Eclectica

Askinosie Chocolate

2011-02-09T15:58:00.000-06:00

itty Bar ™

70% San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador

First off, I really like the fact they have the varietal on the packaging. That really helps to learn the tastes. This particular one has a bitter, smooth taste with green back notes - almost coffee-like. Not woody or vanilla at all. Very smooth finish; melted well on the tongue. Not grainy.

I have another small bar, of a different varietal, that I'll review later (I don't want to confuse my palate).

I'm honestly not sure if I'd get this in a larger bar again. While it's good, and clearly very well crafted, it's a little more bitter than I like. If you're looking for a chocolate that's all chocolate and none of the sweet stuff, though, I think this might be something for you to try.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T15:11:00.000-06:00

Happy 2011! May the new year bring you joy and all the eclectic prosperity you desire, from home and hearth to work in the world. Here's to lovely chocolate, new adventures, peace and harmony.

Happy New Year!

Swiss Delice - This Time, Milk

2010-09-20T06:00:00.001-05:00

I reviewed Swiss Delice dark chocolate earlier this year, but I had the opportunity to try their milk chocolate. One of the enticements was the fact they put the cocoa mass on the wrapper, even though it's milk chocolate - something I don't often see in the chocolates here in the U.S.

Stats:
Milk
32% Cocoa Mass

I liked this one. It had the darker elements I prefer in my chocolate, a hint of bitter to the sweet, and was certainly a darker milk than what Americans would probably think of as milk chocolate. It tasted, for lack of a better description, "gourmet." I liked the back note of hazelnut and vanilla, as well. Though I don't care for milk, I would get this one again particularly for friends who like milk.

Monbana Chocolatier

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Another offering from our fellow chocoholics in France: Monbana Chocolatier.

Stats:
Dark
70% Cocoa mass
With cocoa bean inclusions

I'm not usually a fan of ground up cocoa beans in my chocolate. I prefer a smoother texture. But I liked this particular sample because the smoothness of the chocolate outweighed any gritty effect that the beans might have lent to it.

I would try this one again.

Vosges Haut Chocolat

2010-09-07T06:41:00.000-05:00

I've had the opportunity to try Vosges (pronounced VOZH with a long 'o,' as in nose), when they had a storefront here in Chicago at the Nordstrom Plaza stores along Michigan Avenue. Spunky, fun, and clearly the life dream of the founder, the store had that unique something that few stores manage. Sadly, the store closed, but the chocolate is still available.

Other than a passion for royal purple (and if I'd've meant lavender, people, I'd've said lavender - this woman LOVES the bright, deep, saturated, in-your-face PURPLE) and chocolate, Vosges mixes the unexpected in new and tasty ways. Theirs was the first time I'd tasted chili pepper in chocolate (now, apparently, quite the vogue), or wasabi, or a host of other non-candy flavors.

They've done it again. I went to my local Argo Tea shop and found a small one-serving bar of Chai, with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom & vanilla, 62% cocoa mass. (Shame on them, though; when I searched the Vosges site for the candies, nothing came up. I did find the article I cited, but for shame - I shouldn't have to work that hard to find your merchandise!)

Yum.

My only complaint is that the familiar zing of sharp, strong flavor is missing from this bar. I worry that the flavors have become watered down to please a bland American public that doesn't understand fine tastes or strong flavors. I did enjoy this flavor, though I find that I prefer more cardamom in my chocolate. Not bad for a bar, though.

An Old Standby - Hershey's Skor

2010-09-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Just to prove I'm not always a chocolate snob, I figured I'd 'fess up and admit that I love Hershey's Skor bars. Something about the mixture of smooth and crunchy, of milk chocolate and toffee, just does it for me.

I know, I know, it's hardly gourmet. But hey. Sometimes the old standbys are worth preserving!

The Best Cocoa on the Planet

2010-08-31T06:16:00.002-05:00

Tall order, huh? But truly, this stuff is Ambrosia. Valrhona Cocoa Powder is amazing. If you've never had it, I highly recommend it; you'll never go back to that pale commercial dust again.

One of the first things I noticed about this cocoa is that it melts, it doesn't dissolve. I use it to make mocha, but you could also add heated milk or water if you just wanted it straight. You can use it the same way you'd use any baking cocoa. Its color is dark brown, unlike the commercial stuff you get in a can at the grocery store.

Like anything of quality, you will pay for this; it's not cheap. We found a good place to order from called, fittingly enough, The Chocolate Source. 6.6 pounds cost $58.00, and I ordered it with the extra cold packs. Dorothy felt that was overkill, so I won't do that next time. With shipping, the total came to $74.50 (the cold pack is $5, the shipping is $11.50).

I've also used it in yogurt with agave nectar to make a chocolate yogurt dessert, in a blender to make a smoothie, and to make a chocolate sauce/syrup that's good on pancakes. But my primary use for it is in coffee. I use a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half in a 12 oz. cup, along with honey or agave, and coffee. It is to die for.

Ornes Candy Store

2010-07-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

I have the pleasure, on a semi-regular basis, of tasting Ornes Candy Store's Dark Chocolate. A small shop in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, my friend at work has a home near there and brings me a bar or two when she goes out for summer vacation.

I await her vacation with almost as much anticipation as she does, now. ~grin~

The first thing one notices when handling a bar of their chocolate is the weight of the bar, and the fact that the ingredients printed on the back are all, well, food. No incomprehensible chemical compounds here! Also impressive is the note on the front of the bar that the Candy Store was established in 1885! Some of our Wall Street Wildcats ought to go intern there and see what's made them successful for over a hundred years!

