Your favorite chocolate

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C

Concerned Citizen

Senior member
Sep 30, 2016
213
3
16
Muse said:
As a kid, I certainly preferred milk to dark chocolate. However, I have decided that I like the dark and very dark Lindt Truffles as much as the milk chocolate ones. So, maybe it depends on the quality. I'm not a sugar nut by any means. I always keep in mind what I heard: Americans food tends to be much sweeter than that of Europeans. I've yet to set foot in Europe, but I regard Europeans (well, many of them) as very probably the most civilized folks on earth (not certain what that means, but I'm convinced that a lot of the greatest humans on the planet are and have been Europeans!).

All that said, I must say that I've never eaten a very dark chocolate that lacked much sweetness that I much liked. And yes, I've tasted more than a few of those.
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Suffice to say all of it? LOL
 
C

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
1,502
136
Forgot to mention that I love raw and sweetened cacao nibs. I guess they technically aren't chocolate (closer to raw input for chocolate: cocoa/cacao beans) but they are amazing.

Don't buy the unsweetened kind unless you like the high cocoa % chocolate bars. It's an acquired taste: earthy and slightly bitter, with a crunchy texture. Pretty much the opposite of cheap and smooth milk chocolate, and far richer in actual flavor, not sugar. The flavor depends on the roast, as well, much like for coffee beans. Good to snack on.
 
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Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
Poking around some online I found this site, it's a very dubious top ten list produced by National Geographic of the world's best chocolatiers (ha!), but what's interesting is the nearly infinite number of comments. Reading them it's easy to see that one could easily spend their entire life chasing after gourmet chocolate and never come close to sampling what-all is out there in terms of specialty, high end chocolates.

Guess I've read about 1/2 the comments on that page, and my favorite is this rather eloquent one:


Chris
2d4a7aa27c16defa4d4caae9d2d43688

Washington DC February 8, 2013, 5:39 am

Valrhona is very good for a large producer, the default chocolate for many top-flight French patissiers, but Bernachon in Lyon, France should be on this list. A small bean-to-bar producer, family-owned for generations and very traditional, with an elegant and hospitable retail store and cafe. Impeccably smooth texture, glossy sheen, and crisp break, with fresh flavors that really pop from top-quality ingredients throughout. Makes one completely forget about Scharffen Berger and Godiva.
 
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Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
Crono said:
Forgot to mention that I love raw and sweetened cacao nibs. I guess they technically aren't chocolate (closer to raw input for chocolate: cocoa/cacao beans) but they are amazing.

Don't buy the unsweetened kind unless you like the high cocoa % chocolate bars. It's an acquired taste: earthy and slightly bitter, with a crunchy texture. Pretty much the opposite of cheap and smooth milk chocolate, and far richer in actual flavor, not sugar. The flavor depends on the roast, as well, much like for coffee beans. Good to snack on.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I haven't acquired that taste. I was given a bag of organic cocoa nibs over a year ago and haven't made much progress on it. It's Ojio Raw Organic Arriba Nacional Cacao Nibs (product of Ecuador), an 8 oz bag, and still nearly full. No sugar added. I guess I could just put some in a very small bowl with some sugar and it would be a lot more palatable.
 
C

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Oh, and if you go to San Francisco, there's a shop that's primarily a chocolate bar shop worth going to, "Fog City News". Dozens from around the world.
 
Q

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,172
725
126
Muse said:
Yes. As I said, I have bought 10 lb. blocks on more than one occasion of Guittard Gourmet Bittersweet Chocolate and have quite a bit on hand. It is good, but honestly I prefer Lindt Truffles and Dove Promises. Ghirardelli, I have never really liked. Maybe I just didn't get the right stuff. I drove out to Mountain View to get my Guittard. There's a store there where they have it in bulk:

Milk Pail Market
2585 California St, Mountain View, CA 94040, US
$30.55 for 10# (10 years ago, I think it's gone up some since then)
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Yeah, I live right by there, parking has been hell recently because of all the construction. They make normal bars also, though I have only seen them a few times. Most of Guittard products is intended for chocolatiers, patisseries and general consumer baking.
 
TheGardener

TheGardener

Golden Member
Jul 19, 2014
1,945
33
56
Nestles and Hersheys are a step up from eating packets of sugar. It's kiddie candy. Nothing wrong with it, if that is what you want.

I was going to try some Ghirardelli dark chocolate last month, as I had a coupon. Being a label reader, I noticed one of the ingredients was TBHQ. That's a preservative derived from butane. No thank you. I hope it stays freshly on the shelf for the next two years.

Some really good chocolate I've tried comes out of Burlington VT. Place is called Lake Champlain Chocolates. Best I've ever had. If you are in Burlington, visit the factory and take the tour. There they also sell bags of 'factory seconds' there. That means that truffles have cosmetic flaws, not the taste. The website doesn't say it, but years back on a tour, of which I took many for the free samples, they said that the raw chocolate was imported from Belgium. Not sure if that is still true.

