ChocolateBet: July 12, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Coracao Confections
Superberry/Acai Cup
Very Good
Weight: ~1.0 oz. (28.3 grams) for two pieces
Calories: ~ 145 calories
Cost: ~$3.98 for two pieces
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

These were very satisfying. And, from the description, it sounds like Coracao chocolates are healthier than your average chocolates as well.

I've included two images of this chocolate: one from the Coracao Confections web site, and the second is a scanned image of the cup (placed "face" down on the scanner bed). The actual pink topping color was somewhere in between these two images.

ChocolateBet: July 11, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

2 pieces
Reese's
Reese's Select Clusters
OK + - Good
Weight: .5 oz. (15 grams) x 2 = 1.0 oz. (29 g.) for 2
Calories: 146 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces/clusters
Cost: $4.79 for total package (sale)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

These individually-wrapped clusters maintained much of the classic Reese's peanut butter cup flavors; they were made from peanuts, pecans, peanut butter, caramel, and were "wrapped in milk chocolate."

I ate these clusters with some chocolate ice cream and nuts; and later in the day, I read an article by Stephanie Sandoval (ABC Arizona website*), reminding readers that July is National Ice Cream month (established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan). Her piece also included a chocolate and nut ice cream recipe that happened to look a lot like what I just ate earlier today. Hard to beat the combination of chocolate, nuts and ice cream.

*Postscript: link removed; article no longer available

ChocolateBet: July 10, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Trail's End Company/Weaver Popcorn Co.
Chocolatey Caramel Crunch (chocolate-coated caramel popcorn)
Good +
Weight: ~ 2 oz. (56.6 grams)
Calories: ~ 250 calories (estimate)
Cost: $? (could have been a gift)
Purchased from: (was part of a popcorn gift tin); not sure where this came from

I am embarrassed to say that this round gift tin, packed with three different types of popcorn, dates back to a Christmas past. Fortunately, all three types of popcorn were nicely sealed in their own pouches, and this chocolate-coated popcorn still tasted reasonably fresh. Trail's End is part of Weaver Popcorn, a large U.S. manufacturer of popcorn. (In fact, according to Weaver Popcorn's website, they produce 30% of all popcorn sold.)

ChocolateBet: July 9, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Brehmer's Handmade Candies
Dark Chocolate Coffee
Good + - Very Good
Weight: ~ .5 oz. (14.2 grams) (estim.)
Calories: ~ 75 calories (estim.)
Cost: ~ $1.62 (estim.)
Purchased from: Confetti, le chocolatier, in San Francisco, CA

Very pretty to look at, I felt like this flower-shaped chocolate could have been lifted from the top of a fancy cupcake. Note: the scanned image shown here is a bit washed out, i.e. it doesn't quite do the colors justice.

ChocolateBet: July 8, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 small taste piece
Escazu Artisan Chocolates
Single-Origin Dark Chocolate with Pumpkin Seeds & Guajillo Chili (bar)
74% cocoa
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: ~.15 oz. (4.245 g.) in one taste-sized piece
Calories: ~ 22.5 calories in small taste-sized piece
Cost: $0 (free sample)
Purchased from: (Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA)

Two new firsts today: 1.) I finally made it to Fog City News. (That previous time I arrived there after closing time does not count, although I did discover a great toy store on that dry-run trip.) 2.) I had the opportunity to taste chocolate from a "new" vendor: Escazu Artisan Chocolates, from North Carolina. (Thank you to Fog City for the introduction.) I liked the fact that I could taste the pumpkin seeds in this dark bar; the seeds were still a little crispy, and weren't just little mushy bits.

ChocolateBet: July 7, 2009

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) 1/2 container
Whole Foods
Vegan Chocolate Mousse (with tofu)
Very Good +
Weight: 4.88 oz. (138 g.)/Net Wt. 0.61 lb. total container
Calories: 150 calories (guess) for 1/2 container
Cost: $3.65 for total container
Purchase from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA
Surprisingly good I might add.

2.) 1 bar
Snickers with yellow nougat inside
("Transformers" Bits and Bytes - 4 of 4)
Very Good
Weight: 1.83 oz. (51.9 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $0.62 for 1 bar (sale)
Purchased from: Walgreens, in Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: July 6, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Cowgirl Chocolates
Spicy Dark Orange Espresso Chocolate Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 grams) in 1 bar
Calories: 179 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.00
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

This Spicy Dark bar from Cowgirl Chocolates (Moscow, ID) was good, but a bit sweet for me. Maybe the sugar was meant to help appease those who might be intimidated by bitter and spicy flavors in this bar. I thought the robust blend of dark chocolate, cayenne pepper, orange and espresso were just fine.