I find it smooth and sweet, with a mildly cinnamon backnote. Highly recommend this for chocolate lovers everywhere!

A New Taste: Daskalide's

2010-06-24T07:46:00.000-05:00

I got to try a completely new brand of chocolate, one I've never seen before: Daskalide's Chocolatier. It was part of the samples brought in by an associate, mentioned in one of my previous posts; and I'm pleased to report on not one, but two different types of chocolate from them.

Made in Belgium by Daskalides NV, the chocolate is high-quality and smooth.

The first one I had is Dark Milk, 42% Cacao. Rich milk taste. Almost too sweat for me, but I prefer the bite of darker chocolate. I find I don't like the uber dark, but this is a little too light for my taste. It's good, has a suite backnote with vanilla. Rich and nutty.

The second on is Dark, 60% Cacao. Good flavor, more bitter than the previous. I shouldn't have taken it so close to the sweeter one. Nutty with a backnote of berry.

Cupcakes In A... Truck?

2010-06-18T18:12:00.001-05:00

Okay, so color ME surprised. I just had the best cupcake ever. Of course, it was $3.25, so for that price, it should be awesome. But I am pleasantly surprised, it was very good. It wasn't huge, but it doesn't cost more than a small pastry at Starbucks or Caribou, so really, that's not out of the realm of possibility.

We bought it off the back of a truck, if you can believe it.

Actually a cute little van. It's a company based here in Chicago, called Flirty Cupcakes on Wheels. They've got the social marketing thing down cold, with a page on Facebook, RSS posts, and a Twitter feed. (How much can one Tweet about cupcakes?)

So I figured, what the heck, I'll try it. (I didn't see the price first, or honestly, I wouldn't have.) I saw the menu first (which is slick, by the way). The Nutella ganache, to be utterly honest, is what did it.

Flat did it. I'm tellin' ya. Nutella ganache? Chocolate fans, you HAVE to know that's like telling me I'll get an orgasm AND a backrub, all in one afternoon.

So how did it taste? I ordered the McDreamy, which bears NO resemblance to anything McD's does - and is, sincerely, the BEST chocolate cupcake I have EVER had.

I even took a picture of the van, which I'll post later. I am arguing with the camera in my phone, but I'm sure we'll come to an equitable arrangement. But check these guys out; their cupcakes are fantastic.

Chocolate - Swiss Delice

2010-06-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

One of the ladies in my office brought in some small sampler bars are various chocolates. I get to try them AND write about them! Happy day!

Our first review is of SwissDelice, Dark 47% Cocoa mass. Plus, they get kudos for a cool website! Not two, not three, but FOUR languages to choose from upon entering: English, French, German, and Italian.

Which, of course, has nothing to do with what we're really here for, the taste of the chocolate.

I find it lovely. I'm finding that 47% or so is just about the perfect cocoa mass for me. In my head, I want to like 77% or higher, since it just feels more 'tuff' or something, but the mid-range is actually very appealing. There's a good mixture of sweet and bitter. I could even go a little darker with this one. The backnotes are of vanilla and something berrylike.

I would recommend this one again.

Gardening and Grounding

2010-06-06T19:27:00.001-05:00

The interesting thing about Grounding is that it's easy to forget that the Ground has a literal meaning as well as a metaphysical one. It's the dirt, and the Earth, and the Ground beneath our feet.

Today I had the opportunity to put this observation into practice. Dorothy and I worked on planting our garden (please see our sister site, Skep: The Journal, for more on the specifics of the Garden). Both of us were tired and didn't want to go downstairs, but we kicked ourselves out of the house, set the timer for thirty minutes, and weeded.

Funny thing happened: about ten minutes into weeding, we both started to perk up. I don't know if it was the smell of the dirt (a fresh smell, green and earthy, hard to describe to someone who's never played in the dirt but instantly recognizable to anyone who has) or something else, something more "magical," but it certainly was palpable.

That's the interesting thing about magic: when it's good, it's not purple smoke and Harry Potter special effects. It's simple, but profound: digging the hands into the dirt, we found Grounding.

We intended to stop in 30 minutes, but the rain started up. First, a few little drops warned us that our time of dryness was limited - an impression backed up by the looming thunderheads floating toward us on the breeze. Dorothy set the plants into the spots where we wanted them to be and I hurriedly dug them into place.

Even with hurrying, by the time the rain came down and we had to retreat inside with the camera and the book, we both felt it.

Grounded.

Chocolate - Staple Chocolate, Trader Joe's

2008-03-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

First, let me say that I love shopping at Trader Joe's. We get nearly all our routine groceries here, rather than Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) or Wild Oats, which is now owned by Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck). Trader Joe's quality is consistently high and their prices are very competitive with regular grocery chains, much less the foofy yuppy stores like Whole Foods.

Their Trader Joe's brand of dark chocolate is excellent. Just five Weight Watchers points, the bars are small enough to not pack on the pounds and large enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. Their dark is smooth, rich and gentle, not bitter at all. I definitely recommend it. (If you are milk chocolate person like my husband, he says their milk chocolate is also good.)

Chocolate - Denman Island

2008-02-13T09:07:00.000-06:00

I tried some Denman Island Chocolate Simply Dark today (http://www.denmanislandchocolate.com). It's lovely. Smooth and not bitter, it has a nutty note. At 60% cocoa mass it's not the darkest out there, but I don't like it too dark because then it's too dry and bitter on the tongue. This brand is Certified Organic and a Product of Canada, the first Canadian chocolate I've had the privilege to try. Recommended.