Trader Joe's - Chili Lime, Chili Chocolate Collection - Feb. 15, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Chili Lime
Chili Chocolate Collection
Good++
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) total box of 16 pieces
Calories: 50 calories in 1 piece
Cost: $4.99 for 1 box of 16 pieces
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Alameda, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Chili Theme Week.

Today I'm featuring the last of four different chili-flavored chocolates from Trader Joe's Chili Chocolate Collection.* And the Chili Lime flavor may also have been my favorite.

This Chili Lime round was covered with dark chocolate and had a pleasant aroma with citrus fruit and caramel notes.


The product description read: "Dark chocolate with zesty lime oil play well with indulgent caramel flavored with hot chili."

True enough, although the heat was more pleasing and less searing than some other chili flavors in this assortment box. And I liked the authentic lime + chili + a hint of salt blend. There's nothing like a little zing to pep up an overcast, winter day.

Note: The chocolates in this collection contained glucose and likely a small trace of wheat.

The Xocolate Bar - The Make Out Bar - Feb. 14, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Xocolate Bar 

The Make Out Bar

Good+++

Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar

Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Happy Day #5 of Chocolate and Chili Theme Week, and a very Happy Valentines Day to all!

Valentines Day marks a big hearts and flowers (and chocolate) holiday in the U.S. May you enjoy this day and all that it brings. Every day is a great day to share chocolate with the loved ones in your life, but that's especially true on this day.

Today's featured chocolate was "The Make Out Bar," a 70% Cacao spicy, dark bar from The Xocolate Bar (Berkeley, CA). However, I found this bar in another Bay Area shop packed with goodness: SweetE Organic (Mill Valley, CA).

Although The Make Out Bar did have a hint of chili in it, most of the heat came from a mix of what the maker called "aphrodesiac spices" rather than hot pepper.*

The spice mix included: vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, maca and chile.

This Xocolate bar had an uplifting spice aroma and flavor—similar to that from a hot chai tea on a cold, rainy day, a smooth, spicy warmth.

Made with organic cacao, this bar was a great choice for Valentines Day.

*If you like spicy chocolate, The Xocolate Bar also makes a Cinnamon Chile chocolate bar and several confections with cardamom and other spices. 

Trader Joe's - Jalapeno Ganache - Chili Collection - Feb. 13, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Chili Chocolate Collection
Jalapeno Ganache (dark)
Good - Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) total box of 16
Calories: 50 calories in 1 piece
Cost: $4.99 for 1 box of 16 pieces
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Alameda, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Chilis Theme Week.

Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) came out with a 16-piece Chili Chocolate Collection this year that contained a mix of milk and dark disc-shaped chocolate rounds—each flavored with one of four different chilis.

Flavors sampled the last two days: the Milk Chocolate Guajillo and Milk Chocolate Habanero flavors.

Today's dark chocolate Jalapeno Ganache was decorated with images of green chili/chile peppers and had a silky soft chocolate center layer. The dark chocolate ganache was "paired with the piquant flavor jalapeno chili" and covered in dark chocolate.

Jalapeno peppers score 2,500 - 8,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units) on the Scoville scale.

Trader Joe's - Milk Chocolate Habanero; Chili Collection - Feb. 12, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Chili Chocolate Collection
Habanero Milk Chocolate
Good - Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) in total box of 16 pieces
Calories: 50 calories in 1 piece
Cost: $4.99 for 1 box of 16 pieces
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Alameda, CA

Bienvenidos (Welcome) to Day #3 of Chocolate and Chilis Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate Habanero round was part of a Chili Chocolate Collection* from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA).


Covered in milk chocolate (decorated with red peppers), the dark chocolate ganache (filling) had caramel overtones and a restrained amount of habanero chili/chile.

Habanero peppers rank relatively high—100,000 - 350,000 SHU (Scoville heat units)—on the Scoville scale used to measure spicy pepper heat. (Although there is one habanero (the Red Savina) that tops the charts at an impressive 350,000 - 580,000 SHU.)

*This collection or assortment of milk and dark chocolate discs were filled/infused with four different chili/chile flavor fillings.

