ChocolateBet: February 3, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving (3 pieces)
(The) Cocoa Deli (a Kinnerton Confectionary brand)
Rocky Road Clusters
Good - Very Good
Weight: 40 grams in 1 serving (total container is 8.5 oz. (240 g.)
Calories: 180 in one (3-pc) serving
$6.99 for 1 whole container
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

Today's blend of Belgian milk chocolate, marshmallows, raisins and caramelized hazelnut bits from Cocoa Deli (London, UK), was definitely rocky road inspired. And I love tasting different variations on this theme.

My favorite rocky road chocolates have big chunks of nuts. I love the contrast between the sweet, soft marshmallows and crunchy nuts that balance out the sweetness.

So I found myself imagining a version of these rocky road clusters with dark chocolate, and more nuts. But then, my preference is for dark chocolate and nuts in almost any confection. 

ChocolateBet: February 2, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Dreyer's
Mocha Almond Fudge
Good - Very Good - enjoyed as part of a birthday celebration
Wt: ~ 1/2 cup (out of a 1/2 gallon size container)
Calories: 160
$?
Purchased from: Piazzas, Palo Alto, CA

ChocolateBet: February 1, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 wedge
The Chocolate Traveler
Tiramisu Dark Chocolate Wedges
Good - The combination of natural and artificial flavors used to achieve the tiramisu flavoring was a little overpowering.
Wt: .21 oz/(6.25 g) out of a total of 1.75 oz. (50 g) in 8-pc round tin/container
Calories: 30 calories in one wedge/pc.
$4.95 (hand-written price tag either reads $4.95 or $4.75 - I think it's $4.95.)
Purchased from: a store in San Diego, CA, near the water - north of the Convention Center last year.

Cute concept and packaging (round tin with images of travelers in Italy). I like chocolate and I like to travel, so why not? So, I remember buying a few different flavors of these chocolates. However, I don't remember the other flavor (that I tasted previously, last year) having an artificial flavor issue.

ChocolateBet: January 31, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

~ 2 pieces
Ghirardelli Chocolate
Intense Dark Series - Twilight Delight - 72% cacao
Very Good
Weight: ~.9 oz? (~26? g) / 3.5 oz. (100 g) total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) / 500 calories total bar
Cost: $ 2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

This bar is similar to the Ghirardelli 86% cacao bar I tasted yesterday. Both were part of Ghirardelli's Intense Dark series of bars, and were good.

I think I like the 86% dark bar a bit better, but this higher cacao content version might be a little too bitter for some.

ChocolateBet: January 30, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Ghirardelli
Intense Dark Series - Midnight Reverie - 86% cacao (very high percent for mass commercial brands)
Very Good - This bar is bittersweet, but that's fine with me.
Wt.: ~ .509 oz. (~11.25 g.) (out of 3.17 oz., or 90 grams, total bar)
Calories: ~ 79 calories
$ 0 (shared with a colleague)
Purchased from: I did not purchase. (Colleague purchased from Fry's Electronics store in Sunnvale, CA.)
Note: Fry's is a popular chain for those of us in the technology industry in Silicon Valley. Fry's stores also have a long narrow aisle that all customers are funneled through, before they're directed to one of a long line of cashiers. This aisle is stocked with various candy, chocolate, chips, and other impulse-buy items. It's a good place to do a quick scan for new/different chocolate brands.

ChocolateBet: January 29, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving/bar
CocoaVia
Original Chocolate Bars (box of 5 individually wrapped servings)
Very Good - dark chocolate
Weight: 0.78 oz. (22.1 g) per bar; 3.90 oz. (110.5 g) total for whole box/5 servings
Calories: 100 calories for 1 bar
$?
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

The CocoaVia line is marketed as being heart healthy. Text on the box states that the company uses a process that helps retain flavanols. They also add extra calcium.

Both these claims seem to address recent health-related topics that have come up in the press in the last few months: 1) the claim by some that many manufacturers use processes that result in the loss of flavanols in many chocolates, and 2) the findings that too much chocolate may result in weaker bones, created in part by acidic compounds that are found in chocolate (and other foods) that can block/slow absorption of calcium.

Perhaps equally important to encouraging healthy chocolate eating, these tasted good.

Chocolate News: Jan. 28, 2008 - Weaker bones?

Does Chocolate Cause Weaker Bones?

A recent Australian study followed 1,001 older women who ate chocolate regularly and found they had weaker bones. The study, which has been getting some press in the past week, points to a potential downside of eating chocolate daily - weaker bones. Many women are already concerned that losing bone mass as they age may lead to a higher incidence in fractures. Apparently oxalate/oxylate, an acid found in chocolate (and found in some other foods we eat as well), interferes with the body's ability to retain calcium. And sugar added to chocolates (which is one of several substances in our modern diet that is linked to excretion of calcium) probably doesn't help matters.

While researchers continue to confirm findings that chocolate is heart-healthy, this is the second piece of "mixed news" about chocolate in as many months. The British journal, Lancet, (last month, in December 2007) noted that many chocolate manufacturers remove some of the antioxidants, and health benefits, when they remove flavanols from chocolate. Presumably this is done to give chocolate a less bitter taste.

For more information, search for stories, such as "Chocolate linked to weak bones" (Indo-Asian News Service story posted from Perth - on 1/25/2008, and updated on 1/26/2008), and related stories that ran in the Daily Mail.

Check also, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/1/175