Roasted cocoa nibs are not for everyone.  They taste rather bitter because they are not sweetened.  If you can get past the bitterness, you’ll find they do taste rich and chocolaty and have a crunch similar to nuts.  In fact, nibs are often used to replace nuts in cookies and granola recipes.

Why would a person even eat cocoa nibs?  Well, nibs are one of nature’s superfoods.  They come packed with generous amounts of anti-oxidants, flavanoids and vitamin E.  I can tolerate nibs by themselves, but would rather enjoy them coated in chocolate – DARK chocolate.

Trader Joe’s brand Dark Chocolate Nibs are enrobed in a 65% cacao dark chocolate.  I find them delicious and addicting.  The first flavor that comes off is an intense chocolate, as you would expect.  Then nutty, and subtle fruity notes follow.  The finish is a long lasting cocoa taste with a hint of coffee. 

The nibs come in a 1 oz. tin.  Tiny bits of yum!

Digestive biscuits are extremely popular in the UK.  They are a cross between a cookie and a cracker, slightly on the sweet side.  The term ‘digestive’ probably came from the belief that the significant levels of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) used in the recipe aided in digestion.

Although I can choose from different brands of Digestive Biscuits, I do love the number one selling brand of McVitie’s.  According to their website, McVities was the first to coat the digestive in chocolate in 1925.

Over 71 million packages of McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives are eaten in the UK each year!  52 biscuits eaten each second.  I know I put a significant number away myself!

Chocolate digestive biscuits come coated on one side with milk or dark chocolate.   My favorite is dark but I am seldom picky when it comes to digestives.  I would never refuse a milk chocolate one.

Since I have to go out of my way to find McVitie Chocolate Digestives back home (I have to travel quite a distance to an import store), I decided to stock up as long as I am in the land of Digestive plenty.  

I bought everything they had at my sister’s local Tesco. The clerk was amused and asked me if these were all for me.  Yes, I answered, with the exception of maybe one I could give as a gift to someone who would have to really deserve it.   Did that sound a bit selfish?

Hey, you try a chocolate digestive and then try to share!  Bet you can’t!

The Green and Black’s 70% Organic Dark Chocolate was the first on the scene.  Since then, the product line has expanded to include more varieties of chocolate bars, baking chocolate, hot chocolate, and ice cream.

Yes – Ice Cream!

I just finished a bowl of Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate Ice Cream with bittersweet dark chocolate made with fresh cream.  They do not use cocoa powder, they use real dark chocolate.  The intense chocolate flavor notes come off at the beginning and last through out the entire mouthful.

There is a short melt in the mouth and that means the chocolate is quick to finish.  I wish it wouldn’t.  The texture is fluffy and light and perhaps that is what slightly disappoints me.  The airiness of the chocolate makes the flavor dissipate too quickly.  Overall the flavor is simply delicious and decadent, but over too fast.

I learned that the name Green and Black’s comes from the company’s commitment to both the tradition of great chocolate and the support of responsible farming, thus Green for the environment and Black (or almost black) for the rich color of chocolate.

If you can’t find the ice cream, indulge yourself with a Green and Black’s chocolate bar.  You’ll be doing yourself and the planet a favor.

What is Jaffa Cake?

The Jaffa Cake is a British favorite.  The cake is a three layered treat about the size of a cookie.  It is made with a bottom layer of sponge cake, a middle layer of orange flavored jelly, and a top layer of rich milk chocolate coating.

I am a fan of orange and chocolate pairings so it is easy to fall in love with Jaffa Cakes.

There are many different brands of Jaffa Cakes.  Tonight I am enjoying Cadbury brand.  I expected the coating to stand out since Cadbury IS chocolate around here!  I am not disappointed.

At first, the chocolate has a low impact and the orange completely dominates in flavor.  By the time everything blends and mixes in my mouth, the two flavors of orange and chocolate are balanced out and provide a nice combination.  The finish is lingering with a milky aftertaste from the chocolate.  The sponge cake is simply a flavor delivery mechanism and rather neutral in the whole experience.

Oh so Good!

The Jaffa Cake was introduced in 1927 by McVitie and Price and named after the Jaffa Orange.  The Jaffa Orange, originally grown in the Jaffa region of Palestine, before Isreal became a state, is similar to Valencia oranges in taste, only sweeter.