Trader Joe's - Milk Chocolate Guajillo; Chili Collection - Feb. 11, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Chili Chocolate Collection
Milk Chocolate Guajillo
Good
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) in total package
Calories: 50 calories in 1 piece
Cost: $4.99 for 1 box of 16 pieces
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Alameda, CA

Buenos Dias mis amigos en chocolate. (Good day my friends in chocolate.) Today is Day #2 of Chocolate and Chili Theme Week.

For the next few days I'll be featuring different spicy milk and dark chocolate rounds from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) Chili Chocolate Collection (a 16 piece-assortment box with four different chili flavors).

Today's Milk Chocolate Guajillo round was what you might expect -- a sweet, classic milk chocolate flavor with an up-and-to-the right slow burn from the guajillo chili/chile.

The guajillo is a popular pepper in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, with a tangy, bright flavor and a fruity, medium heat; and it is rated 2,500 - 5,000 SHU* on the Scoville scale that measures spiciness.

*Scoville Heat Units

Lula's - Baja Chili Toffee - Feb. 10, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lula's Chocolates
(Lula Lund's Chocolates LLC)
Baja Chili Toffee
Good+++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. piece
Cost: $7.95 ?? (wild guess) - find receipt? for 1 package
Purchased from: Lula's, Carmel-by-the-Sea location, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Chocolate and Chili Theme Week! When well balanced, the blend of rich chocolatey, cacao (with fruity acid) with a hint of pepper (alkaline heat) can liven up and enhance flavors of both these plant-based staples...like yin and yang, or Bonnie and Clyde.


With luck, we can enjoy the seven chocolates for this week and avoid getting burned by the fiery tiny vegetable outlaw beasts, that can make grown men shudder in their boots: ghost pepper, guajillo, jalapeno, habanero, and chili pepper blends.

We start today's theme week in Carmel, the California coastal hamlet. Former mayors of Carmel include Western star (and successful director) Clint Eastwood. I can hear the outlaw music swelling.

I bought today's Baja Chili Toffee at a Lula's shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea (that was decorated for Valentines Day). Lula's is based in nearby Monterey, CA; and owner Scott Lund is their chief chocolatier and head honcho.

The packaging described today's toffee as "the wild child" of the company's toffee family.

Well, was it? Was it kid? Go ahead, and make my day...I'll admit it. My loopy courage was fueled by the fact that I have a cold. Chili can't really hurt me, because my taste buds are turned down a notch, right? I needn't have worried. This Baja Chili Toffee was very good, with only a few pockets of feisty heat. Not too spicy, and robustly flavorful.

The generous slab of buttery toffee, was coated with chocolate and roasted nuts and covered with chili powder the color of sunset. It was good, with a pleasant chili flavor and bite. One of the better toffees I've tasted.

My cold gave me chili eating super powers this week and may encourage me to fly too close to the sun. Well, it's time to say adios and to ride back to the ranch to rest up for tomorrow. But, before I do, I'll just take one more bite of this tasty toffee.

good & delish - Royal Orange bar - Feb. 9, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

good and delish
Distributed by Walgreen Co.
Royal Orange Premium German Dark Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 105 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Walgreens (El Camino), Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to the last day (Day #5) of Chocolate and Orange Series.

Today's bar was offered under the Good and Delish brand name.*

The Royal Orange Premium German Dark Chocolate bar, distributed by Walgreen Co. (Deerfield, IL), had an orange, almost floral, aroma.

And the orange-infused dark (57% cocoa) chocolate aroma, combined with chewy orange and almonds bits, made this a pleasant confection.

Very rainy weather kept me hunkered down in the chocolate bunker today. (My apologies for the dimly lit photo of this bar. It's much more cheery outside on a bright, sunny day.)

I was unable to find information about the source of the German chocolate in today's German-made bar. The company does offer other chocolate items with German (and Belgian) origins.

*Walgreen Co. is a corporation with more than 8,000 stores, and over 600 just in California in late 2016. Good and Delish (aka good (ampersand) delish) is a brand sold at Walgreens stores.