butter flavor.

Allergen-related information: None listed on small (1-piece) package label

*Baby Crawford (freestone) peaches are relatively small peaches with fine-grained texture and fairly intense (heirloom) peach flavor.

**Apricots hail from Asia originally, but were spread west via trade routes, and eventually reached California in the 1800s. 

Plums, apricots and cherries were widely cultivated in the San Francisco (South Bay) Area in the 1900s, but eventually prime agricultural land and fruit tree orchards were paved over to make way for houses and technology companies--that would become Silicon Valley. 

Special thanks to Andy's Orchard in Morgan Hill, one of the few remaining operating orchards within an hour's drive (from where I live). Andy Mariani and team operate a small store on-site, where one can find wonderful varieties of fruits. Fresh fruits (including cacao fruit/pulp) are my favorite snacks, other than a well-executed, single origin/heritage variety chocolate.

 

Maison Bouche - Fleur de Pecher Milk Chocolate bar - June 2, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maison Bouche
Fleur de Pecher (Peach Blossom) Milk Chocolate Bar
Good +
Weight: .55 oz. (15.5 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 82.5 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA


Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Fleur de Pecher (peach blossom) Milk Chocolate bar was from Maison Bouche (Oakland, CA).

Maison Bouche is a small batch, made to order, chocolatier and bakery in the San Francisco Bay Area. The packaging design for their bars continues to be classic, retro French with curved script lettering against muted colors.

This thick 40% cacao milk chocolate bar had a peach parfum aroma. The melt and texture was creamy smooth. The chocolate had sweet milk chocolate and natural peach flavor. It was a satisfying sweet confection that allowed one to fantasize what Paris in spring might have been like this year.*

Note: This bar contained a whisp of brown sugar and vanilla. Unfortunately it also contained barley malt extract, meaning it was not gluten free.

*The last few days Paris temperatures have reached highs of approx. 68 F (20 C) degrees. It's been about 12 degrees warmer in the SF Bay Area and our fruit tree blossoms had largely fluttered to the ground by early April. (Rosy notions of spring aside, I like being active outdoors and hiking, so I'd be quite happy with 68 F any day.)

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Magnolia Peach - June 25, 2015

Source: SOMAChocolate.com

Chocolate of the Day: 

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Magnolia Peach
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 70 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $ N/A part of a larger box of chocolates
Purchased from: SOMA Chocolatemaker, Toronto, Canada

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Botanicals Theme Week.

I was intrigued the moment I stepped into SOMA Chocolatemaker's Distillery District location in Toronto several years ago. I must have spent 2 hours there, appreciating as much chocolate as I could, including a Douglas Fir truffle, which I loved, and other wonderful items at the bar/counter areas.

Recently, I've been experimenting with magnolia flower petals (and other flowers) in my yard, only recently realizing many of them were edible. The large, creamy white flower petals that occasionally flutter down from high up in the magnolia trees in my neighborhood are enjoyed for their floral aroma; but magnolias are also pickled and/or eaten by some in the U.S. I tried a peck of pickled petals, and they were a bit like sweet pickles infused with a light floral perfume. I hope to experiment more in the future with this lovely flower.

So, when I had an opportunity to order SOMA's seasonal Spring flavor -- Magnolia and Peach, I jumped at the chance. If you like botanicals, you'll appreciate this heavenly blend. The dark chocolate ganache (made with beans from Ecuador) was rich but just mellow enough not to mask the subtle magnolia flavor. And the natural, fresh peach flavor took me back to childhood memories of peach jam on buttered toast, devoured slowly near a sunny window.

Thank you to Sandy, Cynthia and others at SOMA for all their help with this order (that required and ice pack and dodging warm weather for the journey from Toronto to California); and for their ongoing creativity.

ChocolateBet: July 18, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Moderne
Peach Persimmon
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.)/ 2.5 oz. (70 g.) total set of 5 pieces
Calories: 75 cals. (estimate)
Cost: $15.95 (estimate)
Purchased from: Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #11 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

The Kimono Collection from Chocolat Moderne (New York, NY) was a box of five different, attractively stenciled, blossom-shaped, Japan-themed chocolates that I picked up during a recent trip into downtown San Francisco (from Fog City News).

The soft, almost caramel-like center of the Peach Persimmon piece that I selected for today contained very subtle hints of peach and persimmon fruit puree flavor. The dark chocolate shell tasted a bit waxy or reinforced -- as molded chocolates often are, to keep their shape.

My favorite chocolate of the five-piece set was the Soy - Miso chocolate. The salty/umami flavored ganache was a flavorful complement to the dark chocolate. I hope to include this flavor in a future post if it's still available.

ChocolateBet: July 13, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wild Ophelia
Southern Hibiscus Peach Milk Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 300 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.99 total bar
Purchased from: Cost Plus World Market, in Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

This summer afternoon was pretty close to ideal. I took a break and sipped peach iced tea and nibbled on a Southern Hibiscus Peach Milk Chocolate (44% cacao) gluten free bar, from Wild Ophelia (Chicago, IL). As I'm typing this, I'm looking outside at the branches and flowers swaying slightly out in the sun. Getting sleepy. Need to find a hammock.

ChocolateBet: July 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Dolfin Chocolat
"Fruity Escapade" - Apple, Peach and Apricot (60% dark chocolate)
(Limited Edition 2008)
Very Good - Dolfin bars have nice flavors - from start to finish
Wt: 30 grams (1.058 oz.)
Calories: 160 (estimate - info not listed/visible on label)
Cost: $2.39 (Canadian)
Purchased from: Le Cartet, in Montreal, Quebec

ChocolateBet: June 10, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
~ 1 oz./part of 1 bar
Niederegger Lubeck
Marzipan Peach Mango bar
~ 3.5 oz. (100 grams) total
Good - Very Good
$3.69
Purchased at: World Market, Mountain View, CA

Got to sleep in, then I drove up the coast to San Francisco. The scenery was beautiful, with caramel-orange colored cliffs jutting up out of turquoise surf.

Comments: Chocolate & wine can be better enjoyed when shared; I ate this chocolate with my sister and my dad at my parent's house in the evening.