Finding Jaffa Cakes in the states may not be as easy as finding it here in the UK, but it can be done.  Once, I came across a box at my local US Aldi store.

Go ahead and give Jaffa Cakes a try!  Finding them is worth the effort.

The organic, 73% super dark chocolate bar reads “this bar is not for the faint of heart.”   The Swiss milk says “incomparable flavor!”

Hmmm. Sounds like challenges I can’t ignore!

In order to collect as much data as possible, I took the bars to the office and shared the tasting experience with my work mates. 

In a unanimous outcome, 4 out of 4 agreed that the organic dark was DELICIOUS.  I tasted a good percentage of Ecuadorian in the formula and since that is one my favorite flavor profiles I gave the thumbs up as well.  This chocolate starts out with strong roasted cocoa and fruity notes and finishes with a small bitter kick.  It leaves a lasting impression of overall smoothness and well-balanced character.

3 out of 4 voted the milk chocolate was GOOD but on the edge of being too intensely milky and creamy.  It should taste milky and creamy because it has 23% milk solids.  This is almost double the amount of milk that would be required to call it milk chocolate in the United States. 

One person did not favor the lingering milky aftertaste stating that it left her with “unpleasant milk breath.” 

I would have appreciated more toffee-like notes instead of milky notes.  The longer a milk chocolate is cooked and mixed (a process called “conched”) the more caramel or toffee flavor comes out. 

We enjoyed both chocolate bars but the 73% dark won the day.  I guess we are not faint of heart afterall!

According to the Cheerios website, Chocolate Cheerios is “a perfect balance of whole grain goodness and a delicious touch of chocolate taste in every bite.” 

I am a fan of whole grain goodness, but I am even more a fan of chocolate! 

Chocolate cheerios is delicious.  I prefer it in milk as the chocolate flavor is more pronounced, but a handful of the dry cereal makes a great snack at the office.  In addition to the chocolaty flavor, there are only 9 grams of sugar per serving. 

The cheerios are coated in cocoa processed with alkali.  What does that mean? 

Cocoa powder is made when chocolate liquor (made from ground up cocoa beans) is pressed to remove most of the cocoa butter.  The cocoa solids that remain are processed to make a fine unsweetened powder.   There are two types of cocoa powder:  natural and processed with alkali, also called Dutched cocoa.

Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Processed Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids.  The result of this process turns the cocoa powder a deeper, darker color and provides a more well- rounded, less bitter chocolate flavor.

Dutched cocoa has many applications.  And, now with Chocolate Cheerios, there’s another.

During my most recent trip to the store I found myself downright giddy.  My thrill came from a new addition in the candy/chocolate aisle – a line of chocolate bars from Valrhona.  It was like finding gemstones among rocks.

Valrhona is known as a top leader in the world of chocolate, Le Grand Chocolat.  They were founded in 1922 in France.  They have a reputation for supplying the finest chocolate ingredients to restaurants, bakeries, and chocolate shops.

Their retail chocolate bars are made exclusively from Grand Cru chocolates. Grand Cru, usually used in reference to wine, is a term in the chocolate industry which means the cacao beans come from specific plantations famous for their distinctive flavor characteristics.

The bar I especially enjoy is the Grand Cru Manjari with Orange.  This chocolate originates in Madagascar and offers “a fresh, acidic, sharp bouquet with red fruit notes.”  The natural terroir, another adopted wine term, of this chocolate (fruity and tangy notes) blends nicely with the “citrus sweetness of orange comfit.”

Yes, it does taste as good as it sounds!  I bought mine for $4.49 at the nearby Pick ‘N Save grocery store.  The price is twice as much compared to the surrounding chocolate bars, but a bargain in my eyes.  This is top of line deliciousness!

Shopping for groceries may not be so bad after all.  Next time I go, I will reward myself with a Grand Cru Caraïbe with hazelnuts!

She said I did a great job pointing out the reasons to fall in love with gourmet chocolate, but that sometimes she just wants a big handful of M&Ms.  She wondered if something was wrong with her.

