ChocolateBet: August 29, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Schoggi
Noisetta - milk chocolate, hazelnut w/ chopped hazelnuts
Very Good - very good for milk chocolate; I liked the crunchy hazelnut pieces
Wt.: ~.5 oz.
Calories: ~ 75 calories
Cost: ~$2.13 (approx.) Individual chocolates are weighed, and priced at $68.00/lb.
Purchased from: Schoggi store in San Francisco, CA (image of store, above right)

Oh dear. I bought a little box of Schoggi chocolates, and intended to eat just one piece today. Poof. The rest are gone. I'll have to buy more. This happens sometimes.

These chocolates are imported from Switzerland. The Schoggi ad (see image with cow - above) says the reason why their milk chocolates are so good is...the cream. OK, I'll buy it. It's definitely better than most milk chocolate I've tasted in the U.S.

ChocolateBet: August 28, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving (1.4 oz.)
Sconza Candy Company
Chocolate Toffee Pistachios ("roasted pistachios covered in rich toffee & milk chocolate")
Very Good - nice combination of chocolate, toffee, pistachio nuts
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) serving; 5 oz. (141 g.) in total package
Calories: 210 calories in 1 (1.4 oz.) serving
Cost: $5.99 for total package
Purchased from: a shop in the Portland Airport (PDX), in Portland, OR

This tasty combination of chocolate, toffee and crunchy pistachio nuts was, I think, the last chocolate from my Portland day trip (made on a Saturday earlier this month).

I always get a kick out of hurriedly buying some chocolate in an airport right before boarding a plane, thinking it is from that town/state where the airport is based -- and then finding out the chocolate is made in my own backyard.

In this case, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area (where I live) are quite close together, so I wasn't as surprised to find that Sconza Candy Company was based in Oakland, CA. (Part of the package label is shown above right.) I'll have to find out where else I can find Sconza chocolates/candy closer to home.

ChocolateBet: August 27, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:
4 pieces
Columbia Empire Farms
Dark Chocolate Hazelnuts
Very Good
Wt.: (~17.7 g. in 4 pcs.); 4 oz. (113 g.) in total pkg.
Calories: ~ 102 calories in 4 pcs.
Cost: $4.95/ttl pkg.
Purchased from: One of the airport gift shops at PDX, in Portland, OR

ChocolateBet: August 26, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Godiva
Dark Chocolate Almond Bark
Very Good
Wt: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $ ?
Purchased from: Godiva Chocolatier, in Portland, OR

It's hard to determine the exact price of each chocolate when you buy several "in bulk." Higher-end chocolatiers are charging roughly $20.00 - $70.00 per pound ($1.25 - $4.37 per ounce) of chocolate these days. (Should I be investing in some fair trade cocoa farm somewhere?)

If I am saving money by buying fewer coffee lattes and bottles of water, does this savings help justify my daily chocolate habit? Only my savings account (or the lack thereof) knows for sure...

And now, I will donate $50 to the Second Harvest Food Bank, after feeling guilty for even having this conversation with myself.

ChocolateBet: August 25, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Godiva
Open Oyster - hazelnut filling between two milk chocolate shells
Very Good
Weight: .6 oz. (estimate)
Calories: 90 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.76 - $2.34? (estim.) Individual Godiva chocolates go for approx. $44.00/pound in store near where I live in SF Bay Area. (Total purchase of was $7.04; I can't remember how many (3-4?.)
Purchased from: Godiva Chocolatier, in Portland, OR

This Open Oyster from Godiva was a bit sweet, but very nice for milk chocolate. The hazelnut filling inside this chocolate oyster shell helped round out/balance the sweetness.

ChocolateBet: August 24, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Godiva Chocolatier
Mango (seasonal?)
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: The cost for this chocolate was/is either ~$1.76 or ~$2.34 - (depending on whether I bought 3 or 4 bulk chocs/truffles; the total for a small bag (pictured above) of individual chocolates that I bought was $7.04.)
Purchased from: Godiva Chocolatier (shop), in Portland, OR

This Mango chocolate from Godiva Chocolatier was good, but a bit too sweet for me. (To be fair I bought this chocolate a few weeks ago, which may have diminished its flavor a bit.)

Moonstruck Chocolatier - Grenada Truffle - August 23, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Moonstruck Chocolatier
Grenada Truffle
Very Good + - very nice chocolate ganache center
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $2.00 (estimate)
Purchased by: Moonstruck Chocolatier, in Portland, OR