Post-Halloween Chocolate Tasting
After we finished our leftover Halloween candy, we needed to turn to something a little higher quality. Again, looking down the line towards the holidays, we wanted to test out some chocolates that are better gifts than Hershey’s.
We started with the local guys- the San Francisco Chocolate Company- which offer interesting gourmet chocolate drops, intended for pairing with wine, coffee, or tea. With names like Tea Lover’s Chocolates, and available in bars and with varied cocoa contents from 30%-72%, we had high hopes. We focused on the dark chocolate, and tried each of the chocolates with their appropriate beverage: white chocolate for green tea, dark chocolate (72%) with Zinfandel, a dark roast Italian coffee with a similarly dark (72%) chocolate. But unfortunately, we were disappointed in every one of these- the chocolate itself seemed pretty low-quality and a little old, there was no snap to the drops, and the flavor of each was indistinct and didn’t appear to really help bring out anything from the beverages. Bottom line: not bad, nothing special, but decently priced at $6 per package.
Moving on up the spectrum, we next tried Taza Chocolates, who offers specialty stone ground, organic products. One of the few places we’ve seen that actually offers nibs and beans, they also list where the beans are from, don’t use lecithin or low-quality vanilla. Best of all, the prices are still totally reasonable- $6.50 for their 3oz bar of 70% dark chocolate for example- which nicely balanced quality and quantity. These are chocolates that are easy to enjoy AND savor, and quickly became favorites among tasters. Try the Mexican Chocolate Ibarra disk, for a quick and amazing cinnamon hot chocolate.
Finally, we couldn’t resist moving away from pure chocolates, and toward gifts that you can give to those relatives who might not appreciate pure organic bars of dark chocolate. Joseph Schmidt has a truffle for pretty much anyone- and these are large, beautiful pieces of art, easily shareable, and with strong flavors like sea salt caramel, pomegranate, and Irish cream. The peanut butter & jelly truffles are a particular favorite, and with an average price around $3 each, these are a great holiday gift option. Smaller truffles are available of course (at half the price), and box sizes range from a three-pack to special holiday packages of 18. Delicious, reasonably-priced, and with plenty of interesting flavors, Joseph Schmidt’s confections will please just about any chocolate-lover or relative who just enjoys chocolate.
