ChocolateBet: October 9, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
ethel's chocolate (Mars)
"Sweet Rose"
Very Good + - this has a nice authentic rose flavor (& the amount of flavoring was just about right for me - not too weak, not too strong)
Wt.: ~ .5 oz. piece
Calories: ~ 75 calories
Cost: $0 - free sample in store
Purchased from: ethel's chocolate lounge/store in the C concourse of the Las Vegas Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV

This rose-flavored chocolate is part of ethel's relatively new tea-flavored chocolate series; I look forward to trying more from this collection in the future. The ethel's brand was created by Forrest Mars, and ethel's chocolates lounges/stores can be found in Las Vegas and Chicago.
www.ethelschocolate.com

ChocolateBet: October 8, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 oz.; 1/2 bar
E. Guittard
"Quetzalcoatl" (72% cacao - bar)
Very Good - tasted fairly light and sweet for such a dark bar
Wt.: 1 oz. (28.3 grams)/ 2 oz. (56.7 grams) in total bar
Calories: 135 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99
Purchased from: Z. Cioccolato, in North Beach area of San Francisco, CA

This bar warmed up a bit sitting in the sun before I ate it. At some point, I'll have to do a side-by-side taste test where I eat different pieces of the same chocolate, at different temperatures.

In the past, I've noticed that other dark chocolates can have a hard waxy taste; and sometimes they benefit from a few minutes in the sun...But, you have to be careful you don't end up with fondue.

ChocolateBet: October 7, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

2 servings; 2 ounces
Living Intentions
Gone Nuts! - Raw Cacao Almonds and Raisins
("Raw, not roasted; air-dried")
Good - Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56 grams)/4 oz. (113 grams) in total package
Calories: 206 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $? (need to find receipt)
Purchased from: Piazza's in Palo Alto, CA (need to double-check this)

Raw chocolate. It's getting better. These Gone Nuts! Raw Cacao Almonds and Raisins from Living Intentions (SF/Richmond, CA) kind of grew on me; they tasted better as I ate more of them. These were also vegan, gluten-free, with no GMOs or trans fats.

ChocolateBet: October 6, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

2 srvgs. (1 cup)
ConAgra Foods
Poppycock - Peanut Butter and Chocolate
Very Good
Wt.: 60 grams in 1 cup/ 8.5 oz. (240 grams) in total package
Calories: ~ 280 in 2 servings (1 cup)
Cost: $? (need to find receipt)
Purchased from: ? (need to find receipt)

Poppycock indeed. These peanut butter glazed popcorn clusters were drizzled with milk chocolate; and they were somewhat addictive the same way that so many other sweet and salty snacks are. The nutty flavor only increased the appeal.

Scharffen Berger - Antilles dark bar - October 5, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

Scharffen Berger*
"Antilles" (dark) ("Limited Series No. 9: Trinidad, Grenada, The Dominican Republic and Coastal Venezuela"); 75% cacao
Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (~42 g.) in 1/2 bar/3 oz. (85 grams) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ 6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Scharffen Berger, in Berkeley, CA

Scharffen Berger makes dark chocolate worth eating slowly. While the flavors in this bar aren't as varied and complex as some others I remember tasting, it is uniformly good, smooth dark chocolate. These Scharffen Berger bars are just thin enough that I could really taste the flavors in a piece broken off and put in my mouth -- greater surface to mass ratio, and all that stuff.

The wrappers are printed on nice papers and, as shown (in scanned image above right), the "title" of the bar is printed on the edge of the wrapper, so that you may stack these together as you might books on a shelf - or tie a ribbon around a nice bundle of these and give them to someone (or yourself). I think this appeals to those who still enjoy books.

*Scharffen Berger is a division of Artisan Confections Company, which is part of Hershey's.

ChocolateBet: October 4, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

3 oz. bar
Scharffen Berger
Milk Almond ("Sea Salted Almonds and Milk Chocolate") bar
Very Good+
Calories: 420 calories for 1 bar
Cost: $ 5.00
Purchased from: Scharffen Berger, in Berkeley, CA

I prefer dark chocolate, but this was good milk chocolate. This 41% cacao Scharffen Berger Milk Almond bar had a very nice caramelized flavor.

I've been told that, legally, a chocolate product can be called "dark" if it contains over 35-36 percent cacao solids. High-end chocolate makers tend to include more/higher quality solids and to take steps in the manufacturing process that makes -- well, let's just cut to the chase -- their milk chocolate taste a lot better! In fact, I started out eating just part of this bar, and then...What do you know, it's all gone.

ChocolateBet: October 3, 2008

Chocolate of the Day
1 oz.
Scharffen Berger
Finisterra ("they go to the ends (finis) of the earth (terra) to get the best for you")
10th Anniversary Limited Series Blend (bar)
"Dark chocolate featuring cacao from Venezuela, Trinidad & Madagascar"
Very Good + - a nice dark blend
Wt.: 1 oz. (28.3 g.)/3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: ~ 134 calories
Cost: $6.50 in total bar
Purchased from: Scharffen Berger, in Berkeley, CA

Buying any food closer to its source increases the odds you'll get to see and hear where it came from. We do like our stories. Scharffen Berger (which was bought by Hershey's a few years ago) is a Berkeley, CA, (San Francisco Bay Area) chocolate maker. You may not get the chance to visit a cacao plantation in your lifetime, but if you sign up for the Scharffen Berger tour, you'll get to hear a great story about their chocolate (and you'll at least see nice color pictures of cocao plantations and pods). The title "chocolate maker" means the company is involved with making chocolate from the cocoa pod stage to the finished product stage.

On the tour, after you hear the story of chocolate and see and taste roasted cocoa nibs and samples of final product, you'll get to walk through their factory, peer into (from a safe distance) vats of chocolate, and watch little dark chocolate bars being poured into molds and shaken slightly (to get the air bubbles out).

Our tour of the Scharffen Berger plant was followed by a chocolate shopping spree in the gift store - which offers a full range of their products and a few other items (e.g. a chocolate-themed book and/or music CD, cocoa/chocolate drink machine, etc.). The tour is free, but bring your wallet if you want to pick up something on the way out.