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.

ChocolateBet: July 5, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece/disc
ChocolateSmith
Rosemary Marcona Almond disc/disk
Very Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25.2 grams)
Calories: ~
Cost: $2.00
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

Nice blend of flavors, nice finish. 

ChocolateBet: July 4, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Jade Chocolates
Mahal (bar) indonesian cinnamon, ylang ylang, coconut
OK + - Good
Weight: 1 oz. (29 grams)/2 oz. (58 grams) total
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.50 for total bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

I enjoy floral flavors; so I was surprised that I wasn't gaga over my first taste of this Mahal bar from Jade Chocolates (San Francisco, CA) with cinnamon, ylang ylang and coconut. I'm not sure why. There was a lot of fun and exciting things going on in the exotic flavor department here.

Odd how when you eat chocolate (or wine or other foods) -- and with what -- really does make a difference. (I ate the rest of this bar a few days later, and liked it quite a bit more.)