Update: Found on the website:

"True to Vermont’s D.I.Y. spirit, we’re now crafting our own bean-to-bar chocolate from scratch. We’re even keeping our own bees at Burlington’s Intervale Center, with the goal of producing honey to use in our chocolates."


http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
Craig234 said:
Their specialty item is the champagne truffle.
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I hadn't seen this. Saturday, Oct. 1, on my way to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in S.F.'s Golden Gate Park (~500,000 in attendance over 3 days), I stopped at Teuscher in downtown S.F. I bought a general sampler (~9oz). Not cheap, but I wanted to know. I then ordered a general sampler of Leonidas off Amazon. I haven't opened the Teuscher box yet. I will wait for the Leonidas to arrive, I want to compare them. After all, the Teuscher is around 4x as expensive. I want to know if the expense premium is worth it. Subjective, of course. Perhaps the Leonidas is rather sweeter (I saw a post or two that suggested this might be the case), maybe too much so. Or maybe I'll very much like both, quite possible. Thing is, in an assortment, I may not know what I have there. The Teuscher was selected by an attendant right in front of me, they didn't have any general assortments on hand. So, it's all unlabeled. The Leonidas may be labeled, maybe not.

My intent is to make those boxes last a while, one/day max.
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
TheGardener said:
If you are in Burlington, visit the factory and take the tour.
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My parents grew up largely in Burlington, VT, met there. My brother was born there. I have yet to set foot in VT! I have heard a whole lot about it. My dad went to the University there, got both his degrees there. Even my nephew matriculated there. I have a UV baseball cap and jacket!
 
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KMFJD

KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
31,765
50,012
136
dr-cacao-may-2013-13.jpg


Pretty good raw actually, can't wait to get some fresh ones in DR
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
618
121
Yeah, I seen pics looking for Mexican chocolate bean pod pics on Google. Living in Cali. we had the trees all over the place.
 
C

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Muse said:
I hadn't seen this. Saturday, Oct. 1, on my way to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in S.F.'s Golden Gate Park (~500,000 in attendance over 3 days), I stopped at Teuscher in downtown S.F. I bought a general sampler (~9oz). Not cheap, but I wanted to know. I then ordered a general sampler of Leonidas off Amazon. I haven't opened the Teuscher box yet. I will wait for the Leonidas to arrive, I want to compare them. After all, the Teuscher is around 4x as expensive. I want to know if the expense premium is worth it. Subjective, of course. Perhaps the Leonidas is rather sweeter (I saw a post or two that suggested this might be the case), maybe too much so. Or maybe I'll very much like both, quite possible. Thing is, in an assortment, I may not know what I have there. The Teuscher was selected by an attendant right in front of me, they didn't have any general assortments on hand. So, it's all unlabeled. The Leonidas may be labeled, maybe not.

My intent is to make those boxes last a while, one/day max.
Click to expand...

Be interesting to see what you think. Not sure if you got any champagne truffles in your assortment, but that's the big thing there - I'd have expected they'd make that clear.
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
Craig234 said:
Be interesting to see what you think. Not sure if you got any champagne truffles in your assortment, but that's the big thing there - I'd have expected they'd make that clear.
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Do you know what they look like? Post a pic/link?

Edit: I guess this...

231%20Champagne%20Truffes%20225g16.gif


Edit2: I opened the box. It appears she included one, not sure. There's another like it that isn't coated in confectioner's sugar, maybe that too is a champagne truffle.

200505_teuscher_truffle.jpg
 
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Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,192
9,794
136
guide_truffles__14530.1385496183.380.380.jpg
Teuscher

leonidas-chocolate-general-assortment-1.jpg


I don't want to binge! I figure I should ration these, one a day. I have 4x as many Leonidas as Teuscher, so I'll consume a Teuscher on days divisible by 4, a Leonidas on the other days. I figure to run out approximately December 28, 2016!

I don't know from experience, but logic tells me that the best deals on gourmet chocolate are not plentiful during the holiday shopping season. I guess I was quite lucky to pick up the 2lb Leonidas general assortment for $50 + shipping ($13). Looking yesterday I was astonished to see that it had jumped to $80 for that same box! Reading reviews, one person said they put them on sale once or twice a year at a 40% discount. I guess I happily hit the tail end of such a sale.

I've tasted maybe 1 (parts of a few) Teuscher assortment. Excellent! I've eaten ~3 of the Leonidas and have to say they are fantastic! I can't imagine deciding that the Teuscher are worth all that much more, especially if I can grab the Leonidas on sale. IF! I'll post back after a while, hopefully, with a further assessment of my comparison of Teuscher and Leonidas.
 
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