It's spring, that time of year when many women (and men? is this universal?) start knocking off the sweets in a last-ditch effort to lose a few pounds before swimsuit season officially begins. Or so I'm told. Happily, no such impulse has come over me as of yet. Here are seven dark chocolate bars, listed in order of my preference from outstanding right on down through disgusting, along with the usual random perfume recommendations because this is a PERFUME blog.
Starting out with awesome! eat three!, we've got the Calindia bar by Vosges (cardamom, organic walnuts, dried plums dark chocolate, see image above). This doesn't have quite the same rush of cardamom as Dolfin's Noir Cardamome, but it's still a generously spiced bar. The walnuts and plums are in small pieces and they're relatively sparse, so the cardamom is the predominant flavoring and the nuts and fruits provide texture and sweetness, respectively, as much as anything else. The pretentious "How to enjoy an exotic candy bar" screed on the back of every Vosges bar annoys me to no end ("Place a small piece of chocolate on your tongue and press it to the roof of your mouth", c'mon, give me a break), but I'll forgive them so long as they keep making chocolate bars this good. The matching perfume: Nelly Rodi Scent Factory Cardamome.
I have never eaten passion fruit (known as maracuya in much of South America), but if Santander's Passion Fruit is any indication, I need to. This has a fabulously tart fruity flavor and a nice crunch, and if I didn't keep devouring the bars at my desk, I'd melt some to pour over vanilla ice cream. Wonderful. Santander also makes a pineapple bar, and it is fine but didn't wow me nearly as much as this one did. To wear while eating: Prescriptives Calyx.
Fans of your basic chocolate/nut combinations will want to try Chuao Chocolatier's Caracas bar (dark chocolate with almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios). It's a nice bar, with good quality chocolate and lots of nuts, but I can't make myself love it. In chocolate as with perfumes, perhaps, I want a little bit of weird, so I'll stick with their nutmeg-y Chinita Nibs instead. But this one is awfully good, and I feel guilty for not liking it better. Matching perfume: Boucheron Miss Boucheron, which I also ought to like better than I do.
I love Mounds bars, but they're awfully sweet, and let's face it, Hershey's is not using what you'd call high quality chocolate in their Mounds bars. So I was excited to see the Playa del Coco bar from Seeds of Change in my local grocery store's organic section. Playa del Coco blends dark chocolate with coconut and coconut extract. It's nice, but ...really, it's still way too sweet, and the chocolate itself just isn't quite fabulous enough to compete with other high end bars on the market. Extra points for easy availability, organicness (that isn't a word, is it?) and Seeds of Change's commitment to sustainable agriculture, but I don't think I'd buy it again. If anyone has tried any of their other bars, please comment. Matching perfume: Comptoir Sud Pacifique Coco Extreme, perhaps.
I do hope that someone who knows way more about chocolate than I do will comment on Hachez. Perhaps they're wonderful, but the three bars I've tried have not won me over. The Cocoa d'Arriba Mango & Chili bar has a nice mixture of hot spice and tart fruit, and is my favorite of the three. Their Cocoa d'Arriba Blackberry & Cocoa Nibs sounded marvelous, but it has an oddly bitter, almost chalky aftertaste that I find unpleasant. Their Cocoa d'Arriba Strawberry & Pepper sounded even more marvelous still, but it is the only chocolate bar I've ever thrown away after one bite. You can read a much more positive review at chocablog, and I should note that all of the Hachez bars are 77% cacao, a higher pecentage than any of the other bars under consideration here today. Perhaps that is just more chocolate than I can stand. Matching perfume: Serge Lutens Borneo 1834.
More information: Vosges, Santander, Chuao Chocolatier, Seeds of Change, Hachez.
More chocolate ravings: Chocolates & perfumes, part 1 ~ Dolfin, Chocolates & perfumes, part 2 ~ coffee, cacao nibs.
Hoo boy. Chocolate! My favorite food. I've only tried the Vosges bar out of your suggestions. Their chocolate is fabulous.
You should try to find some passion fruit. It's delicious. I cut off the top and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
Calyx with that bar would be perfect, I think. 🙂
Oh my. Passion fruit (aka lilikoi in Hawaii) is my passion! Went to Maui last year and discovered it when I ordered a passion fruit lemonade at Hali'imaile General Store. Instant addiction. Now I look for anything and everything with passion fruit in it. Very hard to find here in Maine! The Goya brand juice just doesn't cut it either (too much apple). We purchased some passion fruit concentrate from The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley. Shipping is pricey, but worth it! Now we can make all the passion fruit drinks we want!!! Surprisingly, the chain restaurant Ruby Tuesdays has a passion fruit lemonade now. I tried it. Not bad! If you have a RT in your area, try it! Purchasing the Santander bars online, though, requires $11.95 for shipping. A bit much for a few bars of chocolate. I'll have to see if our local Whole Foods carries it…or maybe I should order a case–ha ha! Oh, and to get back on the topic of perfume, many of the fruity perfumes have passion fruit or passion flower in them, including Juicy Couture, Incanto Charms, and CSP Vanille Pineapple. For a great Hawaiian scent with passion flower in it, try Le'a by Saffron James!
I should try to find some passion fruit…they've so many exotic fruits in the regular supermarkets now, it probably isn't all that hard to find.
I've found Santander in quite a few local supermarkets — do you have Wegmans? They carry it. Sorry I can't remember if Whole Foods does or not. Will have to look into that concentrate, that sounds worth having on hand.
Robin –
I've always loved chocolate and I absolutely enjoy your forays in the world of High Class Cocoa.
Not to far from where I live, Palm Springs has a great little chocolate boutique called Cafe Chocolat
of Palm Springs. I went in February to pick up some Valentines gifts and I was overwhelmed with the variety of “experimental” pairings of chocolate and…well, you name it…it was in there. The most interesting was the chocolate and Blue Cheese truffle…have you ever tried one of these??? It was like ingesting something by Mr. Wonka himself….it started kinda salty and pungent, yet strangely sweet (like a bite of crumbled blue cheese on a marshmallow). A moment later, the rich, creamy chocolate explodes in your mouth, melting the salty and pungent flavors – which surprisingly enhances ALL aspects of the smooth and satiny chocolate. I had to have more!!!! So I got a half dozen
and ate most of them on the trip home.
Worse yet,,,,I finished the rest of the chocolates as I was doing my Valentines cards…..but I only had a little bit of guilt for eating everyone's gifts…..at least I was I a really good mood when I wrote them…
Let me know if you;ve happened upon these strange and wonderful delight.
Thanks
Mark
Mark, thanks, glad you like hearing about what I'm eating, LOL…
Have only been to Palm Springs a couple times, and wish I'd known about Cafe Chocolat! Have not had those truffles, and keep hearing about wonderful truffle places in NYC as well. I need to travel more 🙂
I am a huge fan of Vosges but have not tried their chocolate bars. I adore their carmels. On a less expensive note, I am currently munching on a bar that I bought from Target (shocking) by Frey. It is Lemon and Pepper with dark chocolate. It was surprisingly good. I was afraid that there would be too much pepper but I don't notice it clinging to my taste buds.
And I have never tried the caramels, but would like to! Target has a great chocolate selection these days, and at good prices. Will look for the Frey, lemon + pepper sounds great.
Can't believe I missed this post! I'm very late to post, but had to give you a NYC chocolate tip, Jacques Torres Chocolate, amazing stuff…..
And if you're ever in SF, so many chocolate places, Joseph Schmidt for one. His chocolate is like art.
Thanks, will keep those in mind if I ever travel again!