ChocolateBet: November 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 tall size serving
Starbucks Coffee Company
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
Very Good +; nice flavors
Wt.: ~ 12 fluid oz. in tall size cup
Calories: ~ 420 calories (acc. to Starbucks web site)
Cost: $3.25
Purchased from: Starbucks Coffee in San Jose, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of hot chocolate week. Fortunately, Starbucks has three new Signature hot chocolate flavors this fall; these are apparently made with a mixture of four cocoas. This salted caramel flavor was quite good.

ChocolateBet: November 20, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
2 packets
Flavia
"Choco" hot chocolate
Good - Good +
Wt.: ~ 8 oz.
Calories: 200 (estim)?
Cost: $0
Purchased from: N/A - AMD/company break room

Day #3 of hot chocolate week. The weather is getting cooler. Tried cocoa from a relatively new dispenser system in break room.

ChocolateBet: November 19, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

~ 1 serving
Chuao Chocolatier
Hot Chocolate - Spicy Maya (hot chocolate mix)
Very Good; tastes chocolate-y with a slight spicy/peppery aftertaste
Weight: ~ 5 oz. serving/12 oz. (340 g) in total container/tin
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 5 oz. serving I had
Cost: $18.50 for entire tin/container
Purchased from: Coupa Cafe, in downtown Palo Alto, CA

Day #2 of hot chocolate week on the blog. There are lots of hot chocolate options out there these days. It may take me more than a week, or 7 days, to sample them all.

I paid more attention to proportions of water and chocolate mix today, with (no surprise) better results. Yesterday's flavor was probably less sweet than it should have been due to slightly more hot water than the directions called for. When it comes to food preparation/cooking, I am the first to admit that I have a hard time following directions. I'm always thinking of a possible improvisation. So, lo siento mucho abuelita de ayer.

ChocolateBet: November 18, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

~ 1 serving
Chuao Chocolatier
Hot Chocolate - Abuela (hot chocolate mix)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: ~ .7 oz. /12 oz. (340 grams) mix in total container
Calories: 200 calories (estimate) includes ~ 1/4 cup milk
Cost: $18.50 for a whole container (yipes!)
Purchased from: Coupa Cafe, in downtown Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to the first day of Hot Chocolate Week! We had an unusually warm, sunny spell in the past several days in California. So, I waited until today (Tuesday), when it felt more like November, to start this Hot Chocolate Theme Week. I may even extend the theme week beyond 7 days - depending on how many variations on hot chocolate I can find.

This Abuela mix from Chuao Chocolatier (Carlsbad, CA) contains cacao from Venezuela, and tastes very nice even right out of the tin -- sprinkled over ice cream, pudding or other dessert.

The initial taste of hot chocolate I made with hot water was good. Then I found I wanted to make slight tweaks to this first cup, in two different directions: more sweet, and less sweet. This was due to watering down the mix too much.

I'd like to make this hot chocolate again with some coconut milk, or something sweet (marshmallows and/or cinnamon). I drank this with a few pieces of candy corn from Halloween, and that worked. In the direction of "less sweet," the addition of the milk made it less sugary sweet, and richer tasting.

ChocolateBet: November 17, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

~ 1.5 oz.
Lula's chocolates
Dark Aloha Rocky Road
Very Good
Weight: ~ 1.5 oz./ 4 oz. (113 g.) in total package
Calories: ~ 210 calories in ~1.5 oz. piece
Cost: $6.95 for total package
Purchased from: The Cliff House Gift Shop, in San Francisco, CA

Lula Lund's Chocolates, LLC (based in Monterey, CA) made these generous single serving packages of dark rocky road chocolate - chock full of house-made, fresh marshmallows (yes, this did make a difference), and roasted macadamia nuts. This latter ingredient added some "Aloha" to this confection. 

ChocolateBet: November 16, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 brownie
Edna's
Vegan gluten-free chocolate brownie
Very Good + - this is very good for gluten-free
Wt.: ~ 3 oz. (estim.)
Calories: ~ 180 calories (estimate)
Cost: $0 (free sample)
Purchased from: Edna's booth at the Mountain View farmer's market, in downtown Mountain View, CA

Thank you to Mary Posey (Edna's founder & triathlete) for the brownie sample at the farmer's market. It's great to know that there are some very tasty gluten-free, chocolate-containing treats right down the road. This brownie was nice and moist, and was enjoyed on a hike in San Francisco today out by the beach. I look forward to trying the chocolate and chocolate chip macaroons in Edna's line in the future.

Note: these brownies aren't in stores yet, but, if you are in the S.F. Bay Area, you may want to contact Edna's (www.ednasuccess.com) for more information how you might pick some of these up at a farmers market near you.

ChocolateBet: November 15, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces
Laura Secord
1.) extreme dark - 70% cocoa - Good+ (a bit brittle/chalky, but good)
2.) premium dark chocolate - Good
Weight: 10 grams x 2 = 20 grams total, for 1 each of both flavors above
Calories: ~ 100 calories for 2 pcs.
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Laura Secord shop, in Toronto, ON, Canada