Perhaps there are many things wrong with her, but I don’t think craving M&M’s is one of them!    A large part of enjoying chocolate involves memories of our early chocolate experiences.  Children as young as age 9-11 start to prefer chocolate over other candy.

(Some of my early chocolate memories don’t involve Hershey bars or M&M’s so maybe that is why I don’t reach for them when I have a chocolate craving.  My Dad introduced me to Marshall Field’s Frango™ Mints and Dark Chocolate Covered Orange Peel at an early age.  Thank you, Dad!)

If you crave mass-produced candy bars you are not alone.  The top ten most popular chocolate bars in the U.S. (based on sales in US Dollars) are:

1. Snickers
2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
3. Kit Kat
4. Butterfinger
5. Milky Way
6. 3 Musketeers
7. Baby Ruth
8. M&Ms Plain Chocolate Candies
9. Oh Henry
10. Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar

Snickers tops the list with over 2 BILLION dollars in global annual sales!

Sometimes our past favorites are not made anymore.  Do you remember any of these candy bars?

1. Bar None
2. Caravelle Bar
3. Chocolate Babies
4. Chocolate Cow
5. Chocolite
6. Forever Yours
7. Rally Bar
8. Marathon
9. Mars Bar
10. Milkshake Candy Bar
11. Nestle Alpine White Bar
12. PBMax Candy Bar
13. Peanut Butter No Jelly Bar
14. Seven-Up Bar
15. Willie Wonka Oompas

I will always recommend you choose fine premium chocolate over the vending machine candy bar.  But, if you need a trip down memory lane, I say go for it.  And after you have satisfied that urge, promise me you’ll take a moment and enjoy a fresh chocolate truffle or a rich butter cream.

I was not so sure about that combination, but I tried it anyway.  Actually, it was not bad. 

Lately, I have been eating all sorts of chocolate and food pairings that I never thought I would enjoy.  For example, I recently ate a dark chocolate covered piece of bacon I bought from my local chocolates shop.  You heard right, bacon!  It was very delicious.

It is not unusual these days to find chocolate bars with all sorts of exotic flavors, at least what I would consider “exotic.”  And each time I visit a chocolate shop, I find truffles made with pretty some weird, or should I say “unique,” ingredients. 

Did you know you can buy chocolate truffles made with goat cheese (chèvre), shitake mushroom, balsamic vinegar, or wasabi horseradish?

Chocolatiers are adding red hot chili peppers in their retail candy bars. Dagoba Organic Chocolate offers the Xocolatl bar, a 74% dark chocolate bar with spicy chilies.  Chocolove makes a bar with dried cherries and ancho and chipotle chilies in dark chocolate.  Vosges Haut Chocolate company has two varieties of spicy chocolate bars – The Red Fire Bar and the Oaxaca Bar.

Vosges probably makes the most unusual line of chocolate bars I have ever had.  The Black Pearl Bar combines ginger, wasabi, and black sesame seeds in dark chocolate.  They also make Mo’s Bacon Bar.

If you find you are not in mood for the same old chocolate experience, try Lindt’s Hot Mango bar with mango-cayenne chocolate mousse filling in a 70% dark chocolate.

Now that is Yummy!

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I recently tried their Milk Chocolate Whole Cashews and I must say I enjoyed them very much!  My chocolate preference is dark, but I do enjoy a milk once in a while.  The reason I enjoyed this particular milk chocolate and cashew combination is the way the milk chocolate pulls out the bold, buttery, and salty flavor notes from the nuts and enhances them.

The aftertaste is a lingering buttery note which I prefer over a lingering “milky” note that so many other chocolate-covered nuts offer.

It is rare that I enjoy a chocolate-coated tree nut.  I have been disappointed too many times – not because of the chocolate, but because of the nuts.  I am blessed and cursed with the gift of “super-taster.”  In the flavor sensory world that means I am extremely sensitive to flavors in general, but most particularly to “off” flavors.  Even the tinniest hint of oxidation, or rancidity, makes me scrunch my nose in disgust.

I was not disappointed this time.

In fact, I have to be careful not to eat the entire bag in one sitting.  Darn.

Another reason I like this product is that when I share them at work, I am instantly popular among my co-workers.  Today I am reaping the rewards of a good treat.