Ghirardelli - Cashew Crescendo Dark Chocolate bar - Feb. 8, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

Intense Dark - Cashew Crescendo bar

Good

Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 237.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar

Purchased from: CVS/Pharmacy

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

Today's Intense Dark - Cashew Crescendo bar from Ghirardelli Chocolate (San Leandro, CA) was a "blend of dark chocolate, roasted cashews and coarse crystals of sea salt...a combination of salty and crunchy."

Yes, that is a pretty good summary. I can't top that.

The dark chocolate bar* had a slight, roasted bittersweet, yet fairly uniform flavor.

Take a bite and you'll see several pieces of cashew; however, as is often the case with this tropical nut, the mild cashew flavor was all but eclipsed by the chocolate.

*Ingredients: sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cashews, cocoa butter, milk fat, sea salt, soy lecithin, vanilla

Arete - The Halston Block - Dark Milk Chocolate Piedmont Gianduia Bar - Feb. 7, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Arete Fine Chocolate

The Halston Block - Dark Milk Chocolate Piedmont Gianduia Bar

Good +++ - Very Good

Weight: 2.25 oz. (62.5 g.) / 4.5 oz. (125 g.) in total bar

Calories: 337 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $25.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

Today's "The Halston Block - Dark Milk Chocolate Piedmont Gianduia Bar" was crafted by Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA*).

Was it worth paying $5.55 USD per ounce (20 cents per gram) for a high-end, well-crafted chocolate bar with Piedmont hazelnuts? Short answer: yes, it was.

The word "Arete" means excellence, and a striving for high ideals. David and Leslie Senk are making chocolate from scratch with exacting standards, and have won awards for their gianduia chocolate and single origin bars.

Today's relatively heavy, ingot-shaped bar was swaddled in a gold foil inner wrapper, and had a rich, dark chocolate aroma with dried fruit notes.

Best served sliced, each piece or bite, had a smooth dark milk coating and had a smooth dense interior with flecks of hazelnut.

This bar had a satisfying melt and a flavorful dark milk chocolate base, balanced with high-quality hazelnut flavor. 

*Arete Fine Chocolate is in the process of moving their chocolate making operation from California to Tennessee (end of April 2018). The Halston Block (building) bar name is related to the name of their new location. Their bars will continue to be available online and in special chocolate places like The Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto, CA.

** An ingot is a pure material, usually a valuable metal, cast into a bar or brick shape.

Chobani flip - Almond Coco Loco - Feb. 6, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chobani, LLC

Chobani Flip - Almond Coco Loco

Good

Weight: 5.3 oz. (150 g.) in total container

Calories: 230 calories in 1 container

Cost: $0.69 for 1 container

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's  Chobani flip* Almond Coco Loco Greek yogurt was from Chobani, LLC (New Berlin, NY).

Coconut low-fat (1.5 % milkfat) Greek yogurt was paired with pieces of honey roasted salted almonds and dark chocolate.

This coconut yogurt was not quite as sweet as its caramel yogurt and peanut milk chocolate sibling (featured yesterday). I liked today's blend of coconut, almonds and dark chocolate a bit better than the peanut caramel and milk chocolate.

This Greek coconut yogurt, like its caramel sibling, was less tangy (than conventional, non-Greek style yogurt)—allowing the flavors to harmonize more smoothly. (Overly tangy yogurt pulls me out of the tasting experience.)

*The flip in the Chobani flip name referred to the bending and flipping over of a smaller compartment (of milk chocolate and peanut pieces) into a larger yogurt compartment. The peanuts likely stay crunchier this way.

Chobani flip - Peanut Caramel Satisfaction - Feb. 5, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chobani, LLC

Chobani Flip - Peanut Caramel Satisfaction

Good

Weight: 5.3 oz. (150 g.) in total container

Calories: 200 calories in 1 container

Cost: $0.69 for 1 container

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

This week we have two more yogurt with chocolate entries, starting with today's Chobani flip* Peanut Caramel Satisfaction Greek yogurt from Chobani LLC (New Berlin, NY).


Caramel low-fat (1.5 % milkfat) Greek yogurt was paired with roasted peanuts, milk chocolate and "chewy caramel bits."

Ole! Was this the milk chocolate and caramel candy of the yogurt world? Fortunately not. It was sweet, but not that sweet.

And, it was less tangy (than conventional, non-Greek style yogurt)—allowing this yogurt to harmonize more smoothly with the other flavors/inclusions.

*The flip in the Chobani flip name referred to the bending and flipping over of a smaller compartment (of milk chocolate and peanut pieces) into a larger yogurt compartment. The peanuts likely stay crunchier this way.

Nature Delivered - Graze Deconstructed Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cookie - Feb. 4, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Nature Distributed Inc.

Graze - Deconstructed Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cookie 

Good

Weight: 1.3 oz. (38 g.) (per label) in total package

Calories: 210 calories in 1 package

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's Graze Deconstructed Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cookie offering from Nature Delivered Inc. (Jersey City, NJ) was an interesting snack mix. 

It contained a fair amount of salt and sugar (present in most snacks). For this reason, I hesitate calling this a healthy snack mix. 

The mix included baked salted peanuts, Belgian milk chocolate buttons; salted caramel pieces, chocolate cookie pieces and pumpkin seeds; and it was free of gluten-containing ingredients.

Theo Chocolate - Coconut Salted Almond - Coconut Bites - Feb. 3, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Theo Chocolate
Coconut Salted Almond - coconut bites
Good
Weight: 1.3 oz. (36 g.) in total package
Calories: 200 calories in 1 package of 2 pieces
Cost: $1.66 for 1 package (3 for $5.00)
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

Coconut, almond and chocolate blends have been staples in the chocolate candy bar world for decades. We grew up with Almond Joy* candy bars.

Today's Coconut Salted Almond Coconut Bites from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA) might be considered an updated, dark chocolate version of that bar.

Made with organic and fair trade** ingredients, this palm free and soy free, 2-piece bar had a slightly chewy, sweet (Non-GMO corn syrup, cane sugar) shredded coconut filling, but the dark chocolate and almond bits (and a faint hint of salt) helped balance the sweetness.

*The Almond Joy candy bar, packaged as two pieces had a coconut filling, topped with almonds and covered by milk chocolate. This bar was introduced after World War II (after ingredient shortages abated) by the Peter Paul Manufacturing Co., which later become part of Schweppes-Cadbury. And, skipping over some history here, the Almond Joy brand eventually became part of The Hershey Company. 

**Contained 57% Fair Trade Ingredients

Natures Warehouse - Nutwit bar - Feb. 2, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Natures Warehouse
Nutwit bar
Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56.7 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 270 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $0.69 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.

Chocolate pairs well with all kinds of nuts and nut-like legumes (such as peanuts). Today's

Nutwit organic and gluten free chocolate candy bar was from Natures Warehouse. And it was full of peanuts. The relatively thick, sweet milk chocolate shell, adorned with a sunburst pattern on one side, was filled with flowing caramel, peanuts and peanut butter nougat.

This bar was  bit sweet too sweet for some of our tasters, but it did have a much simpler and presumably better** ingredient list than many candy bars.

**Gluten free and organic are "better" here at Chocolate Banquet--as are shorter ingredient lists with fewer artificial and processed ingredients.